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edierone · 5 years

Note

26 and 77 for the mash up list

Five Miles Is a Long Way to Walk In Florsheims

She really did it.

She — she just pulled over, told me to get out, and — kept on driving.

I know I was pissing her off this entire case (but especially today), I know I probably (definitely) pushed it too far when I did the vehicular version of Dutch-ovening her just now, a little juvenile humor to lighten the mood … ok, honestly, with the heat on, it was really kind of nauseating, even for me.

She’s threatened to dump me out before, like a dad yelling at the kids to pipe down or he’ll make ‘em walk home.

But — this time, she really did it. And here I am, by the side of a two-lane road in the far yonder of cow country, in a cold drizzling rain, in my suit (minus the jacket, which is … still in the car) and cheap dumb dress shoes from JC Penney — thank god I left my Nunn Bush oxfords at home, I guess? — watching the rented Ford’s taillights recede in the far distance.

I’ll wait a few minutes. She’ll come back.

Nope. It’s been fifteen already. New plan: Walk till I’m just over that next rise — probably she’s sitting there, waiting for me to catch up, parked on the narrow shoulder with the radio on one of her channels (theory: might’ve been the fourth airing of “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid” that pushed her over the edge; note to self, that’s enough classic rock for today). I’ll show up, she’ll forgive me, and we’ll get back to finding the Phantom Murderin’ Cowboy of BFE.

*************

Nope. Fox and his tired old dogs are walkin back to Cowburg.

*************

Five miles is a long way to walk in Florsheims, especially when the seams start to give and your socks are soaked and your hair is in your face and even your belt is ruined. It’s enough time to get titanically self-righteously angry, then run out of steam on that and rethink your position, then feel like utter dogshit for the way you’ve treated the most important person in your life, then script and rehearse your most abject apology speech dozens of times, refining it to remove all traces of self-pity and accusation and adding a few jokey lines so she knows it’s you and not some shapeshifting asshole wearing you as a skin suit or something.

I’m — I’m properly chastened, is what I’m saying, and all I want is to get back in her good graces. And maybe get some dry clothes on; my balls are rubbed pretty raw at this point.

Room 27, adjoining room 28, the last two on the end farthest from the road. I start to feel just how bad off I am as I cross the parking lot: I’m freezing, my left knee hurts like a bastard, my ankles feel swollen to the point of sloshiness, my back is killing me, and my feet — oh god, my feet … I limp to good old 27, then realize with a wave of despair that my key is in the pocket of my suit jacket, which I can see crumpled on the floor of the Taurus’s backseat.

Shit.

Rather than add “broken rental car window” to my list of crimes and expense items, I gather what’s left of my dignity — there ain’t much — and shuffle over to 28.

“Knock knock, it’s the bog monster of Black Rock Creek, I’m here to —”

The door swings open so fast I almost fall through it.

There she is, keys in hand and coat on — that determined/worried little furrow between her eyes quickly smoothing out and hiking skyward as she takes in my bedraggled state. I don’t get a chance to give my apology speech, because she’s already launched into hers: “Jesus, Mulder, you look like a drowned rat! I’m so sorry — I thought it was only a mile or so, but it took you so long, I got worried — you — I was so angry, I guess I just didn’t realize how far it was — oh, look at your shoes! I was coming to get you — god you must be so cold —”

The whole time, she’s dragging me inside, running to the bathroom to grab towels which she tosses at me, bending to help me shuck the worthless bits of leather that used to be size 11 Fed footwear, checking through my sopping-wet hair for head trauma — at least I think that’s what she’s doing, but I don’t really care cause it feels pretty good.

But I can’t let her do all the apologizing, so all the while, I’m trying to interject with my own mea culpa — about how it’s OK, I’m OK, I was being a dumbass and I deserved it and I’m sorry for questioning her take on the third vic’s cause of death (she was right, I was reaching, and being a dick about it besides), if she wants to Dutch-oven me as revenge, I’ll take it like a man …

That one finally makes her stop fussing and laugh, her big surprising Scully-laugh that makes me feel like a god for bringing it forth.

“Mulder …” she finally says, looking me up and down with a mixture of pity and amusement that kinda makes me tingle. “I’ll save that idea for another time. Why don’t you go get a hot shower and I’ll — try to find something to eat. I’m already dressed to go out anyway.”

I agree to this plan, and in less than an hour, we’re side by side in comfy warm sweatpants on the surprisingly decent couch, eating some of the best tortilla soup I’ve ever tasted. She brought icy cold glass bottles of Coke, too — “Hecho in Mexico, oh man, Scully, that’s the stuff!”

She puts hers down and hops up, going to dig something out of her trench pocket. “I almost forgot! I found something else to warm you up.” She holds it out to me — a pint bottle of Jameson’s.

“Heyyyyyy!” I reach for it, cracking it open and smelling it. “Where’d you get this? I thought this was a dry county.”

“It is,” she smiles, with an arch aren’t-I-clever look. “I bought it off the front desk clerk — smelled something on her breath and took the big investigative leap. She charged me a pretty big markup, but I thought it was worth it, under the circumstances.”

I agree, and ask if we have glasses — but this isn’t the kind of place that furnishes barware, so I guess we’ll have to swig it like a couple of winos under a bridge.

“I don’t mind swapping spit with you, Scully, if you’re ok with mine,” I say, landing a pretty ill-timed glance at her lips that I hope she doesn’t notice.

She does. It makes her blush a little, which she brazens through with a big manly belt of the Jameson’s. She hands the bottle to me and dares me with her eyes to do better.

I can’t, of course, but I try, and as the first gulp slides down my throat, warming me from the inside, I have one of those hot pulses of the deepest kind of affection for her — the kind that just shouts in my head, iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou, so loud that I almost give it voice for real.

But, of course, I don’t; we finish our dinner, taking occasional nips of whiskey, calling out increasingly sloppy answers at Jeopardy! and then Wheel of Fortune on the crummy motel TV.

The news is next and neither of us is in the mood, so I click through the five working channels and get lucky: North By Northwest is just starting. I scooch around to get comfortable, but I must’ve stiffened up — both of my hip joints and something up high in my back crack audibly, and the girly scream whistling out of me at the way my calf just seized would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much.

Well, I guess it’s funny to Scully — she laughs, but apologizes. Then laughs again. She’s ruthless, not to mention mean. I tell her so. She laughs harder. I pout dramatically, and eventually she relents.

“All right, all right — you’ll be useless in the morning if I don’t get you fixed up, and I don’t plan on carrying your bag through DFW airport. Get up on that bed, I’ll massage the kinks out.”

I swear I do not even have time to open my mouth before she warns, deadly serious: “And if you say one word about this is how some of your favorite movies start —”

Ahh, she knows me, doesn’t she?

I make like a totally innocent man — pure of heart, mind, and deed — and lie down on my stomach with my feet toward the headboard, propping my chin up on a pillow so I can keep watching the movie. Scully gets to work.

And she’s good. Got those doctor hands. Whoever’s in 26 must think we’re making the world’s weirdest sex tape in here, or else that we’ve kidnapped a moose that sometimes converses with Cary Grant.

By the time she gets to my feet, I feel like a melted marshmallow.

Scully says dreamily, “I remember watching this once somewhere when I was about twelve, and thinking Eve Kendall was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.” I make an inquiring noise. “You know — this scene —”

They’re on the train. Eva Marie Saint’s lookin ol’ Archibald in the eye, telling him she’s twenty-six and unmarried and likes his face, how it’s gonna be a long night, and

“And I don't particularly like the book I've started,” Scully murmurs along. I crane my neck to look back at her; her lips curve upward in the most delicious-looking arc, her eyes twinkling with that sort of mischievous/impressed look she gets toward me sometimes.

I love it, but it makes me a little jealous, so I tell her so. She just giggles and says, “Oh, don’t be jealous of old crushes!” I want to ask her who’s the crush, Eva Marie or Cary, but she grabs the other pillow and flops down on her stomach beside me and suddenly I can’t talk — I just lie there, grinning like a fool.

She passes me the one-third-full Jameson’s — one more sip each before she caps it for the night. We watch for awhile longer. During the next commercial break, she turns to me, studying me with a gentle smile.

“You look a little dopey,” she says fondly, and I laugh.

“I’m also happy, sleepy, and tipsy — wonder where the other three dwarfs are?”

Her eyes are on the TV again. “Doc … Bashful … Horny …”

Suddenly my heart is thumping way too hard. When I talk, it comes out softer than I meant it to. “I don’t think ‘Horny’ is one of the original septet, Doc …”

She shifts a little. She’s smiling but she won’t look at me. “Neither is ‘Tipsy,’ but I spotted you that one — fair’s fair, Mulder.”

“Oh, we’re being honest?” Where did this voice come from, the one that makes her shiver? There — just then — she did, she did shiver. I saw it. “Well, maybe there was a Horny. And a Woody, and a — Smitten, and a —”

“I think you better stop there, Prince Charming,” she interrupts, finally half-turning her face toward me. She still won’t make eye contact; maybe she knows, like I do, that if she does that, we don’t stand a chance of keeping this from happening.

The thing is, I want it to. I have for a long, long time, and I think — so does she, so has she.

That’s the source of so much of the tension between us; that’s really why we fought earlier, why there’ve been so many of these little flareups lately, embers dropped into dry grass and then stomped out with such vigor. We’ve been careful not to get into situations like this one, where the space separating us is so small that we can feel the other’s exhales on our own skin.

I drop down from my elbows to lie flat, facing her. I can see her eyelashes silhouetted against the washed-out lights of 1959 onscreen. “Scully,” I say, barely above a whisper.

It’s a long moment before she finally whispers back, “Not here.”

I know what she means, of course I do. Not on a case, not in a janky motel, not even a little bit under the influence.

“Then where?”

She shakes her head, a tiny movement that makes her hair fall forward, obscuring any part of her I could read.

She doesn’t know? Or she doesn’t want to say? I can’t tell, so I try another question.

“Soon, do you think?”

She tenses, and for a second I think she’s going to get up, or order me out of here. But then she drops her head to the pillow, facing me. Her eyes are huge, serious, full of something unnameable that I nonetheless understand.

“Soon,” she agrees.

I nod, nearly overwhelmed by my love for her, the tremendous weight of this moment, the desire that’s been there for so long I don’t remember a time when it wasn’t.

She reaches to touch my face, skimming lightly along one side, barely barely barely there on my eyelid, so softly; I close my eyes as she traces where she likes.

Her hand falls eventually, coming to rest in the little valley between us. I take hold of it, gently, risking a glimpse at her. Her eyes are shut now, but I’m not sure she’s asleep.

“I love you,” I say, but silently, the coward’s way. “So much.”

If she hears me, it’s only subliminally; that’s all the daring I have tonight. Sweet dreams, Scully, I think as I drift off. Sweet dreams.

--------------------------

[Thanks for the long-ago prompt, anon -- from the Fic Trope Mashup list, Massage Fic and In Vino Veritas]

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kkaebsongtypo · 5 years

Text

Spidermark Ep.1 : Bad Liar

(A/N: heyyyyyyyyy long time no seeeeeee SO I started this story on MAY 13th 2018. YES 2018. AND I JUST FINISHED IT. IT TOOK MORE THAN A YEAR TO GET THIS DONE but FUCK it feels so good to have it done !! there may be some differences in writing but I don't actually know- It’s currently 4:20 in the morning and i have work at 8 SO wish me luck on that ANYWAYS i hope you enjoy the first part of our series: Spidermark !!!!)

pairing: reader x spiderman!mark

genre: fluff

warnings/notes: heights, falling (I proofread this like 4 times but there will still totally be mistakes so just a lil warning

word count: 6669

You were always convinced that nothing extraordinary would ever happened in your life, most people never experience the extraordinary and you didn't see any reason why you'd be different. You never felt like you had the ability to change the world but you were thankful that others were able to. Every time you heard stories of superheroes catching criminals or saving the world you wondered how hard it was to step up and try and make the world a safer place.

You decided that there wasn't anything wrong with just wanting to enjoy life and so you did, one moment at a time. Weather you were working a late shift at your family's cafe or cramming for a test with your best friend Mark, you always tried to find a reason to enjoy it. So, you enjoyed closing the cafe with your brothers and eating a few of the leftover baked goods that didn't sell, even if Kun complained about it not being a healthy dinner. The only enjoyable thing about cramming with Mark was the Mark part, but it was worth it when you saw the excited look on his face he finally managed to help you understand what you were missing.

Of course you didn't have to try and find a bright side to everything. Sometimes exciting things would just happen naturally. Like how you finally managed to convince your new friend Jisung to join your dance group after what felt like forever. After two weeks of trying to convince him, the shy boy finally caved and agreed to come in for practice and see if he liked it.

You were excited to say the least. From what you'd seen, Jisung was insanely talented and this gave him the opportunity to get to know some more people better and make stronger friendships. It was very clear when you convinced him to join that he was nervous, so you offered to show up a bit earlier with Mark to help warm up with him before the others joined in.

That morning you woke up to the sound of your brother quietly singing and the scent of fresh blueberry muffins. Your alarm wasn’t due for another sixteen minutes but you didn't want to risk sleeping through it if you went back to bed so you managed to get up and kick on your slippers. Waddling over to your desk, you turned on your speaker and connected your phone, letting your obnoxiously energetic morning playlist try to keep you awake.

The rising sun painted the sky a gradient of pink and purple, thankfully the forecast called for a warm sunny day.

You grabbed the new pair of jean shorts Chenle convinced you to buy over the weekend and a white and purple baseball t-shirt. After getting changed, you sent a text to Mark letting him know you'd be ready in an hour and set off to steal a few muffins for breakfast.

You walked into the kitchen finding Jaehyun half asleep at the table clutching his coffee, while Kun put away the last of the dishes still singing quietly to himself. “Good Morning.” You greet your brothers tiredly.

Kun shot a smile in your direction, “Morning (y/n), there's muffins and coffee on the counter if you're hungry.” he gestured to the tray of muffins as he placed another plate in the cupboard.

“Sweet,” you crossed the room and grabbed a muffin peeling the wrapper. “Do we have any orange juice left?” you asked before taking a bite

“Uhhhh I think s-” Kun began before being cut off by Jaehyun.

“Ran out last night, sorry kid.” Jaehyun grumbled before downing the rest of his coffee.

You shrugged and grabbed a Tupperware container. “All good, I’ll just grab some on my way home.”

“I'll just add it to the list, I'm going grocery shopping tonight anyways.” Kun suggested as he put the last plate in the cupboard.

“Alrighty,” you put two muffins in the container, sealing it and placing it on the counter. “I'm gonna bring some muffins to mark and tens.”

Jae rolled his eyes at the mention of Mark, “He's my best friend. Get over it.” you narrowed your eyes at your brother before making your way out of the kitchen. You made sure to mess up Jaes hair as you passed by him. He groaned and swatted at your hand.

“Alright, have fun at photography club.” Kun said as he grabbed you lunch off the counter and handed it to you.

“I will, love you guys!! Bye!!” you yelled as you rushed back to your room.

You slipped your homework from the night before into your backpack and stomped twice, warning Mark that you'd be down in a few minutes. You smiled to yourself as you slipped on your thin knee high socks. It was warm out today but thankfully the rest of your outfit would accommodate the weather.

After zipping you backpack closed and slipping on your shoes, you shouted a quick goodbye to your older brothers and climbed out of your window and onto the fire escape. You rushed down the creaky metal stairs and eagerly pulled Mark’s window open.

You sighed when you noticed your best friend sound asleep in bed. Mark had a tendency to over work himself, he was a star student in most subjects and you were often a little perplexed by how well he managed to excel academically while also being an important member of both the dance team, choir, and a science tutor on the side. On top of all that he had the Nakamoto internship that he refused to talk about. You worried about him more often now than before, you noticed him drawing back socially. After he got the internship, he had been spending more time away from you and your other friends, he even quit band.

Mark may have been your best friend, but he was hiding a big secret from you. Mark didn't have an internship with Nakamoto enterprises, that was just a cover up. Although Mark Lee did in a way work for the multi millionaire playboy Nakamoto Yuta, he wasn't an intern. Mark was Queen's very own masked vigilante, the one and only Spider-Man.

Although your heart hurt a bit when he skipped movie night or forgot about plans for reasons unknown to you, you still supported him. You grew up in a tough love family though. While your eldest brother Kun was always warm and supportive, Jaehyun was a bit tougher. The two basically raised you differently at the same time, so you were conflicted with how to express support sometimes. After climbing into his room you smiled softly at the sound of his uncle singing in the kitchen, before proceeding to wake Mark up by throwing a sneaker at him.

“RISE AND SHINE BUBS, UP AND AT EM!” you shouted happily.

Mark groaned and pulled his blankets over his head.

“Why can’t you be nicer?” He grumbled tiredly.

“Oh sorry,” you began softly before tossing your other shoe at him, “We’re losing daylight dork come on!”

He groaned again in response, you rolled your eyes and yanked back his blankets revealing your half naked best friend. He shrieked and grabbed back his blankets covering his bare chest.

“What the hell y/n!” He shouted in distress. Although he was tired he seemed to wake up pretty fast once he saw that he left a bottle of web fluid in his open closet.

You suppressed a giggle and apologized, turning around to face the door as he got changed. Mark rushed around his room slipping the bottle he forgot to hide into his close hamper.

“Can you toss me my shoes sleeping beauty?” You asked Mark sweetly.

“Only if you promise not to throw them at me.” He replied with a yawn.

You laughed “I, y/n the coolest best friend in the world, promise that I will not throw my shoe at my best friend Mark Lee…”

Mark shrugged and tossed you your shoes, satisfied with your answer.

“...for now.” An evil grin appeared on your lip before a loud scream rang through the apartment, causing you to fling open the bedroom door, giving Mark no time to cover himself up. You giggled quietly at the sight of Mark’s uncle Ten waving a charred piece of toast around with a pair of tongs in a panic. He stopped screaming once he tossed the toast in to the sink.

Mark squeaked, quickly pushing you out in a panic and slamming his door shut before getting changed in record time. Ten look over at you and smiled.

“Oh hey y/n!”

Ten was a great guy, he was young but he still did his best to raise Mark, even after his husband died.

“Goooooood morning uncle Ten!” You greeted happily.

“Sunshine, I already told you, just call me Ten. Saying uncle makes me sound old.” He chuckled softly with a playful roll of his eyes.

Mark soon emerged from his room dressed in a grey t-shirt and black jeans.

“Sorry bud, looks like your having Poptarts for breakfast.”

Mark smiled at his uncle. “That’s okay-”

“OH WAIT!” You announced loudly, “Kun made too many muffins this morning! I’ll go grab em’!” Mark watched as you rushed out of the room, not looking away until you disappeared back out of his window.

Ten gave Mark a light smack on the back of his head.

“You could at least try being less obvious,” An embarrassed blush grazed Marks cheeks at his uncle's comment. He rubbed the back of his head as an awkward smile appeared on his lips. “Or you could tell her how you feel.” Mark choked slightly, his eyes widening at the thought of telling you how he feels.

“It's not that simple.” He muttered.

Before Ten could respond, you were climbing back through the window. After closing Marks window, you hurried back to the kitchen.

“I got the muffins! We've got twelve minutes to catch our train!” You announced as you handed a container to Mark. You handed Ten a container too before grabbing Mark’s hand and dragging him out the door. Ten laughed as he saw the blood that rushed to Mark's cheeks before he shut the door.

Mark couldn't help but notice how good you looked today as you walked down the street. Joining dance had definitely made you more confident over time; you wouldn't be caught dead showing that much thigh months ago, but now you were, and you looked amazing. Mark always thought you looked great of course, but he still silently thanked god for the warm weather. The train ride went smoothly, you spent the majority of it talking about your plans to work on your photography portfolio that evening on the roof of a building down the street from the apartment.

The walk from the train station to your school was about 10 minutes, so you and Mark spent the peaceful walk talking about upcoming plans for the dance group. With Jisung being new and you being one of the only people he’s talked to, you wanted to make his entrance to the group as easy and smooth as possible. You and Mark met up with him at the practice room doors when you got to school.

"Hey Blondie!" You greeted him with excitement evident in your voice. He jumped slightly as you hopped onto his back. Immediately wrapping your arms around him, causing the tall boy to laugh nervously as he caught you by your lower thigh.

“Hey shorty.” he retorted with less confidence than usual. Normally that would be a little off putting for you, but you knew he was just scared of making a fool of himself.

“Don't be nervous! We’re extra early so we can practice a bit before everyone else gets here.” You began, as you hopped off his back and pulled your key out of your bag, unlocking the door.

“Let’s do a quick stretch and then we can start. Did you try any of the dances I sent you on Friday?” Jisung nodded as he placed his bag in the corner.

“I got some parts memorized, but I’m still working at them.” He replied, meeting you and Mark in the middle of the room. While you all began to stretch Mark still struggled to keep his eyes off you, he felt kinda creepy but he did his best to not stare. You were so excited to have Jisung with you for dance that you didn't notice Marks stolen glances. You just continued to explain how practice usually went and what to expect when the other boys got there.

Your ‘team’ kind of took over this dance studio after the school built a new, larger one the previous summer. You never had a problem with booking it, actually the dance teacher Mr kim just kind of let your group have control of it since nobody but you wanted to use the old studio. You guys had a whiteboard where you kept important dates, competitions and what not. As well as what you would be focusing on that week and space for notes anyone wanted to leave.

Jealousy - MONSTA X Black Suit - SUPER JUNIOR The Eve - EXO Boss - NCT Silver Spoon - BTS Fantasy - VIXX Lucky One - EXO Boom Boom - SEVENTEEN War of Hormone - BTS Electric Kiss - EXO

Mark watched you update the names written in colorful dry erase markers, your handwriting so straight. Feeling eyes on him, Mark looked back finding Jisung snickering quietly at how obvious he was being. Mark blushed in embarrassment, thankfully you walked across the room and plugged the auxiliary cord that connected to the speakers. You began going over the basics, Mark was a bit stunned to learn that jisung was as good as you said. The kid was new to the school but he most certainly wasn't new to dance. Surprisingly to Mark he wasn't bothered about your new friend being a good dancer, neither of you seemed too interested in anything more than dance. There was no stolen glances between the two of you, just platonic complements and tips. Mark soon joined in, the three of you had about 40 minutes in total before anyone else showed up.

Jeno and Jaemin were the first to show up after you. Even though they already knew Jisung from some classes they shared, they welcomed him into the group with open arms.

Renjun appeared silently sometime between Hyuck and Chenle. Renjun was kind of odd but everyone liked him, even though he had a habit of being a bit blunt at times. Hyuck made his grand entrance as always, flinging a shittly one liner Marks way along with a wink in your direction that had you fighting back the intense urge to start a fight. When Chenle walked in, he noticed the new edition to your team and immediately dragged you into the hall where he then interrogated you about how you managed to recruit ‘ThE gORgEoUs bOy’ from his art class. After you satisfied his need for information on Jisung, you returned to practice just in time for a few more songs.

The rest of practice went by quite quickly. By the end, Jisung had already opened up more to everyone, which made you very happy. After locking up the studio, you linked your arm with Marks, bid the other boys farewell, and started off to your first class.

The school day went by in a flash and soon it was nearing the end of last period. Mark was doing some science tutoring after school so you made plans to pop over to the nearby bubble tea cafe with Jisung. The walk down the street was occupied by simple school talk: classes, homework, teachers and such. Once you got your drinks, the two of you sat down at a table in the corner. You noticed how nervous Jisung looked; fiddling with his straw, his head down as you talked about the new music you got in choir.

“Hey, what’s on your mind bubs?” He looked up at the sound of your voice, his eyes wide, and a light blush creeping onto his cheeks. He seemed hesitant to speak up, so you gave him a reassuring smile.

“Um, I was just kind of wondering if I could maybe um, getchenlesnumberfromyou.” You giggled after Jisung rushed the ending, as if he was secretly hoping you wouldn’t catch it. You couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter as you asked your new friend why. With a sigh, he admitted that he thinks Chenle is ‘kind of cute’ and ‘he would really like to get to know him more.’ and because you already knew how Chenle felt about Jisung, you agreed right away.

“Ohoho my lil jisung has a cruuuuuussshhhh” Jisung rolled his eyes at your teasing and excited giggles as you entered Chenle’s contact into his phone. A scoff left his lips before a smile spread across his face.

“So, what’s up with you and Mark?” Your face contorted with confusion to jisungs question, asking him what he meant.

“I mean like, you two seem super close, as well as all the hanging off each other and not to mention the pet names-” you cut Jisung off at that one.

“What do you mean pet names? I literally just called you bubs 10 minutes ago” You laughed at his little accusations and sipped your drink once more.

Jisung shrugged, “Hm, yeah sure but- is there really nothing there between you two?” Your eyes widened in response.

“What? No! We’ve been best friends since preschool!! We just grew up together, of course we’re close.” Jisung could see the pink tint of your cheeks turning red, and he could hear the slight uncertainty in your voice and see it in your eyes as you finish your sentence. To your luck though, he opted to let it go.

The conversation continued to flow naturally for another hour or so. You talked about anything and everything, ranging from your favourite movies to your most vivid childhood memories. Lucky for you, Jisung didn’t go back to the you and Mark thing for the rest of the little bubble tea date. You two wrapped up around 5 and headed to the train station, where you shared and hug before going opposite ways.

“Hey Kun, I’m going to head out and take some photos. I’ll be back around 9:30 the latest?” After getting a nod of approval from your brother, you placed your plate in the sink and hurried into your room to grab your camera. Slipping on your shoes, you headed for the door.

Kun followed you and placed a hand on your shoulder, “Have fun, but be careful, okay? See you later, get home safe.” Patting your brother’s hand, you nodded and set off.

It was 7:30 and the sun was beginning to set. You ran up the stairs of the tall building towards the rooftop. When you pushed open the door to the roof, you were greeted by a soft breeze and the pinks, yellows, and oranges, of the changing sky. No matter how many sunsets and sunrises you’ve seen, each one of them left you astonished. The colourful sky illuminated the city so beautifully. It was breathtaking. The tall buildings cast shadows down the side streets, leaving sharp silhouettes on all the surfaces they touched. The city looked beautiful.

You looked beautiful too, at least that’s what Mark thought. He was hiding behind a large pole on the building directly across from the one you were on. Like the streets, the bright colours from the sky danced on your skin, the angle casting soft shadows on your face. Mark was out being the friendly neighborhood Spider Man he is before finding himself hiding on a roof, admiring his best friend. He felt like it was slightly creepy for a while; hiding behind a pole in full suit, watching someone take pictures. He ignored those thoughts though, he was too in love with the sight before him to care all that much. You were too focused on what you were doing, you didn’t see the bright red guy discreetly climb the building across the street.

The shots you took were becoming a little too similar, so you decided to take some from where you never took them before. Walking onto the edge of the building, you looked through your lens over the edge. The picture turned out really nice, so you decided to take more there. The wind was picking up and getting pretty strong, but being preoccupied and driven by desire, you didn’t think of the possible risks of standing on the narrow ledge.

Mark froze with fear coursing through his veins for a split second before swinging on his web towards your falling figure. One strong gust of wind caused you to lose your balance and stumble off the edge of the building. You closed your eyes as fear consumed you when your foot slipped off the building.

“HOLY FUCK OH GOD ARE YOU OKAY?!?!” When you opened your eyes, you were back on top of the building. A strong pair of arms were wrapped around your waist, and were face to face -well- face to chest with an overwhelming amount of red. It took you a second to realize that you were being hugged. Pulling back, you looked up and saw no one other than spiderman, but what you couldn’t get past was the voice.

“MARK!? WHAT THE HELL??” You pulled back from who you have concluded is your best friend, and looked at him with confusion.

Mark panicked, he quickly put on his best fake voice to mask his identity, “What! Uh- No! I’m Spidermar- Spiderman!”

You rolled your eyes at Marks lame attempt to mask his identity. That fake voice was the worst thing you’ve ever heard. “Oh my god. Okay so, you’re not Mark?” You were tired of your best friends bullshit, so you pulled out your phone to call him. Again, Mark panicked. If you haven’t noticed by now, panicked Mark is a mess. In his messy panicked state, he grabbed your phone and squeaked as he threw it off the roof.

“OKAY. UHM-” You groaned in annoyance when he, once again, squeaked and shot a web to get your phone back before it hit the pavement below. At that point, you had no doubt that this was your best friend.

“Seriously, Mark. I know what your voice sounds like, I know how it feels to be hugged by you, you literally hugged me earlier today. We’ve been best friends for years. Mark, I know you.” Mark’s heart melted at your last words.

You rolled your eyes, “Now stop being an idiot and take off that mask.” You heard Mark sigh before slipping the mask off and handing you your phone. You slid your phone back into your pocket before looking up to see Mark looking down with a faint blush spread across his cheeks. His hands were locked in front of him, toying with the edge of his mask a little bit. He was embarrassed. You rolled your eyes again a let out a breathy laugh.

Mark looked up slightly at the sound of your laugh, “Why are you- I- I’m sorry” His gaze was cast down again, but he spared you a few short glances. He just saved his best friend from dying, he then threw her phone off the roof, she looked so beautiful with that sunlight on her face.

“It’s okay Mark, I don’t know why you’re apologizing but it’s fine. You just saved my life and you’re my best friend, don’t worry.” Even though Mark could lift a car by himself and fight tons of criminals, sometimes you made him so nervous that he struggled to stand up straight.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Mark’s eyes reflected the sunset and that made you decided against it.

“Ah actually, I think I’m going to take some more photos. You should head back though, I’ll come by later.” You smiled back at Mark softly before glancing at the sunset. The sky was getting darker by the minute; the pinks, yellows, and oranges blending seamlessly into purples, and a deep blue. Marks smile fell slightly as he spoke.

“Are you sure? It’s starting to get dark..” your fingertips grazed Marks forearm as you nodded with reassurance. Mark noticed how your fingertips lingered on his arm for a little longer than normal. Stop overthinking this. He gulped and nodded before slipping his mask over his face. With one last glance at you, he hopped off the roof and weaved his way around the tall buildings.

A soft sigh left your lips as a chilling wind grazed your body. The sky was almost completely darkened, only a thin strip of peach left along the skyline. The little light that remained from the sunset was slowly being replaced by the soft moonlight. When you pulled your phone out of your pocket, it read 8:47. With the sun beginning to set earlier, the streetlights began illuminating the pavement below. After taking one last look at the stars appearing above you and a few more shots of the skyline and streetlights, you headed towards the door and made your way home.

“Hey! How’d it go? The photos?” Your eldest brothers voice echoed from the kitchen as you shut and locked the door behind you.

“Oh yeah, most of them turned out really nice. You can see all of the cool shapes and shadows the buildings create from up there.” Making your way into the kitchen, a small tired smile adorning your face, you sighed gently at the sight of your brother cleaning. A few stacks of clean dishes sat next to the sink, already dry. Knowing he would only move onto putting those away after, you walked over to where he was.

“That’s great! I’m glad you had a go-” Kun was cut off by your hand suddenly resting over his own that held the cloth to the counter. He glanced over at you, confusion evident on his features.

“Kun, go sit down. I’ll finish up here.” You offered him a gentle smile as he sighed in defeat. With Jaehyun taking the final, later shift at the cafe alone more recently due to his uni classes during the day, Kun had always been cleaning thing the house late. You knew he had a long day working alone at the cafe, so this was the least you could do. Besides, cleaning the kitchen offered an opportunity to think about the previous events of the evening.

“Don’t worry. It won’t take me long, then I’ll go do my homework.” You brother gently pulled you into a hug, a grateful smile forming at his lips.

“Okay, but don’t stay up too late.” You nodded in response to your brother before he took one last look at the kitchen, but made his way to the living soon after.

It didn’t take long for your mind to be plagued with thoughts and questions about what had exactly happened less than an hour before. You almost died. Your best friend saved your life. Your best friend was spiderman. So many questions were running through your mind; how did you never notice? How was he able to keep this from you? How could he have kept this from you? Did anyone else know?? And if so, why didn’t he tell you? How did you really feel about this? How did Mark save you in time? Where was he before that? Where was he now? Was he safe? There were plenty of other things clouding your brain other than a million questions. It was almost as though your brain was replaying what had happened moment by moment as if trying to analyze and decipher it all. The cool breeze on your skin as you held the camera up to your eye. The shadows of the buildings. The moment you lost your footing, eyes shut tight, preparing for your inevitable fate. The moment you opened your eyes to find you were back on top of the building. The moment you realize your best friend the spiderman.

It was more than just that. You began involuntarily over analyzing his movements, and your own. How his grip tightened and remained on your waist for what might have been a second too long. The blush that spread across his cheeks when he took off his mask. How red the tips of his ears were soon after. How nervous he sounded when he spoke to you. How lovely he looked with the orange sunlight that painted his skin. The way his smile faltered when you declined his offer to walk you home. The way the sun defined his lips. How he gulped when your fingertips lingered on his arm. How your heart fluttered at the thought of hi-

Your thoughts were interrupted when you reached for another dish and were met with thin air. You were so lost in thought that you hadn’t realized you were done cleaning. It was now 9:26, and with all of these things floating around in your head, you knew you 1. wouldn’t be able to focus on your homework and 2. you needed to talk to Ten.

Knowing that neither of your brothers would want you out and about at this hour alone, you left your homework open on your desk with your door shut and the lights on. Peaking out into the hall towards the living room, you saw a movie on the television and your brother laying on the sofa, his chest softly rising and falling as he got some well deserved rest. You silently cheered at the sight. Your brother was overworked, and now there was almost no risk of him checking on you within the next hour and not finding you in your room.

You carefully stepped out of your window and quietly hurried to the apartment below. You expected to see Mark when you reached his bedroom window but instead you were met with a dark, empty room. A gentle breath of relief left your lips as you opened up the window and slipped through. You shot Ten a quick text, letting him know you were coming over just so he wouldn’t freak out and hit you with a frying pan after you just snuck in through his nephews window, and once you got a thumbs up emoji sent back you walked out of marks room.

“Hey uncle Ten” Your voice sounded tired yet cheerful as you greeted the older male.

Ten jumped and pressed a hand to his chest as he turned around to face you “JEEZ LOUISE. y/n i thought you were coming through the front- wait did you text me from Marks room??” you giggled lightly at Ten’s reaction before walking over and plopping down into the love seat, your feet hanging over one of the armrests. Ten walked back over and took a seat on the sofa in front of you.

“What can I do for you, my dear?” You stared at him for a moment before leaning your head back with a soft whine. Ten looked at you with a curious express when he noticed the blush that now painted your cheeks.

“I just- oh I don’t know. I think just- feelings??? I guess??” The truth was that you just didn’t know where to start with this. Ten raised his eyebrows at you.

You were smart enough to assume Ten didn’t know Mark was spiderman. He would totally freak if he knew how close Mark came to dying almost everyday, so you didn’t mention anything along those lines at all. This conversation was to sort out your feelings with the other person that knew Mark as well as you did.

“Feelings? About what? Or for whom, maybe?” a cheeky smile found its way onto his lips and in that moment, you knew he knew what you were talking about.

“I think just, feelings for Mark?? I really don’t know what happened but I was just hyper aware of everything today and now I just can’t stop thinking about him. Just everything about him. The way that one piece of hair falls over his forehead, or the way his nose scrunches up when he laughs too hard, how his eyes almost always have that little sparkle in them-” you didn’t notice the smile on your face as you spoke until Ten pointed it out.

“My goodness honey, seeing that smile on your face I don’t know who’s more whipped for who, you or him.” Ten chuckled before taking a sip of his tea. Your eyes widened as you processed his words. ‘I don’t know who’s more whipped for who, you or him.’

“Wait- what did you just say?” you didn’t know if you heard him right.

Ten just smiled at you once more, curling his legs up onto the sofa. “Sweetheart, I don’t know if you seriously didn’t notice but Mark is head over heels for you. Oh! But you didn’t hear that from me” Ten shot you a quick wink after the final words past his lips. Your lips parted in awe at this new information.

“Are- are you serious?” you could still barely process what you were being told.

Ten tilted his head to the side. “Trust me, I would never, ever lie to you hun; and I sure as hell would never lie about something like this.”

You smiled softly before diving into conversation with him, asking all the questions that came to mind. Ten answered them all eagerly, enjoying how you were not afraid or nervous to talk about this with him, It was a nice break for him from Mark, who would always get awkward and shy at the mere mention of his feelings for you. Whereas for you, it was nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff, because Lord knows how your brothers would handle it.

Taking notice of the time, you realized that Jaehyun would be home soon, waking Kun in the process who would then pop in to say goodnight to you. “Oh shoot, I better get back upstairs. Jae will be home soon and if I’m not there when he checks up on me, he will freak. Thank you for everything tonight, it really means a lot.” You stood up and stretched your arms before Ten enveloped you in a tight hug.

“Alright dear, thank you for stopping by. Come by anytime you want to talk about these kinds of things, okay? I’ve always got your back.” he smiled at you as you pulled away from the hug, sending him a sweet smile back before making your way back to Marks window.

“Sweetie why don’t you just take the front door?” you turned around, briefly walking backwards as you responded.

“I’m currently in my room doing homework, and Kun’s asleep on the sofa right now. I can’t risk waking him up like that.” Ten nodded and waved you off as you walked into Marks room. You drew back the curtains only to be startled by Mark hanging upside down outside his window. You rolled your eyes at him.

“What are you doing out here like that?” The boy in front of you pulled his mask off his head, hair a mess, still hanging upside down. You felt your heart grow warm at the sight.

“Well I just got here and I heard you talking to Ten about not taking the front door so I knew you’d come this way- oh the upside down thing; um its just kind of fun.” you giggled and shook your head at him.

“Why are you so cute?” That was meant to stay in your head but instead it came out a whisper. Both your and Marks eyes widened at your comment. It was quiet for a moment, a slight tension hanging in the air, but you couldn’t stop your eyes from flickering between his and his lips. You noticed him doing the same. In an attempt to cut the tension, you spoke again.

“Um, thank you again for not letting me fall to my death earlier.” you chuckled nervously, trying to move past your previous question. Mark smiled gently, “Well yknow, I was just uh in the neighborhood, and- got there are the right time, I suppose.”

You giggled, “Oh yeah, sur-” your sentence was cut short by Mark lips pressing against yours, his gloved hand resting on the side of your face. Soon, your hands found their way to Mark’s cheeks as well, as your lips moved together softly.

The kiss was not too long, but not too short. Probably a very good length for a first kiss. When you two pulled apart, you were still in slight shock. Where Mark’s boost of confidence came from? He doesn’t even know himself, but he sure was glad it happened.

“Wow..” Mark’s voice was just a whisper when he spoke. You smiled and nodded, whispering a quiet ‘yeah’ in response. This moment was almost magical, almost perfect. That’s when the web snapped, sending Mark head first onto the metal fire escape with a loud bang.

“What was that?! y/n are you okay?” Ten’s voice was slightly muffled on the other side of Marks door. You panicked before responding.

“Oh!! Yeah, I’m okay!! I just- tripped on my way out the window!! I’ll be going now for real though! Goodnight! See you tomorrow!” You shouted back, silently praying he wouldn’t walk into the room to see you still there. After hearing Ten reply with a goodnight back, you hopped out the window and took Marks head in your hands, his eyes squeezed shut as he quietly groaned in pain.

“Holy fuck Mark, are you okay?? Jeez.” trying to suppress a giggle, you stroked his hair gently.

“Yeah, I’m good, just a little bu-” Mark was cut off by a shout from your bedroom one level up.

“Y/N WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?” you winced at the sound of Jaehyun’s yelling before yelling back.

“I’m coming back up!! I just had to help Ten with his, uh, cAN OPENER.” Confusion washed over your own features at your excuse before you turned your attention back to Mark, who now had his head resting on your lap. You smiled down at him, the warm feeling coming back to your heart when he looked up at you.

“Okay, I gotta go. Put some ice on your head please, and get to sleep. I’ll come by in the morning to see how you’re doing.” You helped Mark stand up before turning to hurry up the stairs, only to be stopped by Mark pulling you back towards him. He wrapped his arms around you when you bumped into his chest, and you did the same. Closing your eyes and taking in the familiar, sweet scent. A blush dusted across your features as he pressed his lips to your forehead before letting you go. You looked down to hide your face before standing on your toes to give Mark a final kiss on the cheek, saying goodnight, and scurrying up the stairs.

You said goodnight to you brothers, giving them both tight hugs before shutting down for the night yourself. You thought expressing your love to your brothers was important, especially after almost dying earlier in the day, but they didn’t have to know about that yet.That night, you couldn’t keep the smile off of your face. The feelings of Mark’s lips still lingered on your own and on your forehead, his smile still very vivid in your mind.

You may not have been completely sure of where you now stood with your best friend, but you were looking forward to where this adventure would take you two.

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bubblenct · 6 years

Text

Bad Boy (MarkxReader)

Warnings: idk they just make out and it’s pretty frisky

Group: Nct

Note: ok so this is like the go era where they’re all wild and stuff bc they all look SO good and it fits the description of them in this lmao (also this is like the first thing i’ve written in MONTHS so if it’s bad don’t @ me)

———————

Mark was what everyone would describe as a “bad boy” but you, on the other hand, admired him. First off, he was EXTREMELY nice to look at. You could stare at his attractive face forever. Sometimes when you were in class he would catch you staring at him, and every time he caught you, he’d wink and smirk at you, making you blush and look away. Second, he wasn’t scared of getting in trouble. He talked back to teachers, fought with some of the worst kids in school, barely did his assignments, and even ran from the police one time (though you’re pretty sure it was for something minor). Not to mention how attractive and funny him and all of his friends were. The best part about it, was that Mark was your neighbor. Your window was right next to his, and your desk right in front of the window, so occasionally when both of your windows were open, and you were doing work, you could see him doing random things in his room.

Today was one of those days. Except he had his friends over. Mark has a main friend group that consisted of him,Jaemin , Jeno, Renjun, chenle jisung and yukhei, though only jaemin jeno and Renjun were there. You sat at your desk gawking over them. “How can they be so attractive?” Sighing you called your best friend Donghyuk. “Hey hyuk, wanna come over? Mark and his friends are making me feel lonely. Plus Johnny and Ten are here.” Donghyuk immediately agreed hearing the names Johnny and Ten. Johnny was your brother and Ten was his best friend, and Donghyuk loved them. He thought they we’re the coolest people EVER. You were pretty sure he only hung out with you for your brother and his friend.

Once he arrived you both ran up to your room, making sure he did see or hear Johnny and Ten. When he got into your room he whined “Where is Johnny and Ten? You said they would be here.” You rolled your eyes “Yeah they’re here but you don’t get to see them because then you’ll completely ignore me.” he scoffed and said whatever. while sitting at you desk, looking at what you were doing. “Borrrringgg!” he said seeing that you were doing math. “It’s Friday, why are you doing MATH homework when your man is right next door?” You laughed and punched his arm lightly saying “i just wanna get it done.” you two started talking when Donghyuk suddenly said “Mark and his friends are staring.” you turned your head and made eye contact with them. as soon as they realized you and hyuk were looking back them they all quickly turned around and did random stuff.

You and hyuk decided that you wanted to go on a walk. You and hyuk were putting on your shoes and stuff and as soon as you stepped out of your house, so did Mark and his friends. you and Donghyuks head both snapped to the side. the four boys smiled. You two smiled back. You and Donghyuk decided to continue your walk. and that’s what you did. You felt their eyes following you as you walked. “They’re really creepy.” Donghyuk whispered. “I know.”

“Hey.” The one you remembered to be Renjun, said. “Uh, hey.” you said back. Suddenly Donghyuks phone rang. He quietly excused him self and took the call, leaving you to talk with the boys. “Soo... i’m-“ “y/n, we know haha” one of them called jaemin said. you slowly laughed, obviously uncomfortable. “Uh i’m jeno, thats jaemin, thats renjun, and that’s mark, though you probably know him.” you nodded,even though you knew who all of them were. You stared at Jeno because he was just to attractive to not stare at. You soon caught yourself and said “Oh uh- i, Hello.” The boys all laughed and one spoke up, jaemin, saying, “You can talk you know? we don’t bite.” while winking and biting his lip. you laughed a bit and said “Maybe i want you guys to bite.” Thats when renjun whispered over to jeno “She even sounds hot what the hell.”

you realized that Mark said almost nothing “Yours awfully quiet Mark.” He looked up at gave a soft smile and said “i just don’t feel too well haha.” you smiled at him and jeno spoke up “Is the guy over there your boyfriend?” you were a bit taken a back by this, your best friend being your boyfriend, but you simply shook your head saying “No he’s my best friend.” Before any of the boys could say anything Donghyuk came back and said “My mom says that my grandma wants to see me so i can’t sleep over tonight.” you frowned “That’s ok go see her, she’s old anyways.” donghyuk rolled his eyes and decided to go home.

You ended up walking with the boys, in a line, to wherever they were going. you stood in the middle with renjun on your right and mark on your left and jaemin next to mark and jeno with renjun. “You know, you’re pretty fucking hot,” Renjun started. You immediately felt Mark tense up. you quickly looked over at him and he didn’t look happy. Jaemin decided to interject in the conversation “and you’re single i-“ jeno cut him off saying “Ignore these losers,” he walked in front of you grabbing your waist and pulling you towards him, pressing his body against yours “you’re really fucking hot, single, and from what we know, a really cool chick, so-“ you decided you weren’t dealing with this today. “Look you’re really handsome, it’s actually unbelievable, but i don’t even know you, heck the only person here i actually relatively know is mark, so if i ever even considered being with one of you, it’d be mark.” you said as you peeled jeno off of your waist.

Mark smirked and laughed at the others “I’m just more likable what can i say?” the others rolled their eyes as they continued on their journey to meet up with some of their other friends at an old train track. Once you got there you saw three other boys. You got a little anxious since you were the only girl but decided to fake some confidence to show your dominance. And boy did it work. Once you walked up to them Mark introduced you to the three boys. “That’s jisung, hes the youngest, that’s chenle, and that’s yukhei.” he said a little quieter. He always got self conscious and insecure around yukhei because of how handsome he was and how charming he was.

Once the two youngest boys, chenle and jisung, saw you, you basically became their master. They would do anything you said, whenever, wherever. yukhei was a bit cooler around you though. He made it obvious he liked you, he flirted with you, he initiated lots of skinship, but he always kept his cool, unlike the others. This pissed Mark to the max. Why were you falling for a guy you just met? You had known Mark forever, and Mark had fallen for you so it was only fair. As the days went by, Yukhei became more confident, ‘accidentally’ touching one of your boobs, or setting his hand on your exposed thigh, sometimes he would even sit you on his lap. You always saw Mark’s glares, but you didn’t think it was at yukhei, you thought it was at you. But really, he just wanted to rip Yukheis perfect little face and body all up and bury it so he can have you.

One night, you all were at a drive in movie together. It was much hotter during the day, and since you didn’t go home to change, you were stuck in high waisted shorts with fishnets and a crop top. “God it’s like -9 degrees what the fuck is wrong with the weather?” the boys laughed at you and just before Mark could offer you his jacket, you were sitting in yukheis lap wearing his jacket. Mark huffed and decided he would go get snacks. “Do you guys want anything?” the boys shouted out a bunch of food for Mark to get and he sighed while walking away.

Before he was even halfway to the concession stand he heard footsteps coming up behind him. “Uh hey Mark.” You said. He looked over not expecting you. “Oh, hi.” You kept wanting to ask if he hated you because of you and yukheis skinship, but didn’t know how to bring it up. “Hey, can i ask you something?” You said looking over to him. his heart started to beat and he nodded his head. “Do you ahh...well do...uhm ya know because...” you couldn’t find out how to get the question out “Just say it ok? I won’t bite.” He said smiling. You nodded and stopped him from walking further “Do you hate me?” you said quickly. His heart dropped and his eyes widened. “W-what? What made you think that? Why would i think that? Of course i don’t hate you!” You sighed and explained why you thought that and he frowned.

“I don’t hate you, i’ve just been a bit angry at yukhei.” he said lookin down. “Why?” you asked. he then went on to explain how he was jealous and insecure and didn’t know how to handle it. you laughed and said “You have no reason to be insecure, i like you too.” you said smiling. He looked up and smiled back, taking your face in his hands and bringing you so close your noses touched. “I’ve waited so long to hear that.” Then he kissed you. It was a soft kiss, nothing too intense, since you were still on your way to the concession stand. Once the kiss did start to get a little heated, Mark pulled away ,breathing slightly uneven, and said “wait we need to get the snacks then we can go somewhere alone.” You looked into his deer eyes and nodded.

Once you two carried everyone their food you said you had lost something and we’re going to look for it. “Do you want chenle and i to look for it instead? so you don’t hurt your legs?” You laughed and kissed his cheek, which made chenle jealous of jisung. “i’ll be fine looking for it.” chenle then leaned to your ear and whisper something no one heard, so, you kissed him as well. Before you two left yukhei called Mark over “What are you doing you idiot? she likes me?” Mark chuckled and looked over at you, it was obvious you needed him. “I’ll be back!” He said walking away from yukhei.

Mark led you down to the old train tracks, and you saw a red car. “why is there just a car here?” you asked. “we were gonna use that, which is yukheis car, but i brought my car, and it has more space so we used mine.” you nodded.

Mark looked you up and down and bit his lip. “Ya know, i’m really relieved that you like me instead of yukhei. you have no idea how bad i wanted you all to myself.” he said hooking his fingers on your belt loops and pulling you closer to him. “i was so insecure.” he pulled you even closer. “But now that you’re mine,” He said after kissing you “,i shouldn’t have to worry about anybody taking you.” he said, kissing you again.

You smiled into the kiss allowing Mark to lick your lips. You slightly moaned, which gave him full access to your mouth. He soon wrapped your legs around his waist and carried you to the hood of yukheis car. Once he sat you there you left your legs wrapped around his waist, pulling as close to him as you can.

He slightly groaned which made you smile. He started kissing your mouth then trailed down to your neck, where he left dark purple marks. he trailed down to your collar bone and left more marks there. You soon dropped your legs, leaving him to stand in between your legs. Mark peppered kisses along your jawline and went to your other collar bone. he sucked on your patch of skin for so long it didn’t even look like a color. soon he started nibbling on the extremely dark hickey. You moaned again which sent him off the radar “God i love you so fucking much”

he soon trailed his hands to your shirt and lifted it off. “Markkk, it’s so cold.” you whined trying to warm yourself up. “I guess i’ll just have to warm you up.” he said as he grabbed the inside of your knees and pulled you closer. He started to leave marks all over your chest as he rubbed your back warming you up. You sighed and wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing it closer to your mouth. You started to lightly kiss his neck, and lick it every once in awhile, when you started giving him hickeys. Soon you both pulled away and stared at each other. “You should put this back on.” Mark said handing you your shirt. You slipped it on and hopped off the car “i hope yukhei won’t mind.” Mark smiled at your comment before saying “Are we dating now?” you looked at him and kissed him. “Of course we are. Now come on baby boy we probably missed half of the movie.”

#Mark #mark #Mark Lee #mark lee #NCT #nct #mark imagines #mark nct #kpop #renjun #jeno #donghyuk #haechan #jaemin #chenle #jisung #kpop imagines #nct imagines #mark smut

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180abroad · 5 years

Text

Days 161-162: Munich

Two days after our brief dip into Germany, we dove in for good. Or for a couple weeks, at least.

Once again, we made it to our train with time to spare, but we had to split up anyway because almost all of the seats were reserved. Luckily it wasn’t a very long ride (less than two hours), but we vowed--not for the first or last time--to definitely get reserved seats for all of our long-haul rides in the future (spoiler: we didn't).

Our arrival in Munich went perfectly. We weren’t in any hurry, the weather was nice, we got some tasty sandwiches from one of the many appetizing eateries in the station, and when we found a ticket machine to buy our local transit passes, a couple stopped us and gave us their day pass that they didn’t need anymore. It was only good for the rest of that day, but definitely added to the day’s positive vibes.

We found our tram right where it was supposed to be, and half an hour later we were checked into our flat. It isn’t huge, but it’s much bigger than in Prague or Salzburg, and it’s below ground level. Meaning that it stays nice and cool during the daytime.

Not that we’ll be staying home all that much. We have a lot planned for our week in Munich, and we’re looking forward to all of it.

With most of the afternoon still ahead of us--and a free transit pass in our pockets--we decided to head back into town and wander about. We would need to head that way anyway if we wanted anything for dinner, since all the supermarkets in our suburb were closed for Sunday.

Munich suffered horribly during World War II. Almost all of the city center was damaged or destroyed by Allied bombing. But afterwards, the city worked hard to rebuild itself as closely as possible to what it had been before the bombs fell.

Jessica of course noticed the Bayern Munich FC store, and we found a display window full of cuckoo clocks. (I should clarify that Jessica is not a Bayern Munich fan; she roots for Dortmund in the Bundesliga.)

After stopping for some rest and refreshment at a street-side café, we continued on to Marienplaz, the square that has served as the historic heart of Munich for the past thousand years. It is named for the Virgin Mary, and a brilliantly polished gold statue of Mary stands at its center. Along the entire north side of the square is the spectacular Neo-Gothic New Town Hall, which was built in the late 1800s.

In one corner of the square is a fountain with a giant fish on it. We learned later that although this fountain was made after WWII, there has been a fountain in this spot since the 1300s, and the local fishmongers would actually keep their fish in it during market days.

By pure chance, we arrived just before 5:00 pm, when the New Town Hall’s bell tower glockenspiel show performs every afternoon. The performance lasts around ten minutes and includes bell chimes and dozens of revolving figures. They dance, joust, and feast in celebration of a real-life wedding that took place in Marienplaz in the 1500s.

(Also, Jessica and I still can’t help but be amused that the German word for town hall is Rathaus.)

Once the show was over, we simply walked around the old town for a little while longer. We saw some charming window displays in closed shops, the closed up food market, and the Old Town Hall. Even though pretty much everything was closed for Sunday, there was an intoxicatingly pleasant atmosphere about the place. And it wasn't just the beer everyone was drinking, or even that it was the coolest afternoon we’ve experienced since leaving Scotland.

Our wanderings eventually took us to the Munich National Theatre and Royal Residence, which gets to be called a royal residence because Bavaria was technically a kingdom for about a hundred years out of its much longer history as a German duchy and principality.

Between the Residence and the impressively yellow Theatrine Church is the Odeonsplatz, which was easy for us to remember because Odeon is also the name of major chain of movie theaters in the UK. The square also held a massive, statue-filled arcade--similar to the loggia in Florence. We would learn the next day that this was very much intentional and that Munich has even been called the Florence of the north.

As we wound our way back toward the train station to catch a tram home, we discovered a stark stone column topped with an eternal flame. After translating the inscriptions, we learned that it is a monument to the victims of Nazi tyranny.

We also found an interesting-looking Mexican restaurant, but for some reason Jessica wasn't interested. We were tired, hungry, and in need of a bathroom, so we pressed on in search of a grocery store

After way too long of a search in and around the central train station, we found the grocery store in the underground level connecting it to the city metro. It might have been the only one in the entire area that was open on Sunday afternoons, because it seemed like the entire city was standing in the checkout line. Seriously, the queue wrapped almost the entire way around the store and back to the entrance.

But the line moved surprisingly fast, and soon enough we were back home for a nice relaxing evening. Tomorrow, we would enjoy a guided walk through the city so that we could learn what everything we saw actually was. And we’d get to actually go into all the cool-looking shops that had been closed that day.

The next morning, we met up with our walking tour at the train station--again after a bit of slightly lost wandering. This was the first of several tours we'd booked with Radius Tours, one of two similar groups that Rick Steves recommends. We had a great time and would recommend them to anyone interested in good walking tours of Munich and nearby transit-accessible destinations like Dachau and Nuremberg.

Our tour guide was an Irish man with a golden tongue. It may just be selection bias, but almost every Irish guide we met in Europe was a natural storyteller and crowd-wrangler. There was another American woman in out tour group, and she and Jessica were instant friends.

Just outside the train station, our guide pointed out a courthouse known as the Justice Palace. It still functions as a German district court, but it is most famous as the location of the White Rose trials during WWII, in which anti-Nazi student protestors were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment or death. The trials were conducted by "People's Courts," which Hitler had empowered to condemn enemies of the regime outside the normal judicial process and without regard for constitutional rights.

The execution of peacefully protesting German students without a fair trial sent shockwaves throughout Germany and the rest of Europe. It didn't lead to any open revolts within Germany, but it was noted that people were much less inclined to report student protestors to the Gestapo after the White Rose trials took place.

Before heading into the Old Town, we stopped for a few minutes to admire the Karlstor, one of the city's original medieval gates. Back in the day, this was the edge of a walled city surrounded by a moat. A shiny plaque proudly dates the gate to 1302, but the current structure is far younger than that. Much of the gate was destroyed in an accidental gunpowder explosion in 1857, and the subsequently restored gate has been heavily modified in the years since to accommodate increasing levels of street and pedestrian traffic.

Thanks to the 1972 Olympics, however, Munich's Old Town is now almost entirely pedestrianized.

As we walked down the bustling Neuhauser Strasse from the gate to the central square, our guide pointed out the beautiful Baroque church façade we'd seen yesterday and identified it as St. Michael's, a Jesuit church. It was an important and influential church during the Counter Reformation, but today it seems mainly known for being under perpetual renovation since it was badly damaged during WWII.

We reached Marienplatz just in time to catch the morning performance of the Glockenspiel. Our guide explained that the moving figures are actually references to two different stories in Munich's history. The top level shows a joust that took place at the wedding of Duke William V of Bavaria--the man who founded the Hofbrau as the official court brewery--to Renata of Lorraine. One of the knights is wearing Bavarian colors, and the other is wearing the colors of Lorraine (or Lothringen, as it's called in Germany). The Bavarian knight always wins.

The lower tier of the display tells another story that takes place a few decades earlier during a plague year. When the city was gripped by fear and discontent, the coopers' guild got together and danced through the city to raise people's spirits and show their support for the duke. The "Coopers' Dance" has since become a symbol of perseverance and loyalty.

And as small as all of these figures look from from down in the square, all of the figures are actually life-sized.

We also learned that the New Town Hall was one of the few buildings that wasn't destroyed by the WWII bombings. Ironically, this means that the New Town Hall is actually far older than the Old Town Hall, which had to be rebuilt after the war.

We saw Munich Cathedral, also known as the Frauenkirche, which is visible from around the city with its distinctive bronze-domed bell towers. We learned that when the cathedral was constructed in the Middle Ages, Munich was just a small market town in the shadow of its much older and wealthier neighbor Freising. Over time--and thanks to some political shenanigans--Freising gradually fell under Munich's growing shadow, and today it is chiefly known as the home of Munich International Airport.

But in the 15th century, that was all still to come. Munich wasn't wealthy, so the cathedral had to be built out of bricks instead of stone. The cathedral's one extravagance was to be a pair of massive bell towers topped with sky-scrapping spires. But even that proved too much, and the builders ran out of money. So instead, they capped the bell towers with simple bronze domes to keep out the rain, and they have stood thus ever since.

As an aside, the name Frauenkirche literally translates as “Church of Our Lady,” exactly the same as the many Notre Dames scattered across France.

It was around this time that I noticed I'd somehow put my shirt on backwards that morning, and for the rest of the tour my mind was half-occupied with looking for an opportunity to fix it.

Retracing our steps from the previous day, we saw the Munich National Theater and Royal Residence. We also learned one of our favorite facts of the entire trip--right up there with Col. Shrapnel in Gibraltar.

A long section of the Residence's outer walls are flat with paintings of intricate architectural embellishments. Jessica and I had seen similar designs throughout Europe and had just assumed the day before that this was done out of a similar aesthetic style. But that's not it at all.

After the almost total destruction of central Munich during the WWII, the people of Munich were largely left to rebuild their city on their own. I had always assumed that this had been covered by Marshall Plan--an American program that lent billions of dollars to rebuild Germany and the rest of Western Europe after the war. But the Marshall Plan funds were earmarked for rebuilding Germany's industry and commerce, not its heritage. The rebuilding of all the historic structures in Munich was done with what little money the locals could put together themselves.

They did a fantastic job, but there was only so much they could do. And the Residence, with its extraordinarily ornamented architecture, was simply beyond their means. So the people of Munich did the next best thing: they painted the walls to show what the building would have looked like if they had been able to rebuild it the way it actually was.

Our guide also pointed out the statue-filled loggia and confirmed that it was inspired by the one in Florence. He also pointed out the two lion statues flanking the stairs leading into it. The loggia is directly between the Residence and the Theatrine Church, and the two lions were meant to represent the co-equal powers of church and state in Bavaria.

Turning back into the Old Town, we headed over to the Hofbrauhaus, the largest and most famous beer hall in Munich--as well as one of the oldest. It can seat 1,300 people at once, but for the first 250 years of its existence it was the private property of the Bavarian nobility and closed to the general public. Since 1828, however, locals and tourists alike have been filling its benches and drinking beer by the liter.

When Jessica mentioned that the main beers she enjoyed were wheat beers (hefeweizen or weissbier in Germany), our guide made sure to point out the nearby Schneider Weisse beer hall, where an unparalleled variety of weissebiers are on tap. There are seven different weissbiers in their main line, labelled "Tap 1" through "Tap 7," plus a further selection of seasonal and special-release weissebiers on tap at any given time. All are made by the family-owned Schneider & Son brewery in the nearby city of Kelheim.

Jessica's interest was thoroughly piqued. I had never particularly enjoyed wheat beers before, but I was willing to give it a try. We eventually did try it, and it was fantastic, but that's a story for a future post.

Our last stop was the Viktualienmarkt, a huge open-air food market centered around a massive beer garden. We learned that the beer garden is co-owned by the six Munich breweries, and they take turns so that all six make the same amount of profit. The current brand on tap was Spaten, which is generally considered to be the least-best of the bunch.

We also learned about Bavaria's beer garden culture. Before refrigeration was invented, beer kegs were stored in underground cellars to keep them cool, and trees were planted above the cellars for even more insulation. People soon realized that cool beer and shady trees make a perfect combination in the summer, so they started showing up at the breweries to drink beer and eat packed lunches.

When you visit the Viktualienmarkt or any other traditional beer garden, you will notice a mixture of tables with and without tablecloths. The tables with tablecloths are for traditional table service. You sit down and wait to be given a menu. But the tables without tablecloths are for the traditional picnic experience. You can get a group of friends, wander the market picking out tasty things to eat, then sit down at an unoccupied table and order a cool beer to wash it all down.

After the tour was over, went back to the Hofbrauhaus and had an excellent lunch at the nearby Augustiner restaurant. While Hofbrau is the most internationally famous Munich brewery, Augustiner is the oldest and most popular among native Münchners. While we never had a bad beer in Munich, we'll go along with the consensus that Augustiner is probably the best of the bunch. Which is sad, because they don't export their beer. It's hard to find it even in other parts of Germany.

I had their helles pale lager, and Jessica had their weissbeir. Both were top-notch.

For the food portion of our lunch, we each enjoyed the beer garden staple of liberkäse--a mixed-meat sausage similar to bologna, baked into a loaf and cut into thick slices--pan fried and served under a fried egg. It also came with Bavarian potato salad, which is very different from American potato salad. It is thin and a little vinegary, but light and refreshing on a warm day.

We struck up a nice long conversation with an American guy at the next table who was doing his own extended European trip. I also took the opportunity to run to the bathroom and fix my shirt.

After lunch, we strolled around the shopping area and found a lot of stores selling cute if touristy Bavarian souvenirs. I found a nice stoneware mug that I really liked, but I decided to hold off and think about it for a bit. There was also a nice stationery store where I was severely tempted to buy a bottle of limited-edition Mont Blanc fountain pen ink that was on sale for half the price it is in the US. I didn't need it, though, and I wasn't eager to add a heavy glass bottle to my pack. Plus, I already had my sights set on some bottled inks that were waiting for me down the road in the Netherlands.

Jessica had fun too. She found a new friend at one of the aforementioned Bavarian souvenir shops, and we also found a whisky store specializing in fine Scotch. It seems almost heretical to sell Scotch in this mecca of beer, but we couldn’t resist. Jessica ended up buying a bottle of the Little Bay she’d enjoyed so much in Oban.

Don't worry, though--we never drank Scotch instead of German beer or wine, just in addition to it.

Yes, there was quite a lot of drinking that got done during this week, and we may have gone to bed toasted more times than not. But that didn't stop us from seeing and enjoying a ton of what Bavaria had to offer--including some sites that were truly sobering.

Next Post: Neuschwanstein (and the story of Mad King Ludwig)

Last Post: Salzburg & Berchtesgaden

#180abroad #munich #germany #history #beer #food #scotch

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dylanssprayberries · 6 years

Text

Picture Us - Luke Hemmings

"You're not getting cold feet, are you?" Your best friend is standing in front of the mirror, eyeing herself with a doubtful look. She's not even dressed yet, only wearing the slip-on that's supposed to go underneath the dress. "I was joking." You say when you see how distraught she looks. "Hey, everything okay?"

"I never thought I'd be the first to get married." She shrugs. "You were supposed to set the example.." She trails off a little. "That was the plan right: you're older, God knows you're wiser." She chuckles a little, then shakes her head. "I know this is stupid. There is no right order for us to do this, it's just that-" She sighs. "I am not going to be a girl anymore. I'm going to be someone's wife and I'm not sure I know how to be one. We haven't discussed any ground rules for this marriage, I have no clue what he expects of me. I don't know how to be a wife. Or a mother."

You walk over and wrap your arms around her from behind. "Calum is the luckiest guy in the world." You smile. "So you haven't figured everything out yet, truth is no one has. And we're not supposed to follow the scripts we wrote of our lives when we were nine, if anything I think reality turned out better than anything we've dreamed of."

She smiles. "I guess you're right."

"And this little one is going to be so loved." You say, resting your hand on her stomach. "They don't even know it yet, but they have the coolest parents around. I mean, Calum is this famous star that has every girl falling at his feet and he picked you. And that doesn't make you the lucky one. Out of thousands of girls he has been fortunate enough to meet this sensitive and caring and vibrant young woman who sees right though him and always reminds him of what matters most. It is your love that inspires people all over the world. It's why we're all here today." You smile. "It's why you need to hurry up and get into that stunning dress of yours."

Your friend giggles. "I love you."

"I know." You nod. "Love you more." You let go of each other and you start rummaging around with the settings on your camera's while your best friend slips into her dress. It's a gorgeous v-neck piece that fits tightly around the torso and flows out at the waist. No sparkles, like you girls used to picture. Instead lace draws out the shape of roses all over the fabric. It's flowy and almost casual for a wedding dress, but it suits your best friend perfectly. "Calum's not gonna know what hits him."

"I'm gonna cry." Your best friend smiles, tearing up just the slightest bit.

"No, no, no. Don't ruin the make-up." You smile. "We worked hard on that." You chuckle.

"Right, right. Calum is marrying a mess." She chuckles. "How did Meghan Markle make this look so effortless?"

"Everything's easy for the royals." You roll your eyes. "I'm sure they were nervous, too, you know. Underneath it all."

"Yeah, okay." She nods. "I'm just so glad you're here."

"Of course, through all of it." I smile. "Now let me get a photo before we go out there." You grab hold of your camera and snap a couple of photos of your best friend in her dress. "All right, I'll go get your dad."

"Thank you."

You hug her one last time. "Next time we talk you'll be a wife." You grin. "I'm so proud of you."

"Go, go, you're gonna make me cry again." She chuckles. "I'll see you out there."

"Smile pretty for the camera."

"I'll try." She grins.

You leave the dressing room and really take in the location as you make your way to the room of your friends father. The wedding is held at a massive yet cosy house. Far enough from the city to have complete privacy. It's an outdoor wedding, which really was the best idea with this 28 degrees weather. But even if the weather was bad, the ceremony could easily be held inside. The house is decorated with extravagant art pieces, something both your friend and Calum love. It was part of why they picked the place. Just as you're about to knock on the door, your best friends father opens up.

"[Y/N]," He smiles warmly. "Is she ready?"

"Ready as she'll ever be." You grin.

"Who would have thought.. my little girl." The old man smiles. "We'll be right out, will you make sure everyone is ready?"

"Will do." You nod and take that as your cue to take off. The ceremony is held at the far end of the backyard and when you get there everyone is already seated. Excitement is in the air and you shoot Calum a wink. Nerves seem to kick in at the sight of you, it really is happening now. You get closer to take a couple of shots of the crowd. Then the ceremony begins and as your best friend comes into the picture, you don't shoot her. Instead you turn to Calum, capturing the exact moment he sees his bride. You grin in accomplishment as you look back at the photo; Calum his eyes are watering and he's wearing the biggest smile you've ever seen on him. It's so genuinely sweet, with just a touch of shyness, almost as if he can't comprehend she really is going to be his.

Then you turn to your friend to take a couple of full-body shots of her with her father by her side, walking down the isle. That's when you spot a pair of eyes watching you with intrigue. You hold the guy his gaze for a moment, then get out of the way for the crowd to really focus on your friend, no distractions. But even when you're off to the side, the boy his eyes are still trained on your. You allow your eyes to wander. He wears a loose black silk shirt with black trousers, which would be kind of odd at any other wedding. Calum and [your friends name] let everyone wear whatever they wanted, they're all for creative expression like that. The all black outfit makes the guy stand out, but not necessarily in a good way. The longer you look, though, the better he seems to get. His slicked back hair falls in waves down to the crook of his neck. His brows are kinda thin and messy, hovering over vivid baby blue eyes. His pale skin makes him look devilishly handsome.

Completely mesmerized, unaware of your movements, you take his picture. Only when you look through the media on your camera you realize you know this guy. Or, of him. He's one of Calum's bandmates. You feel a little stupid for not seeing it before. Ashton you recognized in a heartbeat, you've met the guy plenty times before. Michael isn't very hard to spot in a crowd, he stands out no matter how hard he tries not to. But Luke, Luke seems to blend in a little easier. At first glance there's nothing to make you stop in your tracks. It's all in the details, you just have to be lucky enough to catch them.

"I do." The voice of your best friend sounds perfectly certain as she commits her life to her greatest love. You focus on snapping pictures, instead of on the eyes you feel burning into your skin every time you walk by.

After the ceremony, everyone sits around the yard. There are tiny sitting areas sprawled around, huge pillows providing comfort to whoever decides to sit. You wander around the premises, taking shots of cute details like the basket of blankets with a note that reads: to have and to hold, in case you get cold. There are two guestbook tables, both unconventional. One holds a massive jar and heart-shaped pieces of paper to write your best wishes on. The other does hold a guestbook, along with a polaroid camera to capture the memories of tonight.

"Should we take one?" Beside you, Luke flashes a small smile. You return a weak one, accompanied by a blush. "A photo." He clarifies. "Although I guess you've been taking those all day, huh?" He asks, pointing to the cameras hanging from your shoulder.

"[your friends name] made me swear years ago that if she ever married I'd be the designated photographer."

"You're that good?"

"When she asked, I definitely wasn't." You chuckle. "But, I mean, what fifteen year old really knows how to see the beauty of the world and is able to capture it?"

"So you're the best friend. [Your name], is it?" You nod. "Wow, it's great to finally meet you."

"Eventually we were supposed to, don't you think?"

"Ah, you do know who I am." Luke smiles but he looks a little confused. "You had this kind of look, like you had no clue."

"I didn't, not at first." You confess. "Years ago, when your band was just gaining popularity, [your friends name] told me you were all drop-dead gorgeous. I've been looking out ever since."

"And yet we didn't catch eyes for the longest of time. You don't think I'm drop-dead gorgeous?"

"I think you're an interesting subject." You tease.

Luke laughs. "You know, that sounds far from a compliment."

"I do have eye for this kind of stuff." You joke.

"So do I." Luke dares. He brings the polaroid camera up to his eyes and before you know it he has taken your photo. "I have something to tell you." He says, biting his lip. "But it's kind of a secret, you really can't tell anyone."

You giggle. "What is it?"

"Most single people, like myself," he seems to put emphasis on stating that fact, "attend weddings to find a date, you know, for the next wedding season. Or just to get laid." He shrugs, making you laugh. "Not me."

"So what are you here for?"

"Apart from my undying love for my brother and best friend Calum Thomas Hood." His lips twitch up as he fights a smile, determined to keep up his performance. "I am here to steal your job."

"Oh are you now?" You smile.

"I am." He confirms, this time unable to stop himself from smiling. "See, I have great eye for anything beautiful. As all artists do." He states, matter of factly. "And there's this girl I saw earlier, and this is gonna sound cheesy but I swear to God her smile is a work of art. The only problem is that no one has taken her photo yet." He pouts a little. "Well, that is, until just a minute ago." He grins as he shakes the polaroid, waiting for your image to appear.

"What's next? Am I going to get a song?"

"You want one?" Luke raises his brows.

"You're the artist, right?"

"Well," he sucks in a deep breath as he looks at the polaroid. Turning it around to show you, he laughs. "Not the best around." The lighting has caused for horrible flashes through the photo, making the contrast look the absolute worst. There's not much of your face to see, actually.

"It's not that bad."

"Thanks for not breaking my heart." Luke grins.

You take the polaroid camera from his hands. "Guess it's my turn, since we're supposed to compare." You take his picture and wait for the polaroid to clear up. You purse your lips together when you see the result. "Guess that's my career down the drain." You chuckle.

"Oh come on, you didn't even try!"

"Just stick them in the book." You shake your head, smiling. "Ten years from now, when you're a famous photographer, I'm sure we will all have a great laugh."

"You want to see me ten years from now, huh?" Luke holds your gaze for a little too long, making you look away to hide your blush.

Recollecting yourself, you tuck your hair behind your ear. "I said all of us, as in Calum and [your friends name] and their kids, probably. Maybe you'd be there, I don't know, it did take us five years to meet, after all."

"So I'll take you out on a date then, say, five years from now. To keep the tradition up."

"Sure, yeah. And second dates could be dinner at home, right? So we'll double date with the newlyweds, who will probably be sick of each other by then, perfect timing to have a look back at this day because it will save their marriage, right? And we'll still be in that awkward getting to know each other phase. I read somewhere that equal embarrassment instantly creates a trusting bond, which is a perfect fundament for any relationship."

"How many years from now should I write you that song?"

"Sixth date?"

"That's in thirty years."

"He's good at math." You note.

"My mum teaches."

"I'm not supposed to know that yet, whatever will we talk about during all those dates we've got planned?"

"What do you usually talk about on dates?"

"Well," you start. "There always is some bashing about either Tinder or Badoo, whichever app I met the guy on. We both agree to totally hate the platform even though it is how we met. Then we discuss the basics, like where we went to school, where we grew up, what we do now, that sort of stuff. And by the end of the night I know all this information about someone I know I'll never see again, because both parties would just rather forget it ever happened." You explain. "And we'll both return to the app we claim to hate to do it all over again." You chuckle. "Which is why we are going to skip all of that. The small talk, I don't want any of it." You state, leaving the options of what you are going to do open for his interpretation.

"You're just full of ideas, aren't you?" Luke smiles a little.

"How would you know? We haven't even been on our first date yet." You bite your lip, then turn around to join the rest of the party.

"Friday. Seven." Luke calls out from behind. You grab hold of your camera and turn to capture the moment. Luke is smiling, ear to ear, top row of his teeth on full display, his eyes closed. "Did you just?" He asks, only seconds later.

"Gifts are for our three months anniversary, guess you'll just have to wait and see."

____

Wasn’t gonna post this at first bc it feels like betraying the teen wolf roots of this blog, but what the hell this blog is a fandom mess anyway.

Let me know what you think of this! Would love to hear from you.

#5sos #5 seconds of summer #luke hemmings #luke hemmings oneshot #5sos oneshot #5sos imagine #luke hemmings imagine #Calum hood #Michael clifford #ashton irwin #5 seconds of summer oneshot #5sos fic

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auburnfamilynews · 4 years

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I really want to start this in some cliché way like, ‘What a decade it’s been for Auburn baseball!’ and I would be completely justified with that. Auburn started the 201Xs with an SEC Western Division Championship, the only one of those in the decade, and hosting their first regional since 1999 and the only one we have seen in these past 10 seasons (though Butch and the Boys got jobbed out of one two years ago). Following that was one of the most desolate stretches of baseball Auburn has seen. From 2011-16, Auburn would make one NCAA tournament appearance and win a single game, go through two coaches, going through one of those after fall practicing and forcing a first- time head coach to learn the players while actually playing real, meaningful games. October 21st, 2015 was the lowest point, but the 22nd is where you would see the line level out and begin to move back up. Butch Thompson was that first-time coach and began the March to Omaha. A ton of great players have graced the turf at Plainsman Park and I have witnessed or listened to most of the games during that time so here are the ones that I feel would be on my All-Decade team for the Auburn Tigers.

OUTFIELD AND DESIGNATED HITTER

LF: Jonah Todd (2017)

CF: Anfernee Grier (2014-16)

RF: Trent Mummy (2010)

DH: Kevin Patterson (2010-11)

Center Field - Anfernee Grier

There are going to be a ton of Honorable Mentions for this, so settle down all you new fans to Auburn baseball. Let’s start with one that I know people are asking, “Who?” Trent Mummy was the Tigers Right Fielder in the magical 2010 and finished in second for the batting title with a robust .366 average and was 3rd on the team in Home Runs with 17, despite missing half the games that season due to injury. Also, in Trent’s corner and a bit of a personal note, my buddies and I select a player each year that we believe will win the Dong Championship (Most Home Runs) and my brother selected Trent in the 2010 season. During one game that year, Trent showed bunt, pulled it back, and proceeded to crush one over K Korner for a 3 run bomb. I don’t think I have ever seen my brother freak out like that and never let us forget about the time he saw “The coolest thing he’s ever seen” (Love ya Will). Back to the list, Center Field was probably the toughest position to fill and you will see why when we get to Left Field. Anfernee Grier is the choice here because he was and still is an all-world talent, unbelieve range in the outfield who helped account for 364 Put Outs in his Auburn career and finished in the field with a .966 Field Percentage. As good as he was in the field, he was just as good at the dish, with a .323 BA over his career and 14 bombs and 35 stolen bases. His senior season was by far his best. A .366 BA, 41 RBIs, 12 HRs, a Slugging Percentage of .576 and matched his sophomore season with 3 triples. To Grier’s right hand side, I would put the man that took over Center for him in the 2017 season, Jonah Todd in Left Field. Todd was a Junior College transfer out of Marion Military Academy and all he did was fill the shoes of Grier and become a guy that Auburn fans would grow to love in just 63 games. Todd was everything you want in a ball player, gritty, tough and loved the game. As a lead off man at the dish, all Todd did was lead the team in BA with a .376 and was second in the SEC for the year. Think he beefed it up against non conference foes? Nope, Todd excelled in conference play batting .404. Oh and his 91 hits, were the most by an Auburn Tiger since a guy named Hunter Morris played. Todd was a Second Team All-SEC performer and also was named as an SEC All-Defensive team selection with only one error in the 17 season. Todd went from undrafted out of JC to a 6th round pick of the Angels in the 2017 draft and is still in the game today. At DH, I decided to go old school again and pick up Kevin Patterson. KP’s best season was his Junior year of 2010 where he was named the First Team All-SEC DH, batting .315 with six doubles, two triples, 16 bombs and 33 RBIs on the year. He was able to tally a .782 slugging percentage and popped up the BA to .407 against SEC competion.

Honorable Mention: Judd Ward in Left, Creede Simpson and Jay Estes in Center, Steven Williams in Right, Edouard Julien at DH

INFIELD

1B: Hunter Morris (2010)

2B: Casey McElroy (2010-11)

SS: Will Holland (2017-19)

3B: Demek Tomscha (2013-14)

C: Ryan Jenkins (2010)

US PRESSWIRE

First Base - Hunter Morris

Alright, let’s get to the slam dunk of the All-Decade team. The SEC Player of the Year in 2010, first Auburn player to win the award since Tim Hudson did it in 1997, Hunter Morris. Morris led the Conference in Slugging Percentage (.767), in hits (94), in home runs (20) and in total bases (1818), was second in runs scored (60), third in RBIs (67) and was fifth in Batting Average (.398) through the regular season. When it was all said and done, Morris would have a BA of .386 and 23 Home Runs on the year in 2010. Morris would be receiving soft tosses from a guy he knew well in Casey McElroy at second base. Though Ryan Bliss made a major push this past season and Luke Jarvis before him, I have to give the nod to C-Mac based only on work at the plate. McElroy batted .325 on that 2010 team while driving home 9 bombs and 43 RBIs. His Junior year was even more impressive at the dish, with a BA of .372 and driving in another 9 Home Runs despite the 2011 year being the first year of the ‘dead bat’ era. He was that dangerous back half of the lineup guy that teams hate to have to face. Casey’s Double Play partner would be none other than Will Holland. I really don’t need to introduce you to the Dutchman but that won’t stop me. Holland finished his Auburn career with a .256 BA, 24 dingers, 102 RBIs and was named Second Team All-SEC and First Team All-South Region by ABCA in his sophomore season. Though he didn’t have the offensive season he had hoped for in 2019, he was the unquestioned leader of the team outside of Tanner Burns and was one of the key cogs that helped the Tigers get back to Omaha in 2019. At Third Base is one of the lone bright spots from the dark years of 2011-16 on the field for the Tigers in Demek Tomscha, who carries the banner for other Tigers like Garrett Cooper, Ryan Tella, ‘Macho Man’ Patrick Savage and Daniel Robert just to name a few, who gave Tiger fans hope, even when the rest of the SEC had caught up with the Tigers in the early days of the baseball facilities race, a race that Auburn is slowly moving in to. Back to Tomascha, the Big Iowan had a career .293 BA with 12 Homers and had a fielding percentage of .955 at the hot corner while having only 18 errors in 165 attempts. Tomschas senior year was his best though, .313 BA with 5 HRs and 29 RBIs. Behind the dish is Ryan Jenkins. The man that wouldn’t be on this list if it weren’t for an injury earlier in his career, Jenks was given an extra year of eligibility from the NCAA and was allowed to play on the 2010 team. He took advantage, being named to the Second team All-SEC with a .365 BA (tied for 3rd best on the ‘10 team) and a robust .404 average against SEC teams. Though Jenkins was spelled by Tony Caldwell, he was the leadership glue, along with Morris, that got the 2010 team to the SEC Western Division title.

Honorable Mention: 1B – Garrett Cooper and Daniel Robert, 2B - Ryan Bliss and Luke Jarvis, 3B Dan Gamache and Josh Anthony, C – Blake Austin

PITCHING

Friday Starter: Casey Mize(2016-18)

Saturday Starter: Keegan Thompson (2014-15, 17)

Sunday Starter: Tanner Burns (2018-19)

Mid-week Starter: Grant Dayton (2010)

Relief: Cole Lipscomb (2014-17)

Relief: Andrew Mitchell (2016-18)

Relief: Austin Hubbard (2010)

Closer: Cody Greenhill (2018-19)

Todd J. Van Emst

Midweek Starter - Grant Dayton

One thing I believe we will all agree on is that the pitching in the back half of the decade has been head and shoulders above the first half. No offense to the likes of John Luke Jacobs, Corey Luckie and Slade Smith who all had solid careers in the first half but when you have six of the eight spots come from guys that hit their stride from 2015 on, that says something. The headliner is without question, Auburn’s first and only top draft pick Casey Mize. We will quickly hit the highlights of his masterful career. 2.95 ERA, 324 Ks, a WHIP of 0.44 and a 20-13 record that included 5 Complete Games (a rarity in college ball) that also included a no-no in his junior year (one batter away from a perfecto). Saturday’s Starter is the man that trained Casey on how to pitch Friday Nights, Keegan Thompson. Thompson was the backbone of the pitching staff through a disjointed career that involved a redshirt season due to an arm injury. For his career, Thompson posted a 2.46 ERA with a 19-10 record that included 4 complete games (two each in his Freshman and Sophomore season) and teams batted only .207 against him. He was drafted by the Cubs in the 3rd round and was the highest pitcher taken from Auburn, at the time, since Steven Register back in 2004. That takes us to the Sunday starter in the person of Tanner Burns. Burns is an absolute bulldog that gets after it in a big way. Last year, Burns was named a 3rd team All American by Perfect Game and so far in his career boasts a 2.92 ERA with an 11-8 with one complete game while only allowing teams to bat .222 against him. Burns will be the unquestioned Friday Night starter for the 2020 version of the Auburn Tigers who look to get back to Omaha for the second year in a row. For the midweek starter, because this is my list and I want an insane midweek starter, I will take Grant Dayton. Looking at only his 2010 stats, Dayton posted a 4.36 ERA with an 8-3 record while allowing teams to bat .269 against the Tigers 2010 Friday night starter. The thing to remember about the four pitchers above, each one of them started on Friday night’s and faced the best of the best in the SEC and in Dayton’s case, faced them in the BB-Core ‘live bat’ days.

That brings us to the relievers, headlined by Cole Lipscomb. Lipscomb was a starter for the Tigers until Casey Mize emerged as the dominate force he turned out to be. For his career, Lipscomb held a 3.55 ERA with a 14-7 record while holding teams to a .234 BAA. In his senior year, Lipscomb was an over powering matchup, as he was able to give the Tigers the long relief they needed to finish out games. You always need that ‘do anything you need him to guy’ in the pen and that guy was Andrew Mitchell. Need him to start 10 games in his freshman year? You got it, and he would go 4-4 in them. Need a reliable arm to give you a few outs to get you to Lipscomb? Mitchell’s your guy. Pitching staff needs a Sunday starter and you gotta have some solid innings? Yup, Andrew Mitchell. While his stats won’t blow you away, a 4.95 ERA and an 11-10 career record and a .256 BAA, I will take guys like Mitchell any day of the week to get me out of a sticky inning any day. After that inning though, who do you go to? If this was before 2018, the answer is Austin Hubbard. In 2010, Hubbard had a year to remember. In the live bat era, Hubbard post a 2.44 ERA with a 6-2 record and held opponents to a .239 BAA. However, I said before 2018, Hubbard would be my closer, after it though, is only one man.

The closer for the All-Decade team is Cody Greenhill. Twenty is the monster. The man teams hate to see in the 9th. The hard throwing righty from Russellville currently has a 2.87 ERA with an 8-6 record to his name with 17 saves (just 5 away from Austin Hubbard’s 22 in 4 years) in just 2 seasons. Greenhill has also shown he can go for a while to get the save, as The Bull has only gone 1 inning or less in 10 of his 49 career appearances.

Honorable Mention (from most recent to oldest): Elliott Anderson, Davis Daniel, Calvin Coker, Corey Herndon, Trey Cochran-Gill, Dillon Ortman, Rocky McCord, Corey Luckie, Jon Luke Jacobs, Sean Ray

There you have it. I’ve made my case for the All-Decade team for the Auburn Tigers. Who do you have? Did I miss someone or do you think one of the honorable mentions is more deserving? Make your case below and let the debate begin!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/12/20/21031069/all-decade-team-auburn-baseball

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wanderlust225 · 7 years

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30,003 steps of deer, shrines and new cities

Today was a big day of getting the most out of my JR pass. I woke up early and grabbed the local train to Nara. The city is best know for the approximately 1200 deer that roam freely around Nara Park which encompasses most of the major temples, dating back to the 8th century. The deer are protected because, as legend has it, a mighty god that came to visit the aristocrats in Nara came in riding on a white deer. From the train station it looks like a very normal city, until you hit the park limits and the first of the deer. Many tourists, myself included, are stunned when they first see the deer. Many tourists, myself included, also buy crackers without fully realizing the deer will nip and chase anyone with crackers. To be fair, they are wild animals and the nips weren't that aggressive (more of a "hey, I'm back here and would like a cracker") -- that said, I got rid of my crackers fairly quickly. A few funny sights: - One woman tried to hide behind a fence - I guess forgetting that deer are excellent jumpers - It seemed odd to me that some families let the mother, who also happened to be holding a baby, buy the crackers! - A little asian boy, probably 12 years old, screaming the girliest scream I've ever heard - Countless little girls freaked out by this experience -- I think this would have been me at ages 4 - 14 Once I had a bit of fun with the deer I decided to get on with my busy schedule as I only had a few hours in Nara. I headed to the Kasuga Taisha Shrine which was a gorgeous walk lined with thousands (literally) of ancient stone lanters. This was the shrine the aristocrats back in the 8th century had built in the forest and its age alone made it awe-inspiring to me. Next I walked through the woods to Todaiji Temple. The original temple was built at the same time as Kasuga Taisha, but was burnt down twice due to war. I saw a model of the old temple and it was even bigger than today (though today is the largest wooden structure in the world). It also had two pagodas that flanked the temple which were each 100 meters tall. Just incredible what people were able to do in the name of religion and without modern technology... also saddening how every temple has its own story of destruction caused by war. Often that war was WWII. Inside this massive structure is a Giant Buddha, and that it is! I headed back to the train station, giving myself some time to check out local foods. I got a delicious sesame rice cake (so much better than what you have in your mind). A bit further into town I heard people chanting and a crowd gathering. When I got closer I realized they were making dough - one man quickly folding before the other slammed it down with a huge wooden mallot. What a way to knead dough! Of course it would be rude not to try it... it had an almost runny dough exterior, filled with black bean paste (which as you may have noticed is my new favorite thing). Next, I hopped onto the train to Osaka. You might ask why I didn't plan more than half a day in Osaka - read on and you'll understand. Things started off well as I miraculously guessed the right stop to get off which deposited me right next to the Osaka Castle. It was a really gorgeous structure, a Castle on the Hill as one of my favorite songs right now states. I only had a few hours (and am a little torn on museums right now given my Tokyo trip) so I moved on to the Shi-Tennoji Temple which dates back to 574 and is said to be the oldest official temple. It was built by Prince Shotoku who was one of the first people to bring Buddhism to Japan. It was relatively simple, though admittedly my standards have risen the past few days, but what really surprised me was that I was the only tourist there. Perhaps its lack of sparkle means its only frequented by locals, because every single sign was only in Japanese. To get to Sumiyoshi-taisha Shrine I took the Osaka tram. (Side note: If you ever come to Japan the first thing you should do is buy a Passmo - a card you can use on all the bus / subway / tram lines but also for any convenience store purchases. It has saved me scrambling for undecipherable coins too many times to count.) It was a pretty cool experience on the tram as you got to see the city during the trip -- although I must say that Osaka is a pretty standard "big city," and at the risk of sounding grim, one with little charm. That said, the shrine was another gorgeously manicured place and, in my opionion, the coolest feature was the Taiko-bashi bridge which was the steepest bridge I have ever climbed. I almost could have used my hands as if I were on a ladder. Finally, I had planned to grab dinner at a place recommended by one of Stephen's Wharton friends in the downtown Dotonburi area. I was pretty excited about this as I had been snacking for most of the day and was pretty tired and hungry by 5pm. I arrived at the restaurant and they said without a reservation they couldn't let me in. This is the first time I have been turned down as a single traveler, and while they claimed it was because they serve meals in separate rooms (so I couldn't just sit at a bar), I wonder if it was because after a day of traveling, and with my backpack, I looked a bit too "traveler-like." Oh well. I headed to the main strip of Dotonburi instead which was actually super cool and ended up eating at a yakitori, at a seat right on the river. With the sun setting over the river, lots of pedestrians on the wooden boardwalk and boat cruises moving by, it was super picturesque and it was beyond me why I was the only one sitting outside! I ordered a Japanese cocktail and while I was afraid it would be super sweet it turned out being fantastic - soju with club soda and lime. Yum. Alas, it was time to head back to Kyoto though. I was booked on the last train and planned plenty of wiggle room to make sure I wasn't stuck in Osaka for the night. (For reals.) Good thing too as I spent 30 minutes trying to find the subway to get to my train station. Amazingly, when I finally boarded the train back to Kyoto, I barely had time to plug in my phone and put stamps on a few postcards before we arrived. It's only 10 minutes on the Shinkasen from Osaka to Kyoto, meaning we were going an amazing 180 mph. Wowza. And over 30k steps later I am superbly tired. So time for rest before another busy day tomorrow!

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finley899032-blog · 6 years

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fitono · 7 years

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Fix Your Fitness Marketing: 5 Key Strategies to Learn From the Bulletproof Empire

If you’re frustrated that others seem to be getting more attention and clients, the problem probably isn’t your information — it’s your delivery.

In Seth Godin’s book, The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World, he explains that readers and potential clients already hold a certain worldview and perspective before encountering you and your information. Your aim is to frame a story within their worldview that they can buy into and, in turn, become believers.

This is easy to say, hard to do, and even harder to do well.

Rather than laying out strategy after strategy, let’s examine one of the most polarizing and financially successful figures in our business and tease out what he does well. In this article, I’ll take a look at how Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof, can convince his followers to add gobs of butter in their coffee and believe it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, all the while building an empire worth millions. You’ll learn:

The key strategy that smart marketers focus on to make their message impact more people.

Who your About page is actually for (hint: it’s not about you).

How a complete stranger can influence a buying decision more than you alone.

The two things that will make your service and products irresistible.

First, if you’re not familiar with Dave Asprey, let’s catch you up.

Asprey is a computer-guy-turned-Silicon-Valley-bizillionaire-turned-biohacker. A biohacker is someone who has a keen interest in “do it yourself” biology. Many science-minded fitness professionals love to hate on what Asprey conveys, claiming that it is too often a load of unsubstantiated pseudoscience and crockery. Regardless of whose side you’re on, you’d be wise to remove your personal biases and take notes on how he, like Dr. Oz and Food Babe, commands millions of loyal followers.

To Read After: 3 Lessons Fit Pros Can Learn From Dr. Oz and Food Babe (http://ift.tt/2ytqPmR)

Here are the five key things you can learn from.

1. Communicate Through Stories

“Storytelling and marketing go hand-in-hand. Just think about it. Whether you’re producing infographics, writing copy for a Facebook ad, or writing a free online guide, you need to capture your audience’s attention.” – Neil Patel and Ritika Puri of Quicksprout

In a Fast Company article, Rachel Gillet wrote that our “brains are far more engaged by storytelling than the cold, hard facts.” It makes sense.

We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare because many of us have felt that hubris of rushing into things, confident that we know more than we really do, and have things blow up in our face when we sit on our laurels. It’s a memorable and crucial life lesson masquerading as a children’s story.

Simply, it’s easier for us to remember stories because we can imagine and fortify them with our personal experiences and perspectives. When you’re weaving a story, you’re connecting with the reader.

As Patel points out, at the end of the day you’re dealing with emotionally-driven humans.

Asprey harnesses the power of storytelling to further Bulletproof’s mission. In the end his story is relatable, human, and memorable. My rendition of his story goes like this:

Asprey had a history of weight problems and was plagued with low energy and digestive issues. Even after seeing hundreds of medical experts, traditional medicine couldn’t quite solve his woes, so he spent a lot more money conducting experiments on himself to find out what could cure him.

His breakthrough moment hit him during a trip in Nepal, where he had spent time with the Sherpa people, an ethnic group from the Himalayas. While climbing a mountain, he fell ill from altitude sickness and was given a tea brewed with yak butter to treat it. The concoction cured his altitude sickness, but it also restored his energy for him to continue his climb.

Throughout his time with the Sherpa people, Asprey had observed that they drank high-calorie cup after high-calorie cup of this stuff, but no one was fat. It led him to question the prevailing wisdom that “fat makes you fat” and figured there must be something different about this combination. When he returned to the States, Asprey recreated this concoction with grassfed butter instead of Yak butter, and with coffee instead of tea. He named it Bulletproof Coffee and claimed that his “new” discovery of butter in coffee helped him not only lose weight, but become more productive, and also cured his digestive ailments.

Thus, his Bulletproof empire was born.

This is the kind of tale that has all the bits of storytelling we crave: his struggles and failures in the pursuit of perfect health, along with millions of dollars spent on “hacking” his health.

Juicy stuff.

Because of this we see Asprey as just another guy with common ailments that conventional medicine and Big Pharma could not help. This made his problems relatable and casted doubt on modern medicine, and in the process, set up his unconventional methods to be the answer.

By him sacrificing his body and money for science, you get to “reap” all of the benefits without any of the work or expense. He gives you the appearance of having committed a selfless act (using his hard earned money to help you, who may not have been able to afford it). What a guy.

You can do the same — with your ethics in check.

I know you have suffered for your goals. Before you started your career, I know you may have dieted or force-fed yourself, experimented with many things to find what works, trained long hours at times you would rather be sleeping, and spent more time on your feet in a day than most people do in a week.

You’re human, not just a glorified sex machine on Instagram. So act like it: Talk about what makes you relatable. Talk about all of the mistakes you have made. Talk about your failures and successes. Here’s an example:

You wouldn’t know it when you saw me, but I was miserable.

I was a celebrity hairstylist in one of the top salons in NYC. My work was in every magazine in the world and on every runway at fashion week. I hung out with supermodels and movie stars all day. I went home to the coolest neighborhood in Brooklyn every night.

I was 33 years old and killing it.

Yet something was missing.

For all the glitz and glamour, I just wasn’t happy.

I would bury my misery in sh*tty food, forget about my day with too much booze, and then try to absolve my sins by fasting or getting on the treadmill for an hour.

I hated the person I saw in the mirror. No matter how many new “hacks” I tried, I was still stuck. Still that skinny-fat kid too ashamed to take his shirt off at the pool.

Atkins, Zone, Paleo, Keto, Bulletproof.

They all worked great for a few weeks and then it just as quickly fell apart.

Same hamster, new wheel.

I was desperate for change. I was desperate for help. I was desperate for something more from life.

I read all the New York Times best-selling books.

I was told, just like you, that there was some magical properties to these diets that made them work. I was told that these diets were the only way to lose weight.

What I never realized was that these diets were too restrictive. They didn’t allow me to make choices for my well-being. They didn’t give me the tools to enjoy and stick to my guns in the long term.

When I failed at what was supposed to be “foolproof”, I’d felt like a failure. If this method was so popular, there must be something wrong with me.

But it wasn’t me.

I just needed to find another way that worked for me. That didn’t deprive me of joy, and was healthy and sustainable and still made me lose weight.

What I found was, the best way begins and ends with you, not some dogmatic approach to sell books.

Fads don’t work.

Gimmicks don’t work.

Butter in coffee doesn’t always work.

Consistent, measurable changes in lifestyle and choices do.

They aren’t necessarily easy, but they don’t have to be complicated.

When I finally realized this, when I was finally able to make the changes that led to real results, my world opened up.

Today I stand up tall.

I smile more.

I eat foods that fuel my workouts and recovery and still enjoy the things I love.

I stopped medicating myself with alcohol and “rewarding” myself with crappy food.

Today I love the man I see in the mirror (so does my wife).

Stop wasting years of your life like I did. Stop the up-and-down, rollercoaster ride of fad diets and gimmicky workouts. Do what works and has worked for hundreds of my clients.

I’ve been in that pit of despair. Let me help you out of it, too.”

This story conveys how you, too, have been fooled by great marketing; wasted money on gimmicks that don’t work; lost opportunities to better your fitness.

After reading this, your readers might feel OK about making mistakes, instead of feeling stupid that they’ve made mistakes. PubMed articles and Facebook tirades telling people are stupid make them feel, well, stupid.

And no one wants to feel stupid.

It’s natural for us to want to bludgeon delusional zealotry with logic and science, but cold facts don’t win any supporters. Stories do.

Storytelling and marketing go hand-in-hand. Capture your audience’s attention. – @neilpatel Click To Tweet

2. Make Your About Page About What You Can Do for the Reader

About pages are less about you and more about the reader. Every great About page has these elements:

In the example above, Asprey emphasizes “without counting calories or excessive exercise” and the fact that he could “sleep more efficiently in less time.” These speak to busy, time-strapped, and highly ambitious, entrepreneur-type folks, likely with family. His target customer is likely someone who’s tried all sorts of diets and programs (except for the fundamentals that work, of course) and failed.

By the time you create your About page, you should know exactly whom you’re talking to, who your ideal customer is, so that when they read your About page they feel as if you’re reading their mind.

Asprey lets the reader know that he personally has lost 100 pounds without doing the fussy work of counting calories or doing much exercise — incredible!

Losing weight without effort is always a great selling point (as long as it’s not a load of crock).

You don’t need to throw fancy certifications and education in people’s faces. The reality is, your customer doesn’t care to distinguish one certification from another. It’s the more subtle things like how much weight you’ve lost (or muscle you’ve gained), or the fact that you’re a best-selling author, or an author of a weight loss book (if you help people lose weight).

Overall, Asprey’s About page expresses what he’s able to do for the reader. More importantly, he isn’t selling his coffee, butter, or MCT oil.

He’s selling the reader a better life, whether that’s in the form of an improved physique, lower stress, a more fruitful career, or more available nights and weekends with family and friends.

Following Asprey’s and Goodman’s example here, start by telling people why you’re worth listening to. As Goodman’s two golden rules famously say:

1. Do good work.

2. Make sure everyone knows about it.

Do good work. Make sure everyone knows about it. @Jon_PTDC Click To Tweet

CSCS or ISSN? Who cares!

People want to know how what you’ve accomplished can help them. Did you help 100 people lose a combined total of 1,500 pounds last year? Great, spill it. Helped take four powerlifters to nationals? Awesome, write it down, too.

After letting people know what you’ve done, share why you’re qualified to help. Maybe you can talk about your weight loss or career transformation.

When writing your About page, follow this template for your story:

Step 1. Paint a picture of what life was like before.

Step 2. Describe what you did to change things.

Step 3. Help the reader envision what your life is like now and how they can benefit, too.

The key is to make yourself aspirational but still relatable. Be someone they want to be, but also someone they could imagine is just like them. Show people that they, despite the mountainous hurdles and obstacles, can overcome their adversity and find a way to take control of their health.

3. Sell What People Want to Hear

I can hear you thinking: “How does anyone fall for B.S.?”

The answer is stark: People do. Hell, I did. Most of my friends in the industry did as well.

We like to think we are immune to being fooled by pseudoscience, but even well-educated consumers aren’t safe. People can buy into things simply because someone else said it worked, also known as social proof.

Social proof is the validation of something — your program maybe — based on people having tried and vouched for it. Crowdsourced Yelp reviews is an example of a restaurant’s social proof, for example. This is why transformation photos and testimonials are such a powerful tool for your fitness business. Potential clients want to see the social proof that people just like them can succeed with your help.

Asprey was not trying to target fitness professionals, even if many fitness professionals did stand by his methods. He used social proof from a different niche. Observe:

Here is a guy who’s seen success in education, business, and now in health. His testimony pits Asprey’s suggestions against a doctor’s word, and gives his resulting health markers to show who’s “right.”

Understanding how to use social proof to your advantage can help to connect to your audience where it counts more: in their emotions. Nobody wants any more raw data in their day. They just want results. If you’re not already gathering testimonials from your current clients, you should be. This article by Goodman addresses a good system for getting testimonials.

READ: http://ift.tt/2yuD9mT

This is where your ideal client profile, or avatar, becomes so important. You have to know everything about who you are speaking to in order to know how your words will affect them. Here’s an example of fleshing out your avatar:

A single mother of three

35-45 years old with limited background in nutrition and exercise

She works full time as a regional sales manager for a retail clothing chain and must care for her kids

She has slowly put on 20 pounds over the last 10 years

Diets intimidate her, and she is overwhelmed by the idea of a fitness program

Notice how detailed the profile is. And here’s a sample ad targeted at this avatar:

“You don’t have to uproot your entire life just to lose a little fat. With just small changes over time, you will soon be making better decisions day in and day out. Decisions that will lead to more confidence to launch your career, more energy to spend with your kids, and a better outlook each and every day. Imagine where you could be and how you’ll feel in a month, six months, a year. Imagine, too, the example you can set for your kids when you share your healthy habits for a healthy body and mind.”

With this copy you reassure her that she will have time to succeed. You are giving her autonomy by letting her know her decisions will make change, not your instructions. You also set realistic expectations by not putting a short time window on results.

Your audience needs to know what they can get from your program, sure, but they should know how they will feel after doing it. Derek Halpern of Social Triggers says, “You don’t want to let people come up with their own reason why. If you do, they may come up with something completely different or something that isn’t nearly as powerful as the reason you originally intended.”

youtube

People don’t buy into Bulletproof merely because it will help them lose weight. They buy into the promise of an improved version of their life.

Be the one to give them that.

Fit pros: Your audience needs to know how they will FEEL after doing your program. @jebjohnston Click To Tweet

4. You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel

Here’s a scene: dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. Table for three. You, me, and Mr. Asprey. Take a look at the following scenarios and tell me which is an easier sell to a weight loss client:

Scenario 1

I sit down and tell you how you will lose fat and gain muscle with a lot of science and jargon. All you have to do is eat like me. That means five ounces of grilled chicken breast, one cup of plain white rice, and two cups of steamed broccoli. Every day. Plus, hey, look at me, I’m pretty ripped. Check out my abs on Instagram, bro.

Scenario 2

Asprey says nothing. He orders a 14-ounce porterhouse, rare, with two ramekins of butter that he proceeds to melt all over that beautifully marbled piece of choice meat. He savors every butter-y, juicy bite.

He’s not super ripped, but let’s be real: It’s a no-brainer that 99% of clients would flock toward the delicious steak that’ll still allow them to lose weight and lead a better life.

There’s a reason Asprey has a rabid fanbase that is unflinching in their support for the products. But it’s not like he invented anything new; instead, he made something novel. No one had ever thought to put butter in their coffee while claiming it would help people lose weight and gain better focus. No one realized he was just selling a different brand of calorie restriction. His way was sexier and different.

Novelty is one thing, but he also:

Made his entire diet simple and easy to understand. In the Bulletproof diet, there is no counting calories or macros: you just eat until you are full. For someone who is intimidated by the idea of dieting and doesn’t want to think or work so hard, this is very appealing and easy to sell. While you can’t promise your client that they won’t have to work hard, you can make things so easy for them or help them minimize the number of decisions in their day.

Told people what they can and cannot eat. The limitations are very clear. There is no guesswork and no grey area. People typically love boundaries.

As Goodman writes in his book:

“Another lesson that we can take from Bulletproof is how the company has marketed the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic (“keto”) diet is basically a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet. It’s nothing new. Lots of trainers promote ketogenic protocols or promote ketogenic diets as part of their marketing. Most of the coaches who speak about the keto diet describe it as an improvement – a bit better way to eat. Bulletproof, on the other hand, created a new category by changing the name (they called it “the Bulletproof Diet”) and wrote a book about it. In both cases, the company found a way to market something that already existed – coffee without harmful levels of mycotoxins and the ketogenic diet – in a novel and compelling way.”

Key takeaways here? Novelty and simplicity.

When you write articles or share any information on your social media posts, you need to make your information easy to understand and even simpler to do. Make it actionable.

For example, you might tell your clients to drink more water.

OK, good advice, but how?

Actionable advice: Have them put rubber bands on their water bottle. For every full bottle of water they drink, they remove a rubber band and put it on their wrist. The goal is to remove all of the rubber bands from their bottle.

I first learned of this from coach Nick Tumminello, and it’s a great way to take the guesswork out of seemingly good but easily ignored advice. Plus, it’s something that clients can actually act on.

5. Identify What Makes YOUR Products Irresistible

One of the core tenets of the Bulletproof business model is that they look out for you and your health because they’re on your side. Contaminants and mold in “other” coffee products could be poisoning you and causing your daily performance to suffer. Asprey recognized the marketability of information that others also knew but didn’t think was a big deal.

Case in point: At time of writing, the Bulletproof® Upgraded™ Coffee beans retail for $18.95 for a 12-ounce bag on their website.

On Amazon, a 12-ounce bag of organic, fair trade coffee beans from a different brand retails for $7.45. As Goodman pointed out in his book:

“Bulletproof can charge 2.56 times more for their coffee because the company claims that its upgraded coffee has gone through a process to remove something called mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are fungi. There are two specific types that exist in coffee: Ochratoxin A and Aflatoxin B1. Mycotoxins likely cause inflammation, fatigue, and possibly cancer. Ample research backs up the claim that mycotoxins are bad. It’s also true that these fungi are present in most coffee. These upgraded beans seem like an obvious choice.”

Goodman posits that coffee growers have known about mycotoxins for years and have been actively controlling and removing them. The real story is that, yes, mycotoxins can be a threat if consumed in large quantities, but good manufacturing practices keep them at safe levels.

In other words, as Goodman notes, “coffee growers were aware of the same problem as Bulletproof, and they adjusted their agricultural and manufacturing processes to fix the problem; they just didn’t recognize the marketability of it. Coffee remains a commodity competing on price, and Bulletproof has built an empire able to sell it at 2.56 times the market price.”

———

Billions of dollars are spent each year by people hoping for an easy solution to a complex problem. If the legitimate fitness industry hopes to have a chance at combating this hucksterism, it must adapt. Like it or not, posting studies and facts to social media are not changing anyone’s mind.

Help people understand that you are there to see them improve.

Find your way to their level, and find out what drives them. In fact, here’s a visual four-step guide to help you tighten up your messaging:

Click the image below to enlarge, or download the convenient PDF right to your computer to reference at any time.

There’s a right and wrong way to build a relationship with your clients.

Make sure you do the right things to keep clients (and make more money) for life. We’ll show you the savvy and ethical ways to sell personal training (without being slimy). Enter your email below to claim the free guide!

The post Fix Your Fitness Marketing: 5 Key Strategies to Learn From the Bulletproof Empire appeared first on The PTDC.

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itsworn · 7 years

Text

Coolest Dad Ever Builds 10-Second Coronet For Son’s Prom!

Gregg and Grant Somerville have taken a nice 1968 Coronet and transformed it into a beautiful beast.

The state of Florida is filled with lots of sun, lots of beautiful weather, and loads of cool cars. In that respect it can be kind of tough to stand out from the crowd, right? After all, when any of us builds a project we want to do it in a way that sets us apart from the crowd. Whether we outwardly say it or not, we want our stuff be the recognized because it is so clean, because it is so mean, or because it is just different than anything else, right? There are enough belly button cars out there that falling into line is easy. Thankfully, Gregg and Grant Somerville completely understand this train of thought and that’s how they came to create the awesome 1968 Coronet you see before you. No, this was not a father-and-son project that was planned from birth, but one that was a long time coming and has borne more fruit than either Gregg (dad) or Grant (son) could have likely ever imagined.

Getting the stance right on a car like this is really important and with the use of a full Hotchkis front end and the right leaf springs out back, the perfect look has been achieved. This Coronet looks ready to plant the radials and leap off the starting line at any moment.

Stories like this always have deep roots and in this case those roots sprouted with Gregg Somerville when he was a kid. “I was that kid that could identify the various muscle cars by the way they sounded,” Gregg said with a laugh. “I grew up around guys who loved drag racing and muscle cars and it rubbed off on me. I drag raced a Chevelle all the way through college and still spend time at the track today.” While he enjoyed his Chevelle, there was another guy that had a larger impact on him. “There was a guy around when I was a kid who had a Super Bee and just the sound of that car would make my arm hair stand up,” Gregg explained. “To this day there was something about that Mopar sound that connected with me.”

The Coppertone paint on the car came from a 1968 Triumph motorcycle, believe it or not. That color was beefed up with a healthy dose of pearl to really make it pop. Additionally, the cool airbrushing work on the car is a subtle but fantastic addition to the whole package.

For reasons genetic or otherwise, Gregg’s son Grant has loved old cars since he was old enough to peer out a window and see them. “It is pretty amazing to say but he has always had this knack for old cars,” Gregg said. “He’d be four or five years old and telling me to look at cars passing by or on the side of the road. When I had saved some money and he was old enough, this was something that we had talked about going after together and doing. Getting our hands on a car that we could do our way. That’s how this all got started.”

Here’s the belly of the beast and the engine that makes this Coronet so fun. The 526ci Indy Cylinder Head-built “Legend 526” took a factory 440 car that was fun and turned it into an amusement park on four wheels.

We’re taking nothing away from the great engine builders out there making horsepower every day but it is hard to argue the logic that Gregg followed when calling Indy and ordering a well sorted, reliable, turnkey 655hp package.

The real start of this father/son love affair with a 1968 Coronet started at the world famous Daytona Turkey Rod Run which is held at Daytona International Speedway. Among those thousands of cars are hundreds and hundreds for sale in a massive car corral. Back when Grant was 14 years old he and Gregg attended the event with cash in hand, looking for the right car for them. They walked into the facility and the first car they saw was a 1968 Coronet, and while they liked it they decided to keep on shopping. “We were leaving for the afternoon kind of disappointed that we did not find anything when we ran into the guy selling the Coronet again,” Gregg said. “The guy talked us into taking it for a ride and as we were cruising around I looked at Grant and we both kind of realized at the same moment that this was the car, so we bought it.”

Yes, the car was a runner and a driver but it was a far cry from the beastly thing you see sitting on the pages before you. “The car was an original 383 car and it had a kind of tired 440 in it when we bought it,” Gregg said. “The paint was OK but there were signs that we’d need to get into some body work, and generally speaking the car just needed help. It was a perfect project car because the whole thing was there and it was a ripe candidate to be improved upon.”

One area that did not get modified by Somerville was the interior. Outside of a couple additional gauges to keep track of the engine’s health, the guts of this Coronet are just as Dodge intended them to be in 1968.

The body was taken down to bare metal, the interior gutted, and the full scope of what needed to be done was seen. “There were rust issues in a few areas of the car and it was pretty wild to see how much steel was cut out of the car and replaced,” Gregg remembered. “B&B Autobody was a great partner in this project. They really did the job the right way and took a lot of pride in it as well. I have heard a lot of rough stories involving body shops, but these guys were pros from the start to the finish.”

You may be wondering about the color of the car. It is not a Mopar color. Instead it is a Triumph Motorcycle color called Coppertone that was tweaked with a significant amount of pearl in the mix. “Because of all the pearl in the paint, it legitimately changes colors depending on the light,” Gregg said with pride. “It is a pretty unique color and helps the car stand out from the crowd.” The large, square B-Body styling of the machine is also something that keeps it from blending in with some of the more curvaceous designs of the later 1960s.

If you are going to make 655 hp at the flywheel you better have the right stuff backing it up. This Strange built Ultimate 60 has 3.55 gears and a locker in it to get all of that power to the ground. Note how clean the underside of this car is!

As beautiful as the body of the car is and as unique as the paint is, if this car did not have the muscles to back up either of those two things it would all be for naught. By this point you understand that Gregg and Grant wanted to do this car once, and do this car right. By that logic there was only one possible engine to power it: an Elephant. That being said, there are tons of options to choose from these days. Build one from scratch? Go with a crate engine? A stock displacement mill? A stroker? Working with John Howard at 21st Century Automotive on the mechanical end of the car, Gregg nearly had Howard screw him together an engine but after doing a bunch of research he found another option. “I really wanted a powerful Hemi in this car because after all, when I was a kid I could not afford this stuff and when you are building a dream car, you want to go all out,” Gregg said with a laugh. “I found Indy Cylinder Head and had a few long conversations with Russ Flagle and ended up with one of their Legend 526 Hemi crate engines.” Indy has been around a long time and Gregg had a story he wanted to share about the company and their customer service. “I had the engine in the car for about a year, there was a mechanical problem and Russ took care of us like we were family,” Gregg said. “I shipped him the engine back, he took it apart, inspected everything, and kept his word on the repairs. I have had the engine back in the car ever since and it has run like a top. The thing is a total animal and I’m very happy I went in the direction I did with the powerplant.”

With 650-plus horsepower on tap and nearly 630 lb-ft of torque, you are probably wondering what the car runs in the quarter mile with its built 727 Torqueflite transmission. The answer is that the car runs in the high 10-second bracket, having reeled off a bunch of 10.90 passes at Bradenton Motorsports Park in its life. The car is a cruiser and boulevard bruiser more than a drag strip warrior, hence the fact that it does not have a roll bar in it. As we all know, they look cool but can get annoying on the street. This car has made its hero passes and it’ll stick to space shuttle launch burnouts for the foreseeable future.

One of the most visible and cool parts of any car is the stance or the rake. How a machine sits at rest tends to tell a story about how it performs while under power, right? “We went with a full Hotchkis Sport Suspension front system on this car,” Gregg said. “It drives really well and with the disc brake conversion it stops lots better than stock. The Strange-built Ultimate 60 in the back is very strong and has handled everything we have thrown at it. We run 3.55 gears in there and it keeps the car comfortable around town and on the highway.” The John Howard-built 727 transmission uses a 10-inch 3,000rpm stall converter which helps get the big Coronet up and at ’em quickly whether on the strip or the street.

The coolest part of this car isn’t the Hemi, it isn’t the paint, and it isn’t the fact that it can burn the tires for a city block or run 10s. The coolest thing is the multi-generational connection it has forged between Gregg and Grant. “This is a car he will have for the rest of his life,” Gregg said. “I let him drive it to his prom and he did not wreck it, so he passed that test recently.” That little kid who loved looking at old cars is going to be attending school in the fall to become a mechanical engineer at the University of Central Florida. The little guy who grew up listening to muscle cars and identifying them as they rolled by has officially passed the bug onto his son and he’s done so in a way that will keep that young man occupied and enthralled for the rest of his days. “This car has really bought us a lot of good time and it has been an amazing process,” Gregg said. “Whether we’re in the shop tinkering around, whether we’re going to shows together, or cruising the car, it’s something that we do together and I really cherish every minute.”

So you can take your pick on this one. Do you love the large and lovely looks of a 1968 Coronet? Do you like the killer custom color that pops in the sun? Do you like a 655hp stroker Hemi that thunders through exhaust cutouts? Perhaps you love the fact that this is a story about a dad and his son. A story that lots of car guys have been on one end or the other of. Or maybe like us you love all of the above!

Whether it’s hanging out on the white sands of a Florida beach or laying down 10-second laps on the black surface of a drag strip, Gregg Somerville’s 1968 Coronet punches all the right buttons for us. 655 hp, street driven, and a father/son project to boot!

FAST FACTS

1968 Dodge Coronet R/T Gregg & Grant Somerville; Bradenton, Florida

ENGINE

Type: Indy 526ci “Legend 526” hemi Bore x stroke: 4.31(bore) x 4.50(stroke), 526ci Block: Mopar Performance Siamesed iron block Rotating assembly: Eagle 4340 crank, Eagle H-beam rods, Diamond pistons Cylinder heads: Indy 426-SR aluminum heads Camshaft: Comp 305H Magnum camshaft, .560-/.543-inch lift, 305 degrees duration Valvetrain: stainless valves, Indy 426-27 rockers, Comp 0.80-inch wall pushrods, Milodon timing set Induction: Indy single-plane intake manifold, Holley 850cfm carb Fuel system: mechanical factory-style fuel pump Exhaust: TTI Headers, full dual exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers and Doug’s electronic exhaust cutouts Ignition: MSD 6AL box, MSD Blaster ignition coil, MSD billet distributor Oiling system: Milodon oil pan, wet-sump factory-style oiling system Cooling: Be Cool aluminum radiator, aluminum mechanical water pump Fuel: gasoline Output: 655 hp & 627 lb-ft as dyno tested Engine built by: Indy Cylinder Head Best e.t.: 10.90 in the quarter mile

DRIVETRAIN

Transmission: Chrysler 727 Torqueflite automatic, 3,000-stall Turbo Action converter by 21st century Automotive, trans equipped with Jeg’s transmission cooler Driveshaft: custom steel driveshaft Rearend: Strange Engineering Dana 60 equipped with Strange locking differential and 3.55 gears

CHASSIS

Front suspension: Hotchkis front spindles and sway bar, Hotchkis torsion bars, Hotchkis spring and shock package as well Rear suspension: stock-style shocks with leaf springs Steering: Steer and Gear rebuilt steering box Brakes: front brake Jeg’s disc conversation, rear brakes drum style Chassis: Hemi K-member swap, frame connectors added, torsion boxes added, Race-style pinion snubber added

PAINT & INTERIOR

Color: 1968 Triumph motorcycle company Coppertone with heavy pearl added, custom air brushing added Painter: B&B Autobody (Sarasota, Fla), Airbrushing by “Dr. J” Interior: Factory-style interior with addition of Auto Meter gauges to monitor engine

WHEELS & TIRES

Wheels: 15-inch American Racing Torq Thrust wheels (narrow in the front, wide in the rear) Tires: Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R front tires, 295/55R15 Mickey Thompson drag radials in rear

Special thanks: Gregg wants to thank everyone that contributed to the project, especially John Howard at 21st Century Automotive, Indy Cylinder Heads, B&B Autobody, his son Grant, and Dr. J who nailed the paint look he was shooting for.

The post Coolest Dad Ever Builds 10-Second Coronet For Son’s Prom! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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blackestfang · 7 years

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ch9 Lestullam

As the group rode into Lestullam the first thing they noticed wasn’t the massive size of the city, or the further advancement of technology in the city, but the insane heat. Prompto groaned hugging his chocobo’s neck, Ignis rolls up his sleeves and removes his mask once more, Noct groaned as he felt his armor and clothes sticking to him, the only one who didn’t have as much trouble was Gladio which was surprising considering his heavy armor.

“Guuuys, can I cast aqua breath or blizzard on myself?”

Gladio chuckled, “Remove the coat if you’re so hot.”

“But it holds my look together, without it I just look like a guy with a fetish for the color blue.”

“Prompto you already look that way,” Noct teases.

Prompto gasps acting offended, “Why I never!”

“You do,” Noct replied as they got off their chocobos handing them to the local stable workers to care for them while they are in town.

“According to Iris’s message she's waiting at the Leville, biggest hotel in town,” Gladio reminded the group from the note he had pulled back out looking over, “Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Noct looked over the town, “So just run around till we find it?”

“Sounds about right,” Prompto chuckled walking ahead, “Heard this place has lots of good food too wanna see if we can get some Noct?”

“Like you even have to ask.”

“AFTER we meet with Iris we can take a look,” The large knight growled bonking them both on the head. The two groan holding their heads as Ignis and Gladio lead the way, asking around they eventually found the hotel. The group walked towards the hotel Gladio clearly excited when Noct stops holding his head, he stumbles and falls to one knee.

“NOCT!” Noct shut his eyes trying to focus as image flash in his mind, his friends surrounding him trying to figure out what’s wrong, “NOCT?! NOCT?!”

Noct held up his hand slowly getting up, “J...just a bad headache..”

“A bad headache? Perhaps the heat is the cause?” Ignis questions.

“Maybe, I’ll just have to take my armor off once we’re in, now then lets go in.”

When they entered the entrance was finely decorated, clean, shiny walls and counters, a fancy rug on the floor. Workers stood at the counter working, footsteps came from the staircase as a young woman ran down waving, she had short brown hair, brown eyes, a bronze breastplate and shoulder plates, a back tank top, a black skirt, and black boots.

“GLADDY!” She exclaimed pretty much jumping into Gladiolus’s arms the two hugging, “I was so worried!”

“You were worried? I was the worried one Iris.”

Iris backed up holding his arms, “Well you’re all okay and that’s all that matters. OH also Jared, his grandson, and Dustin are here too, but their out right now getting some things so you call can be more comfortable during your visit.”

Gladio sighed in relief, “Their safe too.”

Iris looked down, “But..Dad..Dad didn’t make it, I heard he was killed fighting along with the king.” She fought back some tears as Gladio lifted her head up wiping away the tears and giving a calming smile, “Thanks, at least I still have you.”

Gladio pat her head, “Anyway, Iris what other information do you have?”

“Not much i’m afraid, but you all look tired i’ll take you to the room we set up for you guys.” She lead them to the top floor where their room was, a very nice room with two large beds, several chairs, a table, and a balcony. “This is the best room we could put aside for you guys. The beds are big enough to where you won’t notice sharing.”

Prompto fell back onto the bed kicking off his boots, Ignis slapped his legs as Prompto sat up putting his boots to the side as Gladio and Noct took off their heavy armor both sighing in relief feeling a little cooler.

“So when are they getting back?” Gladio asked sitting down removing his boots.

“They’ve been out for awhile so should be soon, you guys just take a load off.”

Prompto gave a thumbs up, “Way ahead of you.” The young scout giggled watching the group relax, Noct got into bed covering himself with the blanket and groaning.

“Still have a headache your majesty?” Ignis asked standing over him. Noct just nodded curling up, “Want some water?” Noct groaned as an answer, “Alright, i’ll be right back.”

“Don’t worry Iggy, I’ll go get it,” Iris ran out to get some water.

Prompto rolled onto his side, “Maybe it’s more than the heat, I mean the big guy is doing fine and he wears more armor than you.”

“Maybe I’m getting sick?”

Gladio grounded leaning back, “That’s the last thing we need.”

Iris returned with a glass of water handing it to Noct who pretty much chugged it, “Thanks Iris.”

“Feeling and better?”

“Not really,” there was a knock as an old man and little boy come in.

“Jared! Talcott! You’re back.”

Jared the old man smiled, “Prince Noctis, it’s very good to see you alive and well.”

“Might want to scrap that well part, Noct’s got a bad headache, it’s either the heat or he’s sick. Hoping it’s just the heat getting to him.”

“Well then good thing we thought ahead of time!” Talcott said with a smile.

“Talcott mind your manners,” his grandfather scolded.

Noct sat up, “It’s fine, what did you think of?”

Talcott held up a bag filled with clothes, “”Some more civilian or at least lower job class stuff.”

Ignis smiled taking the bag, “It would be best to change, you stick out like a sore thumb to be honest Noct.”

“Not my fault Paladin armor is that bright.”

Ignis sighed putting the bag next to the bed before going to the small kitchenette on the side, “Perhaps some soup for dinner in case you are sick.” The answer was once again a tired groan.

The next morning Noct woke up to an empty hotel room, where had the others gone? He sighs sitting up rubbing his head, felt a little better, maybe it was the heat then again he hadn’t told the others about the images that had flashed in his mind. He crossed his arms thinking about what he saw, a giant? He gets up looking at the bag, commoner clothes, he shook his head tossing them into his storage. He might stick out, it might be hot as hell but he wanted to wear his armor with pride.

Heading down stairs Iris was sitting around the lobby, seeing Noct she waves, “HEY NOCT!”

Noct waved with a yawn, “Yo, where are the others?”

“They went on a tour with Jared and Talcott.”

“And they left me behind.”

Iris blushed a bit, “well,we can go out, If you want..”

Noct shrugged, “Sure.”

Iris finally noticed what Noct was wearing, “Shouldn’t you be wearing the clothes Jared got you?”

“I should but I can’t bring myself too. But I’ll keep them in case we need a change.”

“Alright, let’s go!” she grabs his arm and pulls him along, first stop was the market. Rows of stalls filled with all kinds of food, spices, trinkets, rugs, and all kinds of other things. “This place is great for making amazing dishes, everything here is so fresh.”

“Sounds like your kind of place, Ignis’s too..”

Iris giggles and stops for a moment, ‘Noct go wait over there.”

“Why?”

“Just do it!” Noct sighed doing what she asked and soon she returns with a large bag, “Ok, next stop the power plant.”

“Power plant? What is that?”

“Oh right, it’s a newer thing and reason the town is so hot, it makes power using steam and other things instead of magic.”

“Magic is a lot cooler though and doesn’t make this heat.”

Iris pulls his arm leading him to a large building fenced off, “The coolest thing is this place is ran by only women.”

“That so? Sounds interesting.”

“I know right! Proving how strong women really are!”

“Says the scout training to be a knight for the highest ranking knights in the kingdom.”

“Well more than just me,” she huffed, “Now one more stop at the look out!” before Noct could comment she grabbed his arm pulling him along. The look out on the edge of town had a breathtaking view, they could see miles upon miles, they could even see the disc burning where people say Titan stands holding a meteor up.

Noct leans against the railing a bit, “Wow, this is so...amazing..”

Iris leaned next to him, “Noct, this is kinda like a date don’t you think?”

Noct laughed, “A date? Your brother would kill me and blame a daemon if it was.”

Iris laughed as well, “That does sound like him anyway we should get back.”

“Yeah or else I would be asking for Gladio’s rage.”

The two head back and Noct had another headache, not as bad so he pushed it back in his mind as Iris stopped him, “Noct..Did you have fun?”

Noct smiled, “Yeah actually today was great.”Iris blushed as they entered the lobby. The others were gathered around chatting, seeing Noct Prompto grinned and pushed Talcott forward a bit.

“Tell him what you told me.”

Talcott nodded, “So I heard this legend of a weapon behind a waterfall.”

“We passed a waterfall on the way here, it’s most likely the same one and with one of the king’s tombs inside,” Ignis remarked fixing his mask up, “We should head for it as soon as possible.”

Noct pat Talcott’s head, “Thanks for the tip.”

Talcott grinned as the group head out once more.

#ffxv #final fantasy xv #ffxv au #classic!ffxv #ffxv fanfiction

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