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scolpimpisdiary · 2 years

Text

His Prized Possession

Yan!Don Giorno x Fem!Reader

Content Warning: Mentions of Kidnapping/Captivity, Yandere themes, possessiveness

Word Count:2.3K

It was painful.

Not the type of pain you’d get from a physical injury, or the type of numbing pain a heartbreak gives you. It was the pain that stung the most to you. The pain of realizing you’ve been stuck here for five months.

Five months.

It was routine at this point. You’d get up, shower, get dressed then go to your Calendar and cross off another day. After that you’d sit quietly on a bench near the windowsill curled up in a book.

It was funny, almost. You were never an avid reader in the past, but ever since the kidnapping you’ve lost all access to any form of internet, making you solely reliant on books to entertain yourself. You used to have art supplies, but tried using the sharp wooden handle on one of the brushes to pry open the window. Like a child, the privilege of painting was quickly taken away from you by Don Giovanna.

You let out a desperate chuckle, hearing the footsteps you’ve grown all too familiar with as they clicked down the hallway towards the room.

The truth is, you’ve given up on trying to escape the prison that Giorno would always call home. Time and time again of failed escapes and cruel punishments proved the labyrinth to be impossible to leave. Even going through the villa was like a confusing maze to you.

Even though you were deep in thought, you could hear the click of the steel door unlocking, indicating that Giorno has just entered your room. You kept your back turned to him, trying to ignore his presence.

“Buongiorno, amore mio..”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see his figure move over and sit next to you on the bench. The smell of what seemed like expensive cologne engulfed your nostrils.

The pain of being held captive was made worse by the certain blonde-haired man’s presence.

“Now tell me, Y/N, how is my precious wife doing today?”

The tone in the blonde’s voice was sickeningly sweet, you could tell he was reveling in seeing you like this.

After staying quiet and keeping your head turned, a light scoff left the Don’s lips. His smile pursed into a frown as his hand cupped your face and quickly turned it to him.

Giorno’s voice soon went cold and threatening as his grip gently tightened along your jaw. His piercing green eyes bored into yours

“Look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Once you gave him your full attention, Giorno’s face then warmed into its usual faux smile. “Good, now answer my question. How is my beautiful wife doing today?”

“I’m fine” you muttered, both you and your captor knowing that isn’t the truth. Either way, it was an answer that he was satisfied with.

“So good, mi caro, you’re becoming more obedient. I know that soon enough you’ll let me shower you with my love, yes?”

You nodded, knowing that if you didn’t then Giorno would probably force a response out of you one way or another.

He chuckled and gave you a light peck, his lips meshing with your soft ones.

“Well, I have a surprise for you. Today I’m taking you out to dinner. I have made reservations for a restaurant that offers the best dining in all of Napoli..”

Your eyes shot open at this sudden news, to which Giorno took notice of. He chuckled and continued on.

“Yes tesoro, you’ve been so good lately. I have to go out for a while, so I’m letting a maid accompany you for a couple of hours. She will be helping you get ready for the dinner until then. Once I come back, we are leaving.”

You nodded along to his words, feeling as if he didn’t need a response. Eventually Giorno left, not forgetting to lock the steel door behind him as he left your room. Your body eased up a little from his lack of presence, and you went back to reading your book.

Over the course of several hours you’ve spent majority of it in the dressing room, letting the maid find a suitable dress for you to wear. You weren’t able to choose much outside of hairstyle for the event, as Giorno had strict control over what could and couldn’t be worn for it. You sighed and checked it off as another one of his controlling tactics.

When it was time to go, Giorno personally went to your room, collected and brought you through the villa to the limousine that waited patiently outside. You had assumed that he didn’t trust any of his guards to personally bring you. Hell, they wouldn’t even look at you.

The both of you wore matching emerald green outfits, Giorno’s being a suit that had golden ladybug shaped charms on each side, and yours being a silk emerald green dress

Once the both of you had made it to the limo, Giorno opened the back door, letting you get in first. As you slid in, you were met with three unfamiliar faces. One was a woman with short pink hair and a simple black dress on. She sat on the left side, quietly staring out the window as the two men on the right conversed with eachother.

The two men, one having strawberry blonde hair, glared in irritation at the other man, who was tan and wore a red and blue hat. He was aimlessly rambling on about a video game, and the blonde seemed very disinterested.

When Giorno entered the car, all of their eyes were on him. Once everyone settled in, the car started driving away from the villa.

“Giorno! How have you been, man?”

“I’ve been good, Mista. How has your team been? And you too, Fugo?”

“It’s actually been pretty good! Ever since you made me capo I feel like people respect me more!” Mista told Giorno with a comical grin stretched across his face.

Fugo then turned to Giorno. “I feel honored that you’re letting me oversee the data and information team. I promise that this won’t be in vain.”

With a satisfied smile, the Don nodded his head as he turned to the pink-haired woman. “What about you, Trish?”

Mista then added on “Yeah, you haven’t said anything during the whole ride! Don’t you want to be a capo too?”

Trish shook her head, turning back towards the window.

“No. I have no interest in being directly involved with the mafia. I just want to live my life..”

Even though you couldn’t say anything, you knew deep down that you could relate to Trish. You didn’t want to be under Giorno’s watchful eyes or have any ties to Passione, you just wanted to be free and live your life as well.

Trish must’ve noticed that you were staring at her, because she gave you a soft smile and said “Might I say, Mrs. Giovanna, you look wonderful tonight.”

A small smile curled up onto your face. You nodded and thanked her. That was the first time someone has paid you a compliment in months, besides Giorno obviously. You’ve chalked it up to Trish being very close to him, knowing deep down that if it was someone else complimenting you, Giorno would’ve probably done something to them.

Once you’ve reached the restaurant and taken your seats, you couldn’t help but admire how beautiful it was. There was an aquarium in the very center of the restaurant, and each booth had soft comfortable seats and impeccably clean tables. The silverware and plates looked high quality. You lifted a plate up, able to see your reflection inside of it. This caused you to let out an audible gasp. The whole table chuckled at your reaction, with Giorno adding “I take it you like the restaurant?” You nodded and shyly looked down at your lap.

Once everyone was settled down, you tapped Giorno on his shoulder. He looked up at you with his usual gaze, loving and sickeningly sweet. “Yes, my love?”

“I have to use the bathroom..” you replied shyly. Immediately Giorno looked to Trish. “Trish, can you accompany Y/N to the bathroom for me?”

She nodded and stood up from the booth.

Once you both made it near the bathroom, Trish stood outside and you went in.

“Don’t take too long, okay? Giorno..you know..” you could tell she didn’t want to finish her sentence, nor acknowledge the reality of him keeping you captive.

“I understand.” You replied, going into the private bathroom and closing it behind you. The truth is that you just wanted a moment to be alone. Actually alone. Without the presence of surveillance cameras, guards and maids, or the watchful eyes of your captor husband.

A moment that was stolen from you the very moment Giorno kidnapped you.

As you sighed, staring into the mirror, you noticed a window above. It wasn’t a sealed one, just a regular window. Your head whipped around and jogged towards it. Your footsteps must’ve been quite loud, as you heard a brief knock on the door from Trish.

“Hey, Y/N, is everything alright in there?”

“Uh- yes! Everything is fine! Give me a couple more minutes..” you quickly reached for the window, only to realize it was too high up for you, or any human for that matter, to reach. Your eyes quickly scoured the room for things to use as a booster, only to see the cupboard underneath the sink.

“So yes, those are all the recent discoveries my team has made about the other organizations operating in Italy”

Fugo smugly replied, then turned to an annoyed looking Mista. “What about you? What does your team do, besides shoot things of course” “Now hold on you little-“

Giorno immediately stood up, catching the other men’s attention. “Is everything okay?” they both said. The Don looked slightly frustrated, his deep green eyes scanning the restaurant for the two women that were gone. “I’ll be right back. I need to do something..” he replied, walking away from the table with a fit of urgency. The two men glanced at each-other blankly for a second, only for their eyes to shoot open in the realization that something may have happened to Y/N

Giorno rushed towards the opposite site of the restaurant, seeing Trish leaning on the door to the girls bathroom, casually texting on her phone. She looked up to see Giorno, any sign of happiness or joy completely gone from him.

“Trish, I need you to open this door now.”

In the bathroom, you opened the cupboard to see three things: some wipes, a stool, and a plunger

Wait, a stool?

You grabbed it and placed it near the window, giving you enough of a boost to open it and push it. You heard the door behind you unlocking. Panicking, you shoved yourself through the window, one of your emerald green heels falling off into the bathroom in the process. You fell onto a garbage can, then onto the cold concrete floor. Your body ached from the fall, but still pushed through, seeing a river nearby. The fight or flight in your body immediately kicked in. You yanked off your last heel and booked it, reaching the river.

“God, I’m so sorry Giorno! I swear she was just there a second ago!” Trish said, a look of guilt evident on her face. The young man sighed and looked around the bathroom, quickly taking note of the opened window and the lost shoe.

“It’s fine. Go get the others and explain the situation. I’ll stay here.”

Trish nodded and went to get Fugo and Mista. Meanwhile, Giorno grabbed your shoe, surveying it further. He wasn’t angry or sad. Instead, Giorno mumbled to himself.

“Oh Il mio tesoro, don’t worry, I will find you once again..”

Once you dove into the water, being dragged away by the river current was intense. Rocks and other debris hit you at every angle, filling your ankles, face, and other exposed parts of your body with scratches. you barely stood afloat in the harsh waters, accidentally breathing in water every now and again. You feel like you’d pass out from it, but your determination kept you awake. Even though it hurt, you were finally free, free from Giorno’s grasp, free from Passione, and most importantly, free to finally go home and live your life how you want to.

Or so you thought

Once you reached the end of the river, which seemed to be a cold dark forest, your body struggled to climb onto land.

Your entire outfit was wet and dirty, making it hard to walk. Once you barely lifted yourself up, you felt a familiar pair of arms pull you towards him in an embrace. His blonde locks tickled your face gently, not caring about his outfit getting stained in the process.

“Oh tesora, I was waiting for you.”

Your stomach sunk and you swallowed, a lump of fear stuck in your throat.

“H-how..” you cried, tears streaming down your face. You felt a warm hand brush the tears off of your cheek.

“You left your shoe, amore mio. I turned it into a fly, then it went near the river. That’s how I was able to find your location. After that I waited at the end of the river for you, and let Mista and Fugo patrol around just in case you may take shortcuts.”

Immediately, Giorno’s hug tightened. A wide grin was present. “But you didn’t! The path you took led you straight to me! That goes to show how connected we are, how truly everlasting our love is, correct?”

Your mind was filled with disbelief, too shocked to murmur any other words.

Wrapping his arm securely around yours, Giorno led you towards a car that you’d assume takes you back to the villa. You’d thought about running away, but his grip on you was so tight that it was impossible for you to form any distance between your body and his.

“Now, I do have to decide on the punishment I’ll give you..but for right now, let’s just go home, okay?”

#jojo bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo's bizzare adventure x reader #jjba x reader #giorno giovanna #giogio #giorno #giorno giovanna x reader #giorno x reader #giovanna giorno #jjba giorno #jjba giorno giovanna #yandere #yandere x darling #yandere x reader

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marsbutterfly · 3 years

Note

Hello dear ! Can I request an Imagine where Hanji and her girlfriend get married ? They both decided to get married before the battle of Shiganshina because they were afraid of not coming back alive (they came back alive) . The ceremony is very beautiful and joyful and since reader no longer has a family, Erwin offers to accompany her to the altar.

(I have this personal headcanon that whenever a member of the scouts is getting married, Historia will always be the one who celebrate this union)

(I'm the one who send you a message about a cute imagine with Hanji)

Take care ❤

I Hear A Symphony

Summary: Previous to the mission to retake Shiganshina, you decide to tie the knot with Hanji before it's too late.

Wattpad! | AO3! | |◁ II ▷|

Warnings: None.

As you sit through this meeting, Commander Erwin’s voice goes in through one ear and leaves out the other. Your mind wanders away to the soft hand touching yours underneath the table.

Your heart palpitates as Hanji’s fingertips softly brush against your skin. It’s a feeling you’ve known all too well but still haven’t gotten used to. She traces your veins without taking her eyes off of the whiteboard sitting ahead of you.

Trying to focus on the blonde man’s words, the only sentence you can pay attention to is "The mission to retake Wall Maria will succeed". But the excitement that courses through your veins isn’t from that but rather from the event that will take place later that day.

You take a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down but you can feel the warmth spreading across your cheeks.

“That’s all for today.” The tall man standing in front of everyone says, focusing his eyes on the massive pile of papers standing in front of him.

Sadly but quickly, you remove Hanji’s hand from yours, a sad expression taking over her features. Trying to cheer her up, you flash her a bright smile and gently hand her a half-opened book, a small piece of paper marking a specific page.

“I’ll see you later!”

Before she has time to respond, a hand grabs your wrist and drags you towards the other side of the now mostly empty room.

The man standing in front of you seems nervous for the first time since you’ve met him, his hand has a subtle tremble to it and you smirk, looking down at your feet while gathering up the courage to ask him for a favor.

“Commander, would you...” You ask, tilting your head slightly to the right. He raises his hand as a sign of interruption and takes a deep breath while shyly looking around the room, making sure no one can hear him.

“Y/N, would you give me the honor of accompanying you down the aisle today?” He says, taking one of your hands on his. The smile on his face is genuine and you can’t help but smile in return.

“Of course. Other than Hanji, you are the closest thing to family I have left.” You reply and you feel as his long arm wraps around your body. Your head rests on his chest and your arms are wrapped around his shoulders. “We grew up together, Erwin.”

“You used to collect butterflies.” He says, his hand playing with your hair and you snort.

“And you used to wear that stupid vest.” You reply and he laughs, a contagious sound that brings out a laughter of your own.

A knock on the door breaks you away from the moment and you look around to find a very nervous Moblit holding a clipboard close to his chest as if his life depended on it. He looks at the clock resting above the mantle.

“Y/N, you need to come with me so you can start getting ready,” Moblit says, sweat dripping down his forehead as he looks at the clock once again.

Erwin’s arm falls to the side of his body, letting you go in the process. He tilts his head towards the door signaling that it is time for you to leave. You plant one kiss on his cheek as a token of your appreciation and Moblit quickly takes your hand, dragging you out of the room.

“Moblit, you don’t need to grab me so tightly.” You say, trying to get him out of the zone he currently is in, “I won’t run away”

He shakes his head, finally releasing your arm and you gently massage the harmed area. Alongside the nervousness in his eyes, there is now a hint of concern and you can tell his intention was not to hurt you, on your wedding day much less.

“I’m sorry, I just have to make sure everything is perfect today.” He says and before you have time to respond, a soldier walks in between the two of you. His actions show you how apologetic he is so you decide not to say anything.

“Sir, the flowers are ready but Sasha keeps trying to steal the food from the buffet.” The soldier says and Moblit sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose. While he deals with the situation, you feel yet another hand pulling you but in a much gentler manner this time.

You don’t have time to complain. The sweet perfume of the figure ahead of you lets you know exactly who they are and you can’t help but smile. It had been months since the last time you had seen Historia and spending time with her had always been one of your favorite things.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing here?” You ask quietly, not wanting to give away her location in case she had sneaked past her guards yet again. “Shouldn’t you be at the church getting the blessed cloth?”

“It’s all ready for the ceremony!” She says, the excitement in her voice is undeniable but still so quiet. “I just had to come and see how you are doing today.”

“Nervous but in a good way.” You say, a smile on your face, and she giggles, wrapping her small arms around your torso.

“I can’t wait to officiate your wedding!” She exclaims, a few excited jumps following closely behind, “You are the first of my friends to get married. I am so happy for you!”

“I know, I love Hanji and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my days with her.” You claim, a hint of sadness present in your voice, “Even if it won’t be for much longer.”

“Stop it! You both will come back and Shiganshina will be saved thanks to all of your efforts.” She replies, nuzzling her face against your breasts in a caring manner.

Your conversation is, unfortunately, cut short when a very concerned Levi knocks on the door. He is under the impression that Hanji is the one you are talking to and kicks down the wooden surface, a bath scrub in his hand while a cap covers his hair.

“Where is your fiancee?” He asks, looking at you dead in the eye. A chill travels down your spine and you shrug your shoulders, unable to provide him with an answer. It takes a second but he finally believes you and resumes his search elsewhere.

By the time he is gone, a guard has caught on that Historia is missing and begins to scream her name around the castle causing her to immediately run away giggling, the amusement she feels is undeniable.

You take a deep breath, finally being able to make your way towards the area where your makeup would be applied. The artist awaits for you patiently and you shoot her a smile, silently thanking her for her time.

“Are you ready?” She asks as you are sitting down and so you nod.

The gentleness of the brushes against your skin is nearly enough to lull you to sleep but the anxiety you are feeling is much greater. You close your eyes, allowing her to work on your eyelids with a gentle pink shadow.

Her strokes are precise yet delicate much like the claps of a butterfly’s wings. The artificial blush spreads across your cheek giving your already beautiful skin a much more elegant look.

Once she is ready to apply the lipstick, you open your eyes and finally see yourself in the mirror. You can’t contain the smile that comes out and you gently begin to analyze every feature on your face, delighted with the result.

“And you’re done!” She says and you thank her for her time.

When the makeup artist leaves, another woman enters the room: the hairstylist. When she asks for what you would like, a blank canvas comes to your mind and nothing comes out so instead, you ask her to surprise you.

She decides to not do anything too adventurous so she simply braids your hair, a simple yet elegant hairstyle perfect for your wedding day. And the best part is that the veil would fit perfectly.

You thank her for the time she has spent with you and she exits the room, leaving you all alone with your thoughts.

This is it. The big day you have been dreaming about since you were little and the best part is that, from now on, you will be able to share your life with the person you have loved since you became a part of the Cadet Corps.

Before you have to get into your dress, you make a very important decision.

"I want to go see Hanji!" you say to yourself, glancing out of the window. It takes you a few seconds to realize that you are alone and can come and go as you please. A smile appears on your face as you get out of the chair, excitement rushing through your veins as you hear your shoes touching the floor.

Before you can make it to the room where she is, a pair of hands drags you back to your chamber, “It’s bad luck to see each other so close to the ceremony. I’m sorry but you’ll have to stay here.”

You frown, crossing your arms much like a child throwing a tantrum but all your behavior does is earn an honest laugh from Mikasa. “You’ll see each other in less than an hour, it’s time to put your dress on.”

Tightly, you clutch your hands shut in an attempt to stop them from shaking. Your mouth is suddenly as dry as a desert while the soft cloth of the dress makes its way past your torso, slowly sliding down to its designated place.

The white silk fits you perfectly and you feel like bursting into tears but decide against it when you realize it would ruin your makeup. One glance in the mirror was enough to let you know that this is the dress of your dreams.

“You look perfect!” Sasha says, her mouth stuffed with a potato Moblit gave her to keep her away from the buffet table.

“Now all that is left is the veil,” Eren says, slowly placing it on your head. You smile at them, tears shining brightly in your eyes.

Mikasa hands you a red bouquet, a few of the petals gently fall against your hand towards the ground, forming a path through the places you walk past.

One after the other, the younger soldiers make their way towards Queen Historia before taking their designated spots for the ceremony and that is when your eyes land on her.

She has a white suit on with a red tie matching the flowers in your hands. Her hair is in a high ponytail and it looks clean, giving you the impression that Levi successfully managed to bathe her.

Your heart beats at 100 mph and you feel like it is going to come right up your throat. Your nerves are only soothed when Erwin’s hand touches your shoulder, he presents you his right arm and you happily take it.

It’s time to walk down the aisle.

"Do you know what time it is?" you face her with a bright smile hoping she would catch on and realize what you have in mind.

"Around 21:47" She replies and you frown at her, realizing she has not caught on to what you were hoping for. “We have another important day tomorrow, you should go to sleep.”

"Ok first of all, how do you know that, you don't even have a watch." you shake your head at her, making your way towards the chair she's sitting on. Your cold hand touches the warm skin on her chin, her eyes meeting yours as you continue to flash her an even brighter smile,

“Second of all?” She asks.

"Second of all, you should come to bed with me, staying up so late is not good for you, you might run into... Levi." you whisper his name as if it was forbidden, her laugh fills your ears as she puts her papers down.

"You have a point there, Y/N. So, what time is it?"

"It's cuddle time with your wife!” You reply and Hanji nods, picking you up in her arms while taking you towards the bed.

The very next day, the Battle For Shiganshina began. Many lives were lost: Moblit, Erwin, nearly every single recruit. Levi had been stuck in his office since returning, he plans on going back there and recovering Erwin’s remains, hoping to put him to rest next to his father.

Hanji, who barely bathed, has completely stopped taking care of herself. The nightmares have gotten out of hand to the point where she needs to be strapped down to the bed so she won’t be able to move during the night.

You constantly look back at the ceremony, how all of your friends came together to celebrate your decision to join your life with Hanji or how the Queen’s words truly touched every person present.

Being faithful to your vows, you take care of her. Day and night you stay by her side, making sure to let her know you aren’t going anywhere.

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starshine583 · 3 years

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New Girl on the Block (18)

(Hey, everyone! I have an announcement to make! After posting this chapter, I am going to be taking a temporary leave due to family matters. They’re fun family matters, so don’t worry! but they will prevent me from writing any further chapters at this time. I plan to post the next chapter on June 27th. Sorry for the long wait! That’s just how things worked out, but I hope I’ll get to see you all then, and please enjoy this new update! Feel free to check out the mini series connected to this called Journal Entries!)

Ch. 1 / Ch. 17 / Ch. 19 (ao3)

Chapter 18: It’s the Little Moments

Felix grumbled to himself as he picked up his tie to pull it around his neck. Valentine’s Day parties were bad enough already with all of the love-sick couples that tended to crowd around him throughout the evening. Did he really have to further his torment by dressing up as well? His previous suit was perfectly fine for an event such as this. Fashionable, sleek, formal- there was no reason to change. Especially when it came to this ridiculous, unseemly-

“Oh, lighten up.” His mother told him, shooing his hands away so she could tie the tie herself. “It’s just a Valentine’s Day suit, and you’re wearing it for one night. There’s no need to scowl over it. I’m sure the other boys will be wearing some form of pink too.”

Felix scoffed. “Mother, don’t patronize me. You know I don’t care about the pink color. It’s the fact that you’re dressing me up to match the theme.”

Bridgette eyed him. “And? You’re supposed to match the theme for parties. That’s why it’s called a theme.”

“But if I match the theme, other girls at the party will probably think I approve of the theme too.” Felix argued. “And then they’ll be asking me to dance or trying to talk with me in general. I’ll have to spend the entire evening trying to shoo them off.”

A laugh tumbled from his mother’s lips. “Aw~, it must be so exhausting having all of the girls fall in love with you.”

Felix shot her a flat look. “Would you want to spend an evening rejecting people?”

Bridgette tilted her head in a nod. “I’ll give you that one, but you know Allegra could always scare them off if they become too overbearing.”

Felix blew out a relenting sigh. He supposed that was true.

“Besides, even if the girls are chasing you, you still need to look nice Marinette, don’t you?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “No? Marinette’s not going to care what I look like, so long as I’m not a fashion disaster, that is.”

Which, in this suit, he might very well be, to be honest. Perhaps he should text her a warning.

“I thought you two were supposed to be going on a fake date tonight.” His mother replied, tugging lightly on Felix’s tie to straighten it.

Felix’s gaze snapped to her. “Where did you hear that?”

Bridgette chuckled, offering him a teasing glance as she said, “Oh, please. You know Allegra and I talk.”

Felix tisked and rolled his shoulders, making sure his suit wasn’t too tight. Of course Allegra would mention that ridiculous suggestion to his mother. Those two loved to gossip together, specifically about him.

“Well, we’re not.” He remarked, leveling out the annoyance in his tone. “That was just some frivolous idea that Claude came up with the other day.”

“Really? I thought the idea sounded rather exciting.”

Felix resisted the urge to scoff again. Her too? “Why on earth would it be exciting? You galivant around with someone, probably doing the exact same thing you would do with them on a normal basis, but you call it a ‘fake date’ for what? A good laugh when someone assumes you’re a real couple? I can’t wrap my brain around the reasoning.”

Another chuckle came from Bridgette. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t, but consider this: If you and Marinette pretend you’re dating for the evening, you might not have so many girls coming to ask you for a dance.”

Felix paused, his eyes widening slightly. That.. actually wasn’t such a bad idea. He might even consider it if the thought of asking Marinette didn’t sound so incredibly arrogant. ‘Would you mind being my fake date to help me escape the supposed hoards of girls who are going to chase after me tonight?’ You can’t convince him that that proposal didn’t sound anything less than tacky. She’d probably tease him about it the whole night.

“If it bothers you so much, though,” his mother spoke again, “why not ask Marinette out on a real date?”

Felix sputtered a bit at the comment, blurting out a bewildered, “Excuse me?”

Don’t get him wrong, Marinette was an extraordinary person and anyone who ended up with her would undoubtedly be lucky, but the very thought of him asking her out on a date felt.. strange. He couldn’t imagine asking her for anything more than what she was giving him right now, and he didn’t think there was anything she’d want from him when it came to a relationship anyway. Their dynamic was comfortable as it was. Why should they try to complicate things?

“Alright, alright, I was just asking.” his mother assured, almost seeming to laugh as she did. “You two are only friends. I understand.”

Something about the smile in her eyes told him that she didn’t understand, but he simply glanced to the side, electing to ignore it. Arguing wouldn’t change her mind either way, and in the end it was just a question. His friendship with Marinette wasn’t going to change over it, because neither of them harbored romantic feelings for each other. He was perfectly content to keep it that way.

~~~~~~

Marinette stood in front of her vanity mirror, twisting her hair into a side ponytail for the fifth time that evening. She’d spent the last hour trying over and over again to perfect the hairstyle, but she could never seem to get it right. The ponytail was always too lopsided or too messy or the braid tied into it would begin to unwind. Now, the ponytail was tied tightly enough, but the braid was crooked, and there were too many stray hairs flying around for it to look neat. How can she still be struggling after practicing this for an hour?

“Ugh! I give up!” She huffed, throwing her hands down and staring ruefully at her nearly knotted locks. This is what she gets for taking the easy route and always putting her hair in pigtails. “I’m just going to stay home.”

“No, don’t do that!” Tikki quickly spoke up, flying to her holder’s side. “You’ve worked too hard on your dress to stay home! And your hair really doesn’t look all that bad. I’m sure no one will think twice about it.”

Marinette tisked, plopping into her rolling chair and crossing her arms. “But I’ll think about it, Tikki, and I’ll be more self-conscious than I was going to be before.”

Tonight wasn’t just a Valentine’s Day party for Marinette. That was mainly what it was, of course, but she also saw it as a sort of debut. With the amount of time she spent hanging around Allegra and Claude and the others, she hadn’t had time to truly meet her other classmates at Rosemary, but tonight, they would all be gathered together for her convenience and she would finally have a chance to introduce herself to the school as a whole. It was exhilarating.. and a tad frightening. She’d seen plenty of students in passing that appeared to be less than friendly. How were they going to react to her? Were they going to be as sweet as her current friends? Or did she happen to run into the best group in the school first? There was no telling.

“Try not to overthink it.” Her kwami said softly, though they both knew she would. “Why don’t you try a different hairstyle?”

“Because I don’t know any other hairstyles.” Marinette sighed. “Well.. I know a bun, I guess, but I really wanted this hairstyle for tonight. I feel like it would really bring the dress together, you know?”

“It would.” Tikki agreed. “And it does. But if you think you can’t figure it out-”

“Marinette! Felix is here to pick you up!”

Panic seized Marinette’s chest at the call, and she leapt out of her chair to look in the mirror again. Felix was there already? The party wasn’t for another thirty minutes! Why did he always have to be early?

“Uh- j-just a second, Maman!” She called back, frantically trying to straighten her braid and smooth the wisps of hair around her ponytail. It didn’t work, unfortunately, so she threw a silver pin in her hair as a last ditch effort and made her way downstairs, trying not to whimper too much.

“Oh, Marinette, you look wonderful!” Her mother cooed as Marinette descended the stairs. “I need to go get Tom. Oh, and a camera!”

Marinette pulled a wince. They were going to have photo evidence of this failure of a hairstyle?

“Maman, are you sure that’s necessary? I get dressed up like this all the time.” She tried to dissuade, but Sabine merely waved off her comment.

“Of course it is! This is your first party at Rosemary. We must have pictures.”

“Best be prepared.” A voice cut in, catching Marinette’s attention immediately. “Claude will undoubtedly be thinking the same thing when we arrive.”

Marinette turned towards the front door with a smile, but a gasp escaped her when she saw Felix standing there. She knew it would be him, of course. She simply hadn’t expected him to be wearing a different outfit.

“You..” She paused, briefly wondering if it would be rude to finish, then continued, “you changed your suit.”

Logically, she knew he had more than one suit. No one can wear the same suit forever, and Felix seemed to be too proper to do it even if he could. However, when he didn’t wear his usual suit, he continued to maintain the black and grey color scheme, so it never quite stuck with her that he’d changed. Tonight, though, his suit was entirely red, so deep a red that she might acquate it with blood, and he had a wonderfully pink tie on, along with a pink cloth folded in his front vest pocket to complement it. The sight nearly knocked her off her feet. He was even matching the party’s theme! She didn’t think he cared for things such as that.

A smirk ghosted Felix’s lips, and he nodded. “Yes, courtesy of my mother. I see you changed your hair as well.”

A blush crept across her cheeks, and Marinette reached up to feel how horrible the hairstyle was again. Here Felix was, doing his best and looking great as always, and she was just standing there looking like a mess. Typical.

“O-Oh, yeah, I mean.. I tried to change it. I don’t think it worked out too well..” She muttered, glancing down at the ground. Maybe she still had time to take it out before they left?

Felix’s footsteps brought her gaze back upwards, and she watched him cross the room to her. His eyes were squinted ever-so-slightly, the way they always were when he was pondering something, and once he was close enough, he reached out, his hand lightly tracing over the side braid she’d attempted.

Marinette stood still, allowing him to ‘examine’ her for a moment before saying, “It’s awful, isn’t it? I couldn’t get anything to stay where it was supposed to.”

Felix hummed absently, bringing his hand down to let the tip of her ponytail slide off of his fingertips. “No, not awful. If you practice a few more times, I’m sure it would be perfect.”

Marinette blew out a small sigh. That meant it wasn’t perfect now.

“Do you have the reference you used? If I see it, I might be able to straighten the braid out before we leave at least.” Felix inquired, causing Marinette’s eyes to widen. Oh?

“You know how to do hair?”

“Not quite,” he admitted, “but I learned some of the basics during a few sleepovers. For some reason, Claude and Allegra thought it important that I had a decent grasp on the subject.”

A smile came to Marinette’s lips. That sounded like something they would do. “And you think you can fix my hairstyle from your limited knowledge?”

“Possibly, if you have reference,” Felix smirked, “but it’s alright if you prefer to keep what you have.”

“Oh no, please.” Marinette said, quickly pulling her phone out of her heart shaped purse. “Anything’s probably better than what I have in now. Are you sure we have time, though?”

Felix nodded. “I always leave around ten or fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, so we should have plenty of time.”

Marinette nodded as well and opened the reference video she’d used for her hairstyle. Felix took the phone from her and watched it once or twice as she pulled out the pins in her hair. Then, when everything was down again, Felix handed the phone back to her and let it play in her hands for a third time while he set to work. His fingers brushed through her hair, carefully separating the different locks and tying them together. The feeling behind it was quite strange, mostly because she could hardly feel it at all. His hands were so gentle, so cautious that even when he had to tug on her hair to tighten the braid, it seemed as light as a cloud. Felix was always soft like that. He spoke harshly to others and liked to scowl often, but when it came to his actions, she couldn’t recall a single time he’d been rough.

Recently, she’s been hearing that secret softness in his voice too, and it never failed to make her smile.

“Aw, did her hair fall out?”

Sabine’s voice brought the two’s gaze to the living room doorway. She was standing there with Tom, a camera in her hands and a slight, disappointed frown on her lips.

“No, I took it out.” Marinette assured over her shoulder. “Felix offered to do the hairdo himself so it would look better.”

“Oh, how gentlemanly of him.” Tom chimed in with a satisfied smile.

“Do you mind if I get a picture?” Sabine requested, prepping the camera in her hands.

“Uh..” Marinette looked to Felix as best she could. “Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t mind.” Felix shrugged. “Mother already bombarded me with pictures before I left. What’s a few more?”

Marinette chuckled. “You said she was the one who gave you the suit right?”

“No, she’s the one who made me wear it.” Felix corrected. “Something about having to match the theme.”

“Ah, I see.” Marinette said. She should have known Felix wouldn’t throw away his black and grey color scheme willingly. “She has great taste. You’ll have to let me meet her sometime so I can tell her ‘thank you’.”

A playful scoff passed his lips and brushed against her ear. “You know, I’m sure she would be delighted to do just that.”

*Click!*

The camera flash brought the two’s attention back to Sabine and Tom, who were both holding giddy smiles at this point.

“I think you both look fantastic.” Tom grinned. “Those boys will be falling over each other to get to Marinette tonight, I’m sure.”

Felix hummed as he twisted her hair to pin it into a side ponytail, muttering, “I quite agree.”

The comment was soft and absent, and it sent a blush exploding across Marinette’s face. That’s the second time he’s agreed to her being pretty and a supposed ‘boy magnet’. Does he ever think about what he’s saying or is it just some logical fact to him that shouldn’t mean anything? She’s not sure which one she prefers.

“Done.”

Felix’s hands fell back to his sides, and Marinette reached up to feel the hairstyle- gently, though, so as not to mess it up. The pull of the bobby pins was comfortable and tight, and her braid felt nice and straight as she grazed her fingers over it. Overall, it felt perfect, which was exactly what she’d wanted.

“Thanks, Felix.” She said, offering him a quick smile as she checked the reflection in her phone. “It looks great. You’re a life-saver.”

“And you two are going to be late if you don’t hurry up.” Her maman cut in. “Now gather together for a picture so we can send you off.”

Marinette rolled her eyes with a smile and tucked her phone back in her purse, then turned to stand next to Felix. He, in turn, straightened slightly next to her and clasped his hand behind his back for the picture.

“Alright, say cheese!” Sabine coaxed, holding up her camera.

The pair smiled. “Cheese!”

*Click!*

~~~~~~~

Claude’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he watched his fellow Rosemary students pile into the Mandarin Oriental. As usual, people of all shapes and sizes were here. The ‘cool’ kids, the music kids, the nerd kids, the geeks, the dancers- anyone and everyone who had a popular status at the school, along with a good group of others who counted as the stalking crowd. The younger, less-popular students who tended to follow the social hierarchies like loyal dogs. The ‘baby paparazzis’, if you will. They were all crowding inside with an urgency that only his- and Allegra and Allan and Marinette and Felix’s -parties could bring. Soon, Marinette and Felix will be there as well, and then the fun will really begin.

“Alright, Marinette just texted.” Allegra spoke up behind him. She was currently hovering around the buffet table to ensure the punch drinks were being dispersed properly. Claude, of course, was hovering around Allegra in case she needed his help with anything.

“She said they’re parking now.” His ‘fake date’ continued, glancing over her phone screen as she re-read the text. “You remember what to do, right?”

Claude huffed out a playful scoff, reaching for the platter of shrimp as he replied, “Of course I do. Take her onto the dance floor to help her get comfortable in the ‘party atmosphere’, convince her to dance with Felix while you convince Felix to dance with her, and-”

Allegra slapped his hand, coaxing a yelp from the brunette.

“Don’t touch the shrimp until the other guests have some first.” She scolded.

Claude rubbed his hand with a pout. So touchy. Why should he have to wait for the guests to eat? If they wanted shrimp, they should come up and get some. Why can’t he have the food that he helped pay for? (Well, the food that his parents helped pay for.)

“And keep your voice down too.” Allegra added, flipping her hair over her shoulder when it fell in the way. Wearing it in a half-up-half-down style wasn’t nearly as convenient as her casual braid, but he had to admit, the free curls that fell around her shoulders were extremely nice. “Do you know the amount of people here who would love to get their grubby little hands on the fact that we’re trying to set stubborn, stuck-up, stone-faced Felix with the new, cotton-candy-sweet, bakery-girl Marinette? The gossip would reach both of them within seconds.”

“Yeah, it probably would.” He agreed. “But at least they’ll both know they like each other then. Saves us the trouble, right?”

Allegra shot him a flat look, meaning he probably said something wildly inaccurate again.

“Claude, the only gossip that would be spreading would be the fact that we’re trying to get them together. Not that they like each other. How do you think Felix is going to react when he realizes we’re playing matchmaker? What about Marinette? I think they’d probably be a little uncomfortable considering neither of them probably think that the other person likes them. Which is why we decided to be subtle about this in the first place.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yes, it does.” Allegra said, crossing her arms. “So keep your voice down when talking about it from now on, please.”

Claude nodded, leaning back on the buffet table as he faced the crowd again. “Sure, sorry.”

This was going to be a tough evening, trying to get Marinette and Felix together while not blurting the scheme out to the world. He just felt like everything would be easier if they simply talked to each other about it openly. But Allegra was more perceptive than he was. She probably knew things he didn’t about the situation. So he’ll go along with her plan and hope it works out.

Besides, this way he gets to mess with Felix as much as he wants. And he won’t get scolded, this time!

And if everything does work out, Marinette and Felix will be all the happier for it.

Win-win-win-win.

“Hey, guys.” Allan spoke up, joining them at the table and swiping a shrimp. “Do you know if Felix and Marinette are here yet? I haven’t seen them.”

Allegra opened her mouth to scold him about the shrimp as she had Claude, but Allan popped it into his mouth before she could. Claude held back a snort, watching Allegra purse her lips in annoyance. If he couldn’t have a shrimp, at least Allan got one.

“They’re on their way up now.” The blonde replied with narrowed eyes, unbeknownst to Allan. “They just parked a few minutes ago.”

“Cool. We’re still having Claude do his thing, right?”

“Yep.” Claude said, a devilish grin spreading across his lips. “And I am so ready to cause mischief.”

Allegra snorted and lightly nudged him in the arm. “Not too much mischief. This is supposed to be romantic, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Claude waved her off. “I’ll get them to be romantic. After I get to mess with them.”

“Claude-”

“Oh- there they are! Hey, guys!”

Claude perked up at the interruption, the familiar voice drawing his gaze to the front of the Mandarin Oriental. It was the very voice they’d been waiting for, and the source wasn’t hard to find.

Marinette and Felix were making their way through the crowd towards them, Marinette clearly excited as she waved them down with a bright smile. The designer dress she was wearing looked fantastic, as Felix had predicted, and the hearts littering it matched the theme perfectly. She even had her hair all done up tonight! (Which really brought out the elegance of the dress, in his opinion.) An outfit like that was only going to make his job of setting up a romantic thought process between the two that much easier.

(Of course, with the way Felix was staring at Marinette right now, Claude had a feeling that that thought process might already be set up.)

“Hey!” he greeted, meeting the pair halfway to give Marinette a hug. Was it the flowers on the table or did this girl actually smell like roses tonight? Did she use a special perfume? Oh, Allegra was going to love this.

“You two look awesome! I was starting to think you’d never get here.” He teased, stepping back again to get a better view of her face. She decided to go with a pinker shade of lipstick tonight, along with a glittering, light pink eyeshadow, and it’s a wonder that Felix hasn’t collapsed from swooning at this point. (Though maybe Claude can catch that when the two dance later. The video footage would be priceless!)

Marinette let out a light laugh, touching the tip of her side ponytail with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. Felix was helping me with my hair.”

“Aw, Felix!” Allegra cooed, coming up behind Claude just then to join them. “You did Marinette’s hair? It looks lovely.”

“I knew those lessons would come in handy.” Claude smirked.

“Yes, who would’ve guessed?” Felix muttered, briefly rolling his eyes, but Claude wasn’t fooled. He could hear the almost airy tone to Felix’s voice, see his eyes soften anytime he so much as glanced at Marinette. That guy had probably been ecstatic to do Marinette’s hair, and he just didn’t want to show it.

He would, though.. Soon enough.

“Hey, guys.” Allan chimed in, finally joining them as well. “You both look great. I haven’t seen Felix wear that dark of red in a while.”

“Or red in general.” Allegra remarked with a smile.

“Or pink.” Claude added, eyeing Felix’s shirt sleeves. “Actually, I haven’t seen you wear anything besides gray or black since Marinette had you wear that green, plaid shirt after the ‘flour incident’.”

“In other words.. Your mom made you wear that, didn’t she?” Allegra asked lightheartedly.

“Of course she did.” Felix said. “Why else would I wear it?”

“Well, I imagine you’d just want to look nice.” Claude joked, wrapping his arm around Felix’s shoulders and ignoring the blond’s scowl. “Either way, remind your mom how awesome she is for me when you get home.”

“I’m sure she already knows.” Felix replied curtly, shoving Claude’s arm off of him again.

A giggle brought Claude’s attention back to Marinette, who was now observing the party with sparkling interest.

“Everything looks incredible, you guys!” She nearly squealed. “The lights, the flowers, the food.. But I thought the party started at six. Did I get the times mixed up again?”

“No, it does- er, did.” Claude said. “People just get excited and like to get in as soon as they can.”

“Oh.” Marinette muttered, relief smoothing out her features. “So we’re not late?”

“Not at all. In fact..” Claude swept into a bow, offering his hand to her with a grin. “We were just about to start the dancing. Would you mind giving me the honors?”

A surprised laugh fell from Marinette’s lips. “Me? I thought Allegra was your ‘fake date’ for the evening.”

“She is, but I have to save the best for last, right?” Claude threw a wink at Allegra, who also let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. The slight blush on the her cheeks gave her away, though, and it caused his grin to widen.

Marinette gave an “Aw~.” and slipped her hand into his. “Well, in that case, I’d be delighted to dance with you.”

“Great!” Claude cheered, pulling her close.

They glided onto the dance floor, quickly catching the attention of the room, and with that, the first part of the plan fell into place. Claude was dancing with Marinette. Now he needed to convince her to dance with Felix.

Out of the corner of his eye, Claude could already see Felix starting to flounder. He simply stood there, quietly watching them dance with that neutral expression of his and occasionally looking elsewhere. Without Marinette to anchor him in a room of people, the blond would no doubt resort to being a wallflower again and wander over to some corner. A nice, hidden corner where Allegra could easily- and discreetly -convince Felix to dance with Marinette. They all knew him too well.

“Are we the only ones dancing?” Marinette asked, bringing Claude’s attention back to her.

“For now,” he confirmed, “but someone has to start it, right? Look, they’re already joining in.”

“I guess that’s true..” Marinette said, glancing at the few couples that had indeed started to join them. “I don’t normally dance all that much, to be honest. So it’s a little weird for me to be the one starting it for once.”

Claude laughed and took a step back to spin her around. “Really? You’re a natural at it!”

“Oh, thanks. That’s a relief to hear.” Marinette smiled, hobbling into a spin.

“Course. But you know who else is a natural at it?”

Marinette hummed. “Let me guess.. Is it you?”

Claude snorted. “Well, duh, but I was actually talking about Felix.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Felix?”

“Yeah! He takes waltzing classes at the school and everything, but he never dances! Can you believe it?”

A chuckle passed Marinette’s lips. “Kind of. This is Felix we’re talking about. Maybe his mom wanted him to take dance lessons like she wanted him to wear that tuxedo.”

“Maybe.. But it’s still a shame to waste such carefully crafted skills. You should try to get him to dance tonight.”

Marinette snorted. “Oh? And who would I get him to dance with? He doesn’t like getting close to random people.”

Claude hummed. “Now, that’s a question, isn’t it? Who should dance with Felix tonight..”

He made a show of looking around the dance floor as he and Marinette waltzed in a circle, then looked back to her. “..Why don’t you dance with him?”

Marinette nearly tripped over her own two feet at the suggestion, and Claude had to hold back a smile. Was she getting flustered? That’s a good sign.

“You want me to.. Are you sure he’d be comfortable with that? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even want to dance.”

“Come on, who else could get Felix to dance?” Claude insisted. “He’ll say yes if it’s you, and we can’t let him be a wallflower forever.”

Marinette let out a soft laugh, looking quite bashful as a blush curled onto her cheeks, and she glanced over at Felix. He was already standing next to the wall near the punch bowl, looking idle as he watched the dancing crowd.

“I don’t know, Claude. I think he rather enjoys being a wallflower.”

Claude chuckled. “Just say you’ll try? At the very least, it’ll make Allegra happy to see Felix out and about.”

Marinette turned her attention back to him and smiled. “..Alright. I guess I’ll try, but no promises about actually getting him to dance.”

“Deal.” Claude grinned. Mission success!

“On an entirely different note, though, your dress is incredible. You made that yourself, right?”

Marinette brightened and nodded. “Yes, I did! I had lots of fun with it so I’m glad you guys like it.”

“Aw, I’m pretty sure I’d like anything you make. You always put a cool twist on things.” Claude smiled. “By the way, how’s my prince suit coming along? Have you started it yet?”

“I have! It’s actually pretty close to being done. I’m on the ‘details’ stage.”

A gasp of delight escaped him. He hadn’t realized how close she was to finishing it!

“Oh, sweet! You’re gonna have to come over to my house when you finish it. We can even have a mini-fashion show for you!”

Marinette giggled. “That sounds like a blast.”

“Yes!” Claude briefly let go of Marinette’s waist to pump his fist. “Man, am I glad you came to Rosemary. I mean, not just because of the prince suit- even though that is pretty awesome -but also because you’re a fun person to be around, ya know? Everyone thinks so.”

“Really?” Marinette’s steps lagged slightly, clearly taken aback by the statement. “That’s.. Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

For a moment, she almost looked relieved.. Or even sad. But another blinding smile appeared before he could figure out why.

“I think you guys are fun to be around too.” She said warmly.

Claude smiled, feeling his uneasiness melt away. She didn’t sound sad or solemn at all. He was probably just imagining things, or seeing a trick of the light.

“Excuse me.”

Claude and Marinette slowed to a stop, turning to another boy who had come to interrupt them.

“Mind switching off with me?” He asked, offering his hand to Marinette. Was that even allowed during an informal dance such as this?

Nevertheless, Claude caught Marinette’s eye. “What do you say, Mari? Wanna switch off?”

Marinette blinked. “Oh- uh -sure. If you’re okay with it.”

“Absolutely.” Claude smirked, jokingly spinning Marinette into the other boy’s arms. “Just don’t forget your promise to try!”

Marinette chuckled as she re-situated herself into the dance position. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Claude watched the two dance away, smiling proudly at the seed he’d sown for Marinette and Felix’s romantic evening. Allegra was surely going to be pleased with his work, and he was going to be pleased watching it unfold.

Now to get that shrimp.

~~~~~~~

Felix leaned against the wall, quietly observing the other party members dance, specifically Marinette. Her smile shined brightly as a boy twirled her, and her shoulders shook with giggles when the boy dipped her a second later. She appeared to be enjoying herself, and Felix was enjoying watching her. He had a feeling the other boys from Rosemary would be showering her with attention tonight- it was one of the rare times when she wasn’t being smothered by himself and the trio, after all -but he was admittedly surprised by the amount of stamina she possessed. It’d been at least an hour or two since the dancing started, yet she was still going as strong as ever, non-stop.

Well, he supposed it wasn’t non-stop. She had spun over to his little corner a few times to talk, which was how he ended up carrying two cups of punch instead of his one. Still, she should probably take a seat soon. Those heels she’d decided to wear were bound to be painful after a while. Perhaps he should grab her attention and find an empty table-

“U-um, excuse me, Felix?”

Felix glanced to his right, meeting the face of a girl that seemed vaguely familiar and a tad timid. She stood a certain distance away from him, her lips stretched into a nervous smile, and gave a little wave. Was that all she intended to do?

“Can I help you?” He asked, raising a brow.

“Oh- well-” The girl faltered, as though she hadn’t expected to get this far, and rubbed her arm. “A-actually, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to.. Dance? With me. Of course.”

Ah, Felix thought, heaving a mental sigh. He should have known that that would be her intention. Now her visible anxiety made sense.

“Apologies, but I don’t dance.” He replied smoothly.

The girl’s shoulders sank. “Oh.. really? I thought you took waltzing classes at the school.”

Felix schooled a neutral expression, if only to avoid glaring. What, was she stalking him or something?

“I assure you they are for my Mother’s pleasure only, but I myself do not dance.” He said, a flatter note in his voice than before. Take the hint.

Thankfully, she did, but not in the way Felix was hoping.

“Ah, I see.. How about I keep you company then?” The girl suggested, getting entirely too comfortable next to him. “You’ve been over here by yourself for a while now.”

Felix’s grip on the cups tightened. So she was stalking him.

“While I appreciate the gesture, it’s quite unnecessary. I’m simply waiting for my friend to get back.”

“Your friend?” The girl asked, glancing into the crowd curiously. “You mean the black-haired girl who gave you that drink, right?”

Felix held back another scowl, his eye twitching. Seriously, how long had this girl been watching him? Didn’t she have someone better to bother? There were plenty of other guys here that would be willing to dance or talk with her. Why did she have to choose to annoy him specifically?

“Her hair is raven, and yes, she’s the one that gave me this drink.” He responded curtly, taking a sip of his own punch.

The girl nodded thoughtfully, blissfully unaware of his thinning patience. “I guess her hair does have a blue shine to it. Do you want me to hold one of the drinks? I imagine they get heavy after a while.”

Felix pulled the drinks away from her grasp, finally fixing her with a look.

I want you to mind your business, you little-

“Felix!”

Marinette’s punch was plucked from his hands, and an arm settled on his left shoulder. He whipped to the new interruption, thinking what now? and about ready to snap at someone, until he saw Allegra’s smiling face. She must have noticed him getting irritated and came over to investigate.

“You look like you’re having fun.” She said brightly, swirling Marinette’s punch in her hand. “Thanks for holding my drink for me.”

Felix winced, practically feeling the gears in the girl’s head turning. He’d just told her that the drink was Marinette’s, not Allegra’s. She was no doubt going to pick up on that. (Unless she was dimmer than he gave her credit for. That could always be a possibility.)

“Wait-” The girl said, her brows furrowing. Great. “Your drink? Felix just told me that that raven-haired girl gave him the drink.”

Felix gave Allegra a tired look. Try getting out of this one now.

At least she got Marinette’s hair color right that time.

Allegra ignored Felix’s look, instead throwing the girl a sharp smile. It was a rare sight to behold, but a welcome one. (So long as it wasn’t directed at him, of course.) It meant she was preparing herself to tear someone apart.

“Yes,” She replied shortly, “I gave the drink to Marinette, so she could give it to Felix. Is there a problem?”

The girl frowned. “But that doesn’t make any sense. I saw her-”

“You don’t believe me?” Allegra cut her off. “That’s rather rude to say to the hostess of the party, don’t you think? Go ask her yourself if you’re so skeptical. I wouldn’t recommend coming back to me afterwards, though.”

The girl huffed and crossed her arms, but turned around anyway, marching right off to a small group of girls that must have encouraged her to come talk with him in the first place. They swarmed her quickly, asking what happened and glaring at Allegra, but all Felix cared to do was take Marinette’s punch back from the blonde.

“I’m grateful, but I’m still going to need this back.” He said.

Allegra laughed and straightened to throw her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “Fine with me. I didn’t realize you’d grown so attached to the beverage.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I didn’t. You just might drink it by accident while we’re talking.”

Allegra tilted her head in a nod. “That’s a fair assumption. So what did that girl want from you?”

He sighed. “A dance. What else would people be asking me for at this ridiculous party?”

“Hey, it’s not ridiculous.” Allegra argued. “Marinette’s having a pretty good time.”

Felix’s gaze swept over the crowd again, finding Marinette easily as she switched off to a new dance partner. Her smile was contagious as always, and it spread onto Felix’s lips with little resistance.

“Yes, I suppose she is.” He agreed, taking another sip of his punch.

Allegra leaned against the wall next to him with a light chuckle. “You know, I bet if Marinette asked you to dance with her, you would.”

Felix scoffed at the implication her tone gave. Of course he would dance with Marinette if she asked, but only because it would make her happy, not because he wanted to dance with her. (Not that he particularly minded dancing with her either-)

“She wouldn’t ask me to dance,” he said before his thoughts could get out of hand, “because she knows I don’t fancy it.”

Allegra hummed. “Maybe you should ask her then.”

Felix shot her a look. This was going to be as tiresome as the other girl, wasn’t it?

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you need to not be a total wallflower this evening.” Allegra smiled. “And it would make Marinette happy. She’s already danced with Allan and Claude tonight, but with your professional lessons, I’m sure she’d have a blast.”

“I believe we just established that she is already having a blast.” Felix remarked, to which Allegra groaned.

“Just think about it, alright?”

“Unlikely.”

Why should he have to entertain an uncomfortable idea when Marinette was already enjoying herself? Granted, dancing with her didn’t sound awful, but the thought that it might encourage others to attempt dancing with him did. People were already asking him to dance while he was hiding near a wall. Imagine how many girls would come out of the woodwork once they actually saw him dancing.

Allegra rolled her eyes and waved him off. “Alright, whatever. I’m going back to the buffet table. Feel free to walk over if you start getting the urge to snap on someone again.”

Felix smirked. “In other words, I’ll see you in a few minutes?”

Allegra snorted as she walked away, and Felix settled back against the wall.. Just in time to see Marinette making her way towards him from the midst of the crowd. She appeared to be out of breath, though she offered him a tired smile when they locked eyes, and he moved forward to meet her halfway. That way she won’t have to trek all the way across the room for a drink.

“Are you finally taking another break?” He asked, handing her her punch when they joined at the edge of the crowd.

Marinette breathed out a laugh and took her drink with a “thanks”. It amazed him how well her outfit was staying together. The bow that held the dress together over her shoulders hadn’t loosened at all, and her hair seemed to be in place as well, save for a few stray strands. One would think that that amount of dancing would have her looking more disheveled.

“Yeah, just for a second.” She panted. “I’m starting to get dizzy from spinning so much.”

Felix chuckled. “Would you like to go find a table for a bit?”

“Uh..” Marinette glanced around the room for a moment, thinking it over. “You know what? Sure. I could sit for a bit.”

Felix smiled and gestured for her to lead the way, though he did point out an empty table that he had spotted earlier.

Marinette sat down first, with Felix pulling out her chair for her, and he sat down next to her. Their position faced the party rather than the wall, which allowed them- or at least Marinette -to continue enjoying the party atmosphere while they spoke.

“So are you having a decent time?” Marinette asked, taking a quick sip of her punch. “I know parties aren’t your thing, but you’re not too miserable, right?”

A bitter laugh escaped him, and he twirled his cup on the table as he said, “Miserable is certainly a good word to describe this evening.”

“Aw~, I’m sorry. Do you think going out to get some air would help?”

Felix offered her a smile. “That sounds delightful, but it’s as you said: Parties simply aren’t my preference. This party especially.”

Marinette’s eyebrows knitted together. “Because it’s a Valentine’s Day party or because there are so many people?”

“The Valentine’s Day theme.” Felix confirmed. “Not only are people more inclined to invade my personal space, but they also like to make the ‘Day of Love’ about romance exclusively. It diminishes the other definition to a ridiculous amount in my opinion.”

“Other definitions?” Marinette inquired. “What do you mean?”

Felix allowed a small, humorous smile to catch his lips. She’d just inadvertently proven his point right there. People were so focused on the romantic sense of love that they seemed to forget the several other types of love that exist.

“There’s more than one type of love, such as platonic love or familial love. In fact, the Greeks had seven different words for love. I believe they’re all important, so to see them all be dwindled down to just romantic love is aggravating.”

“Huh..” Marinette muttered, absorbing his words. “I never knew about the Greeks using seven different words for love. What were they?”

Felix briefly glanced up in thought. “If I remember correctly, they were Philia, Ludus, Storge, Philautia, Pragma, Agape, and Eros.”

“Wow.” Marinette smiled. “They sound beautiful. What do they mean?”

Felix smirked as well. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Always willing to listen and learn from my random facts.

“Well, the meanings are all decently complicated, but I supposed they can be summed up to this: Philia is the type of intimate love between friends. Ludus is the playful and ‘exciting’ type of love that one would get with a random crush. Storge is familial love, Philautia is the love of self, Pragma is the enduring type of love- which is the type of love needed for marriages or serious relationships -Agape is the unconditional love for humanity as a whole- which I clearly do not have-” He gained a snort from that “-and Eros is that of sexual love.”

The meaning of the last one felt a bit awkward on his tongue, but he pushed away the uneasiness. She had asked for the definitions, after all.

“I like those definitions.” Marinette said, a soft look coming to her features. “It’s cool that you know so much about them.”

“I have mentioned that I enjoy knowing things.”

Marinette giggled. “So you have. Just out of curiosity, though- and this may be a bit contradictory to the conversation -but have you ever had a crush on anyone? Or just, you know.. Been in a relationship in general? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Felix’s eyes widened slightly. He honestly hadn’t expected her to ever ask him such a thing. It made sense, considering the topic of the conversation they were having, but it was still surprising coming from her.

Nevertheless, he answered.

“No, neither. I’ve never been interested in anyone enough to pursue them, and anyone interested in me has always been too clingy. If I wanted someone to fawn over me constantly, I would simply invite Claude and Allegra to my house more often.”

For some reason, his answer didn’t feel quite right as he said it, and he found himself gauging Marinette’s reaction. Did he answer the question incorrectly? Was she going to be upset? Or possibly disappointed? Why would she be either? How could there possibly be an ‘incorrect’ answer to the question he’d just been asked?

Marinette snorted, clearly not upset at all, and it left him wondering why he’d bothered to worry.

“I figured you’d say that. You don’t seem like the type to get caught up in feelings like that.”

Felix nodded, though he silently questioned what she meant by the comment. Was she implying that he couldn’t get caught up in those types of feelings? Why did that seem so offensive to him?

“What about you?” he asked, brushing his thoughts to the side. He was just being ridiculous anyway. “Have you ever had romantic feelings towards another or been in a relationship?”

He already knew about her affections for Adrien Agreste, of course, but he’d yet to find out how far they went. And, on top of that, there was always the possibility of her having more than one lover. So it only made sense to ask the question, especially since she had asked him first.

A grimace overtook her features, clearly telling him that she had, in fact, had a romantic encounter before.

“Well.. I’ll admit I’ve had a lot of crushes, but there was this one that really got me. You, uh, you’ve actually met him already. Technically, anyway.”

Felix took a guess. “Adrien Agreste?”

She nodded, a bitter smile coming to her lips. “Cliché, right? The baker girl falling for the famous model..” She glanced down at her drink, absently tilting the cup to watch the liquid swirl. “I didn’t like him because he was a model, though. I liked him because he was sweet, and he was thoughtful, and.. I don’t know, I guess I thought.. that we could live a happy life together.”

Felix frowned at the cloud that seemed to pass over her, the pain that swelled in her eyes. He hadn’t realized how strong her attachment to Agreste was.

Marinette shook her head, breaking free of the thought process, and plastered on a smile. “I’m sorry, you didn’t ask about that.”

“No, it’s alright.” He assured her. “You can’t let things weigh on your mind unattended. If you feel you need to talk about it, then I’m willing to lend an ear.”

Marinette’s posture relaxed, relief making her smile a bit more genuine as she said, “Thank you. I appreciate it.. I don’t have any feelings for him now, but the pain is.. It still comes back, especially with how things ended. Sometimes I wish it had been different, sometimes I wish I had been different, and sometimes I wish I hadn’t fallen for him at all.. but mostly, I’m just glad it’s over.”

“What happened?”

“Well.. nothing happened, to be honest. And I think that was the hardest part.” Marinette drew in a deep breath, allowing herself to relax before continuing, “He came to my school a little over two years ago. Everyone was excited, but I didn’t even know who he was. When I did find out, though, we actually had a little bit of a misunderstanding. It’s funny when I think about it now, the way things turned out during that first day.”

“He apologized about it later, even though it wasn’t his fault, and I think that’s when I started to see him as something more than a friend. The more I got to know him, the more I started falling head over heels, and soon my friends found out about it. They thought we would be a great couple too, which kind of made me excited, and we all started planning these elaborate schemes to get him to notice me.”

She put her head in her hands and groaned. “It was so embarrassing, Felix, you should have seen them. One even involved me dressing up like a cat since he loved Chat Noir so much.”

Felix grimaced, though he tried not to show it. Marinette dressing up like a cat for some random guy’s attention? He couldn’t even fathom it. Who came up with that suggestion?

“Did it.. work?” He almost hesitated to ask.

Marinette laid her head on the table then, shaking it with a whine. “Not even close. This group of dogs saw me on my way over, and I guess my costume was too convincing because they chased me all around Paris. I ended up muddy and scratched up when Adrien actually saw me, which didn’t help at all.”

Felix was careful not to react, but he almost felt the need to pat her on the shoulder. How had she not died from embarrassment yet? If someone put him through that, he’d never go outside again.

“You see? That’s how all of it was. All. of. It.” Marinette said, lifting her head again to lean her chin into her palm. “Two years I spent chasing after him, making all of these plans and trying to catch his eye just once, but no matter what I did, I was only ever his ‘good friend’. A-And I’m not saying I hated being his friend or anything, I just.. I was trying so hard to be more, wondering why I wasn’t enough, and my friends were constantly cheering me on to keep going. It was exhausting.”

Felix offered her a sympathetic look as she went on, though he couldn’t help feeling annoyed by the story. What kind of ‘friends’ did she use to have that they would willingly push her to make a fool of herself in front of her love? What kind of friends would encourage her to continue chasing after someone who clearly wasn’t interested in her? That wasn’t healthy at all, and he could only imagine how miserable it would have made her.

Wait..

“Is that why he’s coming to see you now?” Felix asked. (or more of blurted out.) “Because of your previous feelings for him?”

“Oh, no.” Marinette said, going so far as to let out a laugh. “No, I doubt he’s ever going to see me in that light, but it’s still frustrating that he’s trying to visit me. Moving to Rosemary was supposed to be an easy break, but he just has to follow me here too.. Again, it’s not that I mind being his friend or anything, it’s.. I need time. To get over him. I don’t like the person I became when I only lived to gain his affection, and it’s hard to get over that mindset, ya know?”

Felix nodded. He didn’t quite understand her experience since he’d never loved someone himself, but he knew that old habits were hard to break, and that love can be known as an intoxicating and addicting emotion. It wouldn’t be easy to get rid of.

“You’re strong for deciding that.” He said sincerely. “It takes an immense amount of will power to let go of something that you think will make you happy, but I believe you’re right in thinking you’ll be better for it.”

Marinette pulled a small smile, twisting the small tip of her ponytail. “Thanks. I hope I am.”

Felix smiled as well and turned his chair to face Marinette more fully. He wanted to ensure that she would hear the words he was about to say.

“Marinette, you are.. an incredible person. And I’m not just telling you this to lift your spirits, I am saying it because it’s true. You are talented, intelligent, kind, and capable all on your own. You don’t need anyone to validate how amazing you are, because it’s evident in everything you do, and I truly hope you don’t ever doubt yourself because of Adrien’s foolishness.”

A blush bloomed across Marinette’s cheeks, and she glanced down to fiddle with her hands. “O-Oh, uhm.. Thanks.. Again. I won’t.”

Felix smiled, satisfied with the reaction, and picked up his cup to extend it towards her.

“Here,” he said light-heartedly, “to finding someone new, someone who appreciates you, even if that someone is yourself.”

Marinette giggled and picked up her drink as well, clinking the glasses together. “To finding someone new.”

Felix took a sip of his cup to complete the toast, but to his surprise, Marinette set hers to the side, instead standing up and offering her hand to him.

“Let’s go dance.”

Felix choked on his drink.

“Pardon?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Marinette insisted. “I mean, you only have to come if you want to, of course, but I haven’t danced with you yet, and Claude said that you took waltzing lessons at the school.”

Felix held back a scoff and glanced around the room, hoping to catch Claude’s eyes so he could glare at him. Why did that dolt keep telling people he took waltzing lessons? It only made it harder for Felix’s to reject people when asked to dance.

However.

He looked back to Marinette, who held a fresh, bright smile, waiting for his response.

“I bet if Marinette asked you to dance, you would.”

Allegra’s words resurfaced in his mind, unwelcomed. Why did she always have to be right? It only made her more smug as a person.

Nevertheless, Felix took Marinette’s hand. “Alright, but only one dance. I don’t want anyone else thinking I’m open to the idea.”

Marinette chuckled and pulled Felix to his feet. “Of course not. We’ll dance near the darker spots of the room so your face won’t be seen.”

They moved to the dance floor, and Marinette put her hand on his shoulder, while Felix wrapped his arm around her waist. It was a bit awkward pulling each other close, since the only other person he’d been this close to was his mother and father, but once they actually started to dance, his years of practice easily took over. Felix slid into the role of leading, and Marinette followed him willingly as he spun her around the party room, smiling when she laughed during a dip.

Such a fool.. He thought, tugging her back up to him. How anyone could pass up Marinette’s affection was beyond him, but in a way, Felix was delighted that Adrien had. He might not have been able to meet her otherwise.

With the two being so enveloped in each other’s movements, they didn’t notice Allegra, Claude, and Allan watching them from across the room, nor did they catch the smiles and high-fives that the trio shared.

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#felinette #Felix Culpa #Marinette #Miraculous Ladybug #Rosemary AU #New Girl on the Block #quantic kids

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svtwritess · 4 years

Text

Chapter 2

➫ word count: 11.6k (this got away from me to say the least </3) ➫ pairings: wonwoo x female reader, mingyu x female reader ➫ genre: fluff, smut, angst ➫ college!au, vampire!au ➫ warnings: sexual content, alcohol, food

“So are you gonna explain who that guy was?” Wonwoo asked, attempting to seem disinterested as he gripped the steering wheel of the moving truck tightly.

“His name is Mingyu,” you said defensively as you tried to hide your smile, “and he was just helping me move everything inside that’s all.” you shrugged as you looked out of the window.

It hadn’t been long since you parted from Mingyu, but you couldn’t get him out of your head. How did someone so tall, attractive, strong, and seemingly very sweet just… magically appear the exact second that you needed someone who was all of those things?

“Yeah, I’m sure that was it.” Wonwoo scoffed disapprovingly.

You whipped your head around to look at him, a frown evident on your features. He looked over at you and raised his eyebrow before returning his eyes to the road in front of him.

“What? You think he had some sort of ulterior motive?” you questioned, slightly offended.

“Um, yeah. Anyone with a brain would be able to figure that out.” Wonwoo said matter-of-factly, your jaw dropping at his words.

“Wh-“

“Just tell me this,” Wonwoo started again, “Did he or did he not say or do something flirtatious at some point in time?” he asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.

Your instinct was to reply defensively and say no, but you quickly realized that you couldn’t. Very obviously checking you out when he first met you and asking you to promise that he’d see you again doesn’t exactly fall under the category of friendly.

“I- That doesn’t matter.” you said and crossed your arms. Even though he was flirting, it was harmless and there’s no reason for Wonwoo to be so judgmental about it. It was probably because the whole Joshua incident had literally just passed, so him being upset was understandable, but it’s not like Mingyu was feeling you up in front of him or something.

“Of course it doesn’t.” he chuckled lightly, clearly not believing you.

You rolled your eyes. “And you care so much about this why?” you asked, a tinge of annoyance in your voice.

“Cause I don’t trust him.”

‘Whatever,’ you thought, ‘it’s not like anything will come from it anyway’. Knowing your history with any guy that wasn’t Joshua, there was an extremely small chance that your relationship with Mingyu would amount to anything other than an acquaintanceship. You’d only spent around 2 hours with the guy, but even so, it was clear that he’s wildly attractive and that he has an insane effect on you. You hoped you’d see him again, really, you just didn’t know when or how.

Wonwoo pulled into a parking spot at the moving truck company. You unbuckled your seatbelt with a sigh, hopped out of the truck, and went inside.

The bright lights caused you to squint as they were a great contrast to the darkness outside, and the harsh air conditioning caused a shiver to run down your spine. The building was essentially empty except for a few lone employees.

You walked over to the help desk and told them you were returning a truck. You grabbed the key from Wonwoo, signed a form saying you returned the vehicle, and went right back outside to order an Uber home. Your parents offered the two of you one of their cars to take to college, but anywhere that you would need to go on a daily basis was walking distance. The walk could sometimes be further than you’d like depending on where you were going, but not far enough to work up a sweat, so it was something that you and Wonwoo were both thankful for.

You ordered the Uber and told Wonwoo it would arrive in 3 minutes. He just nodded and leaned against the concrete wall of the building.

“What’s your schedule like for this semester?” you asked, kicking around a small rock that was on the ground.

“Two classes on Monday and two on Tuesday, you?” he asked, arms crossed and giving you a curious stare.

“That seems like a lot,” you told him, but he just shrugged. “I have one in the morning everyday except Friday.”

“Eh, I’d rather just get them over with,” he reasoned, “Is your Monday morning class the one about Shakespeare too?” he asked and you nodded. You were going into creative writing and he was going into literature, so a few of your classes were the same.

“How did we not plan that?” you laughed, and he shrugged with a chuckle, not knowing the answer to your question either.

The Uber pulled up in front of you and you both climbed inside. You checked to make sure the driver was the same as the person on the app and after confirming that it was, you sat back in your seat and anticipated getting back to your apartment so you could finally sleep.

It was finally the first day of classes and you were the utmost excited. With a content smile on your face, you put the last of your necessities in your bag and threw it over your shoulder. After looking in the mirror and running a brush through your hair one last time, you headed into your living room.

Wonwoo was slumped down on the couch with his phone in his hand. He had a small pout on his face and looked more tired than you would have expected him to.

“Good morning!” you said happily, sitting down next to him.

He chuckled at your perkiness. “Well good morning. Why are you so excited?” he locked his phone and put it on his lap, looking up at you.

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “it’s the first day of classes, isn’t that always kind of exciting?” you asked curiously.

“Eh,” he said as he sat up straight, “it’s just school.”

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. He was right, it was just more school, but you were in college now, and everything was different, at least in your eyes.

“Well, would getting breakfast before class make it any better?” you inquired, and his face immediately perked up at your words. He nodded his head avidly and you smiled at his enthusiasm. “Okay, but we have to go now.”

Wonwoo stood up immediately and grabbed his grey bag that was sitting on the kitchen counter. He opened your front door and used his arm to motion outside.

“Then let’s go now!” he said, a new found energy in his voice. You laughed and stood up, exiting your new apartment with your best friend in tow. You took the key out of your bag, locking the door and setting off toward your breakfast destination.

You knew there was a coffee shop right by the campus as you had seen in when you toured the college almost a year ago, so you decided to go there. You and Wonwoo made small talk as you walked, Wonwoo still seeming too lethargic to discuss anything more than the basics.

You arrived at the small shop, the air conditioning cool and the walls a calming blue color. There were a few other people your age scattered around the cafe, presumably other students. They all seemed happy, which was a good sign from a place that served food.

You and Wonwoo approached the counter and a girl with a half up-half down hairstyle with a black apron on walked up to the counter to serve you.

“Hi guys! What can I get for you?” she asked, her voice cheerful and her smile almost overwhelmingly large. Wonwoo got a coffee and a muffin and the girl punched in his order as she spoke.

“O-okay,” she blushed, “anything else?”

You placed your order, which was very similar to Wonwoo’s, and pulled your card out to pay. However, you realized that she hadn’t punched anything into the cash register the entire time you were talking. She was staring off into space, or rather, staring way too intently at Wonwoo. You moved forward a little to try and catch her attention, and she was shaken out of her thoughts.

“Sorry, uh, what was that?” she asked, her blush worse than before. You repeated your order, admittedly a bit irritated, and moved to pay again. As you went to insert your card into the machine in front of you, Wonwoo stopped you.

“Here,” he said, reaching forward and inserting his card instead, “I got it.”

He paid for your order and the girl handed you a number card to put on your table, shyly telling you that your order would be right out. You walked over to a small table in the corner of the shop and sat down, placing the number card at the edge of the table.

“So she was obviously into you.” you stated, rather annoyed, and Wonwoo chuckled.

“Was she? I didn’t notice.” he smirked, “Why do you sound so bothered, huh? Got something you wanna confess?” he joked. You laughed loudly.

“Please,” you scoffed, “no. She just didn’t need to be so obvious about checking you out, that’s all.”

The same girl that took your order came over to your table with a tray in her hand. She set your coffees and muffins down on the table before standing there for a moment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Thank you.” you said as nicely as possibly, attempting to make it obvious that she no longer needed to be standing there.

“Oh,” she said, clearly surprised, “yeah, sorry. Just let me know if you need anything.” she gave Wonwoo one last look before heading back to her position at the front counter.

“Well?” you asked Wonwoo, causing him to raise an eyebrow at you. “Do you need anything?”

He chuckled at your bitterness. “Yeah, I need to eat.” he picked up his muffin and took a large bite. You, too, were feeling rather famished, so you began working on yours as well. You ate and drank in silence, hunger consuming the both of you. You also wanted to leave as soon as possible so that you weren’t late for your first class.

You watched as Wonwoo chugged the last of his coffee and set the cup down on the table.

“Ready?” he asked, but all you could do was stare, as you had muffin threatening to fall out of your mouth. With ¾ of your coffee left and half a muffin in your hand, you shrugged and nodded. You could eat on the way and you’d hoped you’d be able to finish your beverage in class. You stood up from the table and pushed the chair in, making your way out the door.

Wonwoo pulled out his class schedule and found the class you were headed to.

“A-203,” he said under his breath, you assumed he was saying the building and room number.

You walked for a few more minutes, and soon your school’s campus came into view. It was the first time you were seeing the place in a few months and you could feel your heartbeat increase. You weren’t sure if it was because of excitement or pure anxiety, but either way, you were hoping for a good first day.

You approached the large sign with your school’s name on it as you took the last bite of your muffin, throwing the wrapper in a trash can that you happened to walk by. You took another sip of your coffee as Wonwoo spotted the building your class was located in and pointed in that direction. You checked the time on your phone as you walked and thankfully you still had 10 minutes to spare.

You approached the building and went inside. For some reason it was extremely cold, so you held onto your coffee hoping it would bring you some form of warmth. You climbed the stairs slowly, the feeling of the muffin that hadn’t yet digested weighing you down.

When you reached the top of the stairs and began walking down the hallway, Wonwoo read the room numbers out loud. But of course, the very first room was number 219, which meant that your classroom was at the very end of the hall.

You walked and walked until finally a sign with a big “203” on it was right in front of you. You entered the classroom, and wow was it big. Much larger than any high school classroom you’d ever been in. There were at least 10 rows of seats and the further back they went the higher up they were elevated. It all felt very… classy.

You and Wonwoo picked seats in one of the middle rows and sat on the very end. Wonwoo always liked being close to the door for some reason.

“Think the professor will be on time?” he asked, but you shook your head.

“Probably not.” you replied as you took your things out of your bags. You both pulled out your laptops, yours in a rather busy plastic case with stickers in some places and his completely bare, looking as if it had just come out of the box. Even when it came to your possessions, it was clear who the more organized friend was.

You checked your phone and there was now 1 minute until class was set to start, yet still no sign of your professor. Though as if the universe could read your mind, the door burst open and a middle-aged woman with grey hair entered the room. Her clothes screamed 70’s hippy movement and her glasses were about as thick as a bulletproof window, but she was pretty. She was slender and on the taller side, she definitely fit the stereotype of a professor who teaches Shakespeare.

“Hello all!” she said in a perky voice. “Now today we’re gonna be jumping right into the material, we’ve got a lot to cover. So take out whatever you’re using to take notes and let’s get started!”

You opened a fresh page, set the font and size to your preference and began typing. She started with Romeo and Juliet, which makes sense as it’s arguably Shakespeare’s most famous work.

As she rambled you typed, trying to digest the surprisingly interesting information she was relaying to you. Wonwoo looked just as immersed in his notes as you did, which is probably why he didn’t notice the girl further down the row staring at him. She was leaning forward to look past you with a dazed look in her eyes. Did he give out love potions to random girls at some point and not tell you about it?

You rolled your eyes, not wanting to think about how many more girls would fawn over your best friend this semester, and continued typing.

The 2-hour lecture went by fast, as your professor had a way with words and knew how to make even the most boring of facts interesting. You felt lucky for that, as you knew how much a bad teacher could affect a learning experience.

“Did you like it?” you asked Wonwoo as you put your laptop back in your bag.

“Yeah, I did actually. She’s a good teacher.” you nodded in agreement as you stood up, Wonwoo soon following suit. The girl down the row from you who was gawking at your apparently extremely attractive best friend walked past the two of you, giving Wonwoo an unmistakably flirtatious look before she exited the classroom.

“That’s the second one today.” you observed as you made your way toward the door.

“Oh you act like you don’t give guys looks like that when you’re into them.” he teased, but you shook your head.

“Maybe at a party or something where a look like that is appropriate, but not in broad daylight!” you stated as you descended the stairs together. “Girls didn’t look at you like that in high school, what’s different?”

“I don’t have Joshua next to me all the time.” he said in a low voice and shrugged. Sadly, you knew he was right. Joshua always got way more attention than Wonwoo in high school for some reason, even before his gigantic growth spurt. You felt your heart pang as you realized sleeping with Joshua probably didn’t make Wonwoo feel any better about himself at that time, but sadly, there wasn’t anything you could do about it now.

“Well then I would say it’s time to get some, wouldn’t you?” you suggested as you stood in the lobby of the first floor.

Wonwoo just laughed. “Yeah, sure…” he trailed off, itching the back of his neck. “My next class is just down the hall, see you when I get home?”

You nodded and wished him luck before heading back to your lovely, yet average, college apartment.

When you were walking home earlier, you saw a grocery store on your path and thought ‘why not?’

You went inside and grabbed the ingredients to make your favorite kind of pasta, as sort of a celebration that you and Wonwoo had successfully completed your first day of college.

The ingredients were cheaper than you thought they’d be, and on an even brighter note, the guy at the register was cute. He was tall and slender with fluffy hair and a cute little beauty mark by his lip, though the way you felt when he looked at you was nowhere near as intense as when Mingyu did. Even though you’d only met him once, any time you saw a guy you thought was even remotely cute, you started comparing them to him. For some reason, your heart seemed to be dead set in seeing him again.

When you got home, you took some time to get changed and relax. You threw on one of your favorite oversized t-shirts and a pair of shorts and realized that you were happy to feel so comfortable in your new home so soon.

You started cooking the pasta so that it would be done at roughly the same time Wonwoo was supposed to be home. You must have timed it perfectly, because low and behold, Wonwoo came through the door just as you were pouring the sauce over the noodles.

“Hey! How was your second class?” you asked excitedly.

“Not nearly as good as the first one,” he said, clearly exasperated as he fell back onto the couch, “and what’s that smell?”

“I maaaaay have made first day of class pasta.” you told him as you grabbed the only two bowls you had bought so far and a pair of tongs, using them to dish both you and Wonwoo some noodles. You got some utensils from out of one of the drawers and placed them in the bowls before walking over to Wonwoo and handing him one. As you sat down next to him, he immediately started eating.

“Wah,” he groaned, “this is amazing!” it was hard to understand him with his mouth full, but you appreciated the compliment nonetheless. “Thanks y/n.” he said sincerely.

Happily you nodded, a content smile on your face. “You’re welcome,” you replied as you began eating as well, the savory flavor meeting your tongue. Wonwoo was right, it was pretty amazing.

“Oh guess what! That girl from the cafe this morning? She was in my other class.” he said, slightly mumbling due to the overflow of pasta in his mouth.

You just sat there, looking at him blankly. “Really?”

“Yeah,” you could hear that he was smiling, “We sat next to each other. I, uh… got her number.”

Noodles almost fell out of your mouth when he said that.

“You did? Like you initiated the asking of the phone number?” you asked, extremely surprised.

“Yeah!” he laughed, “Why do you sound so shocked?”

“Because it usually takes a girl making it extremely obvious that she likes you over a long period of time for you to do anything about it.” you stated as if it was obvious.

“Well I was feeling confident today, sue me.” he shrugged, continuing to eat. You said nothing else and focused on your noodles. You weren’t sure if it was because you weren’t used to Wonwoo getting female attention or because you didn’t want anyone stealing any of your time with your best friend, but you didn’t like it. Though of course you weren’t going to tell him that, you knew that he deserved it. “Anyway, how were your 2 hours without me?”

You were just going to tell him that you only took a nap and made the food, but then you remembered something.

“I saw a cute guy at the store today. He was the cashier. Tall, nice hair.”

“Did you flirt with him?” he asked nonchalantly.

“No, just admired.”

“Ah, so he wasn’t as cute as Mingyu?” he teased and you whipped your head in his direction.

“What makes you think that?” you asked defensively and he laughed at your new disposition.

“Cause it seemed like you were pretty eager to flirt with him.” you glared at your best friend for a moment, but decided to do nothing but roll your eyes.

You quickly finished the rest of your pasta, anger slowly rising up in you. You didn’t tease him about the cafe girl, so why did he feel the need to tease you about Mingyu? Admittedly, it had been very easy for your mind to wander to thoughts of the tall and handsome stranger that you’d sadly only crossed paths with once, and you didn’t like the feeling of vulnerability very much at all. As much as you wanted to see him again, you were scared that the more you spent time with him, the weaker for him you’d become. It was cheesy, that you knew, but even after spending time with him on just a singular occasion, you were already smitten, and along with that, desperate to see him again.

You woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly well rested. You had gone to bed relatively early, mostly because Wonwoo went to take a nap at around 7pm and never woke up. When you checked your phone, it was already 9:00, so you only had half an hour to get ready and head out the door, as your class started at 9:45 and the walk took about 10 minutes.

You rolled out of bed and started getting ready for the day. After brushing your hair and teeth, applying some deodorant, and washing your face, you walked over to your closet and opened the door.

You stood there, arms crossed and foot tapping against the carpeted floor of your bedroom. You were in a good mood and you wanted to show it, but the question was, how would you do so? You looked through everything on hangers and everything in drawers, and after way too long of a time, you finally decided on an outfit.

You pulled a yellow dress with small flowers on it off of its hanger and grabbed a pair of white sneakers to match. It was a bit dressier than you were used to, but it called out to you for some reason. You put the dress on along with some socks and your shoes before grabbing your bag and exiting your room.

Wonwoo was sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal in his hands, his pajamas still on and his hair still messy from his slumber.

“Don’t you have class this morning too?” you asked suspiciously as you grabbed a cup from one of your cabinets, as well as the juice from the refrigerator, and poured yourself a drink.

“Yeah, not until 12 though. Then right after that one ends I have another one.” he said. You could practically hear the future exhaustion in his voice.

“That’s what you get for taking two classes in a row.” you shrugged. “When will you be home?”

“Probably around 3, you?”

“Right after class, so I guess around noon.” you told him and he simply nodded, his eyes drooping slightly. “You should try and get some more sleep before class, okay?”

You ruffled his hair with one hand and chugged the rest of your juice with the other, your gesture causing him to smile sweetly. After setting your empty glass in the sink, you headed out the door.

The sun was shining and the breeze was the perfect speed. Your hair was blowing in the wind, but it was in the luxurious movie type way, not the messy way, so you were okay with it.

Your English class this morning was in the same building as your class yesterday, but luckily it was downstairs. Sadly, downstairs was just as cold as upstairs and you had completely forgotten to bring a sweater. You sighed at your mistake, knowing the cold wouldn’t be easy to endure, as you approached your classroom and opened the door. Your jaw nearly dropped when you saw the size of it as it was about twice as big as the classroom you were in yesterday.

You wandered in, wide eyed and curious. As you scanned the room, you recognized a tall, tan, and perfectly built male figure. When he turned around, your heart dropped.

Mingyu.

As you were completely awestruck by Mingyu’s presence, you were totally unaware of the fact that he had seen you as well and was heading right toward you.

“Y/n!” he said happily, snapping you out of your daze.

“M-Mingyu! Hi...” you blushed, trying hard to maintain eye contact. His intimidating stare made you want to cower in fear and look away, but you didn’t want to appear as affected as you actually were.

“I see you decided to keep your promise.” he smirked and you let out a light, mostly nervous laugh.

“Yeah,” you quickly debated what to say next, “I guess you could say I was eager to see you again.” you genuinely couldn’t believe that you got the words out without stuttering, but that being said, you were very proud of yourself.

He crossed his arms and licked his lips, a smug, confident look plastered on his face. “Well in that case,” he stepped closer, “would you sit with me?”

You didn’t trust your voice any longer, so you nodded, probably a little too excitedly. He cocked his head as to say “follow me” and began walking up the stairs with you following closely behind.

He brought you to the 3rd row from the back, away from everyone else. It definitely confused you, but in an intriguing sort of way. When he sat down, you realized he didn’t have anything with him. No bag, no notebook. It seemed like he just had the clothes on his back.

“Where’s your stuff?” you questioned, sitting down next to him, the material of the chair feeling cool against your thighs, causing a shiver to run down your spine.

“Eh, don’t need any.” he said casually as he leaned back in his chair, his glorious thighs on display. You swallowed anxiously and tried not to stare at them.

“Why not?” you took out your laptop and turned it on, trying not to worry about Mingyu seeing and potentially judging the stickers you had put on it.

“I have a good memory.” he shrugged. You didn’t believe it was possible that someone could pass a class without taking notes, but maybe he only brought nothing because it was the first day of class and there probably wouldn’t be much work to do anyway.

Your professor walked in a few minutes after class was scheduled to start, but considering you made small talk with Mingyu while waiting for him, you didn’t mind. He was a short man with thick black hair and round glasses. A curious character, but he seemed interesting.

He ran through the syllabus rather quickly and jumped right into the material, which Mingyu did not seem to be happy about. He kept raising his hand and asking questions in an attempt to stall, but the professor seemed to know the game Mingyu was trying to play and was not having it, so he answered all of his questions with a mere sentence and moved on.

Mingyu was clearly confident, and was probably pretty popular as well. With those things considered, why was he opting to sit with you? He was talking to people when you came in and had apparently just abandoned them for you. You blushed at the thought of him prioritizing you over his friends, but you also felt a pang of guilt. It was only his second time meeting you so… maybe he was just as enchanted by you as you were by him?

Throughout class, you found yourself fascinated by every point your professor made. His perspective on literature was one you had never heard before and you were the utmost intrigued, attempting to type every word that came out of his mouth.

Sometimes, Mingyu would lean forward and ask you a question or make a clever remark, but even you were surprised at how you brushed him off. As much as you enjoyed listening to Mingyu’s voice, you were surprisingly enjoying the content of the lesson just as much. He seemed to notice your intense focus after a few of his comments and decided to lay off. He simply admired the way you would unconsciously nod along with the professor’s words with a smile on his face instead.

Your two-hour lecture was over far sooner than you would have liked, but you knew anything longer than 2 hours would probably kill most other students. You sighed contently and turned off your laptop before putting it back into your bag and facing Mingyu.

“So,” you smirked, “how much of the lesson do you remember?” you leaned on the edge of your desk and looked into his eyes.

He chuckled and leaned forward, lacing his fingers together on top of his desk. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would, that’s why I asked.” you said smugly.

“Well it usually takes a little while for the information to sink in,” he said and all you could do was roll your eyes.

“I’m sure it does.” you said sarcastically and stood up, throwing your bag over your shoulder. Mingyu got up as well and walked over to stand right in front of you.

“I’ll even prove it to you, go to a party with me this weekend.” he proposed, catching you completely off guard.

“A-a party? What does that have to do with English?” you weren’t exactly sure why you were questioning him, but you decided to blame it on your nerves.

“Well we’ll be speaking won’t we?” he smiled as he stepped a little closer. You nodded and looked up into his eyes, which was a huge mistake. They were perfectly shaped and incredibly inviting, so it was definitely not going to be easy to say no. “Come? Please?” he asked quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Okay.” you said. You sounded more anxious than anything, but inside you were screaming like a little kid.

“Good,” he laughed, “I’ll text you the address later.” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and opened the contacts app before handing it to you. Your hands shook slightly as you put in your number and handed the phone back to him.

“Can I walk you home?” he asked in a gentlemanly fashion, and again you nodded before you exited the classroom together.

Mingyu offered to carry your bag for you, but you insisted that you could handle it yourself. You made small talk once more as you walked, simply enjoying his company. That being said, you were rather upset when you reached your front door.

“Thanks for walking me home.” you said, taking your key out of your bag.

“Don’t mention it,” he said sweetly.

You opened the door to an empty apartment, and that was when you remembered Wonwoo was still in class.

“Do you, uh… wanna come in?” you asked boldly, Mingyu simply smiling and nodding in response. You loved how much he smiled.

“Your friend isn’t here is he?” he inquired, almost sounding nervous as he entered your apartment.

“No,” you chuckled as you shut the door behind the pair of you. “Why, are you scared or something?” you teased, but he merely scoffed and sat down on your couch.

“Of course not. We just didn’t hit it off very well last time.” he stated, eyes on the ground in front of him. It definitely seemed like Wonwoo wasn’t fond of your new, handsome acquaintance, but it wasn’t your place to speak for him, so you decided to change the subject.

“Are you hungry?” you walked into your kitchen, “I can make you something.” you suggested.

“Hmm…” he pondered, “Whatcha got?”

You looked in your refrigerator and in all of your cabinets and could only find one thing that was even remotely suitable for a proper meal.

“Uhh, ramen?”

Mingyu looked at you for a moment before laughing and standing up. As he walked toward you, you wondered if you had somehow offended him by your offer.

“If anyone here is making ramen,” he placed his hands on your shoulders, “it’s me.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at his comment as he walked past you, searching high and low for the proper size pot. Once he found it in one of your lower cabinets, he filled it with water and turned an eye of the stove on high before gently placing the pot on top of it. He then opened the cabinet in front of him, took out two packs of ramen, and put them next to the stove. He turned around and leaned against the counter next to the oven. “I’m kind of great at cooking. No big deal though.” he shrugged. You couldn’t help but laugh at his borderline cockiness.

“I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” you said in a sly voice as you stood directly in front of him. Your kitchen was on the small side and with Mingyu being as tall and broad as he was, you felt like the two of you were closer than you ever had been.

Admiration swarmed his brown orbs as he looked down at you. They were dangerously inviting. Subconsciously, you moved closer and closer to each other, until…

The water started boiling over the pot and spilling onto the stovetop.

Mingyu heard it and immediately turned around, moving the pot off of the eye and turning the temperature down a few notches. Once the water had settled, he returned the pot to the eye that it was cooking on.

“Guess that means it’s ready,” he mumbled before opening both packages of ramen and putting both blocks into the pot. “Sorry…” he said almost inaudibly. You didn’t know if he was talking about the ramen or the two of you almost kissing, but you decided you didn’t really want to find out and changed the subject.

“So where did you learn how to make such amazing ramen?” you attempted to tease, though you were still on edge.

“Well…”

Mingyu then proceeded to tell you (more like brag) about how he’d always had a knack for cooking, along with the fact that his taste buds were, in a word, immaculate. You simply nodded along and let him talk, finding joy in how passionate he seemed to be about culinary arts. It’s hard to think of merely making ramen as any type of art, but he had convinced you that he had mastered the art of making all types of dishes. You told him you’d believe it when you saw it as he added the flavor packets into the ramen and split the noodles into two bowls. He handed one to you and you thanked him before grabbing two pairs of chopsticks from a drawer and heading over to your couch.

You sat down next to each other and ate in a comfortable silence. You didn’t want to tell him and feed his ego, but the ramen he made was easily the best you’d ever had. Once the two of you had finished eating, you leaned back against your couch and looked at each other.

“What do we do now?” Mingyu asked. You couldn’t know for sure, but it seemed like there was an underlying playfulness in his voice, like he was hinting at something. Your mind went back to barely 10 minutes ago, when you could have sworn you were about to kiss, and your cheeks instantly turned a bright red color. You broke eye contact and stared at the ceiling nervously.

“We could, uh… watch a movie I guess? Unless you have somewhere to be...” you played with the hem of your shirt, anxiously awaiting his answer.

“Y/n?” he said sweetly, causing you to return your eyes to his. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be right now.” his body was turned toward you and his head was resting on top of a couch cushion, making his cheek look extra squeezable. You blushed even harder and tried not to smile as widely as you felt you could; how was he so smooth? Usually someone being so blatant about their feelings for you, especially so early on into knowing you, would be a total turn off for you. It was just something about the way Mingyu carried himself that made you swoon so easily. He’s confident without being cocky, knows how to flirt with you in a way that doesn’t make you uncomfortable, and was just extremely enjoyable and easy to be around. You knew someone this great was bound to have some hidden baggage, toxicity, or secret that would eventually come to light, but you tucked that thought into the back of your mind and decided to enjoy the happy times while you still had them.

“Here,” you handed him your TV remote, “pick whatever you want.” you took his bowl and yours and set them on the coffee table in front of you. When you sat up straight again, Mingyu had his arm over the back of the couch He ended up choosing something animated that kind of seemed like it could be a kid’s movie, but it looked entertaining, so you had no complaints.

The plot of the movie actually seemed to be really good, but you were missing some parts of it because you were drifting in and out of sleep the entire time. It was probably because Mingyu was so warm and comfortable along with the fact that actively listening and taking diligent notes in class wore you out, despite getting a good night’s sleep.

By the end of the movie, you had fallen asleep against his shoulder. He was unsure of what to do as you looked so peaceful. He decided he would take a few moments to admire you before waking you up as gently as possible.

He took the time to really look at your features, almost studying you. He noticed the way your top lip curved, the height of your cheekbones, the complexion of your skin. In all his years of living, even after having known thousands of women, you were easily one of the most beautiful. You also intrigued him, and though it was only his second time meeting you, he’d been alive long enough to know when someone was worth his time.

“Y/n,” he whispered, shaking your body slightly.

You awoke in a startle, immediately sitting up and trying to remember what was happening when you fell asleep.

“Oh god,” you put your face in your hands in embarrassment, “I’m sorry.” you told him when you remembered that you completely knocked out during what was supposed to be ~quality time~.

“It’s fine, really. I should probably go anyway.” he said. You felt bad, as you didn’t want him to feel like he was boring or easy to fall asleep around, but when you checked the time, you saw that Wonwoo would be coming home soon. You really didn’t feel like trying to endure or get rid of that level of tension, especially in your tired state.

“Yeah, my roommate will be home soon…” you didn’t want to finish your sentence in fear of sounding rude, but Mingyu understood exactly what you meant.

“He doesn’t exactly like me, does he?” he chuckled as he stood up, offering his hand to you. You smiled and took it, getting up from the couch.

“You’re just… new. He doesn’t really do well with new.” you shrugged as you walked him over to the door. “Sorry again for falling asleep, I promise it had nothing to do with you.” you reassured him.

“Don’t worry about it. I had a really nice time.” he told you and you smiled up at him.

“Me too.”

“See you this weekend?” he asked hopefully as he reached for the door handle.

“See you this weekend.”

“A party? No.” Wonwoo said, immediately shutting down your idea. You had invited him to attend this weekend’s party with you, but it was a shot in the dark in the first place.

“Come on!” you whined, sitting down next to him on his bed. “I don’t usually like going to them either, but this one could be fun…” you tried to reason with him.

“Yeah? Why is that?” he paused the video game he was playing and looked over at you. You looked down at his comforter, twiddling your fingers in fear of his response.

“Because Mingyu invited me.” you said in the quietest voice possible.

“Mingyu? Seriously?” he said defensively, a rather disgusted look on his face. You simply nodded, then proceeded to give him the purest puppy dog eye look known to man. He let out a long sigh. “You’re gonna go whether I’m with you or not aren’t you?” you nodded again, smiling innocently at him, despite the not-so-innocent situation. Another sigh left his lips, this one more exasperated than the first. “Fine, I’ll go. But only because I don’t trust him.” he pointed his finger at you and resumed his game, which told you the conversation was over.

“Thank youuuu!” you said, very content with how surprisingly easy it was to get him to agree. You didn’t particularly like making him do something he didn’t want to do, but you also knew he’d drive himself crazy sitting at home wondering what you could be doing or why you weren’t answering your phone. You were also hoping he would make a friend that wasn’t coffee shop girl. Preferably someone who wasn’t interested in him sexually or romantically.

It was around 10 o’clock now, you had already showered and were in your pajamas, so you felt like there was nothing keeping you from going to bed. You shouted a “goodnight” to Wonwoo and headed into your room.

You fell onto your bed with an ‘oof’ before rolling over to where your nightstand was. You turned off your lamp, grabbed your phone, and rolled over to your other side. As soon as you began scrolling through one of your SNS accounts, you got a phone call.

From Mingyu.

Assuming that him calling meant that something was extremely wrong, you answered with no hesitation.

“Hello?” you said, worry evident in your voice.

“Hey y/n, you okay?” he asked you, sounding way more calm than you expected him to.

“Yeah, are you okay?” you were now sitting up on your elbow in utter confusion in terms of his reason for calling.

“Yeah. I just, uh, wanted to talk… is that weird?” he half-laughed at the end. You bit your lip in excitement.

“No, not really. I guess I’m just surprised.” you said, feeling at peace enough to lay back down.

“And why is that?” he questioned smugly.

“Well for one, no one really calls anymore.” you teased, even though you were more than okay with talking to him, despite the fact that you’d seen him earlier today.

“Let’s just say I’m old fashioned.” he reasoned.

“Alright, I’m okay with that.” you replied, smiling for a reason you couldn’t seem to point out. He’s really just that charming.

“Good. Soooo what’s your favorite color?”

During your 2-hour phone call, Mingyu asked you all types of get-to-know questions. He wanted to know your favorite animal, subject, food, favorite place to be, along with things like places you wanted to travel, where you wanted to settle down and live someday, and even if you wanted kids. You would ask him the same questions in return, and you both insisted that you explained your answers. Though the questions were pretty surface level, you felt like you knew a lot more about Mingyu and felt a lot closer to him.

Every night leading up to Saturday was filled with Mingyu’s phone calls as well. Only with each passing night, the questions became more revealing. Sometimes they’d be ethical, political, or even questions about your previous relationships. You only really had Joshua to tell about, and Mingyu didn’t seem to have much to tell about either, though it kind of felt like he was holding back when it came to the romance topic. Even though you were curious, you didn’t push it.

You were nervous to see Mingyu after getting to know him almost entirely over the phone, but at the same time, your heart skipped beats at the thought of being with him again.

You woke up on Saturday morning, anxiety along with pure adrenaline coursing through your veins as you thought about what would happen later that day. You knew you would be seeing Mingyu and you knew it would be at a party, so alcohol could easily be involved, and you were nearly jumping out of your skin thinking about what else could potentially happen. You weren’t necessarily expecting anything wild or super memorable to happen, but you definitely felt like there was a possibility for it. You got out of bed begrudgingly, knowing that your mind would be filled with nothing but thoughts of seeing Mingyu for the entire day.

When you stumbled into the living room, you found Wonwoo asleep on the couch. You let out a quiet laugh and rolled your eyes. You didn’t even want to know how he went from sleeping in his bed to sleeping on the couch, but you tried to be as quiet as possible nonetheless.

You got a pan from the cabinet and a carton of eggs from your sad, nearly empty refrigerator. Upon putting the pan on the stovetop and turning it on, you heard your best friend stirring on the couch. You turned to look at him and he was sitting up, his face confused and his hair a mess.

“Well good morning, did you sleep walk out here?” you asked as he stood up slowly made his way toward you.

“You know, it’s very possible, but I have no idea.” he replied, causing you to chuckle. He sat on the counter next to the stove and noticed that you were making breakfast. “Make me some?” you simply nodded in response and cracked four eggs into the pan, scrambling them as they cooked. Wonwoo made himself useful and grabbed two plates from the cabinet behind his head and placed them next to him by the stove. Once the eggs were done, you separated them onto the two plates evenly, turned off the stovetop, and walked over to your couch, breakfast and utensils in hand.

“Don’t you think we should get a table at some point?” Wonwoo asked as the two of you sat down.

“I mean technically we have a table,” you said as you motioned to the small, low-rising coffee table in front of you. “Is our twenty dollar, secondhand, barely holding itself together coffee table not good enough for you? Has college changed you?” you teased as you started eating.

“No, I just feel like most grown ups have a table you can actually dine at.” he shrugged. You gave him a weird look, as you didn’t really know why it mattered to him so much, and continued with your eggs.

“Are you excited for the party tonight?” you asked after a few minutes of egg-eating filled silence. You knew the answer was most likely no, but you were mostly asking because you weren’t sure if he even remembered that he agreed to go.

“Ugh,” he groaned, “that’s tonight?” he looked at you in distaste. You replied with a simple nod and he threw his head back in defeat. “Why did I agree to go again?”

“Because you loooove me.” you said playfully, smiling as you took the last bite of your breakfast. You watched your best friend turn beet red and avoid your eyes before you stood up and walked over to the sink, putting your plate inside of it.

You then went into your room to grab your phone. When you picked it up, you felt your heart flutter at one of the notifications.

Mingyu had texted you.

You ignored everything else on the screen and opened his message.

From: Mingyu

“phi kappa alpha house

10pm

don’t be late ;)”

For mystery purposes, you decided not to respond, but you clutched your phone in extreme excitement, a smile on your face. The party was still half a day away and you honestly had no idea how you were going to pass the time. You thought about going shopping, but now that you were an unemployed, full-time college student you were officially saving any money you could get your hands on. Though thankfully, you lived with your best friend, and hanging out with him would surely help the time go quickly. After all, time flies when you’re having fun!

You exited your room and sat back down next to Wonwoo on the couch.

“What should we do today?” you asked him. He merely shrugged, his eyes locked on his phone. “We could watch movies, or a TV show, or we could play video games…” you rambled, Wonwoo’s head suddenly whipping in your direction.

“You wanna play a video game?” surprise was evident in his voice, but you just shrugged.

“I honestly have nothing better to do.”

Wonwoo was not about to pass up the opportunity to play video games with you. It was one of his favorite activities and something that you basically never showed interest in, so with that being said, the two of you went into his room and played virtually every game Wonwoo owned. You ended up liking League of Legends a lot more than you were expecting to, which made your best friend extraordinarily happy.

You spent the most time playing that one, Wonwoo refusing to admit that he let you win a couple of times. Around 2pm your stomach started growling, so Wonwoo basically forced you to stop playing and eat something. You didn’t want to, but you knew he was in the right for making sure you ate.

After that, you played for about one more hour before you got bored. However, you were comfortably situated in Wonwoo’s bed and did not by any means feel like moving, so Wonwoo simply put on a movie for the two of you to watch. And then another one. And then you watched a few episodes of a TV show until finally, the moment had arrived. It was time to get ready.

You excitedly jumped out of Wonwoo’s bed and ran into your room, shouting at him to get ready as well before closing your door.

You picked up your phone and shuffled your playlist, wanting to add to the anticipation with some music. After that, you opened your closet and stood in front of it. You looked through all of your drawers, but found nothing even remotely appropriate for a party. You then looked through all of the clothes that you kept on hangers, and right when you were about to give up hope, you saw it. The little black dress.

You had bought it in high school, specifically for partying purposes, but you hadn’t gotten much use out of it since you purchased it. You only really went to parties when it was a friend’s birthday or graduation party, so needless to say it had likely been worn less than 10 times. You felt like it was an extremely cliché outfit to wear, but it was the most fitting outfit for the event you were about to attend.

You took it out of the deepest part of your closet and gave it a look of distaste. It wasn’t ugly, it was just not the way you were used to dressing. You figured you could have dressed like normal, but you didn’t want to stand out in an underwhelming sort of way, so you decided that since it was your first college party, you would dress the part.

You changed into the small, black article of clothing and immediately felt uncomfortable. Luckily, you had a little under an hour to get used to it before you had to leave.

You grabbed your makeup bag off of your dresser and laid everything you needed out in front of you. A full face of makeup was another thing you didn’t wear very often, but you had to admit that you really enjoyed doing it. Seeing the finished product also gave you a decently sized boost of confidence most of the time.

You took more time than usual, as you actually had a decent amount of time to do it, and you wanted it to look as good as possible. As for your hair, you figured you’d just run a straightener through it a few times right before you left and hope for the best.

As you got ready, you wondered why Mingyu hadn’t reached out to you at all today except for when he told you the information about the party. On one hand, you didn’t respond, so maybe he took that as you not wanting to talk? Which wasn’t by any means true, you weren’t really sure why you didn’t respond, you just knew that no matter the reason, the suspense you were feeling would make seeing Mingyu again much more exciting.

You applied your foundation diligently and followed up with some bronzer, blush, and highlighter before finishing off with some eyeshadow and mascara. It was a pretty basic look, but still more intense than normal. You grabbed your hair straightener from the bathroom and plugged it in by your mirror, slipping your socks and shoes on while you waited for it to heat up. While you were willing to sacrifice your normal clothing, you weren’t so keen on replacing your usual tennis shoes with heels, so you paired your dress with a pair of Converse instead.

You quickly checked the time on your phone and it read 9:58, which meant you’d be a little late, but you were hoping it seemed more fashionable than forgetful. You straightened your hair as quickly as possible and looked in the mirror one last time. “Wow,” you thought, “you did good y/n.” Giving yourself a mental pat on the back, you unplugged your straightener, grabbed your phone, and exited your room.

Wonwoo was standing in the kitchen with his back to you. Though you couldn’t see his face, you could tell he looked good. Like good good. He had chosen a pair of black skinny jeans and a white t-shirt that fit him perfectly. Okay it was a super basic outfit, but the way he made it look so good, and from the back of all angles, was the impressive part.

“You ready?” you asked, grabbing your house key off of the coffee table.

“I’ve been ready for like 40 minutes.” he laughed under his breath as he turned around to face you. When his eyes landed on you, they widened to twice their size. “Woah…” he walked toward you. “What is this?!” he exclaimed, using his hand to motion the length of your body.

“Uh, party clothes?”

He looked at you and you couldn’t tell if he was impressed or judging you. You gave him a look that said something along the lines of “stop looking at me like that” and eventually, he shook himself out of it.

“Do I look bad or something?” you asked, a hint of anxiety in your voice as you handed him the key and headed toward the door. He shook his head no as he opened the door, motioning for you to exit first.

“No,” he said as he closed the door behind you, “it’s just… weird.”

He locked the door and began leading the way, considering he knew where the frat house was for some reason.

“So it’s weird when I look good now? Thanks, rock bottom feels great.” you joked as you walked, arms crossed partially because you were cold and partially because you were feeling self-conscious now that you’d left the house.

“Shut up, you always look good. You just look different.” he said sternly, tucking the key into his pocket. You felt yourself starting to blush, but you knew he meant it platonically. He didn’t like it when you talked down on yourself. You didn’t like it when he spoke poorly of himself either, but luckily he did it way less often than you. Wonwoo was confident, but he was also very humble, and you thought that was a huge part of his appeal.

You walked in silence, taking in the nighttime sights of your university town. It was quite pretty, but you often didn’t notice as you were rushing to class or scrolling through your phone most of the time. It was a smaller town, but you preferred it that way anyway.

After about 10 minutes or so, you approached a house with very few lights on that had music blasting through the walls. It had some discarded red cups and a sign with Greek letters in the front lawn, and though you couldn’t read them, it was safe to assume that this was the house you were supposed to be at.

As you and Wonwoo approached the house, you noticed that there was a gaggle of people on the front porch. When you got up to the door, Wonwoo stopped to say hi to one of them. He was on the shorter side with high cheekbones and a cute smile. Before Wonwoo could introduce you, he spoke up.

“Who’s this?” he asked, motioning to you with the hand that had a drink in it.

“I’m y/n,” you replied. Normally when meeting someone Wonwoo knew, you would want him to introduce you, but this guy had an inviting way about him.

“Y/n? That’s pretty, I’m Seungkwan.” he said kindly and you simply nodded in response. “Oh Wonwoo, you know Jina’s here right?” the shorter male said before sending your best friend a knowing smirk.

You furrowed your eyebrows. Jina? You figured that must be coffee shop girl. Gross.

“Oh really? Thanks.” he said, excitement lacking in his voice. He began walking inside, so you followed suit.

“See you later! Nice to meet you y/n!” Seungkwan yelled after you. You waved at him with a smile and entered the large, testosterone-filled house. It was crowded with college students and was way more packed than any party you’d ever been to.

Your anxiety suddenly spiked at the thought of finally seeing Mingyu. The whole frat party scene was one you weren’t used to, so that wasn’t making you feel any better. Your hands started sweating and your heart was beating much faster than normal. You played with your fingers as you scanned the room for Mingyu’s tall figure.

“You okay?” Wonwoo yelled over the music, clearly taking note of your shift in mood. You simply nodded and continued looking for Mingyu, hoping that finally seeing him would relieve most, if not all, of your anxiety. It also could make it worse, you thought, but you decided to wait and see.

“I’m gonna get a drink, do you want anything?”

“No, it’s okay,” you yelled in response, “I think I’m gonna look for Mingyu.”

Though it was clear in his facial expression that he disapproved, he nodded and wandered into the kitchen while you made your way into the sea of college kids.

Since you couldn’t see Mingyu standing up, you assumed he either hadn’t arrived yet or was sitting down somewhere. There was a clump of couches by the stairs, so you decided to check there first. After weaving your way through the maze of sweaty college kids, you finally approached them, and low and behold, Mingyu was sitting on the loveseat against the wall. Though he was surrounded by people, he was only talking to the significantly smaller male that was sitting next to him.

You wormed your way through another mob of people to get near him, and the moment he saw you, he flashed you the prettiest smile you’d ever seen. The butterflies in your stomach swarmed worse than ever before as he stood up to greet you.

“Hi.” he said in a sultry voice, a small smile still present on his face.

“Hi.” you beamed.

“Wanna go somewhere quiet?” he asked as he gently caressed your arm before taking your hand in his. You nodded without a second thought.

He started walking toward the back of the house in which there was a large sliding glass door. When you reached them, he slid one open and stepped outside with you. There were still people out there, but not nearly as many.

He took you over to a large white cooler that was against the wall of the house and opened it. Though you couldn’t really see its contents due to the darkness, you reached in and grabbed 2 of whatever your hand landed on. He had chosen a beer for himself, which didn’t really surprise you.

Finally, he walked you to a wooden staircase that led to the roof of the house. You climbed up behind him and once you reached the top, you were amazed to see that there was no one else up there.

“Do people not know they can come up here or something?” you asked, sitting on the lone wooden bench that was sitting in the middle of the roof.

“I think they do, but most people that go to parties actually want to be surrounded by other people, you know.” he joked as he sat next down next to you. You smiled at his playfulness and looked over at him.

The moonlight accentuated his already perfect features, making your heart skip a beat. He took a sip of his drink and looked over at you, smirking when he realized that you were staring.

“See something you like?” he teased, running his hand through his hair for added dramatic effect.

“Yeah,” you admitted shamelessly, “I do.”

You didn’t try to hide your face, shy away, or even blush. The night was making you feel bold, though you weren’t exactly sure why. Your relationship with Mingyu already felt so easy, you were extremely comfortable with him. After all, you’d basically told him everything about your life up until this point, and his responses to your experiences were wise beyond his years. Whenever you’d thought you’d done something bad or wrong, Mingyu always came up with a reason as to why what you did made sense. The way he never once judged you for anything you told him, even when it came to your more shameful moments, made you feel like you could trust him. He made you feel safe.

The more you thought about it, the more you realized you didn’t want to let yourself think too much. Though you were already saying things that were out of the ordinary for you, you didn’t want to let your thoughts leave your head, at least not right now. That being decided, you made the choice to open one of the cans in your hand and down it in one go, because getting drunk totally wouldn’t put you in the position to say exactly what you’re thinking, right?

When you downed the last sip of bitter alcohol, you moved the can away from your face and brought it down into your lap. Mingyu was looking at you like you had two heads, but his expression only made you laugh.

“What? Impressed?” you looked at him teasingly, but he just shook his head in disbelief.

“More like terrified. Please tell me you’ve eaten today?” he whined, concern lace in his voice. You could only smile in response.

“Not since lunchtime!” you said perkily, setting the empty can down by your feet and picking up the full one. You knew drinking on a stomach wasn’t the smartest idea, but you figured you’d need a decent amount in your system if you wanted to do anything more with Mingyu than talk. And honestly, you wanted to.

When you sat back up, Mingyu had his arm stretched out on top of the bench, giving you a spot to cuddle up next to him. You leaned against him and rested your head on his shoulder, his scent filling your senses. His presence was familiar and comforting, and that’s when something suddenly dawned on you.

“Doesn’t this all feel a little… fast to you?” you asked, looking up into his soft brown orbs.

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe it’s just me,” you sat up straight so you could look at him head-on, “but I really like you. Like really like you, but it’s only what, the third time I’ve seen you in person? I feel like it’s weird...” you asked mostly because if he felt the same way then you would feel way less strange about having caught feelings for him so fast. The only person you had ever really had feelings for was Joshua, and you didn’t even know if that situation really fell under the “crush” category.

“I don’t think it’s weird,” he shrugged, taking a sip of his beer.

“Really?” you took a long sip of your drink.

“No. If someone’s right for you then they’re right for you,” he smiled reassuringly at you. “And if liking someone so quickly is weird, then I guess we’re both pretty odd.”

You felt your cheeks heat up and your stomach begin to do flips at his words. You smiled at him, clearly smitten, and getting lost in his eyes as you leaned closer to him without even realizing what you were doing. You stopped when you could feel his breath on your skin.

“Have you been drinking?” he asked sarcastically, booping your nose lightly.

“Yes,” you giggled, “but you’re the most intoxicating thing here.”

All traces of playfulness disappeared when you looked down at his lips. They were the most enticing shade of pink, along with being the perfect size and shape to send you spiraling.

“Y/n, we don’t-“

“Shhh, shut up.” you dropped the can behind you before grabbing his face and slamming his lips onto yours. They were just as soft as they looked and felt heavenly against yours. You kissed him passionately, saying everything you couldn’t say with words.

Mingyu’s hand moved to your waist as your lips moved in sync, squeezing lightly as a low groan left his mouth. The sound went straight to your core, a whimper leaving your lips as you swung your leg over his body. You moved your hands to the back of his neck, kissing him even deeper.

His hands immediately moved to your ass, pulling you as close to him as he possibly could. His tongue slid into your mouth and it took everything in you to suppress the sounds your body so desperately wanted to make. You ran your fingers through his hair, a light sweat making its way onto your skin.

You pulled away from the kiss, panting heavily, and kept your hands in Mingyu’s hair. You looked into his eyes before he buried his face in your neck. Then strangely, he had stopped all activity. You tried moving his lips closer to your neck, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Mingyu?” you looked down at him. His eyes were glued to the place where your bodies met, his chest rising and falling heavily. “Mingyu what’s wrong?” you asked, trying to make eye contact, but completely failing.

“We should stop.” he said sternly, removing his hands from your body.

Your heart dropped. Did you do something wrong? Did he all of a sudden change his mind about you? You were finally feeling the alcohol in your veins, which wasn’t by any means helping the situation.

“D-did I do something w-”

“No, no it’s not you. I just think I should go inside.” he avoided eye contact and attempted to move your body off of his, but you felt you were entitled to a slightly more descriptive explanation.

“Wait, can you just tell me why-”

“Y/n please-” he wrestled you off of his lap as gently as he could until you were standing. He tried to head for the stairs, but you grabbed his wrist before he could get there.

“Mingyu what is going on?!” you exclaimed, and Mingyu whipped around in response. Only he looked different. Much different. His irises were almost completely black, his eyes rimmed with red.

And in his mouth were two long, sharp fangs.

a/n: so,,,,,,,,,,,,, long, filler chapter, and FANGS!!!!!!!!!! i’m sure u saw it coming but .. now u know :D i’m not super proud of this but i hope you all like it :( i’ll have the next chapter up as soon as possible but i did just start classes again so i’m not sure when that will be </3 i’ll try to make it uuuuh not super long sskdkdks

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i-need-air · 4 years

Text

Truthful mess.

Summary: Truth quirk shenanigans. HCs type with Bakugou, Kirishima, Shouto and Shinsou.

Note: Still don't know how to add "Read more" on phone, still need to make a masterlist. At least I have coffee. [I’M DOING BOTH RN, BE PROUD;;;LOOKATTHEReADMORE] Ty for reading! ♥

Bakugou Katsuki:

× well, shit

× he fucked up real bad and now he had to pay for it

× noticed something was wrong when he thanked Kirishima for saving his life instead of giving him the usual snappy attitude

× made the redhead promise to keep the secret or he'll kill him

× seriously kill and incinerate his body and was 100% serious about it

× Bakugou tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut and everything went okay until you just existed in the same room at him

× he'd just get the fuck out because all he wanted to tell you was how good you looked in whatever you were wearing or how beautiful your face was when kissed by the rays of sunshine and he was so confused

× he literally wanted to word vomit all of that

× thankfully the police arresting the mf that did this to him informed Katsuki about the effects of the quirk itself

× approximately 3 days of spilling truths

× he could handle that

× easy

× but not really; the less he talked the more he needed to spill out his mind

× he'd still snap at people, they were just dumb and he voiced that but

× well, hello there, [y/n]

× he prays you don't waltz around him

× life can be a bitch though

× it happened while training, Cementos made an area for each of you to improve your quirks and guess what? you're placed just by his side

× you just waved at him and he ignored you

× asshole much; until you kick-dropped and broke a big piece of cement in half

× "Fuck, that was so sexy..."

× your head turned slowly towards Bakugou because that was his voice, definitely, no doubt

× but it was raspy and low and it did some things to your, ehem, lowers and holy shit

× Bakugou looked like a deer caught in the highlights; he was full "step on me" mode and????????

× instantly turned the other way and yes, he is blushing

× he just couldn't hold it in, man

× so you're confused, blushing, Kirishima is near-by shook as fuck because he's ✨ realizing things ✨ since of course he's now Bakugou's self-proclaimed guard dog

× and Bakugou is back at ignoring you, his friend and the world

× you decide to keep an eye on him because that was not normal and oh my god why is that voice still affecting you? did he seriously say that??

× meanwhile you catch him looking at you from the corner of your eyes

× boy is staring real bad

× so you just go his way

× he panics as you approach him and blows shit up

× "Don't fucking come closer!" you freeze because what the hell? you thought you were getting along? yeah he's been snappy recently but it's Bakugou, he has mood-swings

× but not like this? at least with you?

× also what he said before just gave you hope??

× so you decide Fuck it all and get closer, noticing how Kirishima also approaches, looking like a bodyguard

× you raise your eyebrow because Excuse you?

× "[L/N], you should leave him be for now–"

× "Get out of my way or I'll break you, Kirishima."

× so you're having a staring match with the red-head, almost nose to nose when legit a growl shakes you to the core

× "[Y/N]'s mine, Shitty Hair, back down." he said between his teeth, his palms sparkling, quirk ready

× so his friend backs up, hands raised in defeat but a knowing grin on his face

× even in full shock you expected him to ignore you again but he just stomps towards you angrily, teeth greeted

× "You have a thing for him, hmm? You like Kirishima?" he was glaring at you, breathing heavily but suddenly locked his eyes in your lips

× and while he's throwing this fit or whatever it was, all the class kinda stopped whatever they were doing to see what's going on

× but Cementos ain't having any of that so parts you guys with a cement wall and orders you to keep training

× Bakugou was never more thankful because holy shit what was about to happen?

× you're full mind-blown, remembering his words again and again not even focusing on training; you decide to talk with his dumb ass to clarify what he said and wAs he jealous? i mean he literally said you're his so—... HE FUCKING SAID YOU'RE HIS????

× after that he went back to his grumpy old man form, you don't talk again until days later, although you did try to approach him again, many times, because YOU'RE HIS????????

× it's when he finally realizes the quirk is wearing off and he's relieved because it got to a point where he couldn't sleep

× so when you confront him in the common room the next morning he shrugs it off with a "I thought I'd accidentally confess that I love you and that would've been a problem."

× he freezes

× you freeze

× he wanted to call you a dumbass and move on until he figures his shit up but...

× that's when he realizes the effect of the quirk was dying off in waves

× save him from the mortification and confess too, please?

Kirishima Eijirou:

× he's normally a truthful guy

× but not like this, man, not like this

× Fatgum saved his ass but it was too late since he already got hit by a quirk, although none knew what it was about, so his mentor was having a full Panic moment

× later on he was informed about it's nature and was confused because nothing changed?

× he still compliments people, he's still his old self and is actually so happy that's the case

× thinks he's manly because he's honest about his feelings

× although he forgot about a tiny little detail

× his big fat crush on you

× like he'd blush when you came around, almost stuttered when responding to you, would try harder when you were around because pretty please, notice him, shows off more, all the I-need-YOUR-attention bag

× because he's smooth but in a Kirishima way, you know?

× felt he had zero (0) game [so not manly of him]

× will hands down not avoid you; thinks it's lame to run away from this

× who would've thought this was the best thing that could've happened to him?

× still had his boyish charm, cute smiles, blushes

× but now we add the honest "You look amazing today. Well, more than usual." with a wink because if he can't stop himself, at least he'll make it work big time

× and oh, shit that's doing stuff to your poor heart because his compliments are all over the roof? wth is going on?

× everyone knew about his feelings for you but now they really knew

× literally takes him half a day to spill all out

× he did try to clear his mind of those feelings in class because that would be so awkward and weird; he spent so much time daydreaming how to confess before and doing it there was definitely not the plan, but something more personal and meaningful

× when Kiri saw you in the common room though, alone and minding your own business, a grin broke on his face and had hearts in his eyes

× Bakugou had to hear a lot of shit about you, tho just rolled his eyes; "whatever, shitty hair."

× because you're so flawlessly beautiful and you're not even trying

× your head snaps up at him, blushing

× OOP–did he just blurt that out?

× so he's laughing awkwardly because not like this, man

× but goes with it because We die like men here 😤

× cue word vomit about how great you are and this quirk hit him and god you're amazing and it's not a lie because remember when you first met at UA? well he thought you were an angel and when you smiled at him? perfection and your blushing face is adorable and needs to see it everyday and ok this quirk needs to stop–

× meanwhile

× [Y/N].exe has stopped working

× legit tho, he won't shut the hell up and it's adorable

× all day he's been super smooth about his compliments to you and now he's the sweetest mess ever

× and you only notice yourself smiling when he points it out and says it's the single most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his entire life

× and even if that almost makes you 404 again you laugh and walk towards him

× which he follows and steps closer to you too

× smiling

× so he calms down when you're not freaking out about what he's spilling and goes back to being cha-cha-real-smooth again

× "I want to be able to call you mine"

Todoroki Shouto:

× another guy that doesn't really notice it at first

× he got hit by this weird blue-purple dust while on patrol with his dad

× and Endeavor went feral on this low-life villain deciding to attack suddenly

× low and behold, seems the guy wasn't a villain, just a civilian that sneezed and activated his quirk by accident

× quirk that landed on Shouto here

× which just stared confused because what?

× explanations happen, Endeavor is looking down at Shouto expecting something anytime now

× but Icy-Hot here just shrugs it off because it's okay, it's just 3 or 4 days

× funny thing is his dad asked him questions and realized pretty quick that Shouto has been really honest with him until now, which bummed him because Endeavor Is Trying™

× Todoroki Shouto was confident that nothing would go wrong so he forgets about it basically

× two days pass; class time happens

× is so fucking casual about it but it's so hilariously confusing

× he was honest before but he was quiet in general, that's why his honesty came in small dosages

× now he has no filter and won't shut up, he has this absolute need to share his thoughts

× my boy has opinions about everything

× but especially about [Y/N]

× oh yeah, he definitely tells you how that color enhances your natural beauty or how you're really smart

× is so casual and nonchalant, shooks everyone, leaves you full confusion mode while he just smiles and leaves

× legit doesn't realize it

× he complimented you before, that's the thing, but now he's really intensifying it but without changing the tone and execution and it's just a mess

× example:

× goes from "You changed your hairstyle. It looks nice." to "The way you style your hair now makes your eyes pop out more. I love it."

× lowkey proclaims his love about you; it's so obvious it hurts; you have to take it like a champ, man

× it takes Tsu to actually ask what's going on, in the first hour of class

× [even Aizawa is listening, pretending to sleep]

× explains why he's acting like this; "I got hit accidentally by a quirk that makes me speak only the truth."

× everyone just goes crazy while you're piecing stuff together in deep thought

× "Who do you think is the strongest in the class?"

× "Aizawa."

× lowkey a little shit

× "Between the students."

× "Me."

× big time a little shit

× it's until Mina asks who he likes that all hell breaks loose

× Shouto just turns to look at you, blinks and says your name

× just as everyone goes mental after a moment of silence, the bell rings signaling the next class, to which Aizawa [the mature man he is, acting as if this wasn't the best tea-spill he's gonna have at lunch with the other teachers 💅] wakes up, silences everyone and continues class

× every pair of eyes are on you all class

× Shouto is having an existencial crisis because he's actually realizing himself that he likes you

× a lot

× hands down he thought about how great you are, wondered deep in though at night why his heart beat so fast when you smiled at him, how come he got jealous???? when you'd pair with someone else to study or train... the boy didn't even know it was jealousy until now

× as in now he knew he wanted to hold your hand, have more inside jokes between you two, kiss you, marry you, wait what—

× you on the other hand are hyperventilating because Shouto likes you

× and you like him back and oH my god, wHAT just happened????

× lunch break comes, nobody moved from their seats while Todoroki just walks by, stares at you, slight blush on his face

× "I'd like to speak alone with you. About my feelings. Towards you. I like you."

× nice alone chat, Shouto 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

× legit nobody is breathing, not making a single noise, waiting for your reaction

× so through stutters and all, you have to grab him by his wrist and get the hell out, the attention being too much

× before you reach a quiet place to talk he just stares at your hand

× "I like it when you touch me. Your hand is warm and it makes my skin tingle–"

× so you're a blushing mess when you let go of his wrist fastly

× "Do you not like me back?" [insert kicked puppy face]

× [insert you telling him that you do, but all the attention in class was killing you]

× "Good. Now hold my hand properly."

× that day Shouto learned that being bold with you was the perfect way to get the sweetest reactions out of you

× it's called teasing and Todoroki Shouto will never stop

Hitoshi Shinsou:

× Shinsou had a Reputation™, ok?

× Calm, cool, collected, that's Hitoshi Shinsou

× so how come Monoma did him so dirty?

× it seems the blond borrowed a quirk from someone he knew and fled to school to just bring Hell on Earth

× but the only person he managed to throw the quirk at was at Shinsou

× it wasn't even intended for him, but for Bakugou to embarrass him

× so here he was, Mister Tired-of-this-fucking-world now having another reason to be done with everything

× the boy wasn't dumb

× made a strategy just as Monoma was apologizing for the mistake

× somehow the blond took a liking on him and even if he was now part of class 2-A, Monoma proclaimed he was a 2-B at heart; moving on...

× 3 to 5 days of not talking lies

× great, amazing, marvelous, incredible, fantastic

× Rule #1: Avoid [Y/N] at all costs

× which would prove rather difficult since you're part of the same group he was in

× and you were starting to be really good friends

× something he loved/hated because yes, he wants your friendship but he also wants much more

× so when you came to class, would you look at that! Shinsou is sleeping!

× when you went to lunch with the squad? he fled the scene, not opening his mouth

× asked to borrow a pen in class? didn't even look into your eyes as he just gave you one

× after 3 days of this you were starting to get annoyed

× and Midoriya was writing shit down in that notebook of his mumbling stuff every single time Hitoshi bailed

× what you didn't know is that the whole Dekusquad caught on to Shinsou's shenanigans and demanded answers

× well, Ochaco did and she instantly got them because she's terrifying when serious

× so Izuku is in deep fascination with the quirk, Iida is stiff as fuck and Uraraka has this really creepy I-know-something-you-don't smile on her face; Shouto was existing there too, minding his business 🍵

× you really tried to grab a hold of Shinsou but he wasn't even answering your texts

× time to make a game-plan

× and the easiest way to understand what's going on was through Deku and that suspicious notebook of his

× it wasn't even that hard to get it because you got the perfect opportunity basically thrown in your lap

× he was mumbling your name as he was writing down

× you literally demanded to see what he's writing about involving you

× the boy went full panic but before he could manage to escape the situation, the guy that's been avoiding you grabs you by your forearm and tugs you in the hallway

× there he was, purple messy head you wanted to smack, looking all uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck

× "Ok, listen, I have something to tell you and I want you to know through me, not through that notebook" he sighed, eyes avoiding you

× and while you're hurt and exhausted he just mumbles "Who knows what type of embarrassing stuff he wrote there..."

× hold up, he blushing?

× so while you're processing that he explains

× "Been hit by a quirk..." yada-yada, this and that

× "Ok, but why have you been avoiding me of all people?" you just go hard on him for a little bit, not hiding that you're hurting "Do you not trust me?"

× he's caught off guard

× "Because I love you and I'm scared you'll never look at me the same."

× longest silence of his life

× he never felt the need to fill a silent moment more than now

× so he mumbles

× oh, yah, he just blurts it all out while looking everywhere but you

× "I mean you deserve better than a guy with a quirk like this. I didn't want to make things uncomfortable between us so I thought avoiding you was the best, just so we can continue being friends and–"

× he's a fucking mess and it hurts you that he's saying stuff like that because holy shit you love this sleepy idiot?

× of course you kiss him to silence his rant

× and when you separate from it and start to reassure him he's just a m a z i n g, how dare he say stuff like that and how dare he avoid you for so long; now it's his time to kiss you back slowly and sweetly

× cue instant, lazy smile

× "You're adorable..."

#Truth quirk #Bnha headcanons #Bnha scenario #Bakugou katsuki #masaru bakugou #todoroki shouto #Todoroki shouto x reader #kirishima eijirou #Kirishima eijirou x reader #hitoshi shinsou #Hitoshi shinsou x reader #Shinsou #Hitoshi #Bakugou #Kirishima #Shouto #Todoroki #Noire writes #Bnha fluff

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erekiosuncreativeideas · 3 years

Text

The Part-Time Puppeteer - Chapter 06

<= Chapter 5

Summary : Lukas gets to have a heart-to-heart discussion with an absolute asshole. Also available on AO3 : https://archiveofourown.org/works/23828971/chapters/81015496

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AAAAH I'M SORRY FOR THE TWO MONTHS HIATUS I HAD A WRITER BLOCK---

Anyway uuuh, new chapter, I have no idea if it's good or not but still, here it is. I did my best to offer you a longer chapter as a compensation, it's twice the length of the last one.

Happy reading ! Thank you for waiting all this time.

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Chapter 6 - “Oh. It’s you.”

The rest of the day had been… Quite blurry for the student. After coming back home, he had sat down at his desk, staring into space for… Minutes, hours, he hadn’t been able to tell. It was an understatement to say that he was in shock after what had happened. Even after everything, his mind couldn’t help but think this was just a joke, or that he had imagined the whole thing. But the script in his bag was a proof of the contrary. For a good while, the young man hadn’t found the courage to look back at it, as if it were some sort of cursed object, haunting him. But then, the Conductor’s words came back to him: “learn your text by tomorrow”. An order, a clear one, coming from one of his bosses. The student shivered as he remembered, soon bringing his hands to his face, massaging his closed, tired eyes. Oh, boy, why did he always get in that kind of situation… Even when he was a kid, he would often get dragged in things like this. He had thought this would get better as he grew up, but noooo, of fucking course it wouldn’t. Lukas let out a loud, long, exaggerated sigh, and stood up. He walked to his sofa bed all while dragging his feet and, once he was in front of it, it was like what was left of his energy left him. What a day . With another sigh, the student felt his body fall forward, and it wasn’t long before his face hit one of his pillows. Air was forced out of his lungs by the impact, though he did nothing but grunt in the fabric. Him? An actor? This couldn’t be right, this just… It wasn’t right. Sure, MJ was a jerk, but he still had the skills and the experience! In comparison, Lukas was just a law student- not a bad one, mind you, which only made it even more surprising to see him getting the role. It wasn’t like he had chosen the wrong scholar path, no, on the contrary, he was skilled in his major. But apparently, his bosses had seen something else deep inside that walking shell of anxiety… -“Uuuuugh...” his voice was low and tired. For a moment, he thought he was almost going to fall asleep like this, still wearing his clothes, but he reluctantly sat down. With a look full of weariness and unwillingness, the student’s attention went back to his bag, in which the script was. He didn’t want to learn the lines, and a single glance at his desk full of homework was a good way to understand why. But it seemed like his paycheck was now depending on it, as much as he would have preferred to remain a stagehand… -“Guess I don’t have a choice…” he mumbled, before moving his foot to reach for the bag, making it slide towards him, so he could open it. He supposed that he would be able to scribble down the answers to his homework during his lunch break… Or, at least, he hoped. And so, the young man spent the next two hours learning his lines, saying them out loud, so he could remember them. A good thing about his brain was that it learned pretty well from words and sounds. Thus, by saying them out loud, Lukas was pretty efficient in remembering them. Plus, truth to be told, those lines weren’t exactly as hard to learn as his law books… Not that it was a bad thing, far from it. At least, it made his job far easier. However, he wasn’t going to lie, there were a few parts that were harder to remember. Once he was done, the student hesitated on whether he should go to sleep (the reasonable option) or try to get some of his homework done. Sure, he was pretty tired, and the day had been filled by a lot of diverse emotions… But part of him knew he just wouldn’t be able to fall asleep knowing what awaited him the day after. He had always been very anxious, this was a secret to no one, and especially not himself… However, this whole thing was very new, and it made it all worse. And so… The student ended up staying up late until three in the morning, managing to get most of his homework done. One of the perks of being good at a subject was being fast. Of course, this would have given him much better results if he had worked on it seriously, without all the tiredness and all, but the context wasn’t really allowing him that.

Thus, Lukas packed up his college stuff for the next day and soon went to sleep for one very short night. Oh, well, not his first, far from it. Thankfully, he had a few sleeping meds he had kept from an old treatment, allowing him to fall asleep rather quick. However, this always came at a price- they made waking up a much more difficult moment, as his body was still very much under the influence of the medicine when that happened. And the next morning… Was no exception, especially since he only got to sleep for less than three hours. Fighting the urge to go back to sleep, Lukas managed to get up and prepare himself for college. New clothes, brushing his hair and teeth… It only took him a moment until he was ready to leave his small apartment. Oh, his face, however… It looked like it belonged to a rotten corpse, who had just come back to life… Somewhat. The trip to college was pretty ordinary, and so was his morning and afternoon, actually. He gave his teachers all the papers that were due, he aced one of his oral presentation despite looking like a dead man… No, really, this day was going well, which was surprising considering he was mostly surviving thanks to coffee and to the fear of collapsing in public. Yeah, no, he didn’t want any attention on him… Which was a funny thing to think about, because this was exactly what he was going to get with his new job! Once his classes were over, Lukas took the bus to his workplace, dread settling on his shoulders, heavier and heavier as the minutes passed. Oh, he didn’t want to get that role… Of course, he could tell his bosses, but there was a small part of him, deep down, that was curious about where this would lead him. Now, obviously, being a stagehand was a pretty classic job, one without risks… But this? While he was terrified of screwing up, especially since people would be looking at him… Yeah, there was something that prevented him from refusing this promotion. And, also, if that could piss MJ off, then it was a good bonus. The studio reception was calm compared to the day before and, for a moment, just a small moment, the student thought his shift was going to be nice. But ooh, no, he couldn’t have nice things- the moment he opened the door leading to the staff areas, he winced as many voices echoed around him. They were coming from all directions, through walls, doors too! It was a large cacophony in there, and people were running around, carrying stuff and bringing props for each shooting. Actions movies, dramas, comedies… Each type had its own part of the studio, but there was this central room linking them all together and, oh, this place was just a battlefield. Moving fast through the agitated crowd, Lukas tried to reach his accredited part of the studio- the children shows shootings. Avoiding props almost falling on his feet accidentally, sneaking between people carrying hot coffee, and bending down to avoid planks being carried around… He bumped into someone just before he got to open the door leading to his area. -“Oh, I- I’m sorry,” he stammered, quickly moving back, so he could apologize properly to the person he had bumped into. However, his eyes widened when he recognized the figure in front of him. Mike! The good twin. For a second, the latter’s face had alarmed him, as he thought he had bumped into MJ instead… But thankfully, while having the same face, the two brothers had very different hairstyles and fashion choices. The student let out a sigh- phew, he wasn’t sure he would have been ready for MJ’s bullshit right at the beginning of his shift. -“Oh, hey!” Mike seemed almost as surprised as he was, though his expression quickly changed to a warm, welcoming one: “Good to see you again- oh, wait, let’s, uh… Get inside,” he then mumbled, opening the door quickly so they both could leave the absolute war zone they were in. Lukas didn’t lose any time and followed the other like a shadow would, only getting the opportunity to sigh in relief as they found themselves in a much quieter place. Kinda ironic that the children shows part of the

studio was calmer than the staff hall... -“Hey,” he finally replied, now that the “battlefield” was behind them: “It’s good to see you too,” he answered trustfully, with a smile. He hadn’t seen the other since MJ’s outburst the day before, and getting the chance to meet him again was a good way of making Lukas’ day a little better and… Less chaotic. -“How are you?” he then asked, deciding to take a moment for a conversation with his only friend in the studio so far. Plus, he was… Worried. With what had happened the day before, and how MJ had thrown Mike’s puppet on the floor like it was nothing, he wanted to make sure everything was okay. -“Oh, I’m… Doing fine,” the other looked away with an awkward smile, which was an obvious sign that things had definitely happened yesterday. With how furious the actor had been when leaving the shooting, Lukas could very well imagine the latter taking his frustration on his brother. What an asshole. But, it was family business, and he couldn’t say anything about it, as a stranger. -“What about you?” Mike added quickly, visibly determined on changing the topic: “I heard you got the role, yesterday. Congrats!” The praise took the student by surprise, and he felt his cheeks reddening from the embarrassment. Oh, man, this was new, yeah… He wasn’t used to that kind of thing. His stance tensed up, and a sheepish smile took place on his lips. -“Oh, uh… Thanks,” he blurted out, and it was his turn to look away: “It’s… Really weird, I guess I’m just… Feeling a bit shocked, you know?” he turned his head back to his new friend and a nervous giggle escaped him. He was fidgeting, not really knowing how to respond to that. -“Ah, yeah, it’s your first time,” Mike nodded, remembering that Lukas had first been hired as a stagehand, not as an actor: “Don’t worry, children shows are the perfect way to start as a beginner. You know, with the public being less critical and all… I’m sure you’ll get used to it in no time.” The puppet maker was kind, trying to reassure Lukas and ease his anxiety. Too bad that his stage fight was skyrocketing since the moment he had stepped in the building again… Another nervous giggle left his lips, and he started to rub his arm, not knowing what to do with his hands. -“I suppose so…” he muttered, still smiling, though it looked less genuine: “It’s just that… I mean… Why me? I’m just a guy who wanted a part-time job. I’m not an actor, I don’t have any experience…” -“Well, from what I’ve heard, you were pretty good yesterday- oh, speaking about that…” Mike’s face darkened, as if he had just remember to mention something unpleasant: “I think you should… Avoid MJ, as much as you can, from now on. My brother, he’s… He didn’t take it well, I’m not gonna lie, and… I mean, you saw how he is with people, he’s not the best at being with others. Now, with what happened yesterday, I don’t think he’ll make your life any easier.” The student grimaced as he listened to his friend. Yeah… Yeah, he had seen that coming. With how livid MJ had been when leaving the set, it wasn’t surprising that the latter was going to make his shifts hell. God, he really hoped he would manage to avoid that jerk… -“Yeah, I… Kinda expected that,” he admitted, tilting his head to the side with a wince: “But, uh… Since he’s not part of the team anymore, I shouldn’t run too much into him… Right?” -“I wish I’d say yes, but…” Mike answered, his face showing conflict: “He has some other roles in the studio, and he might come see me now and then, so… Yeah. Be careful and do your best to avoid him. He’s not… The best person to be around when he’s like this.” “Oh, you mean all the time, then?” Lukas thought to himself, but kept his mouth shut. Not the best thing to say out loud, especially when it came to said person’s twin. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder why Mike was making so many efforts for someone that clearly didn’t deserve them… But, then again, he was a stranger, it wasn’t his place to say anything. -“Will do,” he assured his friend, before looking at his watch and- oh, shit, he was going to

be late. Apparently, it must have been visible from his expression, because the puppet maker let out a soft giggle: -“Oh, yeah, it’s time,” he looked up, as if he were trying to remember something: “Last time I saw the Conductor and DJ Grooves, they were in the conference room with some investors. You should go practice in the meantime… My workshop is open, if you want,” he offered with a shrug: “It’s a small room, but I’m normally the only one there, so if you wanna have some quiet, alone time to rehearse, well… I need to help the stagehands for some set repairs, so I won’t bother you.” The offer was a really nice attention, another one that did help to make Lukas’ day a little better. Considering his promotion, he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to help the other stagehands while waiting for his bosses, but… Well, practicing really wouldn’t hurt, especially considering how short his night had been. -“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” he gave Mike a warm smile, before pointing to a door on the other side of the room: “It’s this one, right?” he asked for confirmation. -“Yep, that’s the one! Just, uh… Please don’t touch anything, most of the puppets and costumes aren’t done, so they’re quite fragile.” Lukas assured him he wouldn’t, and even then, he didn’t have any reason to. At least, contrary to his friend’s twin, he knew how to respect someone’s work… And with that, the two waved to one another, before heading to opposite directions. The student walked to the door with a quick pace, wanting to get as much time as possible to practice. When he opened it, he was surprised to see that, yeah, the room was pretty small indeed, even smaller than what he had imagined. The place was full of puppets hanging from the ceiling, and the walls were covered in eccentric and colorful clothes. It was almost eye straining! Two out of the four corners of the rooms were used to stock supplies and different types of fabric, making the room even smaller than it originally was. Then, hidden in the third corner was a desk with a sewing machine on top of it. It looked like an old but durable one, the kind that would last years even if it was out-of-date. Other than that, the desk was full of smaller supplies, like needles, sewing threads, pens, pieces of paper, templates… It was like this room had no free space other than the center of it. Well, Lukas supposed this is where he would rehearse, then. Not like there were many other option… The young man closed the door behind him and made a few steps, his eyes looking all around him. He didn’t think it was possible to fit so many things in a single room, but, hey, he was wrong! He then shook his head- it was time to work. After clearing his throat, the student opened his bag and took the script out, flipping the pages up to the parts he had the most trouble remembering. Oh, jeez, he really was doing this, wasn’t he? This was so weird… But whatever paid his bills and his studies, he guessed. And so… He got to work. It was a lot easier to practice when there was no one around. No one to judge him, no one to mock him when he fucked up… Yeah, it made it all easier. Sure, he didn’t have any experience in it, but at least he had to admit it was pretty fun. Nonetheless, he still had no idea why the two directors chose him over an experienced actor like MJ�� Like, of course he had noticed the latter was a huge asshole, but other than that, his acting skills were obvious. Maybe he was being used to give MJ a lesson…? This seemed like the most probable explanation. After all, MJ’s presence in the casting was supposed to bring attention to the show… And now, one of the most important roles had been given to a nobody instead. It didn’t seem like a good idea, marketing-wise. Law was his specialty, but that didn’t mean he was stupid when it came to other things. Lukas couldn’t believe he had been chosen for his “talents”, because he had none on that field. After a moment, he paused his practice, shutting his eyes and letting out an exaggerated sigh. Shit, this was distracting him. He couldn’t focus

on his lines. His acting skills, if he had any, were affected by it. It was like something was entering his mind from one side only to disappear through another. Memorizing the words was harder than he had thought it would be the day before, and he couldn’t help but grunt in frustration. Fuck, he knew he was able to remember those lines, he had learned much more complex texts before! This script was simple, so the young man put the blame on his short night of sleep. Furthermore, it was hard to memorize something only by starting the day before… He was about to start again when he heard the door opening behind him, cutting him short. The student turned to the direction of the noise, expecting to see Mike’s face and… Well, in a way, he kinda did. Except it wasn’t Mike. It was MJ, the evil twin. “Oh, fuck me,” he thought, paling up. For fuck’s sake, right after Mike told him to avoid his brother! Was it a joke or something?! Before he even got the chance to speak, MJ’s expression changed from a neutral one to one of utter disgust. Yeah, clearly, the other had expected to see his twin, but… Nope, Lukas had been the one in the room. “Lesson learned, never going back in that workshop alone,” the student told himself, though it was way too late to do anything about it. -“Oh. It’s you,” the actor spat, this time not trying to keep his nice mask on like he had been when they had met the day before: “The fuck are you doing here?” The celebrity’s eyes were glaring at him, all while examining him from top to bottom. It was… Very unpleasant, to be stared at this way. And being talked to like that? Yeah, no, Lukas was perhaps a shy person, but he didn’t want to let anyone walk all over him, especially not an asshole like MJ. Usually, he tended to flee conflict, but today was different. He was way too tired to deal with this shit. -“Yes , hello to you too,” he muttered as an answer, quickly putting his attention back to the script: “Your brother’s not here, but he told me I could use the room in the meantime.” Apparently, his tone didn’t please the actor, whose eyes narrowed in response: -“No kidding, I can see my brother’s not here, dumbass,” he shrugged and rolled his eyes: “I’m not blind.” Oooh, the insult didn’t fall on deaf ears, and it really rubbed Lukas the wrong way. He turned to the celebrity again, this time returning the latter’s glare: -“Well, good for you, I guess,” the student spoke louder than his previous mutter. His annoyance was much more visible, though he still remained polite: “If you’re looking for Mike, he’s with the stagehands.” -“Didn’t ask,” the actor retorted harshly. The other’s eyes then fell on the script, and his expression darkened. Well, shit, this couldn’t be good- and, just like Lukas had predicted, it wasn’t. MJ’s look of hatred was soon replaced by a mocking yet salty expression, one that the student really didn’t like. -“Aw, am I interrupting something?” the celebrity taunted him, leaning against the door frame as a smirk took place on his lips. -“Actually, yes. You are,” Lukas’ patience was running out. God, he wanted to punch that guy so bad… Well, not like he would ever do that, he wasn’t that kind of person. Still, the urge was there. In response to his honest words, the actor scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes again. God, that fucking asshole… -“What, don’t tell me you honestly think you have what it takes!” MJ’s tone had changed from a mocking one to a harsher, meaner one: “You have no idea how to play a role- lemme guess, you never had any theater courses before, hm?” At Lukas’ silence, the celebrity snickered bitterly: -“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You’re just a nobody, a guy who happened to be there at the right time. But you, an actor? Don’t make me laugh. You don’t know shit about acting.” Okay, now that was enough. Politeness was nice and all, but with this guy? No, nu-huh, nope, not happening. In an instant, Lukas’ attempts at remaining civil were thrown away through a window. No one could talk to him like that, and not even his anxiety was

going to silence him. -“Oh, I don’t know shit about acting, that’s right,” he talked back, his tone much more aggressive: “But at least I know how to be a decent person.” -“Excuse me?” MJ’s face showed a mix of bewilderment and fury, probably because no one ever confronted him like this in the past: “I didn’t steal someone else’s job!” -“Hah, that’s rich!” the student scoffed, raising his arms with a scandalized expression: “You lost your job! I didn’t do anything!” his voice echoed in the room as his anger intensified: “If you weren’t such an asshole, maybe you’d have kept your place in the-” However, the student didn’t even get the time to finish his sentence. The celebrity had dashed towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, bringing their face close as an intimidating gesture: -“Watch your fucking mouth,” was the warning he got from the other, whose eyes were fixed on his: “There are so many things I could do to make your life a living Hell. I have a lot of strings I can pull, and if I were you, I wouldn’t risk that,” the actor’s voice had got lower, like a murmur, a clear threat directed to him. But Lukas was just getting so fucking tired of it. Enough was enough. He grabbed the celebrity’s hand and pulled it away, forcing the latter to let go of him. -“So, let me get this straight: you want to destroy me because I pointed out how much of a jerk you were to everyone? And you still think you’re the decent person out of us two? You might want to rethink that, buddy.” The response he got was yet another glare, though this time there was no spiky answer. “Of course I’m right, asshole, can’t say anything back, now, can you?” he thought to himself, pride swelling inside him. Man, this was perhaps the first argument he ever won… Holy shit, yeah, it was- and he didn’t even stutter! Maybe he needed to be tired more often- yeah, no, that wasn’t a good idea. Air was forced out of his lungs as he was pushed away, though despite the fear of being punched, it never came. The look of pure hatred he was getting from MJ was almost burning him and, for a moment, he really thought he would get attacked- being someone who had never fought anyone, he wasn’t really confident about his abilities to fight back. But all MJ did was to step back to the door, a furious expression written all over his face: -“You wanna play that game with me?” he spat: “Fine. But mark my words, stagehand, I will win.” And not even giving Lukas the time to retort anything, the actor stormed off the room and slammed the door behind him. It screamed “ I am mad, and I want everyone to know that”. Lukas, however, did not give a single fuck about it. Perhaps it was the tiredness speaking (and it was), but if the other wanted to fight, then Lukas would be ready. Well, he probably wouldn’t in hindsight, once his mind cleared up… But at the moment, the young man’s anger was making him blind to many aspects. One of them being that MJ was a famous person who was indeed capable of destroying him, and making him fail his studies with just the right calls. But this wasn’t something Lukas would realize before calming down. And only then, he would ask himself “why the hell couldn’t I keep my mouth shut like usual?!” Until that moment… The student kept rehearsing, though his anger prevented him from actually anything. Today was going to be a long day…

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Hopefully Lukas won't have too much trouble with this jerk of an actor :)c (who I love with all my heart)

=> Chapter 7

#a hat in time fanfiction #a hat in time #ahit #a hat in time the snatcher #a hat in time snatcher #ahit snatcher #ahit the snatcher #ahit mj #ahit fanfiction #ahit au #puppet au #the part-time puppeteer #mike #mj #erekio #erekiosuncreativeideas #fanfiction #tptp

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izlaria · 3 years

Text

Someone you like (part 6)

This is the final chapter of my “Someone you like” inspired fic. It’s also available on AO3 in case you prefer that platform.

Special thanks to @rueitae for betaing this chapter and to @onlysilvy for being a darling this whole time. Your support means everything. Also, sorry, Rue, I have no self-control.

Summary: Lance falls in love with Pidge on two different occasions. They eventually figure it out.

25 and 23 years old

The end of Lance’s first year as an MFE fighter saw him standing in front of Pidge’s room, wringing his hands. Anxiety clawed at his chest, but he had made up his mind to finally confess his feelings. With the anniversary of Allura’s death fast approaching – it was only two months away –, both Keith and Hunk had advised him to either spill his guts soon or wait for the new year. Lance had taken this to heart.

His work in the Garrison didn’t put him in direct contact with Pidge, but the two of them always made up excuses to see each other after hours. They would spend evenings in his apartment, playing video games or watching movies, or they would go over to Shiro’s for a round of Monsters and Mana, enjoying how excited Curtis got over the storylines.

Most of the time, Lance felt like they were already a couple, with how much they bantered. Even Veronica assured him that they were insufferable. So, every day it got harder for Lance to control his instinct to pull Pidge to him and kiss her, to finally let her know how much Lance wanted her in his life, forever.

But he was getting ahead of himself.

Before Lance could make up his mind to knock, the door slid open to reveal Romelle. She stood there with a hand on her hip, her blonde hair pinned in a bun at the top of her head.

“You do realize there’s a sensor on the door?” There was laughter in her voice. “And a camera. I’ve been staring at your distressed face for almost five minutes.” Alarm must have flashed through his expression, because she snorted. “Don’t worry, she’s not here right now.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Romelle,” he said with little-to-no enthusiasm. The girl continued to grin at his misery, stepping aside so Lance could walk into the room. “When did you even get here?”

She moved to the bed, where several books were scattered around, and plopped back against the pile of pillows. Around the room, machinery parts and clothing pieces battled for the floorspace. It was an aspect of Pidge that never changed, the organized chaos of her room that no doubt reflected that brilliant mind of hers.

“Keith stopped by Altea to pick me up. Hunk wanted me to bring some produce from that quadrant, because Colleen’s last harvest was apparently jeopardized by a flood a junior botanist caused.” Romelle shrugged. “Katie didn’t know the specifics.”

Her use of Pidge’s given name no longer surprised Lance. People around the Garrison usually referred to the Holts by their titles, since their ranks within the organization demanded a certain level of reverence, but many of their colleagues from the war still called her Katie. Especially those who spent their time with Sam and Colleen, like Romelle.

“Have you seen Hunk and Matt yet?” Lance took a seat on the couch. It was old and gray, but comfortable enough. He and Shiro had dragged it into Pidge’s dorm after one too many nights of eating dinner on the floor.

The blonde shook her head. “Hunk and Shay are grabbing me for lunch and Matt is busy with his girlfriend.” She leaned against the headboard and, although her posture remained relaxed, the look in her eyes spoke of mischief. “Katie said I could chill –” she made quotation marks with her hands – “here while I waited, but if I’m interrupting something…”

Lance gave a spastic wave of his arms that probably did nothing to deny her suspicions. It was just his luck that Romelle was there again. She’d already witnessed his struggle when asking Allura out and now she could see right through him.

“Interrupting?” He forced a laugh. “Nah! It’s fine! Always good to see a friendly face!”

Romelle didn’t have the skill to emulate Pidge’s unimpressed look, but being best friends with Matt had certainly helped her get close to it. However, she also didn’t seem invested enough in his drama to pry, going back to digging through the books.

“I’m sure it was not

face you had hoped to see,” she commented nonchalantly, still looking down at the different covers. “Alas, it is what it is. Katie is in a meeting, so you might as well keep me company.”

Lance frowned at her, but chose not to follow through with the subject. “What are those books for?”

“It turns out that an education based around the teachings of a megalomaniac prince did not actually cover as much astrology as I had hoped.” Romelle looked down at her palms. There was an edge to her smile that Lance was sad to recognize as self-deprecation. “Hunk helps with what he can, but Matt and Katie are the real connoisseurs, apparently, so they gave me some material from when they were younger.” She heaved a sigh. “It’s a lot.”

“I’m really proud of you.” Lance smiled at her, a little awkward. “Allura would be, too.”

“What? Where did that come from?” Romelle made a face at him, but she was smiling as well. “I am simply trying to do my best. There is a lot I don’t know.”

“Yeah, but you’ve done your best since I met you and it’s always been enough.” Lance shrugged, shifting his gaze to the whiteboard that hung over Pidge’s bed. The equations there meant nothing to him. “Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to stop Lotor or Honerva. Besides, the Holts are very selective of the people they like. They don’t just take on hopeless cases.”

Romelle blew out a breath. Their eyes met tentatively, as they were both embarrassed by the situation. “You know, it is surprisingly easy to forget that you are a good person.”

“I’ve been told,” he deadpanned, much to the Altean’s amusement.

“Look, I do not need you to cheer me up. I appreciate it, but you can keep your compliments for Katie, who we both know would enjoy them more.” Even as she said this, it was clear that Romelle felt a little better. She picked up one of the books. “If you want to help, just quiz me on chapter ten.”

Lance got up from the couch to accept the book, grinning when he recognized the title. “Hey, I know this one!” He sat back down and flipped to the table of contents. “Yeah, I had to read this for a summer course I took when I was fourteen. That’s when I met Hunk,” he added for Romelle’s benefit.

“Hm, funny, that one is Matt’s.” She kneeled on the bed to look at the cover. “And there was one of Katie’s ribbons in it, so I believe she also read it.”

“One of her ribbons?” Lance frowned at her in curiosity. He had never seen Pidge carry ribbons around, but what would have been a ridiculous image in their teen years was now utterly charming. It was lovely to find out these small details about her.

“Yes. She used them to mark the pages when younger. There, there!” Romelle pointed to the book until Lance reached a page where a green ribbon laid across the words. She grinned. “Isn’t it adorable?”

It was.

At the same time, it reminded him of the difficulties Pidge had undergone during middle school and how she had only had Matt and her parents to rely on. Had she read her brother’s book as a way to escape the words of her colleagues? Or had she loved space so fiercely even then that her time of leisure was spent going through Matt’s training material?

“Do you think this is when their little feud over color-coding started?” Romelle broke him out of these thoughts. She had opened another one of the books and was flipping through the pages absent-mindedly. “I swear to the moons of Cobturg, if I have to listen to their arguments about this one more time, I–”

There was a beep and the door to the room opened once more, shutting Romelle up at once. Pidge took a second to look them over, before dropping her purse down at the coffee table.

“Why do you look so guilty?” She narrowed her eyes at Romelle, who let out a noise of protest, as if to say ‘Who? Me?’.

Lance went to her rescue. “She was telling me about the ribbons you used to collect.” He held up the green fabric, grinning. “Who would have thought? Our Pidge Gunderson was actually a normal, little girl once.”

Her hair was short again. It looked different, though, more put-together than the hairstyle she had used during their time in space. He supposed her responsibilities in the Garrison demanded a more polished appearance, but he kind of missed the disarray.

She looked very pretty like this. In fact, the overall effect of her wide-legged slacks, light-blue blouse, the hair and the boots left him feeling a little dazed.

Pidge rolled her eyes and made a grab for the ribbon, but Lance stood up and pulled it out of reach. She almost lost her balance from his sudden movement, putting a knee up on the couch to keep in place.

“Did you really come in here just to test my patience?” she asked, still standing in front of him.

Lance clicked his tongue playfully. “Nothing makes me happier than seeing you blush in anger.” He waved the ribbon around, smirking. “You make a beautiful tomato.”

“She’s more of a strawberry, really,” Romelle pointed out from her perch on the bed. She gestured towards her face. “It’s the little dots.”

“Those are called freckles.” Pidge pushed away from the couch and towards the Altean. “You were supposed to be studying, not ganging up with Lance to bother me.”

Romelle’s face dropped into an impressively effective look of anguish. “But it’s boring to study by myself.” She grabbed Pidge’s hands, swinging their arms lightly. “You promised I could do your hair before I left!”

Pidge glanced at him over her shoulder. Whether it was because she thought Lance might help her or simply because she was mortified by the idea of doing something so girly in front of him, he couldn’t tell. Before he could intervene, however, there was another beep from the door, then a knock.

“That must be Hunk,” Pidge declared, jumping away from Romelle.

The blonde rolled her eyes, but slid out of the bed and opened a small panel on the wall, where a screen was hidden. From behind her, Lance could see Hunk and Shay talking on the video feed.

“Saved by the bell,” he heard Pidge mutter under her breath.

“Aw, come on, Pidgeon.” Lance aimed a shit-eating grin at her, knowing it was easier to taunt her into things than to simply ask. “Now I want to see you looking all primped up!”

The girl did not back down. She puffed up her chest, lips set into a line, and turned to face him fully. “You’re supposed to be on my side here!” Then, in a lower voice, “I don’t want to set miss excitable over there loose with a brush!”

“I will have you know –” Romelle waggled a finger in the air – “that everyone in our crew thinks very highly of my styling skills. Is it not true?”

She whipped around to prod at her two teammates, who had just been let into the room. Hunk looked doubtful, but Shay nodded her head solemnly.

“Her hair is widely regarded as the most luscious and well-kept of our ship,” Shay declared with all the straight-faced earnestness that could be expected from a rock-person.

“She and Hunk are the only ones who have hair!” Pidge threw her hands up in frustration.

Lance felt himself chuckle. He barely ever got to see the interactions between this group. During his time at the farm, the only occasion when he saw everyone together was on the day they celebrated the end of the war. It hurt a little to think of all the events he’d lost while in Cuba or on his travels.

“How much harm can she really do?” He approached Pidge and ran a hand through her hair, letting the ends curl around his fingers. “I’m sure you’ll look beautiful.”

Pidge eyed him carefully and, though her countenance betrayed nothing, Lance was sure he’d felt her shudder at his touch.

“My hair is too short to do more than stubby ponytails,” she continued her objections. “It would be far from beautiful.”

“I don’t know…” He gave her a wink and, this time, red flooded her cheeks. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing anyone could do to make you not beautiful.”

“I changed my mind.” The interruption froze him in place, hand still on the nape of Pidge’s neck. “Get me out of here,” Romelle said to the other two, ignoring the glare Lance sent her way. “Before I scream.”

Hunk choked out a laugh. “Elle, you haven’t seen the worst of it.”

Lance pulled his hand back quickly. He hadn’t meant to act so impulsively, not in front of their friends at least. The only excuse he could find was that their antics had filled him to the brim with affection and now it spilled out, untamed.

“Don’t you three have a lunch to get to?” Pidge pushed her glasses up, moving away from Lance and further into the room. She stopped by her bedside table and fiddled with a tablet that had been lying there.

Surprisingly, Romelle let her avoidance pass without comment. She gave Pidge a long look, before voicing her agreement. “I’m taking these two to that coffeeshop you and I go from time to time.” There was something strangely emphatic about how she was speaking. “They have a new dessert I want Hunk to try and replicate.”

Pidge tensed, still not looking up from the tablet. “You mean the one we discovered with Allura.”

Lance and Hunk shared a look of confusion and dread. From the way Romelle’s expression twisted, it didn’t seem like that kind of despondency was what she had been trying to evoke. And Shay, bless her heart, appeared to be at a loss and kept shifting her gaze between the four of them, waiting for an explanation.

“Should we go, then?” she asked, uncertain. Romelle gave a quick nod and turned her face away from them. The frown she sported appeared out-of-place in the usually bright Altean.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Pidge had sat down on her bed and her eyes zeroed in on Romelle. “We can talk more then.”

The two girls nodded at each other.

As they traded goodbyes, Hunk sidled up to Lance, giving him an all-enveloping hug. They had talked earlier that morning, but Lance’s impending confession put him out-of-sorts. It was a nice hug, another aspect of the Garrison life that he’d missed: his friend, the support he gave, his unyielding belief on the people he loved.

Hunk held him in the hug for a second. “Don’t let her get away, dude.” They separated, but his friend kept going. “Not like this.”

And then he and Shay were gone.

Romelle stopped at the door. She turned to give Lance a considering look. “You mentioned Allura earlier. Wherever she may be, she would have wanted nothing but your happiness.” Her eyes shifted to something behind him and Lance could almost feel Pidge’s uneasiness at the stare. “That goes for the both of you.”

The door closed behind her, leaving those last words to hang in the air.

“Will you tell me what that was about?” Lance crossed the room to sit by Pidge. He poked her knee until she looked up at him.

“Can I pretend that it was just Romelle being Romelle?” Her eyes were sad as she said this. He almost gave in, but his worry spoke louder than his sympathy.

“I might not know her as you do, but I doubt Romelle would say anything to hurt you.” He grimaced. “Not intentionally.”

“Intentional or not, I just think she’s meddling where she’s not wanted.” The sharpness in her voice made Lance flinch.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I am sick of people acting like they know what’s best for me.” Pidge wrapped her arms around herself. It was such an uncharacteristic gesture for her that Lance wasn’t sure what to say. “I am happy. Who is she to doubt that?”

“Your friend?” he offered, keeping his voice soft.

Pidge normally handled obstacles with a bull-headedness that most feared. She and Romelle had this in common, the fierceness that had sent them travelling through the galaxies to ensure justice was made for their families. His friend couldn’t see the hypocrisy in her claim that the Altean was being meddlesome when Pidge’s own curiosity had often led her to intrude on other people’s matters.

She was a very private person and almost completely indifferent to gossip, true, but she went above and beyond for what did spark her interest.

“Romelle being my friend gives her the right to question my judgement?” Pidge sent him a fulminating look, before turning her eyes away.

“A little.” Lance chuckled to himself, despite receiving an elbow to the side for his answer. “C’mon, don’t act as if you guys didn’t question my actions after the war!”

“Aren’t our circumstances a little different?” Her voice was dry as the Arizona desert. “It’s not like I’m burying myself in work or something. I just…” She forced out a breath. “I’m satisfied with my life. I have friends and my family is safe and I’m respected in the Garrison. What more does she want from me?”

Lance just looked at her. In many ways, Pidge was right. She was still very young, despite having lived through so much, and there would be time for adventures or romance or whatever Romelle had wanted for her.

Still, the notion caused something to ache in his chest. He wanted Romelle’s words to be about him.

Since his return, many of their colleagues had insinuated that there was something more between him and Pidge, and Lance had allowed it. He loved her sincerely, but he’d spent the past year swallowing flirtatious remarks, afraid to scare her off. The rumors about them had seemed like a good way to put the idea into Pidge’s head, even as she grew more and more upset with the comments.

“She mentioned the coffeeshop because she wanted to remind me of a conversation we had when we first went there,” Pidge confessed as the silence stretched between them. “About something I wanted all those years ago.”

“What was it?” Lance frowned at her.

“Nothing that matters. I couldn’t have it then and I can’t have it now.” She didn’t look away from him, this time, and their locked gazes sent electricity down Lance’s spine. There was a heaviness in her eyes that made them look dark, even in the well-lit room.

Lance reached for her hand, pulling her arm away from her middle and onto his lap. He played with her fingers; the ribbon lied forgotten over his thigh.

“Pidgeon, I’ve never known you to give up on what you want.” He smiled at her, feeling a wave of fondness shoot through him. Her hand twisted in his grip, as if she’d meant to close it into a fist.

“I thought I was over it,” Pidge whispered, more to herself than to him.

Lance worked his jaw, hoping he hadn’t misinterpreted the look she was giving him. He could swear her eyes had lowered to his mouth for a fraction of a second. It made his whole body feel hot, like a burning star had settled in his chest and turned the blood in his veins into pure heat.

The implication was not lost in him. Had Pidge liked him back then? Had that affection survived the years of his self-imposed isolation?

“I think –” he started, eyes unable to leave her face – “that some things are worth the wait.” And then, without breaking eye contact, Lance lifted Pidge’s hand to his mouth and kissed her pulse.

The reaction was instantaneous. Color rushed up her complexion, an uneven redness that Lance had taunted her about in their younger years and that now seemed disproportionally attractive. In this bubble of heat they created, Lance felt he could see her brilliance clearer than ever.

Pidge was beautiful, not only because of how she looked, but because of who she was.

Because he was looking so closely, Lance could tell the exact moment her bewilderment dwindled. Her eyes hardened, her mouth curved down.

“Can you not?” she snapped, shaking away his grip to stand up.

“Not what?” Lance stared at her back as fear welled up inside him.

“Not stand so close. Not touch me like that.” Pidge waved her arms around as she spoke. “Not get my hopes up when I know you don’t mean it.”

“How could you possibly think I don’t mean it?” It was his turn to sound indignant.

“Because you’re loverboy Lance! You go after these bombshell women, with their long limbs and their poise…” She struggled to finish her thought, groaning. “I don’t want to be another one of your conquests!”

“Is that what you really think of me?” He felt angry at the possibility. This was Pidge, someone who should know Lance better than the average, Voltron-show-watching acquaintance. She knew he hadn’t really gone into relationships in the past few years, still healing from Allura’s death.

“I don’t know what to think.” She stopped moving, letting her arms hang at her sides. Despite the defeat in her stance, when Pidge looked at him, there was pride in how she held her chin. “I know who I am. I am intelligent and brave and reliable. But I’m not nice,” she said the word with a hint of repulse, “or patient or charming.”

“Of course I know that!” Lance had to hold back a grimace. That hadn’t come out quite right. “But you wanna know what else you are?” He didn’t wait for a response. “You’re the girl who always called me out on my bullshit. The one who has saved my ass more times than I can count, who helped me study for my piloting exams.” He lowered his tone, calming down a little. “You’re the girl who came to meet me at the farm every month to bring all the games I had missed in the US.”

Pidge still didn’t look completely convinced, but she didn’t dodge him when Lance approached.

“The releases always came out late in Varadero,” she interjected with a frown.

He laughed at her excuse. “You came because you wanted to make sure I was okay. Then, after I was done wallowing, you were the one who flew out to meet me in Greece and Korea and Chile.” He took her hand, feeling more confident. “And every time we met up, it was like my body relaxed. Ah,” he acted out, “I’m finally here. With my best friend.”

“That’s just it, Lance. I’m your friend.” Pidge studied his expression with furrowed brows. “You may be feeling – I don’t know! Moved by how close we’ve gotten?” She shook her head. “But I was in love with you for three years before I could accept that you’d only ever have eyes for Allura.”

“We’ve talked about this, Katie.” He kept his grasp on her hand, even as Pidge tried to move away. She had grown uncomfortable with his use of her name. “I did love Allura, but she’s gone. I deserve to go after what I want, too.”

“And what you want is me?” she sounded unconvinced.

“How can you be so smart and still so dense?” Lance threw his head back in frustration. “Everyone sees it. Hunk, Shiro, even Keith!” He sighed. “Even Romelle. Today, she wasn’t making fun of you or scolding you or whatever that exceptional and traumatized brain of yours came up with.” Lance had to hold up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “Romelle was trying to encourage me.”

Pidge stood there and, although she was quiet, her eyes remained sharp. Lance feared that he’d gone too far, but he knew rationally that Pidge had already exposed all she had to say and that it was up to him to erase her doubts.

He raised his unoccupied hand to cup her cheek. Pidge’s eyes fluttered shut.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “How can you be so sure that we will be fine after this?”

Lance leaned down to press a kiss against her eyelashes, then her cheeks, then the corner of her mouth. He heard her inhale sharply and hold the breath. Feeling her reactions to him right under his palm was a kind of inebriation he’d never experienced before.

“I know,” Lance let his lips drag against her skin, “because I’ve committed myself to seeing you happy.” He put some space between them so that he could look into her eyes. The flushed vibrancy of Pidge’s complexion made an image that stupefied him. “Even if that means I turn away right now.”

Her hands snaked up his chest to rest on Lance’s neck, pulling him down. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he couldn’t resist asking, a smile tugging at his lips. Pidge rolled her eyes but didn’t push away when Lance rested his forehead against hers.

“Don’t go.” She was the one to kiss the corner of his mouth, now. “Stay.”

They met in the middle.

Lance felt her hands curl into the collar of his shirt as they kissed, her lips pushing softly against his. The touch was unbearably tender, starting a tingle that ran up and down his back. In return, he used the hand that wasn’t on her cheek to hold Pidge against him. He drew circles on the fabric of her blouse, thankful that it was fine enough to feel the give of her skin underneath.

Pidge’s lips moved slowly on his, drawing out the sensation of that first contact. It was Lance who could no longer curb his want and he licked into her mouth, once, twice, until she was chasing his tongue with her own. Pidge sighed into the kiss, dragging a hand down over his chest.

He’d had kisses before – soft and passionate and frenzied and meaningless –, but the feel of Pidge’s body against him and the affection Lance held for her had ignited a spark inside of him that spread heat all over. It was the star, back again, now that there were no more secrets between them.

His smile broke the kiss and they parted, panting.

“So…” Lance let both of his hands rest on her waist. The smugness that grew within him must have shown in his expression, because Pidge looked immediately on guard. “When did you fall for me?” He traced a line down her back with his thumb. “I’m pretty sure I heard something about liking me for three years.”

Pidge pushed at his chest, walking him backwards. “Not telling.”

“Can’t I convince you?” He was trying to go for seductive, but the girl merely laughed.

“Don’t you have more pressing matters to focus on?” She continued to move them until Lance’s legs hit the edge of the bed. He blinked down at her.

“Think you can distract me?” He shot her a smirk. Despite the more sensual undertone it carried, challenges weren’t new between them. It comforted Lance that their dynamics had adjusted so easily to this new aspect of their relationship.

Pidge gave a final push, making him sit down on the bed. He had to brace himself against the mattress.

“I’m sure I can think of something,” she said, sarcasm thick on her voice. And then she climbed into Lance’s lap, a knee on each side of his thighs.

He felt his throat go dry and swallowed instinctively. The new position put her mouth just a little higher than his, making Lance tilt his head back to capture her lips.

“You know…” His voice came out strangled. “I always did like the way you think.”

When Pidge leaned over him, the feel of her hips lowering on his almost made him choke. A more conscious part of his brain was not surprised by her boldness, but it did nothing to calm his stammering heart.

“Just shut up, loverboy,” she muttered against his lips, even as their smiles made it difficult to really get into the kiss. Laughter bubbled up in him and Lance continued to kiss Pidge as her own giggles erupted. There was joy in her mouth and in his chest and in every point of contact between them.

“Oh, I’d forgotten about this.” Lance picked up the green piece of fabric that peaked out from behind a metal plaque.

Pidge glanced up at him, but her attention quickly shifted back to the code she’d been working on.

“Mom left a bunch of books for Romelle here. I think that’s where the ribbons are coming from.”

Lance smiled. He loved how casually they’d fallen into their relationship. As a young boy, he’d fantasized about girlfriends who fawned over him and his accomplishments, but, after so many years as an intergalactic authority, he had learned to appreciate how domestic they had become.

On moments like this, when it was just the two of them behind a closed door, each preoccupied with their own responsibilities, it was their friendship that he valued the most.

“They’re cute,” he exclaimed happily.

Pidge gave him a look of suspicion. “I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m serious!” Lance squirmed on the bed until he sidled up to her. “My first love also liked ribbons. It’s one of the things I remember the most about her, the green ribbon in her hair.”

“Are you comparing me to your first girlfriend?” Pidge sounded completely done with him and Lance couldn’t really blame her. “Even I know that’s a no-no in a relationship.”

“I’m not comparing anything!” He waved his hands defensively.

Pidge knocked their shoulders together in teasing. They’d only been together for two weeks, but Lance doubted he would ever see her truly jealous, not due to his mindless chatter at least. She and Hunk had told him that Pidge had shown signs of jealousy during their time in the Castle, but Lance couldn’t recall them for the life of him.

It was endlessly frustrating.

“You’re lucky I like you.” Pidge lifted his arm and put it around her, burying into Lance’s side.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” He ran his fingers up and down her skin, feeling the goosebumps that formed at his touch. “Fate was kind when it put you in my life.”

Lance dipped down to nibble at her ear, then trailed kisses over the column of her neck. Pidge giggled in his arms, ticklish and embarrassed at her reactions.

“Down, boy.” She pressed a finger to his nose, pushing him back a bit. He pouted at her, trying to entice Pidge into another kiss. “Are you gonna be this tacky every time I say something sarcastic?”

“For as long as you keep finding it attractive,” he retorted. Lance knew he was being conceited, but he couldn’t help it. There was no ego-boost quite like the sounds his girlfriend made when she was underneath him in one of their beds, mouths and hands fervent in their paths.

In a quick movement, he’d captured the tip of her finger between his teeth, biting playfully. It sent Pidge into a bout of laughter, which had her pushing Lance’s face away as he continued to pepper kisses on her palms, her arms, anywhere he could reach.

“You’re so freaking silly, sometimes!” Pidge draped her legs across his, locking him in place. “Why are you trying to catch my attention, anyway?”

Lance leaned back against the headboard, putting his hands on her calves. She was still in her pajamas; an oversized t-shirt and blue shorts that reached mid-thigh. It was more skin than Pidge normally showed, just another sign of how comfortable she was with him.

“I’m a little bored.” He scrunched up his nose, knowing that wasn’t a reason Pidge would accept. She tried to kick him on the arm, but Lance held on. “Hey! I’m done with the flight plans and you’ve been on your laptop since I got here! I’ve been good!”

“You just tried to make out with me,” she pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I was being good and now I want attention,” Lance corrected shamelessly.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at him, but closed her laptop and settled it next to them on the bed. She scooted a bit closer, until she was sitting on Lance’s lap with her arms around his neck.

“So quiet,” she taunted. One of her nails scraped just underneath his ear, making Lance groan. “And sensitive.”

“You’re a little devil.” He dropped his head on her shoulder.

“I finally found a way to shut you up.” Pidge’s carefree laughter rang right in his ear. Since their days as students, it never failed to bring him a sense of accomplishment. No one could distract Pidge quite like him. “I’ll use it how I see fit.”

She pressed a quick kiss to his nape.

Disgruntled, Lance straightened his posture and caught her lips more firmly, tracing the roof of her mouth with his tongue. Pidge responded with no hesitance and her hands dug into his shoulders to hold him in.

Despite the ease with which they fit, this was as far as Lance had tried to go. Kisses and small touches and gasps that left his entire body burning. Although Pidge had gone on a few dates while he was away, Lance was achingly aware that she was still somewhat inexperienced.

More than that, he knew two weeks could not erase insecurities that were born from years watching him flirt with other girls. He felt ashamed of how crass he might have been in front of Pidge, but he had been young and stupid and copying behaviors from men he’d once admired.

He was thankful for his teammates. Lance knew he was a better man for having known Shiro’s integrity and Hunk’s warmth and Keith’s honesty. Coran had shown him there was pride in being genuine. Allura had taught him about the reality of love. Most of all, he was thankful for Pidge and how she’d kept him in line.

They parted slowly, and Lance surged forward one last time to give a peck to Pidge’s lips. She smiled in amusement.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” She ran her fingers through his hair. “We don’t have to be at Shiro’s until dinner.”

Lance checked his watch. They still had a few hours, but he wanted to get something to eat before then. He’d come into Pidge’s room at noon to find she had just woken up, and his girlfriend had refused to go out before she made some progress on a program for Chip. She’d devoured a bag of chips while she worked, but that was not real food.

“We should grab a late lunch somewhere.” Lance disentangled himself from Pidge, much to her discontentment. “And then I need to get you some fruit or granola bars or something for this room.”

“If I need anything, I usually go to the cafeteria or one of the vending machines.” She shrugged, but accepted the hand Lance offered to pull her up.

“And you have the audacity to question my eating habits.” He sent her a sidelong glare.

“You might be able to cook, but it doesn’t count when the only thing you actually prepare is pasta.” Pidge continued to rifle through the clothes on the floor. Then, not finding anything she wanted, she moved to the wardrobe. “Before entering your pantry, I had only ever seen so much tomato sauce on supermarket shelves.”

Lance wanted to defend himself, but Pidge chose this moment to take the edge of her t-shirt and pull it out. It left her in only a bra and shorts, a sight that Lance couldn’t look away from. Her breasts were small but proportional to her petite frame and her skin was even fairer over her chest, ribs and stomach. The overall effect had Lance choking on air.

Pidge laughed as she pulled a dress over her head.

“That was on purpose!” Lance accused, once he’d found his voice.

“You wouldn’t take off my shirt yesterday, so I thought I would give you a taste, then leave you hanging. See how you like it.” She went to look herself over in the bathroom mirror.

“I was being a gentleman!” He puffed out his cheeks. Pidge loved to make things difficult for him, didn’t she?

“Lance, I love you.” She momentarily turned away from her reflection to look at him. “I have trusted you with my life and my heart. Do you really think I don’t trust you with my body?”

When Pidge said things like that, it always sounded completely logical, but relationships weren’t something one could rationalize their way through.

Lance went to stand behind her, resting his hands on the line where her grey dress flared out. Pidge looked very sensible and very beautiful in the high neckline, with how it left her arms exposed.

“I think I want you to believe how much I love you,” he answered, turning her around, “before we do anything you haven’t done yet.”

Her amber eyes were narrowed as she looked at him, but Lance didn’t back down. She eventually heaved a sigh and he could tell he’d won the argument.

“I can’t believe I’m dating a sap.”

“Hey, you knew who I was before!” Lance let her walk past him and back to the bed. “You signed up for this, Pidgeon!”

“Are you ready to go?” She pulled on her sneakers, glaring at him half-heartedly. At her side, Lance caught sight of the green ribbon again.

“Sure, but I think you’re missing something.” At Pidge’s look of confusion, he marched up to her and picked up the ribbon, waving it in the air.

“Really?” she deadpanned at him.

Lance chuckled, already gathering her hair with the fabric. “I just want to see how it looks.” He tied a bow on top of Pidge’s head, snickering. “That really is adorable.”

She frowned up at him and raised a hand to feel what he’d done, then groaned.

“That’s not how I used to wear it!” Pidge protested, already fumbling with the style until the fabric slipped down her short hair.

“Show me, then.” Lance propped his chin on his hand.

Pidge huffed, but laid the ribbon across her hair like a headband, tying a knot on one side and letting the excess fabric hang loose. “There!” she stated with a flourish. “Much less childish.”

“Huh.” Lance stared at her in puzzlement. “That’s… Huh.”

“Does it look that bad?” She patted at her hair. “I haven’t done this since I was thirteen.”

“No!” His answer was hurried. “It just… looks exactly how Italian girl wore it.”

Pidge blinked at him. “Italian girl?”

“My first love. I think I told you about her.” He couldn’t really shake the familiarity of the green ribbon against her reddish-brown hair. “We met in this Space Camp I went to in Miami. Ronie had a research position there and she dragged me along.”

“You’re talking about the Bouman Aeronautics Research Institute.”

Now it was just getting freaky. Pidge, too, looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Yeah…” Lance scratched the back of his neck. “How do you know that?”

“Because my father was a lecturer and Matt was also in the research program.” She sounded just as bewildered as he was. “You’re Spanish boy.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. Now that they were talking about it, Lance could see the similarities that he’d missed so far. It was no wonder he’d always liked Pidge’s eyes; he could still remember how they shone in the sunlight.

“Are you actually Italian girl?” He sat down, still in shock.

“I cannot believe that we’ve known each other this whole time.” Pidge threw her head back, laughing. He soon joined her. The situation was just ridiculous.

“And you didn’t want me to believe in fate.” Lance grinned at her. Pidge still wore the green ribbon in her hair and the color contrasted nicely against her features. Maybe it was because he still remembered how she had been as Italian girl, but the image made him feel unexpectedly soft.

“Oh good grief,” she exclaimed suddenly, eyes wide, “I’m the reason you believe in fate!” He burst out laughing again while Pidge swatted at his arm. “It’s not funny! It’s actually awful!”

“Well,” Lance said once he was able to control himself, “at least you can stop thinking you’re not my type. I fell for you twice!”

“You fell for a pretty girl in a dress that you met when you were a child.” Pidge snorted, standing up to grab her purse. Lance clutched her hand with gentle fingers and stopped her from turning away.

“I fell for a smart girl who helped me realize my worth. Twice.” He winked. “Though it certainly didn’t hurt that she was pretty.”

Pidge shook her head disapprovingly, but still leaned down to kiss him, lips moving in a tempting pace against his. When she pulled back, Lance tried to follow.

He felt dazed by their discovery, but not completely blind-sighted. Pidge had always intrigued him, even right at the start. It had taken time for Lance to recognize the feelings he developed for her, like it had with Italian girl, and then he was already in the middle of it, too into her to stop himself from acting stupid.

It might have been the quintessence stored in him or just wishful thinking, but he thought Allura, too, would be cheering for them.

Pidge pulled at his hand until Lance stood up. She looked a bit red, a bit breathless.

“We’ll finish this later, you Casanova.” And she sealed the promise with another kiss.

#plance #pidgance #flirtyrobot #lidge #cyance #voltron #pidge gunderson #katie holt #voltron legendary defender #vld lance #lance mcclain #vld #vld fanfiction #vld syl verse

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juliandev0rak · 3 years

Text

Apron Strings

Lysander visits her shop and Beatrice does all she can to keep him there.

a little continuation of the Vianan series

characters: Beatrice Viano my apprentice and Lysander Lonan (@leila-of-ravens’ oc)

pairing: Beatrice Viano x Lysander Lonan / Vianan

words: ~1760

warnings: will the pining ever end

read about their first meeting written by @leila-of-ravens

part 2 , part 3

It’s been a long day at the shop, but Beatrice has to make money somehow. She spends all day wishing she was at the palace library instead, but her need to be responsible for a few days takes over. If she’s being honest with herself, she misses a certain research partner more than she misses the actual research.

Lysander is returning to Umbra soon and their time together is quickly ticking away. She harbors no expectations that anything will happen between them, she’s barely recognized her own feelings for him so she certainly can’t expect him to have any similar feelings towards her. They’re friends, and that’s really all she can hope for. Still, her mind wanders the well worn path of Lysander all day, tracing along the curve of his jaw, the lines of his hands reaching for a book.

It’s a busy day at least, her hands stay busy despite her mind being miles away. By closing time she’s wondering if she can still make it to the palace before Lysander’s done for the day, maybe she can get a few hours of research in. The store finally emptied of customers, she moves to start closing for the day. The tinkling bell of the shop door rings to alert her that someone’s entered and she sighs, she should’ve locked up first to avoid extra customers.

“Beatrice?” A familiar voice calls. She immediately whirls around to face the figure by the door, smoothing down her apron.

“Lysander! What are you doing all the way over in Center City?” Beatrice smiles, unable to hide her excitement at seeing him suddenly standing in front of her. He stands with his hands in his coat pockets, looking handsome as always. It’s unfair, Beatrice thinks, how he always manages to look like a tragic prince from a fantasy novel.

“I was visiting Leila, she gave me directions to your shop.” He explains, taking a step further into the shop. “I apologize if you were about to close for the day, I’ll let you get back to it.”

“Oh no, don’t leave!” Beatrice takes a step closer to him, voice rising despite her best efforts to seem calm and collected. “That is, you can stay if you like. You can take a look around while I close up.”

“If you’re certain my presence won’t be an imposition?” He asks, already inspecting the labels on the shelf of bottles next to him.

“Of course not! I’m glad you decided to stop by.” Beatrice says encouragingly as she unties her work apron. She’s too focused on his pensive face as he looks around the shop and before she notices, she’s tied her apron strings into an impossible knot. “Oh dear..” she mutters, twisting around to try to see the tangle better.

“Do you need assistance?” Lysander appears beside her and she startles at his proximity.

“Oh um, I seem to have tied myself into quite a knot.” She turns her back to him to show the mangled apron strings. Without saying anything he steps towards her and reaches for the knot, his nimble fingers making quick work of it. This is the closest they’ve ever been, she can feel his breath on the back of her neck and the gentle tug against her waist as he unknots the apron.

“There.” Lysander says, pulling the final knot out. He steps away and she turns around to face him again.

“Thank you, that was a mess.” Beatrice laughs, pulling the apron off. He’s watching her face closely and she wills herself not to blush under his gaze.

“I brought you a book.” He reaches into his coat pocket and retrieves a small leather bound book.”I think you’ll find it interesting, and as you won’t be able to return to the library at present I thought you might need something to read.”

“How thoughtful! Thank you Lyse.” She smiles, not noticing the way his nickname slips out until it’s too late, a name she isn’t sure she’s allowed to call him. “Oh, I mean Lysander.”

“You can call me Lyse, if you prefer. Leila does.” Lysander holds the book out towards her, giving her a slight smile.

“Well Leila’s your sister, I wouldn’t want to presume to use a nickname.” Beatrice flushes, accepting the book. It does look like something she’d be interested in, the autobiography of a teacher from somewhere up north.

“It’s fine, really.” He replies, his hands disappearing back into his pockets. “I thought of you when I saw that book.”

“Thank you for thinking of me. I wish I could be with you instead of stuck in the shop all day.” She says, then immediately adds, “That is, I wish I could be in the library, researching.”

“Do you like running the shop?” Lysander asks, turning to inspect one of the fancy astrolabes hanging from the ceiling.

“Sometime! It’s nice to use my magic to help others, but I mostly keep the shop out of nostalgia. It was my aunt’s shop.” Beatrice explains. The silence stretches as he continues to look around with fascination and she wonders what to do next. She remembers her aunt’s old mantra, when in doubt, have some tea. “Would you like a cup of tea or anything? I live in the apartment upstairs, when I’m not staying at the palace out of convenience.”

“Thank you, but I just came from Leila’s shop so I’ve already had enough tea for the day.” Lysander replies politely.

“Of course,” She searches for another reason to keep him here a bit longer, now that he’s here she’s realized just how much she’d missed seeing him today. “Oh, actually I think I have a few books you might like as well. I can go get them if you’d like?”

It’s not a lie, she had spent most of the morning staring at her overflowing bookcase and wondering which books he might like from her collection. She heads towards the stairs and Lysander looks up from the herbs he’s inspecting to watch her.

“Sure, I’ll take a look.” He says, following her up the stairs. She opens the door to her apartment, trying not to focus on the man standing only a few inches behind her. They walk in together and he takes in his surroundings, looking around the small living room.

“I’m sure it’s not quite what you’re used to, Leila’s talked about your family manor before.” Beatrice laughs, she’s not insecure about her less-than wealthy background but she wants to put him at ease.

“I think it suits you, it’s very tidy.” He says, taking a step towards her bookcase which takes up most of the room.

“Well thank you!” She replies, stepping over to join him. “Hey, I might not have a manor, but I do have manners, would you like me to take your coat?”

He surprises her with a laugh, a real laugh that makes her want to join in.

“That was an awful joke, Beatrice.” Lysander smiles, turning his attention back to the bookshelf.

“Oh yeah? Why did you laugh then, if it was so bad?” She teases, glad he’s turned away and can’t see her face turn a hundred shades of red.

“Maybe I was laughing at you, not the joke.” Lysander replies, turning to smile at her again over his shoulder. She’s losing track of how many times that’s happened now, but it still makes her catch her breath a little every time.

“Hey! I thought you were a Lord, is that any way to treat a lady?” Beatrice laughs.

“Well you’re not a Lady, at least not that I know of.” He responds matter of factly. “That is, you don’t have the title of Lady, I’m not insinuating that you’re not ladylike.”

“Ahh so he’s a gentleman after all.” She grins, her voice laced with sarcasm.

“Would you mind if I borrowed this book?” Lysander asks, holding up a book which happens to be one of her favorite novels.

“Of course! I didn’t think you were the novel type.” Beatrice replies, “That’s one of my favorites.”

“I thought it might be, from the worn edges.” He comments, flipping through the slightly tattered pages.

“Yes, I apologize. I wasn’t so careful with books as a child.” She says, chagrined. “You might also find a few of my annotations throughout, hopefully none of them are too embarrassing.”

“I look forward to reading your writing as well, then.” Lysander says, setting the book down on the side table next to him. Beatrice reaches for another book she thinks he’ll like at the same moment he reaches for it and their hands brush. She pulls away right as he pulls away which makes her lose her balance and nearly topple over into him. He reaches a hand out to her shoulder to steady her, but it does nothing to steady her pulse.

“Thank you.” She murmurs. “Great minds think alike! I think you’d really enjoy that one.”

“I think these two will suffice.” Lysander says, holding up the books. “I’d better return to the palace, there’s still quite a bit of work to do.”

“Alright, but you’re welcome to borrow more books any time.” She smiles, following him towards the door. They walk down to the shop in silence and stand staring at each other in the half light by the door. She thinks she should probably say something like “goodbye” or “please stay” but the words don’t come out.

“You’ve never put your hair up like that before.” He comments suddenly, and she’s taken aback. She certainly hadn’t expected that.

“I put it up when I’m making potions, it gets in the way otherwise.” Beatrice replies, awkwardly raising a hand to smooth back her undoubtedly messy hairstyle.

“It suits you.” Lysander says, and she, predictably, blushes in response. “Well, goodnight then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I won’t be back in the library yet, I’m planning to spend another day in the shop.” She reminds him.

“Leila wants to stop by the shop to see you, and I said I’d go with her.” Lysander explains, tucking the books under his arm. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Until tomorrow.” Beatrice says, watching as he opens the door to leave. He turns around one last time before he closes the door fully and smiles at her. Beatrice wonders if she should commission a painting of that smile so she can look at it forever.

She leans back against the door after he’s gone, catching her breath. Leila was right, she is in deep.

#vianan #another fic where nothing happens but eye contact and brief hand touches #and i stand by that #vianan puts the slow into slow burn #there was almost a piano scene in this but i decided to save that hehe #beatrice x lysander #beatrice viano #lysander lonan #apprentice beatrice

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chaoticchickadee · 3 years

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Good Things Happen, Week 1

Hello there! Since I’ve been writing (mostly) consistently recently I thought it would be fun to do a little challenge. Every Friday, I’ll be posting a one-shot prompt fill from this bingo card. I’m going to try to do this until I fill the card, provided it gets good reception/I continue to enjoy doing it. You’re welcome to send in specific prompts, I will write for any Star Wars fandom you see on my blog and most characters. I’m more comfortable with gen at the moment, but I can try ships as well!

Starting out for week one is “good hair day” with Padmé and the handmaidens, circa Queen’s Peril novel.

Show your support-- reblog!

Read it here on AO3

Padmé hadn’t expected how exhausting wearing the Queen’s headdresses all day could be. Sure, she’d known during her candidacy that they were heavy and hard to balance, but knowing and experiencing were two different things. Rabé did her best to make them as comfortable as possible, but even with the braids and the styling gel her hair was a mess by evening. It was unimportant, really, but Padmé missed the feeling of her long, tightly-curled locks flowing freely all day, not just in the evenings before bed. Still, Padmé would gladly suffer frizzy and unkempt hair for the rest of her life if it meant she could make a difference as Naboo’s Queen.

Sabé had noticed Padmé staring at her, and it hadn’t taken long to figure out why. It wasn’t her that Padmé was staring at, but her hair. Padmé had lamented what the royal headdresses had done to her beautiful hair many times, and while it was said in a light-hearted, joking manner, there was a little bit of truth to it. Padmé had gotten very good at hiding her tells and insecurities, but Sabé would always be able to read her. She shared her observations with the other handmaidens, and they decided they would try to ease Padmé’s discomfort, at least as much as they could. Eager to find a solution, they put their heads together and did what they do best-- scheme.

It was a long day in the court, and all Padmé wanted to do was flop onto her bed and not move for at least three days. Her handmaidens were suspiciously quiet on the walk from the throne room to the royal apartments, but Padmé was secretly grateful for it. She didn’t think she had enough energy to walk in the elaborate wardrobe of the Queen and hold a conversation at the same time. Soon, they arrived at the apartments, and Eirtaé quietly opened the door. Once inside, the handmaidens quickly stripped her of the gown. As soon as it was off, Padmé sat on the stool in the center of the common room, and they began working on her paint while Rabé took her place behind her to work on her hair. Padmé sighed when she felt the headdress being lifted off of her, relaxing further when Rabé’s gentle fingers began undoing her braids. Instead of putting her hair into a loose braid for the night, Rabé accepted a bowl from Saché and began working some sort of goop into her hair. Padmé sent a questioning glance towards Saché but didn’t press any further when she didn’t get an answer. She closed her eyes as Rabé massaged her scalp, relishing in the simple pleasure of being cared for by her friends.

When she was done, Rabé twisted Padmé’s hair up and secured it with a clip. After quietly instructing Padmé to rinse it out after ten minutes, the girls settled down to read and unwind, as was their nightly routine. They talked about a variety of subjects, from the latest palace gossip to speculating how many heart attacks they’d given Captain Panaka that day. It was Padmé’s favorite part of her day, relaxing with her friends and chatting about nothing and everything, enjoying being in each other's company. Padmé dutifully excused herself after ten minutes to rinse her hair and clean up. She lingered a little longer than strictly necessary, tension bleeding from her body under the warm spray.

Shutting off the water, Padmé stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. She ran a brush through her hair once more, surprised by the lack of any difficult tangles. Her hair felt uncharacteristically smooth and soft when she went to braid it. Whatever Rabé had put into her hair, it had worked wonders. Padmé spent a minute staring at herself in the mirror, petting her hair in awe. She shook her head and started to braid, but she was still unable to wipe the goofy grin off of her face.

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As much as she loved her work as Queen, Padmé was grateful for the quiet day. For once, there were no meetings she needed to attend or appearances Amidala needed to make, so she didn’t bother to put on the Queen’s regalia. Officially, Queen Amidala would be spending the day in her quarters reviewing documents while her handmaidens were out running errands in the city. If, perhaps, there was so much that needed to be done that it required all of the girls, including the young page Padmé, well, who were they to shirk their duties? Surprisingly, it hadn’t taken much to convince Captain Panaka to allow the excursion. He seemed a little more at ease with their adventures now that they kept him in the loop for some of their schemes.

They’d opted against hoods for the day, as they were less likely to be recognized when they weren’t near the Queen. The central market of Theed was already bustling by the time the girls arrived at about noon. They’d meant to get there earlier, but decided to indulge themselves in their morning routine, taking time to do their hair in fun, elaborate hairstyles and go a little crazy with their makeup. Their morning was full of giggles and goofing off. It was a rare opportunity for them to be just teenage girls, not a head of state and her terrifyingly competent handmaidens. For the first time since her election, Padmé was out in public without the royal wardrobe. She hadn’t realized she missed the common, everyday activities of normal life until now. Being able to effortlessly move through the crowd without so much as a second glance was now foreign, but Padmé was grateful for it.

The girls wandered from stall to stall, eyeing the merchandise and occasionally making a purchase. Yané snagged a beautiful pair of night pearl earrings from an up and coming artisan, using most of her allowance for the day. They all teased her about using her money on one thing, but they really were a beautiful pair of earrings, well worth the price. None of the items for sale had really interested Padmé, so she used her share to buy them all a modest but tasty lunch after a few hours of meandering around the market.

Almost every time the girls approached a stall, patrons and vendors complimented Padmé’s hair, peppering her with questions about her hair care routine or tricks for styling it. Padmé deferred most of the questions to Rabé, reeling at the attention she drew. She’d gotten used to being in the public’s eye when she began her candidacy, but that had been as Amidala. It was new to draw the attention of passersby as just Padmé, but she enjoyed it much more. It felt more authentic, which in turn made her feel even more connected to the public and her people, even if they weren’t aware they were speaking to the Queen.

Once the entire market had been combed through, the girls headed back to the palace. The sun had started to set, and the girls could feel the excitement of the day catching up to them. When they’d gotten far enough away from the market that the streets were practically deserted, Padmé finally asked the question that had been on her mind all day. “So, how long were you planning my unusually good hair day?” The handmaidens stopped and looked at each other, silently discussing the best way to answer. When an explanation and a speaker was chosen, they turned back to Padmé with easy grins on their faces. “Not long. A few weeks ago I noticed you staring wistfully at me.” A couple of giggles interrupted, but quickly settled. “Once I realized you were staring at my hair, I told the others and we concocted a plan. Once we had the supplies, we just had to wait for a time we could get you out without being Amidala,” Sabé finished. Her rundown was clinical and professional, but Padmé could hear the affection in her voice. Saché piped up next, “You have a lot on your plate, we just wanted to do something nice for you.” Padmé’s heart melted at their words and the care in their eyes. She drew them into a hug, not caring how sappy and public it was. “I didn’t expect to get close to you all, but I’m so glad I did. You’re the best friends I could ever ask for, thank you.” She said. Though her words were a bit muffled, they all heard her loud and clear. “We’re glad to have you too,” Eirtaé responded. “Even if it means I won’t be the youngest accomplished engineer of Naboo.” She added. They laughed at her quip as they broke away from the hug. “It’s getting late, we should get back to the palace soon or Panaka will send out a search patrol,” Yané sighed. They all hummed their agreement and turned to start walking again. Padmé cautiously linked her arm with Rabé, and the rest of the group enthusiastically followed suit. With their arms linked and smiles on their faces, they continued their trek back to the palace.

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tsuki-chibi · 4 years

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Blueberry Peach (Adrien AUGreste) Part 10: Lazy day

Or read it on AO3: Blueberry Peach

Also find the other parts of the series AO3: Fruitful verse

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At first, Chloé stuck close enough to the photography session that Adrien and Marinette could see her at all times. She didn’t know Marinette well, but she knew Adrien well enough to know that he was very apprehensive about taking off his miraculous. It stood to reason that Marinette would feel the same way. And, considering that both of them had only just got their miraculous back, that made sense.

“Alright!” Vincent called out. “Adrien, Marinette, I need something more playful. You’re young, you’re in love – make the camera ache for you!”

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other in that way that meant they were communicating telepathically. Chloé didn’t know if they were aware of just how often they did that, but they did it a lot. So much so that sometimes she was genuinely astonished that no one had caught on to them yet.

It just proved how oblivious people could be if you asked Chloé.

Finally, the two of them seemed to come to a consensus. Adrien took Marinette’s right hand and then gently laid his free hand on her hip. He pulled her closer, and for a moment the two of them just stood there gazing into each other’s eyes.

Vincent practically rubbed his hands in glee and attacked his camera, clicking away.

Chloé swallowed the lump in her throat and tightened her grip on the miraculous until her fingers turned white.

She had always known that she and Adrien weren’t soulmates, of course. But a little part of her had hoped that maybe, in the end, that wouldn’t matter. There were plenty of couples out there who weren’t soulmated pairs. It wasn’t uncommon.

Adrien was sweet, and kind, and loyal. She might not really love him that way, but he had never once turned away from Chloé, not really. Not like everyone else. So she’d hoped –

But now there was Marinette, and they were more than just soulmates. They were partners. Ladybug and Chat Noir. Nothing would ever come between those two.

The realization was a bitter one no matter how many times it crossed Chloé’s mind. Yet she knew she had to come to terms with it. There was no sense in being jealous over Marinette. All that would do was drive Adrien away, and even now that was the last thing that Chloé wanted to do. More than anything, she did not want to lose Adrien’s love and friendship.

That was why she’d been trying, sort of, to make friends with Marinette. It was hard. Chloé wasn’t very good at being nice, and she knew that Marinette didn’t really like her. But for some reason, Marinette seemed to be trying too. So that made it a little bit easier.

But seeming them together, looking so cozy and happy…

It was a jab right to the part of Chloé’s heart that knew no one would ever look at her the way that Adrien was looking at Marinette.

No one wanted her like that. No one wanted her at all.

“Yes! Yes!” Vincent cried out enthusiastically. “Now… you’re having a lazy day. Just the two of you. No one is watching!”

Her stomach flipped as Marinette reached up and lightly ran her fingers down Adrien’s cheek. Her index finger lingered on the curve of his jaw, then she tapped him playfully on the nose.

Adrien laughed and, in retaliation, pulled her forward; he dipped her backwards over his arm, and it was Marinette’s turn to laugh.

Vincent was practically crying with joy.

Chloé couldn’t watch them anymore. Her chest was painfully tight as she looked away. For the first time, she realized that her mother was standing alone a short distance away. Audrey had one hand propped on her hip and was talking angrily into her cell phone in rapid-fire English. Judging by the wide birth that everyone was giving her, Audrey was probably in the middle of firing someone else.

She hesitated, glancing over at Adrien and Marinette. Vincent was calling for a wardrobe change now, and over-eager interns were swarming the two of them and ushering them into the backroom. From previous experience, Chloé knew that a wardrobe change usually involved a hairstyle change too. So it might be as much as fifteen minutes before they came out.

Rather than follow and hang around making a nuisance of herself in an already cramped space, she drifted closer to her mother.

Audrey didn’t even notice.

“ – I’m telling you how I want it! You’re fired!” she spat into the phone in French before hanging up.

“Mom?” Chloé ventured cautiously.

Audrey ignored her, huffing under her breath and dialing another number. She barked, “You better figure out how to get me a new personal assistant within the hour!” into the phone before hanging up again.

“Mom,” Chloé said again, a little louder this time. Her heart was thudding against her ribs. Maybe this was a mistake.

No, no ‘maybe’ about it. This was a mistake. Last night, Audrey had been in a ferociously bad mood. She’d been ranting about Gabriel Agreste – apparently he had slighted her in some way. It didn’t look like her mood had improved as she finally turned to look at Chloé, because it took a few seconds for her to even register that Chloé was standing there.

“What? Oh, Clara,” Audrey said, eyes skating dismissively over Chloé.

“It’s Chloé,” Chloé corrected automatically.

“Right, whatever,” Audrey muttered, attention already drifting back to her phone.

Chloé pointedly cleared her throat. “Mom, I have a gift for you,” she said. “Maybe after this is over, you could come back with me to the hotel and I could give it to you?” She had spent some time this morning debating on bringing the gift along, before finally deciding that giving it to Audrey in a public setting probably wasn’t the best idea.

“A gift? What is it?” Audrey said sharply.

“Earrings,” Chloé said. There was no surprising Audrey Bourgeois. You had to tell her straight up what you were doing so she could decide if it was worth her time. Chloé’s chest tightened further as Audrey gave a derisive laugh.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Claire. Your fashion is terrible. What makes you think I would want anything you bought me?”

Chloé opened and closed her mouth, speechless.

“I mean – just look at how you’re dressed. Yellow, black, and white? Yellow is so out this year.” Audrey exhaled noisily and shook her head. “Absolutely ridiculous.”

“I – I got them just for you,” Chloé said weakly. “They’re not – I –” They were delicate sapphires strung up in silver cords, soft and dainty and expensive. Even Chloé’s father had balked at the price, but Chloé had insisted. She’d thought they were exactly Audrey’s style. But she couldn’t seem to find the words to explain that.

“I don’t want anything from you. Just get away from me; I don’t have the time to waste,” Audrey snapped at her before raising her voice. “Carlos! Get over here!”

Numbly, Chloé stood there in silence as Audrey stalked away. The pain in her chest was such that she could hardly breathe around it.

“What?!” Audrey’s voice was a shrill shriek. “He did what?!”

“Audrey, please,” a man was begging. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that –”

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Chloé’s attention.

For there, over the far side of the building, came a purple butterfly.

#miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #audrey bourgeois #adrien agreste #adrien augreste #marinette dupain-cheng #style queen #blueberry peach

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oneyeartoparty · 3 years

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Meeting At Long Last - Chapter 3: Setting Sail

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24753607/chapters/63739450

As Lily pushed open the cabin door, she felt the rush of cold air filter through the gaps in her armour. She only removed her armour when necessary, and rarely outdoors, and so the brief feeling made brought for the nostalgia of the sun on her skin and the wind dancing through her hair as it had during her carefree days spent on Dawn Island.

Coming out of her thoughts, she observed the man in front of her. Thatch was a near spitting image of his wanted poster, right down to the pompadour hairstyle and goatee. What had changed was subtle and had come naturally with age. New wrinkles and age spots had appeared that were once not present and prominent scars had faded into nearly invisible intents in the skin. Still, his age didn’t dull his warm smile, nor remove the friendliness from his eyes. If anything, it only served to enhance his friendly demeanor, evoking the feel of wise older figure from a fairy tale that helps the hero during their quest.

“Hey Lily, I’m Thatch! Fourth Division Commander and head cook. It’s good to meet the sister Ace has talked about so often. I’ve brought you some breakfast, I figured you might be hungry after last nights events.”

Bringing his hands forward, Lily saw he held a wooden platter. Across its surface were morsels, all different, but exquisite in their way. Much of what was present she recognised, but others were strange; a neon green star with a scattering of pepper atop, a piece of blue-tinted fish and oddly what she thought resembled a cherry blossom petal.

As strange as some of the food was, the care put into making the food was evident, and she knew it had been some time since her last meal. Taking the platter in her hands, she grabbed the piece of fish. Carefully lifting the bottom of the mask, she felt a slight resistance from the straps that held it in place as she placed it in her mouth.

It was delicious, undeniably so. Even with her non-existence palette, every bite was a joy.

“This is scrumptious!”

“I’m glad you like it. I made a mix of different things, so you were bound to like something here.”

Satisfied that Lily had liked his cooking, Thatch took the opportunity to hop onto the railing, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knee before addressing her again.

“Come sit up here with me. Its more comfortable than the floor and we get a table out of it.”

“Are you sure the platter won’t fall off? I don’t want to waste it.”

“Don’t worry! The wind and sea are calm. I’d be more worried about Ace returning and inhaling it.”

Lily gave a small laugh in response. “Quite true, I’ve lost some goods meals to his blackhole-for-a-stomach.”

Handing the platter to Thatch, who placed it beside him, she joined him on the railing and grabbing another morsel. The man seemed content to wait as Lily ate before re-starting the conversation. Still, the more she ate, the more she felt energy return to her, and with it, a strange bravery that often eluded her in social situations with strangers.

“Just how much had Ace told you about us?” She asked as she grabbed another item from the platter.

“Talking about you and Luffy is one of his favourite topics. He’s told us a lot about the three of you as kids.”

“And as adults?”

“Not as much. Can’t make too many stories where you’re seas away from your family. He does make sure to check out every newspaper we get for news on you two, though. You’re not famous, but you were mentioned a few times thanks to some of the bigger bounties you’ve brought in. No front pages, but that still didn’t stop Ace from showing us.”

He pauses for a moment, undoubtedly thinking over his many conversations with her brother.

“Come to think of it, there were never any photos of you, just mentions, so Ace filled us in on your appearance.”

“I’ve changed my attire a bit since we last saw each other, but I assume he mentioned the mask?”

“Yeah matches his description too. A smiling white rabbit with a pink nose and chubby cheeks. This one not made of wood though, is it?”

“The old one became damaged during a fight with a bounty in the North Blue, so I had it replaced. This one looks the same, but its made of a special type of coloured one-way glass. It's more sturdy and comes with adjustable straps, so it's more comfortable to wear for longer periods. They even included some fabric that covers my hair and keeps it flying out during combat.”

Reaching up, she detaches the black fabric from the top edge of the mask, allowing her white hair to flow free.

“White hair for a white rabbit, it suits.”

Lily nodded in agreement as she focused on folding the fabric and placing it into a small pocket on her breast.

“Do you take it off often? Ace has never mentioned you without it on.”

GhOsT. MoNsTeR. FrEaK

His words unintentionally brought forth flashes of those she once knew. Their voices had long since faded into nothingness, but their words remained, carved into the core of her mind with serrated fingernails.

“NO!” She shouted with an abruptness that startled the man beside her.

“No… only in private.” She said in a nervous whisper, trying her best to defuse the awkward situation she had created.

I’ve ruined things again. Of course, I have. “Ok, I’ll let the other know, so they don’t bother you about it. Some of them can be nosy when it comes to new people.”

His words caught her by surprise, and when she turned to face him, she didn’t see a look of judge or rejection that had become commonplace to her. There was only an accepting smile.

“Thank you, that is incredibly kind,” her happiness coming through with every word she spoke.

He shook his head “Nonsense, it’s decent and not helping the sister of my crewmates is an absurd thought. Changing the topic to your brother, Ace is currently with Pops. Saw him get called in on his way back from his cabin, so I decided to find you. I was going to anyway since I thought you might appreciate some food.”

“Ace did warn me we might bump into each other.”

Thatch let out a light chuckle.

“I figured he would’ve, and I don’t blame him. When he first joined Hartua and me were the biggest flirts on the ship. Since he was placed in my Division at the time, he got a first-hand look at our antics. Every island we’d visit was another opportunity to find new people to spend a night with. But then…”

He looked down fondly at the easel mark on his wrist.

“You found your soulmate?”

He nodded.

“His name is Aisuru. We met when the Moby traveled to Fishman Island after a few pirate crews started a ruckus. I’d gone into a bookstore to look for new cooking books when we bumped into each other. He got such a shock from finally seeing colour he tripped over and whacked me in the face with his tail.”

As Thatch finished, he burst into laughter, and Lily followed suit. His energy was infectious, and she noticed it was easy to get caught up in the positive energy he extruded.

“I’ve taken him up to the surface a few times so he can see things with his own eyes. He loves seeing everything he’d only been able to see in painting and books. Shame we can’t travel together, but he has no desire to be a pirate and its safer for merfolk to stay on Fishman Island.” Thatch turned to face her. “Have you found your soulmate yet?”

Lily shook her head. “Not yet. The mark on my wrist hasn’t changed at all.”

“Ahh, so you’ve got a mark then?”

“Yes, it has been a black dot my entire life, I doubt that will change.”

And it shouldn’t.

Thatch gave her a reassuring pat on the back, “I know you haven’t asked, but don’t overthink it. No point worrying about this stuff, it's too all-consuming. Instead, why don’t we go check the ship?” Thatch said as he hopped off the railing, landing gracefully then smoothly tucking the now empty platter under his left arm.

Ace’s warning flickered into her mind. “A tour? I’m not so sure…”

“Please, it would be an honor to show you around.”

And so, with a nod from Lily the tour began.

For the next hour, Thatch and Lily journeyed around the Moby Dick, exploring the ship’s prominent locations. As promised, their impromptu tour started with the galley.

Lily hadn’t doubted Thatch when he said it was massive, but her mind had still failed to picture the actual size of the room and everything in it.

The room was split down the middle by fridges, countertops, ovens, stoves and other equipment she didn’t recognise, as were the walls. There were fewer people than she expected, with most of those present were preparing ingredients for the next round of dishes. She could see potatoes being peeled, carrots sliced, and from somewhere unknown came the scent of cooking beef.

There was pride on Thatch’s face as he viewed the galley that she thought was reserved for master artisans who had spent years mastering their craft, learning every aspect they could from the mundane to the wonderful.

“Given my love of cooking, I doubt you’d be surprised to hear this is my favourite part of the ship. But I’m not one of those cooks who’d keep this place locked up tighter than a Marine Base. If you ever want a snack or to make something, you’re always welcome.”

The smile that formed on Thatch’s face was like a beam of sincerity, making it obvious he wanted her to take him up on the offer.

Their next stop was the main dining area of the ship. It was substantially smaller than the galley which perplexed Lily, given the size of the crew. The tables and chair were placed haphazardly, a clear sign that the crew would move them about as needed.

“We often feast on the deck. Even if we don’t, the crew are all on differing shifts, so we’ve never had to worry about this place filling up. Of course, you’re free to eat here anytime and just between us.”

He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “The best stuff comes out late at night. That’s when we drink a little and focus on making the food more interesting.”

Unsure if she should trust food that the head chef himself labelled ‘interesting’, Lily simply nodded, which seemed to satisfied the cook.

“Alright, off to our final stop.”

The final leg of the tour was the longest as their destination was on the other side of the ship.

The infirmary sat toward the back of the boat, away from the where most of the crew’s activity, no doubt to give the sick and injured some much needed quiet time as they recovered.

“And this is our final stop, the infirmary. “ Thatch stopped in front of the door that precisely matched every door Lily had seen so far, excluding the red cross that sat toward the top.

Its always the doors shipwrights seem to cheap out on. No doubt this habit of theirs is going to haunt me later.

Not noticing his companion’s distraction, Thatch gripped the handle but hesitated for a moment.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you don’t see the inside of this place after this visit.” As he spoke, Lily felt a protectiveness in the man’s voice.

Did I make a friend? Lily wondered.

As soon as she entered the room, Lily got the impression it was the very definition of sterile. Every surface had been cleaned to perfection. It was as if anything unclean lived in fear of entering the room, and, she thought, if this fear were to have a source, it would have to be the room’s only current occupant, excluding her and Thatch.

Marco was seated at a desk with his back to them, the sound of pen hitting paper reverberating from his direction. He hadn't acknowledged their presence, but she had no doubt he knew he now had company.

“Thatch, why am I not surprised you managed to sneak Lily away from Ace?”

“Not my fault Pops wanted to talk to Ace before he could get back from his cabin. Besides, I couldn’t leave our guest hungry, could I?” Thatch said with a chuckle.

“So, this has nothing to do with irritating Ace after he drank your sake last week?”

“Not entirely, especially now I’ve gotten to know Lily, she’s great!”

While no audible groan came from Marco, it was easy to imagine one. She felt that situations like these were a common occurrence, much to the dismay, and likely amusement of those watching.

“Good to see you currently lack patients. We all prefer it when this place is empty.” “We might have a few once we join back up with Jozu and Izu, depends how their much resistance they encounter,” Marco replied, continuing to scribble away on whatever lay in front of him.

“Might not be much, depends how much the Marines care about us laying our claim to that island. They can’t pay the Tribute, but it's close to one of their main patrol routes. S’pose it depends who is nearby when they get there.”

“Commander Thatch!”

The conversation was halted by the arrival of a scrawny man who’d burst through the door. Sweat glistened on his face and neck and his brown hair stuck to his head like it was drenched in glue.

“Pops wants to see you urgently.”

Despite his breathlessness, the man disappeared as soon as he finished speaking with Thatch moving to follow.

“Take care of Lily for me, Marco! And don’t fight her this time,” Thatch said as he closed the door behind him.

And so, with a gentle creak, her tour guide left leaving her alone with Marco. With its closing, she braced herself for the expected loneliness and anxiety to surge forward and consume her like a storm front pushed by a great wind into the path of a tiny fishing boat.

She waited. Then waited a little longer, but nothing came.

It was perplexing, but pleasantly so. An escape from the depressing normal she had long been accustom to.

“Are you feeling, ok? No cuts or other injuries from your fight with Mozo?”

Lost in her thoughts, she overlooked Marco rising from his chair and coming to stand in front of her. Now able to fully take him in, she saw he wore a long-sleeved, unbuttoned white shirt that served to displayed his muscular chest and the jolly roger tattooed across it. A few faded scars were also visible, marks earned from his decades of piracy.

He was observing her with a keen eye, looking for signs of injury or sickness, but with only her hair exposed, even his expertise was struggling to find any obvious clues.

“None, I got out without a scratch.”

A small, relieved smile appeared on his face. “Good, but if anything starts hurting you, come find me, ok? We might’ve not had the most friendly start, but I’ll look after you so long as you’re on this ship. Speaking of last night...”

He paused for a moment, considering his words before continuing.

“Lily, I need to apologies to you for what I did last night. I shouldn’t have assumed so hastily that you were a part of the attack. I deeply regret that I almost hurt you”. The sincerity of his words flowed off him and seemed to fill even the furthest reaches of the room.

She answered him without hesitation. “I accept, and please don’t feel horrible. You had good reason to act as you did.”

The grin that plastered his face was as sincere as his apology. “Alright. Maybe as a way to make up for the mistake, I could show you my favourite place on the ship? If you want to, of course.”

“Sure, lead the way.”

So, she followed, all the while bemused by why she felt comfortable with a man who had tried to fight here just hours before.

Marco took her to the stern of the ship. It had been a silent journey, though Lily noted that her companion would often glance behind him as if checking she was still following, adjusting his pace if she was more then two steps behind him. It wasn’t an act of caution, but instead of care. He wanted to make sure he didn’t abandon her.

Maybe he’s a fast walker and doesn’t want me to lose him?

With a skill only gained from years of practice, Marco placed his hand on the railing and hoisted himself up before spinning himself around, so he faced the sea. Comfortable, he turned his head to face Lily.

“Let me help,” he held out his hand toward her, a lazy but friendly smile overtaking his face, and she felt no hesitation from within herself as she lifted her hand to take his.

The ease with which Marco lifted her made her realise just how strong he was. Given his position, it would’ve been more surprising for him to be weaker. He would need more than a powerful devil fruit to be a Commander on the crew of an Emperor.

Firmly seating herself on the railing, she let go of Marco’s hand and took in the view.

Belle Island was now in the distance. The ship hadn’t been sailing for long, as she could still make out many of the details, including the town’s harbour. But these were fading, and the sea and sky were starting the blend into one as they often did when things were calm.

There were no words shared between the two as they watched the island before them fade, but she felt they were unneeded. At this moment, merely sitting together and staring into the distance was enough to make them both content. She didn’t know how long they’d sat their together, as the only gauge was a slowly shrinking island. Eventually, though, something encouraged Marco to speak.

“Lily, I hope you’ll come to love being on this ship as much as I do.”

The comfort his words brought her warmed her chest. It was a pleasant feeling, and so she decided to embrace it and ignore the oddness of that sensation coming from someone so new.

She went to reply but paused when she heard an odd sound coming from behind them.

Lily compared the sound to a ferocious beast stampeding across an open plain as it chased its prey. But as it grew louder, she realised it wasn’t many sets of footsteps but rather just one. It didn’t take much thought to realise who it was.

“Hello you two!” Ace shouted out, blissfully unaware that his thunderous footstep had already announced his arrival.

“Hey, Ace,” Marco replied, while Lily gave Ace a small wave.

Ace gave the pair a curious look that he swiftly covered with a wide grin.

“What you guys look at up there?”

“Watching the ship set sail,” Marco said nonchalantly.

Ace craned his neck to see the view but seemed to lose interest quickly.

Suddenly, and with the grace of a drunken Sea King, Ace climbed onto the railing, squeezing his body between Lily and Marco. Lily noticed she had to put up little resistance to keep her place, but the sounds of a scuffle from beside her told her there was a miniature war for space occurring between her two companions.

Eventually, the scuffling ceased as Ace sat fully upon the railing, signalling his victory. He turned to face her with an enormous grin, his pleasure at having won evident.

“Oi Ace, you almost pushed me over the side! Marco said with an irritated tone.

“If you moved over you wouldn’t be in danger of falling, would you?”

“Me? You’re the one trying to push in. Why do you want to sit in the middle anyway? You can sit on either side of us.”

“Why does it matter Marco? I wanted to sit in the middle!”

It was a light-hearted fight, one between close friends that had no malice or hatred. If they were children, she would call it play-fighting, but as adults with two powerful devil fruit abilities, it had become what Lily would describe as a play argument.

An unseen smile graced her lips as she watched them.

It is good to see Ace has made close friends here.

She looked out into the distance once more. Belle Island was turning into a speck and was soon to fade altogether. Some seagulls had followed the ship, but even they seemed to be getting further away, their circling expanding as they became discouraged by the growing distance between the boat and the island.

The bickering beside her had simmered, replaced by the start of a plot by Ace to get back at Thatch for his ‘shenanigans’, with Marco offering suggestions on the best ways to exact revenge.

It looks like this might be fun.

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aliceslantern · 3 years

Text

Give/Take, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 4

Ienzo has been too busy since the war to be overwhelmed by the past. But with little progress to be made in his work with Kairi, old nightmares start to invade.

Riku is a glorified housesitter. Lonely and faced with no choice but to wait for a way to find his friends, he eagerly accepts when Ienzo asks him to help do repairs around the castle. Before long, the two strike up an unlikely friendship, united by their dark pasts and their attempts to be better people.

But just as they begin to consider something more... Kairi wakes up.

Ienzoku (Ienzo/Riku), post-Melody of Memory, slow burn. Updates Thursdays until it's done.

Chapter summary: Ienzo tells Riku about what happened after their fight at Castle Oblivion. With nothing else to do, Riku helps with castle repairs, and has a conversation with Aeleus.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

For a while after he ran out of Riku’s room like a coward, Ienzo struggled to breathe. He remained sitting against the wall, curled up, adrenaline shocking him in little waves. He hated this sensation, how it robbed him of his self-control--

Breathe in. Breathe out. Riku hadn’t even gone for his throat, but rather his wrist, and only because Ienzo had touched him while he was dead asleep--

Redheaded demon and a puppet and the dark corner sharp hurt burning--

I am okay. I am okay. I am okay. He traced the soft scarred flesh with one hand, loosened the ascot at his throat. I can breathe. That was a memory. It wasn’t real. A flush of embarrassment came to his face when he thought of the strangled, animal sound he’d made. Pathetic.

Ienzo forced himself to his feet. He pulled back the sleeve of his jacket. There was a red mark where Riku had gripped him, and likely later a bruise; but he wasn’t significantly injured. Both of his hands were trembling uncontrollably. Get it together. Riku hadn’t meant to hurt him-- he’d probably taken that whole interaction to heart--

But the thought of going back to him right now and explaining, patiently, why he’d had that reaction, only made him feel nauseous. He tried to turn his mind back to the work, but he kept getting pulled and pulled into the basement, into an itchy achy helplessness.

Ienzo started walking, and walking, as if he could physically get away from the memory. He was so tense his teeth hurt, and his chest was hot and tight from his shallow breathing. He pulled the ascot from around his throat and undid the top buttons of his shirt, but it didn’t help ease the sensation much.

Breathe.

He found himself in the main library, which had once been beautiful but was now in serious disrepair. The collections were disorganized, the recessed lighting cracked and in need of new bulbs. Heartless had shattered several of the shadowboxes, and some of the paintings on the walls were torn. Ienzo reached up and brushed his fingers along the canvas of one. This portrait had evidently been of his adoptive great-grandmother, but anything resembling a face was ribbons of cloth and oil paint. He moved around a bit shamblingly, his body feeling heavy and strange now that the adrenaline was fading. He sank wearily into his favorite armchair, picked up his abandoned novel, and started to read.

It took hours for his heart to stop pounding.

A few weeks passed, tremulously. Perhaps a month, maybe longer; Ienzo’s concept of time was hazy at best. The winter got deeper, colder; they kept working with Kairi. While the light of her heart sustained her physical form, kept her warm and nourished and prevented atrophy, he still felt a stab of guilt that they were not finishing their examination faster. Sixteen years was a lot of memory, a lot to unpack and try to understand, and of course there was the curveball that she was a princess of heart. They all worked as long and as hard as they physically could, but it was still taking much, much too long.

Riku didn’t drop by as much, and Ienzo realized one day that he hadn’t been here since he’d gotten sick. Was this because of the way he’d acted? He knew he should apologize--

For what? An involuntary reaction?

Ienzo considered how he might feel if the opposite were true, if someone had woken him in the grips of a feverish nightmare. He should be glad he’d had little more than bruises, than a panic attack. He would’ve probably done much worse to his own attacker. (He kept a kitchen knife in his bedside table. It was the only thing that helped him feel safe with the nightmares.) He almost wrote Riku several times, but each time managed to find an excuse not to complete the note. A phone call, an urgent task to be completed. This shouldn’t bother him so much; he wasn’t the one at fault. Neither of them really were.

Finally, one snowy day, Riku came back. “I’m sorry for dropping by,” he said, his usual greeting. Ienzo noted with relief that he at least seemed to have adequate winter clothing. “Any… news?”

Ienzo cleared his throat a little. “Not much, I’m afraid. We’re making as much progress as we can.”

He took a few steps closer to Kairi. Ienzo recognized that glint in his eye; loneliness, and to a degree longing. It was the very same sort of look that his Nobody had preyed on.

He wondered if Riku spoke to his other friends.

“Do you…” Ienzo almost stopped himself. “Do you have a moment? To discuss something?” Even gave him an odd look, but Ienzo just glared at him.

“Uh--sure. Yeah. I’ve got a little time.”

“Excellent. I was wanting some tea anyway. Right then.” There was a kettle in the office; Ienzo switched it on. “What kind of tea would you like?”

“Uh--whatever you’re having, I guess. I don’t care.”

They sat down at Ansem’s old desk. Riku’s hair had gotten still longer, just barely brushing his shoulders, and he kept swatting it out of his eyes. It was more white than silver in this light, Ienzo thought, and looked fresh and fluffy, like it had just been washed. He thought of his own dirty, dry hair. For just a breath, he wondered what that hair might feel like under his fingertips.

What an odd thing to think about. He shook his head to brush away this thought.

“So what’s up?” Riku asked.

“I wanted to… talk about what happened, the last time we saw one another.”

He winced. “I tried to find you--”

“...But I avoided you.” He admitted this to his mug. “Truthfully, I must apolo--”

“I’m sorry,” Riku said at the same time. “I’m so sorry.”

Ienzo furrowed his brows. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You had a fever and I startled you when you were dead asleep.”

“I still hurt you. And--” He squinted. “Something just felt really… off.”

“...Which is what I wanted to talk about, because it’s clear that if we’re to have any functioning rapport…” He drummed his fingers on the table, trying to come up with a tactful way of saying this. You look like my murderer. He took a breath. “At Castle Oblivion, after we fought--”

Riku visibly tensed.

“It was, perhaps, only a few moments later that I--”

He dropped his eyes. “I know. Bad blood. Bad memories.”

“But you weren’t the one who… ultimately made it happen.”

Riku bit his lip. “I figured you might’ve… bled out. I don’t like thinking about it.”

“Of course you don’t,” he said softly. “But you recall… the replica?”

“Of me?” He frowned. “Um, yeah.”

“I’m going to say it very bluntly.” His heart was beating hard. “Axel had him kill me. I’d learned too much about the Organization’s coup.” The memory stabbed him, especially seated right across from him. But between the new hairstyle, and the few years’ of aging, Riku did not look much like the puppet anymore.

“Of course you panicked,” Riku said. “Of course. I’m sorry.”

“It is wholly embarrassing. I…” He cleared his throat. “For some reason that felt… necessary, in order to move on.”

“...Especially with me randomly poking my ugly mug in,” he said, shaking his head.

Not ugly, Ienzo thought, feeling a different flash of nerves. Perhaps that was part of why this was so unsettling.

“I’ll try to avoid cornering you,” he continued. “And, uh, grabbing.”

“It seems what happened was neither of our faults,” Ienzo said. “But I don’t want us to have to walk on eggshells around each other. I do enough of that as it is.”

A nervous smile flickered on his face. “You guys don’t get along?”

“It’s… a bit complicated.” Ienzo didn’t feel much like going into all that .

“Sounds like you could use a friend.”

Ienzo looked up. His expression was genuine, and if Ienzo was understanding correctly, pleading. Ienzo wondered again if Riku actually spent time with anyone. “...Perhaps I could.”

This smile was less hesitant.

“...And you could stop making up excuses to drop by.” He tried to say this kindly. “I imagine… it’s not easy, doing all this work by yourself.”

Riku’s grip on his mug loosened a bit. “To be completely honest…” He chuckled. “I… am bored out of my mind. When I said I was housesitting? I wasn’t being modest. That’s literally what I was asked to do.” Something honest crept into his tone.

Ienzo blinked. “...I see. Why don’t you go home, then? Spend time with your family?”

Evidently, this was the wrong question to ask: what little humor in Riku’s expression fell. “It feels… wrong, to go back without them,” he said softly. “When we were last home a few months ago… I… made a promise to myself that I would bring them home. I can’t… look their parents in the eye. It feels like my fault somehow.”

“I’m sure it isn’t.” He exhaled. “We will do our best to try and help you get back together.”

“I know. I know you’re all working hard, I didn’t mean to imply--”

“I know.” Ienzo smiled. “But let me do this for you. As friends.”

He nodded.

“Moreover… if you’re bored.” He cocked his head. “Aeleus and Dilan have their hands full doing repairs around the castle. How good are you with your hands?”

His eyebrows shot up, and Ienzo saw the almost desperate glimmer in his eye. “Actually pretty good,” he said. “I used to build stuff on the play island all the time.”

“Great. Then perhaps you’d be willing to help? Say, a day or so a week, or whatever would work best with your schedule? I know traveling back and forth must be annoying.”

“I’d hate to… be an inconvenience,” he said slowly.

“You’d be helping us ,” Ienzo said. “And that way, you don’t need to travel goodness-knows-how-far to pester me about Kairi.”

Riku flushed. “Ha… yeah, I guess so. Ah. I’ll check up on things in the castle and come back.”

“Great. So it’s a date.”

There was a long, pronounced silence, Ienzo wondered if this was the wrong thing to say. His heart was fluttering hard again, the same way it had before, and he swallowed it down. This was… strange, and he wasn’t sure he liked how it felt.

Riku seemed nervous too. “Awesome. So. It’s a date.”

Ienzo cleared his throat. “I won’t hold you up any longer.”

“No, I should… go, so I can come back.” He stood.

“Safe travels,” Ienzo said, hearing the artificiality in his own voice. When Riku was gone, his heart was still pounding, beating hard in an insistent way he didn’t know how to read. He thought, involuntarily, of that hair again, of how it might feel.

Ienzo had a feeling he didn’t want to know.

---

On his way back to the Land of Departure, Riku felt... fuzzy. Nervous, jumpy. This was only amplified by the utter silence of the place. He paced, restlessly, trying to understand what it was he might be feeling. There seemed to be a lot to unpack.

He thought he’d killed Zexion the same way he’d killed Lexeaus. A blow to the spine, some internal damage. Zexion had been a mighty opponent, but not physically that strong. From the moment he’d first struck down Lexeaus, he’d tried not to think of the truth, the brutality, of what he’d done, that he’d essentially just killed a person. Knowing it had led to their direct humanity seemed… both a comfort, and an insult.

Also… the fact that Axel was capable of such brutality… having fought alongside Lea in the war, and seeing the awkward and charming way he acted with Kairi… it made him feel slightly ill.

But you did awful things under the influence of darkness too, the ever-present guilt reminded him. All the Heartless you summoned, and the things Maleficent told you to do with them. You probably killed people and didn’t even realize.

He sat down on his bed and looked out the window. Snow was falling in the Land of Departure. As a Nobody… hadn’t Zexion done the same? And Riku had done this all in the sake of… what… gathering power? Mining his “true potential”? Which was--?

Sitting here overthinking, apparently. The sooner he finished up these loose ends, the sooner he could return and do what Ienzo had asked. Maybe he could even talk to him more about this conundrum, and see if the Somebodies there felt the same way about the things they’d done in the past. Just because both of them had turned over a new leaf didn’t mean the past was forgiven, or forgotten.

He should probably try to get some sleep, too.

After tending to his few chores, Riku lay in bed, trying to switch off. At some point in the past he’d been able to fall asleep practically on command, but now the action seemed something of a labor, and his mind would spin and spin in any direction and on any memory until it was late enough to be considered early. Fighting Heartless, and training himself to physical exhaustion, made it easier , but not easy. He parsed that interaction out in his mind, thinking back to the expression on Ienzo’s face when Riku accidentally grabbed him. Ienzo must have thought of the moment when the puppet… did whatever the puppet did.

(And, Riku thought, if the puppet was a likeness of him, down to his personality at the time, was Riku capable of that kind of violence as well?)

He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to stop thinking about that. Instead, he found himself thinking about the way their conversation had ended. So it’s a date. He didn’t mean-- no, he just meant a place and a time, a date on a calendar. Why would he--

But Ienzo was so eloquent, it couldn’t just be a slip of the tongue. Right? Or perhaps it had? And if so, what did that mean?

The last thing Riku needed was for things to get more complicated. He needed Ienzo and the others to be able to help Kairi help Sora.

Still, the way his heart was beating… was new. And odd. And he thought of that moment during the Mark of Mastery exam, when Shiki had most likely been flirting with him. How he hadn’t felt anything at the time, wasn’t sure if he was supposed to--there was a lot of things going on that were far more important.

But now? When nothing was going on?

There was banter right before he got sick, too. And he’d felt the same jump, the same uncertainty. But he also bantered with Sora and Kairi all the time, and then he sometimes got nervous thinking of witty replies on the fly. But did it make him feel like this? And was this something Riku wanted to feel?

You’re putting way more into this than was there, he thought, shaking his head. What reason would he even have for doing something like that?

He shut his eyes, but the thoughts didn’t stop.

---

Riku was used to the flight between Radiant Garden and Land of Departure by now. He’d started calling it his “commute”, in moments of deeper loneliness. Commuting to see Kairi. He wondered what his life would look like if none of this had happened. He’d be wrapping up his last year of high school, he knew, getting ready for university or the greater world. Riku tried to imagine himself working a job: at a coffee shop, or as a waiter, or bagging groceries. Typing and typing at an office job. Much like when he was fifteen, the notion made him feel vaguely nauseous. But equally, he wasn’t sure of what would become his future now . His eighteenth birthday was some months away. Theoretical adulthood.

Well, he was a Keyblade master now, not that that seemed to mean much of anything. Would he… take on apprentices? Teach them? Would that be satisfying?

Sora and Kairi aren’t even home yet. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Maybe they would help him make sense of this mess. Yes, that was it. He thought of Kairi, her laugh. Riku, you’re such a downer sometimes, you know? And Sora, as long as it’s the three of us, we’ll be okay.

He wondered how pathetic it was to be having imaginary conversations with his best friends.

Riku landed in the outer recesses of Radiant Garden and started the now-familiar walk to the castle. It was always so cold here, so gloomy, now that winter had come over the city. Thankfully he’d actually been able to get a coat. He tugged his collar up a bit higher. He’d experienced a lot over the past two years or so, but he was still, at heart, an islander.

He wasn’t sure where exactly to go or what he had to do, so he went down to the lab. He couldn’t help but smile a little when he saw Kairi, even if she was completely unaware of his presence. He wondered for the millionth time what she was doing in there, what she was experiencing. How they all made numbers about it was beyond him.

“Ah--Riku. Back so soon, I see?” Even asked, his tone brisk and cool as usual.

“Uh--yeah, actually. Ienzo said you guys needed help with the… repairs, so I figured… I have some time--”

“We mustn’t take you from your duties,” Ansem said.

“No, you’re really not.” He forced a laugh. “This is helpful, actually.” He looked around. “So… uh… where is he?”

“He had some questions about some code and thought Cid might be able to help,” Even said.

“...Questions?”

“There are some anomalies in her heart, recently. We’re fairly certain it’s the differences in structure due to her nature as princess of heart, but it’s always good to… seek a second opinion.” Ansem smiled; Even scowled.

Riku frowned. “Is she okay?”

“As far as we can tell, yes,” Even said. “The sleep isn’t physically affecting her in the slightest--other than the obvious.”

He walked over to her and adjusted the blanket draped over her. “It’s a little cold over here. Can you turn down the AC?”

“We need it to keep the machines--” Even began, but Ansem patted Riku’s shoulder gently.

“I’ll bring in a space heater for her,” he said.

“Thank you.” He watched her breathe for a moment. “So… what should I--”

“I believe Aeleus is painting near the library. Do you know where that is?”

Riku swallowed, suddenly finding his mouth very dry. “Yes. I remember.”

He very nearly left then. He’d only seen Aeleus briefly in passing a few times coming and going, and the man never said much other than to curtly nod at him. While he now knew he hadn’t felled Zexion… well. He was certain he’d finished the job with Lexeaus.

What do you say to someone you’ve killed?

Maybe start with sorry, he imagined Kairi telling him.

Right. It would be… a good idea to not be on tenterhooks here. Especially if he were going to be helping out. If it weren’t for this, he would still be sitting in that castle, bored out of his mind. This was something good, constructive. It was good.

He took a deep breath.

Seeing the deterioration in this castle, Riku felt another stab of guilt. Some of this destruction had been here when he’d arrived, but some of it had come from his own practice trying to get the Heartless to do his bidding. He brushed his fingers across a torn painting, wondering what had happened to the person who made it.

Well. At least he could quite literally undo some of the damage.

He saw Aeleus on a ladder towards the end of the hallway, very carefully trying to paint over a new patch in the ceiling. Riku took a deep breath. He didn’t want to startle Aeleus either. “Hi there,” he called.

He looked over.

“So, uh.” He cleared his throat. “I’m here to… help? If I can?”

“Ienzo told me you were interested in helping do some repairs, yes.”

“Well. Uh. Could I do anything?”

He considered Riku. His expression was nearly impossible to read. “That can of green. If you want to start going over where I whitewashed. You can use the roller. Prime it first.”

“...Thanks.” He went over to the area that Aeleus had gestured to. There had once been wallpaper here, but it had been removed, and the holes and cracks beneath repaired with plaster. Riku poured some of the primer into a pan and got to it. He was glad that his braces couldn’t get stained; he saw that very quickly this could get messy.

For what felt like an eternity, but was maybe only an hour or two, he and Aeleus painted in silence, and the only audible sound was the dipping and rolling of the brush and roller. Riku wasn’t sure if he was imagining the tension in the air or not. He reached up to swat the hair out of his eyes and inadvertently smeared paint on his face. “...Ugh.”

“...You might want to do something about that,” Aeleus said. He took a clean bandanna out of his pocket and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” His hair was at that awkward in-between length that was too short to tie up but too long to feel manageable loose. He could cut it, he knew, and go back to the way he’d looked before, but the spikes reminded him too much of Sora. Riku looked down at the smear of paint on the cloth. Just say sorry. “Listen,” he began. “I just… wanted to say sorry. For everything.”

Aeleus set his brush down on top of the can and turned to face Riku more fully. “What do you have to apologize for?”

He blinked. He didn’t want to have to say it. “...You know. Castle Oblivion. Everything… that happened.”

Aeleus looked into the middle distance for a moment. “You don’t owe me an apology,” he said, in a low voice. “Rather… the other way around. Don’t you think?”

Riku shook his head slowly. “Ienzo said something similar.”

“We… treated you terribly. Tried to use you. Am I supposed to be mad that you fought back?”

“But I…” He couldn’t bring himself to say “killed you.”

“...Which is part of the reason I am here, and working to be better, instead of continuing to do evil in that Organization’s name.” He seemed to be smiling just the slightest.

“It’s not like any of us knew about the reformation at the time--”

“We needed to be stopped,” Aeleus said shortly. “Neither of us blame you, Riku.”

“Do you think you… still would be with the Organization, if your Nobody had survived?”

Aeleus thought about it. “That depends entirely on whether or not Vexen and Zexion survived as well.”

Riku cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure that “friends” is the right term to use,” he said. “But the three of us… well. Even and I raised Ienzo from when he was a boy. Even with our true bonds severed by the lack of a heart, there was enough of a relationship there for me to… make their wellbeing my priority. If they had survived and turned back to the Organization, I would’ve too. But if they’d have passed on, and I survived, I might have… left. But either way…” He spread his large hands. “We all perished, but we are all human now.”

“What does that… feel like?”

Aeleus’s eyebrows shot up.

“Sorry. I just… I’m curious.”

He thought for another long moment. “It is both so strange and so natural,” he said. “The rush of emotion… feels as if it is so strong. There is a lot of guilt. But I feel more… me, than I thought I would, in those rare moments I considered Xemnas’s fake goal of giving us hearts.”

“More like Lexeaus, you mean?”

“We were Nobodies for just under ten years. I was not much older than Ienzo is now when it happened. As the years passed… my human self seemed soft, weak, and what he felt… unnecessary and boorish. But to have those feelings back… well. I realize that humanity is different than what I thought. There is strength to it that the darkness and the nothing couldn’t provide.”

“I think I understand,” Riku said. My friends are my power! He remembered. “Thanks for that.” He breathed the taste of paint. “Do you still feel the darkness?” He didn’t expect an answer.

Aeleus held his chin up, just a little. “I do,” he admitted, “but I know its price. And I intend to keep it at bay.”

Riku nodded. “Yeah. I know how that is.”

“...I think all of us here do.” He climbed back up the ladder and picked up his brush. “Might I suggest bobby pins? Ienzo finds them useful.”

“...You’re probably right.”

#give/take #ienzo #riku #ienzoku #aeleus #ienzo is trans

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girlofmanyfandoms · 4 years

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Gone

A/n: So this is my first angst, and if by some chance it happens to hurt, blame the genius of @an-absolute-travesty, their beautiful angst inspired me to self-project write this. Special thanks to @a-lonely-tatertot for beta-reading!

Trigger Warnings: Death, Mentions of violence

Warnings: Sorry, not sorry

Word Count: 1,133

Tag list: @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @bookwyrminspiration @holesinmyfalseconfidence @percabetn @an-absolute-travesty @linhammon-roll-bromance101 @linhamon-roll @ anyone who cares

Fitz was shivering, but he refused to put on any more layers. He would endure this, just as he had endured everything else. Keefe squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, but there’s no hiding the pain in his own eyes. Cold, it was very cold, and not at all the day Biana Vacker would’ve wanted her Wanderling to be planted.

As fresh fallen snow graced the floor, Fitz relived her last moments. His training with Grizel had paid off, he was an expert with throwing stars, always hitting his target. He aimed one at Fintan’s neck, and sure enough, a strangled cry followed. Biana appeared behind him, dagger in hand, and finished the job. But that wasn’t the last of it. And he couldn’t warn her in time. A shiver ran through his spine. He couldn’t take much more of this.

Sophie ran up next, throwing her arms around the two boys. She didn’t try to hide the puffiness of her eyes or her tear-stained cheeks. They all had a rough night. Linh and Tam showed up to, hand in hand, Linh toying with a locket that hung around her neck. The letters M and L shined brightly despite the sun reaching the end of its path. Tam gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. That was it. Linh broke down, bawling into her brother’s shoulder. He held her tightly, trying to keep the tears in. But, just like so many others, he lost the battle. Silently they fell, streaking tracks down his face.

Vika and Timkin Heks made sure to stay as far away from Sophie as possible. And Fitz could understand it. Stina called for Sophie to retreat, but she was stubborn. Determined not to leave Sophie behind, Stina took a leap of faith and yanked Sophie back, just in time for Ruy to unleash a deadly force field. Shock ran up her spine, and she twitched uncontrollably before collapsing to the ground. Sophie ran to her fallen friend, holding her hand. “You always were a stubborn one, Foster,” she whispered with her last breath.

Wylie looked off into the distance, his mind in another land. One where he could hug his dad, and pinch his little cousin’s cheeks whenever she came over to visit. Prentice escaped from Elwin’s grasp, knowing his son was in danger. He threw himself in front of a shamkniv, shielding him. Slain by a blade. Maruca met a similar fate. The abilities of a Psionipath are only useful when you can time it right. Wylie was dodging Vespera’s attacks with her help. He tried to warn her, but Gisela was quicker. Wylie warned her not to enter this life. And because of her defiance, she left it.

Elwin was shaking incredibly by the time he arrived, guided by Magnate Leto with every step. Della smiles weakly at Fitz, indicating it was time to plant the seed. He has spent hours staring at his sister’s hairbrush, a feeling of dread overcoming him as he realized he would never get to hear her talk on and on about all the different hairstyles she wanted to try. Ones she would never get to try.

They linked arms. Together they dug up the soil, planted the seed, and covered it. Della hummed a melody, one Fitz knew by heart. He joined her, singing it until the end. It was their lullaby. The song she would sing whenever they had a bad day and just needed a hug. Magnate Leto gave them a look, asking for permission to approach. Della nodded and stepped to the side a bit, allowing for a trembling Elwin to place Lady Sassyfur right by the seed. Fitz smiled bitterly. Someone behind him, probably Keefe, squeezed his shoulder twice, asking him to stand. But Fitz wouldn’t budge.

“I’m not ready to move on to the next one, I need... a breath of fresh air.”

They respected his wishes, and Fitz wandered off a little bit away. Not so much that he’d get lost, but not so little so that anyone could interrupt his thoughts. Though maybe it was best if he did get lost. It was better than suffering this pain. Fitz watched the clouds of breath coming from his mouth for a while until he was brought on guard by the snapping of a twig.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” Fitz demanded.

The same melody he had hummed seconds before was hummed again. The voice was too deep to belong to his mother. Fitz shook his head violently, backing up until his back was against another tree. These were echoes of a past life, a distant dream where all the could-haves dwell. The tune didn’t stop as a familiar figure stepped out from a clearing in the trees. Tall, skinny, and tear-filled cobalt blue eyes, there was no doubting who it was.

“Alvar,” he said coldly. “I don’t see why you would be here. I thought Dex had finished you off when he-“

Fitz’s voice failed him. Another horrible loss. Dex had thrown a small gadget at Alvar to give Keefe time to pick up his melder. Fintan’s Everblaze nicked it, and the gadget backfired. Got him right through the chest. Killed by his own genius. The cry of agony he let out was heartbreaking. At least they wouldn’t have to go to another planting.

“Well, he didn’t. And do you really think I would miss my own sister’s planting?”

“You didn’t seem to care before.”

Alvar nodded in understanding. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked down guiltily.

“When Sophie hugged you, the day we were going to flood Ravagog,” Fitz spoke up suddenly. “When she ran to you. Do you have any idea how much she depended on you? How happy she was to see you?”

“Yes,” he whispered, flinching at the harshness of his little brother’s words. “I... I wanted to amount to something, to be noticed, to make a change.”

“You made a change, alright,” Fitz spat.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well it’s not worth much.”

They stayed in silence for a while before Fitz completely broke down. He sobbed, sitting crisscross in the snow, head in his hands. Alvar sat next to him, burying his nose in his brother’s neck as he hugged him, swaying back and forth. For once, Fitz didn’t object.

They must’ve fallen asleep like that. When he woke up, there was only a blanket, a pillow, and an envelope from his brother. Alvar himself had disappeared. Fitz held onto the delicate piece of paper, staring sadly at the loopy handwriting. He stuffed the letter into his inside pocket, both grateful for and pained by this last piece of his brother. Sure, he left a letter, but other than that, he was gone. Just like everyone else. Gone.

#fun times 🙃#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #fitz vacker #biana vacker #keefe sencen #sophie foster #stina heks #wylie endal #maruca endal #prentice endal #alvar vacker #dex dizznee #Cade’s writing

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mirovoi1 · 4 years

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Five Days with No Shoes – An Experiment in Restructuring the Subconscious View the World

I Am Getting My Socks Dirty!

For the past few days here in Bangkok, Thailand, I have been continuing my experiment of going about daily life with no shoes on – in fact, just in white socks. During the first couple of days, I kept it slightly more low-key, a bit of testing the waters, like a timid cat checking out its environment, just wandering around the area where I am staying, to get food, something to drink, or buy something at 7Eleven. The area is known as Khaosan Road, a backpacker’s haven, where there are a couple of streets loaded with everything the weary or tempted tourist might want. There are bars, cafés, parks, temples, and plenty of people and street-side action to get involved with at almost any time of the day and night. To anyone who knows, this travelers’ hub tends to attract and keep a number of the more ‘unique’ travelers that easily intermingle amongst the more common-looking tourists, and it is rather common to see the more endearing styles of fashion – tattoos, piercings, hairstyles, and the occasional bare-footer. Although the ones sporting bare feet often tend to be hippies, drunk people, or locals that, by the looks of them, tend to be poorer or less of the sane type. I am in none of those categories, I hope. I’m just one of the normal people on the street, but just happens to be in his white socks.

Why Do Such A Thing?

I’m doing this experiment for a number of reasons. A colleague and I are putting together a roughly twenty-minute video of the experiment with a short and simple discussion related to our work in the fields of education, psychology and therapy. This talk is mainly focused towards Chinese people (it is in Chinese) on the topic of pushing your psychological boundaries and acceptance of being different from the crowd. Understanding the psychology of a person cannot be done solely by observation or on paper, so getting to the core of many of the psychological and habitual issues needs to experienced first-hand. Many of our students (both teenage and particularly adults, including student’s parents) tend to often struggle with the acceptance of being different from the crowd and suffer from excuses that avoid the root of their difficulties. To us, as teachers, this psychological state needs to be pushed at and prodded at for the sake of expanding our understanding of their experience. So, I jumped right into this experiment, and as a result, I have gotten more out of it than I ever expected. My internal world has expanded. A few of the ideas, observations and thoughts from the process will be shared in this essay. Who would know that my pairs of white socks would open up a new world to me?

1. Why Does Our Sense of Self Have to Be So Strong?

Fear, nervousness and excitement tend to be confused by the brain as they all stimulate the same biological reactions, such as speeding up the heart rate. It is possible for the brain to confuse what it is actually experiencing. When an emotion of, perhaps, nervousness (activated by the brain telling you that you are different from the others) fear kicks in and the brain looks for things it perceives as ‘threats’. In my case, while being in socks in public, these ‘threats’ tended more likely to be people who might easily notice me; like people walking towards me or people sitting idly by that could possibly make some noticeable sort of remark. It would be these types of perceived ‘threats’ that I would find myself naturally trying to avoid eye contact with or maybe even subconsciously try to change my walking path to avoid ‘confrontation’. People that tended to be busy with their own affairs gave me no concerns at all. There also tended to be differences in perception between people you tend to associate more closely with; whether you know them or not, or would you ever see them again (i.e., the guesthouse staff that see you coming in and out each day without shoes on) - this tended to give me a stronger reaction. Similarly, stronger reactions were evoked from people I either genetically or culturally identified more with – i.e., different genders, ethnicities and age groups. These psychological reactions tended to be based on solely what people could possibly think of me and the strength of the reaction depended on these factors. It is not that I really minded, because walking in socks is far from the end of the world, but I was observing my brain tending to be more active when it was trying to figure out my best life strategies in unfamiliar situations. Questions such as who would I most likely get approval from, who would mostly would stare or give me a negative reaction, who would I bring embarrassment to… these questions fill the brain as it is terrified of being ostracized by the group. Walking the streets in white socks could possibly be enough to make you a laughing stock. That’s a terrifying feeling for a person, no matter what form it comes in. So that is something that needed to be understood, looked at and conquered. I mean, it is my brain’s job to keep me safe and alive (and being part of the group is vital for survival), but it’s my job to keep my brain in check!

During the next couple of days, I started venturing a bit further away from Khaosan Road as I began to feel less and less self-conscious. I then found myself at a Thammasat University having lunch by the river side. My socks tended to still be bright white on the tops, but had black footprints on the bottoms. Sometimes I started thinking that the dirtier they were the more natural it looked. I don’t know what to make of that – maybe it was more acceptance of the state of them. I enjoyed my time there. I walked back with an ice-coffee I bought from a street stall and sat in the park for a couple of hours pondering over the situation. My colleague and I had filmed a part of it to put into the video. The real importance comes down to not just the action of walking shoeless, but the following mental reflection over the what happened during the experience to make sure the brain understands what it is actually seeing and doing as it experiences and reacts to all this new stuff. This is all the brain’s doings, none of it is orchestrated by me. This goes for any situation in life really, but this process is often overlooked, as we move on to the next task ahead. Instead, I walked along the hot sticky street to a park further along the riverside where I laid down in a shady patch of grass under a massive twisted tropical tree and let everything sink in. The brain is automatically doing a lot of stuff I am not even aware of nor wanting to permit it to do, but it is more up to me to to understand that and learn to control what is going on instead. Skills like that should get me higher places than a good pair of sturdy hiking boots could ever. It seems my socks just may hold some magic.

2. Happily Hiding Behind Excuses

Oh, we humans know how to hide. While walking around the streets, into stores, happily soaking up the Bangkok atmosphere, I found myself hiding behind excuses for being shoeless. Despite my body (and bright white socks) being physically exposed for the world to see, but in my mind, I was aiming at quelling the inner dragon of self-consciousness. I thought I had more of a reason, for anyone who may look at me, to be shoeless in the late afternoon than the morning – maybe I had walked a long way and I had blisters, maybe my shoes broke, maybe I was hot? In the morning, by contrast, it just more looked like the guy couldn’t be bothered putting on his shoes. So, I went out in the morning too, not just using the heat as an excuse, or hiding behind the darkness of night. Having a small backpack with me was a good way to hide too. Could this guy be suffering from any of the above situations, and obviously his shoes are in his bag, the random passer-by would think. So, when I could, I would try go out empty-handed where possible. The only pity is I quite like to carry a small backpack with my camera for a bit of photography, and a bottle of water in it. I found taking off my glasses was another good way to not be able to see if people were staring or not, making me feel like I was more in my own world – listening to music could have the same effect. So, I kept the glasses on, and music off. I’d go with my coworker who was in bare feet, that felt more easier as there was the distraction of chatter and dialog about the experiment to hide behind. Going out alone would up the ante, put on a bit more stress, so I made sure to do this too. These are the tactics the brain employs to reason with myself as why to be shoeless. I mean what if someone asks where my shoes are, I could stumble and think of lies, but that won’t get anyone to paradise. All this led me to have to accept the most root of the issue. I am just the guy who is out in his socks. No hiding and denying the fundamental truth behind the situation. Dress the way you like, stand up straight, put yourself into a confident physical position, tell yourself ‘you are just the guy who wears his socks’. Be ready to give sincere eye-contact with whoever you encounter, engage in conversation if anyone asks and just walk on forward. That solved half of the issues.

By the third day, after having had more and more physical practice of being out and about in my white socks, plus plenty of mental exploration and conversation regarding many aspects of the experience, things started feeling more natural. My mind was changing towards self-acceptance and encouragement towards such a lifestyle of endeavor, discovery and self-growth. By this time, I found myself hopping into a taxi one evening to go to MBK center shopping mall. I was planning to leave for India the next day, so wanted to buy a couple of bits and pieces. I spent about two hours in the mall; the bottoms of my socks were rather dirty, but the whole time I was possibly even more relaxed than I would have been if I were in shoes. I am not really a fan of malls, but I found that I was more in a peaceful world of my own more so than a noisy mall of shoppers. I came back via tuk-tuk and wandered back to my guesthouse through the busy bar district of Khaosan. It was if it were any normal day.

3. Tackling the Bull in the Cage

It is the only way to address the issue and gain something true from your endeavors. If you carry yourself confidently, who can belittle you? If you accept the truth, who can deny it? The thing is, the world is like a mirror, if you don’t care, the world doesn’t care either. The world reflects back what is in your mind and in your heart. When I was subconsciously unaware of the fact I was in a busy shopping mall in my socks, to me, it seemed that the whole world was unaware of it. When I was stressed or uncomfortable, then it felt like the world was glaring at me. The subconscious mind brought out all sorts of perceived threats. The mind needs to be trained in order to live out the life you want to live. I have to admit, sometimes it felt weird having my coworker take photos of me while in socks in some public space somewhere with people all around, but you just have to tell yourself: “I accept everything that comes with this.” Maybe no one even saw, or maybe someone did see and probably forgot about it within three seconds. If they do remember it would be because they thought it was cool. Others are welcome to do whatever they want with their observations. But, remember, the noise is inside you.

By the fourth day, I had decided that I was too much invested into this project and to run off to India prematurely wouldn’t be the best choice. I wanted to continue a bit, and I wanted to put the video together (although it was my coworker who mainly took control of that part), and I wanted to write this down. Environment is utmost, and while I am still in this environment, I am more likely to order my ideas in a clearer way. I imagine the smell of curries and sounds of horns in the streets of Bangalore will take my mind away to other places. When you’re focused and enjoying something productive you should stride to stay in that state. Change (or disruption) to an environment is unsettling for a person, and I know this well as that is where my general main work’s focus lies – travel-related education, psychology and therapy. I happened to go to MBK once again, of course in my socks, and wandered the streets nearby and came back by public bus. Over the last day or two before leaving for India, I didn’t plan on any such sock-walks, didn’t aim for any such mental or physical stimulation, but instead, just a quiet calm mood to weather away the hot afternoons and get this writing done. But I realized by habit, I still went out in my socks for a morning coffee and 7eleven for bottles of water, and even out for dinner. It had become a new sort of comfort zone. No one likes the feeling of retraction, so maybe just now putting on shoes, feels a little like that. I actually really like who I am when I am out in my socks. I love the mental stimulation and feeling of freedom. Having seen the videos of myself out and about, I tend to think, under the circumstances, I looked rather confident and natural. I liked the way I looked and even more so, how I felt. The self-affirmation of something is almost more crucial than the actual activity itself.

4. Setting Things Straight

The truth is, walking around a city in a pair of white socks isn’t the epitome of difficulty in this world. To some it would be easy, and to others, mortifying. Depends on you, your previous experiences and interests. The thing is, when confronting your fears, or looking to expand you comfort zone, you need to not only delve directly into them, but you may also need to confirm to yourself the existence of even more difficult things to compare them with. You may even need to actively seek out such things. Things are only small when compared with something bigger, as the Earth is big travelling by bus, but tiny when compared with the universe. So, sometimes to aim at something you perceive as ‘big’ or ‘difficult’, then you may need to not only hack slowly towards its direction, but also hack backwards to reduce the perceived size of it. There, that is something a bit more complicated to contemplate. ha!

You may notice a theme here in that nowhere mentioned was any negative situations being mentioned. That is because during the five-day experiment, there were never any such occurrences. There are many nationalities around Khaosan, and never received a difficulty from anyone. I noticed people occasionally looked. I would also emphasize the word ‘looked’, and not ‘stared’. But on the contrary, I need to mention that no matter what you’re wearing or doing people do look. Yes, I noticed people occasionally still looked while I was wearing flip-flops. People have eyes after all, and they need to set their vision on something, so that’s forgivable. Maybe I just have nice (although hairy) legs? Ha-ha. But, maybe it is something more than that. Maybe it is something about the Thai people and the atmosphere they have created to be inclusive, tolerant and open-minded. To expand on this topic, I will need to keep up my white sock-walking activities across other parts of the world in order to work towards the core of such assumptions.

What Can Thai Attitude Offer The World?

However, the Thai people’s attitude towards life is rather healthy. It seems to be that if something does not harm anyone, then it is not really worth worrying about. That is a fair take on life. I noticed on the rare occasion when someone did not know what to make of me being in my socks, then substitute was a smile or laughter. That takes you back to the ‘world being a mirror’ philosophy; if you are self-conscious or flustered under a circumstance a laugh can be perceived as a snigger or an intrusion. When your soul and mind are calm, a laugh could be perceived as a friendly sign of acceptance or interest. It seems the Thais are slower in their reactions and judgements, allowing themselves sufficient time for a reasonable and proper response to ensue. I like the fact they are natural and thoughtful in their responses, something obviously passed down through their Buddhist faith. I would say, as a whole, I got a more neutral to positive reception anywhere I went in my socks. The interesting thing is, that is the same Thai reception I have received anywhere under almost any circumstance - with shoes on or off. But of course, there would be places you wouldn’t want to go in your socks, just as you wouldn’t swim in the sea or go to bed while wearing your shoes. Well, you can do that and why not if that is what you want - who are we to judge? But, it seems here in Thailand, if you are reasonable in your attitude and polite in your behavior, the Thais will treat you with the same respect. Hats off (or shoes off) to the Thais for that. We can all learn a lot from them.

Your Growth Is Your Offering To The World

It is also your own responsibility to work at expanding your comfort zone. There is not a single soul that does not want to become a bigger and better version of themselves. Explore and grow; that what souls do. It is your job to dig out what it needs and how to go about it. Sock-walking is just my own personal way, among others. But I also find it necessary that people take on such things. It is quite funny to know that all along during the beginning of the experiment, my brain was constantly doing all it could to help me avoid being ostracized by other humans. It was working to keep me surviving in optimal fashion. However, on the flipside, being the same as everyone does not necessarily get you anywhere at all. The ‘herd mentality’ is not lauded; it is not held in high regard. In fact, it is the opposite. I would believe that my getting out in my white socks is a rather positive thing in many people’s perceptions. I could see it and feel that at times. Maybe someone else just happened to think a little thought such as, ‘yeah, why not.’ Being a bit different reaffirms in others’ minds that possibilities exist. It is like the idea of recycling or reducing plastic use; you only really get the idea of when you are reminded of it, or see others taking part in it. My experiment probably does far better for the world that one would imagine.

My Unexpected Gains

I actually feel I have been through a type of therapy myself. I feel energetic. I had to make a quick phone call to an elderly neighbor in China, and she mentioned the change in my tone of voice. I was quite astonished when she said I sounded younger. My eyes feel bright. The flame in my soul feels steady. Making the video and seeing myself in it looking confident and actually liking the look of it, made me feel rather positive about myself. I feel mentally light. Maybe it’s because of Thailand itself and the abundance of sunshine. Maybe it is just because of finishing a two-week work project to Nepal with a group of my students. Maybe I am feeling a natural change towards a new segment of growth in my field. Or maybe I am feeling physically light because of having walked without shoes as you begin to tread more lightly and carefully; you are more concentrated and focused on your steps more than usual (the Buddhist monks tend to go barefoot). Maybe it all had a meditative effect, or maybe it was a boost of energy from the beneath the Earth, something like the opposite of how you soak up vitamin D from the sun above. Maybe it was the psychological pushing and prodding of my internal world. Maybe it was the instinctual need for physical stimulation of the body. Maybe it was sensual stimulation of the mind and feet. Maybe it was all of it together that reenergized my body, mind and soul. Maybe it was a bit of everything. I don’t know yet. But I feel I have given myself some psychological and perceptual reorganizing. Maybe it has been a Thai Massage-like internal workout for the body and mind.

An Experiment in Restructuring the Mind

However way, when you throw yourself into the deep end for an experiment in self-growth, it is not always easy and does take some courage and effort. And, so it should. Everything worthwhile always involves an element of difficulty. Why should one be rewarded without having put in any work anyway? Personally, I am very satisfied with this experiment and it has been an interesting, fun and valuable experience and I am sure I will enjoy the benefits of it for a long time to come. I will probably try to keep up with the occasional sock-walk when and where possible, and will aim at attempting the experiment again in other parts of the world. So, if next time you see a guy out in his white socks, it just might be me. Cheers! J

Note:

Yes, I got several pairs of socks dirty. They washed up well when hand washed in the shower. I got zero holes in them. I received zero cuts or injuries from being out shoeless during these five days.

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