#this is nothing compared to when i worked opening shift at the campus coffee bar tho

[corvigae]

On one hand it's very lucky that Benadryl doesn't make me drowsy at all, bc I have hell-allergies that make me have to pop them like Pez candy practically on the hour, but on the other hand I'm so jealous of people who can take one and knock tf out. I take 20 mg of melatonin and two Benadryl every night before bed and proceed to stay up for another two to three hours. I should be wrestling God and all my demons with my bare fists in a drug-induced coma every night, what the fuck.

#this is nothing compared to when i worked opening shift at the campus coffee bar tho #bc i had to be up at 5am and drive 45 minutes every morning #SO i started every morning by taking two benadryl my antianxiety and my adhd meds #as well as a claritin for good measure #and washing it all down with a full can of redbull #basically pointing at god and going 'YOU sort this shit out' #personal grumblings

[bubble-tea-bunny]

marianas or the moon 

[barry allen x reader]

author’s note: i always thought kissing booth fics were kinda cute, figured i could try my hand at it. hope y’all enjoyyy

word count: 2,036

Barry Allen is a nervous wreck 90% of the time, and 80% of that time it’s because of you.

He already doesn’t know the first thing about interacting with people. Not in a way that doesn’t embarrass himself or leave him a stuttering mess. Just the other day, someone sat next to him in criminology, shook his hand and gave him their name. And Barry had smiled because that’s the easy part but instead of giving his own name he’d said the same one back. Then he’d gone pale realizing what he did and the classmate had just laughed, calling it a coincidence, and now Barry’s convinced that whenever he sees this Sam in class or around campus, he’ll need to pretend his name is Sam too. Because correcting the mistake is much too difficult. Oh no. He’d already committed to it.

But when he first met you, he’d given you the right name the first time. Thankfully. And it’s odd that he had because all that was flittering through his mind as he introduced himself was how pretty you were. He’d bumped into you when walking to his next class. The force of the impact knocked your notebooks out of your arm and he’d apologized profusely as he helped you pick them up. You’d smiled reassuringly and told him it was okay. And then he looked at you, really looked at you, and he was hardly paying any mind as he said his name, getting it right by sheer luck because your eyes were like the soft oscillation of a hypnotist’s pocket watch—entirely mesmerizing, and at the sight of them, he thinks he’d do anything you asked him to.

You still have that effect on him, and Barry’s certain that it will last in perpetuity. He wonders if you can tell, if you can spot the way his own eyes seem to get glossy when he watches you, transfixed, entranced, equal parts by his own will and yet not by his own will at all. It’s like a superpower (and at first he did genuinely wonder if you had persuasion). With one glance you have someone wrapped around your finger—Barry, in this particular example. But there’s still a part of him that would do whatever you wanted, even if he wasn’t under your supposed powers of persuasion. (You don’t actually have persuasion, he knows that now. You’re just you. And maybe that’s the strongest superpower of all.)

As such, it might be safe to say that a majority of his life after having met you has been spent in a state of hypnosis. You’re his best friend, and he sees you often. It’s strange that it came to that because you’re practically his opposite. He’s all flustered dork and you’re… well, you’re just not that. When it comes to interacting with strangers, other students on campus or customers at the local coffee bar also waiting for their drinks, you do the majority of the talking, easily carrying on light conversation like it’s your job. It seems to be a feature that emanates from you, like there’s a sign above your head, numerous light bulbs forming an arrow as if to let others know you’re friendly and open to talk, if they wanted to. And almost always, they do. They gravitate towards you. You always try to pull him into the conversations. You’re sweet like that, never wanting him to feel left out, and you figure maybe it’ll be good practice for his people skills. Because you know most are too slow for him but you’re there to close that gap, giving him guidance, gentle nudges in the right direction.

One time while at his apartment, preoccupied with a game on your phone while Barry sat at his computer, you’d asked if he found you too slow for him. He glanced at you but you hadn’t once looked up from the screen and he already knows that no, he doesn’t think that. You have no problems keeping up. If anything—

“I think it’s me who should be asking if I’m too slow for you,” he says, smiling slightly.

And it’s true. At least Barry thinks so. Whenever he’s around you he can’t help but feel inadequate, especially when you interact with others. He wishes he could do it as well as you could. He wishes he could do it at all.

You smile too and slide your eyes up to him. “You could never be.”

There’s an unspoken agreement in those four words that the two of you are moving at the exact same pace.

His feelings for you have always been lying beneath the surface of his heart, ever present but always ignored. Barry fears it would jeopardize your friendship if you knew and he can’t bear the thought of losing his best friend. So he just doesn’t say anything. And it goes fine. When he trips over his words or feels his hands get clammy whenever you just seem to look at him a certain way, all soft eyes and warm smile, you never take it as anything more than him simply being his usual awkward self, even if the truth is that he’s acting that way because he likes you. A lot. But the day you’re holding a flyer, at the top of which reads Kissing Booth (complete with a red kiss next to it), those feelings start straining against the wall of his heart, prepared to burst, to bare themselves to you.

“Meredith asked if I would work the booth, at least for a couple of hours,” you explain, still looking down at the piece of paper. But then you look at him. “What do you think?”

Barry thinks it’s a bad idea. Maybe that’s a given, considering his crush on you and all. It’d be weird to say no, though, since you don’t know about his crush. The voice in the back of his head tells him that this is it, then—this is the moment he tells you that he likes you and he’d much rather you don’t work the kissing booth because he wants you to himself. But he doesn’t listen, and instead he smiles and says you should do whatever it is you feel like doing. You decide to volunteer and he really should’ve expected that because you always want to help, ever so helpful [Name], but he still can’t quite control the way he deflates when he hears it. He smiles and nods and hopes it distracts you enough that you don’t see his shoulders sag.

The fair had started a few hours ago, right as the sun dipped down below the horizon, but Barry hadn’t shown up until your shift at the kissing booth. He’d walked with you to the park at the center of campus, dropped you off at your area. You smiled up at him and asked if he’d be okay, if he’d just be heading back to his apartment. You don’t ask it to be judgmental, and he knows that. You know how he is in crowds like this, how for him, talking to people is like being thrust into the wild. And sure, he’s picked up some stuff from you about how to go about it, but it’s akin to only being half-fluent in a language. People will talk and Barry will understand vaguely, but formulating responses would take too long, mind scrambling for what to say.

He tells you he thinks he’ll stick around for a bit, to look at what else is here. Your smile widens as you say okay and tell him to keep an eye out for anything you might like to check out, for when your shift is over. And then Meredith is calling you to the now vacant stool, and with one comforting pat to Barry’s arm, you make your way over. As he walks away, he glances once over his shoulder to where you are and sees the sign: $5 Kisses. Complete with hearts.

Wandering around the fair and taking in the sights is interesting enough. There’s plenty here, and he’s making notes of where to take you. He’s not really following any path, just wandering around aimlessly. At least that’s what he tells himself. Because before he knows it, the kissing booth is back in his sights. He stands there for a few minutes, hands tucked into his jacket pockets as he thinks. There’s a line and jealousy bubbles in his chest and he knows nothing more confidently than the way he feels about you, yet his feet seem frozen to the spot. Doubt holds him back as he wonders what you’d think when he reached the front of the line and your best friend sat down. If you didn’t like him back, the climate of your friendship would change forever. Well, if you did like him back, it’d still change, but at least it would change for the better. Either way things would be different. And in the boldest move he thinks he’ll ever make on this green earth, he gets in line. It’s a risk he’s willing to take.

The jar of five dollar bills is filling up nicely. At the end of the night, Meredith will be counting it all and donating it. She’s standing several feet away, stopping some people and asking if they’d be interested in going to the kissing booth, because “It’s for a good cause!” You glance over at her between kisses, as the current person stands and the next person takes a seat. This time, you look back over to see Barry across from you. Your eyes widen and your heart starts beating faster because words don’t need to be said. The context you two find yourselves in speaks for itself. Which is nice, since for once, you can’t seem to find words.

“Hey, [Name],” Barry greets quietly, shyly.

“Hey, Barry,” you greet in a similar hushed tone. Your cheeks are warm and you wonder if he can hear your heart beating hard.

There’s a few seconds of silence and Barry is getting increasingly worried. Had he made a mistake? His hands are wrenching in his lap and he wants to leave. He’d made a fool of himself. Of course he had. You never thought of him like this and now he’s gone and fucked it all and—

You lean forward and set your soft lips on his.

—and he thinks he’s died and gone to heaven. Sure, he might’ve imagined what the moment might be like. But it doesn’t compare to the real deal at all. The real deal is better. And he knows these sorts of booths are only meant for an innocent peck but he finds himself deepening it. You don’t protest. It’s only when there are grumbles from the others waiting in line that you force yourself to pull away first. Barry’s eyes are still closed and he’s already missing your lips. When he opens his eyes and looks at you, you’re smiling a little, cheeks flushed and beautiful, and you look over at Meredith, who’s already watching the two of you with a small smile on her face.

“I’m gonna have to end things a bit early, if that’s okay,” you say.

Meredith’s smile widens as she nods and walks over, presumably to take your place. She shoos you away. “All right. Go.” You’re quick to stand and Barry follows after you. You grab his hand to lead him away, but before you’re too far out of hearing range, Meredith speaks up again—“It’s about time!”

You can’t help but giggle as you look back at her for a second, but then your attention is all on Barry. It’s not entirely certain where the two of you might head from here. You just pull him along and he follows. Are you going to his apartment? The café down the street? Anywhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of the park, if anything. Barry decides it doesn’t matter where you’re both going. He’d be perfectly fine if it were to the end of the horizon or the rings of Saturn. He just cares that you’re there too.

#barry allen x reader #barry allen imagine #justice league imagine #the flash x reader #the flash imagine #ezra miller x reader #ezra miller imagine #barry allen #justice league #the flash #ezra miller #DC comics #dc comics imagine #bubble-tea-bunny

[angel-with-a-pipette]

@terraweek

Title: Caramel Cappuccino

Summary: Terra works part-time as a barista in one of the university's coffee bars. Little did he expect to meet a particular blue haired customer who wouldn't leave his mind...

This is an entry for Terra week 2018 on tumblr, prompt “Modern AU” and a companion piece to @0littlelight0 's  gorgeous art. Please check it out!!

Rating: K

Also available on: ao3 | ff.net

Please enjoy!

“Enjoy your coffee.”

At the start of his third semester, Terra had been lucky enough to get a job as a barista at his own university. Studying for his degree in sports, most of his lectures didn't start until 10 am or even 12 pm, but he had always been an early riser, waking up at the break of dawn to go jogging or to meditate before he started his day. Taking over the early shift at the campus coffee shop fit perfectly into his schedule, earned him surprisingly good money and looked good on his curriculum even though it wasn't connected to his field of study. All in all, it was a win-win situation and he'd be lying if he said it wasn't entertaining to see zombies turn into sentient human beings in the morning.

The girl he had just served grabbed her cup and flashed him a short smile in thanks before leaving, making way for the next customer in line. She stepped forward and all Terra could see was blue: Blue hair, blue sweater, blue messenger bag. Stunned for a moment, he shook it off and forced a smile back on his face.

“Hello, what can I get you, miss?”

“Hi, excuse me,” the blue haired woman answered slightly distracted as she rummaged around in her bag, clearly in search of something, likely her purse. He saw her eyebrows draw together as she let go of her bag only to wiggle around and bury her hands in her pants pockets (a pair of blue jeans, Terra noted), her eyes now at least studying the large menu board that hung over counter.

“I'd like a – a-ha!” she exclaimed happily and pulled a small pouch out of her back pocket (at this point, Terra was surprised that it was orange and not blue), counting a few coins in it. “Can I have a cup of chamo-” She froze as her eyes finally fell on him.

Terra shuffled a little uncomfortably.

“Are you feeling alright?”

That seemed to pull the girl out of her stupor and she let her eyes roam around the room, awkwardly fumbling around with her pouch.

Was she avoiding him? He couldn't recall ever meeting this girl before.

“Y-yes, I'm fine,” she answered, much more timidly than before, as her eyes came to rest on the special menu card next to the cash register.

“Cappuccino!” She blurted out, and at that a slight blush started to dust her cheek as she winced. “I mean, can I have a –“ she looked at the card again, “Caramel Cappuccino, please?”

“Coming right up,” Terra answered her with a nod as he accepted her coins and started working on her order, but not without giving her a discreet look over.

She was cute, he had to admit. Her hair color was very unusual and she was tall for a girl (still roughly half a head shorter than him, though), with a slender built as far as the sweater allowed him to judge.

He was intrigued. Maybe if he turned a little to the left and leaned over, he could throw another short glance –

“Shoot!” Terra grumbled loudly as hot steam from the milk frother blew against his hand. He quickly turned off the steam and jumped to the sink to run cold water over his hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, fine,” he grumbled, annoyed at himself, “I got distracted for a second there.” He quickly dried off his hands, wincing a little at his now sensitive skin and returned to the coffee with a frown. Served him right for gawking his customers, he figured. Finishing up the order and drizzling the ordered Caramel over the drink, he turned back to her, handing her the cup.

At that moment, she took his breath away.

He hadn't realized how well her hair complemented her eyes – her eyes that shone like the ocean back in his home town. They immediately sought out the patch of sensitive skin on his arm (when had she grasped his hand like that?) and she gingerly turned his lower arm left and right to see better in the dim lit room.

“It doesn't look too bad, but you should still be careful. I'm sorry you got burned because of my order.”

He wanted to tell her that it was nothing – and it truly was, it's not like it was his first burn and it wasn't even serious – but the words got stuck in his throat.

“Thank you,” he replied instead, slightly breathless before he swallowed deeply, “I'll take care.”

He was met with the most dazzling smile he had ever seen in his life. He didn't register her thanks and her “Have a nice day” or even the next customer clearing their throat impatiently.

At that moment, he fell hopelessly and irreversibly in love with the blue haired girl.

Thankfully, she dutifully returned to him – his coffee – every single morning. In the first few days, she kept asking him about his burn, but soon, the two of them fell into companionable silence, communicating more with their eyes and smiles instead of words. And Terra loved observing her every day. The closer winter and its cold temperatures drew, the bigger her sweaters became until he had to nearly send a search party into her clothes to find the girl underneath them, bundled up for warmth. Rarely, she dressed in a more fancy, more adult way – once it was during their university's big job fare, he noted, so he assumed she had important meetings those days. Those were the days where she would wear subtle but classy earrings and a light dusting of make up, making her eyes – her gorgeous eyes, he swooned – shine even more. Other days, she opted for the complete opposite, being super comfortable while still being dressed nicely; in contrast to other students, he never saw her turn up in sweatpants or anything comparable.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but seeing her in the morning quickly became his favorite part of the day.

Spring had finally arrived and the end of the semester was coming near quickly. Having already passed all but of one his exams and being good on time with his assignments, he hadn't minded taking over today's afternoon shift for his sick colleague, even though it was unnaturally busy due to the university holding its open house day today. As such, tons of soon-to-be-students flooded the campus, chattering excitedly among themselves and – of course – trying to figure out where to buy the best food and coffee.

When lunch time was over and most of the caffeine deprived students were satisfied, business came to enough of a slow, allowing Terra to sit down behind the counter and pull out his sport medicine notes, learning for the last exam he had to take at the end of next week. Engrossed as he might have been in his notes, there was no way goosebumps wouldn't spread all over his arms as a familiar voice drifted to his ear.

“And this is the best coffee shop on campus!”

Terra immediately felt heat rise up his cheeks and scrambled to his feet, dropping his notes unceremoniously to the floor just in time for the blue haired girl to step up to the counter, eyes widening slightly as a huge smile started to spread over her lips.

“You're here!” She exclaimed more than asked and her smile was contagious.

“My colleague is sick so I took over his shift,” he replied before he noticed the blond boy trailing behind her, roughly a head shorter than her, with a huge grin plastered on his face. The tell-tale red fabric bag most of the student representatives were giving out to the visiting pupils was slung over his shoulder.

“Hey,” the girl addressed Terra warmly and he was about to melt into a puddle of goo at the sight of her dazzling eyes.

“Hey,” he breathed in response, but caught himself at the boy's snicker and cleared his throat.

“What can I get you?”

“A hot chocolate and a Caramel Cappuccino, please.”

She slid a bill over to him and he quickly gave her back her change before he stepped to the machine, starting the hot chocolate first as the girl and her companion stepped away from the counter.

“So, do you want to take a break here or do you want to continue the tour? They also sell sandwiches if you're hungry again.”

“I saw all the lectures that interested me the most so I'm open to anything. But the question is – do you want to take a break here?”

“What do you mean?”

“C'mon, Aqua –“

Aqua. Her name was Aqua. It fit her perfectly.

“– do you think I'm blind? Tell me, since when exactly do you drink coffee?”

“Since I started university? It keeps me awake in a morning.”

Terra heard a snort.

“Yeah, right. Says the girl who effortlessly got up at 5 am when she was still in school. The girl who called me up at 4 am this morning even though I could've easily slept until 6 am! You live on campus and the pharmacy building is five minutes away from your dorm. You do not need coffee to wake up.” A short pause. “Also, you hate the taste of coffee.”

“It's an acquired taste,” Terra heard Aqua's voice answer indignantly, “I got used to it and now I like it.”

“Back home, you spent endless days lecturing me about how bad the regular consumption of caffeine is. But I get it –“

The boy's voice lowered and subconsciously, Terra leaned further into the espresso machine, closer to his customers to pick up on their conversation.

“– I mean, you totally have the hots for the barista.”

Terra felt as if his heart stopped beating. Was it possible, that she was actually interested in him?!

“I-I do not!”

“Yes, you do!” Terra heard the boy snicker, but he had the decency to continue whispering, “Look at you, you turned as red as a tomato! And it would make sense why you started drinking coffee suddenly even though they also sell tea here: When you're embarrassed, you blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind! You probably saw him, saw the cappuccino and boom, that's what you ordered!”

Well... she did look at the special menu that day, didn't she? And she did blurt her order out... right? Terra bit his lip, daring to hope that it might be true.

“Ugh! Ven!” Her voice sounded muffled now and as inconspicuously as possible, Terra rose to his tiptoes to throw a glance over the machine. Aqua had thrown her hands over her face and the fierce blush that spread onto her neck kicked Terra's heart back into thumping furiously. “I am not having this kind of conversation with my baby brother!”

“Hey! I'm sixteen already! And you know I'm righ–” 

 “Not. Having.This. Conversation,” she all but squeaked out in response, but Terra barely registered it. He felt his heartbeat inside of his ears and felt his throat constrict as he reached for his book bag, fishing out one of his Edding pens.

It was all or nothing now.

With a shaky hand, he scribbled his telephone number on Aqua's cup and finished up the order as fast as he could before his courage left him again. Just as his stomach constricted painfully, he reached out for the tiny bell on the counter and ringed it. Aqua and Ven who now stood a meter away turned back to him, with Aqua still looking slightly flushed and Ven sporting a shit-eating grin.

“One hot chocolate and one Caramel Cappuccino.”

Terra didn't think his heart could beat even faster, but it did when Aqua stepped forward to reach for the cups. Their hands touched and as Aqua looked up at him shyly, Terra swallowed the big lump in his throat and leaned forward ever so slightly. 

“I'm Terra,” he whispered, letting go of the cups and he caught a glimpse of another blush spreading over Aqua's cheekbones before she turned around with a breathless “thank you” and hurried over to Ven. They left his field of vision quickly and with a relieved sigh, Terra let himself fall back to the chair behind the counter, trembling slightly. He felt his head spinning and his heart continued strumming so powerfully inside of his chest he nearly missed the soft vibration in his back pocket.

Terra flew out of his seat and nearly dropped his phone when he opened his text messages.

My name is Aqua. Nice to meet you, Terra :)

#terraweek2018 #Terra #Aqua #Terraqua #KH #0littlelight0 #Alja's fanfictions #terraweek

[texanredrose]

Okay, so, this is the other prompt fill! Taken from the second suggestion by @makas0ul, and my first time writing this pairing, too. Set in the same universe as the previous two, let’s have some fun with SolarFlare. Also, shoutout to @keena-kapu for letting me use their Remnants of Heart universe in this! (Also, bear in mind that Sun’s an unreliable narrator at times.)

Sun sighed, settling into the middle seat on the lounge's couch with the tub of ice cream in his lap and a new movie he'd been dying to see already flicking over to the menu on the wide screen television bolted to the wall. While the college had splurged on high definition televisions and a new gaming console for the various lounges in the dorms, they definitely didn't trust the students enough not to either toss them through the window in a fit of misguided amusement or move them into someone's room. Honestly, the monkey Faunus didn't mind, seeing as his room happened to be the last place he wanted to be at that moment.

Being from Vacuo and studying in Vale, Sun considered himself a pretty laid back sort of individual, especially compared to others in the study abroad program. No one started grief with him, he wouldn't start with anyone else, and aside from a few pranks here and there to clown on the Campus Police, he stuck to that policy. So, even though he didn't exactly like it, he couldn't really get too upset about the two students having ridiculously loud sex in the room next to his. Neptune usually just rolled his eyes when they started before excusing himself to either the library, the nearest coffee shop, or a jog around campus. Meanwhile, Sun chose the lounge, having a pretty solid grasp on their stamina and actually not minding the noise itself much, anyway. It usually had to do more with... well... picturing what was causing the sounds, especially since he was friends with one of them and didn't want anything awkward to come up because of it.

When he first arrived at the school- and found out that Vale had co-ed dorms, how cool- he thought he might be the only Faunus on campus. Come to find out, one of the people in the room right next door was Blake Belladonna, a cat Faunus from Menagerie. She turned out to be super chill and they became pretty good friends, although any hope of them becoming more were dashed when she started dating her roommate, who was... well.

Everyone called her the Bombshell Blonde, and she owned it. Beat up leather jackets, a motorcycle, aviators, arms that could bench press a truck- Sun thought he had great abs but, really, he had nothing on Yang Xiao Long, easily the school's most talked about wild child. Which was weird, honestly- aside from one bar fight before the beginning of term, she didn't get in trouble and actually seemed to avoid the parties all over campus, or didn't stay at them too long when she did make an appearance. Still, the reputation stuck, and from the few glimpses he'd caught of the woman ducking in and out of the dorm room next to his, he had to admit she lived up to it pretty well. She always seemed on the move, and though he knew she apparently boxed and played lacrosse for the school, he couldn't be sure if it was practice for both that took up all her free time.

Still, he couldn't really blame Blake, and she seemed pretty darn happy about the whole arrangement. So, to save her the embarrassment- and to keep himself from blushing and being unable to look her in the eye the following day- he would retreat to the lounge with a movie and a snack for a few hours. All in all, it worked out pretty well. One of these days, Neptune might join him, but for right now, he was perfectly happy starting the movie and shoveling a spoonful of the half empty cookies 'n' cream into his mouth- leftover from the last time.

About twenty minutes later, he heard someone shoulder open the stairwell door, looking over just in time to nearly choke on the bite he'd just taken. There, striding into the room while running a hand through her hair, was Yang Xiao Long. This was the first time he'd gotten a proper look at the woman, with her beat up leather jacket over her yellow tanktop, brown shorts and boots, that orange scarf she always seemed to wear around her neck and aviators set atop golden locks, she definitely looked the part of the Blonde Bombshell, just without the motorcycle.

"Uh..."

"Oh, is that the new Sensational Sister movie?" The blonde's expression pinched into one of mild consternation. "Man, I wanted to see that! Guess it's already out of theaters, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Sun quickly grabbed the remote and paused the movie, as much so he could keep watching without missing anything important as to keep from spoiling the movie for the woman. "I picked it up today, actually." He raised a brow. "I, uh, though you were... y'know." Using the spoon, he gestured towards the hall. "With Blake...?"

"What?" Yang looked slightly confused, then reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her scroll, thumbing through it a moment. "Oh, she's got her girlfriend over again. Dang." Then her brows furrowed, lilac eyes darting up to meet his. "Wait... can you hear... uh, them-"

"Yeah," he said with a lopsided smile and a shrug. "Thought it was you two and figured I'd, ya know. Give you some privacy."

Almost immediately, the blonde laughed, putting her scroll back. "Wait, you thought Blake and I were dating? Nah, it's- well, someone else."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at the information being withheld but eventually shrugged; the other Faunus would tell him in time and, if she'd left the impression with her roommate that it shouldn't be disclosed freely, then there was probably a good reason. Or Blake was just being silly, which he thought she often was in regards to certain things. Oh well.

"So... guess that means your room's off limits now, huh?"

"Yeah." She sighed, shifting the duffel bag hanging from one shoulder.

"Well, you wanna watch the movie with me? I can start it over." He grabbed for the remote, heading back to the title menu. "I mean, since we're both not going back to our rooms for a while, might as well, yeah?"

Yang smirked, throwing her bag down by the couch and plopping down. "Guess so. Hey, what's that you've got there?"

"Cookies 'n' cream ice cream! Want some?" He offered her the tub with one hand and the spoon with his tail, ready to start the movie over.

"Uh, thanks, but..." The blonde peeked into the container. "Looks like you've only got a little left."

"That's fine; I've got some vanilla, too."

"Really?" Her eyes darted back to the stairwell. "Pretty sure my sis keeps a bottle of chocolate syrup in her room. We could have a sundae."

"Hey, I've got some bananas; we could make it a banana split!" He faltered a moment. "Not sure I have a big enough bowl, though."

"Pretty sure I've got that part covered." Yang laughed, fondly shaking her head. "Ruby kinda keeps a big mixing bowl in her room at all times. There's no oven around here, but she makes cookie dough like nobody's business."

"Alright, then let's do it!" He handed off the tub and spoon, then hopped up, careful to keep the remote from falling to the floor by setting it on the couch's arm. "Here, you finish off that, and I'll get the vanilla and the bananas."

Jogging down the hall, Sun quickly ducked into his room, humming to himself to help drown out the noises coming from next door as he collected the vanilla ice cream from the mini freezer and two bananas from his side of the room, plus an extra spoon. He'd almost left when a video game case caught his eye, laying half obscured by the shirt lazily thrown on top of it. Some fighting game, the sixth in the series and at least one installment passed being recent, but he still liked playing it from time to time and thought it might be good to grab. After all, his initial plan involved taking a nap on the lounge couch, so maybe this would be a good substitute to fill the extra team needed until Blake... well, until the room wasn't off limits to Yang, at any rate. Plus, if the movie turned out to be a bomb, they could always pass the time beating the crap out of each other in the versus mode.

By the time he got back to the lounge, he could hear the stairwell door closing on the floor above and settled back onto the couch, this time a bit further over than his previous spot to give them some room between them for the bowl. When Yang returned, a full sized mixing bowl, a can of whipped cream, and a bottle of chocolate syrup in hand, plus his spoon from earlier, the two set to work peeling the bananas and cutting them with the spoons- which, actually seemed to work, surprisingly well. Dumping them into the bowl, they then started scooping out the ice cream, and that part... took a bit longer than he expected, honestly.

"Here, let me see it," she said, accepting the tub once he'd handed it over. She began rolling it between her hands, pressing against the sides of the tub, loosening up the ice cream within until she could upend it, the majority falling into the bowl with no problems at all.

He let out a low whistle, scooping out what little remained clinging to the bottom of the tub. "Wow, you really do have some guns there, huh?"

"Yeah, they're not bad." She flexed one arm, showing off the bulge in her bicep briefly before cracking a smile. "You've got a nice set of abs yourself."

"Thanks." He flexed a little, taking advantage of the view his open button up provided, but started laughing quickly after. Slipping the top back on the empty tub and setting it aside, he continued talking while she set about pouring the chocolate syrup over their creation. "I don't really work out much, though. I just like climbing trees and stuff."

That seemed to spark some form of recognition in the young woman. "Wait, are you the guy who climbed the side of the science building last week?"

"Oh, that." He held up both hands in a placating gesture at her raised brow. "Look, I was running late for a class and the professor had already walked in the front door; there was no way I was getting past him without getting seen unless I went a... well, alternate route. I really didn't have a choice!" He crossed his arms over his chest, a small frown coming to his lips. "Not that the Campus Police believe that. They somehow got it in their heads that I just climb buildings for fun."

"So, that wasn't you on the gym last month?"

"A ball got stuck on the roof."

"And the administration building two months ago?"

"The main door was closed for some reason and I had to go around; over is around!"

"The dorms the second week of term?"

"I was locked out of my room. And the window was open." He flicked his tail for emphasis. "Really, I should be getting credit for having that kinda foresight!"

Yang laughed, shaking her head as she put the bottle off to the side. "Dude, is there a building on this campus you haven't climbed?"

"Um... the library? Wait, no, I had to return that book one time..."

The blonde smiled, grabbing her spoon as he held his- in his hand, this time. "You know, I've heard all about the kid climbing buildings for f- perfectly valid reasons." She corrected herself, those lilac eyes shining just a bit with amusement at the little furrow that came to his brow. "But, I've never caught your name."

"Oh! I'm Sun, Sun WuKong." He held out his unoccupied hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Yang."

She seemed genuinely surprised but it passed quickly as she shook his hand. "Guess my rep proceeds me, huh?"

"Well, yeah, but you're also Blake's roommate." He chuckled, pointing towards the hallway again. "I kinda bugged the hell outta Blake the first time I met her. I was just so excited to see another Faunus, and one from Menagerie, too! I think it took two days for me to stop asking questions."

"Really?" Putting the cap back on the can of whipped cream, both of them inspected their work.

It... actually looked really good, and he kinda wondered why he'd never tried this before, but then it clicked. "Aw, we don't have any cherries."

"Dang, you're right... hey." She looked at him, her expression turning a bit more mischievous. "Do you usually eat the cherry first or last?"

"Well, last; it's the best part!" Honestly, he liked bananas better, but when it came to an ice cream dessert, his comment stood. "That final burst of sweetness to finish off the dish. Why?"

"I know something we can use as a substitute!" She turned, settling into the couch and facing the television. "But I'll save it for the end. Let's get this movie started!"

"Alright!" Sun couldn't quite tell what the woman had planned but decided to go with it, starting the movie up and helping himself to the first bite of the banana split.

They sat and watched the movie, occasionally trading little jokes about the events happening on screen while slowly working their way through the dessert. Apparently, Yang knew quite a bit about the old Sensational Sister comics, offering up little tidbits about which issue or run a certain line referenced, offering insight on how the designs came together to pay homage to all the different styles, and even providing context for some of the references to other characters in the universe yet to be introduced. The movie itself was awesome, too, mixing action and drama with a fair bit of humor and even a touch of romance, and he probably should've gone to see it while it was still running in theaters himself. By the time the end credits rolled around, their shared dessert was nothing but a memory and their guts were hurting from laughing so much over a somewhat thoughtless comment on his part.

"You- you serious- oh man." The woman finally recovered enough to look at him, wiping a tear from her eye. "Did you really just compare Sensational Sister to Beowoman? Like, really?"

"I just mean they both have awesome costumes! And they can fight!"

"That's like saying Perfectman and the Red Hare are similar! They're totally different!"

"Okay, so maybe I'm not as much of a comic book geek as you are, so sue me!" He shrugged, leaning back against the couch. "I obviously need to read more comics if I want to make accurate comparisons."

"Well, you should! Comics are awesome, dude; seriously, you don't know what you're missing out on." Yang took the bowl and set it on the floor, scooting closer slightly. "You... wouldn't happen to have another movie, would you? Pretty sure the, uh... room's still occupied."

With a smile, the Faunus grabbed the game case from earlier with his tail while using his hands to manipulate the controller into stopping the movie and ejecting the disc. "Well, it's not a movie, but are you into video games?"

"As a matter of fact, I am." She winked, reaching for the case. "I'm a well rounded geek." Lilac eyes flitted over the case, her expression brightening. "Hey, I know this series! Used to play with my sis all the time. Well, the second one, anyway." A few minutes later, the movie and game were swapped out and both of them were seated side-by-side, controllers in hand and ready for some friendly competition. "How about we play normal for the first game, then best two out of three gets to choose the mode."

"Sounds good to me!"

She nodded, tapping all the buttons as if to remind herself where they were. It might've been a while since the last time she played, especially if the second installment was her last game. "You ready to go down, WuKong?"

"As if!" Sun laughed, flicking over to the versus screen as an opportunity revealed itself, and he gunned for it. "We'll see Xiao Long you last against the champ!"

"Oh, that was a bad move, Sunny boy." He made the mistake of glancing over, catching sight of the fire that ignited in lilac eyes. "You just entered an arena you're woefully unprepared for, and now I'm going to beat you twice over."

"Oh yeah?" The Faunus couldn't help but encourage her, curiosity and amusement convincing him that whatever he'd just asked for, he wanted to see. "How do you figure?"

"'Cause I'm not monkeying around here, dude." A few rapid taps of the controller's buttons had her character selected and costume changed to one she'd somehow unlocked in the past few seconds and how did she even do that? "I'm hotter than the Sun with the skills to match. You'll be playing second banana to me the moment we start this game!"

"You know quantity doesn't beat quality, right?" He teased, selecting his own character. "Let's see if you can trash talk and play!"

"Bring it on, Wukong!"

The first match, they nearly broke even except for a last minute combo from Yang that knocked his character clear off the stage. On top of that, she actually could continue making puns and quips while playing, and though he felt like he met her step-for-step in that regard, the second round proved a bit more... difficult. The woman adapted to his play style rather quickly and Sun had to change up his tactics to compensate, squeaking out a win at the last minute. The third round, though, Yang upped the ante.

She leaned forward into the classic, hyper focused gamer position, the tip of her tongue peeking out between her lips as she intently focused on the screen. Not one to be outdone, Sun leaned forward, too, his tail curling around the back of the couch to ground him. When the third round kicked off, they both put their all into beating the other, using combos and quick reflexes to attack and dodge, dancing all around the playing area. He started leaning with his controller, hoping to get just a little bit more leverage, but Yang did the same, and it really came down to the wire before she managed to pull off one hell of a combo, blasting him to the other side of the stage. He tried to make a last minute save and grab the edge, but Yang hadn't planned on leaving anything to chance, rushing towards the edge and delivering a drop kick just as his character stood up, sending him flying into the awaiting abyss.

"Holy crap, you're good at this!" He leaned over, nudging her shoulder with his. "You couldn't go a little easy on me?"

"It's your game!" She laughed, elbowing him lightly. "Maybe a few more rounds and you'll warm up, yeah? Or are you turning tail after one defeat?"

With a raised brow, he moved his tail, turning to lock eyes with her as a distraction. "Your pun game is good, but you know what's more involved?"

"What's tha-a-A-AT!" Yang jumped where she sat, flinching away from the unexpected contact of his tail flicking in the dead center of her shoulder blades. "Hey!"

"Practical jokes!" The Faunus laughed, his amusement becoming even clearer when he received a light punch to his shoulder in retaliation. "Aw, c'mon, that was funny."

"That was cheating." She changed the settings on the game before starting up another round. "Here, we're going to play Sudden Death. Let's see if you're quick on the draw." And just like that, they were both competing again, racing to land the first big hit that would end the round, but he should've known Yang was leading him into a trap, soundly beating him three times in a row. They didn't even have to play the third round, but she insisted, likely to tease him some more. So, of course, he decided to be crafty himself, suggesting they switch characters. "That's not gonna help you."

He shrugged, deciding to call her bluff. "Humor me."

The next two rounds, he handed her sound defeats, causing the woman's brows to furrow slightly in agitation and her tongue to peek out through the entirety of both, though it didn't seem to help her this time around. Truthfully, he couldn't manipulate the character nearly as well as the previous one, but he at least had enough proficiency to hold his own. "Alright, you win."

"Is someone a sore loser?" Sun teased, bumping their shoulders together.

"No!" She bumped him back and offered a genuine grin. "Just kinda bummed I stopped playing these." With a chuckle, she motioned towards the screen. "Honestly, I only picked her to begin with because her moveset never changes. I haven't played fighting games in years, except to brush off the old system."

"And you're still scary good, dang." He hesitated on starting the next match- he'd switched it over to a low gravity mode for fun- and looked over at her. "What kinda games do you play nowadays?"

"You're not gonna believe me."

"C'mon, try me!" The Faunus poked her in the head with the tip of his tail, earning a playful swat in return. "I'll be honest, even though I like a good first person shooter every now and then, I'm big into open world RPGs. Just getting to run around and do silly stuff or side quests- that's my jam! Especially the ones that have some sort of morality system built in."

Yang smirked. "Oh, like playing the bad boy, is that it?"

"I am a force of chaotic good," he said with a wink. "Emphasis on chaotic."

They both laughed before she replied, reaching up to run a hand through her hair. "I get it, though. I'm actually really into those games where you can sink, like, hundreds of hours into exploring and doing things. I mean, I like a FPS or those button mash types, too, and I love multiplayer games, but there's something just... really cool about exploring a whole new universe, getting immersed in your character, and living out an adventure, ya know?"

"Absolutely." Suddenly, he remembered his newest gaming purchase from about four weeks ago, mainly because he'd become so engrossed in it he hadn't bothered picking up another game since. "Hey, have you played Remnants of Heart yet?"

Her brows furrowed, as if trying to place the name. "I think I remember seeing a trailer for it, but no, haven't played."

"Aw, it's great! You get to be the Captain of a pirate ship, sail around and fight other pirates, pick fights with the navies of various Remnant nations from, like, four centuries ago, and you fight these gnarly beasts called Grimm- totally up your alley."

"That sounds awesome." Lilac eyes sparkled with wonder, a smile pulling at her lips while the fighting game was entirely forgotten, the woman turned her body towards him as she continued. "Do you get to create your own character? How's the story? What kind of weapons can you use?"

"Yes, excellent, and whatever you want!" Sun had been dying to talk to someone about the game but Neptune often played the 'PC master race' card and wouldn't listen to him, insisting a console couldn't support such an excellently rendered landscape as the Faunus claimed, despite it also being available for computers. Regardless, having someone just as interested allowed him to go full throttle in talking about it. He started with the opening- nothing too descriptive so she could experience it for herself firsthand, but enough to set the stage- and then went on to the mechanics, the combat system, and the ship design menu, all while his companion listened attentively, seeming more and more enthralled by the game with every little tidbit revealed. "The multiplayer is kinda shit, if I'm honest, but the story is top notch."

"Is there... uh." She reached up, tucking an errant lock behind her ear, almost as if suddenly self conscious. "Like, a romance side quest?"

"Oh, that's the best part! You can basically pursue any NPC!" He stopped short, thinking that last comment over and trying his best to not give away the big twist. "Okay, so not like any NPC, but a fair majority! Like, seventy five percent of the ones in the game, you can get with, and there's no restrictions! Straight, bi, gay, poly- your character can have whatever romantic life you want!" He dropped his voice conspiratorially. "I know it's probably not a good idea but, honestly, I recruited my love interest to be my first mate just so we could be a pirate couple. Her stats aren't great or anything, but it's about the emotional connection, ya know?"

"Yeah!" That seemed to erase any anxiety the woman might've had, her interest returning in full force. "Man, I get so attached to the companions in games like these, it always bums me out when the one I want to romance isn't an available option. I need to give this game a shot!"

"You really, really do." He shot up, leaving the controller behind while jogging for the hallway. "I'll be right back!" Sun went back to his room, quickly digging through the clothes strewn around until he found the game case for Remnants of Heart. When he found it, he quickly went back to the lounge, wincing slightly as his tail pulled the door closed behind him, the slam echoing in the quiet hallway. Ah, well, he didn't hear anyone poke their heads out to yell at him, so he simply went straight for the console and swapped out the game discs before reclaiming his spot on the couch, handing over the first controller. "Here! The first segment's super quick, once you get past character creation, and then you get your first ship!"

"But... isn't this one player?" She quirked a brow, nodding towards the loading screen. "You could just show me yours-"

"Nah, that's not as fun." He leaned back, throwing one leg over the couch's arm. "I mean, we've still got time to kill, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Yang nodded. "I... got a text from Blake. They're, uh, still using the room."

"Cool." Sun looked at the television as the cinematic intro for the main menu started. "I think you'll get a better feel for it if you create your own character. Mine's kinda tailored and I'm at a point in the game that could have spoilers."

"Alright." She noted before turning her attention to the screen.

Yang went through the whole process of starting a new game, quickly choosing her character's features- tall, tan, with blonde hair and muscles, plus a scar along her character's jawline- and selected the first group of abilities, the majority of which focused on hand-to-hand combat and a little bit in pistols. While he thought she might come to regret that later, she made a joke about being the 'hands on' type and he had to admit she probably would find a way to make it work. While he didn't do more than offer a little commentary every now and again, plus answer some questions, the Faunus found himself enjoying the role of observer, a small smile on his lips as she made her way through the tutorial section.

"So, what's your favorite ice cream, anyway?"

"I dunno, don't really have a favorite." He blinked, looking over at her with a raised brow. "Why?"

She shrugged, keeping her gaze on the screen. "You seem like a vanilla kinda guy, is all."

"Well... yeah, I can see that." Sun nodded slowly, scratching behind his ear with a chuckle. "Vanilla goes great with just about anything, so I'm pretty flexible in that regard. I might not wow anyone by being super flashy or unique or deep but... I can have fun, ya know? Or just chill." With a shrug of his shoulders, he continued. "Sometimes, it's nice to be a little bland."

"Hey, I didn't say you were bland." The woman glanced over at him, still wearing a smile, though it had shrunk slightly. "I was gonna make a joke-"

"I know." It wasn't often he could be smug about something, but crossing his arms over his chest and flicking her hair with his tail felt deserved right then. "I just wasn't going to give you the satisfaction of it."

"Oh, you play dirty, Sun." Yang laughed, mirth back in full force as she lightly slapped at his tail away. "And watch the hair."

Presented with the opportunity for a little mischief, he lifted his tail, hovering the tip just behind her ear and ever so slightly away from her blonde locks. "Oh? Does your hair do tricks?"

She chuckled, reaching up in a flash to grab his tail, those lilac eyes glinting with both light and intensity. "Yeah. Touch it again without my say so, and you'll find yourself able to go through walls!"

He probably should've been intimidated or at least apologetic. Instead, he just smiled bigger; this must've been exactly how she looked that night of the bar fight, when she truly earned the name 'Blonde Bombshell' and he could definitely see how apt a title it was. Yet, at the same time, there was something more- a seriousness that would rather not be tested unless forced, which he could absolutely respect. "As cool as that sounds, I think I'd rather sit here a bit longer."

"Great!" The moment she released his tail, he brought it back to wrap around his waist. "As long as we have that understanding."

"Anything else I should know about?" Sun looked at the screen briefly, confirming she'd nearly reached the end of the tutorial.

"My favorite ice cream is strawberry." She offered, turning her attention to the miniature boss fight that ended the tutorial, her tongue once again starting to peek out as she focused on keeping her character alive. Yang certainly hadn't opted to take the easy route in the game but she managed to triumph all the same.

"I like strawberry, too," he said quietly, not wanting to break her concentration as their conversation died. A few minutes later, the cinematic progressing the plot finished and the woman was out to see in her first boat, looking over the map and testing the navigation. With every new feature discovered, Yang became more enamored with the game, easily becoming lost in the rhythm of exploring and picking up side quests, completely ignoring the main storyline for a time- which, in his opinion, was how the game should be played, because the urgency hadn't quite kicked in yet, so it made the most sense to start farming the easy missions for experience and gear rather than charge into the next plot point. Honestly, watching her play was a total trip; she had a different set of priorities than he did but made everything work for her in a way that he admired, rolling with every bump in the path. Even parts when he thought for sure she'd get knocked back to the last save point, just barely clinging to the last bit of health in her bar, the woman would somehow pull through; really, not even the movie they'd just watched could compare to the drama and relief of watching Yang's character succeed when failure seemed like the inevitable outcome. Finally, after an hour of playing, she seemed to notice the time.

"Oh, wow, it got late!"

Checking his watch, the Faunus winced slightly. Thankfully, he had a late class tomorrow, so sleep wasn't a huge priority. "Yeah, it did. You think they're still... ya know?"

He bit down on the urge to make a joke about Blake's stamina- Yang would probably find it funny but, if word ever got back to her that he'd said it, the cat Faunus probably wouldn't be as amused- as the blonde shook her head. "Nah, the room's open. And I've got an early morning class, too."

"I'm sorry," he said, collecting the controller from her and grabbing the game cases while she got her stuff together. "You gonna get enough sleep?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, don't sweat it." She smiled, lifting the strap onto her shoulder. "Not my first late nighter."

He figured she'd head to her room, so he went over to the console and pulled out the disc, putting it into the movie case for the time being. He'd switch them all back later- or not, considering half his games weren't in the proper case and he'd gotten used to keeping mental track of what was where- and powered down the television.

"Hey, Sun." Surprised, he turned around, finding she hadn't left the room after all. Instead, she stood by the couch, with a smile that reached all the way to those sparkling eyes. "Thanks for this. It was nice hanging out with you."

"You too, Yang," he replied, beaming. "Just let me know the next time you get kicked out of your room. We can watch some movies, play some games- heck, if I can find another TV somewhere, we can play the co-op!"

She raised a brow, tilting her head slightly. "I thought you said it was shit?"

"Well, yeah, but we'll make it work."

"That sounds awesome." Yang started to turn away before stopping suddenly, snapping her fingers. "Oh! Before I forget, did you... still want that cherry?"

Sun shrugged. "Sure."

He didn't think much of it- maybe she had a cherry flavored candy or something in her bag- but then she walked over and...

And, then... she kissed him.

Full on the lips, lasting more than a few seconds, she kissed him.

He could hardly believe it, blinking in slight disbelief as Yang straightened up and winked. "Hope that was sweet enough for you."

"Yep." The word left his mouth automatically, something lodged in his brain preventing any cognitive thought from processing. "Perfect!"

"I'll catch you around." Just like that, she was gone, with a flick of golden hair as she turned and went down the hallway.

He just stood there, in the middle of the lounge, so surprised and so... just... kinda overwhelmed? Yeah, that was it; he'd come out, expecting to spend a night watching a movie and giving his friend some privacy and, lo and behold, he got to spend a few hours with a pretty awesome person! And she kissed him to boot!

"Heya, Sun, buddy... are you alright?"

Snapping out of his daze, the Faunus looked over to see Neptune standing just inside the lounge, one blue brow raised up in askance. "Heh, yeah! I'm... I'm fantastic!"

His roommate didn't seem entirely convinced. "Are you sure? Because I've been standing here for, like, ten minutes, and you've been staring at the wall for at least that long."

Shaking his head slightly, the Faunus checked his watch again and, sure enough, at least twenty minutes had passed since Yang had left. "Wha- huh, I, uh, well..." He trailed off, another moment passing before he started grinning. "Man, you're not going to believe this."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Neptune gave him a wry grin. "Try me."

"I got to hang out with Yang! Yang Xiao Long." He started pacing, throwing the cases onto the couch so his hands could be free to gesticulate. "We were waiting for Blake and her girlfriend to- well, you know, and so we watched a movie- which was good, totally recommend it- and then we played some games, and we shared a banana split, and oh!" He stopped, quickly spinning around to grab his friend by the lapels of his jacket, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt. "She kissed me!"

Although apparently amused by the previous display, the last declaration drew a skeptical look from his roommate. "She kissed you."

Sun nodded. "Yep!"

Very deliberately, Neptune reached up and disengaged the Faunus' hands from the fabric of his jacket, releasing his wrists a moment later to smooth out the material. Then, he seemed to register what his friend had said, brows furrowing slightly.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Yang Xiao Long, the Bombshell Blonde, the one that every guy, gal, and non-binary pal on this entire campus would like to just talk to one-on-one, she kissed you at the end of what most people would call a date, correct?" Sun opened his mouth to correct that last portion but, on reflection... it kinda was a date, wasn't it? Not one either of them had planned, but... yeah. That pretty much constituted a date, and it definitely ranked as the best he'd ever been on, especially since he was finding it difficult to come up with a runner-up, so he nodded. "Well, did you get her number?"

"Uh... no?"

Neptune sighed theatrically. "Sun, you silly, useless heterosexual. What am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, man, it might've just been a one time thing!" He defended himself, setting his hands on his hips and frowning at his friend. "I mean, I offered for us to hang out again, but, ya know. This time was just because her room was occupied. And-"

Before he could continue, a finger was placed against his lips, effectively shushing him as Neptune pulled out his scroll and flicked it open. "Uh huh, okay, in the interest of saving all of us some headaches, we're going to just stand right here for a moment."

Sun furrowed his brows. "Why? Dude, it's not like-" At the pointed look he received, he dropped his objection, shifting his weight and tapping his fingers against his jeans while they stood there, waiting for... something. A few minutes later, the echo of the ground level door closing dully bounded up the stairwell, followed shortly by the door on their level opening. Almost immediately, the Faunus felt... entirely confused. "Hey... Blake... and... Weiss?"

He recognized Blake- of course he did- but he couldn't really believe he also knew the woman with her. They'd met once before- when she'd lectured him for twenty minutes about watching where he was going, all because he'd accidentally knocked her books out of her arms when trying to not be late for a class- and she had a bit of a reputation beyond that. One didn't carry her surname without having a few... ideologies attached. Most of which didn't bode well for Faunus but, given how particular Blake was in regards to the company she kept, he was willing to at least find out what she was doing here.

"Hey, Sun. I guess you've never been properly introduced." The other Faunus gave him a happy smile, sliding an arm around the woman's waist in an instantly recognizable gesture, lending even more credence to the next words out of her mouth. "This is Weiss Schnee, my girlfriend."

... huh.

"We've met before, though under... less than ideal circumstances, shall we say?" Though couldn't seem to hide the slight note of disdain in her voice, the woman did offer him a rather sincere looking smile as she extended her hand. "I'm... sorry about that, by the by, and I'm sure you're not interested in the excuses but I assure you our previous meeting was... poorly timed. It's nice to meet you properly, regardless. Blake says you're both very good friends."

"Yeah!" He quickly grabbed her hand, wincing at how hard he'd squeezed and preparing to apologize when she met him force-for-force and damn she had a helluva grip. "It's, uh, nice to meet you too, formally I mean... although... um..." Shifting a bit, Sun reached up to scratch the back of his head as he tried to word his question just right even as it left his lips. "Just kinda curious... when did you two walk past me? I thought you were, ya know, still in the room..."

At first, Blake quirked a brow, but then her eyes widened slightly as it must've dawned on her that, even though his hearing wasn't as sensitive as hers, that didn't mean he hadn't been aware of what happened in her room more nights than not.

"You and Yang were entirely engrossed in that fighting game." Unaware of her girlfriend's realization, Weiss spoke with a slight chiding inflection to her tone. "We thought it would be better to leave quietly, though you should probably be more mindful of your surroundings in the future. Then again, that does seem to be a recurring issue..."

"I texted Yang to let her know we were heading out." Apparently resolving to address what the monkey Faunus knew at a later time, Blake tilted her head to the side in clear curiosity. "She didn't mention it?"

Sun slowly shook his head.

"Of course she didn't, because, dude." Neptune announced while taking a firm hold of his shoulder, blue eyes boring into his. "I'm pretty sure she's into you."

He couldn't help but blink. "Whoa."

Author’s Note: I’m considering doing a companion set to these three from the other partner’s POV. Haven’t decided if they’ll be set shortly after these three- to kinda tell the other half of the story from those presented- or further down the line as a glimpse of how the relationships have progressed (even though I’ve been telling the Monochrome one in the background the whole time lmao could not resist) but I’ll figure it out eventually. Trying to clear out my backlog of prompts. Once again, sorry these have taken so long!

#TRR writes #SolarFlare #Expectations College AU

[kpopscenarios4u-blog]

Maybe, Baby - Part 2/?

Part O N E || Part T W O || *coming soon* Word Count: 2,168 Themes: AU, Angst, Family, mafia!taehyun Triggers: N/A A/N: So this was due last week but I had some hospital drama. Finally home and on bed rest, so until Monday I have nothing to do but write. Enjoy.

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At exactly 3 o’clock in the morning, you saw a car pull up outside your work. Glancing at your manager, you could see that she wanted about to complain about customers showing up right on closing. The two of you usually had a good laugh about it after she had turned them away. You saw Yoongi climb elegantly out of the car and walk around to the passenger side to lean against the hood of the car. “He’s here for me.” You sighed, answering your manager’s questioning gaze. “It’s about time you started dating.” She teased, eyeing Yoongi’s body appreciatively. “He’s fine.” You’d been working at the bar, doing the same shift, since you’d first moved to Seoul. Your current manager, Juhyun, had started six months before you and the two of you had built a strong friendship during your time working there. Aside from Jia’s mum, Alice, Juhyun knew the most about you and Cali’s past.

When Yoongi saw you move from behind the bar, he stepped closer to the building to open the door for you. That was when Juhyun noticed Yoongi’s face. “Oh, girl, you have a lot to share tomorrow night.” She whistled, low under her breath, as the door opened and you grabbed your coat and backpack. “It’s not like that.” You muttered as you strolled, nervously, toward your childhood love. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” “Yeah you will.” Yoongi took your bag from you and threw it over his shoulder as you passed through the door. He ignored your protests and made his way to his car, with you following close behind. He held open your door and, despite the mood you were in, you slid into the car.

For your whole shift, you’d stewed in your own annoyance and nerves until you were just itching fight. How had you been so stupid to think that everything would be alright, that Yoongi wouldn’t show up and ruin everything? How could you just let him squeeze his way into the life you had built with Cali from rock bottom up? Why were you so nervous about spending time with the boy who had abandoned you? That thought had made you mad. The last eleven years of your life had been about Cali. You’d let yourself and everyone think that you didn’t want Cali to get hurt by dating again but, really, you were afraid of getting hurt. So, by the time you were sitting in a silent car with Yoongi - who you could tell had done some stewing of his own - the atmosphere was that of a powder keg ready to blow. You’d barely made it ten minutes away from the bar before Yoongi was pulling over and angrily parking his car. “Look, I get it.” He began, his voice low. “I get that I gave you no clue as to where I was going-” “Or that you were going at all.” You sassed back, unbuckling your seat belt and throwing open the passenger door. “Yeah or that.” Yoongi growled, unbuckling his own belt and climbing out of the car. “I get it, I fucked up but it wasn’t my choice. Do you honestly think I wanted to leave you? After everything we’d been through? After all that fighting we did to be together? You father hated m-” “Regardless of what I thought, can you blame me? I was fifteen, the boy - my best friend and the love of my life - who I’d lost my virginity to the day before suddenly up and left without so much as a warning. Not to mention, I found out I was pregnant two months later to said boy which lead to me being kicked out of home a month before I gave birth to his child. So forgive me for stewing over it for almost twelve years. She’ll be eleven on Valentine’s Day, by the way.” Yoongi’s eyes softened for a moment at the little piece of information you had given his about his daughter before the fire was once again burning. “I’m not mad at you. Well, a little for not tracking me down, but I’m mostly mad at myself and my family. I should have been there to find all these little things out for myself. What father doesn’t know his own child’s birthday until she’s almost eleven?” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was then that you noticed that Yoongi was as put together has he had been this afternoon. His tie had been loosened and his jacket was wrinkled. His hair had also been mussed before he ran his fingers through it. Yoongi was nervous. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d contemplated not showing up at least a dozen times before he showed up. Having coffee with your ex-girlfriend was one thing, picking up your ex-girlfriend and mother of your previously unknown child from work was something completely different.

“Please get back in the car. Let’s go to my place and we can talk. I don’t want to have this conversation in the middle of the street.” “I can’t go to your place, Yoongi.” You sighed, you found him too irresistible to be alone with him. “I’m not going to touch you. I just want to talk.” He smirked slightly and your couldn’t help your stomach twisting with lust. “I figured you wouldn’t want to bring me back to your house with Cali there.” He had a point. Alice would be there looking after Cali and she wasn’t ready to deal with that conversation. Opening the door to Yoongi’s car you put one foot into the car. “No funny business.” You said lightly before lowering yourself into his car.

Yoongi’s apartment was worlds away from the small home he’d been raised in. Whatever job he had now, the near poverty he’d been raised in was a thing of the past. You couldn’t help but feel relieved that you hadn’t invited him into your modest one bedroom apartment. This was a palace compared to what you and your child called home. You stood awkwardly in the doorway as Yoongi kicked off his shoes and strode into the apartment. It wasn’t too late to run. You could call a taxi if he refused to take you home. “Cold feet?” He smirked, raising a teasing eyebrow. “No.” You replied, kicking off your shoes and stepping onto the polished floorboards of the hallway. You joined Yoongi on the couch, putting a respectful amount of distance between the two of you. “Drink?” You gave Yoongi a look that meant you were serious. “Right, straight to storytime then.” He made himself comfortable. “I think you’ll regret not getting that drink.”

Instead of replying, you simply looked at him and waited for him to give you his excuses so you could leave. “My father was never good with money. You saw that he could never keep a job. He was lazy and unprofessional and always jumping into one get-rich-quick scheme after another. He made a deal with one too many loan sharks and we had to go into hiding. We spent most of later part of my teens on the move. Eventually, my mother couldn’t take it anymore and she left him. The two of us stayed in Seoul while he moved on.” Unable to sit still, Yoongi picked himself up off the couch and moved into the kitchen of your dreams to get himself a beer. You sat patiently, trying to take in everything he was saying. “She filed for divorce on my eighteenth birthday and that was how the gang my father was doing business with caught up with us. My mother and I were essentially taken hostage as a way to draw my father out of hiding. We were treated well - my mother ended up falling in love with the boss and he with her. My father was found dead three months after I turned twenty. Eventually, my mother married the boss and I was named his heir. They’re very happily, semi-retired in Jeju while I run the ‘family business’. Jungkook is one of the men in my inner circle. Since he’s determined to live on campus, despite being significantly older than most of the other students who deem it a necessary experience to live in tiny, shared apartments, I’m forced to visit him if I want to socialise. That’s why I was on campus today. We’d planned to ‘catch up’ over coffee when a call for a meeting with my stepfather came through. We’re just normal people, Y/N.”

You couldn’t help but feel slightly hysterical, sitting there as Yoongi told you a ridiculous story. Unable to take it anymore, you burst into nervous laughter. “Alright, Yoongi.” You got up, wiping your eyes that were teary from laughing so hard. “Seriously, if weren’t actually interested in having a relationship with Cali, you could have just said. I wouldn’t have held it against you.” Your face dropped as Yoongi stared intensely into your eyes. “Y-you’re serious? Yoongi! Y-you can’t expect me to want you around my child when you live that kind of life. How can you expect that of me?” “Please, Y/N. I promise work is work and my private life is my private life. Cali doesn’t even have to know what I do.” Yoongi looked defeated. “Except she will, Yoongi. She will because she’s alert, clever and inquisitive. She’s not a baby anymore. She’s a ten year old girl who has her own mind and drive. How could I consider myself to be a good mother if I expose her to that kind of life.” “I was honest with you, can’t you give me that? Why don’t you get to know me again, spend time with me.” He pleaded, you’d never seen Yoongi this desperate. It made your heart ache. “You’ll see that I’m good at separating my work and my personal lives. Cali doesn’t have to have anything to do with me until you’re comfortable that my career won’t put her in any danger. I really want to get to know her, Y/N.” “I don’t know, Yoongi.” You sighed, pacing back and forth around his living room. “I just don’t know. It was hard. You leaving messed me up. I haven’t dated since you, it was too hard to trust anyone. How could I bring another man into my life with I had Cali to worry about? Every decision I’ve had to make over the last eleven years - “ “Almost twelve.” Yoongi joked but his smile faded when he saw your serious look. “Sorry.” “Every decision I’ve had to make, I’ve had to consider the outcomes for two people - not just myself.”

You hated seeing Yoongi like this, even after everything you had been put through. “I’m not saying no, Yoongi.” You sighed, looking him in the eye. He perked up a little. “I just need time.” “I understand, Y/N.” “Maybe, we could keep in touch via the phone and progress from there?”  “I’d like that.”

He had you home by four. Alice had questioned you when you finally showed up, but you explained that you’d had to stay back for work. You weren’t 100% sure that she believed you but she let it go this time. As soon as she’d left, you went to stand in the doorway of your daughter’s room and watched her sleep. You had to be crazy to consider letting Yoongi back into your lives. It wasn’t like Cali would be able to take him along to parent career day. ‘This is my dad, he’s basically a mob boss.’ You rolled your eyes and moved to the small living area. You made quick work to pull out the futon and stripped down to your underwear. It seemed so far away, but you couldn’t help but dream of the day when you were stable in a real career and could afford a nicer apartment with two bedrooms. You climbed into your bed and placed your phone on charge. You’d think about everything when you weren’t so tired. As you were getting comfortable on the hard mattress, you heard your phone buzz from the arm of the futon.

[04:34] Unknown Number: So, if you haven’t dated since me, does that mean you’ve only slept with me? ;) - Y

You couldn’t help but laugh at Yoongi’s one track mind. You’d thought he seemed so mature and grown up now, yet here he was channelling his fifteen year old self. Despite your concerns, you quickly saved his number.

[04:37] You: I have to get up in a couple of hours, Yoongi. I can’t do any serious thinking if I’m tired. Go to bed.

[04:39] Min Yoongi:

Right. Of course. Going to bed.

Rolling your eyes, you decided against replying and placed your phone back onto the arm of the futon, only to have it buzz again. “Yoongi.” You growled, reaching for the offending piece of technology.

[04:41] Min Yoongi: Goodnight, Y/N.

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[biofunmy]

The Suburban Office Park, an Aging Relic, Seeks a Comeback

When Research Triangle Park in North Carolina opened in 1959, its bucolic setting was considered a major selling point. With office buildings hidden behind grassy meadows and swaths of pine forest, the quiet development was viewed as a perfect spot for the thinkers who went to work at companies like IBM and RTI International.

But tastes have changed, and in an effort to keep up, Research Triangle Park — the country’s largest corporate research park — is finally changing as well.

Plans to redevelop a portion of the park, which have been pending for eight years, are now moving forward. In a few years, Research Triangle Park, which lacks even a coffee shop within its 7,000 acres, will be home to restaurants, bars, shops and apartments.

The development’s challenges echo those of other suburban office parks around the country. Over the past decade, younger workers have come to favor urban environments that contain a variety of services and transportation options, a shift that has reduced the popularity of large, cloistered office settings.

“We’ve noticed a trend of a lot of office tenants moving to more urban, highly amenitized markets to attract talent,” said Jonathan Chambers, a vice president at Delta Associates, a real estate research firm in Washington. “They want to be closer to entertainment, transit, retail.”

At the same time, today’s tight labor market means that real estate can play a significant role in attracting and retaining quality talent. In response, developers are upgrading many suburban office campuses and adding amenities to make them more appealing. These office parks are on their way to a comeback, some analysts say.

Suburban office parks are a product of the country’s postwar car culture that emerged in the early 1950s. Most were speculative, for-profit endeavors, but Research Triangle Park was a nonprofit initiative spearheaded by civic leaders. It was an attempt to retain graduates from nearby colleges and advance North Carolina’s economy, and it became hugely successful: Amid its winding streets and anodyne landscaping, big information technology, pharmaceutical and biotech companies flourished.

Office parks spread across the country, reaching a peak in the 1990s. By 2015, with the urban-living trend in full swing, 14 to 22 percent of suburban office space in the United States was obsolete, according to a report from the real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank. Many properties were old, drab or inconveniently situated, particularly compared with bustling downtowns.

That was the case with Research Triangle Park, which is named for its location between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, municipalities that have become increasingly dynamic and are a draw for young workers. With agreements that restricted development to 30 percent of the land and prohibited retail or housing, the park struggled to compete.

“The smaller companies that wanted urban services and density were moving out of the park and into an urban center,” said Ted Zoller, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And many bigger companies were not coming; the park lost out on several large projects, including expansion plans by Amazon and Apple.

Other big research and development parks have pivoted more quickly. The board of the country’s second-largest research park, in Huntsville, Ala., recognized in the early 2000s that its employees needed better access to services and created a mixed-use commercial zone. The result, the Bridge Street Town Centre, is thriving, and the park’s leaders are planning a second project that will add even more hotel, retail and office space.

At Research Triangle Park, big redevelopment initiatives have been slowed by planning, personnel and money issues. Instead, the Research Triangle Foundation, which manages the park, has been taking smaller steps toward change.

One example is Frontier RTP, a former IBM building that reopened in 2015 with free co-working space and has since expanded to three more buildings. Offering lower rates and smaller, flexible spaces that start-ups and young companies can use, Frontier RTP is now home to a third of the park’s 300 companies.

And in August, Research Triangle Park broke ground on the Boxyard RTP, a $7 million project that will turn repurposed shipping containers into a food and drink spot.

But the big project is yet to come. The park’s zoning ordinances and regulations have been amended, and next year, the foundation will break ground on a $1.13 billion mixed-use development, Hub RTP.

Willard Retail will build 130,000 square feet of retail, with an eye to driving weekend and evening traffic to the site. The residential developer MAA is slated to construct 450 units of housing. Phase 1 is estimated to be done in mid-2022.

Eventually, the 100-acre Hub RTP will also include hotel and conference facilities, as well as more housing and office space. The end result should be a live-work-play area intended to appeal to workers.

“It’s a rebranding,” said Scott Levitan, chief executive of the Research Triangle Foundation. “It needs to be rebuilt and re-visioned as a real town center.”

The park “needs to be rebuilt and re-visioned as a real town center,” said Scott Levitan, head of the Research Triangle Foundation.Credit…Jeremy M. Lange for The New York Times

With that addition, he thinks Research Triangle Park will appeal to employers that are interested in “a more affordable market where their talent can live, and with amenities that are equivalent to an urban environment,” he said.

Suburban office park owners and developers around the country are keenly aware that the fight for talent is driving many companies’ decisions. And many companies are willing to pay for high-quality office space — even in the suburbs.

The demand is greater in areas where the unemployment rate is particularly low, said Barry DiRaimondo, chief executive of the real estate firm SteelWave.

“The pool of labor is working at your competitor,” he said. “It’s almost like an arms race. You’re trying to create an environment people can’t get elsewhere.”

Efforts to modernize suburban campuses can be as basic as organizing placemaking activities like after-work concerts or food truck Fridays. Usually, though, they require a much deeper investment in elements like upgraded lobbies, outdoor furniture, ball courts, fitness centers, grab-and-go cafes, greenways, bike storage facilities and open-plan offices that let in substantial natural light.

Analysts caution that the suburban office market is specific to each region. In many West Coast areas, for example, just about every submarket is doing well, whether urban or suburban. That means a former single-tenant office park like Rosewood Commons in the Bay Area can do very well, particularly if it’s near public transit. But even Rosewood added a few amenities, like a bike-share program, a renovated cafeteria and a bocce court.

Across the country, the suburban office vacancy rate is the lowest it has been since 2001, according to recent CBRE data. So even in the Midwest, employers are often willing to invest in attractive suburban offices, the real estate firm JLL said in a recent report.

In Des Moines, the R&R Realty Group recently opened the Westfield Campus, a large multitenant complex with a rooftop patio, a coffee bar, a multipurpose event space and an amphitheater. At almost $23 per square foot, it is one of the most expensive properties on the market there, but Mark Rupprecht, R&R’s president, said companies were willing to pay it.

“The question kept coming up: What can I do to differentiate my business and myself?” he said, adding that building a new suburban office campus did not feel risky. “Nothing’s guaranteed, but the suburban office market isn’t dead.”

After all, with downtowns everywhere becoming increasingly expensive, workers are starting to look farther afield, to areas with affordable homes and good schools.

“The millennial work force is getting older and finding suburbs more appealing than they did 10 years ago,” said Dustin C. Read, a professor at Virginia Tech and the author of a recent NAIOP report on the evolution of suburban office parks.

“They do need an environment that makes them happy,” he said. “But the fundamental characteristics that have always made the suburbs attractive continue to do so.”

Sahred From Source link Real Estate

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