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#well. horror romance i guess
dapper-lil-arts · 1 month
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Darlings. is it gay when the phantom you created as a manifestation of your dreadfull loneliness takes the form of one of your closest friends.
Fanart of this pretty good horror rarijack fanfic, "The haunting of carroussel boutique" personaly i am surprised the writer didnt take the chance to point out how fucking funny this is. Me n kim started laughing about it during stream and i just had to draw this
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graciousdragon · 4 months
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"And should I be shocked now, by the last thing you said?
Before I pull this trigger, your eyes vacant and stained
And in saying you loved me made things harder, at best..."
in other words: fuck it we ball, i drew my AU version of Showtime Dawko with a palette colorpicked from the album cover of My Chemical Romance's "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" because the brainrot is real 👍
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am i super proud of this? eh. but i also haven't drawn digitally in literal months (thanks college) and if i'm gonna get back to it then i gotta start somewhere and i never post art anywhere so uh. i might as well now!
i still love Glitching Fates so much don't worry it is still on my mind 24/7 but unfortunately i almost never have time to dedicate to talking about it and also i am. Very Bad at putting my thoughts into words lmao
this is actually kinda lore tho. btw. lol. :]
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nerdie-faerie · 9 months
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Got unreasonably hurt when a coworker said 'yeah you look like someone who watches sci-fi' before walking away like you right but what the fuck
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mejomonster · 8 months
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I love Simon from shadowhunters he's such a loser at being a vampire he's Such a sweetie trying to keep the peace he's such a millennial mess like. That is my Ideal vamp tbh
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kabru-of-utaya · 19 days
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The thing for me with the Kabru and Laios scene in ch.76 is that I think making it romantic takes something fundamentally away from it and away from Kabru's character arc. However you choose to see their relationship, personally, I don't see them as romantic- I think it has to be exclusively a confession of friendship and one of the very very few times in the manga that Kabru is ever genuine. It's so fucked up how we went from the beginning when Kabru said he doesn't trust the Toudens, he thinks they're doing something shady, he thinks they're malicious, he doesn't trust Laios, to now such desperation that he's chasing after him and grabbing onto his clothes like a child begging him to stop and listen to him. It's such a sad display considering how Kabru is always so well put together. Him getting so desperate that he admits how all he ever wanted was to be Laios's friend, and then his look of horror as he realizes he admitted something he never wanted to admit, he was vulnerable without wanting to be? Then for Laios to turn around and say he was lying, that there were better ways to make friends, and that he didn't have time for this conversation. Oh, it hurts so bad. Kabru has no real friends, not really. Only Rin has gotten close enough to be considered it, he has been a hated child all his life, he has never fit in anywhere. You would never guess it with the way he acts, with his casually confident he is and how personable he is, but he didn't fit in from the moment he was born. No one truly knows him. How lonely to be disowned and hated by all your family besides your mother, to lose your mother when you were still so young, to be taken to a country where no one recognized you as someone to be respected because of your life span, to not be allowed to take on dungeons how you wanted to because you weren't good enough in the elves eyes. Even now, even when he wanted to make friends, Laios and Falin never noticed him, never paid attention, never listened, and what is Laios doing in that scene beside the exact same thing. He tried to shut down Kabru so many times, to the point that Kabru had to force him to listen by way of physical force. How sad for such a horrifying admittance to simply be, "I always wanted to be your friend". I think taking that scene to be a lead-in for romance undermines how truly sad and lonely Kabru's life has been leading to this moment where such a gutwrenching confession is just that of wanting a friend.
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onyourhyuck · 10 months
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Sin & Obsession. | L.MK
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— Prologue: “I never knew you’d have such a slutty side to you, Y/n. What else are you hiding underneath that good girl façade?”
— Summary: You’re a faithful good girl. You attend church and you stay out of trouble. Mark is a guy that attends your church and what you don’t know is that he’s been obsessed with you for a while…
— Genre: Dark smut / Romance. Slight horror aspect (?) Mark Lee is a stalker. Mention of Christianity and faithfulness. Christian!Mark. Church mention. Mark is very much obsessed with Y/n. He stalks her. He has deep affection for Y/n but like super borderline I guess? Watching Y/n masturbate while he is hiding in her closet. Mark jerks off. Mark panty thief. Pantie sniffing.
— Notes: Part 2 anyone?
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You’re a faithful Christian. You’ve always been. You were born and raised in your cradle as a good faithful Christian who prides herself in your religion daily. You bring religion everywhere you go with you. One thing you like is that you do mid-week service and as well as attending every Sunday to the church.
You get along with everyone, you speak to everyone, and you try to get involved in your community activities.
However one thing you don’t know at all. You’re completely unaware of what people actually want from you. Mark Lee is a guy that goes to your church and he’s had his eyes on you for quite some time. He attended the church a little bit longer than you and then you moved into the area and started going to this church that he is going to.
He’s always lived in Canada. So when he heard you move from such a far away person to Canada to start a fresh chapter he couldn’t help but fall for you and your own words. It was love a first sight for Mark. You were beautiful, charismatic, there was something about you when you speak about God like he was your best friend. He genuinely thinks it’s beautiful, and he admired your religious side too. He was a faithful committed Christian too, himself. However you were slightly different.
You are a good girl everyone can see that when they look at you. You dress like one, you dress pretty good and wear what makes you feel great. At this point Mark thinks the clothes aren’t wearing you, you’re wearing the clothes. You make them look very good. He won’t lie.
When you come to church in a dress Mark would confess that he truthfully did take a look down at your breasts once or twice. He can’t help it. You wore to church in a white dress and what do you expect him to do? Not to stare down there? Mark thinks it would be very rude of him if he didn’t look down at your beautiful perky and busty tits. He didn’t speak to you much but only admired you from the sidelines. In fact you probably only spoke to him once and that’s when you started attending the church getting to know everyone.
Mark prefers to be mysterious and watch you from afar where you don’t realise he is actually watching you.
That day when you left with that white dress on, something within him has snapped. It’s been a good long few months since you moved into the area now. Probably five months or more. Mark couldn’t help but follow you that day when you left. It was very out of character for him. Mark knew he shouldn’t just follow you to your house and just watch you get home. He said to himself ‘I’m just following Y/n so she can get home safe, yeah.’ But that would also be half truth and half a lie. He just wanted to stare and admire you for a little moment. He wanted to know what area you actually live in: which turns out you don’t live too far from the church. You are down the road it seems.
And that’s what started the faithful Christian’s obsession with you. Mark’s obsession began the moment you wore that pretty white dress to church, and every Sunday whenever the church service ends he follows you home. Every Sunday. Every time he would follow you back home. You never seem to notice either and Mark starts to believe you’re not that great at self awareness. He took pleasure in following you and watching you when you aren’t aware of it. It’s like something within his heart was searching for that thrill, the adrenaline rush of stalking you and admiring you.
This went on for weeks and weeks. Sometimes even months. Mark never knew he would be so infatuated by seeing you walk home from church. Sometimes Mark even wonders when he goes home later in the week what you’re doing. At this point Mark has memorised your Sunday schedule off by heart. He never knew this could bring him such happiness to be close to you. Even though he can’t bring himself to speak to you because you’re shining alone in your own light.
He was afraid of messing up. He didn’t know how to approach you. In fact Mark never knows how to approach girls but you’re different from the other girls he knows. You’re a fair, beautiful, modest and humble. You’re mature and as well as religious. Mark knows that people who are devoted to their religion cannot be approach the normal way and so, Mark is fine with being in the sideline shadows watching you. He saw you come to your step and open the door unlocking it. Somehow Mark saw you forgot to lock the door it looks like you’re search for something. He couldn’t help but smile a little.
The urge to go in was there, so he follows it.
It wouldn’t hurt right? To go inside your house unannounced without you knowing it. Only for a minute, Mark said. He can allow a minute inside your house because he was getting greedy. He wonders what the inside of your house actually was like. When he enters it he wanders around the living room.
Mark can hear you in the kitchen actually, you seem to be shuffling the black trash bag. It seems like it was pretty big and you struggled. He would offer to help you but it looks like you can handle it and plus — he wouldn’t want to get himself caught.
It was pretty dark already. Mark couldn’t help but think you didn’t even notice anything strange of someone coming inside her house. Like you must really have some slow self awareness. He wonders if you’re just slow or maybe you trust the world too much.
‘There are some pretty weird guys out there Y/n…’ Mark thought deeply as he shakes his head. He would scold you and tell you to not leave the door open like this even if it was for a second and you’d be back to close it.
Furthermore the obsessive curiosity about wanting to get to know you more has irked some wrongful convictions. Heading up the stairs when you were in the downstairs bathroom, Mark took his time snooping around your bedroom now. Your bedroom smelled exactly how he imagined it to smell. Smell of you. It kills him knowing you sleep here where you are all alone without him because he has the deep feelings to hold you but he cannot do that. He doesn’t even speak to you. If anything Mark is pretty much all in knowing you would not feel the same way. Mark took this moment to heart observing your beautiful decorated room.
Fair lights were hung out against the windows and your bed frame. Your double bed looks so soft like a floating cloud in middle of nowhere in this space. You have a giant wardrobe and that instantly excites Mark. He saw that pretty white dress, and your shirts and tank tops. Mark took his time exploring your wonderful clothes. Some of them look so small on your nice curvy figure. You’re shaped like a hourglass and he freaking loves it.
Mark takes his time not to think of you so much like this. He doesn’t want to be known for only looking and staring at you because of your beautiful body and appearance no, he really likes you on the inside too. If anything Mark’s feeling were a form of an attachment because of your character and not your traits.
But when he came across your cupboard where you keep all your lingerie Mark feels something growing inside him. Something so dark and uncontrollable.
He didn’t know what to do when the sight of your beautiful perky bras were in front of him. They smell of wonderful vanilla and laundry washing. It was so soft and the smell was overwhelming like the starting of spring season upon the winter. It dissolved into his nostrils the more he brings the bra forward and he touched it.
Mark wanted to die of embarrassment honestly. He saw what he was doing. He was becoming a perv. He was perving on you in your own house and you don’t even know he was inside your bloody house but a part of him was even more thrilled somehow. Because you don’t know any of this was happening. Mark grew more and more undeniably into you. He grow stronger, his feelings for you grew even more and Mark cannot hold back when the pairs of panties he opens up to look at them. It was the final straw. Your panties. He takes the one that took his eyes most. A pair of innocent white panties. The soft fabric melts in his hands and he brings it back up to his face. The guy who wasn’t meant to be here in this place anyways, was now sniffing your panties like it was all he was created for. Mark groans against the fabric. He could just imagine them on you and it makes him grow by the thought down below.
Your name was running through his mind. He was just so obsessed with you at this point if you’re not his Mark doesn’t know what he will do. The way his nostrils flare when your scent mixing in with the laundry detergent makes him feral. Mark was a feral beast under the disguise of such a loyal respectful young man he shows himself to there told. Deep down he was a lustful sinner, just for you. Mark never thought that he was so unlucky to be a human. You’re wearing these panties everyday. He wished he could be the one you wear him around like this, Mark just wants to be so close to you that he’s under your skin. It was such a weird thought. But he’s always been into these weirdly true metaphors. He enjoys poetry, because you are poetry itself to him and his eyes. Mark should thank God for creating you.
Maybe you’re the one for him, Mark thought. Maybe you’re the one he was meant to be with and Mark pleads it is you. Because if another guy was with you that was not him, Mark doesn’t think he can accept that reality as real.
When the footsteps approach the door Mark was so caught up in his horny-thoughts because he was sniffing and caressing your panties while at the same time he has gotten pretty hard on for it. He almost forgot where he was. Your house. The man flinched to the nearest closet and stays hidden between the many jackets and clothes. Luckily it was dark but he could see a peak of light slap against Mark’s eyes. He was glad he could see you walk in. The minute you came into his view as he was hidden in your closet unaware of your complete knowledge; he smiles seeing your beautiful long hair and your legs and thighs. You wore such pretty tight shorts on at home. He never once thought to his living days he would see you wear this much less clothes on. He was not complaining at all. It’s already bad because Mark has your panties in his hands still. He happened to take them with him and he’s pretty rock hard in his jeans.
What happened next blows Mark’s mind. The guy only looks away for a second. Only a second and you’re on your bed spread nicely with your legs wide open. He never thought he would get to see this either but this truthfully shocks him. Mark is seeing you strip yourself off your clothes — he saw your bare back first which was enough to have him sweating in the closet as he was peaking at you. Your shorts slipped off the ground and you turned on your laptop. He could hear a few good moans coming from the video you’re watching.
Mark couldn’t believe it. He’s watching you pleasure yourself on your bed wide legs open with you pretty pussy out. He saw the way your hands were skilfully pressing on your clit teasing it. You look hella frustrated he won’t lie but Mark couldn’t agree more he wished he could be right there to eat you out. To lick you clean and clean you out off your frustrations. Mark wished it was him between your legs and not your poor hand now because you’re flicking your fingers forward and pushing your pelvis up for more freedom and pressure. The moans on the videos got louder but Mark was only paying attention to you.
You were with all his attention on.
“I never knew you’d have such a slutty side to you, Y/n. What else are you hiding underneath that good girl façade?”
He whispers to himself barely audible for anyone else. It was just words for himself and you were too busy to even hear him because your moans were overlapping with the video you’re watching with your eyes. You struggle and squirm now as your fingers became a faster pace for your clit to take even all the abuse you’re inflicting on it. Mark watches you intensely. He could tell you’re enjoying this so much, even though it must be very lonely for you, Mark enjoys watching you masturbate right in front of him and so he couldn’t handle it. The sounds of your moans were tempting him to do sin. Mark without any second thoughts he unbuckles the jeans and slips it off to the ankles letting his boxers fall down too. Mark tried his best to get a good view with his eyes on the peak on the closer. The darkness makes it hard to see the light. However he managed to get a good view again of your beautiful pink pussy that looks so wet and he likes to assume it’s dripping just for him.
He imagines what he could do. The stuff he’d do to you when he was there. If he was there pleasuring you. He would make sure you’d never forget the moment if he ever had the opportunity to pleasure you, Mark would make sure it’s one you cannot move from.
He was greedy and he was getting greedier by the sight of you in front of him. Mark slowly strokes his long hard length now to the sounds you’re making. The feeling of your walls fluttering open when your fingers curl inside you. You have on your mind a lot of things and these things aren’t something you can share with other people. You want to be fucked. It’s simple but it’s a lot harder because you cannot find the pleasure you’re seeking. You want to tell yourself to surpass this side out of you. However it gets stronger the more you ignore it. You arch yourself when you push out your hips now, they practical hump the air around it with force of your hips shoving out and your fingers continue to abuse your swollen clit.
Mark is clutching on his tip rubbing down the slit like it is a gown of sorts. He was watching you become a spilling mess. The gentle spillage of your water but you’re not exactly cumming yet. Mark can tell you are edging yourself because you don’t want this to end as soon as possible. You must be really frustrated. Mark wonders what goes inside that head of yours. He always thought you were someone who didn’t have these urges even though it was human nature to he strongly believed you had none of those. Mark wasn’t sure why. Maybe it’s because he only sees you at Church. He doesn’t necessarily know you well enough to speak to you. But he does like you a lot.
This crush he has on you is something more than a crush but at the same time it’s still a pretty new thing he’s experiencing. Mark never once went in a house that he wasn’t invited to and watched a girl get herself off. Never.
But he was glad it’s you. Mark can’t help but push down his hand even more in the length. Soon enough the two of you were pleasuring each other with the sounds. However, you were watching the screen of your laptop instead. Mark was wishfully watching you wanting to be inside you so bad. The sight of your pussy looking so tempting. As if it is taunting him to just fuck you right there and come out of the closet. But he knew he can’t do that.
He can’t explain himself to you if he was in your closet like this. You would definitely never want to see him again.
The panties he kept with him, Mark licks and smells them. He works his way with his tongue between the slant of your panties. They smell so good. They smell of you.
He loves them so much Mark doesn’t think he can give them back to you anymore.
Your eyes roll back from the pleasure when it became clear that you’re no longer able to hold back. He took the sign to faster his hands on his giant rock hard cock. Mark moves the hands against the slit and pushed down the thumb. He caressed himself quickly while he’s watching you so intensely now. Mark held in his hitch voice just so he could not get caught by the pleasuring noises he was having and making. Instead he just focused on your itching voice piercing the room by echos of your moans.
You sound heavenly when you’re panting after you finally orgasm. Mark could not put this moment above anything because this was one of the most pulsing and best orgasms he had. He lets out a wispy groan, “Y/n….” Mark came right on with you on his hand. There was a lot of seed in his palm. Mark never comes this big of a batch. He was surprised but this was thanks to you.
He saw the trembling thighs of yours as you close them holding your own sex as you roll over with a pausing high pitch moan. He loves when you’re stimulating yourself to the point you couldn’t touch your own clit again without flinching and letting out a pained out wince.
It’s attractive to see you torture yourself with the overwhelming amount of pleasure.
Mark was worried now, he just knew from the moment on this wasn’t going to be just a mere crush he has on you.
How will he confess to God what he has witnessed? Even if he did tell what he did was wrong. Mark loved it so much, he wouldn’t go back to change it. If he went back to the past — he would do it all over again…
Now he knew for sure,,
This is the beginning of the Sin & Obsession he has on you…
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@onyourhyuck please refer from translating copyrighting and plagiarising my work thank youu <3 Reblog this fic and follow me for more it helps a girl out.
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porcelainseashore · 4 months
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Teenage Headache Dreams (1)
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(Part 1: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 / Part 2)
Pairing: High School! College! Leon Kennedy x Dancer! Fem! Reader
Summary: You’re a bored, but ambitious high school student who can’t wait to escape small town life and make it in the big city. You thought you had it all figured out, until you unwittingly befriend the resident golden boy, Leon. A series of events beginning from junior year to college until Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Warnings: 18+ Swearing, Recreational Drug Use, Eventual Smut, No (Y/N), Ambiguous/Open Ending
Content: High School AU, College AU, Pre-Resident Evil 2, Fluff, Romance, Cliche, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Lack of Communication
Author's Note: This is my first RE / Leon fic, but I wanted to try my hand at writing this little self-indulgent and potentially clichéd series. As you can guess, I love dance and high school dramas. I also created this with a sequel in mind, which will take place post-RE4R and involve more horror and mystery elements.
AO3 Link
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Friendship
It was one of those beautiful late summer days with endless light and clear blue skies overhead. You leaned back against the bleachers, feeling the sun cast a warm glow on your face and the sultry breeze against your skin, sighing in utter bliss. The football field and the running track surrounding it were completely empty, just how you liked it, silent except for the relentless trilling of insects and the occasional bird that flew by. No one in your face, no one judging you or telling you how you should be like, no one you had to put up a front for. Just peace and quiet. A place where you could sit alone with your thoughts - and you had a lot of them - mostly about leaving this goddamn small town with its insular, mind-numbing inhabitants.
A trail of thick smoke wafted from your mouth as you took a drag from the joint you had been nursing for awhile. You weren’t exactly high as a kite, but you were definitely feeling some of its effects. You chuckled and gave a wry smile as the thought of being caught red-handed visualized in your mind. Sure, it was highly illegal what you were doing, much less on school property, but you were always a bit of a rebel. And frankly, you couldn’t give a shit. It was already August, but most students were still away on holiday. Not you though, you had to work on your extracurriculars. That’s what you had put your mind to this summer. No fancy beach getaways like the rest of your cheerleading mates had jetted off to. Just a grueling dance intensive and showcase you had auditioned successfully for in one of the larger cities nearby, as well as a bunch of campus visits. You needed to perfect your performance technique for that arts college application coming up in about a year’s time. You started way earlier than the rest even thought about it, because you knew you only had one chance for a one-way ticket out of this hole and you sure as hell weren’t taking any chances. Well, except with that funky smelling thing in your hand. 
No one would be here anyway, it’s a Sunday for crying out loud! You shook your head in exasperation. Besides, you needed to relax and take the edge off a little.
Just as if you jinxed it with those thoughts, you heard the gate to the field unlocking and creaking open behind you. 
Shit, shit, shit! Your eyes darted around frantically, but your movements were just so slow. Why the fuck would someone be here now?
Before you could drop the joint and stub it out with your shoe, a mop of dirty blonde hair and what you made out as someone dressed in a blue tracksuit with a duffel bag slung over his right shoulder entered your peripheral vision. It was soon accompanied by a sharp twist of his head in your direction, bangs falling over his deep blue eyes and you knew he had found the source of the offending smell, probably even from a mile away. His gaze trailed their way from your startled face to your joint hanging limply at the edge of your fingers and then back to your face again. His expression turned from confusion to a frown and then into a knowing smirk as he crossed his arms and leaned against the bleachers.
“Oh, hello. Didn’t expect to see you here. You got cheer practice or something?”
God, he was teasing you. At least you hoped that was all it was and not some form of blackmail. Well, no point hiding now.
“I’m off-duty,” you retorted. You tried to jog your memory of the boy standing in front of you. You were social, or at least you had to be with the rest of your girlfriends to keep up appearances, but you never really bothered with the people here beyond superficial conversations. Then you finally found it - a vague recollection of last season’s track and field meet. He had been one of the better sprinters, maybe the best even, you can’t really remember. There was an afterparty, and you congratulated him, but you doubt there was anything more substantive than that.
“Leon, isn’t it?”
His eyes perked up slightly and he smiled. “In the flesh.”
You snorted at his cheesy reply. What was he pulling? 
“They gave you the key?” It almost sounded as if you were jealous.
He uncrossed his arms and placed his duffel bag on one of the benches in front of him, rummaging through its contents. “Yeah, I got a comp in the new term coming up.” Every now and then he glanced up at you, as if he wanted to ask something, but stopped himself.
A sense of boldness surged within you, as you felt like evening the odds a bit. “What? You want some?” You waved the joint in his face.
That certainly caught his attention. He stared for a good moment, before giving another one of his playful smiles and shaking his head. “Maybe after practice.” He unzipped his jacket and put it away. It was warm enough to train in his sports tank and as you admired the lean, muscular structure of his arms and shoulders now bared open, you couldn’t complain.
“So, how did you get in?”
Fuck. You snapped out of your reverie. He got you there, but you didn’t feel like lying. “Jumped the fence. You should try it some time.” You replied as nonchalantly as possible.
“Didn’t know you had it in you,” he laughed.
“Oh, you’d be surprised.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Will I now?” The way it rolled off his tongue felt like a challenge and you secretly enjoyed this banter going on between you, as if you had known each other for years.
Shrugging your shoulders, you took another hit from the joint and let the calmness envelope you. “I never disappoint.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Leon flashed a wide grin that made you feel a knot forming in your stomach, but you didn’t know why. 
He started to move towards the tracks, but stopped short, turning back to meet your eyes again. “Look, you don’t have to worry about all of that.” He gestured to what you were holding and the general surroundings. “I’m not going to tell.” With that, he made a sign that resembled crossing his heart. “It’ll be between you and me.” 
You would have thought it was a joke if not for the sincere look he gave you, before heading off to train. That, and the fact that he did indeed take up your offer to join you afterwards in sharing what was left of the joint. You didn’t expect someone like him to. He seemed a bit too much of a straight-laced, golden boy for that. But then again, life was filled with surprises and you quietly scolded yourself for playing into stereotypes again - something you despise others doing to you.
It prompted both of you to converse even more until the late evening where you even missed your dinner. The questions and responses just flowed.
It turned out that you would share a number of classes together in the new term, specifically Math, History and Biology. Leon was a real earful when it came to his “insightful” one-liners on the teachers, which made you bury your head in your hands and groan. You never realized he would be such a goofball, but you found it somewhat endearing.
Like you, he was popular at school, but unlike you, he seemed to enjoy the company and appeared to be an open book. He would say it how it is, sometimes to the point of being blunt to a fault. Still, you guessed people found him rather easy-going and likable, in a non-threatening sort of a way. A part you wondered if chance meetings like today were how he made most of his friends.
Leon didn’t really have a plan for college yet. He just knew he wanted to do something good and help other people. You had a word for it - “idealistic”. He just shrugged in response, eyes downcast, until you assured him that it was an admirable quality, and you were the jaded one. He made a toast to your future in some arts college in the big city with his water bottle, remarking with a hint of self-deprecation that he wished he had a clearer idea of what he wanted to do with his life.
In turn, he asked you about your dealer. You had to stifle a laugh at that one. Generally, you weren’t as big into smoking up as he thought, but this time you bummed it off one of the seniors as a favor he owed you for hooking him up with one of your cheerleader friends. It didn’t stop Leon from calling you the “high school’s little pothead” every now and then though. He peered at you intently with his lip curled in amusement, as you rolled your eyes each time.
It had been such a long time since you could joke and speak your mind with someone this way. There wasn’t that suffocating nausea of pretending to be someone else around him and he had been so relaxed with you too. You could finally breathe again, and you’d like to think it wasn’t just the weed talking.
Whatever it was, you guessed this was the beginning of a real friendship - one that happened out of serendipity, but made you feel like you weren’t going to rot away in this small town. Well, not alone anyway.
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brisquad-unit-4402 · 11 months
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Hello it’s me again! It’s been a while, I hope you’ve been doing okay. I recently have been reading through a lot of angst to comfort and I have an idea for a request!
May I request an Ike fic where reader is a liver in NIJISANJI and has a crush on Ike but knows they have no chance with him. Then one day reader accidentally spills their feelings to Ike and Ike comforts them after hearing about readers feelings?
I hope you’re not tired of me requesting Ike fics (ily him to much) and I hope you have a good day/night! <3
-🖋️
stars above your skin
oh 🖋 we're really in it now
how long have i had this request in my inbox? early march? and now exactly one day after blue light dropped, i give you a ~19.5k word ike fic. much love and effort has gone into this one, only seconded by the massive amounts of brainrot.
so yeah, i'm not tired of ike requests. i'm literally a quilldren that writes fanfic. this is the opposite of a problem
in fact this might be one of my favorite things i've written... the second half is such a good bedtime story for me...!
this is going to get NASTY to read on tumblr—as in my site is lagging so hard just typing these a/n notes. so i'm going to remind you all that not only is liking/reblogging recommended to keep track of this fic, but also that i have an ao3 account (same name as url but without dashsince it's much more accessible than tumblr for long fic. i recommend reading on tumblr if you can because of some formatting but to each their own!
here’s a funny story about this fic. i was working on it while a bunch of people sat behind me, you see, and one of my greatest irrational fears is that people sitting behind me will be able to see my laptop screen and laugh at what i’m writing…! and with these requests i usually title them the fandom name and my name, and a short phrase about the request, and this one was “workplace romance”, and i just got so afraid right then and there i changed it to the first thing i could think of, based off a clip i saw of pomu, selen, aia and doppio…!! and that’s why the wip doc is titled “nijisanji 4402 - pliskin”, and why i will always refer to this fic as "pliskin" much more than the actual title
by the way here’s a cover of iris that was pretty fitting for this fic. you’ll know when to play it. enjoy
tags: hurt/comfort, reader is a niji vtuber, gender neutral reader, off-collab, mutual pining, misunderstandings, fluff, angst with a happy ending, friends to lovers, cuddling, everyone in niji is your wingman, implied uki/ren if you squint but it’s mostly because uki will flirt with 80% of the men in this company
cameos: aia amare, alban knox, mika melatika, nina kosaka, ren zotto, uki violeta, vox akuma, fulgur ovid (mentioned)
⚠️ drinking/alcohol (unspecified if reader drinks alcohol)
⚠️ horror/gore mentions (non-detailed), out of context outlast spoilers i guess?
author's commentary here (spoilers) ↣
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
There are dozens of these videos on YouTube, and never have you come across the same one twice. You would know. You have a bad habit of clicking on them. 
After all, they’re labeled with your name on them, and right next to it, Ike Eveland. You are smart enough to recognize it’s not worth your time and just another compilation of the same moments and fans trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, but your heart says otherwise. To be fair, the compilations were a much more recent development than the one you hid under lock and key. 
When you first joined Nijisanji, some of your senpais sent you messages full of greetings and offers to help you get on your feet as a streamer. Ike was one of those senpais, and whenever you popped into voice calls just to hang out, he was easy to talk to, like an old friend. Naturally, a fast friendship formed, and when you debuted, he was one of the first people you collabed with- and the one with the best reception. Your new fans (‘Bookworms,’ they called themselves, after your name Reader) loved how well your humor bounced off each other, and when weeks passed and you announced another collab on your schedule with Ike, your Bookworms rejoiced. 
Even when you weren’t working, you would still talk to him. He told you about his homeland in the past and his novels, both released and unpublished. He was a storyteller even when he was talking about something as minute as making a sandwich, and whenever you brought up your past and interests, he was an excellent listener. You had your differences, but he always knew what questions to ask so he could understand you better, and you loved the opportunity to ramble. 
It had been nearly three months since you debuted, and four if you count the day you were officially hired and began to build yourself as a streamer. Whenever you look at the endlessly long text history between you and Ike, you have to wonder: is it normal to feel so connected to someone you’ve only known for three-maybe-four months? 
You’re not an idiot. You aren’t about to say Ike is the most important thing in the world to you, but he gets pretty damn close. That terrifies you. You shouldn’t be so attached to someone you barely know. 
But then again, you trust Ike. He’s opened up to you about things he would never say to others, and he keeps your secrets buried in the grave. You’ve lost count of how much advice he’s given you, but you’ve never forgotten a single one, and whenever you feel lost about something you know you can count on him to help you out. 
You grimace, sip out of your drinking glass, and press ‘play’ on the next compilation. 
A cute intro plays with the clipper’s name. Above it are the words Pen and Paper, surrounded by puffy pink hearts. 
That was the duo name between you and Ike, but "ship name" was more accurate among fanwork.
You weren’t exactly unaware about it. Weeks ago, you were surfing Twitter and the site’s algorithm granted you your introduction into Pen and Paper. This was shortly after your first collab with Ike, and after you established your shipping rules with your audience (“I’m fine with anything, as long as the other liver is okay with it!”, you proclaimed, totally oblivious to how soon that would blow up in your face). The fanartist posted a messy black-and-white sketch, but you could make out the pattern of Ike’s scarf wrapped around you and him at the same time, forcing your bodies into close proximity with averted eyes and dusty blushes. 
You appreciated the fanartist’s passion and skill, but the thought of you and Ike as an item sunk in your chest like you swallowed a rock. You swiped past. You went back to your scrolling, found some good thumbnails, and retweeted some cute solo fanart, but before the week ended, you made a private account with a fake name and staked out the tags for Pen and Paper to follow that fanartist.
Damn fanartist. You tried to deny it, and told yourself that you followed their art because you liked the style. But their account was full of ship art, and when Twitter gave you similar users that all worked under the hashtag, you had to face facts. If you wanted to look at it optimistically, at least you figured it out early on before anything had the chance to sour while you were still blissfully ignorant of yourself; even then, that doesn’t make it any harder than it already is.
Besides all the texts, the meetings, the schedules and events, and then including the streams and collabs and the art and the fandom… 
“Why?” You ask out loud in the silence of your room. “Why did I have to fall for my coworker?”
And with audiences of over hundreds of people watching you fall for him, nonetheless!
It’s irritating. You have a job that keeps you motivated to work hard. It’s given you a dedicated fanbase, rare opportunities, and coworkers you all recognize as your friends. Really, finding someone to care for because of it should be a blessing, but it’s such a headache. What if your fanbases get jealous, or even worse, outright hate it? Would you be able to keep up a relationship when you and Ike are dedicated to your careers and streams? Why are you even thinking like this? You scold yourself. There’s no way this would ever work out. It’s all fantasy and smoke and mirrors, because fandoms love love. Shipping is never a reflection of the streamers, just the characters you play. You’re delusional if you think your stupid crush could actually go anywhere.
But fandoms love love. The only comfort you have is being able to pretend something could happen. The ship art is a lie, and so are the fanfics, and the clippers that tag their videos as Pen and Paper are just here for a possibility that never could happen.
The compilation is full of little hints and teases, and if you were being honest with yourself, most of it was more like two friends getting along than actual flirting. But you didn’t trust yourself to see your clumsiness for what it is when Ike’s little laughs are like music to your ears. 
Damage control, you tell yourself. It’s like studying how you play your favorite games. You can pinpoint where you stumble and leave yourself open for attack in Apex, Smash, even Crab Game, and then amend those mistakes the next time you pick up the game. Real life should be no different. Just stop acting so dorky all the time by finding moments of dork in your VODs and avoid them next time you talk to Ike.
This clip was from your second collab with Ike. Captions floated along the bottom of the screen. Ike's captions were in his signature blue.
IKE: You know, there’s a lot of content about us two as a duo.
READER: They call us Pen and Paper, right?
IKE: Yeah, my art tag is flooded with art of the both of us. 
READER: Oh my God, look at the chat. Mine’s full of people saying they love us together. 
IKE: Aww, thanks, Quilldren! I’m happy I can play with Reader too. 
READER: Thank you, Bookworms; thank you, Quilldren. Hey, there’s a lot more overlap than I expected.
IKE: They’re like Bookdren.
READER: Or Quillworms.
IKE: Quillworms, that sounds way better. They’re like our children.
READER: www
IKE: www
Never fucking mind about acting so dorky all the time. You kick yourself for bringing up Pen and Paper, and your giggly laugh. You hate it. A neon sign above your head that says “SIMP” would be less obvious than that stupid schoolkid laugh.
But Ike’s laughter is music, back in the moment and now as you revisit it, and his model’s eyes squint with a wide smile.
He really is an amazing man. If you didn’t know him as well as you do, you’d think he’s perfect. But you’ve seen him in moments of vulnerability, the parts of himself that never shows through on stream and even rarer among his friends. Through it all he manages to keep going, and you admire him so much for sticking to his guns even when he’s expressed all his doubts about himself. The fact that he trusts you enough to let his guard down only adds to how honored you are to know him, and at the same time, the fact that there’s so much trust between you two just makes you feel worse for having a crush on him. You hate keeping secrets like this when you let Ike read you like an open book for everything else, and even just wishing you were something more to him feels like a betrayal of all that trust. You wish you could just be satisfied to know him.
The compilation continues. The next clip is a totsu Fall Guys collab hosted by Fulgur Ovid that you and Ike joined in on. Fuuchan got eliminated early in the match, and spectated on you while the other livers ran around Roll On with players tugging them this way and that. 
You moved around the rotating levels at the perfect sweet spot between two rings, and balanced at the top of the roll as the slime level slowly rose.
A longer wall approached, so you shuffled from one level to another, but another player grabbed your bean avatar and dragged you along to the wall even as you yelled out in panic on Discord. You smashed your keys to struggle, but they had an advantage, and it was clear the wall would push you down to the slime for an impending elimination.
That is, until a familiar Miku bean grabbed the other side of your avatar, and pulled the other way towards the ring that would save your life. Resigned, your attacker backed off and barely dodged out of the way while Ike’s Miku bean brought you back to safety.
The other two livers in the game were too noisy to notice you. Fuuchan was commentating every move you made, and when Ike saved you, he said, “Ike coming in clutch, let’s fucking go.”
Your recorded self didn’t hear him at all, though. You swooned, “Ike, my hero!”
Meanwhile in the present, you wanted to puke. You meant for that to sound like an over-the-top joke, but you crush is getting so serious that it sounds less like a bit and more like how you gush about him in private. 
At least Fuuchan’s audio was louder than everyone else, since he was the host, and the other two livers were preoccupied with their own game to notice your lovey-dovey tone and how Ike laughed music at you. It was bad enough clippers transcribed your words in captions, but you weren’t sure how you would handle it if those three picked up on you and your dumb crush. The less that know about your workplace romance, the better.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
“Reader,” Aia coos. Even with audio only, you could tell her eyes were sparkling. “You didn’t tell me you had a workplace romance!”
Well, so much for that plan. You froze over. “Who told you that?”
Mika answers way too quickly. “It’s Alban’s fault.”
“Fuck off, Mika, you brought it up first!”
“You said it though!”
Man, you were already starting to regret joining VC today. You finished your offline work a lot faster than expected, so when you realized that three of your close friends in the company were all online in VC together while Alban privately streamed a rhythm game, you figured you would join the call while you prepared dinner. 
But if that was your greeting, you needed to mentally prepare for the wild interrogation you were about to experience. At least Aia, despite her love for drama, knew how to navigate these sorts of things delicately. And you don’t mean to call Mika and Alban bad friends—they were the exact opposite, in fact—but they were much nosier than Aia ever came across.
“Okay, but Reader just asked who leaked it, and didn’t deny it,” Aia says. “So that means it must be true!”
Scratch that. Aia is the worst out of all of them.
“I hate you guys. No hello or anything, just gossip about my love life,” you lament.
She gasps, and if her eyes were sparkling before, then roses bloomed around her as she spoke. “It’s love?”
Mika shrieks like a banshee. “Oh hell no, you’re in love and you didn’t tell us?!”
“It’s not love. It’s nothing!”
“Nah-uh, Reader, no running away from it, we know,” Alban says. “Better to just get it all out in the open than pretend like nothing’s up.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to snoop.”
“I’m being serious. Keeping stuff bottled up deteriorates you, especially when love’s involved.” He missed a note. “Shit. And yeah, okay, I want some gossip, but I have a point and you know it.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you, I blew a full combo just to say that!”
“Can I add? In case you forgot, Reader, we’re all in the same company,” Mika says. “Sure, I might be in a different branch, but who knows? Maybe we can help.”
“And fuck you too.” You sigh in defeat. As vitriolic as your shared humor was, these three were still some of your best friends, and you know they don’t mean any harm. “Ugh, I hate this. This is confidential information. Like, CIA levels of confidential. If I tell you guys, you can’t tell a single soul about it. Understand?”
The three all chime in agreement. And unfortunately, you trust them. You take advantage of your coworkers swearing themselves to secrecy to hype yourself up and just rip off the band-aid. “It’s Ike.”
“We know.”
“What the hell do you mean, you know?!”
“It’s obvious,” Aia says. Your heart hammers in your chest. Then she sputters for a moment, like she realized she might’ve hit a soft spot. “Well, you have to focus on it to see it, but once you see it, it’s hard to ignore. You two go well together.”
Alban pitches in. “Agreed. I’m not even gonna be subtle about it, you and Ike have great chemistry. I’m happy for you two.”
“Okay, I guess.” Your eyes drift away from your prepared ingredients to the corner of your kitchen. “But I don’t know. Are you sure? Because I feel like I always act like an idiot whenever I’m around him. And I doubt he’d ever feel the same way.”
“Wait.” Aia pauses. “You’re… not dating?”
“No. Just a crush. Not love, not dating, nothing. And it’s never going to be anything more than that because it’s just a big stupid crush on my coworker, who doesn’t even live close enough to visit, and this is all a recipe for disaster.”
She doesn’t say anything about that. Actually, none of them do. Even Alban pressed pause on his game, and the Discord stream went motionless as your words sunk in. 
Mika is the one to break the silence. “You’re shitting me.”
“That’s the truth. Happy?”
“No, like, you’re shitting me, there’s no way.”
“Mikaaa.” Alban drags out her name as he scolds her. 
“Hey, I’m just saying, that’s crazy, especially since—“
“Don’t tell Reader that!”
“Tell me what?” 
“We thought you were already a thing. You know, dating, in a relationship, whatever,” Mika clarifies. It hits you like a punch to the gut. “Or at least that you had something going on, and kept it secret so it wouldn’t be awkward for everyone else to work with you two. Which, by the way, we’re all chill with, so if, hypothetically, you decided to hypothetically go for it, we would hypothetically cheer you on and set off hypothetical fireworks. I’d rent a food truck.”
Alban resumes his game. “Yeah, what she said. Go get that hypothetical novelist bussy.”
“Don’t hypothetically talk about my brother like that.”
“You’re sure this is okay?” You ask. “Mika, I know you and Ike are close. This isn’t going to make anything weird, is it?”
“You’re fine, Reader. If I had problems, I would’ve cornered you and threatened you over text ages ago when I figured it out.”
“That’s another thing. How did you guys know?”
Aia pipes up first. “I know I said it was obvious, but I think that’s just because we know each other since we’re good friends. You two just go together, you know? It’s hard to explain, but whenever Reader and Ike-senpai are in the same room you think, ‘those two would be cute,’ and then you realize they are cute, right there in the moment. And you talk a lot faster on stream whenever you’re both on the same page. Almost as fast as me.”
 “Plus, it’s really common to see both of you on VC at the same time, and you’re always happy whenever he shows up,” Mika affirms. “Alban says whenever one of you enters the call the other is soon to follow.” 
“It’s true. You talk fast whenever you talk to him on VC too, not just stream. And your laugh kind of changes?”
“Dammit, I knew my laugh was my tell. This sucks. This seriously sucks.”
“It might not be all that bad,” Mika says. “Who knows, maybe things might end up better than you expect. You should tell him.”
“No way,” you fire back. “There no way he’d actually reciprocate. And I know you guys are fine with me asking, but Ike himself is just going to reject me, and it’s going to be awkward, and literally everyone in the company who has ever talked to us will be able to tell something’s up.”
“They won’t be weird,” Aia insists. “We won’t, either, and Ike-senpai is a good guy. Even if it doesn’t work out, he wouldn’t leave you out to dry like that.”
“You don’t know. None of you have ever been in this situation.”
“That’s true, but there’s always a chance.”
“If you ask me, it sounds more like you’re afraid of what you think would happen instead of what rationally would,” Alban says. He’s still laser-focused on his game. “I dunno. If you’re really set on getting over it, then go ahead and ignore it, but that’s just going to eat at you for who knows how long before your crush starts to fade.”
“Well, I didn’t ask.”
“Fine. Forget I said anything.”
You regret the acidic tone in your voice the second you said it, but Alban was off in his own world of music. He’d tell you if he had a problem with how you spoke to him, but you still feel gross about your knee-jerk reaction. 
You’re just… defensive. Yep, that’s the word. Whenever you’re this interested in someone, you put your walls up and protect yourself from letting anyone worm through and hit a weak point. 
Aia hums like an analyst. “Just keep it in mind, Reader. Not everything is out to get you.”
You know your friends just wanted the best for you, but things just aren’t as simple as they’d like to imagine it. It’s none of their business, anyways. It was pure coincidence that they figured out your thoughts on Ike, and that means none of them have any real authority to advise you on your love life.
“I think we’re done talking about this,” you assert.
“Well, you heard ‘em. Pack it up, show’s over.” Mika changed the subject. “Hey, did you guys know if you try to break open a freshly boiled egg, it explodes?”
Alban slams his hands on his keyboard so loudly that you hear the switches over his noise suppression. The stream goes from a string of Awesome! notes to nothing but misses as he abandons the game. “YES. Yes, actually, I DO know.”
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
“MEAT! WANTS MEAT! WANTS MEAT! MEAT!”
“AAAAAAAAHHHH!”
The stream is to the birds. Fuck that noise. Godspeed to the Bookworms, they’ll need it, but not nearly as much as you. 
When you were settling on a schedule, the last undecided spot for the week was Friday’s stream. That simply wouldn’t do. Friday nights kick off the weekend, and the break from school and work is prime time for a wide audience, so pretty much everyone in Nijisanji reserves their juiciest streams for the weekend. You’re no exception.
…Except for the fact that you didn’t have a clue about what to do for Friday’s stream. One Twitter poll and conveniently timed Steam sale later, you published your schedule with a game your fans voted on: Outlast.
You walked in knowing it would be a horror game, and you figured it would be fine. After all, you’ve played games from Chilla’s Art before, and a few quirky indie psychological releases here and there. You wouldn’t call yourself a stone-faced horror lover that can keep a straight face at anything, but aside from a few creepy moments in those game, you’ve kept your cool relatively well. 
Outlast threw all that out the window. You realized almost immediately that you had no idea how to handle the primal fear of the chase. 
Footsteps pound against a metal floor. You plead for help in the emptiness of your home as you smash the controls, as if that would make your character move the cabinet over the door any faster. Screams resonate in tune between you and the chained man in the room with you, and all the while, the howling of your pursuer grows louder and louder as he gets closer.
You finally uncover the door and dash through. Tremors run though all your thoughts while your heart beats overtime. 
You still haven’t gotten used to all the jumpscares, even though you’re at the edge of your seat and ready to start running yourself. A fork in the road approaches, and when you start off one direction, you’re greeted by a bloodied man in the distance. “AAAHH!”
Faster than light, you slam the key to the other hall and book it. You spot a new storage container to shove in front of the door just in time for text to appear on the screen: Look for pushable objects to block doors.
“No shit, why wouldn’t you tell me that before, oh my God, aaaaah!” The screams—from both the voice actors and your own cries—grate against your eardrums while chase music thunders in-between the gasps for air. 
As you grab the container and start to push, you mash the pause button. When the menu appears, you lean back in your chair and run your hands over your face. Your model pouts cutely while the real you whimpers. The mic barely picks it up.
You take a breath before groaning in fear and pain. “Guys. I don’t think I can do this…” Another groan as you trail off. “This game is so much. Give me a second.”
As you raise yourself back from your chair, it’s with a slump forward. Your chat is full of headpat emotes and hearts in your color, along with some quick words of courage. A few are recommending you take a break. “Thanks, Bookworms. I’m so afraid, but I’m committed and I don’t want to just leave it here.”
Your eyes flutter closed as you take a sip of water to clear your head. The cold drink startles you out of the dingy asylum atmosphere, but the screaming still lingers between your ears. “You know what? Who else is online right now? Maybe I need someone in VC to hold me to this.”
The emojis in chat slowly patter out as your viewers go back to text. Looks like most of your Bookworms like the idea of calling someone else while you stream the game. Some of their messages catch your eye. 
gatamiizuus: you can call ike :ReaderHeadpat: 
messXed-up!: ike!!
lunasmortas: what about ike?
A few more chats mention Ike, and while usually you’d be irritated they mentioned another liver out of the blue, your shoulders still relax at the sight of his name. “Wait, Ike? Is Ike here?”
You scroll back in the chat history, and search for any mod messages. Sure enough, barely a minute ago while you were still being chased:
Ike Eveland 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : GANBARE!
You cling onto that message like a lifeline. Ike is familiar. Ike is comforting. And most importantly, Ike would never call you a pussy.
Chat floods over with his name while you check the official Nijisanji Discord server. Almost everyone in Nijisanji sets their status to offline by default, and Ike is one of them, but you still scan through the member list anyways, praying a little green indicator will light up by his icon.
His status doesn’t change, but before you can even click on his profile, your Direct Messages tab gains a notification. He just messaged you.
Ike Eveland: Watching your stream right now
Ike Eveland: Are you okay?
You exhale. Ike is the most dependable guy you know, even when it’s pure coincidence he was watching your stream while you freaked out. 
With your heart still in your throat, you respond.
Me: uuuuuuugh i guess
Me: the game is really scary
Me: i don’t want to cancel the stream but i don’t think i can play it by myself 😭
Ike Eveland: 🫂    | 🫂 1 |
Ike Eveland: Would you feel better if I called you?
Me: i was just about to ask    | 👌 1 |
Me: you don’t have to if you don’t want to tho!! i don’t want to be a nuisance lol
Ike Eveland: Don’t worry I offered to!
Ike Eveland started a voice call.
“Ikeee!” The second the call starts, all your restraint goes forgotten. “Ike, I was so scared!”
You babble on about everything you’ve endured up to this point: the gore, the grime, and the patients in the asylum that hunt you like animals. 
 “I’m here, it’s alright now,” he assures you. “I’m here, okay? Take your time, you’re safe.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m relieved. But it was so scary.” You sink and bury yourself in the collar of your shirt. “You’ve streamed this before, and kept a cool head the entire time, right? How do you do it?”
“Well, it wasn’t my first time playing, for starters. Everyone gets freaked out at first. It’s a horror game, Reader, it’s okay to react to it. I remember the first time I played it, it scared me so bad I had to quit after half an hour.” He giggles a bit at himself. The sound is comforting. “That was a few years ago. I think I had nightmares about it, until I realized I needed to know the rest of the story. ”
Your voice is small. “That was really brave of you.”
“I avoided it for days. I doubt that’s brave.”
“It’s braver than calling someone just to get the guts to play the game.”
“Hey, don’t put my friend Reader down just to bring me up.” He keeps his tone light to let you know you’re allowed to smile. “Being able to face your fears is plenty on its own, and you shouldn’t be devaluing that. How long have you been at it?”
“A little over two hours?” You glance at the stream monitor, and ignore the chat as much as you can. You still register the hearts in your color and his signature blue. “I don’t know. I did a lot of pausing, too, so it’s probably less than that…”
“But you were still able to stream for that long. Remember, I could only play for thirty minutes during my first time! You’re stronger than you think you are.”
You avert your eyes from your stream setup. You feel painfully seen, but the chat is nothing to you. “Doesn’t feel like it.”
“Then I’ll be here to remind you. Is that okay?”
“I’d like that.” You return to the screen, and in the darkness of the blurred labyrinth, you see your reflection stare back. Your hair is disheveled from how you kept thrashing around in reaction to the game and your shoulders are high with tension, but only now did you realize how the corners of your lips rose after the call started. Ike really got to you. “Thank you, Ike, you’re so considerate. I appreciate you a lot. You’re a really good guy.”
He chuckles slowly, soft like a blanket. Your shoulders ease. Ike’s words are just as soft, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he’s nervous too. “Haha, um. Yeah. Thank you?” He doesn’t take compliments well, but they’re true, and you hope he knows it as well as you do. He clears his throat. “Ahem. Um, how are you feeling?”
“Not great, but better. I want to try again.”
“You’ve got this, Reader, you can do it.” Ike is still quiet, but enthusiastic. “You can do it!”
You go shaky. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.”
But you still press Return To Game.
And when you scream barely five seconds later, Ike is still calm, and you hone in on his voice as you persevere.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
Just as you go to bed, you realize that you basically just made a fool of yourself in front of your crush by getting scared at a game he’s already conquered. 
You slam a pillow over your face and groan.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
Ike lands an all-out attack just in time to check the chat and the swarm of viewers that just joined. “Oh, Reader! Thank you for the raid, it’s good to see you! Welcome, everybody.”
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : take care of my bookworms for me? i’m getting milk
“Of course. They’re our Quillworms, after all.” You go fuzzy. He remembered the fan name! “Have a good break, Reader! Rest well.”
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : 👍
It was the end of the week, and the stream you just finished was the last on your schedule. You announced a few days ago that you would take a break for a little more than two weeks so you could catch up on offline work as well as rest, and the Bookworms sent you off with a lot of love. It’ll be hard for some of your diehard fans, but you’re sure they’ll manage. You have a feeling it’ll be easier than they expect. 
“Speaking of breaks, I haven’t finished my schedule yet. I think I’ll wait a day or two to post it.” The stream cracks in red and black as Ike’s party in Persona 5 Royal clobbers the enemy Shadows. Monsters bleed out behind the protagonist’s cocky smirk. “I’ll be offline for the next two days, so I’ll have some time to think about it.”
Ike mashes through the battle results, and sets back off into exploring the palace. His stream fades into background noise as you get back to the task at hand. 
You sent a few messages to some of your other coworkers regarding your break. Next was finishing some paperwork for management, and reaching out to others that needed access to the files. Sure, your time off was for offline work, but the work you had to get done would only take an afternoon at most. You wanted to meet even the far-off deadlines as soon as possible so you could be properly free for the rest of your vacation.
By the time you finished your paperwork, your coworkers were able to respond to you. A group chat full of other livers had a new response every minute about the next two weeks, and Aia sent you a QR code that would let you save some time and money on your flight. 
Ike ended yet another super-long P5R stream just a few minutes after you grabbed all your luggage, got to the airport, and made it to your terminal. You had some time to kill, but you were sick of the headphones over your ears.
Not to mention, you were waiting for the fans to catch up on the real reason why you were on break.
Curiously, you log into your private Twitter—you don’t plan to interact with anything but you’re always paranoid about your online presence—and start searching for the code words fans think Vtubers have no idea about. Symbols replace letters and names morph into sounds while emojis speak volumes.  
The Stargazers don’t mention it at all. That’s to be expected, after all. Their oshi goes on break often, so nothing seems too out of the ordinary. Besides, you wouldn’t put it past them to have even more intricate subtweets than what you’re looking for.
Only a few of Nina’s Honeybunnies put the pieces together at first, but then you check Quilldren subtweets. As it turns out, when Ike mentioned he’d be taking a few days off, a few of his fans noticed how Nina was going to be offline at the same time, and a smaller fraction of those compared how Mika had yet to release a schedule. 
Underneath your face mask, you smile. With the career being dependent on both anonymity and your voice, you wore a nondescript black mask through the entire airport in case someone recognized you, just as well as to hide the tiny giggle that always bubbles up whenever you watch your fans scramble around theorizing. They don’t have all the pieces, after all. None of the Aiadmirers nor the Renvaders even considered it.
They’ll figure it out in time nonetheless. Uki and Nina are close to landing, and Aia was the first to disembark her plane. The rest of your friends are set to arrive after you, and besides, Vox should be ending his last stream of the week right now. You’re sure the Kindred will start plotting in the next hour, provided their oshi didn’t give them too big of a hint about his plans for the next week as he’s known to do.
You board your plane and settle into your seat, ready to nap the flight away. You’ll need the rest, after all. It’s about time you join an off-collab.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
Nina doesn’t even get the chance to look away from her phone before she gets a rush of replies on her first voice tweet.
She doesn’t bother to read them anyways. She’s too busy howling out the lyrics to “Wannabe.”
It’ll be hard to discern all the voices. Ike’s high range is always easy to pick out, but Vox blends in as a bass, and you can always hear Mika’s grin through her singing. Ren and Aia are the furthest from the phone, and as loud as they sing, they’re still drowned out along with you, Uki, and Nina herself.
Mika chooses the wrong time to look around the karaoke booth. While Aia sings passionately about what she wants (what she really, really wants), her body language crumples and rises like an electrocuted high school theater kid. The ghost has a hiccuping, sweeping laugh that overpowers half of the singers, and then Aia snorts at herself when Mika covers her mouth, which gets Vox to snort even louder, and before you know it, it’s just Uki and Nina doing their damndest not to break. Even then, Nina’s voice wavers along to the Spice Girls as she resists a laugh, and Uki’s eyes are squeezed shut smiling.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
The bar stool slides out from the counter so quietly that you wonder if the Airbnb owner knew just how handy it would be for a house full of streamers on vacation. You lean forward while Mika tells a story about how she, Aia, Ren and you went out for a coffee run, and crossed paths with some teenagers with matching Iluna keychains on their backpacks. 
Speaking of Iluna, their represents sat together on the couch. Aia set her plate and fork on the coffee table, not a single pool of sauce left over from the pasta dinner Vox and Uki prepared together. Somehow Ren made enough room in his luggage to bring along a teal ukulele, and idly strums along. Uki sits between Ren and the armrest, swirling the last of his pasta between his fork.
Across from them, Vox and Nina took ownership of two plush chairs that could only fit one person each. Each chair was next to a corner table, and they stacked their plates on top of one another to make room for a jug of orange juice and two cocktail glasses. Ike took a bottle of rum and poured it into his soda, then slid it back to the corner table before pulling up the bar stool next to you. 
“It was like, one of them had a clear phone case and held it out to show the others a video,” Mika says. She perched on top of the counter itself, next to her travel microphone and the second-nastiest kitchen stream setup you’ve ever seen. She was no Scarle, but so many wires stretched across the island and along the way that it was just easier for her to climb onto the polished granite to keep an eye on the chat. “Smack-dab in the center was a PNG of Vox. And then a bunch of tinier Voxes around it. And here’s how you know it’s bad, you could see the color of the phone itself through the case because it’s clear, right? It was red. Red! That’s commitment!”
“I’m telling you, Mika, there’s no way they got a red phone just because of Vox,” Aia says. “That’s got to be a coincidence.”
Vox hums into his glass. “No, they absolutely did. You mean to tell me your fans don’t spoil you rotten and buy new phones just because they’re your color?”
“My color is white, Vox, like every phone ever is my color!”
“Still, I’ve never seen Aia go so quiet so fast.” Ren’s ukulele twangs as he grins. His fangs were just as prominent in real life. “It was awesome.”
“It was scary, but funny,” you say. “We saw the Vox case and the Iluna keychains, and all of us just went silent. And we all had masks, too, so it was like, one moment you could hear Ren’s fuckboy laugh, and the second we saw the case, we all put up our masks and went quieter than the grave.”
Ren palms the neck of the ukulele and mutes the chord in mock offense. “Hey! I’m not a fuckboy!”
“Didn’t say you were, but if you want to out yourself like that, be my guest. They’d chop off your horns and sell them like Kyo.”
“One of them had an Aster keychain.” Ren bitterly resumes playing. Uki sets his plate on the table and drapes himself over the alien’s shoulder as he opened up his phone to check the off-collab’s live tag. The stream was supposed to be a live Q&A, but was so easy to talk to everyone that the questions often turned into conversation before someone remembered the stream. “If Aia or I said anything, we’d be fucked.”
“Imagine how fucked we would’ve been if Vox woke up in time to go with us,” you say.
Ike snickers. “Is it bad that I would’ve paid money to see that?”
The two Luxiem members get into a playful argument over who would win in a fight: all the effort Nijisanji and its employees put into protecting their privacy, or one silly phone case. Ren’s riffing turns into a simple rendition of “Iris” and Nina hums along from across the living room. The ukulele is slow and unique enough to not be mistaken for the original, but you wonder if those two would be able to avoid copyright entirely.
Nonetheless, the vibe is comfortable. You’re miles away from home, but in a room with some of your closest friends in the world, it’s like you never left. Truthfully, it’s more like you’ve finally found your place. The music just feels right, like it was written for this moment, and Aia leans back into the couch while Nina sways in her seat to the jaunty little ukulele. Ren looks as cheery as his instrument sounds, especially with a peaceful Uki nuzzled up to him. 
While Ike and Vox go at it, Mika props her chin up with both hands and watches them like a reality TV show. There’s a glint in Vox’s eyes as Ike drums up a snide response, the only sane man to the demon’s goofiness. He brings his rum and coke to his lips like punctuation, a silent so, what? hidden in the boozy soda. 
Vox knows how to run his mouth, and he launches into one of his patented anecdotes. While all eyes are on the demon and the chat hones in on his voice, you focus on how Ike tilts his head up to drink. His neck stretches out from the collar of his black band tee, and with each sip, his Adam’s apple bobs. 
You’ve always thought he was good-looking on stream, but he’s gorgeous in person, all long lines and graceful features, and cameras can’t capture the tiny little freckles drizzled down the back of his neck. You didn’t even know he had freckles. It was only after you saw him for the first time that you noticed pale, reddish dots all over his nose and cheeks, fading out by his temples and the arch of his lips. Spending the day walking around in the sun from place to place revealed more whenever the wind flicked his jacket collar out right. They scatter at his nape, right below the blue tips of his hair, and meet one another further down his back, or so you’d presume. Without the jacket, you can catch marks spread out along his arms with distance between one another, and his shirt sleeve starts right where the freckles cluster together. You can only imagine how far down they go.
You avert your eyes. You can’t think about what’s under the shirt when you’re sitting right next to him, and certainly not while on stream, even if chat can’t see you check him out!
Unfortunately, the side opposite of Ike is the one with Ren and Uki. Those two are idyllic. Without a care in the world, it seems. You envy how easily Uki can act on what he wants, even if you know he doesn’t see Ren like how you see Ike. Ren doesn’t mind it at all, either. He literally lives by the rhythm of his own ukulele. 
Ike lowers his drink with his eyes closed, as if it would make the refreshing feeling last longer. His eyelashes are the same ashen color as his hair. Gold gleams between his ears and on the chain of his glasses.
Possessed by the music, and distracted by the rambling, you become one with the background and lean along Ike’s arm.
It’s an indulgent dip into the waters, but shallow compared to all you feel for him. Ever since you met Ike in person it’s been easier to control yourself around him, and if anything, you’re reminded that this is the man you’ve gotten the closest to in both career and friendship. The only barrier between your cheek and his body is his shirt sleeve, but your arm rests against his forearm, right where the freckles taper off. There’s no resistance at all as you make yourself comfortable in the crook of his arm. 
But you hold yourself back. Even though the off-collab made you feel gutsier than before, you think that you’d pass out if you tried anything else. Besides, you feel so at peace against his arm, but too afraid to look up and see his reaction. 
The blend of peace and fear churns in your heart as it dawns on you: you were wrong to call this a crush. It runs far deeper than you could’ve imagined.
Vox says something with finality. His voice snaps you out of your thoughts, but the words go unregistered. As he spoke, his eyes drifted around with his body language, but he snaps to look at Ike expectantly. You swear his smirk gets a little more mischievous as he does. 
The air stills, even though you know eyes aren’t on you, just the man you lean on. It stays frozen as Ike waits to respond. You still don’t have the heart to look up at him and break your selfish, unrequited fantasy.
You just want to stay here, unresisted.
Ike deadpans. “Anyways.”
Just like that, the moment is over, and Mika laughing at Vox striking out clears the air around you. But Vox’s eyes fall to you for just a split second as he moves in his seat. Frost settles down your back at the thought that he knows, but there’s a solid chance he hasn’t connected the dots. You pray he hasn’t.
Then you see Fox Mom herself right behind him, and she shoots you a shit-eating grin with a hand over her heart and a glass in the other. 
No doubt about it. You’re screwed. 
The frost turns to glaciers and burns into hot shame all at once. You love Nina, you really do, and you’d always consider her a good friend before coworker. However, she’s known for fishing around for any crumb of fanservice, and she gets straight to the point whenever she eggs it on, not to mention how she loves to tease her kids on just about anything. You are never going to hear the end of this if she can help it.
You really don’t know what you expected. It feels like everyone’s staring at you, even the chat. You can’t help but feel bitter. How come Uki can flirt with as many guys as he wants, you wonder, but I can’t even touch Ike without getting eyed up? 
You know the answer, but it doesn’t do anything to help the bitterness and the embarrassment, and how much you want to hide. On instinct, you take advantage of the warmth and nestle yourself deeper into Ike to hide your face, just in time as he curls his head above yours.
Nina makes a sound kind of like a fork stuck in the garbage disposal for the briefest of moments before smashing her lips together and bringing her glass to her mouth like a mute button. As if you didn’t feel seen enough. 
“Find any other questions, Uki-senpai?” Aia’s nose is buried in her phone, and God, you could kiss her for changing the subject. As much as she poked fun about you about Ike, she was still a total angel and a ride-or-die all at once. 
“Oh, I have questions,” Uki says. Luckily, he’s graceful enough to leave it at that. “Twitter wants to know first impressions for everyone that hasn’t off-collabed before.”
Ren speaks. “I think the only person I’ve done an off-collab with before is Nina, so is it cool if I go first?”
Aia gestures for him to go on. She’s still stuck on her phone as he continues.
Your phone vibrates in your pocket, but you ignore it. Then again and again and again, and when you finally check it, you understand why. When Aia, Mika and Alban first heard you spill your feelings for Ike, they made a group chat dedicated to wingmanning—or at least, that’s what they pitched it as. They tease you more than anything else, and as irritating as it gets… you have to admit, it’s nice to confide in them, and nice to know they wouldn’t hold it against you.
Anyways, Alban’s going apeshit. 
Group Chat: 💙 PENANDPAPER REAL 2K4EVER 💕 (4 Members)
Aia Amare: image.png    | 📌 2 |
Alban Knox: AKDHSLSJDKSHSA
Alban Knox: AASDFSDF
Alban Knox: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Alban Knox: AAAAAAAAAA
Alban Knox: HAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA KYAAAAAAAA
Alban Knox: 💕💕💕💙💕💙💕💙💙💙💕💙💕💕💙
Alban Knox: 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
Alban Knox: HOW ARE YOU GUYSS NOT LOSING YUOR MINDSA BOUT THIS
Aia Amare: I AM
Me: omfg did you seriously get a picture of us 
Alban Knox: WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGGGG DONT CHDCK THIS GC    | 👆 1 |
Me: wtf did you expect you’re spamming 
Alban Knox: YOU AR ELITERALLY CUDDLNG GO FOCUS ON THAY JOT US
Me: we are not cuddling
Alban Knox: YOU ARE
Aia Amare: YOU ARE
Mika Melatika pinned a message.     | 🖕 1 |
Me: mika wth you too? 😭 
Mika Melatika: image.png
Me: did you srsly take a selfie with us in the background
Mika Melatika: YES this needs to be immortalized
Me: you people suck    | 🥰 3 |
Alban Knox: GET THAT NOVELIST BUSSY!!!!
Aia Amare: As if you aren’t about to save that picture yourself~
Alban Knox: NOVELUSSY!!!!!!!!!
Fuck, she got you there. You cast a pointed look at the angelic maiden herself, or at least as pointed as you can be with a man you’re scared to love wrapped around you. She looks as satisfied as a cat pushing a glass off a counter. 
You set your phone on ‘do not disturb’ and placed it behind you on the counter with a huff.
“Reader, honey, how about you?” Nina leans forward, half-lidded and as sultry as ever. She swirled her drink around in its glass. “It’s your first off-collab ever, right? I’d love to hear what you have to say.”
“Oh, well, um.” Your brain struggles to catch up. “First impressions, right…”
Aia slips you a thumbs up. You’re going to rip her a new one after this. Her, and Mika, and definitely Nina; this is the most subtle Nina’s ever been but you can tell she’s fishing for an answer here. You can take your friends figuring it out, embarrassing as it is, but you are not about to expose yourself to thousands of live viewers. 
“It’s kind of crazy actually meeting up with everyone,” you start. “I’ve known them for so long, but all online, and being able to match the voice to the face in real life, I don’t think I can actually describe it. It’s kind of surreal, but it feels so nice to just talk to them in person. Aia, Nina and Uki were the first people I met up with, and man, those three are a sight. I know everyone says it, but Uki is absolutely the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. Nina and Aia are really pretty, too. Hey, Aiadmirers, did you know when your oshi laughs, she looks just as cute as she sounds?”
Aia yells. “Reader, shut up!”
“Then stop being so cute all the time, you dork!” 
“I’m not a dork! I’m cool!”
You resume, satisfied with your revenge. “Mika and Vox are both really chill. They’re kind of quiet, so if you’re just walking by, you’d think they’re two normal people just going about their days. But whenever we talk it’s always something insane. Vox sounds like a dignified gentleman and Mika is kind of like that cool girl that you want to be friends with, but if you actually pay attention, Mika’s showing Vox a picture of her insides during surgery while he’s reciting something about the Bite of ‘87. And Ren is probably one of the most straightforward people you’ll ever see. He’s so optimistic, and really expressive, too, even though most of the expressions are all different types of smiles.”
“What’s your impression of Ike?” Nina asks.
What does she expect you to say to that one, that screens can’t capture how the sun glitters through his glassy green eyes? Hearing him say your name in-person sends shockwaves through your body? How you want to kiss every little freckle he’s never mentioned before and keeps hidden under long sleeves, even though it’s the beautiful skin he lives in daily?
“Same old Ike. He’s exactly like how I expected,” you say. A total fib. 
She cocks her head. “Really? Even after all the time you’ve spent together?”
“I’m trying to hang out with everyone.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
Cornered. Nina takes a long, slow drink from her glass as you scramble for a quick answer that won’t immediately out you. “Whenever I talk to Ike, he’s really emotive. You can tell what he’s thinking before he says anything. He also has a good sense of style, so he’s fun to go shopping with, and honestly, fun to do anything with. He’s someone you can always have a good time with, and always makes you feel so comfortable around him. Ike’s magnetic.”
Mika muffles a coo behind you. You’re going to kill her if you survive this stream.
“That’s very sweet, Reader,” Nina replies. “Hear that, Ike?”
“Yes, I did.” He sounds strained.
“Got any feelings about it?”
“Yes? I mean—er, thanks?” You feel Ike’s head rustle. “I, umm. What am I supposed to say about that?”
“I don’t know. I just think that about you, that’s all…”
“Aww, cute. I love that you love each other,” Nina muses. 
Ike spits out, “It’s not like that!” Just as you admit, “Yeah, I guess so.”
You process his words too late, though, and even as you sputter the ukulele music cuts out just in time with Nina and Mika’s unfiltered fangirl squeals. Ren’s palms mute the chord as his eyes go wide. Aia is already on her phone with her jaw to the floor and Uki throws a look at Nina while he mouths, did that just happen? 
“I-I mean!” Your throat goes dry and Ike lurches away from you when Vox gleefully shakes Nina like a rag doll. “I—wh—Ike, I mean, of course I love you—“ Mika screams again— “As a friend!”
When you turn to face Ike, he’s curled up into a ball on the barstool with his shirt collar over his face. Even as you feel the blood rush to your face, you keep shouting. That’s all you have left. You’re live. “Like, we’re best friends on and off stream and I love you!”
He mutters something, but you can’t tell what. Only his neck and the tips of his ears poke out from his shirt. Were they always that red?
You repeat yourself. “I said, we’re best friends and I love you, so much!”
“And I said, I know, thank you, I love you too, Reader!” Ike jerks out to face you as he cries. He looks like a tomato. 
Then he buries his face into his hands and squeaks like how he always does when something’s too cute to handle, or he’s got too many emotions he needs to let out. “You can’t see me, I’m too embarrassed. I’m hiding forever and I’m never coming out.”
You hope the ground swallows you up and you never have to confront this moment again. 
Uki hisses under his breath and muffles Ren's ukulele. You don't know what he said, but you realize all too late that the alien prince himself was laying down the first few notes of “Fly Me To The Moon.”
While you slump and fold your arms over your face on the counter in pure embarrassment, Aia stands up and commandeers the mic. She slaps a hand over Mika’s mouth to muffle the scream. “Man, bummer that Ike-senpai is gone from us forever, but you know what else might be gone forever if you don’t get it now? The sponsor for this stream, our current limited-edition Nijisanji voice packs!”
And as much as you could kiss her yet again for changing the subject, you can’t get over how everything blew up in the last five minutes, and groan into your arms instead. 
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
The stream passed, luckily, without a hitch after that. No one asked any questions, but it was pretty damn clear everyone in the room had an idea of what just happened, and the impending shitstorm. In fact, it was so clear that when you stalked off to your room to sulk, no one made a fuss, and when you realized ten minutes into your sulking session that you left your phone on the counter, you figured it wasn’t worth it to show your face again until after you finished your pity party. 
The entire time, you laid in your bed with a pillow over your face so you could pretend like you were being absorbed into the sweet embrace of death. Overdramatic, sure, but you figured you were justified. 
Without your phone, you had no way to check exactly how bad the fallout was on Twitter. The poor Pen and Paper tags were sure to be flooded with fans imagining a happy ending to that stint you’d never be able to experience yourself, like salt in the wound. Not to mention, it was a huge seven-person off-collab! It didn’t just end with the Pen and Paper fans. No, it would extend past the Bookworms and the Quilldren, and certainly to the rest of the fandoms with an oshi in this Airbnb. Maybe even the offshoot viewers who don’t regularly watch your content, but made an exception for the off-collab, or, you know, the ones who have no idea who you or Ike are but can’t get enough of the whole accidental-confession-live-on-stream thing. Forget Nina; the entire Vtuber community is never, ever, ever going to live this down. 
Ike sounded so distraught, too. You wanted to kick yourself for it. Not only did you make a fool of yourself, but he got caught in the crossfire just because you didn’t catch yourself slipping. Not like he’d reciprocate anyways. He’s always been bad at taking compliments, but you keep thinking about how embarrassed he was about you loving him. 
All your frustration and humiliation coursed through the darkness under your pillow, and you stew so bitterly that you don’t even dream when you fall asleep. 
You just wake up groggy and exhausted, but too restless to go back to sleep. You look out the window, and the stars have barely come out to play in the early night sky. 
As much as you’d hate to admit it, that impromptu nap made you tired of brooding. Besides, you can’t hide from your friends forever. Hopelessly in love or not, they’re still your friends, and even if you decided to stream during the trip, this off-collab was always about spending time with them instead of worrying over your online presence. 
It takes you half an hour to hype yourself up, but eventually, you open your door and step out into the hall. 
You can already hear voices further away in the Airbnb. You place one of them as Nina, and after her, a baritone that could only belong to Vox. 
“…Fuck Twitter, they’re going to forget about it in two weeks or less anyways.” You overhear as you walk down the hall of rooms and closer to the living room. You’ve heard Vox passionate before, but never this serious as well. “Besides, what exactly did they say?”
A mumble. You can’t place the words, but you bristle when you recognize the voice. That’s unmistakably Ike. 
“See? Again, I’m so sorry. I was out of line, and I forgot my place. I shouldn’t have interrogated them like that,” Nina says. “But you’re overthinking what they said.”
Another mumble. By now, you’re in the kitchen. You lift your phone from where you left it, and hold your fingers over the half of the screen where your notifications appear as you check the time. It’s barely 11 PM. 
The kitchen and living room are connected, with plenty of seating space all around. That was why Mika’s travel laptop was still on the counter and plugged into the wall from the stream earlier, but on the other side of the wall from the kitchen, you noticed an open window and silhouettes from it. Four people sat on the shallow roof overlooking the uneven ground plenty of feet under the building. A pair of fox ears twitch at the night wind as they watched the stars grow brighter in the sky. 
You look through the fridge. You’re peckish, but if you were to be honest with yourself, you’re trying to stay quiet for a reason. 
There’s a huff. “Oh my god, dude. Just tell Reader already.”
You stand up a little straighter. Mika was with them? Were they talking about you?
“There’s nothing to be said, Mika!” Ike huffs back. “I’m screwed anyways. Just drop it, okay? I don’t need this getting in the way of what was supposed to be just a normal trip.”
“You can’t keep running away forever. Just act like an adult and tell them. It’s going to be fine, I swear.”
“And how exactly do you know that?”
“Well…” Mika trails off. “I can’t say. I just know, okay?”
“Uh-huh. And I know I’m screwed.” The wind rustles outside. You stay motionless. “Just two weeks. Can I please just have two weeks where I don’t have to worry about this until the trip is over.”
It’s a question, but he says it with such exasperation that no one can consider any other answers. 
“Fine.” Nina relinquishes. “Have it your way. I’m just worried for you two.”
“It’s going to work out, Ike. But I’m tired.” Vox stifles a yawn. “Tomorrow is going to be better. Let it go for the night and come back to it once you’re in better shape, and just remember. It’s going to work out.”
“Thanks, Vox.”
“Now get in here.”
You hear shuffling fabric before the two men start yelling. Vox cackles while Ike cries through gritted teeth. “Dang it, Vox, I’m going to shove you off this roof!”
“Get ruffled, idiot! That’s your fault for trusting me!”
“I just wanted a hug!”
You snicker under your breath. Vox loves to ruffle Ike’s hair despite the latter’s protests, though he tends to accept it instead of shove him off like anyone else that would dare. Besides, as dreary as Ike sounded during that conversation, he nearly sounded like his old self as Vox and the others laughed.
“I think I’ll go too. Mommy needs her beauty sleep.”
“Mm, I’m still pretty awake. Wanna keep looking at the sky with me, Ike?”
“Sure. Here, Nina, let me move out of the way…”
Shuffling turns to footsteps, and brings you back to reality. You busy yourself looking through the paltry groceries.
The sound of footsteps gets louder and louder, until they become a hollow click on the hardwood floor. Nina crawls through the window, but stops in her tracks with a startled noise.
You turn around and nod as casually as possible. “Oh, hey, Nina.”
Vox is also halfway through the window, and his eyes go comically wide as he forgets how to move. “Oh. Hey. Reader. Fancy seeing you here.”
“Yeah! Um!” Nina coughs long enough to make you uncomfortable. “What are you doing here?”
“Took a nap. Got hungry.” It’s not a lie. You grope around in the fridge and breathe a sigh of relief when you see a stick of string cheese in your hands. “You guys just hanging out?”
Nina nods. “Yeah, we were on the roof. It’s getting late, though. You should get some rest for tomorrow—“
Vox elbows her. “But not after looking at the sky for a little bit. It’s beautiful. Very clear. Romantic, even. The architects did a wonderful job placing this house right at the perfect angle to watch the stars rise. Did I mention it was romantic?”
You act natural and take a big bite out of the string cheese. “Once or twice. Is it the seniors’ bedtime?”
“You got me,” Vox says. 
“I love going to sleep early and giving my kids private time before bed to reflect and hold deep conversations with one another about their feelings,” Nina says. “And also nighttime face masks.”
“Woo, skincare, what she said.” 
“Hey, by the way, Reader, honey, did you hear anything we talked about?”
“No,” you lie.
“Cool,” Vox says. You eat the rest of the string cheese in one bite. “Good for you. And goodnight, Reader.” He dusts himself off before casting his golden gaze down at you. “Be nice, will you?”
Shivers go down your back. You have a feeling he’s referring to something unspoken. “I will.”
“That’s my sweet thing,” he purrs. “Anyways, I’m going the fuck to beddy bye. Honk shoo, Reader, don’t stay up too late.”
Vox struts off with dark hair flowing behind him and the scent of his aftershave in the air. He leaves you to stand awkwardly next to Nina. 
Suddenly, she takes you by your shoulders and forces you in front of her. You blurt out an unflattering startled noise before she gets right up in your face and stares dead into your eyes.  
“Please be good,” she says darkly. Was that a threat? “Please be so, so good to my baby.”
“I will,” you say, more out of fear than anything else.
She blinks once, then she’s back to the doting mother you know and love. She squeezes your shoulders. “Thank you, honey! Sweet dreams!”
And just like the Voice Demon before her, Nina bounds off to her room. 
Huh. That was weird. Nonetheless, you’re alone in the living room, and you can see the outline of Ike and Mika sitting on the roof in silence. 
You lightly knock on the side of the window. They both perk up at the sound. “Cool if I join you?”
Mika responds quickly. “Sure! Watch your step, Reader. The roof isn’t that steep but it would be awkward if you ate shit.”
“Agreed.” You step onto the tiling, and shift your body to match the angle. You feel like a newborn deer learning to walk. Luckily, Nina and Vox leaving meant that there was more than enough space for you right next to the window. 
Ike sits between you and Mika. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” 
“Yeah…” 
‘Pretty’ is putting it mildly. The stars are so clear tonight, and scatter across the sky like sequins. The Airbnb was located further away from the heart of the city, so the darkness only amplified how bright the stars shone against the stark night. A breeze drags through the air and fallen leaves rustle between the grass. 
“This is so nice.” Comfort settles into you like the breeze in your hair. “I love it.”
Ike sighs. “Right? It’s so peaceful.”
“And there’s so many more stars out here than there are in the city.”
“It makes you want to just zone out and cool down.”
“Yeah, totally.” Mika coughs. “Huh! Cool! Well, I’m tired now. Just keep staying out here and enjoy the sky, I’m going to bed. Enjoy yourselves.”
Mika inelegantly shuffles around your bodies and slips back inside before either of you can properly tell her goodnight. 
Ike cocks his head as he watches her stumble through the window. “She just said she would stay out…”
“Hm?”
“Ah, nothing. Just thinking to myself.”
With the extra space, Ike leans back and lays along the roof. The stars cast a dreamy glow over his soft smile as he continues. “It really is something that just makes you want to have a deep conversation, or just think, you know?”
You hum in agreement. You get what he means, but there’s only one topic you can imagine having a deep conversation about right now, and it’s the very one you brooded over earlier that day. 
But Ike is Ike. He’s rational and calm and kind, and laughs at your stupid jokes, and texts you first before any of your other mutual friends. The night turns the tips of his hair bluer than usual, and the stars remind you of the freckles hidden along his creamy skin. His glasses reflect the galaxy above.
Even though today’s stream was embarrassing, you know Ike trusts you enough to tell you if you’ve ever crossed a boundary. After all, it’s commonplace to discuss limits on and off stream as soon as possible, and your friendship was so strong that you’ve both opened up to one another. He’d let you know if the whole cuddling thing was too much. Besides, he didn’t resist. He even rested his head on yours. That has to account for something, right?
You snap out of your thoughts when you feel a gentle tug on the sleeve of your hoodie. It’s Ike. He asks, “Lay down with me?”
A wave of fondness washes over you like the tide. He’s cute when he’s earnest like this. You get as comfortable as you can on the tiling, and when you still, you hear something shift before your hand grows warm. Ike scooted closer to you, and placed his pinky finger over yours. 
This is bliss. A beautiful sight with a beautiful boy next to you. Your best friend. 
“I do love you,” you say. 
It just feels right to say. 
Ike is silent. He doesn’t make a single sound as you stare up at the stars and the blackened sky. The breeze rocks a tree, and as the leaves part, you see the moon for the first time: one thin, waning crescent that blends into the darkness. 
Ike’s head is turned away from you. You can’t tell what he’s thinking at all. 
“…I don’t know what you mean,” he admits. “You do? As a friend?”
“We’ve always been friends.”
“Just that?”
“I don’t know what you’re asking me, Ike.”
“N-never mind. I’m sorry, am I making it weird?”
“No, you could never make it weird.” The colors of the view gloss together. You feel like a balloon slowly deflating. “Feels like that’s all I’m doing lately, though.”
Neither of you say anything. 
This was a bad idea. 
You swear the rustling leaves mock you. 
“Wait.” Ike practically snatches your hand up. “Wait, Reader, are you saying you like me?”
“Yeah. I’m saying that I love you.”
Ike stares at you, and if you had to choose just one word to describe his expression, it’s stricken. His mouth is slightly parted, and his shocked eyes drive holes through your skin, leaving you exposed. The brief stutter that escapes him sounds like it was dredged out from frozen, murky waters. “I—”
He drops your hand and turns away. 
“I’m sorry,” he finally says, barely audible. “This is… this is a lot.”
“I’m sorry too, this was a stupid idea. What was I thinking?” You get on your feet, but the slope makes what could’ve been a fluid motion into a stumbling, slow rise, as if your legs weren’t jelly enough already. You inch to the window mortified. “I think I should go. Sorry to bother you.”
You don’t dare to glance at him before you step back inside, not even when he calls your name halfway through the window.
Once you’re back in the living room, you cover your face, then drag your hands through your hair. You can’t even begin to describe how exhausted you feel. This is heartbreak, isn’t it?
You blink furiously, and the outline of a figure by the fridge comes into view. 
“Reader?” Mika asks. She has a stick of string cheese in her hand, but walks to you. “Reader, what happened—”
You take her empty hand and pace to your room. You open the door. “Are you okay?”
The second it shuts, your breath hitches. Mika doesn’t hesitate to take you in her arms. She holds you as the first tear falls, and you begin to cry.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
You wake up the next day sprawled in your bed, even though the blankets are tucked comfortably around you. On the floor is a pillow and another pile of blankets, and when you recognize the dark hair tied into a loose ponytail, the memories of last night come rushing back.
What an awful night. Awful decisions all day, really, and all of them ones you made. You really don’t know what you were thinking. You groan at the memory.
“Reader?” Mika perks up. Her phone is in her hands, but she sits up level to your face on the floor. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”
Another groan.
“Yeah, I figured,” she says. “Nina, Vox and Ike went out to do their own thing, and I think Ren and Uki are cafe-hopping. It’s just you, me and Aia in the house right now.”
You rub the sleepy out of your eyes. “That’s cool, I guess.” You cast a downward glance to Mika’s makeshift bed on the floor. “Sorry for being a nuisance.”
“You’re not a nuisance, Reader, don’t say that.” She nudges you. “We’re friends. It’s what friends do. Speaking of, do you want Aia to come by? And Alban’s online, so I can call him, too. If you want.”
“It’d be nice…”
Less than ten minutes pass before Aia shows up at your door with breakfast sandwiches and orange juice. All three of you sit on the blanketed floor while Mika voice calls Alban on her phone. A pot of coffee brews over speakerphone as you recount last night. 
“...And to make things worse, we just streamed yesterday,” you explain. “God, I should check Twitter. There’s got to be a million people with eyes on our ship tag, and ugh, I hate thinking about how many weirdos are going to push a ship that can’t work out IRL.”
“I can check it for you,” Aia offers. You hand her your phone. “You remember your Twitter password?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Sorry in advance.” She deletes the app off your home screen.
You begin to protest, but she turns off the phone and sets it aside, out of your reach. “You’re off the clock, Reader! Work troubles can wait until you’re back online, and that includes doomscrolling. You can redownload it when you’re in a better headspace.”
“I really hate admitting you’re right.”
“Shit, Reader,” Alban finally says. “He seriously dropped the ball. I’m sorry.”
“I know. I really thought he would get it, but it took him so long to piece it together, like he never thought about us like that before. I should’ve known it was just me. I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid, you’re hurt,” Mika says. “It’s understandable, but that still doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
“Is it wrong that I feel like I deserve it? I mean, I knew day one that this wouldn’t work out. We work together online, and we have fans that ship us with each other and the rest of this company, for fuck’s sake. Getting heartbroken was inevitable and I still went for it. Either I’m a glutton for pain or I’m just plain clueless.”
Alban’s voice is distant from the phone as he messes with his coffee maker. You can’t properly hear him under his breath and over the pot, but if you could, you could’ve heard him mumble, Trust me, you’re not the only clueless one here.
But he returns back at the phone, and you’re totally oblivious. “You can’t choose who you fall for,” he says. “It was really that bad?”
“It took him like a minute to realize I was confessing. And then when he realized it, he apologized to me.”
Aia straightens. “Did he say no?”
“Not really, but why would he apologize if he reciprocated?”
Aia exchanges a look with Mika. Alban grumbles. “No fucking way.”
“Tell me exactly how he reacted,” Aia instructs. She plowed through her sandwich during the conversation, but she left the remaining half on her plate forgotten as she laced her fingers together and leaned forward like a calculated boss. 
“It was like he couldn’t comprehend what I was saying at first. He asked if I meant it as friends, until he asked me if I liked him. And when I told him I loved him in response, he was so shocked that he let go of my hand, so I left.”
“No fucking way,” Alban repeats, and groans as he drawls out his words. You can practically hear him drag his hands over his face. “No fucking way. Ikeeeee. He seriously dropped the ball.”
“I know. I can’t believe it.”
Aia takes both of your hands in her own. “Reader, I’m not even saying this to hurt you, but this is the clumsiest confession I’ve ever heard of.”
You squint. “Right, that makes me feel so much better.”
“I’m really not! You know what this sounds like? Miscommunication,” she declares. “You didn’t get a solid yes or no. So now it’s going to be awkward between you two until you get an actual answer to the confession, or at least some kind of resolution. You wanna know what I think? It sounds like he didn’t even believe what he was hearing before you left. Which, by the way, is a common response to not just confessions but other major news, so chances are you didn’t blow up your friendship as hard as you thought.”
“She has a point,” Alban says. “I believe you, Reader, but Ike isn’t the type of person to just crush other people’s feelings like that. You just woke up, right?”
“I haven’t even left my room yet. Mika says everyone else is out of the house. He’s with Vox and Nina, I think.”
“So then he hasn’t had a chance to talk to you since the confession,” he continues. “And those three are really close. I’m willing to bet they’re helping him manage it, ‘cause it sounds like he’s going through it just as confused as you are.”
You stare at the floor. Hope feels foreign, yet you can’t help but wonder. You struggle to remember the exact way Ike reacted last night, but you really can’t tell what facts were clouded over by the rejection. A rejection that possibly didn’t even happen, mind you. The confusion and regret blurs over everything like water on wet ink.
“You really think so?” You quietly ask.
Aia nods, and Alban agrees over the phone.
Mika pipes up, a glass of juice in her hands. “Here’s my take. We can theorize as much as we want, but none of us really know what Ike’s thinking about, least of all you. Especially since you didn’t actually resolve anything, and that tension is going to eat at you until you get an answer or it actually damages your friendship. You ask me, the next best thing you can do is bring it up.”
She takes a sip of her juice and leaves you to absorb her advice. 
You mull it over along with the memory of last night. “He called my name as I left.”
Alban chokes on his coffee. “He called your name?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t respond.”
“Oh my God. READER!” He shouts so loud that Mika turns the volume down. “I’m going to lose it. I’m actually freaking it right now. Reader!”
“What?”
“Fuck what Mika said earlier, you are stupid!”
“Hey!”
“I’m saying this in the nicest way possible, you are so stupid. He was trying to talk to you!”
Your face goes through a handful of emotions as you sputter. “Are you serious, Alban?”
“Yes! Mika, Aia, back me up.”
Aia crinkles her nose. “I did just say it sounded like a total miscommunication.”
Meanwhile, Mika twirls a lock of red-and-black hair between her finger, distracting herself. She hesitates, trying to figure out exactly how she wants to say her piece, before she simply shakes her head and stills. “Just talk to him.”
“Which is easier said than done.” Your shoulders roll back as you stare up at the ceiling, your hands supporting you as you lean. Even with your friends’ encouragement, the memory of how hard you blew it last night still haunts you. It’s even worse than starting at ground zero; you’ve already tasted failure once, and you’re hesitant to embarrass yourself again. 
That stricken look Ike gave you flashes across your sight every time you blink. What was he thinking when he stared at you like that? You can’t tell if the disgust is true or if your anxieties are getting the best of you.
The best solution to anxieties, however, is looking at the facts—or at least, what isn’t tainted by your bias. Your friends mentioned there was nothing wrong with a workplace romance, and as much as the stream made you want to cringe, no one seemed put off by it. Alban and Aia are set on getting you and Ike to talk, and so is Mika. In fact, Mika spoke with Ike as well as Vox and Nina last night before you entered, and even if you had no idea what those four were talking about, you still picked up your name and that apparently Ike had something to tell you.
Pieces start to fall into place when you consider the three around you, staging an intervention over a late breakfast. Aia always gets you in situations where you can be close to Ike and bails you out when it gets awkward, and as much as he won’t get off your back about it, Alban gave you great advice between all his teasing. Mika was nosy at first when she learned about your feelings, but now that you think about it, she’s been incredibly tactful ever since the off-collab began. 
You can’t help but snicker as you connect the dots. “Is this the first time you guys actually started wingmanning for me?”
Aia purses her lips. “Hey, not the first. Remember when we made that group chat? We’ve always been your wingmen.”
“I know. But you guys are seriously helping,” you say. “Thanks. Though I do wonder, Mika…”
She perks up as you say her name. “Be real with me. Do you know more than you’re letting on?”
She flinches. Alban’s fingers snap over the phone. “Busted.”
Mika holds her hands up like a criminal caught in the act, but there’s a loose, sly smile hanging on her face. “I don’t think it’s my place to say.”
“What do you mean, it’s not your place to say?”
“I’m sorry, Reader, but I made a promise not to spill, and I’ve been doing way too much behind the scenes to break the promise like that. Just do me a favor and talk to the guy, will you? That’s the best I can tell you.” Mika rests her head in a hand, and the smirk looks even more knowing. “And if you can’t figure it out after that, then you’re definitely stupid.”
You bluster. “I’m not stupid!” 
“Still remains to be seen.” Aia gently flicks your forehead. “But you do look a lot better. How are you feeling now?”
Aside from the fading pain on your forehead? You’re surprised at how much lighter you feel now that you unloaded all your worries with your friends. The rejection still stings, and you’re not exactly confident, but, well, you’re smiling. The clean, tangy taste of orange juice lingers between your tongue. Aia and Mika sitting on the pile of blankets reminds you that regardless of your love life, they’d stay by your side until the bitter end, and Alban’s voice keeps you connected with your friends no matter where in the world you are.
You snatch Aia’s half-eaten sandwich off her plate and sink your teeth into the bread. She cries out in protest. “Hey!”
“Better now.” You set the sandwich back where you found it. Even though your future with Ike looks cloudy, the smile doesn’t leave. “Don’t flick me.”
“Speaking of.” Mika picks up the phone and scrolls through her messages. “Nina just texted that she, Vox and Ike will come back in an hour or less. Reader, are you up for this?”
“What do you mean, ‘up for this?’”
“Just seeing Ike again. It was a weird night,” she says. “I stand by what I said, but if it’s going to be too much too soon, then Aia and I can cover for you until you feel better.”
“I don’t know.” That’s what gets your expression to sink from light to thoughtful. “I think I want to take your advice. I just don’t know if I’m ready to talk it out yet.”
“Still wanna hang out with us or take a moment to yourself?”
“I think I’d just go back to moping if I was alone,” you joke.
“Cool. Let me go grab some nail polish Nina gave me yesterday.” Mika rises and strides to the door. “You have a steadier hand than me. And Nina said the color suits me more than her.”
Aia’s face lights up. She happily cries ”Girls’ night!” even though it’s barely noon and Alban is decidedly not a girl, but then he croons something in a valley girl accent so strong you can’t even tell what he’s saying. Scratch that; he’s a girl by association.
When he drawls out one long “Yaaaaaas, bestie!” you can’t help but laugh. Your love life is in shambles, but at least your friendships are solid as hell. You’d give the world for these three.
Mika returns a moment later, travel-sized nail supplies in her arms and a totally unrelated topic on the mind. The sharp scent of the lacquer startles you out of your thoughts as you uncap the bottle and Mika splays her hands out, and Alban and Aia air their opinions on something entertainingly dumb. 
Nina was right: this color is stunning on Mika. You paint Aia’s nails too, and halfway through her second hand, you hear the front door open, the end of an intelligible conversation, and telltale footsteps, each diverting across the house. The girls’ eyes flicker to you. You know they’re trying to read your expression, but you concentrate on how the brushstrokes pool together into one smooth coat. Your thoughts are a storm and you can’t even pick out the emotion commanding it. 
So you keep joking along instead and focus on the nail polish, refusing to give the storm an opportunity to strike. Alban quips off of you, and the moment passes as Mika and Aia return to the conversation. 
That is, until half an hour later when you hear a knock on the door. Mika cocks her head, a silent question, and when you nod she stands. Her nails dried when you finished Aia’s, and dot the doorknob as she cracks it open. A tiny margin of light from the hallway shines into your room, and you realize she positioned herself square in front of the threshold, shielding you from the person on the other side. 
She talks evenly. “Hey, welcome back.”
“Thanks. Is Reader here?”
Your mind thunders as you register the voice. You can only see the leg of his jeans behind Mika, but you recognize Ike’s voice on the other side. 
Aia shuffles by as a second shield. “Need them for something?”
“Kind of,” Ike says. “Do you mind if I talk to them?”
“I don’t know, what’s it about—“
“Aia, you can lay off him.” You call from your corner of the room. “You too, Mika.”
“Whatever you say. Just let me just grab my stuff…”
Mika grabs the nail supplies and deafens on Discord, but doesn’t even think to pick up the blankets along the ground. Instead, she glides to you and whispers under her breath. “We’re rooting for you. Send us a text if you need anything, okay?”
You nod. Aia slips past the threshold, but not without shooting you a thumbs up and mouthing ‘good luck.’ Not even a second later, your phone buzzes, and you catch Alban’s contact sending you an encouraging message in all-caps. 
“See you later!” Aia chirps. “Play nice, you two.”
The scent of the lacquer follows them as they leave, and the sound of their footsteps fade in time. 
Still in the doorway, Ike raises a hand to fidget with the chain along his glasses. “Do you mind if I…?”
“Oh! Come in. Sit anywhere, I don’t mind.”
You stay planted on the floor like how you were with your friends, and Ike sits next to you. You face the wall in front while he gets comfortable.
No words are exchanged as Ike maneuvers around the blankets, and eventually settles down with his back on the floor and head resting on a pillow, staring up at the ceiling. The light is off, but the blinds filter in thin beams of sunlight that cross over the room and the edge of his collar like a grid. 
“Lay with me?” He asks. Then it strikes you like ringing metal; you sit next to each other in the same positions as that night on the roof. 
Suddenly Ike raises his hands like static. “Not that you have to! I just figured it would be good to get comfortable and all, you know?” Ike hastily explains, then clears his throat. “I wanted to talk. About last night, I mean.”
Your chest flutters at the mention of it, but you remember all your friends’ encouragement. Here he is, the novelist of your (heartbroken) dreams, already bringing up the topic you dread to mention. You need to take this chance to face it head-on, now or never. 
You glide down like the ceiling is full of stars. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“A lot, honestly. I don’t know how to go about it, but first of all, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.”
You cross your arms. “You said that enough last night.”
“Not like that! I mean I’m sorry I acted the way I did. I think I made every wrong choice once you said that you… that.” He shovels a hand through his hair. “I’m making it weird again. I should apologize for that, too, it’s just kind of embarrassing saying out loud that you, um, you loved me. Not that you should be embarrassed. I mean, I get it if you are, but that took a lot of guts. You should be proud of that. I admire you for that.”
“Slow down. What are you even saying?”
“What I wish I said last night. More than anything else, I’m sorry I got caught off-guard. I must’ve been so standoffish, because my idiot brain just didn’t believe what I was hearing until it was too late and the damage was already done.” Hair the color of ash and ocean falls over his face. “Honestly, I can’t believe it now.”
“I get it. Bad idea from me. Can we move on from that yet?”
“I don’t think it was a bad idea at all. I just had no idea that you liked me.”
“Give me some time and I’ll get over it, eventually. I’m not going to let it get in the way of working with you, if that’s what you’re trying to get at.”
“No, that’s not it either! I—“
Ike’s eyes squeeze shut. His voice is so quiet, you can’t discern what he’s saying. “…Actually, I’m…”
“Repeat that?”
“I’m happy. Really happy,” Ike says. His pitch rises like a balloon floating up into space, struggling to stay composed. “I’m not good at saying it, but I meant it when I said… when I said it during the stream.”
You wave a hand in the air. “It was weird timing, and I know you mean it like a friend,” you reply. “I didn’t mean to pressure you into saying it, and just being friends is fine. Even though I’m a loser that messed up just about everything.”
The hand catches in midair. Doll-like fingers weave through your grasp, and turn your touch warm as Ike turns to look at you. “Not with me. Don’t say that about yourself, okay?” 
You stare at how easily he held your hand, and how his fingers cradle your heart between the palms. The corners of Ike’s eyes are narrowed, two beads of peridot stone that can see through every little line of text between your pages, but there’s gentleness under his glasses. Something uncertain and fluffy. Softened like a lamb even though he leaves you defenseless. 
You don’t know what to say. Ike is beautiful and kind and handsome and thoughtful when he’s earnest like this. He’s got you stupid in the head and wrapped around his pinky finger, and doesn’t have a single clue.
Peridot sparkles. “You’re so much more than that. You don’t mess things up, Reader. I’m in love with you.”
Your mouth goes dry and your tongue is still tied. Forget speechlessness; the man took your own damn thoughts away. Your hand remains frozen in air with Ike’s. If it weren’t for the light drag of one of his fingernails along your skin, then you would have figured he took your senses as well.
But the drag ends, and the fingers unlace themselves, and chilled air fills in the gaps Ike once held close. The tips of his fingers rest at the curve of your palm for just one second more before they drift away.
The glint in his eyes dulls. His hand falls to his chest, over his heart, just as slow as he parted. The uncertainty took over, and now it’s like staring at a cloud that doesn’t know if it should rain. Ike’s gaze lowers to his heart. There’s a stretch of silence and motionlessness as he stares at where your touch once was, and you’re paralyzed where you lay.
Ike's hand curls in on itself, too loose to make a fist, and his lashes sink over his eyes. His mouth is set into a flat line, but the cheeks are dusted in pinks and reds and peppered freckles in-between, demure and shy all the while.
He turns his face away soon after that. Another break of silence, and he shuffles again, with your vision on his back as if it were a hiding place.
It startles you out of your stupor. The gridded sunlight lets you analyze what you missed. After months of thinking your feelings would never be reciprocated, Ike thought of you just the same. He’s always been in your corner, and you would go to the ends of the earth for him, and everything is in its perfect position. But his back is still turned, and the memory of last night—your confession, and his inaction—it rushes to your head.
So you reach out instead.
Maybe it’s a little selfish. You’re tired of bumbling around and concealing your true feelings, and now that everything's out in the open, you aren’t about to let go without resolution.
But Ike is your best friend, and the man you fell in love with. There was no way you’d ever let go in the first place.
You wrap your arms around his back and hug Ike.
“I think I get why you were so taken aback last night,” you whisper. Even though you’re alone with Ike, you still say it like a secret. “I can barely believe it myself.”
Your warmth is inviting, and every second that passes is another defense downed. Your head perches right above his neck and along his shoulder. It’s not your first hug with Ike at all, but there’s only been so many since you first met him in person that it still feels special, and with your bodies flush to the floor, it’s intimate. His eyes are averted and one cheek lays down on the blankets, but the tips of his ears glow scarlet under his jewelry. 
“I’m glad you were patient with me. I really didn’t think I had a chance with you. You know, the long distance and the company, and you know, the standard pining fare. I’m really lucky.” A smile slips through your words. “I’ll stay with you, okay? So take all the time you need.”
Ike chuckles. Even his laughter is blushy-bashful. “I’m just so happy you feel the same, too. I don’t even know what to do with myself.”
His body curls as he lays, and your legs brush along his as you cuddle. Holding him makes it feel like he was made to fit in your arms. You sigh. “I love when you can’t contain it. It’s so cute.” 
Ike squeaks at that, and unwittingly proves your point. “It feels so good to say that out loud. I mean, you’re okay with it, right?” A nod. “And you’re okay with… I don’t know. Are we still friends?”
“Of course we are, no matter what. You said you loved me first, so let me say this one?” 
You have a feeling you know what’s coming next. You hug him even tighter.
“Reader, let’s go out. I don’t want this feeling to end,” he confesses, and your world turns into rose and blush. “Can we?”
Though you expected it, he still takes your breath away—until he taps you on the hand. “Come on, say something before my heart explodes!”
“Mine already did! I can’t even think straight, and—I’d love that. I really want this.”
Another squeal breaks out as Ike buries his head into a blanket, and your heart soars as he melts. He resembles a swaddled-up kitten, and the rays of sunlight line his silhouette. The fluffy blanket reminds you of an angel’s downy wings along his kitten features. You can’t even see his face between the blanket and his hair, but his squeal continues, muted through the blanket as he swoons. 
Somehow that only makes you feel even more flustered. “No, don’t hide! I want to see you!”
Maybe it would’ve been better for your heart if he stayed put, because when Ike rises—with disheveled hair and glitter in his eyes the color of seaglass, and jewelry that frames his red face, and that galaxy of freckles you hold so dear and shine like stars between his blush—you feel your heart stop. Again.
“When did you start having this effect on me?” You ask, mesmerized, and before you know it you thumb over one of his rosy cheeks. “Your freckles are so beautiful.”
He sheepishly grins. “They don’t really show up online. They’re pale.”
“Never noticed them until I met you in person. I love them. I love you.”
The grin gets a little wider. One of his fingers grazes along the corner of your ear. Has his hand always been along your jawline?
Ike’s eyes are shining under the grid of sunlight. The lashes flit just a bit lower from your gaze. “Reader, can we…?”
You close your eyes.
And when Ike’s lips graze your own, you smile on instinct before you remember to kiss back. 
Ike brings you near, searching for the taste of you as he continues. His touch lodges past your jawline and into your hair, and when one of the fingers grazes along your ear you’re reminded just how much you love Ike. All the yearning you hid for so long bleeds through as you sink down to his level with his head in your hand, gentle yet impassioned.
Then your face bumps against Ike’s glasses. The kiss breaks as you back away.
There’s a brief pause in the aftermath. Ike wordlessly adjusts his glasses, now knocked off-center. Despite finally getting on the same page on your relationship with Ike, you’re still as clumsy about your feelings as ever.
But the corners of your lips curve up as he inspects the lens you squished, then a barely-stifled giggle, and next thing you know, Ike’s laughing along with you, still underneath your body and with one hand in your hair while the other holds his glasses in place. He sounds as charming as he looks, and the fact that he joined you even when you chuckled out of the blue means that his mind is just as charming as well.
Not that it was breaking news. You know your best friend well, and now that you don’t need to deny your feelings any longer, you know you’ve got good taste if Ike’s under you with crinkled eyes and hearty laughter.
When you speak next, the giggles patter out between your words but the quiet delight hangs in your teeth. “Can we try that again?”
Then his lips are on yours again, and the laughter twists between the second kiss, and the third, and the fourth, all the way until you collapse on the blankets with arms around each other, staring up at the stars on the bland popcorn ceiling as adoration fills the space between you. 
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
bonus.
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
Starting soon…
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
The chat flickers alive as a four-pointed flower, a diamond, and a thorned heart give way to the stream and the novelist behind the stinger. 
Kaidororero: welcome back ike!
Min (Ikey’s Book): 💙 IKEY IS BACK 💙
A normal broom: HI IKE
lunasmortas: 💙💙💙
viperip: ike! :_heart: :_heart: :_heart:
Sun shines through a clear day in Ike’s room onscreen, but in reality, blackout curtains block out the day outside. A sweet smile graces both Ike’s face and his model as the Quilldren welcome him home. 
He greets them, and cracks open a can of soda as he quickly scans through the chat. Obviously, the off-collab is on everyone’s minds. 
juuuuuuuuuus: did you have fun?
Kaidororero: offcollab POOOG
lunasmortas: SO CUTE :_heart: :heart:
Johnclone: Hope you had a good time!
zZirasthingZz: PEN AND PAPER REAL
Hm. A mod will eventually bonk that message. But then again, it’s inevitable that the ship would come up in chat. 
Ike takes it in stride and ignores it like any other shipper, but his heart still skips a beat. Nonetheless, he doesn’t call any attention to it. “How about that off-collab, right? I met up with my friends! Where do I even begin?”
Ike recounts his trip from the beginning, and the Quilldren react to his stories with interest. He was one of the last to arrive, so Nina, Uki and Reader picked him up from the airport, and met up with Aia, Ren, and Mika at the Airbnb. Vox was the only one to arrive after him, hot off the heels of a flight delay, but the demon was a welcome party all his own despite his exhaustion. 
“We went to karaoke once Vox got situated,” Ike explains. “Nina put that song in first so we could all let loose, and so she would have a fun voice tweet for everyone. Might as well confirm everyone that showed up, right?
“But after that, we didn’t want to stress ourselves out to perform for voice tweets instead of just having fun, so that was the only song we recorded. I wish you could’ve heard Uki and Vox’s duet, though. And while we were singing, turns out Ren packed a ukulele with him! Sometimes he would learn how to play along by ear, like a jam session. Mika knows how to play ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ too, so everyone joined in singing that while she played it. It was so much fun.”
Johnclone: Everyone sounded great!
sunblast99: uki’s voice >>>>>> everything else 💜💙
haabinae: :_tskr:
Festersk: WHAT I REALLY REALLY WANT 🗣🗣
A normal broom: what did you sing?
Ike leans back in his chair. He blows a lock of hair out of his sight as he tries to think. “I remember Vox sang something by George Strait, so then we all egged him on to sing ‘Country Roads.’ He only did it once I promised to queue up ‘Toxicity’ by System of a Down afterwards.”
lunasmortas: OMG 💙💙💙
gatamiizuus: ayo?
Y A M: YESSSSSSS :_tskr: :_tskr:
haabinae: I LOVE SOAD :_fanboy:
Thornmy: SO COOL 💙
“Thank you.” He says it out of obligation. If he thinks too hard about the compliments, he’ll get embarrassed. “What else was there? I think there was some Motionless in White, and Spiritbox. Oh, and My First Story. Can’t forget My First Story.”
K. K. Soda: ooooo
Alban Knox 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : what about mcr
asper ch.: METAL SCREAM?
deeboorgur: HI ALBAN
Y A M: MCR YEAAAAA  :_glowstick_1: :_glowstick_2:
“I’m getting there, Alban!” 
Ike takes a sip while the Quilldren greet Alban. He’s not too surprised Alban seems to know more than the other viewers. He’s close with almost everyone that went on the trip, and was super active on Discord during the off-collab. The novelist lowers his soda as the chat floods in orange hearts. He wonders how Alban learned so much as an observer. He should ask. 
But that’s a question for after stream. Ike continues. “Thank Nina for that. She queued up ‘I’m Not Okay’ by My Chemical Romance, and then shoved two mics in my hands and Reader’s.”
And the chat explodes. 
Kaidororero: OMGGGGGG 💙💕
Y A M: PEN AND PAPER SO CUTE :_tskr:
zZirasthingZz: PEN AND PAPER DUET
asper ch.: AYOOOO MCR
gatamiizuus: I LOVE READER
ystariya: PEN AND PAPER MY BELOVED
“It’s a really fun song! It’s almost all clean vocals, but there’s this scream in the middle. Up until then, we sang together, but then I screamed, and Reader picked up the slack and sang the parts of the verse I couldn’t. They’re amazing.”
gatamiizuus: READER SIMPS COME GET Y’ALL’S JUICE
Thornmy: THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD
lunasmortas: 💙💕💙💕
ystariya: READER KARAOKE STREAM WHEN
Kaidororero: AWWWWWWW
The model on the screen doesn’t have the same glint in Ike’s eye when he talks about you. That first day of the trip was all about getting comfortable after long travel hours, and the stories went on as the days went by. Sightseeing with Aia and shopping with Uki by day, and spending the night shooting the shit with Ren until it turns into the littlest hours of the morning.
“Vox wanted to try a bunch of different restaurants with me, but you know me, ya boi is not good with most foods. So Nina usually came along in case I couldn’t finish something. She and Vox would share my leftovers.”
Something fond crosses over Ike’s face. His eyes cloud over in fog descending over a clear-sky day. “We would always talk over food about anything. I appreciate it a lot. They really get me.” The fog stills. “And over breakfast one morning, they gave me some excellent advice over something I’ve been meaning to do.”
ver*batim: ❤️💙❤️
K. K. Soda: MILORDDDDD
nroneo: :_heart:
A normal broom: upcoming project? 👀 
Johnclone: I love Nina Kosaka!
“Not a project, no. It was something I was really worried about, even when I was supposed to be taking a break with my friends,” he says. “But those two seriously helped me clear my head about it. Mika, too. Vox and Nina had a lot of nuanced advice, but Mika told it to me straight, and helped handle what I couldn’t. I’m really thankful to have them.”
His set jaw loosens. “Maybe I’ll talk about it one day.”
The model cocks to the side. Motion blurs the foggy sobriety away. With a lightness to his voice and a knowing gaze, Ike looks straight into the camera and smiles, sentimentality forgotten. The air clears. “But for now, it’s a secret~!
“Ah, now where was I? Spending time with my friends, right? Reader and I hung out often. Sometimes with others, but it ended up being the two of us more than not.”
Birds chirp outside Ike’s window in time with the hum of his PC. The backlit keyboard in front of the monitors glows the same color as the computer, a healthy blue light that tints the tips of his fingers. He usually sets it to a rainbow spectrum in his own time, but static blue is reserved for going live. It gets him in the right mindset for streaming, and makes his little apartment feel fantastical like the noble background that accompanies his model, even if it only reaches his fingertips. 
He’s sure the Ike on the screen has fingertips tinged with blue just like him, an extension of the man outside the screen but without the grittier details. Smooth, pristine hands under gloves where his are callused from guitar playing. Nothing under the model’s eyes but lashes and a line of red that brings out the pink in his eyes, very much unlike the heavy bags and sunken face from an awful delay on his flight back home. No freckles, either, but even cameras rarely pick them up on video call. Nina cooed over them the first time they met, as motherly as ever, but behind closed doors Reader was utterly fascinated with them. They mentioned something about watching blush travel around his face with the smattering of freckles in-between once or twice… maybe more? Doesn’t matter when he’s never heard that before and it repeats in his head when he catches himself daydreaming. It’s one of the best things he’s ever heard.
Vtuber Model Ike’s face doesn’t heat up like how Real Ike’s certainly is now. He clears his throat. “The weather was really nice during the entire trip, so we would always get into good conversations while walking back to where we were staying. And sometimes we didn’t want to end the conversation, so we’d just keep walking past our Airbnb until our feet hurt or it got dark, whichever came first. 
“Oh, here’s something funny. Uki really loves cafes, right? Usually he woke up early with Ren to go check out some cafes in the morning, way before the rest of us would even think of waking up. By the time everyone else woke up, they already finished their breakfast, and Uki would tell Reader about the ones to visit or skip. Whenever Uki recommended one, Reader always wanted to go themselves, so I went along to keep them company.” 
Even as his skin returns to its original shade, the sweetness sticks to his throat like the soda he’s barely touched at all. He’s wistful. He didn’t expect to miss Reader this much; after all, his relationship with them has bloomed so much ever since you first started working together, but two weeks together (including mutual close friends) changes things. It’s only been two days since he returned home, but he feels out of rhythm with them. 
He’s gotten too accustomed to them. Over the last few months, he thought he did a good job putting aside his feelings for Reader, even when Nina would tease him after every Pen and Paper collab and Vox and Mika would be right behind her, hyping him up to make a move. The fear of rejection was what motivated him to keep his close friendship with Reader without ever confessing to them.
“Reader…”
The world around him is nothing. Paused to buffer as he thinks. He can’t remember the last time he felt so happy. Just being in the same room as them makes him feel stupid, and surely he’s been acting like it. Everything he says sounds clumsy when he’s with them. After all, on that day when he owned up to the feelings he repressed for so long that he couldn’t properly react to Reader’s confession, he couldn’t say much more than how happy he was. Words fail to describe what Reader means to him, yet he’s a novelist, for crying out loud! How ironic!
“...Reader is so patient with me,” Ike says. “And they’re so considerate and dedicated. I wish I told them that earlier. It’s hard to say things out loud like this, but you only meet people like Reader once in a lifetime if you’re lucky, and even then, there’s no one quite like Reader.”
ystariya: i love reader
Kaidororero: pen and paper awwww
Y A M: PEN AND PAPER
acklmystafoot: ike is so sweet!!!
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : 💙
“Aaah!”
Ike recoils like his keyboard is flaming lava. The model on the screen leans back and freezes in place while he nearly throws himself out of his chair. “R-Reader! What are you doing here?!”
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : FKJLJJSLKFJDKS LMAOOOOOOOO
Johnclone: Hello Reader!
Y A M: OMG
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : just wanted to say hi
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : hi!
Festersk: LMAO
Ike sputters out nothing but empty air and nervous laughter. “Haha. Um. Hi! Welcome!”
Stupid! He wants to kick himself. He’s made improvement on verbalizing affection, and he’s comfortable with Reader, especially now that there aren’t any secrets left, but he’s still so unfamiliar with affection being returned that his heart is still doing kickflips in his chest. 
haabinae: :_blush: :_blush: :_blush:
juuuuuuuuuus: most normal pen and paper moment
Thornmy: AWWW
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : check discord
A normal broom: Oh?
“Ah, okay! Give me a second.” Ike keeps his Discord on mute, and usually disables desktop notifications when he’s live, so he’s not surprised to open the window to unread messages and some non-urgent pings. Sure enough, Reader sent him something.
Reader: because you were talking about cafes
Reader: image.png (3)    | 💙 1 |
Me: Oh I recognize these from our first date!
It’s been over a week now, but just saying he went on a date with Reader has him squeezing his legs together so his feet wouldn’t start kicking in the air. 
Reader: ahh you remembered! 
Me: I should’ve figured you took more pictures than the ones you showed me
Reader: dw i have more i wanted to show you
Reader: image.png (8)    | 💙 1 |
Me: Seriously how are you so good at photography I don’t get it-
Me: You’re really pretty in this one!
Me: UGHHHH WHY DO I LOOK SO WEIRD    | ❌ 1 | 💕 1 |
Me: I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE YOU TAKE THIS ONE
Reader: WTH YOU’RE NOT WEIRD
Reader: YOU’RE LITERALLY SO HANDSOME WHY DO YOU  T H I N K  I TOOK THAT PIC
Well, great, now he’s actually kicking in his seat. Ike is inclined to disagree, but when Reader says it, it’s a super-effective attack on his poor little novelist heart. 
Me: Akaslwdnja
Me: Thank you 😭
Reader: anyways i gotta go i stream in 20 min and i’ve barely eaten my food
Me: Go eat! Do you have enough water?
Reader: just refilled my bottle
Me: Good then don’t let me keep you! Have a good stream!
And before he can overthink it, in the moment—
Me: I love you!
His sights are set on his second monitor.
Reader is typing…
Reader doesn’t have to respond. Sometimes just saying it is enough. 
Reader: fdsjdfkl.
Ike’s been trying to relearn that lesson ever since he realized everything he repressed was reciprocated.
Reader: i love you too, ike
Words heard across the world, one of the people he holds most dear.
His heart beats loud in his ears, but he can feel it slow, somehow. Reader is exhilarating, but there’s security in them, too. The nerves kick in until he remembers they’re just as exposed as the other, and the vulnerability generate a sense of comfort. Reader makes him feel understood like no one else in the world does, and he trusts them more than anything.
He does. He does, he does, he does, even if he only has the strength to say it one at a time. Ike is in love.
Reader: i’ll let you know when i’m done streaming, we can watch a movie together after
Me: It’s a date!    | 💕 1 |
It takes him a moment to tear his gaze away from your messages. 
His streaming monitor reflects his movements. The chat moves along. Blue light spreads through his fingertips, just like how he imagines Vtuber Model Ike’s hands resting on his own keyboard, an extension of the man outside the screen, proof of the fantastical.
“They sent me something.” Ike’s laughter is gentle. “I really do love them.”
The chat zooms past, as expected. Surely that would get clipped alongside the off-collab Q&A, but he can’t seem to care. He doubts the fandom would really understand how deep the connection goes, and if they do? Some things are just meant to be private.
Besides, on the day Ike and Reader get comfortable enough in their relationship to go public, he knows the Quilldren have his back, just like Reader and their Bookworms. 
“Reader, if you’re still there, we need to meet up again,” Ike says. “I don’t know when, but one day.”
A flurry of messages, but only one truly matters.
Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : i wouldn’t miss it for the world
The model onscreen grins. It pales in comparison to Ike himself.
.  . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
✧. ┊commentary ↣
✧. ┊ masterpost ✧. ┊ kofi
420 notes · View notes
orikiys · 10 months
Text
✿ ✿ 〞zb1 as love languages
✰ pairings : ot9! zb1 × fem!reader
✰ genre : romance + fluff
✰ warnings : none! yujin's love language is shown a bit more platonically.
✰ word count : 1.9k words 😵‍💫 guess who got carried away so fast?
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💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ jiwoong ⸺ physical touch
jiwoong's love language is touch. i literally cannot have it any other way.
my man won't hesitate before wrapping his arms around you everytime he returns home. he'll probably keep you in his embrace for a few minutes before pulling away.
he's the saddest when he has to leave for work 🥺 poor baby won't get to see you for hoursss!
during your movie nights he will definitely pull you close to him, lean his head on yours and will half-heartedly watch the movie with a shy smile when he feels you press a kiss to his jaw.
whenever you two go out he's gonna hold your hand and never let it go. He'll even absentmindedly trace patterns against your thumb or index finger.
if you're feeling down, worry not jiwoong the cuddly bear is present. he'll cuddle you and pepper your face with kisses just to see you giggle. he's so precious i can't
in the morning this pouty baby wont let go of you! gets super cute if you don't give him his daily dose of morning kisses.
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤzhanghao ⸺ acts of service
hao isn't very keen on showing pda. he prefers to keep it private and intimate only when you both are alone.
he would probably feel disheartened when he feels like he isn't being sincere (even though he tries his best)
hao is a quite and a pretty observant person, so when he sees you struggling to tie your shoe laces with the various things in your hand he'll jump in to help! will have the biggest smile for the rest of the day!
he proves his sincerity through minor or major gestures
he will swap places with you when you walk on the road just so it assures him that you're safe
when you're tired he'll make your favorite and silently leave the room to let you have some personal space
though hao doesn't like watching horror he'll definitely watch it for you! he just wants to see you smile and would hate to be the reason you're sad!
since you two live together, you have divided chores. but hao often ends up doing some of your chores as well so you get more time to relax
whenever you both get into an arguement he's always the first one to say sorry regardless of who's fault it was
it's things like these when you can't help but fall for him deeper. zhanghao is a man who'll do his best to keep his loved ones safe and happy <3
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤhanbin ⸺ short notes
hanbin is the type of partner who will leave you little notes pretty much where ever you go!
you have a test? not to worry! bf hanbin will send you some chocolates along with a little note that wishes you the best of luck and a reminder to not overwork yourself!
whenever he misses you he'll sneak in a note and magnet it on your fridge just so you could see it
hanbin feels like he expresses himselves better in letters than spoken words, so during any misunderstandings he'll be sure to write down his pov, say sorry, and tell you that he loves you no matter what! where can I get him?
he just has to find an excuse to send you notes! your memory box with him would probably be filled endless notes and you couldn't have it any other way!
hanbin hates seeing you sad! so everytime he sees a frown followed by tears he'll stay beside you and try to distract you by writing funny stuff! he's become an expert at it by now.
he constantly reminds you that you're so pretty and that he is so thankful to have you
his friends always tease him especially gyuvin and jiwoong whenever they see him pulling out his sharpie from his pocket! by this they know he's gonna write a note to you for the nth time, but you don't mind it ofc! you love him and his habit so much that you always hope it never changes ❤️‍🩹
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤMatthew ⸺ massages and words of affirmations
matthew has been your comfort place for as long as you can remember. he's seen you at your most vulnerable and has never once left your side in that state.
he kisses your forehead and tells you that he's proud of you.
he gives you belly rubs when you experience severe cramps and will not hesitate to reassure you that you're not a burden to him
matthew always has a way with words. he knows the right words during the right time which never fails to surprise you. without him and his lovely words your heart would have been broken too many times
mathew always gives you a foot massages saying it helps stimulate blood flow and whispers soft praises to you while doing so i claim this
before you go to sleep he'll most probably hum the lyrics to your favorite song and end it with saying lots of i love you's and words you never knew you might need so bad
that one weekend when he went out with his friends you could feel how much his words have affected. you no longer think of negative things and find yourself smiling more often
matthew is the best boy. he won't hesitate to massage your shoulders while telling you cheesy pickup lines which you act like you hate, but deep inside it makes your brain go fuzzy.
he'll flirt a lot to help you feel happier and to let you know that you're the only one he does this all to.
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤtaerae ⸺ quality time
for him, spending time with each other matters the most.
it doesn't matter if you're sick! He'll stay by your side till he sees you get better with his OWN eyes because he knows you worry too much. in the end, he too will end up getting sick from trying to "keep you warm" as he says.
that one time when you had to cancel a date because of an up-coming test broke his heart ): baby was so excited to tell you everything about his day and what he planned for the day. after that day, you made a mental note to never cancel any of the dates! as you should
apart from this he'll always send you pictures of what reminded him of you. mind you they are the most random things like a scrunchie, a cat hissing at someone, or even the sky. 'cause it's pretty just like you.
he'll also send you memes and tons of videos which let you know that he thinks about you 24/7!!
taerae prefers to watch romance movies with you because he just loves the way you tell your point of view. The way your eyes shine or the way you hold his hand tighter during a tense moment makes him feel at ease. he loves to view things from your point of view!
he's grown so accustomed of you that he can recognize you just by your footsteps 😍😍
he even signed the two of you for yoga and painting classes just so you both could spend some extra time!
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤricky ⸺ giving gifts
being in a relationship for the first time had the guy panic to death. he acted awkward or abnormally quiet with you at the start
his search history is filled up with "what should I gift my partner for the first time?"
boy took internet too seriously and gave you gifts almost everyday!
some of the gifts were handmade as well like a small photo album of the two of you or just handing you random roses throughout the day
what first started as a research to keep you happy and ensure you would like him (no matter what you do) turned into a habit. if he misses giving you a gift even for a day he's gonna go all sad and apologize multiple times even though you don't mind.
he is seriously whipped. there are no other words to describe him.
when he falls in love he gives his best. in fact, he gives his best at everything. he lets you know your importance in his life through these small gifts
ricky is no doubt a creative genius from all the ideas he brainstorms just to come up with a great gift that you would
he has your food orders mentally noted and will often send it to you if he sees you too tired or if you crave for it
he creates a spotify playlist every year for your birthday with songs that remind him of you!
during your arcade dates he gives you ALL the gifts he wins! he loves seeing how you smile at him before hugging him tightly. he feels like he won in life after every hug.
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤgyuvin ⸺ physical touch + harmless teasing
another touchy boy right here. won't hesitate to hug you death or squish your cheeks
loves to bully (tease) you! will act smug about his height everytime you ask him to get something that is out of your reach
he'll even tease you if you don't know a meme that he shows you
but the moment he sees you get sad he'll hug you tightly and pat your back mumbling sorry for like a million times!
he loves holding your hand and presses kisses on it just to hear your giggle
he'll end up teasing you again if he finds out you like cheesy things. BUT, mark my words he's gonna make a mental note of it and try something cheesy just for you
if he sees you eat messily he'll make disappointed noises. not even a minute later he'll use a tissue and wipe your mouth for you
he loves braiding your hair for no reason! although the braids might seem uneven and messy you love it!
hair dries your hair for you saying it's fun and later teasing you how you're such a softie.
look at the irony.
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤgunwook ⸺ writing poems + having deep convos
while gunwook might seem like the type to goof around a lot I feel like he might often get into deep convos with you. he feels good to know that you enjoy these convos rather than finding them boring.
he shares all his true feelings with you and even takes few advices from you
every little gesture of his holds a deep meaning
even his poems are so meaningful
he writes on different topics but somehow ends up correlating all of them to you!
your deep convos are either when you go on night walks and sit in front of river under the moon or on voice calls.
his voice is very calm and soft when he speaks. his thoughts– they flow endlessly and you often wonder how many things does he have bottled up
💐᭄⠀ׅ⃑ ㅤyujin ⸺ playing games together
yujin loves playing games whether it be online or in the parks
he loves being competitive and winning ALL the games
but the moment he sees you frown or get sad he'll purposely lose the game just to let you win and see that smug grin on your face
you both have a weird and a very platonic way of expressing feelings
you're sad? don't worry! yujin got the latest games on xbox just for you both to play all night long!
other than games you both help each other in homework which often ends up in a debate on who's answers are right
yujin might not physically show how much he cares for you but he will keep in mind your favorites, your problems, and he'll listen to you calmly
there's a problem at school? worry not! yujin has been taught by his members to be confident in himself and stand up for others!
yujin is a shy shy boi ><
you both go to the same school so he has a habit of picking you up from your place and then the two of you cycle race to the school grounds
poor cycle gets abandoned anywhere
he has a habit of buying you two bottles of strawberry milk since he knows you love it so much! must protect him, so precious
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thank you so much for reading up till here! I hope you liked it : )
336 notes · View notes
kittyamore0 · 1 year
Note
Ethan Landry x Dewey and Gales kid reader??
A/N: Dewey and Gale! Dewey and Gale! ◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜
𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕
˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎ
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˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎ
✧ - FANDOM/GENRE: Horror, dark romance, scream 6, Ghostface, Ethan Landry
✧ - TAGS: @kittiescrownedsoul, @zspen, @h34rtsformilli ✧ - PAIRING: Ethan Landry x GN! Reader
✧ - RATING: SFW
✧ - WRITING STYLE: One-shot
✧ - POV: 2nd person
✧ - REMINDER: Do NOT transfer, translate, copy, modify, OR steal my ideas! ✧ - CW: Mentions of killing, knife usage, deaths, guns, setting people on fire, deaths, wounds, slitting throats
˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎ
At first, Ethan hated you, and you hated him. You were related to Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley. The same very people who tried to stop Richie and Amber from their genus plans, and managed to do so.
Dewey tried to help, and he died. Deserved, is what Ethan would like to think, but Gale, Gale was much harder to shake. A fighter, per-say. She was the one to hold Amber at gunpoint and set her on fire.
Sam Crap-enter, and Tara Carpenter. Oh, how much he hated Sam for slitting Richie's throat. Tara? She wasn't as bad, but still bad.
You? Hated you for your parents, but was all...he couldn't find any other reasons to hate you. You were just...perfect? Kind, funny, smart. All of the above. It infuriated him. God, he couldn't stand to see your perfect face, the same face that made his heart jump up and down, cheeks flushed an words caught in his throat.
Why did you hate him? Well...you happened to catch him talking to Quinn, about Richie being their brother. The same Richie that attacked your friends, parents, and you. Although, you didn't stay long enough to hear them talk about some...Ghostface matters.
But just like Ethan, you grown warm, nice, but overwhelming feelings for you. The shy, dorky, fun, funny, kind, nerd. You two always hung out, despite hating each other. It went from distant, to practically sharing food with the same forks!
The more closer and comfortable you two got, the more you both realized what the feelings you held for each other were. Now, it did infact make it more difficult to not give out any weird signs to each other.
Quinn hated the way her brother swooned for you. You were their next victim, not Ethans next lover. She'd always slap the back of Ethans head when he day dreamed about you. "Ow! goddamit...the hell is your problem Quinn?" Quinn sighed. "Stop thinking about your love duck and focus on the plan!" Ethan rolled his eyes.
You were the first to confess. You were drunk at the Halloween party and Ethan? Somewhat sober.
⚬˶♡˶⚬⚬˶♡˶⚬⚬˶♡˶⚬⚬˶♡˶⚬
"Etahn, I've be been look for you!" You giggled, as your body collided with Ethans. "Woah, you okay?" You nodded and nuzzled in his chest. "Now that you're here..." His cheeks flushed bright pink. "How much had you have to drink?" You shrugged. "3...no, wait...5...?" Ethan 'ohh-ed' before gently pulling you closer.
"You're drunk..." He whispered. "Wait...who are you again?" His smile dropped. "Im Eth " You chuckled and grabbed his shirt. "You look just like Ethan!" His eyebrows furrowed, but he smiled, deciding to play your little game. "Really?" You nodded quickly. "Mhm, yea!"
You hugged him. "Hes really cute, and handsome. Hes so nice to me. I like him a lot. I want him to be my boyfriend!" Ethans eyes widened and he stared at you in shock. "What...? "
You put your index finger on Ethans lips. "But shhh! Dont tell him. I dont know if he likes me back..." You murmured sadly. He gently smiled. "Tell you what, Im a friend of Ethans...and and he tells me how much he likes you. How pretty/handsome you are, funny, kind..." You blushed and averted your eyes away from his.
"Guess what?" You looked back at him. "What?" You spoke quietly. "Im the Ethan you're talking about..." A smirk played his lips. "What? No way!" You softly hit his chest. "Yes way!" You replayed in your mind about what he said. "Does...does that mean you like me too?" He nodded. "Want you to be my lover..." He sighed into you and placed his chin on your head.
"Will you...?" His eyes shined in the blue lights. "Yes." You closed the gape between you two.
˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎ
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˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎˊ˗˗ˏˋ 𓆰•ᴗ•𓆪˗ ˎ
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yumedoca · 6 months
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"It's a rumic world!!"
Day 7 of @rumicworldweek - Happy Birthday Rumiko Takahashi!! 🎉
Sadly, no art for today since it seems I've hit an artblock after drawing for almost an entire week 😭, but to be fair everything drawn for this week was for sensei's birthday after all. I wanted to draw art for Mermaid Saga, One Pound Gospel and Rumic Theatre, but unfortunately there's only seven days in a week (though I have drawn art for Mermaid Saga like a week earlier and I have drawn an art for one of the Rumic Theatre stories months ago. Sorry One Pound Gospel, eventually!!) And plus, when it comes to topic of Rumiko Takahashi and her works, I decided to talk about it rather than draw...
Rumiko Takahashi... Honestly, all her works mean a lot to me. Each have it's own reasons, reasons why they're more than just mere stories to me. I guess it's mainly because of how good of a storyteller she is. Here's a little tidbit from her which may show why:
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And boy, does it make me feel exactly how she wants it to. She knows what the reader looks forward to and she delivers just that while having fun. The amount of love and passion in her works in insane and the little details put to the story and characters are exactly what I love about her tales. Then there's the amount variety when it comes to her stories which I think is the most obvious when you pick up just one volume of the rumic theatre, one moment you're reading a hijinks story about a boy who just want to deliver newspapers but keeps getting interrupted by invaders and half- fishmen and the next moment you'll be reading a horror where this high school kid who knows archery is trying save his girlfriend from being murdered by his yandere cousin.
Honestly, just the amount of one shots she have is enough to prove how much as well as the number of chapters her serializations have is enough to show how much dedication and passion RT has for manga and this dedication is just what makes their quality so good. Urusei Yatsura makes me laugh and reminds me to have fun and enjoy life. Maison Ikkoku taught me about growing up. Mermaid Saga is a spine-chilling story which talks about the price of greed. Ranma 1/2 brings about the topic of familial love besides the romance itself. I've only watched the OVA for One Pound Gospel, but what intrigues me the most is the fact that the main pairing is a boxer and a nun, it's like the strangest pairing you could make but Kosaku and Sister Angela make it work and let's just say I love these kind of strange pairings, lol. Inuyasha talks about letting go from the past while still keeping the important within you. Kyoukai no RINNE is quite nostalgic to me as someone who grew up in a family who's very keen on saving money and a lot of moments make me laugh because I've been similar situations and it's nice to look back on them. And finally, MAO is the series I'm currently growing up with.
I know Rumiko Takahashi will never see this but.. Thank you so much for everything, your characters and stories managed to lift my spirits in the darkest of times and remind me that everything will eventually be okay. I know I'm not the only one who thinks this and all of what I've said is why I love Rumiko Takahashi and her stories.... ♥
I'm glad that I was able to participate in this year's Rumic World Week. Thanks to everyone who's liked and reblogged my posts and I hope everyone reading this has a great day ahead!! 🌹
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eeldritchblast · 5 months
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Thoughts on Halsin
I want to preface this by saying I don't have anything particularly against Halsin as he is in game. But I do find him lacking in depth, when compared to everyone else.
Even without knowing that he was added as a full companion last minute, I would probably have guessed as much simply because there's not much to him beyond the role he plays in the Shadow-Curse quest of Act 2. This is lampshaded with dialogue about how he himself feels consumed by his determination to end the curse. But to me, that just feels like a cop-out. Imagine any other character looking at the camera and just saying "yeah I know I don't have much character beyond what happens to me in the plot, too bad?"
But I think the worst crime about his lack of development, is the fact that because he doesn't have a lot else going on, he feels a little overly sexualized to me; like he's just there for the player to thirst after because he's this big, bulky man. Now, to be clear, I don't care that he's horny, and I definitely don't care that he's poly. (My GF is a poly lesbian, and honestly I could see myself having more than one romantic relationship , too, if someone else was ever interested in me like that and cool with it.) What I'm trying to say is, because he's lacking in other areas, leaving those traits being of his few you can list, it makes them feel of less value, and makes him feel more like a sex prop. And if you're gonna have a character with rape victim as part of his background like Halsin has, then that's the last thing you want, I think.
So, what more could be done with Halsin?
I once made a joke that someone should draw Halsin in a "Big Auntie Energy" shirt. For those of you who aren't Native, let me try to translate: In most if not all Indigenous Nations, we often call women who are champions of our cultures and communities "Auntie", whether they are actually literally your aunt or not. An Auntie is someone you dearly love, and trust to guide you. Halsin already plays something of a mentor figure to the protagonist—indeed, dev notes even call him "avuncular"—so why not lean into it further by showing what he does for others, too? Pretending that there was more development time allotted, here's what I would've liked to see...
"This place crawls with life, but little of it flourishes. I see refugees, unhoused. The destitute, unwanted. Orphans, unloved. … I wish there was a better way. I wish everyone could see the sun, have a full belly, and know nature as a friend. There is a balance that is yet to be found." —Halsin
After ending the Shadow-Curse, Halsin says he needs to find a new purpose. I feel like his purpose could easily align with his horror of the inequalities of Baldur's Gate. Instead of just talking about how awful it is, why not allow the player to challenge him to try and change things, then? For example, I like to imagine Halsin telling stories to the orphans in Rivington, providing them comfort and someone to look up to. Or another example: Halsin helping out in or maybe starting some kind of charity meal program. It's small, but it's enough to say that he could actually grow a little as a person within the game's story. And it would add at least a little bit of engagement on the player's end as well, instead of feeling like the relationship with Halsin, platonically, is one-sided.
This all doesn't come from nowhere, by the way. If you exclusively romance Halsin, he says goodbye to the player in the end because he is leading a group of people into Thaniel's realm to start a new life. But personally, I feel like this is too great a leap back into an Archdruid role he specifically rejected, because he didn't like it. It also would've been nice to get this kind of dialogue without having to romance him; to know what lies ahead for Halsin as a friend, too.
Now, that's the good ending. But almost all the companions in BG3 have a "good" and "evil" ending. I feel like this really adds a lot of insight into the characters, because they feel real through it; we all have the potential to make good and bad choices, after all. So what could be Halsin's evil-aligned ending? Well, remember when he questions if the Shadow Druids actually have a point? How about giving the player the opportunity to push him further down that path instead... Shadow Druid Halsin, holy shit.
Now, there's one more thing I want to circle back to: Halsin's past. He very casually speaks of his time as a captive in the Underdark. And maybe it was so long ago that he's long dealt with such trauma, but still, I really wish there was a way to say "hey bud, that's really fucked up and I'm sorry that happened to you." But there's not a single dialogue option that allows you to express sympathy, besides just saying "that's awful", which doesn't cut it. Halsin himself says, "sometimes I think people look at me and imagine my feelings can't be hurt." Not allowing the player to be sensitive to his feelings goes exactly against this message not to judge a person's emotions by physical appearances.
Anyway, Halsin is a character that I think has a lot of potential, but doesn't quite reach it in game. I think it's great that he was given a bigger role due to popularity, but I just wish that role was expanded on to the same degree as the other companions.
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autismnation · 9 months
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Scare
Summary: You and your friend go to a haunted house, expecting scares but recieving romance.
Pairing: Scare Actor Hobie Brown x Gender Neutral Reader
Warnings: Not beta read + wrote this at 1am so if it sucks that’s why. Fluff (I guess?). 2nd person POV. Hobie Brown wearing a skirt. Reader’s friend is terrified of everything/Reader is fearless. Reader simping for Hobie in internal dialogue. Flirty Hobie (kinda?).
Words: 900.
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You rarely got scared.
You could watch a million horror movies and fall asleep through them all, people could jump out at you all day long and you would laugh; you went to every haunted house available and only managed to yawn.
Your friend, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. They were an utter scaredy-cat, hiding behind pillows before the horror movie even began and unable to even enjoy kids’ scares.
But you promised to fix that — and that’s why you were at the new haunted house that recently opened up.
“Let’s do the worse one and get it over and done with,” You suggested.
Your friend shook their head firmly, looking like they were already a few moments away from shrieking in fear, “No! Let’s work up to them. That way, I won’t, you know, pass out in the first one.”
You stared at the map in your hand and gestured to a ride beside you, “Well, that one’s supposed to be the least scary but—“
Before you could finish, your friend had grabbed your hand and dragged you along with them as they got on the ride. It was only a few minutes long and you sat in a cart that looked like a coffin.
“Cute,” You hummed at the ride’s decorations as it began.
You didn’t expect much to happen. The only people you’d seen get on the ride were pre-teens so you expected cheap jump-scares and awfully annoying creepy music. And you were pretty much right — it made you yawn, and sometimes wince when your friend squeezed your hand too hard.
Finally, you had reached the end, bumping into an empty cart that seemed to have been left behind.
“Okay, you can stop screaming now,” You said as you grabbed your friend by their shoulders and gave them a rough shake.
“I’m going to pee my pants,” They whispered.
You let out a snort of amusement, “You probably already have. Now, let’s wait for these restraints to lift so we can see something that’s actually—“
And that’s when they got you.
Someone jumped out of the cart in front of you. They lunged forward, sharp and spiked teeth bared, as they let out an ear splitting shriek.
You jerked backward involuntarily and let out a small yelp. It was nothing compared to your friend’s reaction since you had to physically muffle their scream with your hand, but it surprised you nonetheless.
The restraints finally lifted and you both got out of the cart. Teeth still bared, the actor that scared you started to walk forward.
You had to admit, their costume was pretty cool: one of the scariest you’d seen, actually. Their makeup was a pattern of bold and sharp spikes and they even had white contacts in to erase their pupils, as well as piercings that flashed different colours under the lights of the haunted house. It seemed like their outfit was handmade too. They wore a t-shirt made out of other different t-shirts, safety pinned together and splashed with fake blood. Their long red skirt that looked very much like real organs sewn together made shivers run down your spine. The actor also wore ripped fishnets and had big clunky boots on.
A smile came to your face as you pointed at your own identical shoes, “Hey, me too!”
The actor tilted their head, sticking their tongue out. Somehow, it had been stained red too, adding to the whole killer aesthetic that was going on. For a moment, it seemed like they were going to say something…Then they darted straight toward you.
Your friend screamed and leapt back, but you stood your ground, used to the fake-outs the actors usually pulled.
The actor stopped a few centimetres away from you. They raised their hand, waving it in front of your face. You realised they had silver rings on too, some plain silver bands and some horror-like such as a skull or a realistic human heart.
You stared up at the actor, opening your mouth to say something, but became absolutely speechless as they chuckled.
A low, deep chuckle.
Your eyes widened as you realised the person in front of you was a man. A man with a very attractive voice.
“Nice costume,” was all you managed to get out, almost tripping over your words, as you shifted on your feet. Suddenly, it felt like every nerve of yours was on fire.
The man chuckled again, “Thanks, love.”
He had a British accent. You chuckled awkwardly, trying to ignore how hard your heart was pounding. The man leaned forward, waiting for your response as he smiled softly.
“Your rings are really cool,” You finally said before quickly walking past him, accidentally knocking his shoulder with yours.
Before you could leave, his hand was gripping your wrist tightly and turning you around. He took your hand and placed a ring inside — the one shaped like a skull.
“See you around, yeah?” He grinned as he closed your fist around the piece of jewellery, tapping it gently, “Name’s Hobie, by the way.”
The next few moments seemed to go by in a blur. You told him your name, learnt he’d be on break soon, got told to see him. You left the ride with a goofy grin on your face, your friend complaining in your ear about how unfair it was that you got such a good guy in such a small amount of time…
But you couldn’t focus on anything other than Hobie and his attractive voice and his pretty ring wrapped around your finger.
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imtrashraccoon · 4 months
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This one was slightly tricky to write and I spent several days just writing dialogue whenever I was able to lol. Oh well, it's still something I'm proud of.
By the way, I think I'm going to call this "Have Some Empathy, Dear" and I have already started posting it on AO3. Some of you have already found it lol! There's additional lore bits that I'll probably post over there if you're curious.
CW: Not sure if this is needed, but there is some mentions of toxic family dynamics in this chapter. Classic family favorites one child over the other and makes negative comments about them as well.
@owl-bones
First Day & Next Day.
Bad Sansuary: Horror - Romance
Word Count: 2,087
You'd seen Axe a few times ever since the day you met him in the forest. Somehow, he'd figured out where you lived but had completely dodged the question when you asked how. You kind of just let it go after that as it was nice hanging out with someone after a long day of work.
Yeah, a smart person would've avoided the obvious red flags... Not that you weren't smart, maybe just selectively blind.
He seemed to be a genuinely nice guy, despite the mildly unsettling habits he had, like the fact that he tended to stare at you for long periods of time. It was like he had scary dog energy but without all of the bite, at least towards you anyways.
Today was a you day. No errands that needed to be run, no one requiring you to be at work, and no chores to do around the house. It was just you and the latest episode of your favorite historical romance show. The last episode had ended on a cliffhanger and you were dying to see if Madam Fratchurine accepted Duke Von Gossimer's proposal or not.
You were only halfway through the episode, without a clear answer to the 'Will they, won't they?' question, when a sharp knocking sounded on your front door. Pausing the episode with a frown, you emerged from your blanket cocoon to see who was outside.
Taking a peek through the peephole, your mild annoyance quickly evaporated when you recognized the person on the other side. Barely sparing a thought on how presentable you were, you unlocked and swung open the door to greet them.
"Axe! Um, hi! I, uh, didn't expect to see you today..."
He quirked a bonebrow when you nearly stumbled over your words and his smile morphed into one of mild amusement. You could feel how warm your cheeks had grown all of the sudden and glanced down at your socks.
Clearing your throat, you tried to start over. "Sorry, why don't you come in? Although I should warn you that I've been relaxing all day so the apartment might be a bit messy." You moved to the side so he could step over the threshold rather than remain standing awkwardly outside your door.
Axe chuckled and his eyelight briefly flicked past you into the hallway. " 's no problem, i didn't let you know beforehand. sorry about that..." he responded. He nearly had to duck his skull in order to come inside but thankfully the doorframe was still a few inches taller than he was.
You gathered up the fuzzy blanket you'd been snuggling in and quickly folded it up to make the room slightly less messy. While you were at it, you straightened the sofa cushions and deposited your blanket on the coffee table for now.
"heh, i didn't think you'd be the type to watch sappy stuff like this," Axe commented.
"Huh?" You glanced over and realized he'd noticed the still paused episode. "Ah, well... It's a bit of a...guilty pleasure of mine."
He glanced at you out of the corner of his left eye socket with a look that seemed to suggest amusement. You flushed and quickly looked away from him.
"I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic..." you muttered. "The idea of finding your one and only? It was just a thing I fixated on when I was younger I guess."
"nothin' wrong with that," Axe said quietly. "a lot of folks look forward to meetin' someone special like that. soulmates or somethin'... i don't really care, but i suppose it would be nice. i'm sure it would all work out though."
You nodded slowly, "I guess so... Honestly, I kind of envy how carefree you are about it."
"well, i'm not in a hurry to settle down right now," he responded with a shrug.
He was right in a way. There was no hurry to find someone and you could always focus on your career in the meantime. Although growing up, there was always the pressure to find someone quickly so you could be taken care of and give your parents a couple of grandchildren. It was "The least you could do," your mother had said.
Of course, you'd then struggled with a string of bad relationships ever since getting out of high school. Not only had you gotten attached really fast whenever a guy ever showed you any modicum of attention, but you also weren't great at standing up for yourself. Your relationships never lasted longer than a few months and while you'd since learned what mistakes not to make, you were starting to wonder if you should swear off dating altogether.
"so, uh, other than shows like this," Axe motioned to the tv, bringing you out of your thoughts again. "what else do ya like to do?"
"Well, I read occasionally and have a small collection of fantasy type books. I used to be part of my school's chess club but I haven't actually had anyone to play against in a while."
You glanced around the living room before your gaze focused on two of your plants on the window sill. "Oh, I try to keep a few plants alive but I don't think I have much of a green thumb. I also like to press flowers or colourful leaves in the fall. They make some pretty collages but I have to make time to actually put them all together."
He nodded approvingly and studied the plants for a moment. "What kind are they?" he asked.
You pursed your lips in thought while you tried to remember. "The one on the left is a yellow Cala Lilly and I think the other is called a Christmas Cactus although it hasn't bloomed since last year. I'm not sure why as it has sun and I haven't forgotten to water it." You shrugged and added, "It's otherwise thriving so I guess I'm doing something right."
"can't say i'm familiar with either of those types so i can't give ya any advice," Axe hummed softly. "i'm more familiar with the kinds of plants ya can cook with, like vegetables or herbs."
"Do you like to cook then?" you asked.
"i do," he answered with a slight nod. "it's somethin' i just really enjoy doin' i guess..." His singular eyelight was still focused on the plants by your window as he trailed off.
When he didn't elaborate further, you couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. His tone of voice seemed to hint at a deeper meaning to what he'd said and you didn't know if you should ask or not.
So, rather than potentially making things more awkward, you decided not to ask and instead to talk about something else. "You know, I like cooking as well. Although, I really only cook for myself so I have limited experience."
Well that certainly seemed to make him perk up. Axe turned to actually look at you and his eyelight flicked over you in a way that you thought was him sizing you up.
"limited experience or not, it's still an important skill to know. did ya teach yourself or...?"
You shook your head, "No, at least not completely... I learned the basics from my mother but everything else I had to learn through good ol' trial and error." You rubbed the back of your neck and quietly added, "Granted, it was mostly by error..."
Axe let out a short chuckle at that. There was clear amusement written across his skull once again, yet it didn't feel like he was making fun of you.
"that's good, sometimes the best way to learn is to actually try your hand at somethin'. or at least it's the best way i know to figure things out." He lightly scratched the right side of his skull, although you noticed how his phalanges nearly hooked into the empty socket as he did so.
"Maybe we could cook something together sometime then...?" you asked.
To your surprise, he nodded vigorously and his permanent grin quirked wider at the idea. "sure, that could be fun. 's not every day i have the chance to cook with others."
"Awesome!" you exclaimed and gave a bit of a victory fist pump. Axe chuckled again although it was more natural sounding this time, like he hadn't expected you to react with this much enthusiasm.
This conversation made you remember something all of the sudden that you had to share. "You know what's funny? One of the things my mother used to always tell me was, and I quote, 'You gotta find a man who can at least cook because you certainly can't!'" With an awkward chuckle, you added, "In hindsight though, I realize she wasn't actually joking..."
That had been a bad thing to say apparently. His expression flickered between discomfort and concern before settling on a slight frown. You could feel a familiar pit form in your stomach as you realized that you'd basically stuck your foot in your mouth.
Axe let out a heavy sigh through his nasal bone and couldn't seem to meet your gaze all of the sudden. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other before finally muttering a response.
"your mother probably didn't have a guy who could pass for a slasher villian in mind..."
You felt bad for saying something so forward in the first place as it had clearly made him uncomfortable. So you resorted to damage control in an effort to ease tensions once again.
"Well, uh... I guess you're right... She also told me that drinking coffee stunts your growth, which I know isn't true now, but it still frustrated me when I was younger."
Well that got him to chuckle at least. He patted your shoulder in a way that was probably supposed to be reassuring, although it did feel slightly patronising seeing as how tall he was.
"are ya sure that isn't true?" he asked in a tone that sounded like it was supposed to be sassy, although his deep voice did just the opposite.
You crossed your arms and huffed in annoyance. "It isn't! I don't even drink that much coffee compared to other people..."
"what other things did she tell you? any other gems?"
You frowned and shook your head. "Nothing very helpful... She used to be obsessed with my weight growing up and never kept any snacks in the house. If I ever mentioned I was hungry, she'd just tell me to go eat a handful of almonds or something."
You sighed and dropped onto the couch. Steepling your chin with your hands, you tried to take deep breaths to avoid getting all worked up over what had happened in the past. You felt bad that you'd nearly just dumped a bunch of your own trauma on Axe when he was basically a complete stranger.
The cushions shifted as he sat down next to you. You glanced over at him and rather than annoyance like you'd expected, he looked slightly concerned. You very rarely talked to anyone about your childhood as they never understood and brushed off your mother's rules as well-meaning. He didn't seem to be like any of the others though and you started to wonder if he actually understood you.
"I'm...not on good terms with my family...in general," you muttered.
He seemed surprised if the way his left eye socket widened was any indication. "how come?" he asked quietly. "family's pretty important, at least to me anyways..."
You shook your head slowly. "I really don't want to get into all of it right now... But, the short of it is my mother was basically what some people call an almond mom and my older sister was seen as the golden child. I was basically dirt in comparison to her and my entire family favorited her."
"i don't really understand..." Your heart sank but Axe continued speaking before you could try to explain. "but i can tell this is a sore spot for ya, so i won't push ya to explain anythin' else, okay?"
You gave him a stiff smile out of sheer relief. "I appreciate it..." you responded with a sigh.
In an attempt to talk about something lighter, you tried to change to subject. "Do you have any family?" you asked.
His skull visibly brightened, somehow, at your question and he grinned warmly. "yep, i got a younger brother and he's the coolest dude i know..."
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esoterichistoria · 1 month
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Confession: I feel like lennabel is lowkey the weakest part of the comic. Yes its the selling point and the focus and everything but everything else like the misfits/lenores friendships, the spectres, all the side characters and backstories (especially lenores), the history of the school/where they are all way more interesting. And then oh heres another y/a "toxic but not actually because uhhh its hawt" ship. They have a secret conversation about the game or fodder or whatever. Or their "history" which is lenore forced to hang out with her and then being left with a bunch of insults? With lenore and her friends we see them grow and bond together but with lennbel they just hug or kiss or something. Why does lenore like annabel? Because...pretty? Because she gets all in lenores face? She always ignores what lenore has to say and literally tried to kill her friend without telling her. Like every other aspect of the comic is super neat and intriguing but The Ship is whatever. If lenore could just seriously break it off with her after what happened it wouldn't drag the story down anymore but it wont both cause spoilers and cause its what the whole marketing of the comic is.
I might get attacked for this, but I’m starting to ship Lennabel less and less as the comic progresses (Funny coming from a Mourn pfp), I enjoy them as individual characters and seeing their relationship progress but they’re not my “ship type”. It also seems like things aren’t going to end well for them, given that this a gothic story and their views are too different from each others.
I would also like to know more about the other characters and the setting as a whole, especially the deans (I love eldritch horror).
I think it’s fair to say that the reason we probably aren’t seeing more is because we are approaching a climax. As a writer myself, I feel like we are approaching something big that will reveal a few questions we might have about the academy and such.
This comic was sold as a “gothic sapphic horror romance” so that’s why its ship focused, but I really would like to see Lenore’s relationship with the misfits get stronger, and for Annabel to hopefully make a friend outside of Lenore.
I think it’s safe to say to just wait and see what will happen.
What are all of your opinions on this?
Edit: I just want to mention that I never said I hated White Raven, it’s just not my “ship type” but their relationship is interesting and I would like to see how their story progresses. Yes, I know that it’s a romance story. I guess I just don’t like how the fandom goes insane about them and is quick to hate on the other characters for “getting in the way”.
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onyourhyuck · 10 months
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Sin & Obsession. | L.MK PART 2
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— Prologue: “You sound even prettier when you’re asleep like this while you’re taking my cock inside your pretty pussy Y/n,” Mark’s voice comes off as silvery and fully rough grunts the more he thrusts you seem to clench even more and more. It drove Mark crazy. It was like a back and forth biting game. He came back for more and you kept leaving him become greedy for you. “You might be the death of me.” There might not be any salvation for Mark anymore because of you.
— Summary: You’re a faithful good girl. You attend church and you stay out of trouble. Mark is a guy that attends your church and what you don’t know is that he’s been obsessed with you for a while…
— Genre: Dark smut / Romance. Slight horror aspect (?) Mark Lee is a stalker. Mention of Christianity and faithfulness. Christian!Mark. Church mention. Mark is very much obsessed with Y/n. He stalks her. He has deep affection for Y/n but like super borderline I guess? Watching Y/n sleep. Breaking and entering Y/n’s house at night. Somnophillia(?) everything’s consensual. Dub-con. Y/n has a wet dream. Mark gets caught by the end of it. Praising and degrading at the same time. Y/n gets called a good whore like once.
— Notes: Pussy drunk Mark lessgo.
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Whatever happened that day when he entered your house without you knowing left Mark feeling even more needy for you. On the week days where he cannot see you he couldn’t forget that day and it leaves every night feeling more empty than usual. Mark was quite literally over the heels for you; he can’t eat. He can’t sleep. He can’t even breathe anymore without you being next to him or him seeing you. He just has to be now around you all the time and it’s getting difficult. Is this what happens when he finally had a taste of you but at the same time he didn’t get a proper taste? He was left wanting more. He’s just greedy for you and your time. He cannot coexist without you.
The next time Sunday arrives Mark enters the church greeting everyone. He tried his best to act normal and not tense unlike the feeling inside his stomach that was crunching him inside completely like he was nothing but a thin piece of paper. The moment his eyes saw you he felt his own panic take over and nearly murder him alive. He felt like he was going through all the flight and fight modes that his survival instincts were failing.
However he was completing what his heart was lacking. He took a moment to even deeply gaze over at your facial expression and such.
He looks completely stunned with you. Enough that it makes you look at him now and softly smile as you wave your hand over his face wondering why he was frozen like that.
“Hello? Mark is that right?” Your voice was as soft as silk and cotton. Mark bounces back to his reality now realising you’re speaking to him and he nods slowly but very slowly to the point he couldn’t find his voice for a second. “Yeah, Uhm that’s me last time I checked.” Mark was so beyond nervous and you could tell.
You found it to be almost endearing how nervous he was and you raise your eyebrow furrowing in confusion. He seems so confused as to why you’re speaking to him. Did you catch him staring at you? Oh that’s going to be a hard one to get out of. But thankfully you didn’t question why he was staring at you down like that instead you nod softly in his confusion. “You okay? You seem kind of nervous.” You now question.
He had no idea how you could read him so well but maybe it’s very obvious that he’s literally a trembling mess. He clears his voice with a little low chuckle as he rubs the back of his neck. Mark wore a white shirt and his long black mullet hair makes him shine across the church if you’re being honest. He suits long hair so much. You couldn’t help but check him out a little. Why was he so nervous? It’s kind of cute though. He seems pretty shy with you speaking to him so suddenly, it’s very sudden. You hardly notice him when you’re in church.
But today you seem to notice him for some reason. “I’m just surprised you’re speaking to me.” Mark spoke out now truthfully. You show him a gentle look now. “Oh, I guess i just seem to find you today. Sorry if I haven’t been communicating much with you.” Mark couldn’t help but find you to be incredibly kind and forgiving even.
If only you knew what he did with your panties and in your closet. The image of you on the bed spread wide open with your legs. The beautiful sight of your pussy engraved his sight and he couldn’t help but imagine you and him together in bed. It’s so dirty. He shouldn’t be doing this in a church or when you’re speaking to him but he cannot block out your voice when you’re ready to moan or when you’re choking back a cry when you overstimulated yourself last week. The fact that Mark got away with this as well. It makes him full of hope that he could do this again and again; worst thing is that he doesn’t regret this at all. Mark would do it again if he could go back to the past and change it.
Nothing would be changed. Mark would do this again and try anything to relive that moment because he felt so connected at that time to you. In more ways than one.
Mark gulps when he looks downs at his feet on the ground. ‘God you’re imagining her naked right now snap out of it.’ He snaps at himself just by becoming so heavenly frustrated with you by standing there only. What’s wrong with him?
He can usually act normal or even hide this part of himself but now it’s proven to be very hard and he hates that. You’re making him lose his own heavy weight that’s burdening his shoulders and back. He felt his throat go dry as he stares back at you. Beads of sweat dripping from his forehead as well. The after image of him smelling your panties as he stroked himself to watching you masturbate was a forbidden memory he should keep down in his brain locked away forever.
“Mark what’s wrong? You’re burning up.” You suddenly exclaim as you reach your hand to brush on his cheek and forehead. He was burning in fact he looks bright red and the man couldn’t hide that as much as he tried.
In reality he wasn’t sick but he felt like you’re infecting him with everything you’re doing.
The people in the church look at Mark in worry and when you exclaimed loudly you reach your palm to touch his forehead again. He had a fever. But Mark was quick to say with his own firm point. “I’m fine, please, it’s okay.” He grabs your wrist slowly stopping you from trying to cool him down with the cold water bottle.
You watch Mark with a concerning amount of worry behind your eyes. Those eyes. Mark could never look away from them but he forced himself to and he puts your wrist back down as he bites his under cheek. “I’ll be fine. I must’ve just caught something small from the air:” he blames it on a flu or something flying around the air. The other people attending the church buy it.
But only you seem more worried now. Mark can’t help but wonder if you’re even believing him and his lies right now.
“Maybe you should go home?” You now suggest with your eyebrow corners squishing together. You want him to get some rest or something like that. He cannot attend church in this state you thought.
Mark clears his eyes with the back of his thumb as he lets out a quiet breath. “I don’t know… I’ve never skipped church before.” He trails now looking back at the people waiting for it to start and all.
You give him a soft smile. “You should go and take care of yourself first. I’m sure one day won’t hurt.” You’re right afterall. Mark should take care of himself and he happens to be agreeing with you now. “Alright… I’ll go.” He finally said giving into your idea and you were filled with the relief of watching Mark leaving.
You hope he gets better soon. It wouldn’t hurt to miss one day of church because of his health. Mark will make sure to make up for missing the service. When he starts to walk down the road leaving the building he begins to wonder; maybe he should go to your house? He had the sudden urge to do that again. And since you’re not going to be home it wouldn’t hurt to just go there again right? Mark at this point couldn’t stop his own legs from walking the direction to your house it’s like his own body walks on his very own like it’s got their mind put on the idea already.
He wonders what’s going to happen now. He feels warm and burning up just by the thought of going inside your house. He knows that you leave the back door unlocked from the last time he was there. He escaped through the back door.
You really should start locking your doors, Mark thought. It’s only going to get more dangerous if he keeps finding these open vulnerable places of your house.
When Mark made it behind your house, the man had to climb up the fence and then go through that way. When he met the back of your door leading inside to your house Mark opens it. He heard the doorknob click. It really was still open. The thought alone makes him quite scared and also excited — you really don’t lock your doors.
Mark cursed a little. “Y/n you’re a bit forgetful about locking your doors…” He should really scold you someday about this bad habit of yours. Mark enters the house and closed the door shut. He looks around the kitchen now in slight awe.
You have a tidy home. You’re quite clean and Mark feels like you put his home to shame with yours if you would compare both homes. You’re much more clean, much more organised. Meanwhile Mark’s home is in need a slight improvement. He should start doing daily cleans honestly. Mark can barely keep his home this clean that you have.
He found himself exploring every part of the house now that he couldn’t do last week, the first time he actually came in your home without your knowledge. He found out you like using rose petals in your baths. Mark smelled your shampoos and he even checked out the brand.
No wonder you smell so good all the time.
Then later on Mark felt quite tired and he decided to lay down in your bedsheets with a soft flip when his back was falling down on your bed softly. He groans when smelled your fresh bedsheets that quite literally smell of you only.
Mark could bathe in your scent if he could. If it was possible he would.
The bed felt so comfortable he eventually fell asleep for a little bit. Mark didn’t know what made him fall asleep so quick without him even remembering his eyelids closing but he did, and the man never felt so comfortable and safe in someone’s house before like this. You really were his safe place and you don’t even know it…
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The door shuffles open downstairs and that is what woke up Mark from his long nap. He was even surprised when he woke up the room was dark, covered with blackness only and that makes Mark shift on the bed automatically getting up and wondering the time.
When he checks over to your technology alarm on the bed stand it was nearly midnight. He fell asleep that long? And you haven’t came home at all until midnight?
Mark was sweating. He could’ve gotten caught if you came home early. The man shifts under your bed now to hide when he heard your footsteps on the stairway ready to open the door flung. When you enter you let out a tired sigh.
You seem tired, Mark thought. But why? What did you do that makes you so tired today. He couldn’t help but worry. He would want to ask you if you’re okay or anything like that but you seem almost… tired and wobbly whenever you walk.
Slowly moving around the room you start to undress taking off your clothes and changing into something more of pyjama comforts. You were so tired you didn’t even bother showering tonight so you decided you will shower in the morning and everything will fall into place of your routine.
But the reason you were so late outside and coming back home was because it was your older sister’s party for her thirty birthday. You couldn’t pass upon that and so you drank only a little to the point you were just a bit tipsy. You weren’t massive drunk. It wasn’t that bad. But you certainly were tired so you fell on the bed now tucking yourself in and you didn’t even bother to wash your face off or anything. Your body needed sleep.
Some time passed since now you fell asleep and Mark decided it’s safe to get out of your bed underneath where he hid. Mark slowly stands up and he makes sure to be very quiet walking with his tip toes now.
The boy however felt mesmerised seeing you asleep like this. You felt like an angel when you’re sleeping so openly with your arms tucked under the pillows with your face buried between them and your beautiful long hair flowing through your body as you sleep wearing your pyjamas that fit your beautiful figure too.
Mark couldn’t help but stop and stare.
You are like a mirror. You catch his attention effortlessly. You pull him in and make him check you out like this all the time. If you were a real life mirror he wouldn’t even stop staring at you. Mark follows his body silhouette throughout the dark room. It was darkness only a little over you could use the moonlight as your only torch source to move around. Mark managed to sit by the edge of your bed. He could stay like this forever only watching you sleep. He feels a bit creepy doing this.
Surely it is a little creepy but Mark would reassure you he’s not going to do anything weird. He just wants to stare at your face as you sleep. Mark felt safe around you. There’s always been something about your energy that makes his inner child feel warm and so on.
Mark smile when he saw your face turn on the pillow now laying flat on your body as your arms wrap themselves around your stomach and the other was under the pillow still where it was cold. When he saw something your sleeping wear did; the shirt reveals your stomach out to his eyes now.
He wonders what you’re wearing now, but it turns out you were only wearing a shirt. He gulps when your legs took off the covers now which made Mark feel very perverted by seeing you now half naked. It’s not like he didn’t see you naked last week but this time it’s different. He’s literally in front of you now. Mark was sitting on the edge of your bed seeing your red panties and just a small top on you covering your bra-less chest. He could see your nipples through the fabric. It was now all so tempting.
The man swallows roughly as he feels your hips shuffle forward and he slowly leans just a little bit closer now. He was on top of you brushing his hand across your jawline and he feels his heart pound like a tractor now.
It felt so tempting. Why are you always tempting him? Mark was so excited but so scared and he felt embarrassed knowing this is wrong on many levels. He shouldn’t be taking advantage of you when you’re in a sleeping state unaware of him being there but he cannot help it now when you let out a soft moan in your sleep.
Mark furrows his eyebrows watching your beautiful resting expression. You moaned?
You couldn’t help but wonder in your dream. Mark saw that you’re now simply having an erotic experience in your own dreamland and that makes the situation even more slinging to Mark knowing he cannot control himself when you moan so softly in your quiet sleeping voice. He gulps when now he brushed his hand over your panty line and rolls down his middle finger across your clothed clit. It made you hum as you stayed asleep.
Mark cursed to his selfish ways quietly. “Fuck…Y/n tell me to stop already.” He was so wishful begging you to wake up knowing he couldn’t stop himself anymore. Mark slowly takes off his belt and other items he wore now.
He was asking the Lord to give him a sign to stop already. He was asking for forgiveness for what he’s about to do and so on; Mark gives his cock a few good strokes and then he lets his free hand pushing in two fingers very slowly to stretch your beautiful pussy out as you were in such deep sleep he was surprised you did not wake up from his gentle and slow thrusts.
You’re quite literally rocking against his movements but you were asleep unaware of all of this. It felt so forbidden to be doing this but at the same time, the forbidden stuff felt so right on so many levels. Mark couldn’t stop himself now because the more your moan increased and he pulls away you whined softly at the empty space in your walls. Mark groans stopping when he stroke himself for a final time.
Mark took in your beautiful expression when he leans down and positioned his erected cock as he gentle groans now that your entrance has began sucking Mark’s shaft already into your insides. You were practically screaming at him to fuck you. Mark can see it on your expression now that your eyebrows fell into an angle scrunching up on your face. The pleasure was making you very much needy. He saw your nose crinkle on your face the more his length was pushing in very slowly now as the stretching motion was increasing and getting so much more deeper and tighter. Your hole was so desperate to be able to grow more and more with his cock. Mark felt like this was a heavenly experience. It couldn’t be explained even if he could. Mark hung his head low for a few minutes as he takes a while to adjust and bring himself to reality.
He couldn’t believe he was so deep inside you and he hasn’t even thrusted in yet. You’re already making a lot of noises and he was worried for a second you’re going to wake up. However, Mark noticed your eyes were shut deep and the pleasure was aligning themselves to your dream you are experiencing. The wet dream must’ve been very good because he saw you react fondly when his hips now lift themselves up a little and slowly pull his cock out so he can thrust inside your body, starting to slowly move.
The pleasure. The intense excitement was there you couldn’t quite grasp the fact that your body was being used in such ways now by Mark. He gawks at every thrust now trying to be quiet and all of his noises were made into low pants as the frequency of his thrusts with his cock keeps on forging deep inside you like you and him were becoming a compound. You’re now as one and this is the first time Mark could ever imagine the taste of you. He was shocked and it still felt like a dream to him.
He dreamt of this every night for so long, many months now. Mark was probably thinking something along the lines that this was a given opportunity surely. Mark never imagined you to be here letting him fuck you out on your bed as you’re asleep and you haven’t woke up once even though his thrusts have been growing rougher and more faster. His pace was the one thing your body was fighting against. You were taking every pleasure his hips stroke out for you.
You whirled around the bed with each thrust letting your head sink deeper into the pillow case sheets as your nose was breathing unsteady and heavily. Your eyes roll back as you were in a deep state of dreaming. It felt like a lucid dream in a way. Your wet dream and the reality felt too connected like one together. Mark pivoted his hips against your waist as his hands roam your chest with his eyes going down to seeing your two breasts.
When the shirt lifts and the cold air hits your skin a little because your body was going through a warm overload. Mark becoming a part of you inside was creating you to have heat flashes. The pleasure became your own.
“You’re such a good whore for me Y/n, letting me do this to you…” He praised you as you slept while you’re sleeping so beautiful right here taking everything he is giving.
He leans down only to suck on your beautiful pinkish darkish nipples putting them in his mouth as he lays down his chest against your stomach and now he was quickly pushing deep inside you with every force he has. You let out croaking moans now as your spine arched on the surface of your bed you are laying on. The mattress creaks a little now that Mark looks like he is losing his self control.
Every bit of control he has. Every bit of moral compass he has was gone.
Mark groans playing with your nipples with his soft grazing teeth. He managed to pinch your nipples with his front two teeth which makes you exhale out heavily out a hiss.
He looms closer up at your face seeing your expression as you hissed when he pleasured you by the teeth pulling on your sensitive nipples. He enjoys watching you react so fondly and actively.
Mark couldn’t help but think this was going to be the death of him now that he has a taste of you he wasn’t sure what he is capable of next. He’s literally fucking your asleep body. And it feels good for the both of you but he can’t help but wish you were awake. Mark wants you to see and know who’s pleasuring you so good.
He wants you to know who claimed you. The beautiful sight of your figure while his deep solid cock was so hard within you makes his mind to take a photographic memory of this. “You sound even prettier when you’re asleep like this while you’re taking my cock inside your pretty pussy Y/n,” Mark’s voice comes off as silvery and fully rough grunts the more he thrusts you seem to clench even more and more. It drove Mark crazy. It was like a back and forth biting game. He came back for more and you kept leaving him become greedy for you. “You might be the death of me.” There might not be any salvation for Mark anymore because of you.
There’s no religion that can save Mark now from what you’re doing to him.
You glimmer your voice that becomes hushed when Mark leans in slowly to kiss you now that he was gaining a closer understanding of his own body that takes shape inside you. His cock was twitching with every thrust and clench you give him and your body was trembling with every breath and force of energy you have. Your sleeping state was beautiful underneath him as if you’re letting him do everything he wanted with you.
The kiss overtakes your mind consciously and you frown in the kiss as you feel your dream becoming stuck. You couldn’t help but notice that your reality was shaking and breaking like a mirror to shattering pieces as you kiss back.
The kiss felt so real to you and Mark kissed you as deeply as he can in hopes you wake up right now. He wants you to look and see him with your own eyes even though it was risky. Mark couldn’t help but want you to wake up at him once as he’s on top of you like this with you in his arms and him inside you so deeply it’s not even possible. Your guts felt as good as he could dream but nothing quite like he imagined. It’s better than he ever could think to imagine.
Mark felt you nibble his bottom lip as your teeth brush against the kiss now that you’re kissing him like there’s no tomorrow. It felt so good you’re not even sure who you are kissing but it feels real. You’re not sure if this is a dream or not either.
And as your kiss takes you to places; Mark’s body pivots down at you thrusting the very few seconds he has before he feels himself unfold in your own body. He groans against the deep kissed you gave him and it felt like you’re about to wake up too. Mark grunts lowly. “Oh fuck… Y/n…” He breathes seething a deep sense of what’s happening.
Mark’s jaw tightens as he groans the last bit of voice he has when he finally pushed him last time while his hands roughly shake down your hips and you cause to arch and spasms as you’re laying underneath him so senselessly fucked out. You let out long syllabus of moans that cannot be comprehended. Even your words were a mixture between wails and beautiful cries of your own pleasure as you felt your own orgasm wash over your dream and reality you start to think and witness the darkness of your room. Even the pleasure made your vision very low and dizzy. You couldn’t see much everything you saw was like a blur but you felt everything so clearly. You couldn’t see but you can feel the immense pleasure it was far too good to forget and pass upon. You never knew you could wake up to such a good feeling.
It felt almost real, you thought.
Mark bit his bottom lip deeply enough to draw small blood to detail on his mouth. The earth stops spinning for him as his own orgasm was reaching the peak and when it did the whole body began to twitch. He saw how much you’re effected by this and he loves seeing you ruin yourself on his dick like this. Mark runs his palm over your bare stomach feeling how deep he was in you his dick was leaving an imprint you will forever remember.
He was so far deep in you that when he released his load inside you he couldn’t help but slowly thrust once more to fuck it inside you again so none slip out. Mark couldn’t help it when the urge to see you full of him within you drove Mark crazy like he was possessed by the idea of you becoming inflated by his own seed.
Your vision went black when he thrust only to fuck his own personal cum inside you deep and you held your mouth with your palm now. You’re waking up pretty much soon now and Mark heard your tiny voice come out. “Ahh…shit…” you murmur now as you couldn’t even see within the darkness but you felt the hands of someone holding you.
Your slender arms on the side held onto his shirt even though you couldn’t quite make up who it was as you felt your vision getting darker again. You lay back down grunting softly when you feel him pull out.
And then you feel Mark softly hush you. You couldn’t recognise the voice but it felt so familiar to you too. Mark leans in kissing your forehead now as you close back your eyes.
He coos you to fall asleep again. “It’s okay, go to sleep Y/n…” and somehow you found his voice to be very soothing and full of love. You couldn’t help but do exactly as he told you to. You went back to your sleep and Mark found himself falling deep in love with you when he saw your peaceful expression return.
Somehow you now have a smile on your face. It seems like you enjoyed the pleasure and as much as he is still shocked him you kissed him back so much. Mark will never forget that kiss.
Mark feels himself slowly push himself back up in the sitting position as he motions his hands together. He looks down at his hands then he looks back at you. “You’re my Sin and Obsession, Y/n.”
What happened today he wonders what his consequences will be of doing what he did to you now.
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@onyourhyuck please refer from translating copyrighting and plagiarising my work thank you. Please Reblog this fic and follow me for more updates it helps a girl out <3.
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