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elllisaaa · 2 months

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how seventeen would confess to you - pu vers.

-> pairing : svt pu × gn!reader

-> words count : 2.9k words

-> genre : svt members crushing on you, fluff

-> warnings : while make you giggle and kick your feet, sex implied in chan's part

-> sorry if I made any mistakes, english is not my first language.

-> reblogs and feedbacks are appreciated !

-> masterlist | svt masterlist hhu vers. | vu vers. | pu vers.

MOON JUNHUI - RUSHED

to me, he really has two different sides.

sometimes, he’s a goofball, joking along with you, making you laugh to the point you’re crying.

would 100% do something ridiculous if it made you at least smile.

he’s also very happy about the fact that the two of you have some inside jokes that only you understand and can laugh about (makes him feel like he’s special).

and the rest of the group would look at the both of you giggling like maniacs without understanding a word you said.

besides that, i think he’s very observant and knows a lot of things about you and your body language.

he would certainly notice the little changes in your mood by the way you act or talk, and he would be more than delighted to get you out of uncomfortable situations.

he loves it every time you rely on him for little things like opening a jar for you or getting things from the higher shelves, whether you could have reached them or not.

and all this feels so domestic that he doesn’t even quite realize how much he needs you until he’s about to go on tour again.

he’s spiraling every night, thinking about how he’s not going to be able to live without you being so far away and suddenly he needs to see you, even if his plane is going off in less than two hours.

“- Jun !? What are you doing here ? Don’t you have to go to the airport soon ?”

He was completely disheveled, his hair ruffled by the wind that also colored his cheeks and nose. And he seemed lost, as if he didn’t even know why he was there in the first place. But the moment his eyes found yours, it was as if the world around you two blurred out. Suddenly, he wasn��t thinking anymore, the only thing in his mind was you.

“- I- I had to tell you something.

- Well, you could have told me over text, you’re gonna be late !

- No, no, I have to tell you in person. It’s important, please.”

He sounded desperate, you had never seen him like that, never seen him so anxious. You simply nobbed, encouraging him to go on with his thoughts. Jun took a deep breath, but he knew that he had to say it right now. If you said yes, he’ll be the happiest man on earth, and he would hold on to the thought of you during his tour. But if you said no, at least, he’ll be away and would not have to see you everyday, he could let you process everything. Either way, it should end relatively well, even if he hoped for the first option.

“- I couldn’t leave without telling you this, and I know that I’m selfish to do it just before going away for months but I couldn’t find it in me to tell you before. You can ignore me all you want if you’re not okay with that but I hope you won’t because I need you so bad, I need you to be part of life for everything to be alright.”

A small smile was tugging the corner of your lips, having figured where his speech was going. You could’ve stopped him, but he was so cute, fumbling over his words, talking with his hands out of nervousness, his eyes focusing everywhere except on you. You leaned against the doorframe, listening patiently to his rambling.

“- And I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you Y/N… I love you so much I can’t even bear the idea of not seeing you, of not having you by my side everyday. And I know that you’re probably not feeling the same, we're supposed to be friends after all, and friends don’t dream about kissing each other, but if I have the slightest chance of bei-”

Jun’s next words died in his throat when you grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, forcing him to lean down, just enough for you to meet his lips. He freezed for several seconds, making sure that this wasn’t another crazy dream, but the way he could feel the tiniest movement of your lips against his definitely grounded him into reality. He let his own hands slide to your waist, closing the space between your bodies and finally kissing you like he fantasized about.

“- You’re an idiot Moon Junhui. You’re an idiot for thinking that I would turn you down, because I’m in love with you too. And you’re also an idiot for telling me just before leaving. I’m going to miss you even more…”

“i promise i’ll make it worth the wait, i’ll take you out as soon as i’m back.”

KWON SOONYOUNG - SMILEY

he’s a funny guy, really funny and you’re a funny person too so be prepared to always laugh when you’re with him.

he knows that no matter what he’s on, you’re going to follow him and he loves that you’re in the same mood as him.

act as if he’s annoyed everytime you tease him along with his members, but truly, he’s all warm inside whenever he thinks about how comfortable you are around the other guys.

bet that he would not miss an occasion to tease you either, finding you especially cute when you playfully hit him, with your cheeks all red.

will bicker with you about everything and anything, just like an old couple fighting.

the moment he really fell for you was when you offered him a little tiger plushie that he could hang on his bag for his birthday, saying it was nothing when it meant the world to him.

it wasn’t even that deep, he was aware, but it was so cute of you to encourage him in his little (big) obsession.

everytime you participate in his horanghae agenda, he’ll smile like an idiot.

i think that mario kart nights will be a regular thing between the two of you, always making stupid bets to challenge each other.

“- Kwon Soonyoung ! I warn you, if you do that, we’re not friends anymore !”

How hot you looked when you were angry didn’t deter the said Soonyoung as he hitted you with a red shell. Your scream of frustration made him burst into laughter as he drove past you and won the race a few seconds later. He didn’t even have the time to celebrate his victory that you were already pushing him on the floor, ready to take revenge.

“- You really are a little piece of shit ! Why did you do that !?

- Because it’s funny seeing you all mad about nothing.”

His cocky smile was soon wiped off his face when he noticed that you were picking one of the cushions of the couch, apparently ready to hit him without any regrets. Soonyoung grabbed your wrists just in time to stop you, not giving in when you tried to squirm out of his hold.

“- It’s not my fault you’re bad at this game !”

His snarky remark infuriated you even more, and you knew very well that he was doing it on purpose. It was obvious from the look on his face, but you gave in to his provocation anyway. You finally freed your hands, throwing the cushion aside and going to tickle his sides instead. Soonyoung couldn’t help the little giggles that escaped him, trying to wiggle away from your touch.

“- Ahah ! Please Y/N ! Please stop, I’m sorry !

- Not stopping until you beg my pardon !”

And you kept your promise, tickling him to no end, even straddling his lap to get better access to the exposed skin of his tummy. But as you leaned in, you finally realized how close to his face you were, your eyes zeroing on his lips. Soonyoung didn’t know who kissed the other first, he just knew that he didn't want to let go of you. Soon enough, you were forced to anyway, desperately needing to breathe. He held your gaze, and tenderly tucked a rebellious strand of hair behind your ear.

“- Please, tell me that it wasn’t just the spur of the moment. I might cry if you say yes.

- It wasn’t, don’t cry you big baby.”

The pout aborning his lips was really cute, but he didn’t let you focus on that, circling your waist with his arms, pulling you down on top of him. You gasped out of surprise, but quickly, you relaxed into his warm body, while Soonyoung buried his face in the crook of your neck, not once thinking about the fact that you were still laying on the floor of your living room.

“i may be a baby, but I’m your baby.”

XU MINGHAO - LONELY

he’s not very talkative at first, only greeting you when you arrive, saying goodbye when you leave and if he really needs something.

but he always makes sure that you don’t want something, or are uncomfortable (my sweet guy).

one time when the guys invited you for dinner, you sat beside minghao, and as the night went on, you found some common interests with him.

you ended up spending the whole dinner passionately debating with him.

he’s indeed a very smart man and it’s really interesting to discuss with him, even if you don’t always share the same opinion about things, he’s always respectuous and interested in what you think or say.

and that’s what minghao feels for you at first : respect.

he admires you so much, because you’re such a clever person, you’re doing a job you love and for which you worked very hard, and you also find the time to laugh with him too.

and even if you’re more educated on a subject than him, you never make him feel like he’s stupid, always explaining it to him in such a simple way.

and adding to that, you’re beautiful, breathtaking, which is not helping him to hide the crush he developed on you.

Minghao stood in front of his mirror, he was there for a good thirteen minutes, trying to recite the text he so carefully wrote. He spent all his free time perfecting every little detail of his confession, because he wanted it to be just as amazing as you were. And even if it has been almost two weeks since he finished preparing his speech, he couldn’t bring himself to tell it to you. Every time he saw you, it was as if everything else dissolved, the world around was suddenly blurred and the only thing in his mind was ultimately you.

That’s why he repeated to himself that he should practice. By now, he knew every word by heart, not needing to check the written text anymore. He spent hours and hours telling it to his reflection in the mirror, but it didn’t compare to what it was when you were in front of him, looking him in the eyes and smiling so brightly. Minghao took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that what he did was effective as he started over again.

“- You always say that you have a rational and logical mind, but still, you believe in ghosts, fate and soulmates. You always say that you don’t like romance movies, but still, you cry in my arms everytime we watch one. You always say that you don’t like it when people do something for you, but still, you always ask me for help. And I find all of that so cute. Because even if you’re the smartest person I know, it reminds me that you’re not coherent sometimes. And I’m not either. I have never been when it comes to you. Everytime you look at me, I feel like I don’t even know how to breathe anymore. You make me forget about everything except you. Since both of us are a little silly sometimes, maybe we could be silly together.”

He stopped, looking at himself and shaking his head in disappointment.

“- Gosh… This is so stupid, I am ridiculous…”

It’s only when he had finished talking that Minghao noticed you, standing close to the door. He met your eyes in the mirror, and they grew wide in surprise. For how long were you there ? Did you hear his whole confession ? And if it was the case, how would you react ? He felt his cheeks grow warm, and he nervously ran a hand through his hair.

“- You know, I don’t think you are.”

The puzzled look on Minghao’s face made you smile even more than you already were, unable to hold back your grin now that he was finally looking at you.

“- You’re not ridiculous. Try it out on me if you’re not sure.

- I… I just… Okay…”

And Minghao told you again, this time trying to look into your eyes, also trying to control his shaky voice. When he reached the last word, you stepped towards him, until your face was only inches away from his, one of your hands coming up to stroke his cheek.

“- That’s a lot better, don’t you think ? Now I can tell you how much I would love to be silly together.”

“it’s all i’ve been dreaming of.”

LEE CHAN - COMPLICATED

part time idol, full time comedian.

he’s so funny for real, and it’s what you like about him first, that he’s able to make you laugh so easily.

he loves to know everything about you, and he remembers even the slightest detail about everything that you love and don’t.

and that transfer in the bedroom because after some time, you fool around while being drunk and until there, you didn’t stop.

he knows you and your body like the back of his hand, and that’s quite practical as well as it is annoying because he can always tell when you’re in a good mood or not.

likes to make you discover the music he appreciates and encourages you to do the same.

has such sweet gestures for you, even if you’re just supposed to be fuck buddies and everyone can see how in love he is with you.

but it’s only because he wants more with you but doesn’t want to cross the already blurry lines of your relationship, or even worse, lose you.

that’s why he treats you like his girlfriend without saying that it is what he wants, and it's confusing and hurtful for the both of you.and if you want to get out of this situation, you’d have to take the matter in your own hands.

The more Chan spent time with you, the more he found himself unable to leave your side in the morning. That was his only unspoken rule : he could stay the night, but he would always go away before you wake up because he had “things to do”. And you respected that, that he needed to settle his own limits. But still, it hurt to find his cold and empty space in your bed every time, his smell still lingering in your sheets. You wanted him to stay, to really stay.

It hurt even more when you fell asleep in his arms almost every night. What was supposed to be only meet ups from time to time ended up being an everyday thing. When you came home from work, he was often already here, having cooked for you and ready to get all the stress of the day out of your body. And then, you drifted off in his embrace, with Chan kissing you all over your face. You craved all of that, you craved him, his presence, his affection, his love.

“- Chan… Don’t leave me, please…”

The boy jumped at the sound of your sleepy voice, turning around to look at you, still half naked. He wanted to stay, he really wanted to, but he knew that if he did that, he was going to fall even more deep, and he couldn’t stop it.

“- I-I can’t, I have to go.”

Chan tried to not let you hear how much his voice was shaking as he focused on searching his discarded clothes on the floor. He heard you shuffle in the sheets behind him, but he was not expecting your arms to sneak around his waist, your warm body pressed against his back.

“- I know you’re lying. Please, stay with me.”

The butterflies erupted in his stomach, but at the same time, he felt a heavy weight on his heart. Was this what he was thinking ? Or were you just emotional for some reason ?

“- Don’t do this to me, it’s already hard enough. If it’s like that, we better stop.”

Tears were prickling at his eyes as he tried to not melt in your hold. He knew he was going to harm you so much, that it would mean the end of everything but it was certainly better like that.

“- I don’t want it to stop. I want it to last forever. I-I think I’m in love with you…”

Your eyes were closed, as if it could help you forget what you just said. But to your surprise, Chan only turned around so he could hug you tightly. His head fell to the crook of your neck, and your eyes grew wide as you felt some tears soaking the material of the shirt you were wearing - his shirt, in fact. Your hand flew to his hair, grazing his scalp with your nails to get him to calm down.

“i think i’m in love with you too, i think you’re all i ever wanted.”

-> i don't allow any copies, reposts or translations of my work.

fill in this to be added to my taglist !

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annabelle--cane · 4 months

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Hey so I'm not good at subtext and I saw you posting about ep 200 of TMA being awesome. I've listened to it a few times and I'm mostly...confused? I don't understand what happened

(I mean, I get what Martin did to Jon, but nothing other than that)

Would you mind explaining why it's impactful to you?

honestly the main standout thing that makes it really shine to me is the soundscaping and vocal editing, and I've seen people take that as an indirect snide comment about the writing before but it really isn't, the entire scene in the panopticon just sounds gorgeous. the distortion and static on jon's voice, the underscoring of the statement, the way jon and martin's dialogue pops out from the sounds of the crumbling tower, it's just. aaaaaaaaaa. I find it really pleasant to listen to, if you've only listened through speakers then I'd 100% recommend trying it with headphones, it is simply very pretty and well made.

from the story side, it's beat after beat of ultimate catharsis for threads and arcs that have been set up for the whole show.

jon going ham and just really brutally killing jonah with his own hands, no supernatural influence, finally fulling snapping and, it sounds like, gutting him like a fish. it's just about the most lively and impassioned we've heard him all season, and, as far as anyone could deserve to do such a thing, he really is the person who deserved to get to do it.

jon and martin both betraying each other and making the choices that the whole story has been leading them to. jon has spent years fighting against his internalized idea that he can't trust anyone and he's the only person who's powerful/expendable/knowledgeable enough to make decisions and solve problems, and at last he submits to it and takes matters into his own hands. martin has spent years operating under the assumption that he's unimportant and incapable, and now just as he finally accepts that his choices have meaning, he sets the plan in motion that ends up getting them both killed. and jon has tried so hard to be transparent and show him trust that he underestimates just how willing jon is to go behind his back and disregard the plan completely.

and the fuckign. web lighter. I have a longstanding obsession with the mechanics of fate in tragedy narratives, and this lighter. hhh. so, fate (the web) was guiding jon & co to release the fears, but to jon's knowledge, killing jonah and becoming the pupil should have been his winning move to keep them contained. as far as he was capable of comprehending, he made all the right choices, but fate (the web) (the oppressive forces that govern all of our lives) doesn't play fair, it planned for this and cheated him. because he couldn't remember the lighter. he couldn't remember that he already gave georgie the catalyst for the explosion.

this tells me a few things: the ultimate end of releasing the fears was always going to happen, there was nothing jon could have done, but, technically, he could have adhered to the plan and lived to spend what was left of his life with martin and the rest of his nearest and dearest. but that was never really an option, was it? jon archivist sims would never have made that decision, that's why martin tried and failed to plan around it, that's why the web tried and succeeded to plan around it, it would never have happened differently. jon made his choice, it made no difference except to doom himself and the one he loves, he didn't have to do it, and it was inevitable.

and after all of that, after the web cheated him, he could still have won. he could have survived the tower collapse and kept the fears. but one of his biggest stated motives, over and over, is that he can't stand to lose anyone else, and martin is not immune to burning buildings the way he is. in an inverse to gertrude, at the last moment, he chose the barest chance for martin to survive over his own life and principles and big picture goals. he could cope with being responsible for killing the world in the abstract, but when it came to watching the person he loves most die right before his eyes, he caved and came around to martin's perspective. the other worlds can cope, he wants to save the man he loves.

#tma #answered #anons

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heartkyeom · 1 year

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now or never pt. 5 (finale)

xu minghao x fem!reader

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 (finale)

word count: 12.3k

synopsis: when you make a chance encounter with your ex, you end up saying that you're engaged to your estranged neighbor xu minghao. when you find out your ex is coming to your friend's wedding, you've only got a month to become a convincing couple.

warnings: cursing, oral sex, slight dumbification, alcohol, asshole ex!joshua, fighting, mostly domestic shit idk lmao

notes: after 5 months of restarting and almost giving up on this chapter entirely, the now or never series is complete. thank you all for loving this story so much, now or never is unlike anything I've ever written and I am so happy that it's finally done. I was scared that making the story so simple would turn people away, but I am grateful for all the support! shoutout to @maijunejuly + @flowerwonu for supporting this story so much <3 and thank you all for loving these two and watching them fall in love! I hope this is a satisfying ending, longtime readers I'm giving you a big smooch on the cheek

taglist: @kwonranghae @butterfliesinthenightsky @sugarrimajins @cosmicwintr @lztespring @justasoftstan @lilactangerine @jeongiegram @hoohoohope @trashygigi @itzelise06 @bonsaijoons @playboygeniusphilanthropist @thedeeppoet @mo-onlar @kyoko-22 @thesunsfullmoon @jungish @twancingyunhao @knucklesdeepmingi @crystal-phoenix-and-silver-fox @jaehyunfilms @awyunh @fiantomartell @milk-leaves @junoluvr @rhia-clyde

The morning of the wedding is particularly quiet in your shared hotel room. Since the wedding didn’t start until later that afternoon, it gave both of you an opportunity to settle into the day.

Thus, you’re not rushing out of bed, you’re interested in watching the sunlight filter through the curtains instead, insisting on letting yourself wake up slowly. You eventually turn your attention to your lover who is still sleeping peacefully beside you. You decide to stir up some movement with slow touches to his hair, trying not to move too harshly against his skin.

He replies with a soft hum, idly turning his head towards you. His eyes are still closed though, it seems like a silent invitation for you to keep going.

You decide to kick it up a notch with a few kisses along the side of his face, you feel his cheeks pull into a smile from the contact and you launch into giggles, resting your head on his neck.

“Well, good morning,” His voice is raspy in the way you love it, right on the edge of sleep.

“Good morning,” You reply, you can’t help but kiss his neck and he lets out a gentle sigh.

“Big day, huh?” He asks softly. The anticipation stirs in your chest, but truthfully a medley of emotions seems to swarm there.

You hum in confirmation, but it wasn’t your big day, not by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, your mind tries to play out all possible outcomes to the evening’s events due to your anxiety.

First, you could confront Joshua, verbally or physically, but likely the former since you don’t want to be kicked out of the wedding over him. You could approach him or he could come to you, it’s a matter of how the events unfold.

Second, he could try to initiate confrontation, but you could refuse to engage. You could argue it’s not the time or place to hash out personal drama, especially not at a friend’s wedding, which would be correct. Sure, there would be about 100 other guests there and the booming music could cover up the conflict so seamlessly that no one is made aware of the situation, but you fear that it’s not worth the risk.

Third, you could end up avoiding each other altogether. Again, there were enough people attending that you could somehow not cross paths the entire night. This was the most likely option, as you probably wouldn’t muster up the courage to do anything. The tension would remain unaddressed and you’d likely still have a good night watching your friend get married, bolstered by free alcohol and Minghao’s companionship.

Fourth, the entirely fantastical option, Minghao would confront Joshua himself.

The odds are quite slim, but Minghao might not have the patience to engage in Joshua’s fake niceties. You don’t think it would turn physical, but Joshua would likely leave with his feelings hurt. Although you’ve never been caught in the crossfire of Minghao’s anger, it was best to avoid this option if at all possible.

He adjusts himself so that he’s partially sitting up against the headboard of the bed, his eyes meeting yours. “Are you feeling okay about everything?” He inquires with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

“I am. Are you?”

“Yeah. Whatever you want to do, I’m fine with that,” He offers. Minghao had been quite compliant with your feelings about the situation in the past month, enough that it wasn’t surprising that he’d go full throttle on Joshua if needed.

“So if I ask you to beat him up, you’ll do it?”

“Not sure about that,” he scoffs, “but if you want to escalate things, I’m fully supportive.”

You nod to yourself in satisfaction, it was enough to push the fears to the back of your mind temporarily.

He ended up getting out of bed before you, of course, but you’re up soon enough, the both of you naturally weaving between each other to get ready for the morning. Before going to bed last night, you both agreed to ditch the hotel breakfast in favor of exploring the local restaurants in order to maximize your vacation time.

You both settle on a seaside cafe with sweeping windows that overlook the coveted ocean, the main attraction of the small town. It’s not as busy as you expected, but there’s still lots of movement once you arrive. The combination of patrons talking over pastries with hot drinks, baristas manning the noisy coffee machines, and the indie pop music in the background are all just tolerable enough to make the venture outside of the hotel worth it.

You decide to indulge in chocolate chip pancakes while he opts for oatmeal with assorted berries on top. While eating across from him, it occurs to you that being out with Minghao in public is still such a foreign sensation.

The past month of getting to know him had been so insular, so concentrated on the apartment complex that you were almost enveloped in the relationship completely, it almost felt suspicious for it to exist in the real world.

Sure, you’ve been out in public together numerous times.

Yet, there’s a way his eyes fixed on yours, the way he dissolved into giggles just from looking at you. When you ask him what’s wrong, he just shakes his head and looks down at his plate again, but you’re sure it’s love.

His hands aren’t hesitant when they grab yours out of habit, forcing you to place down your fork.

He plants kisses on the back of your hands, insisting that he had to do it right that second. Yet, he concedes by feeding you a few bites of your pancakes.

You’re sure it’s love by the way you move his hair out of his eyes, you call him handsome when he least expects it just to see the blush creep onto his cheeks.

It was a quiet yet showy affection all at the same time. There was a silent sense that you were both waiting to change the trajectory of your relationship, but you decided it can’t happen in the café.

As you finish the meal and the check is handled, it’s back to holding hands with a tight grip, barely restraining your romantic thoughts through such a simple gesture.

The walk back to the hotel is once again quite short, but any moment spent with Minghao felt worthy of experiencing.

—

“Can you zip me up?”

“Of course,” Minghao is behind your back before you can get the question out, hands gently tugging up the black zipper. The late morning had slowly spun into the afternoon and he decided it would be best to start getting ready earlier rather than later.

You aren’t in a position to argue, seeing as your routines took a considerable amount of time no matter how formal or casual an event was. You figure it’s just him accounting for the inevitable second-guessing about accessories or the possible existential dread about attending the wedding altogether.

Your dress is still incredibly bold, you think to yourself as you study your figure in the mirror. Minghao decided to make you a matching pair of gloves that only emphasized the beauty of the look.

“You look so beautiful,” He emphasizes it with a gentle kiss on the lips, craning his neck slightly to meet your face.

“Thank you,” You reach up to cradle his head and turn him toward the mirror. “You don’t look too bad yourself,” You tease, but it was a complete understatement. He was nearly done getting ready by the time he walked over to see you, but his black suit made him look even more handsome than you expected.

He opted for his regular middle part, letting his shaggy black hair hang in front of his eyes. You asked him a few days ago if he wanted to get it cut for the wedding, but he knew you liked it too much to do anything.

“Let me see your piercings,” You touched his ear and he moved to reveal the few pieces of silver jewelry that led down the shell of his ear. His piercings are something you always forget are there until he tucks a piece of hair behind his ear, but he lets you pick out the set he would wear today.

“Gorgeous,” you affirm with a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you have everything in your bag?” He gestures toward the desk, it currently has too many things strewn across it in your efforts to get ready.

“Shit,” You rush over to fill your clutch with the essentials you needed for the night and he laughs at your frantic energy.

“Relax, baby, we won’t be late,” He reassures you with a quiet voice. You notice that you’re clutching the lip gloss in your hand a bit too tight and relax your grip, dropping the item into your purse before zipping it up.

“Right,” you shut your eyes for a moment.

“We’ll be fine,” You feel his hands snake around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest. He could sense the tension in your muscles, he steadies your breathing with his own deep breaths, and you naturally follow his pattern.

“Thank you,” Your voice is barely above a whisper, you take another moment before turning around in his arms.

“I just have to tell you again how sexy you look right now,” He admits with a sly grin. It makes you laugh with your whole body, nearly falling out of his arms from the combination of embarrassment and joy.

You cock your eyebrow at him. “Don’t praise me too much or else we’re not making it out of here at all,” He lets out a short laugh.

“I have no problem with that,” He grabs your face and peppers kisses all over your cheeks, despite your immediate protests.

It helps you remember that no matter what happens at the wedding, this is what’s waiting for you afterward.

—

The venue is only a few minutes away from the hotel, so the drive is much shorter than you wanted it to be. You tried to wrench away the last of your nerves as you stared at the entrance of the country club, you noticed the other well-dressed guests and their occasional stares at you, your chest, and your hips.

He catches on and squeezes your hand. “Come on, we don’t wanna be late,” He pulls you gently into motion, and you instinctively wrap your arm around his.

The venue is stunning, if not expensive, it definitely costs an arm and a leg to get married near the beach during peak wedding season. The wedding ceremony is outside, and the heat hits you the moment you make it through the back exit with Minghao. The late afternoon sun bore itself down on the guests, but you couldn’t exactly be upset when the atmosphere was so beautiful.

The space was a converted lawn that overlooked the nearby beach, the venue’s most anticipated view, and now prime wedding location.

The arch, aisle, and individual seats were ivory-colored, each adorned with white floral arrangements. Most of the guests had filed in by the time you made it to your seats, but Minghao led you both to seats right near the aisle toward the back of the seating arrangements.

There were a few things to keep your interest within the scenery itself, but Minghao mostly stayed quiet. Besides checking in once to see how you were feeling before the ceremony, he mostly observed the people around him.

Namely, a baby that was in the row ahead of you. The infant was slightly fussy, understandably with the heat and noise from the live orchestra. The mother seemed slightly flustered trying to keep the baby under control, but Minghao’s interest seemed to catch the baby’s focus once he made himself known.

He babbled and made funny faces that made the baby stop crying, their watery eyes watching him in surprise. The cries soon turned to laughs as he gently pinched the baby’s cheek with his fingers, his cooing soothed their nerves almost instantly. There was something that stirred in your chest at the sight of him, your “not really fake�� boyfriend being so gentle with the baby and the sight of his engagement ring could’ve made you cry on the spot.

It was almost like a glimpse into the future, a memory that you captured in your heart instantly. You hadn’t discussed anything past marriage yet, but this made you want to have the conversation soon.

Not that anything could happen in the immediate future, but something in you wondered if he would want to start a family with you someday. You’re snapped out of the daydream when you hear the mother thank him and he turns his attention toward you.

“What’s wrong?”

You shake your head. “Nothing,” You choose not to elaborate, to keep the feeling sacred in your chest.

He notices how high your cheeks are from smiling and clutches your hand tighter than before.

A few minutes pass before the procession officially begins, the guests all rise from their seats and watch as the bridesmaids, groomsmen, the ring bearer, and the flower girl each have their moment walking down the aisle.

Mingyu is then escorted down the aisle with his mother, and you realize this is the first time you’ve seen him in so long.. He settles at the altar and anxiously waits for his bride to join him, the entire crowd also holds an air of anticipation.

Once she steps into view, Mingyu looks absolutely enamored with the bride, he can’t stop beaming while watching her. You even see a few tears fall from his cheeks and it makes the moment even more precious.

You wonder how that feeling would settle into your bones, knowing that you’ve built such a strong bond with someone that there’s no other option than to marry them.

Despite your initially rash decision, the longer you were living with the concept of getting married, the more it started to scare you.

Sure, you liked the idea of wedding planning, picking out a dress, and all the other decisions that were meant to be a dream come true, but being at a wedding was completely different. It was a visualization of months of effort to bring so many different elements together that you feel almost intimidated by it.

Yet, there’s no reason for you to even have cold feet, you two aren’t even formally in a relationship! You have all the time in the world to let the relationship bloom completely, you know he wouldn’t jump into anything too quickly.

You sit with all these feelings as the ceremony goes on, their vows to each other are filled to the brim with adoration and care for one another.

This was a result of years invested into a relationship, but how could you feel nearly the same way, truly feel the descriptions of being cared for and protected beyond measure, after a few weeks?

You tear up at how they speak so highly of each other because you love Minghao in this way, you love this person who has enriched your life so deeply that you can’t even recognize yourself from a few weeks ago.

As soon as they’re pronounced husband and wife, you watch them exchange that first kiss as if their bodies couldn’t bear to be apart for another second. You cry silently as you watch them through slightly blurry eyes, the realization is all a bit too much to bear at the moment.

You force yourself to keep sniffling occasionally until the ceremony is over, but the moment Minghao holds your hand as the rest of the crowd disperses, you lose the rest of your composure.

Minghao glances over at you in slight shock.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” His tone is especially warm tonight, and you know you can’t wait any longer to tell him.

“I love you,” You face him and cup his face in your hands. “I love everything about you and I mean that,” Your voice is choked by sobs, but you manage to get it all out.

You wanted this moment to be more private, but when you see the relief hit his face, the tension melts from his shoulders and he smiles so wide that you know he’s only focused on you.

“I love you too,” He can’t stop grinning, he’s on the brink of tears when you observe his eyes and you pull him into your arms immediately.

You stay there for a little while, just silently rocking each other in a tight hug.

He finally whispers in your ear. “I think we’re missing the party,” He looks back at the brightly lit venue before facing you again. You finally hear the music thumping and come to your senses.

“Yeah, I think so. We don’t want to miss the speeches, right?” You ask with a tilt of your head, a hint of a smile playing on your lips.

—

The inside of the venue feels especially cozy now that the ceremony is over, the room is dimly lit and almost lulls you into a false sense of security.

You’re acutely aware of Minghao’s hand around your waist, his fingers are idly running across the fabric of your dress and it eases your nerves once again. The room is lively, music and conversation fill the space to a decently loud volume that you still have to adjust to. You don’t spot Mingyu or the bride, but you’re sure they’re mingling happily amongst their guests.

Your eyes scan across the room to find your table, but you turn to face Minghao in confusion. “Do you remember our table number?”

“It was 13,” He speaks over the music and turns to look for the table in question, letting out a quiet hum when he spots it. He points to the table and you both head over, not seeing the other guests in view quite yet. You can tell it’s fairly full, and you decide that you weren’t against getting to know new people.

That’s what you tell yourself until he’s the first person you spot at your table.

Fucking hell.

Of course, he’s at your table, looking at you expectantly. You can almost see a glint of regret in his eyes when you adjust your posture, but you look at her before you can fixate on his expression for too long.

She’s glowing in that expectant mother kind of way, you almost feel uneasy when she offers you a smile. You’re certain that your thoughts are pulling you too far back into your brain when Seokmin makes himself known.

“Look at you two, it’s been a while,” He chats excitedly, eyes disappearing with that brilliant smile of his. He directs his attention at you first.

“You look absolutely stunning!” He opens his arms for a hug and you happily oblige, placing your arms on his back in a tight embrace. “Thank you,” You’re nearly breathless by the time he pulls away, but still happy nonetheless.

“I need to know where you got this dress, I can’t get over it,” Seokmin gushes, he gives you a once over before smiling up at you again.

“Oh, he made it for me,” You respond easily, you’re determined not to shy away from the compliment. You look at Minghao briefly and he returns a smirk, but it’s affirming, you’re grateful that your confidence has yet to waver.

“I’m not shocked at all,” He pulls Minghao into a hug and pats him on the back, “he’s always had a good eye.” Minghao laughs and pulls himself into conversation with the journalist easily. You realize that it’s rude to not at least acknowledge the other people at the table, but you’re pleasantly surprised by the sight of Soonyoung and Chan, who are both equally excited to see you.

The table arrangement is overwhelmingly positive besides the obvious, but it was likely out of convenience that Mingyu’s college friends were all arranged together at one table.

Soonyoung and Chan sweep you away from the table in a hurry, giving you no room to look at Joshua for even a second longer. “I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve seen you,” Chan is beaming when he pulls you into a tight hug. Weeks felt like months now that you were out of the hypothetical bubble, but you start to feel guilt in the pit of your stomach.

“Yeah, your man really pulled you away from your friends,” Soonyoung jokes as you embrace him toward your chest. You laugh into his suit jacket, but the fact still remains. You hadn’t updated them nearly enough on the situation recently, especially not about your revelation toward Minghao.

You didn’t want to become that person who neglected their friends once you got into a relationship, you didn’t want to be consumed by him that you forget to live outside of him. You pull away from the hug and look at both of them with wistful eyes. You don’t have any excuses, to be honest.

“Sorry that I’ve been hiding, it wasn’t intentional,” You shake your head pathetically, shifting your eyes down to your feet before looking up at them again.

“It’s not okay, we’ve been starving for details,” Chan replied with a cheeky grin. “But we’re happy you’re okay,” Soonyoung interjects.

“You two look like you’re in love,” Soonyoung leads the two of you further away from the table to make sure Minghao is completely out of earshot.

“Wait, are you in love with him?” Soonyoung clutches your arm and you see that Chan is anxiously awaiting the answer too.

You chuckle lightly and lower your voice. “I confessed to him earlier,” you whisper. The men both gasp in excitement, giving you proud smiles that invite you in so easily.

“I knew it,” Chan pats Soonyoung’s shoulder as a sly smile plays on his lips.

“We both did,” Soonyoung puts a hand on your shoulder, “there was no way you were getting out of this without catching feelings.” You start to blush and look for a way out, taking a glance around the room.

You want to focus on other guests, what they’re wearing, the gossip that’s on their lips, but you can only look for him. He’s not too far, of course, but your heart can’t slow until you see him.

You lock eyes with him and his face noticeably softens. You watch his smile spread to his cheeks before turning away. “Let’s get drinks before the speeches start,” You nod in the guys’ direction and they approve the decision immediately.

You settle on a vodka soda from the bar and lazily nurse your first drink in your hand, occasionally taking a sip while talking to Soonyoung and Chan.

It was ultimately a good idea to drink now, you thought it best to have your senses slightly blurred when facing the elephant in the room.

You needed just a bit of liquid courage, not too much to make it through whatever the night had yet to present. Once all three of you had mingled to your heart’s content, you made your way back to the table with a newfound confidence.

As you took a seat next to Minghao, his hand found your thigh instantly.

He leans in to whisper against your ear. “Enjoying yourself?”

You feel yourself blush. “Yeah, just needed a little pick me up,” You reciprocate the action and he runs his hand along your leg in affirmation.

“Good,” He pulls away with a nod. It’s a bit cheeky, but you wouldn’t fold for him like this, not yet at least.

“More importantly, how are you holding up?” You place your chin in the palm of your hand, gazing at him softly. The upbeat music and distant conversations from other tables make you feel a bit fuzzier while making eye contact with him.

“I’m good, Seokmin kept me pretty occupied thankfully,” He sucks his teeth and lets out a sigh. You nod in a silent understanding, you wish you had the ability to diffuse tension like he could.

“Hopefully it’s smooth sailing,” You reassure him with a gentle smile, one that he accepts with a small grin. You say it in an effort to soothe the hint of doubt in your own mind, but you were getting ahead of yourself.

There weren’t any problems yet, so why create them out of thin air?

You only had to idle for a few more minutes before the speeches got into full swing. The maid of honor and best man both had emotionally touching speeches that kept everyone’s spirits high. It was emotional for both the bride and groom, who you noticed wiping stray tears on occasion while listening to their loved ones. It was clear that they were surrounded by a supportive circle who were excited to send them off on their new journey as newlyweds.

The real trouble was dinner.

You learned that Mingyu loved cooking, so the spread for the meal was quite thorough enough to suit a variety of dietary restrictions and tastes. Once each of you had gone up to get food, and in your case extra alcohol, you could no longer delay the inevitable.

The tension was unbearably thick.

The sound of utensils scraping against plates and the occasional clink of glassware were the only noises that filled the silence amongst the table.

As much as your second and third drinks were continuing to soothe your nerves, the presence of alcohol could only do so much. Each person at the table had varying levels of familiarity with the situation at hand, but it wasn’t their place to instigate anything, so the silence endured.

“How was your trip up here, Y/N?” Joshua asked suddenly.

“It was fine, we drove up,” You held your composure at the question, making eye contact with him briefly before looking down at your plate to take another bite of your food.

“Nice, so you got to prepare how you were going to lie to everyone, right?”

“What?” You look up at him with a deadpan expression. You notice Minghao shifting in his seat next to you. He seriously wasn’t trying to do this over dinner, right?

“You know what I’m talking about, Y/N, don’t play dumb,” He scoffed at you. You glance at Seokmin, who is clearly confused at his apparent line of questioning. Soonyoung and Chan both seemed to catch on immediately.

“No, Joshua. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Enlighten me,” You smile at the end of your response. You lean back in your chair and tilt your head slightly.

If he wanted to embarrass you, he was going to have to work for it.

“When did you get engaged, Y/N?”

“Joshua, what the hell are you doing?” His girlfriend interjected.

“No, it’s okay,” You reassure her with a nod but she still looks concerned on your behalf. “It was 2 months ago. He set up a picnic for us like our first date, it was lovely.”

“When are you getting married?”

The detail you discussed with Minghao during the road trip immediately came to mind. “This time next year, so sometime during the summer, we’re still early in the planning phase. Anything else?”

“You didn’t even have your ring on when I met him with you,” Joshua stutters through his words.

“I knew I had a long day of work ahead of me without much sleep the night before so I naturally forgot. Minghao told you that I forgot it. You knew I had terrible sleep issues while we were together, or did you conveniently forget that so it could fit your narrative about me?” You tilt your head slightly, the answer comes together almost too easily.

That response earned a light chuckle from Minghao, and everyone else at the table knew they were in for a show.

“Your relationship is fake, no matter how much you delude yourself or him. I honestly can’t believe you got him to do this in the first place,” Joshua sets his jaw in frustration. You adjust your posture once more so you can properly read Joshua to filth. It was fun being a bit underhanded with Joshua, but now he was getting unnecessary.

“First of all, you don’t speak for him or me. The fact that you have nothing better to do than to interrogate me about my relationship is a sign that you can’t bear to think of me being happy without you,” Your tone remains firm as you let out your innermost thoughts.

“I’m clearly in love with him and that bothers the shit out of you because you’re miserable as fuck. The fact that you’re an emotionally stunted dickhead is not my problem. You should be worrying about becoming a father and minding your business, but here you are making a fool out of yourself,” Joshua seems to shrink slightly behind your words, but you don’t lose your momentum.

“I don’t know what your goal was in trying to humiliate me in front of my friends and my fiancé, but you’re a fucking loser and I suggest you spend some time getting your head out of your ass. Fuck you.”

You take a sharp exhale. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom,” You don’t hesitate to stand up and make a beeline away from the table.

You don’t stop walking through the seemingly endless halls until you’re in the comfort of the bathroom, clutching the edge of the sink and letting out a shaky breath.

You did it.

You let him have it in front of Minghao, his girlfriend, and your friends.

It felt good as hell.

It was long overdue, but the feeling of freedom in your skin felt too good to ignore.

You take a moment to assess if there was any damage to your makeup. Thankfully, nothing looked out of place once you spent a few moments admiring your features.

It felt like your mind was finally catching up to your body now that you were alone.

First, you said that you were in love with Minghao and you truly meant it. Defending him was so natural to you that it felt like you’d done it for ages.

Second, Joshua knew the original setup was fake. It didn’t really matter now that you had actively gaslit him into oblivion, but you had clearly made up for a less than stellar performance when you first introduced Joshua to Minghao.

Lastly, you still had to go back out there. Sure, you were tipsy, but you still had to perform for a bit longer. It weighed on you the longer you looked at yourself in the mirror.

You brought yourself back to reality with a shake of your head, you turn to open the door and are shocked to see Minghao’s face.

“Hao,” You breathe out.

“I wanted to come check on you. You really went off back there,” He gave you a kind smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“I did. It felt good,” You let out a chuckle.

“Are you anxious? Do you wanna go back to the hotel?” His comforting tone makes you smile, but shockingly, you don't feel completely overwhelmed by your surroundings.

“I’m fine, babe,” You lower your head slightly at the questions. Most times, you think you would’ve preferred going home after being so confrontational, but you wanted to have fun. You didn’t want to hide anymore.

He pulls you into a hug and mumbles into your ear. “I’m proud of you,” His words melt into you so easily, it makes you feel at ease. You spend a few more moments with your head against his shoulder, savoring the silence away from the commotion of the wedding party. It didn’t matter what anyone thought about the two of you, you were determined to enjoy yourself.

You lift your head up and find his hand to intertwine with your own. He gives you a reassuring look before you make your way back through the corridors into the main ballroom. The party is far more lively than when you first left a few minutes ago, the DJ is playing some party song that was popular when you were younger.

The dance floor is noticeably fuller as well, the atmosphere makes you grateful that you decided to stick around for the rest of the reception. You briefly tried to look for the other guys, but Soonyoung was the only one that made himself known to you once you reentered the ballroom.

“There you are!” He exclaimed in relief at the sight of you. He was yelling above the music to catch your attention, even when both you and Minghao eventually got closer to him.

“That was really intense, huh?” He furrowed his brows, his face slightly concerned.

“Yeah, but he deserved it,” You rolled your eyes and scoffed. If anything, you could’ve gone harder on him and expressed every single inch of your rage, but your composure was commendable considering the circumstances.

“Definitely, you should’ve seen how pale he was after you left,” Soonyoung shook his head in disbelief at the thought of it.

“He was definitely shitting himself, I didn’t know you could be that lethal,” Minghao pinched your arm and you smirked. It made you happy that your goal was accomplished, it made the trouble of making a scene worth it knowing how much it affected him.

“I’m only lethal when I need to be,” You clarify with a chuckle, averting your gaze toward the rest of the dancefloor, “and we should go dance. Enough Joshua talk for now,” You whined into Minghao’s shoulder.

“Okay, okay, we can go,” Minghao kissed the back of your hand and gave a sympathetic look to Soonyoung.

“Don’t go too crazy,” Soonyoung winked and walked away, working himself back into the hustle and bustle of the party. You lead Minghao into a free space on the dance floor, immediately feeling the vibe of the dance track in your body. You weren’t a spectacular dancer by any means, but you figured you didn’t look too awkward compared to everyone else around you.

Minghao naturally snakes his hands around your hips and you don’t resist his touch, it only elevates your mood. He falls into a natural rhythm with you, falling away to make you laugh with his dance moves before pulling you in again. When one song gets particularly heated, he pulls you against his chest and lets his hands wander further down to graze the curve of your ass.

The lights are dim enough where people can’t see unless they’re being particularly nosy.

He doesn’t linger for much longer before bringing his hands up to cup your face briefly before leaning in towards your ear.

“I wanna fuck you so badly,” He hums into your ear. You feel a blush creeping up your neck, you didn’t expect him to be so forward about it. He had never expressed desperation like this before, it almost made you lose it right then and there.

“You’ll have me soon enough, babe,” You respond as evenly as you could with the mounting tension between you. He doesn’t seem satisfied, his energy becoming a bit bratty in your hold.

“One more hour, baby, can you make it until then?” You tease. He averts his glance from you and sighs deeply.

“Yes, of course I can,” He scoffed. His behavior only made you laugh, you had no idea how you’d managed to pull this reaction out of him.

You held to your word, sticking around the party for exactly one more hour, but he wasn’t exactly concealing his reaction. As you started to make your final goodbyes around the party, his eagerness started to make its way to the surface.

When you exchanged goodbyes with Seokmin, Soonyoung, and Chan, his grip got a bit tighter on your arm.

You notice the way his hands wander across your lower back. He’s still cordial with the guys, of course, but every time you lock eyes with him you feel butterflies in your stomach.

Surprisingly, you even got to meet Mingyu and his wife for a moment right before you left.

Yet, Minghao is still lingering on you as if Joshua is right around the corner. When you feel him nestle his face in the crook of your neck to leave a prolonged kiss against your skin, you assume he’s nearby.

The tension keeps itself incredibly high at every point until you’re in the car.

“Don’t look at me or else we’re not gonna make it out of the car,” He shifts the car into drive and your skin suddenly feels like it’s on fire.

—

“Fuck fuck fuck,” All other words are lost by the feeling of Minghao’s tongue on your cunt.

He didn’t even undress you or anything, he simply instructed you to lay back against the bed and let him take over which you could never be mad at.

He doesn’t let up at all, leaving you slightly torn at the contact. You’re enjoying yourself without a doubt, but the structured form of the dress starts to show its discomfort after a few moments.

“Minghao,” You breathe out.

“Hm?”

“I’m still in the dress,” You stare at him in confusion.

“Is that okay?”

“I just want to get out of it, my boobs hurt,” It comes out more like a whine than a statement, but the point still stands.

“I promise I’ll undress you soon, okay? I just want to enjoy the way my darling looks wearing my masterpiece since I couldn’t do that in public,” He gently rubs the black fabric that adorns your legs. It gets you to soften up a bit.

“I look that gorgeous?” You ask quietly. You didn’t realize it had that much of an effect on him, but you’d probably be freaking out if you were in his position. He lets out a soft laugh and crawls up to your mouth, a wandering hand finds its way to your cheek.

“Baby, you look incredible. You don’t know how many times I wanted to tear it apart tonight just to taste you,” He whispers against your mouth. “But it’s a gift,” He leaves a kiss on your jaw. “And I want you to remember how well I’m about to fuck you in it,” He moves back to your mouth and your moan gets trapped in a kiss.

His words make your cheeks flush with warmth. He sits up slightly to pull your gloves off one by one. “Okay, hands above your head,” He instructs you gently.

You follow his orders with curious eyes. He proceeds to use the gloves to tie your wrists together, the increasing tightness against your skin makes your heart pound in anticipation.

“Is it too tight?”

“No, I’m fine,” You admit. You’ve never had your hands restrained before, but you trust him to not hurt you.

He lets you adjust to the new feeling for a moment before disappearing under the fabric of your skirt and resume his previous movements, but it’s not long before he hikes your skirt up with forceful hands.

“Shit,” You whimper.

He replaces his tongue with two of his fingers, the sudden pressure forces out a moan that almost makes you ashamed.

“Gonna work you open just how you like it, ok?” His eyes are noticeably darker when they meet yours, the lust seems to overtake him completely. You get lost in the feeling of his fingers repeatedly hitting that spongy spot, your walls keep clenching around him out of habit. He’s just too good at it, his slender fingers always have you seeing stars pretty quickly.

His speed increases and your arms fall slightly. He’s getting noises out of you that you’ve never heard before, the cries of his name are all you can register in your brain beside the pounding in your ears.

“My pretty little brat, always so needy for me huh?” The resurgence of the nickname makes the coil in your stomach tighten even more, you can barely hold yourself together.

You want to say something, anything on your mind, but you’re simply reduced to babbling.

“Come on, tell me how much you wanted me to touch you,” His low voice has a complete hold on you at the moment. He wants to work you up as much as possible before you break, and you could only force yourself to submit.

“So badly, please, I thought about you all night,” You squeeze your eyes shut to hold yourself together, his fingers haven’t slowed their pace yet.

“Look at me,” His voice is so gentle, but the moment you meet his eyes, you know that you need to cum.

“You wanna cum?”

“Yes, please, I’ve been good tonight,” You beg him for mercy knowing you’re at the point of no return.

“You’re close, aren’t you, baby?” He smirks at the mess in front of him, how desperate you are as your legs start to shake from the pressure. You can only nod at this point.

“Holding on for me like a good girl?” He curls his fingers tighter and it rips a scream from your throat.

“Yes!” Your reply comes out just as loudly.

“Then you can cum,” His instructions send you over the edge, you feel yourself coat his fingers repeatedly and you can barely keep your eyes open.

You take a few heaving breaths and you feel his lips against your thigh.

“You did so well,” He offers praise in between kisses, his mouth against your skin helps ground you again.

“Are you good for some more?” He’s up to untie your restraints before you can think about it, and you revel in the feeling of your wrists being untied.

“Yeah, I’m good,” You nod. He tosses your gloves to the floor before moving to straddle you.

You can feel his erection against you and your breath hitches. He captures your lips in a kiss before you can call him out on it, you can taste traces of your cum against his lips. He moans against your neck and you wish you could hold him there for the rest of the night.

“Want you to cum in me so badly,” You whisper.

“I’m on it, angel,” He leaves one last kiss against your lips before he stands up.

“Wait,” You rush to sit up, adjusting your position on the bed a bit too quickly.

“What?”

“Let me help you get undressed,” You soften your voice, placing your hands on his hips.

He grins at your touch and guides your fingers to his zipper. You take the hint and unbuckle his belt, throwing it to the side before unzipping his pants. He strips out of his pants and you already have your hands tugging on his boxers.

You force them down to reveal his very irritated cock. He’s clearly been holding his restraint for far too long, so you don’t think too hard before you stroke him gently.

His knees almost buckle from the contact, and he forces your hand away.

“Shit, don’t make me cum, I’m not supposed to cum on you, right?” He asks with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“No,” You shake your head with an unassuming smile.

“Exactly, I can’t ruin this beautiful dress, now can I?” He straddles you once again, helping you gather your skirt up as far as it’ll go before it hits the bodice.

He lines himself up at your entrance and you’re already bracing yourself for the intensity of it all.

The initial push isn’t as bad as you thought, but it still makes you groan as you clutch onto his arm. He pushes through until he’s bottomed out, but you both sigh audibly the moment it stops.

You’re just so full that it’s hard to focus on anything else, so much so that he notices.

“Baby?”

“Yeah,” You force your eyes open to look at him.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes, it’s just you,” You place emphasis on the last word and he’s lowering his head in surprise.

“I’m gonna move now,” He confirms his plan and you nod.

His strokes are incredibly slow at first, you’re sure that you’ll cum if he adjusts himself any further. He soon finds his rhythm though, you notice how intently he’s watching you when you look at his face again.

He’s obsessed with you, the way your face scrunches up in pleasure, and how your moans sound heavenly in response to him.

“I love you so much,” The words sound blurred with pleasure as he tries to fight the groans escaping from his mouth. You’re not faring much better, he manages to render you speechless as the sound of his skin hitting yours echoes throughout the hotel room.

“I love you,” You breathe out, your arms draped around his neck and you pull him closer until he’s nearly laying on your chest.

“Is this what you want, baby? Do you want me to cover every inch of you like this?” His voice is gravelly in your ear, begging you to give in to him.

“Yes, fuck, stay low like this please,” You pull yourself onto his mouth and lose yourself to him. He moves his head to the crook of your neck to help him gain some control, he’s able to cage you in slightly to hit you even deeper than before.

You can only grasp his hair and whine through it all. Your nerves are ready to let go at any moment, but you’re trying to savor how close he is to you. His cologne, the feeling of his skin on yours, his voice, your brain can only process pieces of him.

“Minghao, fuck,” You can’t even begin to form a coherent sentence, just mumbling his name over and over again.

“Gonna cum?”

“Yes, yes yes,” He picks up the pace slightly to accommodate you and lets your orgasm hit full force, his cum fills you up so well that you can barely breathe. You clutch him even tighter than before and he fucks you through the orgasm, mumbling sweet nothings in your ear to calm you down.

“You’re always so good for me,” He whispers against your skin. He takes a moment to admire you despite your heavy panting.

His orgasm hits soon after and you feel him still around you, inhaling a sharp breath beside you.

You don’t separate for a long while, you just bring him back down to earth with soft touches. He’s always taking care of you, so you figure it’s time to do the same for him.

“Ready to get up, baby?” You rub his shoulder with encouragement.

“Not really,” His laugh vibrates against your chest. He was very cute, but you knew you had to convince him because it was getting a bit too hot in this position.

“Well, you have to take me out of the dress since you put me in it,” You try to sway him. “And it’s gonna feel so good to be in our pajamas, right?”

“Mhm,” He agrees.

“So let’s get up before I lose feeling in my legs,” You joke with him, but you’re rapidly feeling more and more tethered to the bed.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” He pulls out of you swiftly and falls to the other pillow beside you. You finally feel like you can breathe once you sit up.

You take a moment to remove your jewelry and place it on the nightstand before turning back to him. You’re sure that he’s been looking at you the whole time by the way he grins at your attention.

“Hi,” You turn your head over your shoulder, his eye contact makes you shy.

“Hi, love.”

“Can you unzip me? Pretty please?” You raise your voice slightly, pursing your lips to make him smile.

“Yes, sorry I kept you waiting,” It succeeds when he grins at you, he finally scoots toward you and pulls down the zipper, which allows you to slip out of the dress.

“Thank god,” You sigh a bit too loud. You have to steady your nerves before standing up, but you’re still a bit wobbly when you’re stumbling around the room looking for a shirt.

“Felt that good?”

“Feel like my boobs were held hostage all night,” He looks slightly worried and you have to backtrack slightly, “which was not your fault, it’s just naturally a bit uncomfortable,” You slip an oversized shirt over his head, one that you stole from the back of his t-shirt drawer.

“Okay,” He still watches you hesitantly. “Wait, that’s my shirt,” He points at you in fake shock.

“Yeah, I’ve stolen quite a few of your shirts. I’m shocked you haven’t noticed yet,” You sift through your bag to find clean underwear and slip them on with your back turned to him.

“I have noticed,” You hear him get off the bed to find clothes, “and I don’t care, you look pretty in them.” You realize he’s fully dressed when he hugs you from behind and kisses you on the cheek.

You hum in affirmation, closing your eyes and you naturally start to rock back and forth in his arms. You feel him kiss the top of your head and you revel in the moment, the silence that always speaks volumes between you.

“Hey,” You speak up.

“Yeah?”

“I love you,” You’re getting used to saying it out loud more often, you force yourself to fight past the nerves of expressing it to him more often now.

“I love you too,” He responds immediately, it makes your heart sing.

It feels like a new chapter has unofficially begun, one where you have to address the future standing in front of you. How do you not let yourself get lost in this relationship?

How do you love when you’ve never been in a healthy relationship before?

It’s something that lingers when you fall asleep curled up next to him, trying to quiet the fears creeping up in your mind.

—

The next morning moves far more slowly than the day before. You can’t help but hold onto him a bit longer in bed, your fingertips just want to feel the warmth of his skin, your mind feels at ease when you feel his heartbeat against your ear.

By the way he tightens his arms around you, you figure he’s not itching to let you go either. The beach day you’ve both thought about seems like it’s drifting away with each passing moment.

“Baby?” He rasps.

“Hmm?”

“You’re awake.”

“So are you,” You sit up to get a better look at him. His hair is completely messy, and you watch him try to smooth it out but to no avail.

“Do you still wanna go out today? We don’t have to,” His offer is definitely inviting, but you figure you should make the most of your trip before the inevitably long ride home.

“No, we should. I wanna see you in that outfit you packed,” You giggle.

“You’ve just got ulterior motives, huh?”

“Maybe,” You bite your lip and concentrate on his eyes.

“That’s okay, I was thinking about what you’d wear too,” He admits with a shake of his head. You give him a peck on the lips and push on his chest lightly.

“Come on, let’s get going then,” You kiss him on the cheek before forcing yourself out of bed to get ready. You both fall into separate routines, only converging to eat breakfast and brush your teeth while getting yourselves together.

Minghao does end up wearing the outfit he showed you back at his apartment, the baby blue set is slightly oversized on him but it works against his skin tone. You opt for a similar coverup layout, wearing a tropical print shirt and a pair of shorts to cover your bikini.

The beach isn’t too far from the hotel, but the walk feels especially crisp with the late summer air on your skin. The day was breaking into early afternoon by the time you both left, it was bright enough that you both ended up needing your sunglasses.

Just like the day before, you strolled arm in arm taking in the sights of the neighborhood. You were grateful that there wasn’t any internal pressure anymore now that the wedding was over, you were still trying to adjust to not being on defense the entire time.

As you approached the beach, it dawned on you that despite enjoying yourself last night, fighting with Joshua made you realize just how hard you were willing to fight for Minghao. It’s easy to say what you might do when you’ve spent a month ruminating on the moment, but the pressure made your anger hard to ignore.

Since it was the weekend, there were a moderate amount of people enjoying themselves along the beach. Couples, families, and friend groups were sunbathing, playing around, eating food, or just enjoying each other’s company.

Somehow, you were able to find a spot to lay down your old beach towel for the both of you to sit on top of. It was thankfully out of the way from the crowds, so you were able to observe people without too much trouble.

You were able to sit in silence with each other for a few moments, absorbing the white noise of the people and the distant noise of the waves on the horizon.

“When does your lease end?” He asks you suddenly.

“January. Why?”

“Do you still want to live there? You know, after everything?” His questions make you shrink in on yourself once you hear them.

You honestly hadn’t thought that far ahead. You figured that if you managed to avoid Joshua for this long, you could continue to make it happen. Yet, you couldn’t imagine how that could possibly work now knowing how badly you’d gone off on him.

“Shit,” You let out a shaky breath, concentrating on the ocean that sat at the edge of your sight.

“We don’t have to do anything,” He reminds you gently.

“No, you’re right. If I want it to be completely over, I need to move,” You affirm your decision. You need to be firm with your own boundaries, mostly for your own sake.

“Okay.”

“How do you feel about moving though?” You posit the question and he’s already adjusting himself on the beach towel.

“I mean, aside from everything else, the apartment is getting kinda small for me. I just need more space in general,” He sighs at the thought.

“What’s top priority?” You humor him and he smiles for a moment before answering.

“An actual home office. I think not having enough space to get work done is bothering me,” His thought seems unfinished by the way he looks up at the sky, trying to conjure more ideas.

“But?”

“But I’m trying to keep my work and home life more separate, especially now that we’re together,” He says it without thinking and your eyes widen.

“We’re together, huh?” You joke.

It seems to hit him immediately. You’ve both said I love you, so it just seemed natural that you were together already.

Yet, he hasn’t asked. You haven’t asked.

“Y/N,” He reaches out for your hands and you gladly let him hold them.

“Yes?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?” He’s grinning so hard just waiting for your reply, you don’t think that you could ever tell him no.

“Of course, Minghao,” You cup his face and pull him into a kiss.

He’s noticeably shyer than before once he pulls away from you, his cheeks are slightly pink. “Anyway, I just want it to be our space now that we’re together. I want it to feel like home.”

You can only imagine what an apartment mixed with both of your tastes looks like, but it still makes your heart feel warm.

“That makes sense, so I assume your lease ends around the same time?” You lean back onto your palms, letting out a quiet sigh.

“Yeah, mid January. It seems so far away just thinking about it,” His words make you think of how brutal winter is back in the city. You hate having to trudge home in the snow, boots covered in sludge all while trying to stay warm with too many layers on.

You push it to the back of your head once you look up at the bright blue sky, drawing you back into the feeling of summer.

Silence falls over the two of you again. The idea of planning a future with him feels foreign, how do you begin to process all of that?

“Scary,” You shiver from the breeze passing by.

“It is scary,” He doesn’t comfort you this time, instead confirming the fear of it.

“Honestly, Minghao, I’m just scared of us,” You cross your arms and let out a deep sigh, focusing your eyes on the ocean ahead.

“How so? I want to know what you’re feeling,” His voice is so inviting, you know that you can’t hold back from him anymore.

“I’m scared that I’m gonna fuck this up. I’ve never been in this kind of relationship and it scares me so much,” You clear your throat to avoid the tears threatening to spill out. “I don’t want to sabotage this because I’ve never felt this safe with someone before.”

“Baby,” He places a hand on your arms, gently trying to pry them apart. You let him hold your hand, but you still can’t look at him. You’re not sure why it’s so embarrassing to be so vulnerable with him.

“I’m scared too. We’re still learning about each other’s boundaries, and it’s honestly still hard for me to express things to you. We’re gonna make mistakes with each other, but that’s natural. But, I know you’re bringing this up because you want us to start on a good foundation, right?”

“Yeah,” Your voice is still shaky, but you nod in agreement.

“Exactly, and that’s a great first step. I know it’s hard for both of us to open up, but I’m happy you told me,” He validates your fears and you finally look him in the eyes.

“Thank you, I just didn’t want to hide that when we’re about to truly start the relationship. I trust that we can call each other out on things if we cross a line, you know?” You still tried your best to hold eye contact, but you can’t help but focus on anything but his face.

“Yeah, absolutely. We’ll get there,” He finds your hand and squeezes it gently. The burden wasn’t completely resolved, but it was shared and that felt much better than keeping it all bottled up.

You found yourself staring out at the sea once again, eyes sometimes wandering to the people that would pass by. The silence wasn’t heavy this time, but rather full of mutual understanding. You soon felt a pull to explore the beach.

“Do you want to go down to the water?” You speak up.

“Yeah,” His face brightens and he helps you up off of the towel before standing up on his own.

You strip down out of your cover up, fold your clothes and place them in a neat pile near your shoes. “Race you there!” You yell suddenly and break out into a sprint.

“That’s not fair, you got a head start!” He’s close behind you, you can hear him catching up to you but you’re still running your hardest.

He passes you soon enough, sticking his tongue out at you before breezing past you. You’re out of breath by the time you reach the waves, but he’s waiting for you with open arms.

His embrace is as welcoming as always, and you spend a few moments catching your breath against his shoulder. He instinctively holds you a bit tighter and it feels heavenly. The moment you’re alright, you both wade deeper into the ocean, splashing each other until you’re both laughing uncontrollably.

You don’t realize how long you’ve been out in the water until you feel the heat of the sun against your skin more harshly than before.

You both retreat and dry off in your designated corner before covering up again. The walk back to the car is quiet, but you’re learning to embrace those moments with him a bit more.

After grabbing lunch at a nearby restaurant, the road-trip begins once again, with you in the passenger seat while he drives. It’s more or less the same as when you first drove up, he entertains you with conversation until you fall asleep, only to wake up dazed hours later.

This time, you manage to fall asleep for the rest of the ride, only waking up when Minghao tells you that you’re home.

You mutually decide to spend the night apart to properly prepare for the first day of your new jobs the next day, plus you need a bit of space to recharge from the trip.

You wouldn’t be apart for much longer though, you mutually agreed that Minghao would carpool you both to and from work each day unless he had to head in early or stay late at his office. However, he reassured you that he’d always let you know about those kinds of things early on.

It was a reliable routine that you could look forward to, you thought to yourself as you unpacked your clothes from your compact suitcase.

Once you text Soonyoung and Chan to let them know that you made it back safely, you delve into your nightly routine. It’s odd not to have him around, you feel his absence at every point of the night.

You’re able to fall asleep that night, but not as easily, silently hoping that he misses you all the same.

—

“Minghao? Are you okay?”

“All good,” He nods at you, staring at your shared workplace the next morning. The building seems a bit more intimidating when you’re about to begin the biggest job you’ve both had thus far.

“You seem nervous, love,” You see past his neutral expression and catch the slight tension in his brows.

“I am, I thought I’d be okay since I’ve already started the new work, but it’s different now. Everyone’s looking to me for all of the answers,” His brows furrow while he rants, but you notice the tension in his shoulders as he clutches his bag tighter in his fist.

“Hey, look at me,” You force him to meet your gaze, turning him around gently. “It’s okay to be nervous. You are perfectly capable and if you have any concerns, you’ve got people there to help right?”

He nods silently and your eyebrows perk up in support. “That’s great! You won’t be alone. I’ll be there in spirit, okay? Take this,” You give him a small frog statue that you’d been holding in your coat pocket and he smiles so wide that he breaks into laughter.

“This is cute, where’d you get it?” He admires the glazed figurine with care.

“I went to the hotel gift shop. I know you like frogs, I saw something on your desk,” You took a moment to look at the few items on his desk while you were there for the dress fitting and noticed a small frog plush, so you figured it needed a friend.

“This is really sweet, babe, thank you. I feel a bit better about it,” His smile doesn’t go away as he tucks the figurine into his pocket.

“You’re welcome, I’m happy that I could help a little bit,” You kiss him briefly and he gives a kiss on your cheek in return.

“I’m really glad that I have you to rely on,” His words are so sincere that they make you blush. You’re always worried that you’re not doing enough for him, but you remember your conversation on the beach and realize that you’re both trying to be better.

“I’m just glad that I can be there for you,” You offer the sentiment and it’s clear that it means a lot to him by the way he squeezes your hand and kisses it sweetly. The small gesture is enough to carry you through the rest of your day.

The first full day is quite long, and you’re still overwhelmed by the full scope of your department, but you’re not meant to understand everything in the first day.

Your coworkers seem nice, your supervisors are intimidating, but you’re actually able to do some design work the first day. It’s far more than you expected out of the job, but it feels meant to be once you think back on your day.

You tried your best, and that’s all you can do.

The best part of the day is watching him come outside to meet you, noticeably more tired than the morning, but he’s clearly excited to see you. He doesn’t say a word, silently enveloping you in a hug while he collects his thoughts.

“Good first day?” You ask quietly.

“Yeah,” He mumbles into your ear, he pulls away soon enough and grabs your hand, leading you both to his car.

The drive home is far more talkative than normal, both of you swapping first day stories that gain laughs and surprised expressions from each other while looking back on the day.

The routine starts to fall into place naturally in your mind, you’re excited to get used to hearing him hum along to music in the car and asking you what he should make for dinner.

You’re worthy of this, worthy of being in a calm and healthy dynamic. It may seem boring to other people, but the comfort of knowing your partner trusts you and understanding that they genuinely enjoy your company is far more valuable than you originally thought.

—

January rolls around and apartment hunting is moderately stressful, but you end up with a two bedroom apartment that both of you like. You both agree to make a detailed spreadsheet with all your options, comparing all of them while nestled in bed together. Your lease ends before his, so his apartment is crowded for a few weeks before you’re both able to move out.

Furniture shopping is far more stressful, and there’s plenty of small arguments about your styles, but the end product is worth it. This apartment is far more cozy than your last living situation, far more inviting than before and you’re not scared to be yourself around him.

You’re not afraid to be at home knowing you’re both ready and willing to support each other.

The first year of your relationship is naturally filled with ups and downs, but the downs are especially frightening.

Complications with your medicine put you in the hospital and Minghao has never been more terrified, he isn’t able to think of anything else except if his love is safe and sound.

The incident pulls you both back from work, but you’re able to make it through. Knowing how easily he could’ve lost you, Minghao doesn’t want to waste any more time.

You think nothing of him asking about if you prefer gold or silver or when you find him exploring your jewelry box, he just explains that he left one of his own rings in there.

He was just eager, eager to make you a more permanent fixture in his life.

Minghao is incredibly nervous, all things considered.

Your one year anniversary is today and he wants, no he needs, to propose to you tonight. The ring has been burning a hole in the back of one of his drawers for months now. He’s not sure how he’s managed to keep you off his tracks, but he’s grateful that you’ve had a bit more work to deal with lately.

He had managed to pull a few strings and was able to rent out your favorite botanical garden in the city for the evening, it was something he’s wanted to do for you ever since you mentioned your affinity for gardens on the road trip last summer.

You were under the impression that you were both invited for a self guided tour, but you were blissfully unaware of his ulterior motives.

If his timing was right, he’d be able to propose right as the sun was setting against the glass panes of the expansive greenhouse towards the end of the tour.

The tour had gone according to plan, you were enthralled by seeing the various kinds of plants and flowers that were displayed through each of the rooms. You were both on the way to the last room when you gushed over the experience once again.

“Everything is just so beautiful, I can’t believe you did this for us,” You lean your head against his shoulder.

“Of course, I figured it would be nice to not do a traditional dinner, but something we’ll remember,” He hints unknowingly and kisses you on the forehead.

It’s not too far ahead now, and the sounds of your heels clicking along the tiles make him exponentially more nervous.

You reach the double doors and you stop walking.

You look down to see a path of roses leading into the greenhouse. Your eyes widen slightly and you turn to offer Minghao a hesitant smile. “What’s all this?” You ask quietly.

“Just a little something for you,” Minghao responds calmly, but he can barely keep it together internally. It’s hitting him all at once you walk in, your eyes immediately hitting the centerpiece in the middle of the room.

“Oh my god,” Your eyes nearly pop out of their head at the sight of the words staring directly at you on a big sign.

Marry me.

“What are you doing,” Your voice is slightly shaky already, but he continues to walk you towards the setup.

“Hao, seriously,” You ask him again, but he simply holds your hand and starts to speak from the heart.

“This has been such an amazing year with you, and I honestly don’t think my life has ever felt so joyful before. You’re so supportive of me that as a result, I’ve been able to be much kinder to myself,” He stops to wipe his eyes. He lets out a shaky breath before continuing again.

“Every day, I think about how I’ve been lucky enough to find someone who cares so deeply about me. I know this relationship didn’t start in the ideal way, but I would be your fake boyfriend 100 times over if it meant we could find each other again, if we could grow together. I want to take care of you for the rest of my life, if you’ll let me. So with that said,” He finally kneels and it breaks any of the resolve you might've had left in your body.

He opens the black velvet box to reveal a gold floral shaped diamond ring that knocks the wind out of you.

It’s so startlingly beautiful that you almost forget he hasn’t said the words yet.

“Y/N, will you marry me?”

“Yes, what the fuck,” You sob at him and he’s beaming, you can barely see his smile through your tears.

He instinctively grabs your hand to place the ring on your finger. It feels like your body is floating the moment he stands up to kiss you, your hands instinctively find the back of his neck and nestle into his hair.

“Glad I put on a shit ton of setting spray,” You whisper in his ear and pull away from him. He giggles and wipes the stray tears that are strewn across your cheeks.

“You still look beautiful, love,” He reassures you with a soft swipe against your cheek.

“You’re handsome too. I didn’t think you’d cry during the speech,” You push his shoulder lightly and he blushes.

“I basically blacked out, I practiced it so much,” He shakes his head at the thought of it all.

“It was worth it, that was beautiful,” You pat his hair lovingly.

“I have another surprise though,” He offers.

“Wait, what is it?”

“Well, the director of the gardens is a Semicolon fan, and I happened to be working as assistant creative director on her favorite collection. So, she’s letting us get married here for free,” He raises his eyebrows and looks at you with a playful glance. “Minghao,” You’re practically in tears again. You couldn’t be happier.

“I told her this was your favorite place in the entire city, and she was quite happy to hear that,” He reaches to tuck a stray hair behind your ear and you melt into his touch.

“You’re so perfect, thank you baby,” You don’t let him get a word out before you’re kissing him much deeper this time, all the love and passion seems to come through immediately.

He reciprocated with the same level of commitment, holding you tenderly as you led him through the kiss.

“You’re welcome,” He mumbles into your ear.

It’s difficult to capture just how much has changed in a year. You’d like to think you’re much easier on yourself, now that you’re focused on what’s ahead of you instead of being so fixated on the past. It seems impractical that you were able to give yourself so easily to love, but you can’t deny how much it’s softened you.

When Minghao holds you in the aftermath of the proposal, you think you could stay there forever.

In that moment, you were simply grateful to be understood, grateful to be loved, and grateful to start a life with someone who saw the potential in you despite everything in the world that made you feel the opposite.

You can’t help but feel excited at the prospect of a life where there’s always love waiting for you when you least expect it.

#svthub #minghao smut #minghao imagines #minghao x reader #minghao fluff #seventeen smut #svt smut #minghao angst #the8 smut #the8 x reader #y’all this actually felt like giving birth #this has been going since APRIL!!!!!! that’s damn near an entire pregnancy #I’m just very proud of this #and thank you all again for reading <3333

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cbsxreader · 9 months

Note

hi muehehe same anon who requested scout and sniper x miss paulinh bff over here, how ab scout and sniper (seperate :p) x close friend!reader where like reader is very close to [insert merc] like always giving them hugs n stuff and then one morning [merc] wakes up with reader cuddling them (maybe after like a super tiring hang out or smt) and [merc] is like “woah.. i think i rlly like them 😵‍💫❤️” !!

tysm! and it’s 100% alright if this request takes a long time, it’s a lot to process lol :)!! /gen

Sniper and Scout realizing they like you!

Scout

You and Scout had always gotten along. Eversince the day you met, his rambles would consist of many different topics, making you able to freely talk to him about anything. Though it may have been tiring sometimes, it was all worth it.

After some time, there wasn't a time when Scout wasn't talking to you. For him, it felt good to have someone listen to him. And when you started to match his energy, you became unseperable.

Your bond became stronger when he let you prank his teammates (specifically Spy) and when he talked you into playing baseball with him. Scout hadn't had a friend like you, like, ever, and he wanted to make the best out of your friendship.

Then he announced that he had organised a day for you two to spend together. To be fair, the schedule was messily written on a crumbled paper and neither you or Scout himself could decipher what it said.

So, you just went wherever your heart took you. You walked through a room with a pool table? You played for a little bit. Walked into the kitchen? Took some snacks for yourself. Spotted an unsuspecting co-worker? Pulled a prank on them.

This went on as the hours passed by, you didn't even notice that you had basically skipped lunch and that it was getting a bit late.

Though baseball and messing with other people was fun, you both suddenly didn't want to do anything. You had ran out of options of what to do, either something seemed done to hell or straight up boring.

So, you decided to watch a movie together, putting a tape on the living room tv. Because of the long day you two shared, you collapsed onto the couch, letting your limbs fall wherever.

"Damn, today was fun!" You said with a tired smile.

"You can say that again!" Scout replied, putting on the film before coming over to the couch.

He let himself fall on the couch, joining you. You both melted into the cushions, your arms slightly grazing together.

The movie turned out to not be so good, it failed to catch your interest, and when it did, you couldn't pay attention for long. It was the same for Scout, he could hardly understand the movie because some parts just went through one of his ears and went through the other.

Your eyelids were heavy and it was hard to keep your eyes open. You desperately tried to remain awake, trying to show that you still had some energy in you. Scout, too, had nearly closed eyes and yawned a lot. He tried to keep himself from falling asleep by stretching every once in a while, but it didn't help.

After a particular yawn, you couldn't keep your eyes open and, without even noticing, you slipped into sleep. Meanwhile Scout had already secretly fallen asleep as well.

The next morning, Scout woke up, and then he realized he was pushed into the cushions and was laying on his back. He yawned only to feel pressure on his chest and finding it more difficult to breathe. His eyes widened, thinking another one of Medic's birds was in his chest.

And then he saw you, your cheek pressed against his chest. Your arms were wrapped around him in a close but loving hold. Your expression was relaxed and it looked like you had peacefully fallen asleep on him.

Scout yelped before shutting his lips, realizing he might wake you up. Once he saw you were still sleeping, he let out a sigh of relief before looking at you again. As he looked at your still figure, he couldn't help but blush at the closeness. Sure, you spent a lot of time together and knew each other better than anyone else but this?

Is this okay? I mean, it's just a simple hug, just...more close, that's all. They hug me all the time, why would this be different? They probably accidentally slid onto me and thought I was a pillow. When they wake up, it will all be back to normal.

Scout thought about moving you off of him and softly grabbed your shoulders, but seeing how comfortable you were he gave up and decided to not disturb you. He tried to test the waters and kept his hands on your shoulders, hoping to keep you close.

Scout felt his heartbeat fasten as he admired your features. Your hair looked so soft now that he was this close to you. Your cheeks and face looked so perfect as if angels had put it together. Your eyes, even though they were closed, were the most beautiful thing to him at that moment. He could just imagine you looking up at him with a smile, making him flustered.

I've never seen them be so beautiful...Have they always been this good looking?? I mean, I guess I never noticed...but now that I do...they're like...the most perfect person- wait what am I thinkin'?? Not that they're not perfect I mean- They're the best but not like that, we're just friends! Right?

Come to think of it, you understood Scout. Not like you just shared interests, no, it was a more deep, emotional connection he's never felt towards someone before.

It didn't matter how many times he repeated it to himself in his head, he liked this. While it could turn akward the second you wake up...this felt nice.

The freakout within him calmed down though he still seemed to be thinking. Okay, this is a bit akward but...what if it wasn't? Could you both enjoy this? What if this was a regular occurance? Wait no, that's what lovers do.

Scout looked at you again, re-imagining himself waking up to you cuddling him. It was a beautiful scene in his mind. Just you two, waking up next to eachother when the sun hits your closed eyes.

Now he had no choice but to figure out how to explain that he likes you and wants to be more than just friends.

Sniper

Though it took you a while to get Sniper to open up to you, it was definitely worth it. This was usually through small, short conversations between you when it came to your opinions about something. Who could have thought you, a normal person, and him, a lonesome weirdo, had some things in common!

Still slightly sceptical of you, he decided you invite you to his sniping nest, just to be in each other's company.

After you had cracked him, it was game over. He let himself info-dump onto you whenever the topic was about something that he cared for and knew a lot about. Both of your favourite moments were when Sniper gave an unusual or eye-widening fact and you could have a good laugh about it.

No matter how much he told himself that he was a professional, he always said yes to your hugs. It may have been akward the first few times because he's not used to getting hugged but he warmed up to it. If he had a good day, a regular day or a bad day, your sweetness would cheer him up. The gesture made him feel seen and appreciated.

One day, after lunch, he drove you out into the woods to just explore the wilderness. It was a great oppurtunity to bond as you went right through everything that was in your path. Bogs, swamps, mud, nothing stopped you when you had eachother's backs. It was also when Sniper could rant to you about nature again.

As the sun seemed to be lower to the horizon you decided to head back to the camper. And when you did, you sat down and realized how tired you had both gotten from all the walking. So, after eating some soup from a can, Sniper invited you to the top of his camper to watch the stars.

Sniper brought some pillows and a blanket that you would both share and got comfy as the moon rose. Darkness creeped in as stars became more shined over you. You looked up to the sky and Sniper pointed out some constillations, explaining everything he knew about them.

His voice was low, soothing. That, combined with the fact that it was night time and you were exhausted from exploring, made you feel sleepy. It seemed like Sniper wouldn't last for much longer either, he yawned in the middle of his sentences. And then he ran out of things to say, making you both lay in silence. Just when you thought you'd be able to admire the sky, you let your eyelids shut and fell asleep. Sniper quickly followed.

The next morning, he slightly writhed as he felt himself wake up, the hard roof of the camper not seeming so comfortable anymore. He opened his eyes, seeing mostly darkness because of his hat blocking the sunlight.

He squinted his eyes, furrowing his brows, before deciding to rub his eyes to seem more awake. He reached towards his face only to realize his arm grazed something right beside him. With a confused expression, he slightly lifted up his hat to get a better look.

What Sniper saw made his eyes go wide open. You had cuddled up to him, face nuzzled in his side. The mere sight of you being so close to him made him wide awake.

What didn't help was the fact that he had an arm around you to pull you in closer to him until he went to rub his eyes.

Wait, what!? How long have they've been this close to me!? Why are they cuddled up to me!? And why did I wrap my arm around them!? They're my friend!

Needless to mention, he went red in the face and it felt like his whole body slightly shook at how flustered he was. It confused him how content you looked while being so close to him.

All your previous hugs and other gestures were out of kindness and happiness. So, it fumbled him how you seemed to enjoy his body like a warm pillow in a cold night.

He could see how hard his heart beat in his chest by looking at how your hand moved. But after slightly calming down, he still had no idea what to do or think.

Was it too cold for them? They just needed warmth, right? I was just the nearest source of warmth, that's all. There's no way they'd do this intentionally...

In that moment, Sniper seemed lost as he looked at you. Your features made you seem so content, so comfortable, so warm. Yout hair was slightly fuzzy and almost made Sniper want to touch it. Despite being confused, he suddenly realized how truly beautiful you are.

Not to mention, you were someone who truly understood him. You could tell each other everything about anything. He could talk to you without getting the anxious feeling that he doesn't fit in. And it really brought out the vulnerable side of him. A side that he could trust to show you. You could be the one for him.

After that thought, he pulled his hat over his head again, but didn't fall asleep. Instead, he decided to think for a bit. About what? You. Him. You and him together. His job, his life, his parents. Everything. He's just a bit lovestruck.

He placed his arms in a bit of a strange manner to avoid being accused of cuddling you back and sort of heaves the akwardness onto you when you wake up. (But you'll both get to that soon enough)

#tf2 #team fortress #team fortress 2 #tf2 x reader #team fortress x reader #team fortress 2 x reader #tf2 scout #tf2 scout x reader #tf2 sniper #tf2 sniper x reader

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silentcryracha · 11 months

Text

❍ ‗ Love Language (Skz - Maknae line) ‗ ❍

Pairings : Jisung x reader, Felix x reader, Seungmin x reader, Jeongin x reader

Genre/warnings : They all start fluffy and fun and end up smutty, You've been warned. 18+. (eventual specific warnings will be at the start of the paragraphs)

Summary : Specific situations in which I think skz would go feral in. Very easy. Half headcanon/half scenario.

Word count :

A/n : As promised here is the maknae line! Also just wanted to specify that many members may share the same hobbies/passions but of course I tried to switch it up a lil lol. The summary and title suck I know apologies, just read to understand lol Anyways have fun!

ps: There could be errors. Do NOT repost on other socials. Leave feedback if you feel like it, otherwise enjoy! ♡︎

Hyung line here

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Jisung ‗ ❍

Jisung is a nerd (affectionate <3), everyone knows. Now, he seems to be pretty proud of it, and I genuinely get the vibe that he would dislike people who picked on it for no reason. Like, why do you hate fun dude?

And that's exactly why he does like people who are able to have fun with these pop culture/nerdy things like he can. You're automatically a cool person to him. And imagine if on top of that, you maybe even share his tastes AND you're hot?? Then it's settled, you're his.

Watching anime, dramas, movies but also reading manga, manhwas (and so on), but in general indulging into this type of content seems to be both a hobby and a comfort activity for Jisung, so it's natural that he would love to share this with his s/o.

You'd recommend things to each other, both to watch together and separately, or maybe keep up with the same things and then discuss them and your opinions. It would definitely be something that would connect you more on a personal level, too, I think.

Especially since you can learn so much about a person simply by understanding their likes/dislikes, what makes them cry, what makes them laugh ( or *aroused*).

It becomes a natural thing between you two to use this common interest as a way to connect even more and lift each other's mood when you need it. Maybe one day you're being a little sad or disappointed for some reason, and Han would just either drop a very specific reference that would make you laugh or simply suggest spending some time together and relax.

Of course, it would be a mutual thing. You'd absolutely use these little infos about him, like having a particular preference/crush for a character, at your advantage. I feel like that would get him more flustered than he'd like to admit.

This little game would absolutely turn somewhat kinky in some way, at some point. Like role play kinky. It could be in a very random moment, for example you two could be watching something and one of you would go "That was hot. Want to make out?" and then you'd end up fucking on the couch at 4 pm on a Sunday, just because.

Or it could be a planned thing. "I prefer the villains anyway" you'd randomly say during a talk, shrugging casually. And man, would he take notes. Next thing you know he's going to randomly pin you against the wall, a hand sliding lightly up from your chest to your neck, "Do you trust me?" you eyes wide, a little confused but excited, you'd answer "Yes". He'd smirk, proceeding to tell you all the filthy things he was going to do to you.

I am a firm believer that Jisung is a switch so yes the situation could 100% be reversed.

Felix ‗ ❍

With Felix the options could be multiple, but for now let's focus on his 'nerdy' side. In this case it leans more into computers/electronics and gaming, which I think is a bit more specific than something like watching anime.

It's more a relaxing activity and a hobby (one of) than a passion in my opinion, so I don't think that he would search specifically for a s/o was also into these things, but if you were then it would be very cool.

Nonetheless he would let you into these things pretty easily, and you would be happy and eager to hear all about it, of course. At the end of the day seeing him getting excited and enjoying his time was the thing that mattered the most, and you felt good knowing that he cared enough to the point of wanting, or maybe even involuntarily, talk about it with you.

It would probably take a little for him to actually be completely comfortable, meaning that I see him as someone who would not hide his hobby but would try to make it 'cool'. Like, "Me? losing? never" and you'd be like "Sure sweet cheeks" and then just watch him get his ass beat up by the other players. Of course with time you'd earn his trust and confidence enough to be allowed to roast him whenever you wanted to (lovingly ofc).

But you would also be his number one fan! He would love to have you present as a 'lucky charm' or ask a kiss for good luck, to bet with you jokingly, to comment and complain about the game itself or other players and so on. Felix would love to have you around in general to be honest. It would greatly help his mood whenever he got frustrated or nervous for some reason.

He would also find it extremely cute when you got a little clingy, like laying your head on his shoulder or hug him from behind just because you felt like it. He loves getting attention and physical contact with his loved ones, so of course he'd appreciate it a lot.

But of course like all things between couples that are fun and cute, could also very quickly turn into heated situations. "This damn game is pissing me off! And that guy just keeps being so annoying, shit" he'd complain, waving a hand in the air in annoyance. You couldn't help but be just a little amused seeing your cute boyfriend get all worked up, the frown on his face just about as threatening as a kitten hissing.

"Mmh" you'd hum, getting up from wherever you'd be sitting, "I'm going to take a shower now. How about you get a rematch, beat that annoying dude and win for me? Then we can celebrate" his mouth would go slightly agape and his eyes wide looking up at you. You'd just chuckle and get his headphones back up on his head before walking away.

Not even five minutes into the shower he would burst in, undressing himself on the way and join you. "Did you win already?" you'd ask in amusement. He would shut you up with a feverish kiss "No, I got distracted" he'd smirk in between kisses, "Besides that cunt can go fuck himself, I got better things to think of"

Seungmin ‗ ❍

Seungmin would love to have an s/o that matched his vibe. He also has side hobbies outside of work, so for example he would love to get you involved in them. But in general of course you'd make sure to always support him and share his excitement.

That one baseball team that he absolutely dies for played a game and won? Suddenly you become fan number two. Do you give a fuck? Maybe not. Does he know? Of course he does but that's why he'd be ten times more happy if you decided to play along. Also knowing how fast this man can switch vibe, you would trul just wouldn't know what to expect next.

"Didn't you say that you can't stand sports?" you'd roll your eyes at him dramatically, "You little sh-" he'd just laugh and kiss your cheek as a silent thank you. I feel like he would genuinely value that a lot, especially if he knew you only did it for him.

Seungmin would be beyond entertained in a situation in which he was being a little shit to someone and you'd just, play on his team. Either of you could casually drop the most out of pocket comment about something and the other would throw back a smart response and then you'd just keep going. Literal partners in crime.

Again, he looks like a man that has range. From cute, to serious, funny, sarcastic and even sexy. And an s/o that could put up with it and be able to respond perfectly to his mood would make him thrive, I think.

He also seems like someone who wouldn't enjoy having his boundaries messed with, though. If he was mad or seriously anxious, he wouldn't like someone acting off and maybe undermining his feelings. But he'd like someone that would take him seriously and tried to help in practical ways.

This boundaries could also imply physical touch or specific words/behaviours. For example, you could decide to play with his hand in public rather than getting all over him and kiss him. Or again, I feel like he wouldn't be the number one fan of being too cheesy in front of other people, but could very well appreciate it when you're in private.

He definitely has a romantic side to him, so you initiating stuff with him would make his heart flutter like crazy, in the right situation. There could be some exceptions, though. Imagine you're out with a group of friends, and you decide to tease him a little.

You'd lean in and whisper, "Seungie, I'm bored". He'd raise an eyebrow at you, genuinely confused at first, "Is something wrong? Do you want to go home?"

You wrap your arm around his, your head resting on his shoulder "No, I didn't say that. I would just rather to do something else" he was eyeing you a bit suspiciously now, carefully asking "Like what?".

You'd try to hide a smile and respond very casually, purposefully making him even more flustered. "You?" he'd absolutely have to control himself from making too obvious expressions, making you chuckle.

He'd silently curse you for getting him worked up in such a situation, but then after a few minutes he'd casually say that it has gotten late and you should go, or straight up make up an excuse. Now, what happens after and its consequences are gonna be on you and you alone ;)

Jeongin ‗ ❍

Jeongin would probably love to have a s/o that is similar to him. Meaning that he'd probably way more inclined to want spend time with someone that he can share anything with, emotionally, physically, habits wise.

I feel like he values communication and understanding a lot. He would like to have someone who knows him well and with whom he could maybe create some sort of routine? He also is someone who may be a little hard to read, but definitely has different range depending on whom he's with. That alone implies a great sense of trust.

You'd undoubtedly have to keep up with him, though. He seems to be generally a pretty quiet person, but could absolutely get a little crazy sometimes. Like, one evening you'd be quietly having a relaxing time at home and then the morning after, when you wake up he'd randomly go like "So, how about we take the train and visit this place today?"

You'd kind of just impulsively go and have a great time. Regardless. Could be raining, be tremendously hot, super windy. You could lose the train or the bus, drop your ice cream on the floor, literally anything but it wouldn't ruin your day. Because you both have that kind of positive and carefree attitude that makes you match so well.

I feel like he wouldn't ask for anything specific except someone that can keep him in a good mood and be there for him when he needs it. You'd just be a safe space for each other, honestly.

Kinda feel like he's secretly quite affectionate, especially with an s/o and a few other exceptions (kids and animals, lol). Jeongin is clearly a very sweet person in general, but I do feel like he holds himself back a bit when he gets anxious about 'exposing' himself too much emotionally.

Still wouldn't 100% be a very clingy or cheesy person in public, but would allow toned down PDA like holding hands, leaning your heads on each other, sharing smiles. Something a little more specific, is hugging or being closer to each other in a crowded place like the subway, an event, a square and so on.

He would very much appreciate conversation. A kind word, some encouragement, a joke or just you being calm and trying to influence your good mood on him would be more than enough. He would probably be really touched by it.

I feel like you'd have 'your' thing. Like a couple ring, necklace charm, bracelet. Something small and private that only the two of you would 'get', and find great comfort in it.

Let's not forget about his silly side though, this man could be the sweetest angel in one moment and start joking around/teasing you in the next. You'd laugh a lot together, and those would most likely also be the situations in which things could get heated.

Even in sudden moments, just out of pure love. For example, while you're roaming around the city, having fun and just being so full of life and love that at some point it would feel almost...overwhelming.

You'd just look at each other, feeling such intimate connections that you'd probably just spend the whole way back home giggling and exchanging super lovey-dovey eyes. Until you do in fact reach home, and that's where the magic would happen. Could be slow and romantic, undressing sensually and smiling type of vibe, or it could turn into something a lot more passionate and frenetic. You're just going to have to find out day by day with him :')

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

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fishing-lesbian-catgirl · 10 months

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You’re enabling me 😘

I rambled about it in the tags of the Vespiquen post I reblogged earlier but I really wish Vespiquen was better. I know it’s foolish to want each Pokémon to have a unique niche and function and everything, but Vespiquen has such a cool design I think she deserves better. They apparently cared enough to give Vespiquen 3 unique signature moves that literally only Vespiquen can learn which thematically play off of her gimmick of being the queen bee with a swarm of Combes. In actuality her signature moves don’t really get to have their potential realized and frankly don’t do anything particularly interesting with her concept, but they still make Vespiquen one of the pokemon with the most unique signature moves. (Also they cared enough to create a unique item that is generated by Vespiquen when she Dynamaxes in Sword and Shield, not super relevant but worth pointing out that Vespiquen has some unique things going for her).

Anyway, her signature attack, Attack Order, is an extremely solid 90 power 100% accuracy physical bug move with high crit chance, it’s not particularly exciting as it’s just a slightly better version of X-Scissor but it is quite good and frankly if other bug pokemon could learn it there are quite a few who would enjoy it (it would still have to compete with Leech Life but it’d be an option). Vespiquen is a Pokémon with respectable stats, 70 base HP, 102 base Def and Sp. Def, base 80 Atk and Sp. Atk, and an underwhelming 40 speed. With tied Atk and Sp. Atk, Vespiquen could go for a physical or special attack moveset, and despite Vespiquen’s signature attack being physical, I’d argue her move pool has better special attack options, although her inability to use Quiver Dance despite seemingly like exactly the type of Pokémon that learns Quiver Dance is unfortunate as it would really boost the potential of a special Vespiquen set. On paper her stats are quite solid and should give a Pokémon respectable bulk and alright attack stats, but because Vespiquen is a Bug/Flying type with 2x weaknesses to Fire, Ice, Electric, Flying, and a miserable 4x weakness to Rock that causes her to get set to half health from stealth rocks alone, Vespiquen’s solid-on-paper bulk doesn’t really hold up in practice, and her slow speed and mediocre attack stats prevent her from playing a sweeper role. I’m saying all this to get across that Vespiquen is very likely to take hits that she can’t survive because of just how many weaknesses she has, this unfortunately makes her other two unique moves significantly less useable. Defend Order increases both defensive stats by one stage, it’s not bad by any means and would probably be very powerful on the right pokemon, but on Vespiquen it’s unlikely to make a difference when a 4x damage rock slide is coming your way. Vespiquen’s final unique move is Heal Order, which restores 50% of her hp, a really good move if it was on a Pokémon that could take multiple hits, but as I’ve tried to explain, Vespiquen realistically is not one of those Pokémon. What’s even worse about Heal Order is that, in Vespiquen’s debut generation Gen 4, there is a TM for Roost that Vespiquen can learn. So while a lot of flying types dislike losing their ground immunity when using roost, Vespiquen would gladly trade it for temporarily removing several weaknesses, meaning that Vespiquen’s signature healing move is, in most cases, worse for her than the other recovery move she can learn. If by some miracle you are able to get Vespiquen in against Pokémon that don’t have coverage for any of the common types she’s weak to, and you’re actually able to set up a turn or two of defense order followed by heal order healing, Vespiquen could probably be useful, but even then you probably wouldn’t want to use one of her remaining move slots on Attack Order since it’s not going to do much because with a mediocre attack stat on a slow Pokémon you probably had to invest in defensively just to get to survive up until this point. What’s most disappointing to me is Vespiquen’s abilities. I would think a Pokémon whose entire gimmick is about having combee swarming around her and doing her bidding with her literally being the beehive would maybe have something interesting as an ability, but unfortunately she only gets Pressure and Unnerve, both of which are useless in most battles.

Whenever I think about Pokémon like Vespiquen that have lots of problems preventing them from reaching their full potential, I try and thinking what ways you could fix them. The immediate obvious answer would be to change her type, even something as uninteresting and common as bug/poison would be a significant improvement in terms of weaknesses (at the cost of STAB Acrobatics and Air Slash I guess). Another approach could be improving her move pool, I don’t think letting Vespiquen learn Quiver Dance would necessarily do much for her, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. The methods I think would be the most interesting of making Vespiquen and her unique signature moves more usable would be to change/buff the moves significantly or give her a real ability. Given Vespiquen’s unique design I personally think she deserves a unique ability themed around her design gimmick gmaybe something like “in double/triple battles, moves targeting Vespiquen are redirected to her Bug-type allies”), but even just something thematically appropriate like Tsareena’s Queenly Majesty would be a massive improvement over “your opponent uses more PP per move” and “your opponent can’t eat berries”. As for the moves, maybe they could do the kind of combining two existing moves thing that they’ve been doing lately and add the Infestation effect to Attack Order, or change Defend Order to reduce damage dealt by super effective attacks to her team sort of like a light screen. Really I just want a Pokémon as cool as Vespiquen that has 3 entire unique moves to be a functional Pokémon that actually has some sort of reason to pick and use said unique moves

And don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that Vespiquen’s signature moves are actually quite good compared to other Pokémon whose signature moves are lacking. It’s hard to complain about a really solid attack, a boost to both defenses, and a basic 50% heal when some Pokémon get slaps in the face like Octozooka, but knowing that doesn’t make Vespiquen’s moves actually any good

#Vespiquen #competitive pokemon #my autism flared up again

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hbyrde36 · 7 months

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Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Chapter 9

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 ao3 link

*Eddie*

Eddie pressed his fingers to his mouth as he walked down the front steps, still feeling the ghost of Steve's soft lips against his own. He felt like he was walking through a dream, instead of the nightmare that his life had become in the past 24 hours. Though that feeling began to drift away rapidly as he got into his fan and drove away from the trailer, and Steve and Eleven.

Once he was alone, with nothing to distract him and no sound other than the hum of the engine, Eddie couldn't help but start spiraling, just a little.

Could Steve have really meant what he said, when it was far more likely that he had just latched onto Eddie because he was the first person who’d helped him after two years in what was essentially captivity?

Did Steve actually like him, or was this some kind of Stockholm Syndrome thing?

No, that was for kidnappers.

Florence Nightingale syndrome?

It was a slightly better match, but it wasn’t as if he’d nursed Steve back to health or anything.

Okay, so maybe there wasn’t a fancy name for it, but the two of them had been pulled together under wild circumstances. Was it so surprising that they might cling to each other as anchors for their respective ships in this storm?

A little, considering they were both boys and he had been 100% sure that Steve Harrington was straight, right up until the moment he’d kissed him!

Eddie knew, at least for his part, that it was more than a thing born of shared trauma. He’d been crushing on Steve for years, and had fantasized about kissing him countless times. The reality of it had been better than he could have ever imagined, too good to be true in fact, or maybe that was him projecting his own fears.

It was a scary thing to be handed everything you ever wanted, and even more frightening to accept it when you’ve spent so long being absolutely sure that it would never be an option.

As he pulled into the high school parking lot he decided to just put the whole thing out of his mind for now, as best he could anyway. There were much more important things to worry about than his love life.

The bell rang, and he watched from his parking space as students began pouring out of the school. He spotted Mike and Will first, the two of them having grown so tall this year that they stood out from the crowd. He peered behind them, knowing Lucas and Dustin wouldn’t be far off. The four boys were rarely without each other, except when Lucas had basketball practice of course. Which he must have today, Eddie realized, when he found Dustin bringing up the rear on his own.

He stepped out of the van and made a beeline for the boys, wanting to catch them before they got on their bikes and took off.

“Hey shitheads!” Eddie shouted, hands formed around his mouth to boost the sound.

All three boys whipped their heads in his direction. Dustin’s expression morphed from a wide happy grin into a worried frown in an instant. Mike and Will just looked confused. Eddie jogged the last few feet to them, in a hurry to get everyone on board and get back home as soon as possible.

“Is everything okay?” Dustin asked, at the same time Mike said, “Where were you today?

“Everything is fine” Eddie began, holding significant eye contact with Dustin, then looking at the others. “But there is something back at the trailer that I need you all to come see.”

Dustin gasped.

“What is it?” Mike asked, sounding annoyed.

Will was quiet, watching it all go down with a slightly amused smile on his face. He was definitely in the running to be Eddie’s favorite today.

“All will be revealed in due time, young Wheeler. Go throw your bikes in the back of the van. I’m gonna see if I can snatch up Sinclair before his practice starts.”

Mike opened his mouth, either to ask another question or to argue, but Dustin elbowed him in the ribs and told him to hurry up. Will had already unlocked his own bike from the rack and was walking it towards the parking lot.

Yup, favorite kid.

Eddie set off in the direction of the gym. He opened the door only to see Chrissy who had just come from the girls' locker room. It was perfect timing.

She smiled at him and ran over, her sneakers squeaking on the court as she did.

“Eddie! You weren’t in school today. You okay?”

He smiled in return. Chrissy was a literal ray of sunshine and he couldn’t help but react to that, no matter how weird his day had been.

“Yeah, I just had some family stuff to take care of.”

He scrambled for a way to ask her to come with him. If things did pan out the way they feared, she was in very real and immediate danger, and he just couldn’t imagine letting anything happen to her.

He didn’t really want to give anything away until he could prove it, and there were too many prying eyes and ears for him to just blurt out - I found Steve Harrington in the woods! But he had to try something.

“I know you’re about to start cheer practice,” Eddie began, “But…uh, do you remember all that stuff we talked about in the library?”

Her smile faltered a bit but she nodded encouragingly.

“There’s been some developments and I'd really like to fill you in on what I found out, if you wanted to come back to my place? The boys are coming too, my cousin and his buddies.” He added quickly, worried that she might somehow take his invitation the wrong way.

Chrissy glanced nervously around the gym, and he was pretty sure she was about to agree to go, when two things happened at once. The outer doors swung open loudly, revealing Dustin, Mike, and Will, who must have gotten tired of waiting and came to look for him, he guessed, while the door to the boys locker room was also thrown wide as the entire basketball team came trotting out. They were buzzing with pent up energy and Jason Carver was at the head of the pack.

He spotted Eddie immediately and rushed over. With no hesitation the jock planted himself between him and Chrissy.

Jason crowded Eddie as he shouted in his face, “Get away from her, freak! She doesn’t want to talk to you. What are you even doing here?”

“Jason, stop!” Chrissy shouted.

He waved her back dismissively. “No, no, it’s alright babe, I got this.”

Eddie grit his teeth, fuming, and not only because of the way Jason was talking to him, he could deal with that, but the way he was so openly dismissive of his girlfriend. Someone he was supposed to love. Chrissy deserved better.

“What is it, Munson? You like to watch the girls while they practice, huh? You got a thing for looking up their skirts?” Jason accused loudly, then lowered his voice to a sinister whisper. “Or is it the boys locker room you’re more interested in getting a peep at?”

It was a dangerous accusation, and it unnerved Eddie a little that Jason might have suspicions about him. If he’d said what he did a little louder, there might be a lot more guys looking to jump into this fight. He tried his best to ignore it like he would any other barb, but it was an effort to keep from overreacting and rising to the bait

“Oh fuck off, you neanderthal. We were just talking.”

“What did you call me?”

Eddie looked at Chrissy over Jason's shoulder and rolled his eyes. She stifled a giggle, stopping abruptly and going wide-eyed when Jason turned his head to glance back at her.

“Don’t worry about it, Carver.” Eddie answered. “Now, if you would just kindly back the fuck up so I can finish my conversation with the lovely Ms. Cunningham here, I’ll be out of your hair in a jiffy.”

“I don’t think so. What makes you think she wants to talk to somebody like YOU anyway?”

In Eddie’s defense, it had been a long and mostly no good very bad day. He stepped into Jason, closing the very small gap that remained between them until they were almost nose to nose.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” He said, jabbing the other boy in the chest with his finger.

Jason shoved Eddie away from him hard. He stumbled, but Will, Mike, and Dustin were all there to steady him.

“Stop it, Jason! He's my friend!” Crissy shouted again, still hovering but trying to stay out of the way. This time her boyfriend either didn’t hear, or completely ignored her.

Eddie shoved Jason right back, pleased when he had to take a step back to maintain his balance. Unfortunately, Eddie hadn’t really been in that many fights. Guys usually took one look at him and backed off, assuming he carried knives and shit just because he wore leather and a battle vest. He was briefly a drug dealer, so maybe that had something to do with it too. So, he was a little unprepared for Jason cocking back a fist and punching him square in the face.

Chrissy looked like she was about to jump on Jason’s back to stop him but suddenly Lucas was there. He caught Jason’s arm, stopping it before he could land another hit.

“I knew you weren’t really one of us Sinclair! I should never have told the coach I had a good feeling about you! I’ll have you thrown off the team for this!” Jason shouted.

He shrugged himself roughly out of Luca’s grip and walked back over to where the rest of the team was doing warm ups and pretending not to watch the drama unfolding in front of them.

Chrissy looked torn. She watched Jason walk away, bouncing her eyes between him and Eddie as she gnawed on her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said to Eddie. “I don’t know why he gets like that.”

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.”

She nodded a little to herself, sending a sad smile his way and turning to follow after her boyfriend.

Eddie sighed. He’d have to let her go for now and hope that tomorrow wouldn’t be too late. He felt like an idiot, he should have known better than to approach her when that meathead was bound to be close by.

“You good?” Lucas asked. Producing a small towel from his pocket and handing it to him to dab away the blood from his nose.

“Yeah, sorry if I made trouble for you.” Eddie said, gesturing off towards the rest of Lucas’ teammates.”

“Don't worry about it, they all know how Jason can be. I’m sure the whole thing will be forgotten by tomorrow. What are you guys doing here anyway?”

“We need you to come with us.” Dustin butt in.

Lucas looked at all of them in turn. “Party business?”

“Don’t ask us,” Mike said, hooking a thumb in Eddie's direction. “He won't tell us shit.”

“I’ll tell you everything when we get to the trailer, I promise. We can’t talk about this here. You in, Sinclair?” Eddie asked.

“Fuck it, why not. Didn't feel like dealing with Jason’s attitude today anyway.”

“Good choice.” Eddie said, grinning. “Come on boys, let's get out of here.”

On the way back to his van, Eddie noticed Nancy and Jonathan about to get into her car. He’d thought for sure that he had taken too long and missed them, but somehow he’d gotten lucky. Maybe the eldest Wheeler got caught up doing newspaper stuff after school. Whatever the reason, he was grateful. He told the boys to get in and trotted over to the couple.

Eddie found he had mixed feelings towards Nancy. She’d been so great about the investigation thing and told them everything they wanted to know, and she was nice about Eddie’s own reaction to it all, but there was a small part of him that bubbled up with jealousy when he thought about her and Steve being reunited.

He knew she was with Jonathan now, and had been for a long time, much longer than she’d dated Steve, but the thought still set his teeth on edge. He shook it off, he had no reason to think they would still be interested in each other, and even if they were, it’s not like he had a claim on Steve now just because they’d made out a little bit. Nancy cared about Steve, and she deserved to know that he was alive and safe. Well, as safe as any of them were now.

“Shit, man, what happened to you?” Jonathan said as Eddie got close. He must still have some blood smeared on his face.

Eddie shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “A disagreement between me and one of our resident jocks. No big deal. Listen, uh, are you guys busy right now?”

The two of them shared a look. “Not really, why?” Nancy said.

“I can’t tell you here.” He was getting really tired of saying that already. “I’m sorry to be cryptic about it, but I think you’ll understand when you see. I’m taking all the kids back to my house right now, could you follow us there? There's something I need to show all of you.”

The couple looked at eachother again, confusion clear on their faces, but for whatever reason they agreed. Probably because he already had their brothers roped into something. Oh well, he'd take it. This had all gone much easier than he thought it would, apart from the black eye he could feel forming.

The short ride back to the trailer park was uncharacteristically quiet. Dustin remained silent, though Eddie could practically hear the thoughts churning in his head. The other boys knew at this point that Eddie wasn’t going to give in, so there was no point in questioning him on the way.

He pulled in front of the trailer and got out, ordering the boys to stop when they tried to walk right inside, insisting they needed to wait for Nancy and Jonathan.

He and Steve hadn’t exactly planned this part but Eddie made sure to stomp his feet on the steps so that anyone inside would hear them coming. He turned to his small assembled crowd, feeling like he should give them some kind of warning.

“So, this might be a bit of a shock. Just…everybody try to be cool, ok?”

Eddie spun back around quickly to avoid the several sets of very concerned eyes that were aimed in his direction. He opened the door and stepped inside, doing a quick sweep of the room, finding Steve and Eleven sitting at the kitchen table with Wayne. He stepped further in, letting everyone trail in after him.

Wayne, who’d had a sandwich halfway to his mouth, let it drop from his hands to hit the plate with a little thud. He rubbed at his face muttering, “God damnit Eddie.”

Eleven didn’t seem surprised at the influx of new arrivals, Steve must have filled her in when she woke up.

“Wait, is that?” Lucas started to ask but was cut off by Nancy’s gasp of, “Steve?!”

Steve stood, giving her a little wave. “Hey, Nance.”

She hesitated, just staring at him for a handful of seconds before stepping forward and throwing her arms around him. “You’re alive.” She murmured softly into his chest, eventually pulling away to look at his face.

“Oh my god, you’re alive!” She said again, much louder this time and with tears in her eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands.

Eddie had that feeling again. He knew it wasn’t right but he felt like she was touching something that belonged to him. He held the jealousy in, Nancy and Steve had been something to each other once upon a time, and they were entitled to this without his interference.

Steve lightly took her hands and lowered them from his cheeks. Then he finally looked up and met Eddie’s eyes, smiling as he said, “I’m okay, Eddie’s been taking good care of me.”

Oh and didn’t that make his stomach flutter. Eddie could feel himself blushing a little under Steve’s gaze, glad that no one was really paying attention to him. Everyone was too focused on the missing person in the room, now found, and the young girl at the table who was a stranger to all of them.

Steve broke their stare after a moment and looked around at the rest of the assembly crammed into the small space of the trailer.

“Hey guys.” He said, nodding to the younger boys.

Dustin, he greeted by name, causing the other three to look his way accusingly. He shrugged at his friends, mouthing the word sorry while looking far too smug to mean it, before walking over to take a seat next to Eleven.

“Hey man.” Jonathan said, finally emerging from a stunned silence as Nancy came back to stand near him. “I’m, uh, glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks.”

“So that’s it? You found Steve?!” Mike blurted out, finally losing patience. Honestly Eddie was surprised he’d lasted this long. “I mean, not that that’s not cool and all but what’s with the secrecy, and why is he here instead of with his parents or Hopper?”

Eddie finally sidled up to Steve, close but not touching like he really wanted to. He wasn’t sure how he was meant to act now in general, let alone in front of this many people, so he was happy enough just to be near the other boy.

Steve wasn’t.

He took that one step closer that caused their sides to brush and rested his hand on Eddie's lower back where no one else could see. “Are you still sure about this?” He murmured the question softly into Eddie’s ear.

Eddie nodded, even as his heart started to race from the gentle touch and the feel of Steve’s breath on his skin.

“There’s a lot we need to tell you all, starting with introducing you to someone. This is Eleven. She and I have been held against our will at Hawkins lab for the past two years.”

Mike, Lucas, and Will’s jaws all dropped simultaneously. Dustin grinned from his place next to the girl. She looked a little shy suddenly with all the attention and Eddie noticed Wayne gave her a little pat on the back in support.

As he watched the interaction, and how the girl smiled up at his uncle, it hit Eddie suddenly how lucky he was to have made it out of that place when he did. Luckier still that Claudia had found him and took him home. He could have died, or been made to spend the rest of his childhood in that place the same way Eleven had. He honestly wasn’t sure which one was worse.

Steve and Eddie took turns telling their parts of the story and then together explained the parallels between the game and the real world. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, it didn’t take much to convince the boys that they were telling the truth. They quickly accepted the fact that much of what they had played through was real and they even took Eddie’s backstory in stride, though they had a lot of questions that he didn’t have the answers to.

Jonathan and Nancy were a bit harder of a sell. He was quietly skeptical, while she kept trying to poke holes in everything and seemed completely unwilling to accept that anyone could have the type of power they were claiming. Finally, with a flick of her hand El sent a magazine that had been sitting on the kitchen counter flying in Nancy’s direction. She caught it on instinct, her mouth opening in a soft ‘oh’ of surprise as her brain caught up to what it had just witnessed.

The rest of the room went dead silent at the display, save for Dustin who was giggling like an idiot at having finally seen what he’d been waiting for since the morning. He offered her a high five, which she returned with gusto, smiling wider than Eddie had ever seen her in their short acquaintance.

Things went a lot quicker after that.

Wayne didn’t say much throughout the explanation, which wasn’t surprising to Eddie, his uncle had always been a quiet person, but he watched the man's face fall as they reached the end and had to tell of Eddie’s character's death at the hands of Vecna via the demobats.

“You boys said things don’t always go the same as your game, right? Do you think…does that mean…is that likely to happen, Eds?” Wayne's voice shook as he finally spoke. His worry for his nephew clear as day.

“We’re honestly not sure.” Eddie admitted reluctantly.

“That’s why we wanted to tell everyone who might be involved as soon as possible,” Steve added.

“There’s more too. Fred, and Patrick were victims in the story, and Chrissy. I tried to get her to come with us but her boyfriend interrupted.” Eddie said, mostly to Steve since the others had been there.

“Yeah! You should have seen it, Steve.” Dustin jumped in. “Eddie got a good shove in but then Jason punched him in the face.”

Wayne shook his head, grumbling softly, “Gonna have to call that school tomorrow. Ain’t right letting my boy get hit like that.”

“I’m fine.” Eddie insisted, catching his uncle’s eye.

“Jason Carver?” Steve asked, jaw tightening every so slightly.

Lucas nodded, answering him.

Steve touched his fingers lightly to Eddie’s chin, examining his face carefully. “Did he hurt you?” He said softly.

It was almost too much, the way Steve was looking at him, and a lump formed in Eddie’s throat. “I’m fine.” He forced out, hoping his voice sounded more normal than he felt. He swallowed hard and tried again. “I'll probably have a hell of a black eye later, but that’s all.”

“So, what do we do now, what’s the plan?” Will asked.

Steve and Eddie shared a look. “We hadn’t really worked out much past telling everyone what we had figured out.”

“What about Max and Billy?” Lucas asked.

Steve frowned. “Who is she again?”

“Max is a girl the boys tried to make friends with, she and her shitty brother, Billy Hargrove, moved here the fall after you got taken.” Eddie explained.

“What do you mean, tried to make friends?” Steve asked.

“We were all hanging out at the arcade once, a few days after we met Max. Billy showed up early to pick her up. He saw her and Lucas holding hands and he freaked out.” Dustin said. “I’m pretty sure if we weren’t in public he would have killed lucas.”

“Yeah, he said some pretty messed up stuff.” Will added.

Lucas sighed sadly. “She wouldn’t talk to us again after that.”

Will patted him on the arm. “She doesn’t talk to anyone, Lucas. It’s not your fault.”

“He’s right.” Mike agreed. “She always acts pissed off, but sometimes when she thinks no one is looking her eyes go all sad. I don’t think she has any friends.”

Eddie didn’t like the sound of that. “So, she’s alone, and possibly depressed.” He pointed out, looking at Steve.

“And If Henry picks his victims like you said, then…” Steve trailed off.

“She’s screwed.” Eddie finished the thought. “Do any of you dipshits know where this girl lives?”

The younger boys all shook their heads, they didn't know.

“Cherry Street.” Wayne answered out of nowhere.

Everyone including Eddie stared at him for a moment in surprise.

How and why the hell did Wayne, of all people, know where this girl lived?

“That boy you were talking about, the racist one? I know his old man, Neil. He’s a supervisor at the plant and a real piece of work, apple doesn’t fall far, y’know? You go get that girl, but be careful.”

Eddie gaped at his uncle. “You’re seriously on board for this?”

Wayne laughed. “As if I could stop you. You boys go, I'll handle things when Jim gets here.” He paused to check his watch. “Which should be any time now. Probably better if you stay out for a while and let me explain to him what’s going on. He’s gonna blow his stack.”

“Jonathan and I can stay and help you explain it to him, Mr. Munson. If that’s okay with you?” Nancy offered.

“It’s fine with me, and please call me Wayne.”

Steve wanted El to stay behind too. She wasn’t happy about being left out while her brother put himself in danger, but she agreed once Eddie promised to keep an eye on him for her. It was decided that the four younger boys would go along with Steve and Eddie to the Mayfield/Hargrove house, because at least she knew them a little from school, and it would be less creepy than two older boys showing up alone unannounced.

They were getting ready to leave when there was a knock on the trailer door. Eddie, thinking it was Hopper coming early, opened it without hesitation.

It wasn’t the police chief, it was Chrissy Cuningham.

She started profusely apologizing the second he opened the door, but stopped abruptly in the middle of her speech and let out a loud gasp when she spotted Steve hovering behind him.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you found him!” Chrissy cried out.

Eddie took her by the hand and pulled her inside, he didn’t want to risk his neighbor overhearing anything. “Actually, he sorta found me.” Eddie told her.

She smiled brightly at Steve and hugged him before turning back to Eddie. “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

“This, and a lot more actually.”

Chrissy looked around, finally taking notice of just how many people were inside the small home.

“Why don’t we take her with us?” Steve suggested. “I think I can explain it to her on the way.”

Eddie shrugged and looked at Chrissy. “You up for a little field trip?”

Dustin called shotgun. Eddie would have preferred to make the trip with Steve sitting by his side, but he and Chrissy had crawled into the far rear of the van so they could talk, giving the back seat to the other boys.

The whole way there Eddie couldn’t stop staring through the rear-view mirror at the two of them huddled together. It wasn’t a jealousy thing this time, it was the fact that Steve kept catching his eye in the reflection, and smiling in a way that would’ve made his knees give out if he wasn’t already sitting down.

When he almost missed a turn for the second time, Dustin elbowed him hard in the side. “Eyes on the road, Romeo.” He kept his voice low enough that Eddie didn’t worry about the other boys hearing it over the music, but he still blushed and swatted at the kid’s arm. “Shut up!”

It turned out that Chrissy knew exactly where the house was, since Billy had been on the basketball team with Jason before he graduated. They parked a few doors down, trying to scope out the situation a little before going in.

It looked like the kids' parents must be out, as the driveway was empty, but a blue camaro that Eddie knew belonged to Billy was parked out in the street. That was going to be a problem. He had known better than to hope that the girl would be home alone but he still didn’t have any idea how they were going to do this.

“What if I went up to the door and distracted him?” Chrissy offered.

“Yeah! And then we can sneak around the back and find her window or something!” Lucas said.

Eddie chewed on his thumbnail, thinking. “If me or Steve get caught sneaking in a young girl's window we’ll get arrested.”

Honestly if they got caught doing this, getting arrested for that would be the least of their worries.

“You two can stay here then and keep watch. We got this.” Dustin said.

Eddie didn’t like it but he didn’t have any better ideas, so he reluctantly agreed. At least it was dark out now, so the kids had a decent chance of not being seen.

Chrissy slipped out the back door of the van, and they all watched as she walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It didn’t take long for the door to open, revealing Billy, silhouetted in the doorway by the lights inside the house. They weren’t close enough to hear what was said but just based on the guy's body language she must have been doing something right. He leaned against the doorframe with his hip, smirking at her as he listened to whatever it was she was saying.

They didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep it up so the boys quickly spilled out, going through a neighboring backyard to come up behind Max’s house.

With everyone else now gone, Steve climbed over the back seats and settled in next to Eddie, taking his hand right away and squeezing it. It would have been romantic, holding hands with Steve in the quiet dark, had they not been so worried about the others and what could go wrong.

About five or ten minutes had gone by since the boys had left the van, and Billy was still happily chatting with Chrissy by the front door. Eddie should have known that things couldn’t be this easy, that something was about to go wrong.

Out of nowhere, all of the lights in the house began to flicker wildly. Eddie’s heart sank. It had to mean what he thought it meant, there was no way it was a coincidence. They’d almost been too late, still might be if they didn’t get in there right now and try to help the poor girl.

Without a word he and Steve both leaped from the car, perfectly in sync about what needed to be done, and ran for the house. Chrissy was already looking in their direction, a panicked look on her face. Billy was distracted looking around at the blinking lights. Neither of them stopped or slowed their steps as they approached the door to the home, pushing right past a bewildered Billy and into the house beyond. He recovered quickly, following closely at their heels and shouting at them to get the fuck out of his house.

Eddie could hear distantly that Chrissy was trying to stop him or distract him, but he couldn’t concentrate on what was being said. They needed to find the girl.

Thankfully the house was small and the second door they tried turned out to be her bedroom. It was a crazy scene. The young redhead was standing in the middle of her room stock still, her eyes rolled into the back of her head. He could see the boys standing on the other side of the window, they were banging on the glass and shouting. It looked like she'd been walking towards the window to talk to them when the attack started.

Finally Billy fought his way into the room. Eddie was sure that under normal circumstances fists would be flying by this point, but with the lights flashing and his sister having some sort of episode, it was chaos, and the guy didn’t seem to know how to respond to it all.

“Music right?” Steve said.

“Yeah, let’s just hope it works. Everybody look for a walkman!”

Chrissy, Steve, and Eddie started to tear the room apart as Billy continued to shout.

“What are you doing to her?! You better get the fuck out before I call the cops”

Chrissy quickly found it lying on the girl's bed half obscured beneath a throw blanket. She shoved it in Eddie's direction. He popped it open, and after all of this he was still somehow surprised to find that the tape she’d last listened to was in fact Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. He shook his head, rewinding the tape to the start of the last song that had been played before shoving the headphones over the girl’s ears.

He heard more than saw Steve bodily shoving Billy out of the room. Eddie was worried about him getting hurt, but he had to trust that he could handle it. Eddie had his hands full trying to save this girl. Once she was okay he could worry about everything else.

The song began, the volume loud enough that it could be heard in the room which had grown quiet in Billy's absence. When Eddie had envisioned this moment, the young girl’s first battle with Vecna, it had been to the soundtrack of Running up that Hill. Though he was a metal guy first and foremost, he enjoyed all kinds of music, and was able to appreciate Kate Bush for her theatricality. He didn’t know why that was the song his mind conjured up, had never thought to question it. That wasn’t the song that was currently blasting out of the girl’s headphones now, however Jig of Life felt more than appropriate under the circumstances.

🎵I'll be sitting in your mirror Now is the place where the crossroads meet Will you look into the future Never, never say goodbye To my part of your life🎵

“Come on, Red. You can do this.” Eddie murmured, shaking the girl by the shoulders. He wasn’t sure if she could hear him, and even if she could, he didn't know what he could possibly say to help her fight this thing.

🎵No, no, no, no Oh-oh-oh-oh let me live She said come on and let me live, girl She said come on and let me live, girl Come on, let me live This moment in time, she said It doesn’t belong to you”🎵

The lights stopped flickering so suddenly that it was jarring, and in the same moment Max’s eyes shot open. She gasped as if rising out of a deep pool of water, swaying on her feet, and would have fallen if Chrissy hadn’t been there to catch her. Max grabbed on to Chrissy's arms, gripping tight as her breath came in short gasps. She looked frantically around the room searching for a danger that was no longer there.

“You’re okay, you’re okay. It’s over. I got you.” Chrissy rocked the girl gently, murmuring comforting words into her hair over and over again as she fought to control her breathing.

Now that Max was free, Eddie finally tuned in to the noise happening in the rest of the house, and he could hear that the raised voices in the other room had reached a fever pitch. It wasn’t only Steve and Billy that could be heard now, but the younger boys as well.

He locked eyes with Chrissy over Max’s head. “Stay with her, I'll be right back.”

She nodded rapidly. “Go! Help them!”

Eddie rushed out to the hallway and found everyone in the living room. Steve was in the middle of it, the only thing standing between an enraged psychopath and the four younger boys. From what he heard, it sounded like Steve had been trying to explain to Billy some of what was going on, but he was refusing to listen. Then the boys had come bursting in, and Hargrove took one look at Lucas and lost it.

Billy had his back to Eddie, so the asshole didn't see it coming when he creeped up behind him, snatched a commemorative plate right off the wall, and smashed it over his head. Unfortunately, it didn’t knock the guy out like he had planned, but it did send him to the floor. Eddie jumped on him, holding his upper body down, while Steve quickly got the idea and took hold of his legs. Eddie yelled at the boys to find some rope or anything they could use to tie him up with. They returned quickly with a handful of zip ties and a roll of duct tape. They made it work, finishing the job off with an extra piece of tape over Billy’s mouth for good measure.

Chrissy and Max chose that moment to come out of the young girl’s bedroom, both staring open mouthed at the scene before them. Max’s eyes were wide but sparkled with amusement as she watched her step-brother struggle against his bonds.

“What are you going to do with him?” Chrissy asked.

“I have no idea, but at least we shut him up for now.” Steve said between heaving breaths. He sat down on the floor hard, using the hem of his shirt to dab the blood from his split lip. Eddie tried not to stare at the strip of exposed skin that the move had caused, but it was a losing battle. He knew it was fucked up to ogle the poor guy while he was bleeding, but he felt less bad about it when he realized that Steve was watching him right back, eyes full of intense desire. Apparently seeing Eddie smash a plate over some douchebag's head had really done something for him.

Dustin cleared his throat loudly, purposefully, interrupting the moment before either of them could do or say something they might regret in front of all these people. Eddie didn’t know whether to thank him for it or throttle him.

Lucas was the first to approach Max, the other boys following close behind him.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asked. The tender expression on the kid’s face told Eddie that his little crush on the redhead hadn’t dimmed at all since that awful night at the arcade.

Max gave him a small smile. “I have no idea what's going on or how you and your weird friends got me out of there, but yeah, I’m okay.” She said.

Chrissy stayed by Max’s side even as the boys swooped in to try and cheer her up, the poor girl was still clinging to her hand like a lifeline.

“Maybe we should take him back to the trailer with us, Hopper should be there by now. Maybe he can hold him for something down at the police station?” Steve suggested, mostly aiming the idea at Eddie since the others were occupied.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Eddie agreed. He offered a hand to help Steve. He took it, letting the touch linger a little longer than necessary once he was on his feet.

Eddie raised his voice to be heard over the small roar of all the younger boys talking at once. “Hey Red, you got a problem with us kidnapping your shitty stepbrother?”

“No.” Max answered quickly, then hesitated before continuing, “but uh, I don't think I want to be alone right now. Can you take me too?”

Chrissy released the girl’s hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she said, “I think you’d better come with us anyway so we can try to explain what’s happening to you.”

Eddie caught her eye and nodded in agreement. “We’re definitely not all going to fit in my van this time. Maybe we could take two trips?”

“One of you could drive Billy’s car. I know where his keys are.” Max supplied helpfully. Eddie was really starting to like this kid.

Together, he and Steve managed to pick Billy up to carry him to the car, the others going out ahead to keep watch and open doors. Halfway down the front yard, their captive started thrashing violently, causing them to drop him to the ground. Luckily for Billy, the lawn was pretty lush and probably cushioned his fall well enough, though Eddie sincerely hoped he hurt something in the fall.

They were working on getting him back up, Mike and Lucas now helping now too, when Eddie heard a rustle in the bushes separating Max’s house from her neighbor’s.

Great.

The last thing they needed right now was for some nosy housewife to spot them in the middle of - whatever this was - and call the police.

Eddie shushed the group and had them lay Billy back down on the ground. He crept over to where he’d heard the noise. It was very dark in the side yard, since Max’s house didn’t have any outside lights other than the single bulb on the porch. He squinted as he got close, trying to see if there was really someone there or if it was just a raccoon, only to get blinded as the creeper turned on a flashlight that was aimed directly in his face.

“Jesus H. Christ,'' Eddie shouted, stepping backwards as he threw his hands up to shield his eyes, and proceeded to trip over a branch and fall flat on his ass.

Steve was at his side quickly, making sure he was okay, and helping him up.

The mystery person with the offending flashlight had also come out of hiding. Eddie blinked a few times, trying to force his eyes to adjust. It took a second, but once they did he realized they were standing face to face with Robin Buckley.

“What are you doing?!” She asked accusingly.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Eddie insisted.

She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the two of them curiously. “So...you don’t have Billy Hargrove trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and you and your merry band of freshman, along with whoever else, aren't getting ready to take him and his step sister god knows where?”

Eddie sighed. “Okay, it’s exactly what it looks like, but I swear we have a really good reason.”

“We’re not trying to hurt anyone.” Steve added.

Robin tilted her flashlight up again, shining it directly in Steve's face this time.

“Wait a second…Harrington?! I thought you were missing!” She all but shrieked.

Eddie slapped his hand over her mouth as he said, “Technically, he is still missing. It’s a long story.”

Robin glared hard and he lowered his hand for self preservation.

He turned to Steve, they hadn’t really talked about bringing Robin into things. She had mostly served as Steve’s side-kick in the game, and she wasn’t a victim of Vecna’s. She also wasn’t friends with anyone in the party, Eddie knew her from band but that was all. Now he wondered if there was some reason why, out of all the people in Hawkins, he had chosen her to be NPC-Steve’s best friend.

Steve seemed to read his mind. “You want to tell her?”

Eddie shrugged. “At this point we might as well.”

“I really love the way you’re talking about me like I'm not here, guys. Doing wonders for my belief that what you're doing has no nefarious purpose.” Robin said, clearly rolling her eyes despite the fact that they could barely see her.

“Look, we can explain everything, but you’ll have to come with us.”

She stared at the two of them, then looked towards the gaggle of kids behind them keeping watch over Billy. Finally, her eyes settled on Chrissy, going just a little wide as she recognized the cheerleader.

Oh, that was interesting.

“Okay, fine.” She said. “ But if anything happens to me I will haunt your asses!.”

Chapter 10

Thank you @penny00dreadful for beta reading once again!

Taglist: @yeahhhh-suga @steddie-there @goinsteddie @brbsoulnomming @the-s-is-silent @paintsplatteredandimperfect @estrellami-1 @herebedragons404 @epiclazershark @mentallyundone @hardboiledleggs @manda-panda-monium @ellietheasexylibrarian @sofadofax @5ammi90 @bestwifehaver @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @soaringornithopter @buckleybarnes @adaed5 @goodolefashionedloverboi

As always, i'm happy to add or remove anyone from the taglist. Just let me know!

#steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #canon is just a crazy game of d&d #sort of #steddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve and el sibling supremacy #good uncle wayne #chrissy cunningham #max mayfield

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queersatanic · 1 year

Text

@QueerSatanic end-of-year legal defense fundraiser

FINAL UPDATE: Thanks everyone for making this a success, and the donors who came together on New Year's Eve to reach our final goal

$5,025/5000 (1/1/23)

[Links]

Since the trans pride satanic antifascism flag goal was met, all donors who gave $100 or more will have that as an option as well as the red and black satanic antifascism flag in anarcho-communist ("AnCom") colors; all who gave $200 or more will be able to get both.

For that and those who gave smaller amounts but want their stickers, please make sure we have a postal address for you: [email protected]

We hope you'll continue to donate in return for stickers, patches, and flags as we can make them available while The Satanic Temple's SLAPP suit against us stretches into another calendar.

(If we have any flags left over, we'll see about making them available to other donors in the future, but we're not doing a very big batch at present.)

The Satanic Temple may have missed another deadline in their ongoing lawsuit against us, but they still made us spend quite a lot of money dealing with another round of their bullshit.

That means more fundraising, and more slap stickers (SLAPP stickers?) for everyone who wants to support us.

[Links]

We also just got someone who has committed to matching all our donations up to the first $500.

Update: Capital Area Satanists are now also matching all donations up thru the first $500, so we are at $2 (two dollars) matching for every $1 (one dollar) donated.

Update: A third supporter is now also matching all donations up thru the first $500, so we are at $3 (two dollars) matching for every $1 (one dollar) donated.

Update: A comrade at Facebook meme page Anarkitty matching all donations between $2,001 and $2,500!

Update: And a pair of Baptists.

Please help us maintain our ability to defend ourselves from a frivolous lawsuit by an abusive religious/business organization that has lasted for more than two and a half years.

In case that image is not clear, we're looking to raise at least $500 to roll out five more glossy sticker designs, 2x2" in size

How many you personally get mailed to you is dependent on how much you donate

=In return for donation (from within the USA)=

$5 = 5 stickers ($1 per sticker- 1 of each design)

$10 = 10 stickers ($1 per - 2 each)

$25 = 40 stickers ($0.62 per - 8 each)

$50 = 100 stickers ($0.50 per - 20 each)

$100 = 400 stickers ($0.25 per - 80 each)

(If you live outside of the USA, it's going to get a bit more complicated because we need to do more than break even; it's still possible, but maybe DM us about it if you want to do more than just donate?)

=Ways to donate=

PayPal @QueerSatanic: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/queersatanic

CashApp $QueerSatanic: https://cash.app/$QueerSatanic

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/legal-fund-for-victims-of-satanic-temple1

You can use [email protected] to send addresses to us + proof of donation like a screenshot; but basically, just make sure you find some way to get your mail address to us.

For other merch and designs, check our Redbubble store:

The margins on this aren't great, but we don't have any extra labor to do, and if you're outside the USA, this may be the easiest way to physically get something in your hands.

#The Satanic Temple #SLAPP #Queer Satanic #Satanic Antifascism #Satanism #legal defense #Satanic Temple #TST

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crimsonji · 1 year

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i don't really ship any characters with each other, but i love seeing them interact! so what about mixing up the usual ships of your main 4? platonically or romantically, either one!

maybe heizou was contracted to help cyno and the matra with an investigation.

maybe the crux docked in port ormos for a while, and tighnari followed the sound of the musical leaf to find kazuha in the avidya.

heizou beating cyno to the punchline of his own jokes after being caught off-guard the first time.

kazuha and tighnari chilling in the forest together "researching" questionable mushrooms and plants.

your faves have great potential for interactions omg

୨୧ cyno/heizou + tighnari/kazuha shenanigans

ft. cyno/heizou, tighnari/kazuha (platonic)

cw: kinda crack fic, more me rambling, tighnari/kazuha’s could be read as romantic maybe, not proofread

>> 🍁 kazuha's musings : I HAD TO DROP EVERYTHING JUST TO ANSWER THIS ASK. you have no idea how much I love these 4 as a dynamic they’re so dear to my heart AARRRGHH I’m so happy someone else agrees. this prob won’t get much interaction bcus it’s not an x reader fic but!! I had fun!!!! if that’s worth anything.

Alr so first let’s talk about the Cyno / Heizou dynamic. I feel like at first glance you’d think “no way they’d get along” but I strongly disagree. Like obviously their personalities are veryyy different BUT they do share the same sense of ‘justice’. Cyno’s job is entirely about hunting down rule breakers but he has his own code of morals as well and Heizou is basically the same!! The both of them are also very in tune with their senses (Heizou has great intuition and Cyno keeps a distance and observes ykwim) so I feel they’d have some unspoken respect for each other!!

I think at first Cyno wouldn’t be super happy about being paired up with Heizou… (to justify them interacting lets just say it’s an important case relating to Inazuma and Sumeru somehow idk) just a gut feeling but he tries to tell himself Heizou is capable since he came here all the way from Inazuma. I feel like he would find him kind of annoying at first LMAO, Heizou always acts so carefree and reckless and that wouldn’t cut with Cyno.

At one point Cyno decided to tell Heizou a joke because there might be some tension and that wouldn’t do well in investigating the case, and when he does… HEIZOU SHOOTS BACK A JOKE TOO??? and like, Cyno is GENUINELY caught off guard which is such a foreign feeling to him. He doesn’t realize it but Heizou can notice the sudden softened and glimmer in his eyes when he replies w/ another joke, and at that point from now they’re basically besties (joking but they would be on much friendlier terms afterwards lol)

Idk I’m just thinking they finished beating the shit out of some Fatui harbingers and it was all very violent and then Cyno turns to Heizou like “Why do we tell actors to get into the cast?” and Heizou is 100% unfazed

Ohhh and they’d definitely play Genius Invokation TCG!!! Heizou would be stupidly good at the game despite psaying it’s his first time playing it and Cyno’s struggling in a game against him but doesn’t try to physically show it. He lowkey thinks he’s cheating but Heizou wouldn’t do that now would he… (extreme sarcasm) jk, maybe he’d do it just to pull Cyno’s leg but wants to rely on his wits and wits only! It’s not reflective of his skills if he decides to cheat, it’s not Heizou’s style

I haven’t even talked about how physically strong they are, like, if you take a quick glance at the both of them they’re pretty unassuming for the most part but MAN they can pack in a mean punch in battle ykwim… Heizou isn’t really one to use his fists (unless there’s no other option) so he just leaves Cyno to wreck havoc on some eremites/lone samurai. But if some poor soul manages to get in a fight with both Heizou AND matra Cyno??? Hope you wrote a will beforehand…

Cyno’s pretty surprised himself with how strong Heizou is, esp since he doesn’t even use his vision most of the time. Heizou doesn’t like to pride himself on it even if Cyno throws a slight compliment his way, if anything he’s more mesmerized by Cyno’s electro-infused fighting style. (He’s compared it to a light novel main character and Cyno’s kind of amused by it lol)

Random scenario where Heizou is swinging around a stick polearm that Cyno gave him to practice and accidentally bonks him on the head with it. That’s it.

I’m referencing ENG Heizou here but about his…flirty mannerisms…luckily for Cyno he doesn’t pull those kind of “stunts” on him, even after he’s learned to be acquainted with Cyno. As said before Heizou is scarily good at reading people to the point he can accurately guess their past turmoils, and right away he knew he’d prob get his ass beat if Heizou did all the stuff he did w the traveler in the hangout event. (iykyk) but he still says stuff like ‘my partner’ etc etc but more in a literal sense without the innuendo (unless there’s a Cyno x Heizou nation out there????)

It’s so silly to think about Cyno conversing with his fellow matra and Heizou just strolls into the Akademiya and spots Cyno and greets him in the most casual and carefree tone… “Cyno? I wasn’t expecting to run into you, partner!” and the matra are VISIBLY confused bcus they aura Heizou is alr emanating is so uncanny and Cyno gives him a casually curt response like they’re good friends

“Same to you, usually outsiders aren’t allowed to enter the Akademiya of all places.” (but like in a playful-ish tone)

“Ooh, outsider, huh? I just got chills, hehe. Need any help with a new case? I’m ready to roll.”

“No need, I’m just catching up with an acquaintance of mine.”

“I see. Hey, if you’re free, let’s say we grab a bite for lunch? My treat!”

Let’s move on to (my personal favourite rare duo) Tighnari and Kazuha. I think I have a bias because out of all my favs Kazuha has a special place in my heart, he lives rent free in my head.

Anyways, they’d definitely get along well. I like how both of them have such a deep connection with nature but like in different ways??? Kazuha is more like, spiritually connected to nature and follows wherever the wind takes him, while Tighnari is connected via his immense knowledge in botany and studying/protecting forest life.

Kazuha was very eager to set out and explore the sights of Sumeru. He’s learned a few droplets of knowledge of the nation from fellow crew mates, so he decided immediately heading off to the desert was way too risky and went to Avidya Forest first. The rainforest was nothing he would have ever seen back in Inazuma, and he couldn’t help but smile at the cute (yet vicious) fungi that floated and waddled along the shallow lakes of the forest.

At times like this, times where Kazuha is left in the audible silence of nature and his own thoughts, is when he plucks a leaf and plays an unnamed song that floats along the winds. Suppose Tighnari was on a forest patrol during this time, and his fox ears picked up a certain sound. Surprisingly, it wasn’t abrasive or hurt his ears, it was quite soothing actually. Was it an adventurer? Tighnari’s first thought was that it’s another reckless person from the adventurer’s guild, so it’d be better to check on them to prevent any future injuries…

Passing through the shrubs and branches, Tighnari was face to face with Kaedehara Kazuha himself. Not like it’s a famous name, despite his family once being part of the Tri-Commissions. He’s a wanderer now, nothing more and nothing less. Tighnari didn’t exactly know what to say, nonetheless do, but all Kazuha did was turn to look at him and give a polite smile.

“Hello there.”

“Oh, sorry, don’t mind me. I’m on a forest patrol, and I heard a sound coming from here.”

“So the wind picked up my song? Heh, Sumeru’s rainforests are quite awe-inspiring, playing a tune would be any ronin’s first thought.”

“Ah, so you’re an outlander…”

“Aplogies, I didn’t introduce myself. My name’s Kaedehara Kazuha, I’m just any wanderer you’d come across in Teyvat.”

“Tighnari, nice to meet you, uh— Kaedehara.”

“No need for the formalities, just Kazuha is fine.”

Kazuha was quite interested in Tighnari’s experimental tests with certain mushrooms, and Tighnari was happy to bring someone along as it’d bring him more accurate results. Normally, he wouldn’t bring any other person to try— I mean experiment— suspicious plants and fungi with him, but Kazuha’s already eaten a few weird things from the forest before, it wouldn’t hurt to bring him along…

Tighnari insists that Kazuha shouldn’t actually eat the mushrooms himself, and to just take notes on the effects; Kazuha seemed to comply happily, fiddling with the pen in his bandaged hand and scribbling notes whenever necessary. When he gave back the notebook to Tighnari, he couldn’t help but notice the absentminded doodles of maple leaves in the corners of the pages. Huh, so Kazuha doodles plants on his paper, too.

Obviously Kazuha was still… curious about trying a mushroom. So after Tighnari confirmed it was safe for human consumption, he threw over a small, roundish mushroom to Kazuha. All it really did was make him act a bit dazed, and Tighnari just kept watch over Kazuha after he ended up falling asleep. These so called “experiments” became less and less analytical and more for… extracurricular purposes, but you guys can fill in the blanks yourselves lol

Kazuha’s willing to hear out anybody and likes it when people are so obviously passionate about a certain topic, so their dynamic would definitely be “never stops talking x listens”. And Tighnari’s constant explanations of forest life and self-aid lectures aren’t totally useless to Kazuha, as a ronin it’s good to be more acutely aware of unfamiliar lands. As well, without Tighnari’s guidance he probably would have stumbled into a withering zone without the proper precautions.

Tighnari isn’t really a ‘creative’ person, much more logical and mathematical about things. He notices that Kazuha likes to daydream in silence sometimes, and seldom ever talks about himself. That’s alright, though, they don’t need to know the inner workings of each other’s past as long as their time is well spent, right?

When Kazuha mentioned he liked to nap in random sunny places in the wild, he accidentally learned that Tighnari is very prone to very long lectures. Luckily for Tighnari, Kazuha managed to get every word without dozing off. Tighnari’s half hour talk can be boiled down to the fact that falling asleep in the middle of the woods isn’t safe, but he doesn’t have to worry too much; Kazuha’s a light sleeper and is incredibly skilled in the sword.

I heard that samurai were equally trained in both the sword and bow, so I think it’d be really interesting if Tighnari invited Kazuha to practice shooting with him? And Tighnari’s very surprised to learn that Kazuha is a crack-shot at archery and could hit all of the targets with scary accuracy; even though Kazuha, being as polite as he is, is more sheepish that he hasn’t practiced his archery since he was a teenager.

Once Tighnari learned that Kazuha had a fondness for maple leaves because of the emotional significance they hold to him, something in Tighnari’s heart would feel… stirred is the word? Kazuha’s musings and way with flowery poetry is easy for even the coldest of people to feel almost a comforting melancholy, and Tighnari’s kind heart is all the more prone to this kind of speech.

Kazuha was very flattered when Tighnari offered him pressed maple leaves as a parting gift before he left. He doesn’t read very often, but it was hard not to pass up the opportunity to use them as bookmarks. Tighnari said he didn’t need to use them out of politeness, but Kazuha sees the small token as another item to commemorate a new friend he’s made on his journeys.

i’m kind of delirious from the lack of sleep but I had to get this out of my system

#[🍁] kazuha's haiku collection #[💌] letters of songbird #genshin impact #genshin #genshin fanfic #kazuha fanfic #kaedehara kazuha #cyno fanfic #cyno #tighnari fanfic #tighnari #heizou #heizou fanfic #kazuha x reader #cyno x reader #tighnari x reader #heizou x reader

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spaceless-vacuum · 11 months

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I saw your yandere Link x Zelda x royal reader and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

I read this somewhere so be aware that this idea isn't mine, but basically it said that the first course of action with a royal!reader would be to try an arrange a marriage between reader and Zelda and I agree with that 100%, it's the safest option and the path with the least resistance in getting reader to love them. Reader can't fight back because their entire family and kingdom would be in agreement that Zelda is their betrothed (if anyone disagrees, the marriage would happen reguardless. If push comes to shove though, Hylia's champion would gladly take them aside to 'have a couple of words').

I also think this is really cool because politics <3, and that there could actually be an obstacle for Link and Zelda.

Betrothal (I was going to do multiple obstacles but I very clearly had a favorite and I'm too tired to continue)

My personal favorite: a fiance(e)! Imagine Link and Zelda being memorized by this royal from a distant kingdom, and throwing everything they have to try and woo you, only to get their hearts crushed when you reveal that you're arranged to marry another.

This can go many ways depending on how you feel.

Maybe you bond with Link and Zelda, scheduling regular visits to Hyrule in order to 'promote/strengthen healthy ties' (in actually the three of you chat all throughout the night: you explaining stories about your own kingdom, link recalling tales of various monsters he's defeated, and Zelda info dumping about various discoveries or castle affairs (she thinks her stories aren't as interesting, but you reassure her that they are, and can maybe he important for ruling in your own kingdom, much to her delight (not that you would ever get to rule your own kingdom, not if they could help it)). The three of you also explore the castle and it's various secrets and rooms, or rather, it's you exploring and them either following closely behind or even leading you there themself (though it's definitely Zelda leading, as link is still very much an active knight that needs to be behind you two at all times). Maybe they were just getting the paperwork done to finally officially start the courting of you three two, when they receive a tearful letter from you, explaining that you are to be wed to a royal/nobleperson against your wishes, and how you wanted nothing more than freedom ironic considering who you were writing to. Maybe you don't even write, maybe you just sneak off into the nearest carriage heading for Hyrule. Poor Link and Zelda get almost no warning when they are called into the throne room, only to see that it's you and boy do you not look good. They barely get out of the throne room before you all but sob their arms (once again, probably Zelda's considering she's the closest, but link is very quick on joining you two), crying about how you were forced into an arrangement where you're set to marry another. Link and Zelda can only make eye contact with each other before trying to calm you down enough so that you stop crying, because the sight of your tears breaks their hearts, as well as brings forth a rage and consuming desire to personally take down both of those dreaded kingdoms that decided to try and take you away from them.

(To make it even worse, I imagine that in this case, reader might actually have wanted to marry them as well. Those two are probably the only people to treat them as a person and not a royal figure, and you can't tell me that the topic of marriage just never came up whenever reader visited the castle, and they can be very persuasive when they want to be. I just imagine reader trying to apologize to them through tears, because they feel like the arranged marriage was their fault. Link and Zelda are quick to reassure reader that no, it was not their fault, but this entire ordeal only cements the fact, in their mind, reader cannot take care of themself, so they will do it for them.)

By the time you finally calm down enough to go to sleep, Zelda and Link (who probably isn't much help politically, but he wanted to try his best anyways (push comes to shove, he can find out where your betrothed lives and plan an 'accident')) are working overtime to try and find a way to get you out of the arrangement. Whatever the other is offering, they'll double, trying to poison the other party's reputation so that unification is ill-advised, even pushing forward that initial offer for Zelda to marry them. Don't get them wrong, if push comes to shove they'll just take you. You're already here, and knowing what awaits you back home, you aren't too inclined to leave.

If you do like you're betrothed, it gets a bit more difficult for them, however their actions relatively stay the same.

Maybe they're still drafting the letter asking for your hand in marriage; they know that you aren't too keen on the idea, but they're positive that they can eventually get through to you, especially if your family approves. Their plans and hearts are crushed however, when you come prancing into whatever room they were in, declaring that you are a taken royal! You happily ramble on about it, it's to some random person you had mentioned offhandedly before, someone they barely knew and wish they could crush. They could only listen to you halfheartedly, Zelda being polite and pretending to be happy alongside you and Link having to resort to the straight-faced mask of knighthood, knowing that his true face underneath was anything but supportive. Both of them only really cared for the important details: name, family, and date set.

They try to sprinkle seeds of doubt in your mind: apparently they treated the last partner they were set to marry so badly that they broke off the engagement for good, their entire kingdom is on the verge of collapse and that taking it on via marriage would doom yours aswell, they even tried to bring up assassination attempts supposedly increasing around that area.

They never did it in a way that made it seem like their idea, rather the occasional comment that would resonate with you with the hopes that you would think it's your idea and break it off cleanly, allowing them to slither their way into your heart. Anything that openly stuck with you, maybe a thoughtful hum in regards to their comments or a 'I didn't know that' would cause them to focus on that aspect and drive it in deeper. They still draft the letters like in the previous paragraph, but this time they're done without your knowledge, and you're still going to stay if all else fails, but it's in a much more typical yandere style.

(I find the idea that the two find out about reader's marriage just via wedding invite incredibly funny. The two just run around like headless chickens, trying to find a solution while being desperately low on time. I know that their solution is probably to just kidnap reader, but the idea of them completely showing up, seeing you in your wedding outfit, only to burst out of their seat during the time for objection with a 5 page document of the other spouses dirty laundry or, Hylia forbid, infidelity much more entertaining).

Off topic ramble that doesn't fit in to my idea but I wanted to share anyway.

This makes me wonder though, if reader was AFAB would King Rhoam even set it up/support, reader's parents, the rest of Hyrule's citizens? If push comes to shove regarding an heir, those three can pick up a random orphan like 'guess what :D', that or link can just become a king consort (or reader being a royal consort, depending on Link and Zelda's relationship status). Also a line of thought, is polyamory/polygamy a thing in royal families? It was more heard of for kings to have multiple consorts than queens, so would that still apply? Would Hyrule be a patriarchy or a matriarchy? I'm assuming it's still patriarchal because of the kings, but Zelda has always been important throughout history. Also, it's Zelda, not just any queen, alongside the hero of Hyrule, so would that change anything? I didn't really mean anything by this so these are quite literally just rambles I wanted to share.

Link would so gladly play wingman to Zelda if she asked for your hand are you kidding! I can see him unaware that he is also so sickly in love with you and just comforting you over the arranged marriage. Even if his words aren't as comforting because they're just the same nonsense the nobles and your parents have been spreading, he's still there to provide comfort and he likes to take you on walks. Showing you his favourite pathway through the woods so the two of you can get some fresh air and so you can clear your mind. You feel like you're going insane; everyone is pushing you to this and it all seems too sweet. Like a pie made with too much sugar it's all too much. Everything lines up too well and it is wrapped up in such a neat tight bow- you are restricted to a golden cage, and it's still a cage!

Yet it's a cage that will allow your kingdom to prosper. You wanted to marry out of love and not necessity. Zelda is all too polite or cordial for it to seem like it's just an obligation. On the surface she seems too calm and collected. There's no slip in the mask. You can tell by the look in her eyes the way the mask seems to drop as she calculates a response that will further push you into a corner. You can tell that not all is as it seems- she's just so distant. The time she spends with you seems so much like she's trying to hide what she's truly feeling and as more time in this country passes you're wondering what it is you're missing.

The most genuine moment you've spent with her was when the two of you passed each other in the hall and she was caught off guard. She didn't expect to see you today and you could tell she was surprised. Not preparing what to say or do she just stood there as you smiled and made polite conversation. She seemed taken back and blushed, laughing even as she tilted her head and examined you. Watching the way your mouth curled up in a smile and the way you held your hands as if each movement you made had to be watched carefully and categorised for later examination; it made you feel more like an expensive doll than a person. She walked by you as the conversation continued and her eyes never left your body. Looking you up and down and laughing as you blushed at such a frankly sudden gesture of interest.

You knew she wanted you but for what? That was what bothered you. She gained little politically from this and all the answers she threw out at meetings seemed to only work to get you closer to the heart of the kingdom. She said she wanted to genuinely get to know you but spent little time having heart to hearts. Behind closed doors she was just as calculating as ever but more touchy. She was testing the waters, testing you to see where your guard dropped and what buttons she could push. She claimed she wanted to drop all manners of civility so the two of you could really get to know each other but she never dropped the second mask she was wearing. What was it covering up?

Link was there to help and you knew this as he took you out often for walks but it was so hard to try and broach the subject of “this woman terrifies me.” and “she's still your friend isn't she?”. You kept a polite distance from him and mostly stared at nature as you walked. Maybe it was in the way you were so casual. Not making note of your nobility and acting like you were just another one of the people here earned his respect. You would do well in Hyrule and away from all of those nobles that only wanted to use you and his people for their own gain. This place was so much nicer for you and you wouldn't even have to worry about what was coming next. He would help you come to terms with your marriage and be here to comfort you; he knew what Zelda wanted and found it cute to watch her gush about you when the two of them talked in private. She was right, you were just so tempting it was impossible not to want to take a bite out of you.

. . .

You're not Hylian. You're not from Hyrule. Yet you wouldn't be able to tell this form the way you acted. You had no problem adhering to and respecting their customs and even seemed to enjoy them. Happily you shared your own countries' rules while not forcing anyone to adhere to them during the duration of your stay, rather bringing it up was a form of genuine pride in being able to share with them what they had shared with you. Allowing yourself to relax and drop the layers of what royal dignitaries required the other two followed suit. They were much more interested in the way you acted and talked; everything about you was just so hypnotising. Hyrule has its fair share of troubles when it comes to diplomas. Every time Ganon reincarnates he has the chance to wage war on Hyrule or fall to the triforce of power again and it's always a bit of a hassle explaining why stopping him is so important every time it comes up because he's only after Hyrule after all, so why should anyone else care?

They don't have to worry about that with you. You seem so genuine in wanting to help but as they spend more time with you it seems that your expressions of joy come from another place; you love being in Hyrule and truly want to learn more about them and its history. Why do they reincarnate turns into you slowly explaining you know how draining it must be but that it must be something they're more than happy to do because why else would they keep coming back? It just clicks with them, that sudden understanding that you get it. You understand that there's a burden they so gladly carry and you just want to know more about it and them, and by goodness are they happy to talk.

The meetings you three host slowly turn into hangouts that are spent just talking. Explaining Zelda as a concept and then how the hero continues into Link and then getting to know these two personally is certainly a way to promote healthy ties however it's mostly just an excuse to chat and hang out and everyone around the castle all agree it's so cute to see how close the three of you are. When you have to leave there's a lot of hugging and goodbyes and they promise to visit at some point and you swear you'll write and keep in close contact. Yet that isn't enough, they've had a taste and they won't let you leave. They know that you'll never get to rule your own kingdom and you'll probably just be wed off to some noble brat and the idea of it makes their blood curl.

No one else is allowed to lay their hands on you; but how do they get you to stay?

The idea was brought up by Link, he didn't even know it was a good plan until Zelda picked it up and workshopped it. You're bound to be set to marry a noble and if they ask for your hand first then your kingdom will only mark the price up higher. Anyone who doesnt play the game of politics by gaining more than what they gave is a fool after all. So Link says why don't they undercut a deal; then they don't have to give all that much if the person who was offering the price before was so much worse. Have someone come in and set the bar so low so the two can swoop in. That no matter what Zelda offers it so far exceeds them so what else could your kingdom ask for? They were already getting a better deal.

Zelda adored this idea and worked out a plan. There's more nobles to greet and talk to now that you're gone; and the timing of one unruly noble who was obviously no better than a rat seemed the perfect candidate. All she had to do was drop your name a few times, cementing you as a proper deal while not talking you up too much to make you seem too good of a prize. She would never allow him to keep you but Link was right. This way they could have you running into their arms instead and that would be so much sweeter than trapping you outright. You can't run away from them this way, and the game seemed fun.

The plan was simple and went smoothly. The letter you wrote to them bemoaning your fate after hearing the news- asking for advice on how to escape this was music to the Princesses ears. Her and Link invited you over to Hyrule and said if nothing else you could always run away, not that they want to worry you but darling have you not heard the rumours about that man! In truth he's nothing more than a royal brat but you don't need to know that and with how little interest you are showing him it's only a matter of time before you run into their arms to get away from him. When you show up in the castle they quickly wrap you up in their arms and swear to you that you will never have to leave again. Why would you need to after all?

Why return to those kingdoms that have only betrayed you when you can stay here? It suits you so much better. Just never leave and don't break the rules they set and you'll be alright darling.

The letter asking for your hand in marriage is only sent after you're already in Hyrule. It adds more pressure because they aren't keeping you by force so there's hardly any steady ground for your kingdom to complain, and the other prince can't say or do anything as he wasn't a suitable marriage candidate against Zelda by any means. Link is not much help as the negotiations and price for your hand is discussed but he is there to comfort you and asks if anyone needs to be taken care of. He'll happily plan for accidents to happen if need be! Until then he's running around with you, chasing bugs and picking up flowers to show to you. He's trying so hard to calm you down and make you feel at home. It's so sweet and you really do feel better surrounded by people trying so hard to make you a part of their lives.

How could you ever leave with a reception like that? You would have married them before if asked but this is the nail in the coffin. You can't go back and you wouldn't have wanted to so it all works out well. Even if a little startled you'll soon settle into a routine and bit by bit the worry fades and your new role starts to enter into view. Zelda slowly cements herself into your life and more than that she slowly makes sure you can't leave her through political means, and physical. Let's be real, kidnapping a princess and putting her in a tower away from the world may sound harsh but she's had her fair share with villains doing it to her so she knows a thing or two. With Link here you're not only royally (hah!) screwed, you're also dealing with someone who thinks it's so funny and hilarious that you think you could even attempt to get away from him.

. . .

If you're leaving and just suddenly drop the fact that you're already being handed off, oh boy!

Oh lord, the rush of the two to try and find something- anything to make you leave your spouse is only countered by the first thought on their minds being to plant evidence. Any marriage can be ended by the right glove being placed on the right nightstand. Leaving small pieces of evidence around where not you, but other nobles will find it, your mother or father overhearing rumours that don't make sense but it's hard to trace or find out where they came from. One lady of the court claims she caught the trace of perfume on your spouse's neck and she knows it wasn't yours. Another says she heard or saw something and none of these rumours can be traced back to any one person but everyone claims they've heard or saw something.

The entire time you're stuck in this negative feedback loop. If you go through with the marriage you may be able to overcome this rough patch but what if it's true? What if what everyones saying is true and you're only just now learning about it? Your significant other was able to hide their infidelity when no one was looking but now that there's more trained eyes around they can no longer hide their tendencies. I mean this is a royal wedding after all- and arranged or not the way the call falls is that you don't know too much about the other person until the marriage is planned and the date set. The stress of the planted evidence gets to you most of all and of course just on time your friends arrive to assure you that everything will be ok.

They don't drop the fact that they know at all when they first arrive. This is especially hard for Link because he just wants to be able to yell at the top of his lungs at what a wretch you're marrying and take you away but these situations need a delicate hand and a trained mind from a different source, and Zelda is practically holding Link back the entire time. Hand on his sword arm to stop him from challenging your soon to be lover to a duel. Truly, if he made the mistake of just running him through with his sword the consequences could be dealt with after.

I mean how hard is it to hide a body? That gutless worm could never be a good match for you and his foul mood is easy to tell by the cold uncaring look in his eye that only seems to soften when you walk into the room. He would do anything to stop this wedding and is ready to carry out even the most callus orders the moment Zelda relaxes her grip.

For her part the only thing stopping Zelda from using a more heavy hand is… nothing. She has already set aside a room and a kidnapping date, the time you're leaving and the location your honeymoon will take place has already been found out and you're not leaving without a tail who's prepared to do whatever is necessary. Making it obvious is unnecessary. She's planting seeds of infidelity, Link is helping her with the kidnapping and carrying you back to Hyrule, and by the end of it this will all seem like one huge tragedy that all started once you sent the invite to them.

Inviting your best friends to the wedding, showing them your gown and god all they can think about is how good it would look on the floor of Hyrule castle and the beauty of you in all of your glory is fading because it's not for them! You're marrying some brat who's never going to see the light of day ever again because they made the idiodic choice of having you, they could have chosen anyone else and been safe but they were stupid enough to try and take what already belonged to them. You get to keep the dress but it's stained with a bit of blood by the time you reach Hyrule. The image of you smiling at them as you walk down the aisle is so bittersweet.

The only reason Zelda doesn't throw a fit right there is in no way because she needs to protect her image, damn that no one here has any say in what she says or does, but it's only because she's calm as she sits next to Link watching you pass them as you walk to some insufferable noble brat. It is ONLY because she knows more than everyone here that you two are destined to fail. Your spouse will be dead and the tears that fall down her cheeks are from anger and denial as you walk away from her. She should have kept you at the castle before you ever had the chance to leave but that's ok. You're never going to leave ever again. She knows you'll whine and cry as you are carried off and is so excited about what you'll say. Will you beg for that traitor's life? Swearing allegiance to her just to save his life would be so bittersweet but she can't wait to see the look on your face as you thrash and try to get away as she steals you away. She smiles as she looks at you and fantasises about being there to not only take the life you were promised away but to comfort you with a new one. One much safer and better she will assure you. She'll be the one to hold you from now on.

Link is only kept calm having been assured of the plan and because he knows he's going to be the one to carry it out. His sword has been switched out for several hidden daggers and his fingers twitch every few seconds as he counts the exits and the number of guards. Keeping himself busy by refusing to listen until it's your turn to speak. He can't help it, your voice is so lovely even if the words shouldn't be said to that brat. He curses himself for not acting sooner and wonders why he didn't place the blade in the spouses throat while he was getting ready. The plan to ambush your carriage is already in motion and he can't wait to see the look on that thieves face as the princess carries you off and he leaves to take care of the trash that soiled your good name by tying you to him. Vemrins need to be exterminated.

. . .

I like those rambles and I have to admit I think Rhoam would have plenty of things to say but not anything about you being AFAB mostly just about you and the marriage in general. He doesn’t mind you as a person if he's being honest but he would be worried about how this whole marriage thing would take Zelda away from her work or what you could do to help her with unlocking her powers but it really depends.

I loved the last part to this, just the idea of Link and Zelda with deranged looks on their face carrying you away from the scene of the crime. Good luck getting away from them!

#eye write #yandere link x reader #Yandere zelda x reader #legend of zelda #yandere legend of zelda #link x reader #zelda x reader #royal reader #kidnapping #arranged marriage #tw #cw #request

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