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axelsagewrites · 10 months

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Daemon Targaryen*Shopping

Sugar Baby Series Part Three

Part one - Part two

Pairings: Daemon x f!reader

Other pairings: reader x platonic Jace/Cregan/Sara/Aly/Aemond, Jace x Sara Snow

Warnings: creepy Aegon, Aemond having bad parents (Aemond redemption arc anyone??), general confrontation, swears, mentions of sex but nothing graphic, innuendos

Word count: 3390

Masterlist Here

“Remind me why we have to go to work when your sugar daddies already paid our bills for the next like six months?” Sara asked after you had both just sprinted to catch the bus.

You rolled your eyes as you stood on the bustling city bus filled with stoners and depressed office workers, “When did it become our money?” you asked. By this point you had gone on several more dates with Daemon. All to fancy restaurants and lunch spots.

He’d also began to send outfits to your house for each, making sure they were sent in discreet packaging still not trusting your neighbours. Gucci belts, Louis Vuitton heels, Chanel dress, Prada bags. Each date got a new outfit, hand picked by a stylist he had hired for you. each date also got an envelope discreetly passed to you as he kissed you goodnight. These goodbye kisses may have started out slow, but one time Sara had genuinely wondered if you were having sex on the doorway with how long it was taking. The best part? You didn’t have to pick up as many shifts so for once you felt you could relax. Sadly though, you still kept working despite it all.

Sara wrapped her arm around yours, partly to try keep steady on the bumpy roads as she held onto a handrail, “I’m your sugar baby now,” she said as she leaned into you making you laugh, “How many dates till you can get a car? Oh! Try get his Benz!” She chirped as an old lady a foot away glared at her. sara just glared back.

You couldn’t help but laugh at her antics, “I’ll see what I can do. Still waiting on him texting me the next date,”

“Make it soon,” she groaned. The rest of the bus journey was mostly uneventful apart from the lady sara had developed a silent beef with. Luckily, she got off before you. the restaurant wasn’t supposed to be too busy tonight however that didn’t make it safe from a Targaryen invasion.

Aly smiled unnaturally wide as you and Sara walked in, arms linked laughing. “Hey guys,” she said, drawing out the words with the biggest smile. She may be a server and a host, but she was a horrible liar. “How are you?” she asked.

Your stomach felt hollow as you realised, “Oh god not again,”

Aly told you both how Aegon had practically skipped down a few months ago when he graduated business school and now that Alicent had tracked him down and dragged him back she, her father, husband and eldest son were now due in for dinner to celebrate. “It is so not my turn, nuh uh no way,”

“Don’t worry its Cregan’s turn,” Aly said as she looked over the reservation, “I gave you the good section tonight, remember me when you marry rich,” she said, smiling as she leant on the host stand.

“You bitch,” you said as you smacked Saras arm, “How many people did you tell?”

“Ow!” Sara whined as she hit you back. “It wasn’t me gold digger,” she said as she swapped placed with Aly to take over as host, “Bet you it was Cregan,”

You rolled your eyes when Aly told you that basically everyone knew, “What about Aemond?” you asked as you tied your apron on, “Speaking of where the hell is he?”

“He’s tots freaking out about his mum coming in with Aegon and is going all perfectionist on the layout,” Aly said as she picked up her bags, “Mans been driving me up the wall. But he doesn’t know. we’re not that cruel besides he barely talks to us now,”

How is he not lonely you wondered. Before you could even protest Aly beelined for the door and you heard a loud huff, “No loitering!” Aemond puffed out his chest as he practically dragged you to the server stand, Sara giving a sorry wave as you went, “Everything needs to be perfect today, my mothers been on my case about this place and she needs to see that im still the better son so you better bring you’re a game-“

Wait a minute. “What?” you said as you stopped in the middle of the floor. There were only three tables in right now and four servers, but Aemond still walked right up to you to ask what’s wrong, “I had her last time?”

“And?” he asked, crossing his arms, “Why can’t you serve her this time? she likes you,”

You couldn’t help but snort, “Aem we used to be friends, remember?” you asked, touching his shoulder, “Remember our walk-in conversation?” you asked with raised brows. One-night Aemond practically had a breakdown his first month on the job because his mother had come in and was tormenting the staff all night, “We both know she’s a nightmare,”

“C’mon she’s my mom,” he sighed as he finished dragging you to the host stand, “Do me a favour. Since we used to be friends,” he said, rolling his eyes when he said used to, “Though I thought we still were,” he muttered and for a second you almost felt bad, “Just do your job its not that hard,” then he opened his mouth again.

“Whatevs Aemond,” you said as you logged into the tablet, “Don’t you have a rota to fuck up?” before he could protest a chef came out to drag him into the kitchen to complain about the latest food order. You knew better than to back talk Aemond but the nearly $7 in your cookie tin at home was putting a pep in your step.

Hearing that Alicent liked you was the only thing that worried you. daemon had been in a couple times since your arrangement had started and each time, he gave you a sly smirk or a wink. Whenever there was no Hightower in sight, he would request your section but even still she seemed to be catching on to some kind of tension.

When you arrived at their table to take their order you were met with the confused eyes of Aegon Targaryen, “(Y/N)?” he asked, tilting his head when he saw you before he suddenly stood up, “Long time no see,” he said and before you could say anything or even move he’d wrapped his arms around you for a brief, but very touchy hug. “How’ve you been doll?”

That name was exclusively reserved in your mind for daemon so when Aegon said it you quickly pulled him off of you with a smile, “I’m good Mr Targaryen, can I get you a drink?” you said as you showed him back to his seat. Alicent was muttering something under her breath, eyes glaring daggers into the table, “Can I get you anything ma’am?”

“Water for the table and- “

“Plenty of lemons? Of course, ma’am,” you said, cutting her off and trying not to smirk. No matter what Alicent knew, there was something she did not know. daemon had already given you all the dirt on her. he had told you every crumb of his family drama and for once you felt like you had the upper hand. “Anything for our regulars,” you smiled as you jotted down on your notepad.

Viserys seemed extremely pleased that you had recognised their frequent visits but Alicent and Otto both looked mortified. When it was finally time to take their orders, Otto spoke up first, “I’ll have a medium rare steak with no pink and not burnt either hear me? I swear your kitchen people can’t cook steak to save their life,” he muttered.

Then order something else. You wanted to scream. The whole night went like that. Alicent’s petty requests and Aegon’s creepy stares. Even Aemond had asked if you were okay at one point. You’d snuck off to the kitchen to send a quick rant text to daemon, asking how he could be related to these sorts of people.

Otto had sent back his steak for the third time, everyone else on desert as he waited. “Medium rare no pink,” you said, trying your best to smile as you sat down his impossible order. “Enjoy,”

“Wait,” he said as he picked up his cutlery, “I want to make sure its right before you run off again,” you nodded and waited as he cut into the meat, excruciatingly slow, “Again!” he yelled as he slammed the cutlery down, making even Alicent jump, “Look at all this blood! He said as he picked up the plate only to clatter it back onto the table, “Does that look medium rare to you?” he asked, pointing the steak knife at you.

“Yes,” you said blankly, ignoring the vein that almost bulged out of his forehead, “Do not yell at me sir,”

“Excuse me?” Otto yelled as he stood up, dropping his knife onto the table, “I never- I come here all the time and- Aemond!” he yelled across to the boy who was trying to hide behind a bar tender, “Talk to your staff this is ridiculous,”

Aemond practically ran over as he tried to defuse his grandfather, begging him to sit down at the same time. “She’s sorry, aren’t you?” Aemond asked as he grabbed your arm, looking at you with pleading eyes.

You briefly glanced at Sara who was watching this whole thing from the host stand and Cregan who had just walked in for his shift. You turned back to the group, looking at Alicent first, glancing over to the sulking Viserys and Aegon who had finally grown some humility, then finally the grown man yelling like a child. “I’m sorry you never learned how to order a steak,” you said slowly, ignoring how Aemond tried to pull you away and shaking him off, “Learn how to order a steak and find some manners,”

Before Otto could speak you continued, turning to face Aemond who looked on the brink of tears, “I quit, you can have my tables and as for yous- “you said turning to face the table. Aegon’s jaw went slack as he stared at you in amazement while Viserys looked at his wife, fear radiating off of him. Alicent however looked shocked, angry, and embarrassed all at once, “Have a pleasant fucking day, see ya,”

With that you stormed out to the host stand, not even bothering to clock out or put your tips in the tip out jar and grabbed your jacket from the rack. You glanced back to see Alicent and Otto screaming at Aemond, pointing at you with flailing arms. “I quit,” you told the shocked siblings, “And I think I might have accidentally got Aemond killed. Good luck,”

“You’re my hero,” Cregan said, his eyes wide with awe like a child.

“I’ve never been so proud,” Sara said before glancing back to where Alicent and Otto were now storming over, “but you need to go. Like now. Run if you can,”

You didn’t wait another second before almost running out the restaurant however as you reached the street you felt yourself smack into someone’s chest. “Doll?” a deep voice came from the man. You looked up to see Daemon, still in his work clothes and looking down at you with worry and shock, “Are you okay?”

“We need to go,” you said as you grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the car he had just got out of, “I’ll explain in the car just go, go!” you said as you jumped in the back seat.

“To my house please,” Daemon told his very shocked looking driver, “What happened doll?” he asked as he shut the door.

You looked past him to where a bewildered otto looked around the street shocked, “I think I may have upset your sister-in-law,” you said with a sheepish smile. “I guess you got my text?”

Daemon looked back from otto to you, eyebrows scrunched and jaw hanging open, “I was coming over to yell at them but looks like you beat me to it,”

When you retold your glorious tale to Daemon, he listened in silence like he was reading the tensest book of his life. When you finished your tale, you feared for a moment that he looked almost disappointed in you. then a smirk spread across his face. “I’ve never been prouder of you doll face. Eryk change of plans we need to go dress shopping. Celebrations are in order,”

You had never been shopping with daemon, but you could easily get used to it. he whisked you past all the shops you used to frequent and straight to the nearest boutique. He sat patiently, sipping champagne as a shopping assistant helped you find and try on dresses to show him.

Daemons eyes raked up and down your figure when you stepped out the changing room for the fifth time. Daemon stood up slowly from the chair, stepping towards you and silently taking your hand to slowly spin you around, “Like it?” you giggled as his eyes finally tore away from your figure to your eyes. It was a dark purple, satin evening dress that hugged you perfectly and felt as silky as a waterfall.

“Fucking love, it,” he mumbled as he stepped in closer, placing a soft kiss to your lips, “You’re getting it,”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit much for tonight?” you asked, stepping back with a laugh to look in the mirror. It was beautiful, you had to admit, but you had also seen the price tag.

“We’ll get another for tonight,” Daemon said as he moved back to pour you your own glass of champagne, “and that can be for the gala,”

“The gala?” you asked, finally turning back to him.

Daemon rolled his eyes as he gulped his champagne down, “It’s a family thing,” he drawled as he returned to his chair, “it will be painfully dull im afraid but suppose it will be far more enjoyable with you on my arm,”

Even still after all this time you couldn’t help your flush, “We’ll see,” you grinned as you looked at the dress, “You sure it’s not too expensive?”

“Nothings too much for my princess,” he said before waving down the store woman who was hanging around like a hawk, “Can we see her in that dark red number I saw in the window?”

“Of course, sir, just one moment,”

After another three dresses you had finally settled on one for tonight. It was a silk black dress, simpler than the rest but still to die for. When you told daemon it was the one, he nodded, kissing your cheek before waving the lady back over, “Hi we’ll take this one now along with the dark red, white, and lilac dresses from before. then as for that purple dress do yous do custom sizing?”

“Of course, sir,” the woman said, practically drooling over the commission, “I can measure her right now if you’d like,”

Daemon nodded and the woman quickly fetched the measuring tape, wasting no time in grabbing your arm to start writing the numbers down, “We need it for the sixth, will that work?”

“I’ll have it done by the first,”

when you were stood at the till beside daemon you were almost sick at the prices, “Daemon you really don’t have to,” you said, gently holding his arm as the sale girl glared at you.

“Nonsense,” Daemon said as he kissed the top of your head and swiped his card like it was second nature, “Besides we haven’t even hit the jewellers yet,”

By the time you had left the mall Daemon had spent the equivalent of a small house on your outfit for tonight with a few surprise dresses. Since you still had to get ready, and it was only five daemon was going to drop you at your house before picking you up again at six. “Where do you want to eat tonight darling?” he asked as he held your thigh in the car, his thumb stroking over your skin, “Anywhere you want,”

“Why don’t we eat in?” you offered, trying to think of anyway to save him some money after the massive shopping spree you had just been on.

Daemon looked surprised before quickly nodding, “Its short notice but im sure Olivia will be able to swing bye and rustle us something- “

“I meant like,” you said, cutting him off, “Why don’t I cook for us? It would be cute, just us,” you said, as you nudged his foot with your own, “intimate even,”

“I think I like the sounds of that,” Daemon said lowly through hooded eyes, the sight alone making your heart race. Luckily, or maybe not so lucky, you were just pulling up to your street. daemon glanced out the window, “lets do it at mine though,” he said.

You laughed at his scepticism as you grabbed the bags of dresses, “Whatever makes you happy,”

“That’d be you doll,” he said, letting go of your thigh before quickly stepping out of the car. As you waited for him to open your door, something he had insisted on doing since you started your arrangement, you were able to collect yourself.

Daemon opened the door for you and helped you carry your bags upstairs, even saying hello to Robb as he left the building. You knew sara would be home by now since you knew she only had a short shift today so you wondered how long she would squeal for when she saw the necklace daemon had bought you. when you finally reached your door daemon paused for a moment, “Im afraid I’ve not got any cash love,” he said as he handed you your bags.

You hummed in fake thought, “I suppose I can take a kiss as payment,”

Daemon chuckled as he leaned down, his hand cupping your jaw to bring you in for a brief but intense kiss, “See you in an hour doll,” he mumbled as he broke the kiss.

“Wish it was then,” you said, opening the door and giving him a small smirk as you stepped backwards into the flat, trying your best to seem seductive.

Weird, you thought, sara wasn’t in the living room. You sat the bags down on the couch before walking towards saras room. She can nap later, you thought. “Sara!” you called, hand on her door handle, “You will never believe what Daemon got-JACE WHAT THE FUCK!” you practically screamed as you opened the door.

Jace scrambled so quickly to cover them both that he fell off the bed, dragging the covers with him. You slapped a hand over your eyes as the pair both scrambled to get under the covers. When you finally looked through your fingers, they both looked mortified. “You said you didn’t like him!” you almost yelled at Sara.

“Yeah, well I lied, okay?!” she yelled back.

“Should I go?” Jace asked, reaching for his shirt.

“No,”

“Yes,”

“Dude!” Sara yelled.

“Dude! I need you to help me get ready,” you said, moving to sit on her bed. Sara was unfazed by how close you were, but Jace seemed to clutch the covers tighter, “Also I need to cook for daemon,”

“You’re a terrible cook,”

“Im not that bad,”

“You burnt water,” she said, glaring at you, “Ugh fine I’ll help,” she said as she moved to grab a shirt before turning back to Jace, “This was amazing babe. Just give me half an hour, an hour tops, and I’ll be right back, okay?” she said, kissing him softly making you fake gag.

A love smitten smile fell over Jaces face as he looked at sara who quickly got dressed. “Okay,” he said like he was in a dream before falling back to lay down.

When you walked into the living room with sara you paused for a moment, “If you break his heart- “you began to talk before sara shushed you.

“I do actually like him,” she sighed, “I caught feelings, I know its weird. But he’s so cute,”

“At least I won’t be alone at the gala,” you said making Sara raise an eyebrow, “I’ll tell you all about it while you do my hair,”

Sara sighed as she shoved you down onto the chair, “Why do I have a bad feeling about this gala?”

If you don't want to read smut you can skip the smut part without the series plot being affected

Part four smut edition here

a/n: so this is offically gonna be a 5 part series now. part 4 will be up tommorow then part 5 a couple days after that so dont worry its almost here i swear i promise

Part four non smut here

Taglist: @clairacassidy @valeskafics @starkleila @delicious-xx @pet1t3 @skyesayshi @urmomsgirlfriend1 @dark-night-sky-99 @lantsovheiress @themotherofblood @avalyaaa

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 2 months

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I mentioned the other day that I was considering going to a comedy night I hadn’t tried before, but then thought I might just stay home since I got home so late from work due to trains breaking down and everything sucked. I made myself go out anyway, and this is a post to say: Sometimes, when you just want to stay home and make yourself go out anyway, you end up very glad you did and it’s a great time and then you try to remember how this felt so you can hold onto that for the next time you want to just stay home because it’s worth it to push through that! And it’s good to remember that until the time you go out and spend the entire time thinking “Oh God this is miserable and I have a nice bedroom with all my stuff in it and no people around in my house, next time I’m tempted to go out I must remember how terrible this is.” So it’s a balancing act. But this time it paid off.

It was a night that’s a little bit farther than the other local nights I’ve been to a bunch of times, but still walking distance if you’re willing to walk about 45 minutes, which I was. I hadn’t tried it before because my brother told me it’s not a good one, but actually, it was my third week in a row of going to one comedy night a week, and this was by far my favourite. Though one of the others is a normally good one that I caught on a bad day. I definitely want to go back to this one, though.

Anyway. So, I get there, and the guy at the door asks me if I have a reservation. I say no, and begin to worry, because these things don’t usually require booking in advance, but it’s Valentine’s Day, so maybe lots of people have made reservations to do date night here or something and it’ll turn out I walked 45 minutes in the cold for nothing. But then, the woman who runs the night saw me and told the guy at the door, “She’s a comic.” Which I’m definitely not. Before that night, I’d performed comedy six times in my life, five times on open spots in pub nights and once the local comedy club’s amateur night, across about six months, the most recent time being three months ago. I’m not even at a point where I can say “I perform comedy” – I go with “I have performed comedy.” I am definitely not a comic.

But this woman said “She’s a comic,” and the guy at the door apologized for questioning me, and directed me to the comics’ table. The woman who runs the night motioned for me to sit down with her, so I did, feeling quite awkward because I’m not a comic. These nights always have some area where the comics sit, and it’s not restricted to people on the bill, other comedians who’ve come by will also sit there. I’ve sat there when I’ve gone to comedy nights where I was actually booked on the bill, but otherwise I sit with the rest of the audience, because like I said, not a comic.

These nights have a host (MC, compere, they go by many titles), usually 6-10 people booked to do 6 or 7 minutes each, and one or two lotto spots where any comedians who weren’t booked can put their name in a pitcher and whatever name gets drawn can take the lotto spot. I didn’t go to the night with the intention of putting my name in the lotto. I hadn’t performed since mid-November, I wanted to go to a few comedy nights just to watch and get used to it again before I tried that, and I wanted to practice some of my stuff before signing up again.

However, once I was actually there I got a bit of adrenaline going, and also I felt awkward sitting at the comics’ table while not being a comic, and I figured if my name’s in the lotto, then I’ll count as enough of a comedian to justify my place at the table. So I put my name in. And then I sat and made awkward small talk with the other comedians. The woman who ran the night was very nice to me and told me she was glad I’d come out and put in my name to perform. Did I mention that I’ve seen her perform several times, she’s very funny, also she’s been on TV so I’ve watched some of her stuff online, also my brother texted me months ago to say she’d asked him if I was single? Just mildly relevant detail.

Anyway. The comedians at the Comics’ Table were all discussing what Valentine’s Day-themed jokes they were going to do at this Valentine’s Day-themed show, and I said I might actually just pop my name out of the lotto because I haven’t got any of those, and the woman who runs the night said it’s fine and it’s not like every joke has to be about romance or whatever, it’s just an idea.

The show starts, and it’s immediately clear that every single joke is about romance or whatever. Sex life, dating life, married life, long-term relationship life, sexual orientation. Everyone has gone through their repertoire and grabbed whatever jokes they can tie to that. I do not have a repertoire. I have a serviceable six to seven minutes, and a few new ideas that I’d wanted to try at some point, though I’d planned to do some practising at home before I actually tried them. None of those are related to my love life, because I do not have one. Also, normally there are 10 or 11 names in the lotto at nights like this, but for some reason on this night there were only like 3 names in there, so it seemed likely that I would need to come up with something.

This made me anxious about potentially getting picked, as did the fact that all the other comedians were great. It’s one of the best nights I’ve seen, in terms of these local open nights. I saw a couple of comedians whom I’d seen before they were funnier than usual on that night. And a few comedians I’d never seen before who were really funny. They were also mostly people who play professional spots at the local clubs. Which would have been great, if I’d been there to just to watch. To perform, I’d rather it be a shit night. My brother tells me that if the crowd laughs a lot at the people before me then that’s good, it means it’s a good crowd so I can get laughs too. But to me, laughter at the people before me just feels like pressure. I’d rather everyone before me absolutely died, so if I get any laughs then that’s great and if I don’t then it’s fine because neither did anyone else.

So, I got pretty fucking nervous as we got through all the spots on before the lotto. Which was apparently visible to the people around me, as the woman who runs the night told me to relax and take a deep breath, which was very kind of her, but might have been less about kindness and more about not wanting me to fuck up her event if I go up there and have a panic attack. They get to the lotto spot, and call my name, obviously. Of course they do.

It didn’t go amazingly well. I think the best set I’ve done by far was the last one I did for several months, in mid-November, when I did the amateur night at the actual comedy club. I timed it perfectly, I felt like I got every detail right of both the routines I’d been working on (there are only two that I’ve really tested in those six-minute spots, one of about two minutes and one of about four minutes), it worked exactly as I’d practised it so I didn’t come away thinking “Oh shit I forgot this bit” or worded something wrong, and they laughed at almost everything I said. That happened in November, because I’d actually carefully prepared for that. It did not happen on the Valentine’s night, as I had not prepared at all. However, given that I had not prepared at all, I think it went as well as it could have. It went pretty well. They laughed at most things that were supposed to be funny. I definitely didn’t perform it all perfectly, I was nervous and stuttery especially at first, and I forgot a few pieces, but overall it wasn’t bad.

I think this might be the first time that I’ve got to a point where I can say I have those initial two routines down as a thing to fall back on, and then try other stuff around it. Like, the first few sets were just trying to figure out if those routines I’ve done before work. I’ve now done them a few times, and can be somewhat confident that I know them even without obsessively rehearsing them, and they do make most crowds laugh, so I could try some stuff I’d just come up with and know that if it doesn’t work, I’ll just go into the other stuff that does. This was the first time I’ve done that, that I’ve done a set where not every single word was meticulously planned beforehand.

I did a couple of minutes of that at the beginning, nervously tried some stuff that I’d pretty much made up earlier in the night, about how I can’t do what the other comics did and go through my repertoire to find material about my love life, because I do not have a comedy repertoire, and I also do not have a love life. That got, to be honest, more laughs than it deserved. I then did some fairly weak comments about being approximately as gay as I look, which also got more laughs than it deserved, and then I mentally congratulated myself on successfully riffing before doing and abridged version of my two established routines and getting the fuck out of the (metaphorical) spotlight.

Then the woman who runs the night went up next, and she did a bunch of new material about love, mainly about being sick of love and just wanting to have sex with people. Including, at point, saying something fairly vulgar about what she’d like to do to me (after a routine about how she’s attracted to people who are shy and nervous, and then she just threw my name in as an example because I’d been so visibly nervous before my set). And I would like to say, I generally have a policy of thinking people on the internet can go way too far with forgetting that when comedians make jokes about wanting to have sex with each other, they are just joking, it doesn’t mean anything, there’s a fine line between fans also joking about it and fans thinking they’re serious, and the latter is weird and shouldn’t happen. I’m thinking of revising that policy, maybe we should all assume that comedians genuinely want to have sex with everyone they’ve claimed on stage that they want to have sex with. Maybe David Mitchell and Lee Mack really are fucking in the WILTY dressing rooms, and the very attractive butch woman who runs a comedy night really does want to [I’m genuinely not going to write down what she said because it really was quite vulgar]. (Also if a male comedian who barely knew me had said that about me on stage I’d have found it creepy and gross, and I feel only slightly guilty about the double standard of being just fine with it from a woman I find attractive, if I tried really hard I could probably find a way to justify that double standard but I don’t really feel like putting in those mental gymnastics, I’ll just accept the hypocrisy on this one.)

Anyway, then a few other comedians performed, they were also funny, it was a good night. It ended, several people congratulated me on my set. The woman who runs the night congratulated me on my set and also apologized for referencing me in her set, said she’d realized while I was performing that she could add my name to that bit and it would be funny, and she hoped I didn’t mind. I said yeah, no, cool, it was funny. And then I walked home.

Sometimes it’s worth going out. I’m going to actually practise my material before performing it again though. Also, I've spent the last few days working on minute aspects of wording and trying to figure out specific things like whether I should talk directly to the audience a bit more, and now every time I get into that I feel exactly like Elis James' in Elis' gig diaries, which also makes me laugh:

youtube

Oh, and the next day several of the comedians who were there that night added me on Facebook. Including the very attractive butch woman. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

#Youtube

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th3dailyoverload · 3 months

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My Top 5 Struggles of Adulting

Adulting is hard, am I right? There are so many new responsibilities that seem to come out of nowhere. Here are my top 5 struggles of navigating this new adulthood thing:

Bills, Bills, Bills

Why does it feel like as soon as you get your pay check, it's already spent?! Keeping track of due dates, ensuring there's enough in your account, and actually paying the bills on time is way more stressful than I anticipated. Having a pet went from being fun to having a dependent that relies on you at the snap of a finger... But the best way to handle a pay check is not even debit orders keep your money untouched for at leats 24hours, this is could for your credit when it comes to your personal cashflow record in the banking system. And only start paying off bills after then.

To Credit Or Not to Credit

This was my biggest question when finally earning a salary and being stable with working. In the current economic climate credit is what the makes the world go round, good credit score makes you seem responsible and able to handle a car, a house bond, and apartment lease, and even bigger things. But my advice to you with credit is get an easy credit card, maybe for clothes. By small items less than R500, set it to be paid within the next 6 months but pay it back with the next month. It makes you look responsible, and helps build a credit score fast. Hold off on trying to secure a phone contract, don't dive before you've learnt to swim.

Food at Home

Remember when you went out with your parents and asked for take out but they always said there was food at home? You're going to have to make sure that there's food at home. Your cosy little apartment fridge should have more than just snacks. Which brings us to building a grocery list: start with staples that are used on a monthly basis and can last for a few months on end, then when those are around then you can from time-to-time restock on goodies. For me, my goodies are sugary cupcakes that I buy once a month during my big grocery run and watermelon Jolly Ranchers.

Dirty Laundry

How did my parents do this every week for a whole family?! Between finding time to do laundry, folding and putting it all away, and ensuring I have enough clean clothes for the week, it feels never ending—it’s a loop. Best case scenario, try doing it at night just before you sleep and hanging it in the morning just before leaving for morning classes or work, just make sure you have a clean set of clothes still wearable.

Maintaining Friendships

With busy work schedules, errands, classes and life in general, finding time to stay socially connected with friends gets harder and harder. Making an effort to schedule in time to call or grab coffee with friends is almost impossible, but balancing it all certainly isn't easy. But best way to handle it all is your plain old calendar app, get all your friends to agree on a calendar app to use and each person can add dates of when they'd like to grab coffee or go book shopping or to the movies and the others can all see it and agree to attendance if one is missing, simple hold and drag to a more suitable day. Have fun with it!

#adulting #growing up #advice #safe space #judgement free #th3dailyoverload #youth #adulting 101 #adulting is exhausting #adulting is hard #life tips #life advice

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mangoesforlyfe · 27 days

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Credit cards and Savings accounts 101

Hi!

Welcome to my blog post discussing how to arrange your financials as an early 20 something year old. We are going to go over credit cards, and savings accounts.

~This is entirely dependent on your lifestyle, too. I am someone who spends a lot on restaurants, rent, and groceries. I travel, but not constantly and when I do, it's usually with Spirit. That’s why I don’t have a credit card for traveling (more on this under the Travel section down). I haven’t done any travel credit card research. So if you’re a travel girlie, do everything I’m telling you below, and then add on a nice travel credit card after consulting www.nerdwallet or something. They will summarize the good ones on the market for you.

Keep reading! ~

Credit cards are really cool because it's a win-win situation for both you and the bank.

>It’s really fantastic for you since you get a lot of protection every time you buy something (if there’s a problem or scam, you can dispute the charge rather than trying to get your money back as with a debit card which is so much harder).

>You also of course get free money in the form of cashback, random benefits specific to each card, and can build your credit score.

[Credit scores can seem really shady but it's honestly an actually smart way humans in finance have managed to quantify a person’s “trustworthiness”. It sounds really dumb but banks need it to figure out who to loan their money to. Especially if you’re trying to buy a house and can’t come up with all the cash instantly. I foresee myself renting til the end of time so I don’t care too much about the house but credit scores can also help you get accepted for some of those really nice, more exclusive credit cards out there 0.0). The downside is that they’re really hard to build up (takes so many years) and can go down unbelievably easily like for missing one payment on your credit card.]

How do the banks benefit from the credit card system?

They earn transaction fees from the merchant (that’s why some smaller businesses sometimes prefer to be paid in cash), and depend on you forgetting to pay or giving into the allure of the credit card limit and maxing out. That’s when the fees and interest rates become astronomical.

SO,

Lesson 1: Do not forget to pay your bill each month! Set up Autopay a few days before the due date! Try to pay it off in full if you can!

Lesson 2: If you remember to do these things, you will profit enormously from the whole shebang and can make the system work for you. It literally pays to be financially responsible.

So, I currently have 4 credit cards. Discover Student, Citi Double Cash, Citi Custom Cash, and Bilt.

Equally important, I have a Citi Accelerate Savings Account.

Since Citi has some of the best cards and savings accounts out there, I also made a checking account with Citi.

In total I have:

Discover Student

Citi Custom Cash

Citi Double Cash

Bilt

Citi Accelerate Savings

Citi Checking Account

Our goal is to get the highest amount of cashback that we can on every purchase that we do.

Pro tip:

I’ve found it helpful to write down which credit cards to use for which purchases in a sticky note in your wallet if you need help remembering.

Spending Money:

Discover Student

This is a fabulous beginner card. It offers rotating categories for getting 5% cashback. This year, from January to March, you would get 5% back on Restaurants. Also, for the first year they double your cashback, so you get 10% back! That’s huge!! Every other miscellaneous purchase gets 1% back which is meh. They publish a yearly calendar with all the categories, and so for these three months, my sticky note said:

Restaurants: Use Discover card

Citi Custom Cash

This one also has rotating categories, but you choose the category that you want 5% back in. Since I was using Discover for restaurants, I chose groceries for this. Every other miscellaneous purchase gets 1% back which is meh. When Discover has a different category, like Gas Stations, that’s when I either pick restaurants for this or keep it at groceries, depending on what I’m spending more on.

My sticky note said:

Groceries: Use Citi Custom Cash card

Bilt

This is (at the time) the only card on the market that offers points on rent! Woah! Which is especially crazy because, as the creator of Bilt said, “rent is your highest spending category each month”. It is because of that precise reason that basically every credit card avoids paying rent and charges such an annoyingly high percentage for using your credit card to pay rent online. They don’t want to shell out 20 bucks a month for your 1k rent charge. Bilt gives you 1x points for each dollar you pay in rent. You can redeem these points in either cash (the lowest redemption rate) or in airline or hotel points (a higher redemption rate). I’m saving mine up for miles but even if you cash out, it's still not a rate to scoff at. Plus you don’t have to pay a credit card charge if you use their card which is bananas!

My sticky note said:

Rent: Use Citi Double Cash card

Citi Double Cash

This has to be my favorite. It was my first one and I used it for everything. Now that I have my restaurants, groceries, and rent covered, I use this as a net for all my other purchases. The Urban Outfitters planter, or a Target run, etc. You also can’t use the category cards for big stores like Walmart or Target (unless they specifically mention it) so this card is perfect for those. It gives 2% back for everything, which hella adds up. Now that you have all your bigger spending categories covered, Citi Double Cash comes in so absolutely clutch.

My sticky note said:

Everything else: Use Citi Double Cash card

Travel

There are some great credit cards out there that allow you to earn airplane miles or hotel points with purchases, or give travel insurance if you book using that card (I have had to use that more than once!). I don’t have one yet, but that seems like the next step in life. I’ve heard Chase has some good ones, and of course googling the best travel cards on the market is always the easiest route.

Keeping Money

Savings Account

Savings accounts have taken a complete 180 degree turn since a few years ago. Before, they would only give you a small percentage like 0.5% for the money you keep with them. That’s what your local credit union will give you. Now, there are accounts called High Yield Savings Accounts or HYSAs that give you anything from 4-5% back! Even if you have 200 dollars saved up, I would 10000% recommend opening one of these. It's the best place to store your money, and you can let it sit back and just let your money work for you. I have the Citi Accelerate Savings Account that gives me 4.47% right now, one of the highest on the market. There are some cards that match that interest rate or slightly higher but since I have 2 Citi cards already, I find it easiest just to have this one since everything can be in the same dashboard and it's easier to transfer money.

(https://www.citi.com/banking/savings-account)

Checking Accounts

This is just a basic account where usually people deposit their money from their jobs, and pay off their credit cards, utilities, etc., with. I have a Citi Checking Account because I’m integrated in their ecosystem and it's the easiest, but mine doesn’t earn any interest on money. This was previously unheard of but some checking accounts nowadays earn interest for you! The future is now. O.o

That’s all folks!

All of this is friendly advice. Even if you don’t go with any of these cards, I hope you get the idea of how to sit down, look at your spending categories, look at the cards available on the market, and play a little matching game to pair each category to each card.

Once again, I’m underlining the importance of having a HYSA asap rather than letting your money sit in a checking account, because that’s free money on it each month! Try to avoid opening a bunch of credit cards all at the same time because that will hit your credit score (once again, opening the HYSA won’t though).

It took me about four years starting as a freshman in college to get all four of these credit cards. Companies frown at opening more than 5 in 24 months (Chase’s secret 5/24 rule) but you can start with at least the Citi Double Cash one if not more. As always, you can come to me with any questions!

Xoxo,

mangoesforlyfe

#finance #credit cards #credit score #financial literacy #credit cards 101 #finances 101 #basic finance #how to take care of your money

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creditpraxis · 1 year

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Getting Started with your First Credit Card

When you turn 18, you are able to open your first card. To do this, you should have some form of income (it doesn’t have to be much, working part time is more than enough) such as from a job or having your parents pay you for things. It can also help to have your parents add you as an authorized user on their oldest card if they have good credit and having a bank account with the bank whose card you want (BoA, Chase, Discover) for 3 months before applying helps as it allows you to bypass many requirements that would usually require you to have had a card for at least 1 year from a different bank. From here, I recommend applying for the chase Freedom Unlimited/Flex or BoA Cash Rewards depending on who you bank with because they have the best rewards at this level (Look these up and decide which has the best rewards for you). If you get denied look at the reasons for denial which will usually be sent in a letter. It is usually because you did not have an account with them first or not enough income (For reference, I applied for the Freedom Unlimited as my first card while working part time and got a $1500 starting limit since I have been banking with them for years before I was 18). If you get denied for this card, call the reconciliation line for the respective bank as this may get you approved with some extra information. If this doesn’t work, I recommend applying for the discover it student card if you are a student since they accept almost all students with at least some income. The last resort if this is denied too is the Discover it Secured card which is a card where you will have to deposit money equal to the credit line the bank extends to you which is like prepaying for things you buy and is replenished after you pay your bill every month. After 6 months to a year this will be paid back to you, and you will usually get a substantial credit limit increase.

After getting your first card, the first thing to do is to setup autopay so you never miss a payment since this can be costly due to interest and can hurt your credit. From here, the fastest and easiest way to establish your credit is to buy something cheap (around $5) every month and pay it off after your statement date (or let autopay take care of it for you). This will increase your score as fast as possible. The bare minimum is to just buy something every 6 months, so your card is not closed due to inactivity. This will build credit, but not as fast. Finally, if you trust yourself to be responsible, you can just put everything you would normally spend on your card and earn cash back. While this cash back is basically free money, it will be instantly canceled out by interest if you do not pay in time. This is why if you follow this 3rd route it is important to treat your credit card as a debit card and not spend more money than you have in your account. It is also important to remember that every swipe is just like spending cash which is why it is important to keep track of your spending and not increase your spending because you don’t have to pay right away. Following the 3rd method, I have acquired 7 cards (Don’t get more than you can keep track of) opening a new one every 3-12 months, gotten my score to almost 800, and gotten over $3000 in rewards points while not spending a single cent in interest over a period of 3-4 years. This is mostly from taking advantage of large sign-up bonuses on premium cards which can be lucrative as long as the minimum spend isn’t more than you would normally spend.

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sheepishfreeloader · 2 years

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weird and shitty ass customers

1. A woman calling about how her address was incorrect on her account. I asked her if she’d like me to update it. She says “you don’t understand, that address you have doesn’t exist.” I politely inform her again that I’d be more than happy to update it. She tells me she want’s a manager because I “don’t speak English.” I am a native born English speaker in America with little to no accent while at work. Customer was transferred to manager... who helped her update her address. Go figure.

2. Man calls in wondering why we haven’t gotten his payment yet. I inform him the “electronic bank payments” his bank has been sending were all checks, which can take several days to arrive. He informs me that no, the reason payment is late is because he “hasn’t gotten his statement in several months.” I happily tell him I would escalate the issue to our compliance team and inquired when was the last month he got a statement. He says “that’s not my main priority right now.” Confused, as it was just indeed his priority two second ago, I ask to confirm that he doesn’t actually want the issue escalated. He says vaguely “you asked a question and I answered it.” Having not answered my question in the slightest, I admitted that I was a little confused, as he wasn’t asking me a question nor answering my previous ones. He says “obviously, bye, fucking useless,” and hangs up on me. To this day I have no idea what he wanted. I discovered later he was an unattractive and balding CEO of an investment company.

3. Not my customer, but a co-workers. The customer apparently claimed that one of our employees stole her debit card, and then promptly used the debit card to... pay the customer’s bill. Her proof was that she didn’t remember paying her bill. When informed that the payments were all scheduled online and not with an employee over the phone, she told co-worker that the attorney general had been contacted and was adamant that someone from the company stole her card number. It’s important to note that we cannot even save debit cards to our systems, and neither can customers. Debit cards have to be typed in every time, so every time she paid a payment online she had to type it in by hand. She was apparently very rude, but it’s also a little sad because she was also apparently very old and likely had issues with poor memory.

4. A lady who wasn’t inherently very rude, but clearly not doing herself (nor us) any favors. I set up a payment for her, and we must read a payment disclosure first, verbatim, for legal reasons. I keep trying to get through it but she keeps interrupting me to complain that this “wasn’t the first time she got a late fee” due to her checks not reaching us by the due date, and how she was “just going to close the card” later because of it. Finally got her payment scheduled and customer off the phone. I review the notes from all of the previous year. She has been told about ten times that checks may take up to 14 days to arrive, but has continued to send checks 7 days before her due date, resulting in many fees. She has also been threatening to close the account for several months as well. Lo and behold, as with 99% of our customers who threaten closure, it has remained open.

5. Before discussing private financial information we are required legally to confirm who we are speaking to by verifying the last 4 of their SSN and date of birth. I received an incoming call from a very southern young woman saying “mother trucker” as a curse word at first. She was complaining about getting calls from us and late fees and complaining that we’ve been hanging up on her yadda yadda. So I go to try and confirm her last 4 of the SSN and date of birth. It’s understandable not everyone is comfortable with this- there are online options for those people. But her response, being the classy woman she was, was to begin declaring loudly into my ear how it was her right as an American not to give us that information, and how she’d give us her mother’s name and her address before the last 4 of her SSN. For reference, it’s more dangerous to give your address. Searching a name and the last 4 of a SSN won’t pull up shit, but a name and address 100% will. Well, after being told I can’t discuss private info without it, she starts cursing at a volume that nearly blew my ear drums out. It was quite satisfying hanging up on her (as was policy) and reading the tons of notes saying several agents had done the same, all on the same day. We got a rude email from her later, and she reported us to the BBB. Whoppie.

6. A fella with a slow, languid Russian accent. He clearly had me on speaker and was walking through a parking lot. I had to have him repeat the last 4 of his SSN due to the back ground noise. Dude goes on a full minute rant about how by the time I input his info correct he won’t have time to talk anymore. He misses the irony of his of course, because the whole rant I was sitting and and ready to continue the call as I’d finally gotten his SSN imputed correctly, so by ranting he was wasting his own time. Well, we get into the bread and butter of his account and I ask why he got a little behind (as we are required to ask everybody late). He sarcastically asks me if we are still in the middle of a pandemic or of anything had changed. So dumbfound by this stupid ass smart alek response I just said no, but afterwards I wish I had said “oh no, what pandemic?” Later, looking through his older account notes, I spotted where several months ago he called us monkeys. How pleasant.

7. An older lady who had broken her back a few months ago and was just starting on disability. I would have had no need to know such personal information, except when I asked her if she wanted a late fee waiver request, she got angry and began ranting about how some people (I assume she meant me) thought they were invincible and above everyone else. Perplexed, I informed her I was certainly not invincible . Moved on to helping her set up a debit card payment. We have a legal script to state that the card must be a personal card issued in the customer’s name. After saying that she ranted for 2 minutes about how I apparently thought she was stupid and to stop treating her like she was stupid or else she’d “have to report me.” I told her she wasn’t stupid and that it was a mandatory legal statement. Went in one ear and out the other, she continued saying she wasn’t stupid and to “hurry up.” So I taker her debit card, then we have another legal disclosure (a script that would also show up even if you paid it yourself online) where at the end you have to say “I agree.” After she said I agree, she said “YOU KNOW WHAT,” sputtered a bit, “HAVE A NICE DAY” and hung up. I went back on the account a week later and saw where she’d called back and claimed that the “previous rep” (me) had been “nasty,” and that apparently i had “been too scared to get her a supervisor” because I was “afraid she’d report me.” She had not asked for a supervisor... lol.

8. Guy calls in about 10 minutes before close, I give the “Hi I’m (name) thanks for calling (company) how can I help you?” Which I didn’t know at the time would be the only thing I could get out my mouth. He starts with “I’m about to be very angry at you, not at you but the company.” And then he rants, calling our card a piece of shit because it “declines every time he uses it.” He said he was going to cut it in 3 pieces and never wanted to hear from us again, called me an asshole, then hung up. I look at his account. The last time his card declined was October of 2020 (It’s Feb 2021 now) and that was due to fraud suspicion, which was quickly rectified. But now, in Feb 2021, his card was declined... because he hadn’t paid his bill in 2 months. But he of course wouldn’t even let me speak to secure the call and give him such crucial information. I guess he didn’t give a shit about his credit score. But otherwise, if he DID know he was late, did he really think he’d be allowed to use it? In what world do businesses let you use a service before paying your bill (save for free trials)?

9. One of the few southern people with an attitude. Guy calls in to tell me he scheduled a payment back on feb 27th, but it actually scheduled it for mar 27th. Now, idk if you’ve ever paid a bill online, but credit cards give you the ability to schedule payments for a future date. It opens a calendar. This man was the FIRST MAN in all the thooousands of customers I’ve serviced to report such a “system glitch,” so what does that mean? The simplest solution is the most likely one... mr. thick fingers opened up the calendar, accidentally touched the arrow that moved it out from feb to mar, didn’t notice, and hit accept. Yet, he repeated to be about 6 times how it was our system. Over and over and over. It felt like purgatory. He said he “did everything right,” because of course a man can do no wrong now can he? By the end I asked if he had any other questions, and this dude says “I guess not because you haven’t done shit to help me.” Dumb founded, I said “...okay,” and the dude laughed. It’s funny how uppity he clearly is, yet he’s the one who, out of thousands, made such a mistake. Yikes. If you’re literally the only person who’s had this supposed “issue” and then can’t even take responsibility for what was clearly a simple mistake on your part- then you’re not the brightest (or nicest) crayon in the box. Get a grip on reality.

10. Aaand we’re at 10! Today I get a transfer, and as the transferring agent was asking if he had any final question he starts screaming over her. I sighed. I take the customer and start the mini miranda- the legal disclosure we’re required by law to state for late customers. He talks over me and curses. I warn him not to use such language or I would disconnect, so he just rants about wanting me to hurry up cause he’s heard it before blah blah blah. Skip ahead where I tell him his past due and he gets pissed that the payment isn’t $50, but $56, due to interest, and calls it extorsion and continues curses. Warning #2. Technically we’re supposed to hang up on the second warning, but I keep going. I start setting up the payment, and only get to the page to set a payment date before he curses again. Warning #3. He starts screaming, I tell him to lower his voice and I would disconnect now. Before I hit the button I hear “fuck you bitch!” And I laugh after hanging up. He called back maybe 5 minutes later with a diff agent who took his payment. Seems he was smart enough to keep his dirty mouth shut with her because she didn’t have to hang up. And what was he mad about? He had two “canceled” debit card payments- i.e. his card’s issuing bank declined his payments. I see it allll the time. Nothing we can do. But apparently it was “our fault” and pissed him off so bad that he felt the need to swear at me. A grade A loser. And somehow a grown ass man. I understand his frustration, but that’s no way to talk to someone at all, let alone a stranger.

11. Lady born in the 50s calls in immediately snappy and raising her voice because she says she paid her bill months ago and was still getting charged. I look at her account. She paid her full balance, and her trailing interest charge was like $13 bucks. She paid $6, leaving a remainder. She then did not pay the remainder, resulting in more interest and a late fee. Ultimately though she only had to pay $6.58 to finish out her interest remainder. Through the 17 minute long shit show of a call, I realize this woman has been reading the line of her statement displaying her past due and only paying that. A line right below the past due is her actual minimum total due. If she had nudged her eyes down an inch she’d have actually seen her full payment due. Explaining this to her did nothing and I had to explain that and interest to her like, 6 times. By the end she called “us” (i’m just a glorified cashier lady, get real, i’m not an “us”) criminals and hung up. At least she finally paid her full bill. Geez. Older folk wanna act like they know everything about finances and money and saving but then can’t even understand the difference between “past due” and “total minimum due.” Yelling at someone over nearly $7 bucks. Girl. You like, 70 years old... grow up...

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grandluxcredit · 2 years

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Don’t Let Your Credit Score Define You

If you’re reading this article, chances are good that you’ve had trouble in the past with your credit score and your finances in general. Some people may have told you that your poor credit is ruining your life and preventing you from having the things you want in life. Although it can feel like that at times, this simply isn’t true! When you have bad credit, it just means that you might have to work harder than others to get what you want out of life, but there are still plenty of options available to help you improve your financial situation and get back on track.

Why Does Your Credit Score Matter?

To understand why credit scores matter, you first need to understand what they represent. Every time you make a purchase with a credit card or loan money from a bank, your transaction is recorded in your credit history, and those activities affect your score. Lenders look at that history and decide whether to give you loans or charge higher interest rates. It’s very difficult to start building good credit if you have bad credit because lenders can be extremely cautious about issuing loans for people with little-to-no financial history. However, bad credit doesn’t have to hold you back. If you work on improving yourcredit score over time by making smart financial decisions, it will eventually reflect positively on your life by helping you borrow more easily and saving you money on interest. The longer it takes for your situation to improve—or even worsen—the harder it is to get back on track. That’s why it’s so important not to ignore these warning signs! Everyone should take before their credit score starts weighing too heavily on their future.

How Can I Repair My Bad Credit?

If you’re not sure how to repair your bad credit, know that it can take time—perhaps several months or longer. But first, think about what caused your credit score to fall in the first place. For instance, did you lose a job? Were you swamped with medical bills? Did you have an emergency that put all of your accounts into disarray? If so, chances are good that once you work through those things, your score will improve. Don’t worry if it doesn’t happen overnight—and don’t get discouraged if it takes more than a year for everything to straighten out. It happens; just keep at it and you’ll be on track to having a higher credit score before long.

What is a Good Credit Score?

There are many different methods for determining credit scores, so don’t get too hung up on numbers. Just remember that 650 is about average, but anything in excess of 700 is considered good. If you’re trying to achieve a score in that range, keep your credit cards balanced and try not to borrow more than 50% of your overall limit. Also, always make sure that all of your bills are paid by their due dates—missing payments will hurt your score tremendously. Achieving a great credit score takes time and requires some discipline, but it’s definitely worth it. Good luck! Not Having a Credit Card? How Can I Build My Credit? This might seem like an obvious answer, but pay off any credit card debt as soon as possible. As long as there is still outstanding debt attached to your name, creditors won’t consider you very trustworthy and won’t extend additional lines of credit.

What is a Good Credit Score?

Chances are you’ve been rejected for a loan before, and if that’s ever happened to you, it can be tempting to become discouraged. Before giving up on your credit score, however, there are a few things you should know.

First of all, it pays to understand how lenders assess your financial standing and what they see when they check your credit report. For starters, just because one lender denied you doesn’t mean no other lenders will as well—your situation might just require a different approach from those previously tried.

Second of all, a bad credit score doesn’t have to doom you to years of interest payments and bill-paying hell. When you need a solution, turn to Better Budget Financial today. We specialize in helping people get back on their feet so they can move forward with confidence. Our team has more than many years of experience helping clients get approved for loans; we even guarantee our services or your money back! If you want personalized service and more freedom in your financial future, call us today at 888-766-2919 or visit us grandluxcredit.com.

Address - 13100 Wortham Center Drive, 3RD FL, Houston, 77065

Email - [email protected]

Phone - (888) 766-2919

Website - Grand Lux Credit

Blog - Don’t Let Your Credit Score Define You

#credit score

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yemilnisu · 3 years

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FIRST LOVE PT.2

Synopsis: bumping in to your ex at a dark alley right when you just got back in town. is this a sign from the universe for him to get back to you?

Pairing: tsukishima x fem!reader

Genre: angst, fluff if you squint hard enough

Word Count: 2.4K

「part 1」

nisu entries:

since y’all asked for part 2 here you go! i would like to thank @iis4d for helping me make this and for the plot. i added few more details to it. and i would like to say that you’re one of the sweetest person i met here🥺♥️ i really enjoyed making this so I hope you guys will too!

“How many times have I told you to stay the hell away from her,” someone growled then you heard a loud thud followed by a noise that sounded like someone is being punched countless of times.

You didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything but curiosity got over and you walked through the alley where you think you heard the commotion happening. Your eyes widen as a group of men was beating up another person.

You looked around and when you saw two cops patrolling you hurriedly made your way to them. You explained to them what you saw and they quickly ran to the alley.

The group of men ran away when they heard the cops approaching and the cops ran after them, leaving you and the guy they were beating up earlier. “Oh my, God. Are you alrig- Kei?!”

You were taken aback from this unexpected occurrence of you suddenly bumping in to your ex, when you literally just got back in town. It has been more than 4 years since the both of you met and it was the day when you broke up. You haven’t been in contact with each other since then.

“Y/N?” Tsukishima exclaimed but it was more like a soft gasped because he was badly injured. You quickly helped him get up and without saying a word you put his arm around your shoulder and held his waist, so you could carry him out of that dark alley. When the both you you walked out of the alley, you called a cab.

Tsukishima just obliged due to the fact that he was beaten up and can’t complain nor make a salty remark. “To the nearest hospital,” you pleaded as you pulled out your handkerchief to wipe away the dirt and blood that was on Tsukishima’s face. He flinched at the sudden contact. “Sorry,” you lisped. You continued to wipe his face but more gentle this time.

While you were so focused on wiping his face clean. Tsukishima scanned your expression. Your eyebrows were a little furrowed as you were so concentrated on what you were doing. Your eyes reflected the streets’ lights, it looked like it were shining and it was so mesmerizing to look at. Nor he or you notice how long he was staring deeply into your eyes. For a moment, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Tsukishima glanced at the door, where you were standing and talking to the doctor who treated him earlier. He surveyed you from head-to-toe, there was this aura surrounding you. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it but he knows there was something new to you.

Is it because he haven’t seen or heard from you in a really long time.? Your style of clothing improved, not that he disliked the old one. You were more confident. He could see it from the way you stand, the way you talk and the way you walk, you were stunning as ever.

His eyes quickly avoided your direction when he saw that you were coming back inside the room. You approached him and asked, “how are you feeling now?” a worried expression was painted all over your face.

“I’m feeling fine, never been better,” given to his situation he still managed to sneak in a sarcastic comment.

“Kei,” you sternly stated. The way his name came out of your mouth, sends shivers down his spine. He forgot how serious you could get that sometimes even himself was a little frightened of you, but he would never admit it to himself.

“Besides the fact that I’m in a hospital bed and my face is all beaten up, I think I’m fine,” he sighed.

“Why would you let yourself get beaten up like this? And more importantly why did they do this to you?” you scowled. You were frustrated on why Tsukishima didn’t fight back. After a few seconds of silence, you figured that he doesn’t want to talk about it. “Uh, it’s okay you don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just lost in my thoughts,” he trailed off. You seated on the couch beside the hospital bed as he was getting ready to tell you what happened. He huffed, “remember that girl I... the reason why we broke up?” He mentally face palmed himself. Why didn’t he think twice before telling you what happened. He should’ve just kept his mouth shut. He guessed that there no turning back now.

There was this awkward atmosphere all over the room. But you still managed to let out a hum for him to continue what he was saying.

“She ghosted me like no phone call, no text message no nothing. She was gone just like that. After a week, I heard a rumor that she got back with her ex. Those dudes earlier was his ex and his friends. All I wanted was an explanation. How could she left me like that? She didn’t even say goodbye or break us off. I was going to let her go, I just wanted the answer to my questions.,” he explained. You could hear sadness and frustration in his tone.

Your gaze softened as you stare at him. All he wanted from the girl was closure but in return he got ghosted and even more worse he got beaten up. You noticed a tear escaped his eyes but he quickly turned his back on you and wiped it away.

You felt bad. You know that he doesn’t deserve this, no one deserves to go through this kind of situation. He deserves to be happy, even though he broke up with you. He just wanted to be happy, to find light into this dark and cruel world. You wanted to help him and you will.

“Kei,” you softly called out. “Um I’ll give you some space,” you excused yourself and walked out of the room. You thought that this is the best thing he needs, space. So he can clear the things that’s on his mind.

You stayed at the hospital that night. You were also the one who took care of him while he was there. You know how hard his situation is, so you thought that this is the least you could do for him. Even though you guys broken up years ago, he was still someone very special to you.

“Kei, where are you going? You just got out of the hospital,” Tsukishima’s brother, Akiteru reminded as his stubborn little brother was putting his shoes on.

“I’m going to see Y/N,” he answered. “I’m gonna thank her for taking care of me and pay her back for the hospital bills,” he pondered as he closed the door behind him not even giving his brother a chance to reply.

He wanted to thank you for your kindness and consideration. You were there when he was at his darkest times. When he thought no one could pull him out of that heartbreak, but there you were, stretching your arm to help him get out of it and once again brought light into his life.

You stayed with him for the whole time he was there. You bought him food, you even baked him his favorite strawberry shortcake and everything that he needs. You were even the one who paid for his hospital bills and he felt so embarrassed that you paid for it, that’s why he wanted to see you to pay you back and maybe that’s not the only reason on why he wanted to see you again.

It was selfish but he wanted you back. He regretted ever leaving such a kind hearted person like you. He wanted another chance, another chance for the both of you. And this time he’ll make sure he will stay ‘till the end. He’ll make sure to never leave you again, to never hurt you.

He saw a U-haul parked in front of your house. His heart fluttered, does this mean your moving back here? Is this fate finally turning into his side? Is this fate telling him to shoot his shot again? That there’s still hope for the both of you?

“Y/N!” he called out when he noticed your small figure standing on the sidewalk.

“Oh, Kei! I forgot that you’ll be discharged today,” you divulged. “Sorry I didn’t help you pack up. I was a little occupied today.”

“No no. It’s fine. You already done so much,” he checked out the truck. “Are you moving back here?” he asked, trying not to sound too excited or intrigued.

You also took a glimpse of the U-haul truck behind you. “No. It’s quite the opposite...” Tsukishima was confused if you’re not moving back here and there’s a U-haul truck in front of your house, does that mean. “I’m actually moving out,” you declared.

“What?” He mused.

“There was so much going on that I forgot to mention it when we were at the hospital. But yeah, the reason why I’m back here is because I’m permanently moving out to live with my fiancé in Tokyo,” you happily announced as you reminisce when a guy was on bended knee in front of you holding a velvet box with a beautiful ring inside it.

“Huh? I mean, you have a fiancé? It’s just that- I didn’t notice you wearing a ring for the past few days,” he blurted out. Maybe you were just pranking him. You were quite a prankster when the two of you were still dating.

“Yeah, because he bought the wrong size and it needed to be adjusted since it’s a little big for my finger,” you laughed. You showed him your hand to show a beautiful diamond engagement ring on your ring finger.

He gawked at the ring as his plans came crushing down on him. His plan to get back with you, to treat you right this time.

That’s when it hit him, his plan was so one-sided. He made a plan not knowing what was going on with your life or how far you have become. He didn’t even ask if you were dating someone or not. He made a plan only thinking about his opinion.

This was the problem back then, he would only think about himself, about what would make him happy. That’s why he broke up with you because he thought he’ll be happier with that girl.

He wasn’t contented with the happiness you were giving him since you were always away. He was blinded by the amount of attention the girl gave him, the attention he craved from you. Since the girl was there for him who he thought that she will always be there but she only used him to get over her ex. In which she obviously did not ‘cause she crawled back to his ex.

And when he finally understood what happiness feels like, his happiness already found its own happiness, you already found someone else.

You didn’t mention anything to him because you were busy consoling him out of his break up. And you thought it’ll be weird to just suddenly say something about your life when he couldn’t even put his life together.

“Ah! There he is! Keiji!” you shrieked as you noticed a guy walking behind Tsukishima. As Akaashi made his way to you, you cling into his arm like a koala. He was your happiness, he was the one who helped you with every struggle you encounter, he was your yellow.

Akaashi smiled at how cute and clingy you were. He kissed your forehead. “Are you ready?”

“Of course! Oh! My parents kept asking where you were or what time you’ll arrive. It feels like they want to see you more than their own daughter!” you pouted.

“They don’t mean to make you feel that way, princess,” he chuckled at how childish you were but he still find it adorable.

“I know,” you giggled. “Oh, babe, you still remember Kei, right?” You stated as you remember the fellow was still standing right in front of the both of you.

Tsukishima painfully watched the whole exchange of how you, his world cling into another man’s arm.

“Of course,” Akaashi turned his gaze to the lad in front of him. “we played in high school, remember?” he smiled and reached out his hand to Tsukishima. In which Tsukishima returned.

Akaashi knew your past with him. He knew how broken you were when your 5 year long boyfriend broke up with you. He was also the one who witnessed you crying alone in the classroom. He stayed by your side ever since.

“Right, hehe. Babe, did you brought it?” you asked.

“I did,” he replied. He pulled something out of his pocket it was a small envelope and you excitedly grabbed it out of his grasp.

You gave it to Tsukishima. He opened it and it was what he expected it to be, a wedding invitation that is a few months away.

“Since we promised to invite each other on our wedding, there you go,” you sweetly smiled.

“Oh,” he forced out a laugh. What a terrible turn of events. It was supposed to be the other way around. He was supposed to be the one giving you an invitation to his wedding, not you. He chortled, “karma is really a bitch.”

“Huh? Did you say something?” you asked.

“I said I’m happy for the both of you and that I’m going to attend your wedding,” he lied. You clapped because you were happy that he was going. You were actually a little worried that he won’t be able to come since you thought he’ll be awkward about it.

You were happy that such a close friend of yours was able to come. Yes, before you guys dated he was the closest to a brother to you but the break up placed a gap between the two of you. Since you thought that he already moved on from your past, you took this chance to become friends with him again, to have closure.

That’s what you thought, but the truth is he never got over you. He would always feel shallow and empty after the break up. It was only covered up by the girl’s attention.

Tsukishima watched as you walked down the aisle, your hands tightly clenched on the white bouquet. He attended your wedding just take a glimpse of you walking down the aisle and wearing a white dress. Even though he wasn’t the one waiting in the altar.

216 notes · View notes

mommymooze · 3 years

Text

Dreaming of a Different Day

Reader, Fe3h Characters, Modern AU

Blood, gore, fighting, dead bodies, homework, sweating

7986 words

Working night shift at a gas station isn’t the most glorious job, but it helps pay the bills while you are trying to complete your degree at college. Determined to graduate without getting buried under an insurmountable amount of student debt, you work two jobs, sometimes three, even if it means taking 10 years to get a 4 year degree. Scoring a job in building maintenance for the college certainly helps with getting reduced fees on classes and books. Between two current jobs and classes or study time, there isn’t much time to sleep. Sometimes you volunteer your body as a lab rat for some of the studies done at the university, if you can work them in to your hectic schedule. This time they want to study your brain while you sleep. Getting paid to sleep? Sign me up!

Filling your 32oz. thermal bucket with coffee, you head out to catch a bus to campus. You have about an hour to study before you make it to the appointment at the psychology building.

An alarm sounds on your phone, time to pack up to make it to your appointment on time. Stashing your laptop and books into your backpack you head up the stairs to the third floor. Opening the door, you see a sleepy looking green haired student gathering forms together and stapling them into packets, placing them into manila folders.

“I’m here for the 8:00am appointment.” You announce.

He hands you a folder and a pen, telling you to fill out the paperwork and return them to him when complete.

You fill out the forms completely and honestly. Your sleep schedule is hell, you sleep when you can, mostly during daylight hours. You don’t recall any of your dreams or nightmares. No drinking or drugs. No sense in lying on these forms, they’ll find out if you’re trying to say something to please them or force yourself into their study group. Forms complete, you place them on the front desk as the young man nods.

Returning to your table you pull out your laptop and begin working on homework. You notice someone is standing in front of you.

A tall young woman with short blonde hair smiles at you, asking you to follow her. You grab your things, she leads you to a small room with a bed and several different machines, some on tables, some freestanding.

She tells you to change into a hospital gown, tie in the front because they need to attach some wires for monitoring. Most of the wires are attached to your head. She tells you the liquid they use to have it stick to your head is easily washed out of your hair. Once you are fully wired, she leaves and comes back with the fluffiest, warmest blanket you have ever felt and wraps it around you leading you to the bed. She asks if you want a sleep mask to block out the light and you do. The hum of the machines, the darkness and the fluffy warm blanket are enough to get you to fall asleep quite quickly.

A soft alarm goes off and you hear the voice of the green haired man asking you what you remember. You stay still, thinking. You recall walking down a corridor, speaking with other people. They are dressed differently. Maybe wearing a school uniform? You were carrying a book headed to…you can’t remember. It is strange, why suddenly have a dream here of all places? Taking the mask from your eyes you look to see him writing. He finishes his notes and leaves muttering a soft “Thank you.”

The wires are removed, you are told to change back into your regular clothes. They will message you if you will be chosen for further study. Handing you an envelope full of cash you head out the door, just in time to make it to your class.

Classes done for the day. You are mopping the floors of the student housing building 3. Yet another party to clean up after. Sure, you could notify the RA’s and make the other students do it, but they would make more mess and take too long. It is easier to simply clean it up yourself. Giving the floor a final mop, you shriek as someone steps behind you and taps on your shoulder.

“Hey, sorry we made so much mess for you.” A handsome male with dark hair, darker skin and brilliant green eyes smiles at you.

“No prob. No mess, no job, right?” You answer. They always show up when the work is about done.

“Can I interest you in some cake? We have some left.” He gestures with his hand open towards you.

“Nope. Smelled it too long cleaning it from floor vents.” You keep swiping the mop back and forth, then dunking it in your soapy bucket, squeezing it out and slapping it back on the floor.

Claude attempts to introduce himself. “Claude Riegan, Senior, Political Science.”

You answer in a monotone voice, “I am the janitor.“

“Hah.” He forces a laugh. “I’ve seen you in the halls here and there. You’re a student as well.”

You shrug, going to the closet to dump out your bucket. “Gotta run. Bldg 2 calls.”

He smiles and waves, you sort of wave back.

Work complete you head back to the smaller than an efficiency apartment you rent. Hotplate, and microwave for cooking, it has a half bath so you wash in a plastic tub. One small room for everything, no closets. Everything you own is in labeled tubs. No windows, but there is a door that locks.

You work on homework until your brain is fried. Collapsing on your bed you set an alarm, plug in your phone and laptop and sleep for a few hours before you have to get up for work tonight at the gas station.

Making it to class 5 minutes early you haul your bucket of coffee with a straw in it to your seat. Did you see that Claude guy in the halls? He likes yellow shirts. Both times you saw him in that color.

Today you listen to the lecture while looking around the room. Most of the time you take notes but you know this particular subject well. There’s a guy with light green hair and glasses to the right. Why does he look familiar? Have you seen him in a class before? You recognize the emo guy in front with a brown haired girl always huddled together. Oh no. The horrendous heartbreaker is here. Who doesn’t know about him? How many messes of his have you cleaned up because he’s dumped a girl and she resorted to violence and damaged school property? At least 100. You had no idea he was in your class. You lift up a book to block his direct view of your face. Perhaps you can remain nonexistent to him.

The professor ends the lesson. You note the work to be turned in, due date, assigned reading. Just as you’re about to finish tossing everything into your bag, you get a text. The psych guys want you for another sleep study. You tell them you can daytime sleep Tues or Thurs or Fri til 5. Great. They take all 3.

Cool. You may actually have some free cash for a few weeks. Maybe you can splurge on new shoes.

Monday night at the gas station is quiet. They usually are. Coffee keeps you coherent enough to make correct change and clean things properly. You have enough time to get home, clean up and hit the psy lab by 6am. They are to wake you 2 so you can make your class in plenty of time.

Mercie is the girl that wires you up to the machines. She hands you the sleep mask and fluffy blanket. It doesn’t take you long to go to sleep having come off your caffeine high a couple hours ago.

The alarm goes off and you bolt upright to a seated position in the bed, gasping for breath.

“Tell me quickly.” The green haired man encourages you to speak.

“I was fighting for my life. There was a battle. It was primitive. There were swords and long spears and huge axes with blades bigger than your head. A woman had fire coming from her fingers killing a man. I could smell his flesh burning. I stabbed bad people with my spear. I had to help my friends. We were fighting…um…a gang? thieves? They were hurting people nearby. My friend was hit by a spear and I killed the guy that hit him. Then I was…touching my friend’s stab wound. Light came from my fingers and I watched the hole in his side close up.” You sat there, staring at your hands. They were your hands but no longer covered in blood. You were grimacing as hard as you were in the dream, concentrating on your hands. But they did not glow.

“What else? What about the land?” His disinterested voice demands more.

“It was in a wild undeveloped area. No buildings. Just trees and rocks and bushes. We were fighting our way up a hill. Some of us going up one side, some going the other. I could hear them fighting on the other side of the hill. We were going to meet at the top. I couldn’t wait to see the leader, I kept looking for her blue hair. I knew she was the best fighter ever and would do everything to keep us safe.”

“Anything else?” His last follow up question.

“It’s faded a lot now. So much blood everywhere. The smells, they were awful. Metal banging on metal was so loud.”

He stands and stretches. “Thank you.” He says as he closes the door behind him.

You get dressed and grab your stuff heading for your afternoon class. Why are you suddenly dreaming? You don’t remember dreaming much before since you were a kid. This was a nightmare. You didn’t drink anything. You had slept over 7 hours, that’s the longest you’ve slept in…months? If the nightmares keep up, you’re not sure this is worth the extra cash.

After class you head home. You don’t feel as exhausted as you normally do, so you work ahead on a class or two. Most of the time homework can be done while you’re at the gas station counter.

Class in the morning is boring. Only a few more weeks to suffer before you get a break. Heading home you lay in your bed. You want to sleep. You really, really do. But now you’re afraid if you close your eyes, will the dreams continue? You grab your accounting book and start reading. You wake up with your alarm going off so you can get ready to head to work tonight. You do not dream, not even a about spreadsheets.

Work is uneventful. Mostly the same people coming in to buy the same things. Taking deliveries of different foods and replacing the purchased items on the shelves. Completing homework as time allows. Finally, it is time to clock out as the next shift comes in to deal with the daytime crowd.

You hit the bus, get to your room, swap out what you don’t need with what you do, toss your backpack on and head out to the Psych lab. You’re wired up and under the blanket. You feel a bit anxious about sleeping, however it is totally dark and the humming of the machines soon overtakes your thoughts and you fall asleep.

You awaken to hear the same guy as before asking you to talk.

Not opening your eyes you go through what happened.” There was a battle but not a real battle. Everyone is fighting but you aren’t really trying to kill each other. The weapons are fake. The magic is real but not seriously real. It reminds me of watching football practice. Each team wore their colors and are trying to beat up the others. The yellow team wins and everyone goes to a party. The blue haired leader lady said I had done a great job. She asks me to have tea and wants to talk about joining her house. Is she leading a fraternity? I woke up as I was helping clean up the mess after the party.”

“Tell me where this happened.” He asks.

“Well, the battle was on a big open field. There was a hill that someone could pull a lever and fire stuff at others. Scattered clumps of trees here and there, where some people would hide. It was a long walk to get to the field there. When walking I spoke with a grayish haired guy that would talk about stories he read about knights and do gooders. Oh, and on a big hill were three people with bright green hair. A man, woman and a younger shorter girl. They were watching. But they did not go to the party after. The party was in the dining area back at the school.”

You’re dressed, your hair feels sticky, so you put on a baseball cap with the university logo on it and head to your janitorial job. Mind numbing floor sweeping, mopping, and emptying trashcans fills your night. You are glad you had a good sleep at the psych lab, because it’s a short night tonight after getting off at 3am and having a class again at 8am the next day, you make it, like any other college student.

Grabbing something awful to eat after class, you head back to the third floor in the psych building for the last sleep of this week.

You wake up completely and totally freaked out. What a nightmare. Walking forever in the rain until you are soaked through, your skin all cold and wrinkly, and now you go into the creepy tower with the rest of the Blue Lions. You’re on the blue team. An older woman is the teacher, you wish you had the blue haired lady, she was so awesome.

Everyone creeps around and around going up higher in the tower while bad guys are firing arrows and popping out of hidden spaces. You remember using magic. You concentrated and this circle with marks on it appeared in your vision and next thing you know you shot lightning out of your fingers at a monster. A horrifying monster. It used to be a mean ugly guy but he changed and got big and evil looking, like a T-rex heavy on the claws and teeth. Everyone is fighting for their lives.

The worse part is one of them was his brother and had to get something back for his family. There was so much blood. Everyone was freaked out, especially the guy that killed his brother. It was horrible. By the time you finished talking to Linny, you were shaking and holding yourself. He just kept saying it was only a dream and told you that you would be fine.

You head to classes trying to best to concentrate.

Normally the job of polishing floors is nice. The machine does all of the work, you just change out the heads to clean then polish. The hallways here lead to rooms that have been reset for a large Art show presenting the student’s works. Many of the students are in your way, hauling in stands and setting up displays of their work. You keep looking down, studying the polishing machine. You can’t look at most of the artwork it, reminds you of the monsters you’ve dreamed of, or swords, or there is blood everywhere. What happened to fields of flowers? Paint a bowl of fruit or something bland.

You clock out at 3 am, head back to your room and crash burying yourself under a ton of blankets. One class today then you don’t have to be back to the university until 6pm. You need to hide in your bed. You are mentally exhausted. You need to sleep, so you down some cold medicine and it knocks you out.

Sleep is not kind. You aren’t in the lab, you are in the safety of your own bed. The dreams, okay, nightmares continue. Some girl is missing. Everyone is trying to find her. The Blue Lions leave to find some item and fight monsters, when you come back they found her, some other gal that was missing, and a creepy skeleton looking guy on a horse fought them in the basement. Ugh. You remember that head someone had on a stand in the art class, with the red glowing eyes. At least before you woke up you remember having tea with the blue haired professor and you agreed to join her group. She also gives you nice flowers for your birthday. You wake up just after tea was over.

You’ve never dreamed before. What the hell. You aren’t getting paid to dream at home. You don’t want this. What can of worms have they opened on you? You want your regular dreamless close your eyes, sleep, open them and go again. Not running miles and chasing horrible things and stabbing stuff and getting hurt and bleeding.

After class this morning the library is your destination today. Gotta get some references and info for a class. You stop by a quicky mart on the way. Need coffee. You’re not one of those fancy coffee kids, just creamer and go. You could care less what mountain they grew the coffee on as long as it is caffeine and keeping you awake.

Filling your cup with the elixir of consciousness, you see a girl with purple hair having problems with the whipped cream function of the expensive coffee and creamer dispenser.

You walk up to her. “Hey Bernie, want me to help?”

“Sure.” The girl says still punching buttons.

You fiddle with the machine knowing how temperamental they can be and get plenty of whip cream on top of her coffee.

She looks at me to say thank you, drops her books and screams. “Who are you? I don’t even know you!”

You shove a lid on her cup and put it in her hands. “Take your coffee.” Picking up her books, you stuff them in her arms. You head for the checkout. Your brain is confused too. You don’t know her, but she’s in the dreams and it’s her, Bernadetta.

Heading to the library you pull out your laptop and begin working on a project for class. You keep your head down, concentrate you keep telling yourself, but pieces of the dreams creep up on you every time you try to focus. Writing a few sentences, you click on an arrow on your laptop screen. You remember Bernie shooting arrows and she’s an amazing archer along with Ignatz. They love to paint. You wonder what it would look like if they did something together.

Concentrate. Fingers on the keyboard. The page is filling with text, the project is coming along. You need to find another book for reference. Signing into the library website you search for its location. You find the book and take it back to your seat. Flipping through it you find the section you want. Inside there is a postit note:

“Don’t bother with this. It’s wrong. See…” It lists a book you passed on, thinking this would be better. Perhaps the mysterious postit writer has been through this class and is saving everyone else from the same headaches. Nice. You get up and trade out books. This one does have exactly what you are looking for and your project speeds forward. You flip through the book once you’re finished with its contents and surprise! Another postit. “Bonus: Check out…”

You are enraptured, of course you go to find the next book. It is even better than the last one. The section related to your task has a note. “BTW, don’t quote that last book, Prof hates it. Do this instead. The curious get the rewards!” OMG. This is the greatest stuff. But the game is over, no more notes, you even check behind the last one. It did keep you entertained and focused though, a great help or you may have never finished this.

Saving everything and backing it up onto the cloud you have enough time to toss your stuff into the employee lockers and get your janitorial getup on. Baseball cap and earbuds in, it’s time for 8 hours of cleaning up after everyone else.

Building 3 is the party hub of the campus. At least they cleaned up some of the party decor, floor vents contain no cake, but they still leave a mess. You have to wash down the walls.

About 1:30am a dark haired guy with a ponytail comes in all frazzled asking if I’ve seen a red headed guy passed out somewhere. Nope. We both check the balcony and there he is out on a plastic chair. It is heartbreaker Sylvain.

You ask for help picking him up to get him to a standing position. You tell his buddy to hold him still. Throwing your right shoulder into his crotch you grab his left arm and throw it over your opposite shoulder. Sylvain is now up over your shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

His buddy gets the door and elevator for you. When the door opens there is a wheelchair close by and you dump Sylvain into it.

“How’d you know how to do that?” His friend asks.

“I’ve carried him before.” You answer as you help wheel Sylvain to the car. You help pour him into the front seat and reach over the seatbelt to his friend.

“Good luck. He’s your problem now.” You mutter as you turn around and head back to work.

At least this time he wasn’t bleeding you think. Wait. You’ve carried Sylvain before, during a fight. To get him to safety. That was Felix who came to get him. When you carried him, you were in leather gear and had more muscles. It reminds you of highschool wrestling. You did that for a few years. It felt so right doing that, but this college doesn’t have women’s wrestling, so you left it behind. It was how you got the job in janitorial because you are a female that can lift and move heavy weights, doing it the right way and not getting hurt.

Finishing your shift it is early Sunday morning. You go home, sleep, and dream.

You’re playing chess with Hubert. You’re beating him and he is pissed. He threatens you with cheating, distracting him, etc. You laugh at him. He’s always threatening someone or something.

Byleth comes in and ends the game. You head to a war meeting with the rest of the Black Eagles Strike force. Now that Byleth has returned Edelgard wants to recapture the great bridge at Myrddin.

After the meeting you head out to the training area for magic users. Warming up with a few Thunder spells, you work through Thoron then Bolting. The magic flowing through you feels amazing, you are one with the forces of nature.

You can feel the cold flowing from your fingertips as you cast blizzard at a target. Casting Fimbulvetr you watch as a solid ice grows around and surrounds the target.

Taking a few cleansing breaths, you then cast sagittae, the arrows breaking chunks of ice off of the target. Agnea’s Arrow finally strikes the ice, causing bright flames releasing steam into the area. The ice and target are obliterated.

You feel a good exhaustion come over you. Practice complete, you head to your quarters to complete additional research for some spells you have been working on.

The next moment you are on the bridge, fighting Alliance fighters and a few former classmates. Byleth has you stationed further away from the students, your goal is to take out a number of heavily armored ground troops and clear the way to Judith, leader of the enemy forces. Your fingers spark with electricity as your favorite spells are prepared. You remind yourself to keep your jubilant shrieks to yourself, in the last battle Hubert chastised you for frightening Bernadetta.

You wake up in your bed. This time you are not revulsed by the fighting. It felt thrilling. That scares you more than when you were upset and afraid. Things are so different in this dream. Byleth is a woman. But you’ve seen them before as a man. You know Edelgard was your enemy before, but this time you practically worship the ground she walks on. You remembered the singular focus you had in the dream. Nothing to distract you from your goal. You would forgo sleep, train well into the night.

Why were you playing chess with Hubert? Oh. He had tricked you, saying that chess is training of the mind to think more strategically. You thought he was trying to keep you out of the training grounds for a while. He’s always playing mother hen over everyone, sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.

Sitting up in your bed you shake your head. That was not part of the dream. It felt more like a memory. Are these dreams making you delusional now? You would like to get off this mental merry-go-round.

The next two weeks are filled with working nights, classes or sleeping during the day. Your bank account is getting fat. Your brain is not doing so well. Things from your dreams hit you during the day. Stopping at the cafeteria of the college, you look down at your tray of obviously poor choices. Mercedes voice is in your ear, suggesting that you eat more vegetables. You swear you can hear Manuela tell you to put the pie back on the shelf and get brussels sprouts, dark greens are much healthier for you.

You wear hoodies to class now that the weather is getting a bit colder. Tying the hood around your face to block your peripheral vision helps you concentrate on where you are going. Otherwise you feel like you recognize so many people.

Yesterday, while in the cafeteria you ate your oatmeal with extra raisins and apples, less sugar, thank you Marianne, when you heard a male voice over the rest of the throng. You knew it was Ferdinand. He was being boastful and incredibly proud of his stance on the subject, as a noble should be. It had to be him. Gulping down your food you grab your carton of 2% milk and head out the door to take the long way around to class.

Being a lab rat for the psy group seems to be getting easier. It is like you slip into an alternate universe in the past. Everyone there has the right names and faces, while here in the future, most of them don’t know themselves as you do.

Linny gets lazy about writing down everything. He simply records everything on a laptop and someone else can transcribe it. He sits in his chair, folds his arms and drifts off to sleep to the sound of your voice telling of your dreams.

It is getting harder to keep your accounts of what happens in the dreams simple. You know everyone’s names, the weapons, the enemies, the spells. You feel the need to translate them into something that relates to modern equivalents. You are also trying to be careful about revealing just how deep you are into these…are they just dreams? Memories? Recollections?

Finishing your recitation of the dream, Linhardt is asleep again. Linny!! It’s Linny now. You poke him in the ribs where you know he is ticklish, he quickly wakes and demands that you stop. You ask him to unhook the wires so you can head out. Taking your envelope, you head out to the ATM, deposit the cash then get ready for work.

Noting the amount of posters on the walls for the party in Student housing building 3, Claude is going to have a huge mess for you to clean up. Finishing work on the admin building you head over to whatever disaster awaits you after the party.

The common area and meeting room used for the event are not the worst you have seen. They even bagged up most of their trash. Hauling in a huge plastic dumpster on wheels, you load up the bags to make room to maneuver. Wiping down the tables and chairs you stack and move them to make mopping easier.

“Hey, hope things are better this time, Janitor.” Claude announces as he walks into the room.

“It’s nice. Thanks.” You mumble, surprised that he is here.

“I know we left a huge mess before, so I put Hilda in charge of cleanup.” He has that smirky grin on his face. It’s funny how some things never change. He’s still handsome too.

“I bet she was pissed that you’re making her work.” You say without thinking.

“She was.” Claude nods. “You know her?”

“I..uh..know some people in common.” You answer, wiping a table harder. Claude has always been intensely curious and you are now on his radar. Great.

“You look familiar. I can’t recall where I know you from.” Claude’s voice trails off as he puts his hand to his chin and thinks.

“I have pretty common looks. One head, two eyes with bags under them from lack of sleep. Same as most students.”

Claude sits cross-legged on one of the not too dirty tables, making himself at home. He is staring at you, his chin resting on his fist.

You finish the tables and chairs, except for the table that is occupied and sweep the largest chunks from the floor.

“Please tell me you are not majoring in sanitation or building maintenance.” Claude finally speaks.

“I thought you fell asleep.” You shake the broom onto the building pile of crumbs and debris. You answer him, “No.”

“Too simply dressed to be arts. Rocket scientist?” Claude asks, raising an eyebrow. “You hang out in the science and mathematics buildings.”

“Allergic to RP-1.” You answer, sweeping the crud into a dustpan and heading to the janitorial closet for a mop and bucket. As you emerge with your tools, Claude is in the hallway waiting for you.

“Thank you for an engrossing and in depth conversation.” He yawns and stretches his arms. “Next time don’t talk my ear off.”

Giving a happy sigh of relief you finish cleaning and reassembling the room into its standard configuration. Finishing for the night you grab a shower and head home for a nap and a homework filled day.

Sunday night at the gas station starts off with the normal routine. Delivery trucks unloading overpriced snacks, little old ladies holding up the line while they dig out exact change from their purse, kids dumping sodas on the floor. Past midnight the customers are few and far between. The door sounds and you look up from your bookwork. Some guy with messy red hair starts to come in, turns around and yells at whoever is in the car parked outside in the handicapped spot.

He turns around and faces you. First, you see the gun in his hands. Second, you look at his face and see Miklan.

“Hands up, Bitch. Listen or you are fucking dead.” He snarls, waving the gun.

You put your hands in the air alongside your head. A gunshot rings out, you hear the bullet hit the wall behind you, just over your head.

Miklan snickers, “Yup, loaded. Open the fucking cash register then get back.” He orders.

You open the till then push your back into the cigarettes displayed behind you. He climbs on the counter, reaching in the drawer, looking to grab the cash, but still pointing the gun at you. You keep your hands up, moving them in familiar positions as you softly mouth the words.

An incredibly bright flash of light goes off in front of you combined with a near deafening boom. Miklan’s body flies in the air, landing on his back on the floor. The entire store goes dark. The car outside flashes its lights, then backs up, crashing into a gas pump and speeds off.

You grab your cell phone out of your bag, thrilled when the screen lights up. Calling 911, they say they are on the way. In minutes police, a fire truck and ambulance arrive. They let you grab your belongings and take you outside away from the building under a nearby streetlight. You see camera flashes coming from the building as the ambulance hauls a stretcher inside. An officer speaks with you for a while, telling you to relax and saying a lot of nothing. They frequently ask if you are okay. Your voice shakes and you are visibly trembling from the experience.

After almost an hour they make you lock up the building (minus one Miklan) and take you to the station for questioning. You call your employer while riding in the car. They will handle the store, they are happy you are alive. Take off the rest of the week with full pay.

At the police station you tell them what happened. He came in, shot the gun, you opened the drawer and while he was taking the money something electrical must have happened because there was an electric flash and the whole building went dark. You try to describe the car that was parked outside. You never got a look at the driver.

The police thank you for your cooperation, giving you a cup of coffee, a Danish, and a ride home. You head up the stairs to your apartment and unlock the door. Turning on the light you notice an unmarked envelope on the floor. Nervously you open it. Inside is a slip of paper that says:

“We need to talk. -B.”

You fall onto your bed. You know the handwriting. Its them. Byleth is here, now. There is nothing else on the paper. No phone number. You have no idea what to do next. The only thing you can think of doing is wait. Since it is 3am, you may as well try to sleep. For seeing a dead body for the first time in this life, you are more relaxed about it than you feel you should be.

You wake up to your phone announcing a text message. You sit up and see you have 3 unread messages from an unknown number. You take a deep breath.

[8:00] Hey

[8:05] Wake up

[8:07] Wakey, wakey

I’m up. [8:07]

[8:08] Blue Prius outside, get in and take a ride

Every alarm in your head is going off telling you that this is a bad idea.

Give me a couple minutes to get ready. [8:08]

Stepping outside there is the Prius. As you arrive you open the door to see a huge man hunched over the wheel. He is so large part of him is in your seat. You close the door as you wonder how he got into the car in the first place. You move his elbow away to put on your seatbelt.

“Heya pal.” He says.

“Balthus?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

“The one and only.” He smirks and hits the gas so hard you fly back in your seat.

He takes you downtown. You are glued to the seast, white knuckled, hanging on to the door handle as he drives like a maniac. You can’t say anything because your heart is in your throat. He suddenly stops in front of a large, unmarked brick building with a 16 above the door.

“Go on ahead, it’s going to take me a while to get out of here. Elevator is through the doors, fourth floor.” Balthus grunts as he opens the door and begins to unfold himself to get out of the tiny car.

As you step up to the door you hear it unlock. Going inside there is no doorman, no security, simply a hallway that leads to the elevator. Punching the up button, you wait. Checking your phone there are no new texts. The doors open and you go inside, hitting the 4thfloor button. You are shaking with excitement, nervousness, dread and who knows what else. As the doors open, they reveal an elegant and very tasteful office setting. Behind a high counter you can’t recognize the person sitting there until they stand up and smile widely at you, holding out his hand.

“Hi. Just call me Gavin. I’m sure you know me as-“

“Gatekeeper!” You gasp and laugh, shaking his hand warmly.

He hits a button on the desk and a voice on the intercom responds, “Okay.”

The door on the other side of the room clicks and opens.

“You can head on in now.” Gavin gestures to the slightly open door.

You walk to the other side of the reception desk and the door is open to a richly wood paneled hallway. The door on the other end of this hall opens as you approach. You pull the door the rest of the way open, stepping in to see Byleth sitting in a large comfortable office chair and Yuri partially seated on the top of the desk on the opposite side.

“Welcome to the fold.” Yuri holds his arms out wide.

You rush over to give him a huge hug, like you would any dear friend. Because he was? Is? You’re not sure, but you hug him anyway.

“I’m sure you have many questions.” Byleth folds his hands on his desk and looks at you, waiting for your response.

“I don’t get a hug?” You ask, holding your arms out.

Byleth stands and steps around the desk and hugs you, then looks down at you. “I apologize. I am not certain what you know and what you remember.”

“A lot. This is going to take a while.” You answer. “Can we drop the formal setting and sit somewhere comfy? With you behind the desk it’s like we’re back in school.”

“I’ll get us some coffee.” Yuri offers. “Cream only, right?”

“Yup.” You chime as Byleth leads you to an overstuffed corner couch in front of large windows that offer a great view of the city. You take a seat at one end and take your coffee, placing it on the end table next to you. Yuri and Byleth sit beside each other on the other end.

“So you two are together this time?” You ask.

“Yeah.” Yuri smiles as he takes Byleth’s hand in his own.

“Awesome. My favorite.” You nod.

“Just how much do you remember?” Yuri asks, tilting his head.

“I remember fighting alongside each of the houses. If I was not in the house when Byleth led them, they recruited me. Byleth was a male once, a female twice. Three times altogether.” You begin, then frown. “Strange. None of them are like the history books.

Yuri and Byleth look at each other for what seemed like a long time. Yuri bends over and hits a button on the telephone on the table.

“Gavin, order lunch to be brought in and make reservations for dinner. Cancel any remaining appointments for today. Thanks”

“Okay. Start from the beginning. Let’s say Blue Lions. What is your first memory with them?”

“I was staying at an inn, Remire Village. I just made it to the dining area and was stuffing my face full of food when Jeralt comes in all pissed off because these kids show up and they’re in trouble.” You begin. They let you keep talking. Yuri tents his fingers at times, mostly sits back sipping his coffee.

Byleth is spellbound as you begin. He stares into your face like he is reliving your memories with you. Well, they did live them with you. They were your best friend.

You tell them of the battle with Miklan, finding Flayn, Remire, the fall of Jeralt, the defeat of Solon, the battle of Garreg Mach, the five years of being without Byleth, reuniting for the Millennium festival, Dimitri’s madness, the battle at the bridge and Dedue’s return, the nightmare that was Gronder, Merceus and Enbarr.

You then go silent. You look at Yuri and Byleth. You grimace for a moment.

“BylethmarriedDimitri.” You cough into your hand. “I don’t remember much after that.”

Byleth sits back on the couch. “Fascinating.”

“You never told me that-“ Yuri begins to say until Byleth gives him a look that obviously says now is not the time for this.

A beep sounds from the telephone.

“Time for lunch.” Byleth says as he stands up.

You leave through a different door and are led to a dining room. The food smells delicious.

Over lunch you begin your questioning. “Okay, so was this all real? I know you merged with Sothis and everything, convenient to leave that out of the history books, but this actually happened? It’s not just dreams. I began to remember while dreaming, then it moved on to remembering while I was awake. The memories flooded my brain like a tidal wave.”

“Yes. It was real. It did happen. Several times.” Byleth answers you without hesitation.

“You kept reliving that part of your life over and over until you arrived at the best solution? That is fucking amazing. Hawking would've loved it.” You shake your head in near disbelief. “You were the archbishop, but the church isn’t around any more. I guess you just let that go away on its own. What are you doing now?”

Yuri comments about how well the meat is spiced and that they should order this dish again. You interpret this as new subject time.

“There was no mention of dragons or Agarthans in the history books. Did that happen?” You ask quietly.

Byleth nods, “Yes. It did. It was a fantastic combined effort to take them down. We agreed it was best left unwritten.”

The food is quite delicious. You try to think of more pleasant things to talk or ask about, your head spinning with this revelation before you.

“Who else remembers?”

“Just you.” Yuri answers.

“You gotta be shitting me.” Your jaw drops nearly to the table.

“Only you.” Byleth nods.

“Is anyone else supposed to remember?” You’re happy about these two, but you also hoped to speak to a few others. Reminisce about old times? Something like that.

Yuri explains, “Well, in the past we tried a few times, reincarnation is a thing actually. Most of you appear close to the same time. We had tried different ways of bringing through their memories. The problem was that when some remembered they mentally crashed. Now with counseling and medications being as advanced as they are we thought we would try again.”

“So then I volunteer to be a lab rat and something clicked…” Your voice drifts off as you recall the early dreams. .

Yuri continues, “When we read the reports of your dreams we were very excited. What we weren’t’ prepared for is how quickly it awoke the memories in you. We had no idea how you would respond.”

“You are a secretive creature, keeping mostly to yourself.” Byleth nods.

“We’ve been spying on you here and there.” Yuri grins. “You are so damn boring. Anyway, hiring you at the university made it easier to eavesdrop on your conversations.”

“What about the gas station incident.” You have a puzzled look on your face.

“That was all you.” Byleth shakes his head. “We had no idea that you could retain so much knowledge that you could actually cast spells. Crests have pretty much faded from existence. There are probably a few flickers here and there but nothing manifesting.”

You head back to the comfy couch, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. “So what now?”

“Well you can go on with your best life. You can work with us. What do you want to do?” Byleth shrugs. “We want to give your soul some closure. Maybe to be able to move on? Not like some creepy ghost or anything.”

Yuri winks, “Hey what about your love life? Do you remember much about it?”

You scrunch your face remembering what a mess it was. “Yes, I do. Ugh. I fell for Claude but had no chance because of supersexy female Byleth. I chased after Felix who was a good friend, but he was in love with Sylvain for forever. Then omg, can’t believe I am saying this, Hubert, and well, he was all over Ferdinand.”

They both look at you with a slight frown.

“I don’t know what order Byleth went through the different houses. I never remembered from one experience to the next. Now that I remember them all, I can certainly see what I didn’t before. A whole lot of ‘love is blind’ going on. Wanting something so much you can’t see the signs blocking your way.”

“How about now?” Yuri has that sly look about him. What a gossip.

“Working two jobs trying to pay for college and not be buried in debt, I have not dated. Ever.” You shrug. “It isn’t fair to someone else, we would have almost no time together. I work nights 7 days a week then school and homework. There is no time to breathe or eat, much less look for love.”

“Well, Byleth is unavailable.” Yuri moves a bit closer to him to assert his ownership. “You know Claude is quite curious about you, ‘Janitor’.” He taunts.

You roll your eyes. “What part of my life don’t you spy on?”

The three of you talk about fond memories, precious victories, even recalling a few of the tragic events.

“So you’ve poked a hole in my brain and all of my memories are out. What would you like to see me do? Wow. I feel like I just dropped a card into the Advice Box.” You laugh.

Byleth, who loved to answer these, sits up. “You should finish your degree and get your Masters.”

“Masters?” You groan, “I am dying right now, you want more? Degree, Masters, required internships and I’m already behind not being able to take things on full boat. I’ll be graduating when I’m 40.”

“Well, there’s a scholarship you may be interested in.” Yuri has his sneaky sneak face on. “You qualify of course. Pays for your schooling, housing, and monthly stipend. Funded by the Eisner foundation. Very private lot they are. More of a don’t call us, we’ll call you kind of group.”

You fall back onto the couch in shock. “W-why are you doing this?” trying to choke back tears.

“The usual.” He drawls. “Finally being able to catch up with old friends. Thank them for everything they’ve done. We would not be here without you. Hoping maybe you want to hang out with us. Maybe awaken a few others?”

“This is all beyond belief.” You shake your head. “If you asked me six months ago that I would be here with you two, talking over past lives. Wow. Do Seteth and Flayn come and visit?”

“They’re around.” Yuri gestures just vaguely enough to let you know yes, but that is not readily available information at this time.

“You are not planning on forming a vigilante superhero group or something weird like that are you?” You frown.

Yuri pouts. “You don’t want to be Lightning Lady or the silver bolt?”

“No.” you answer resolutely. “Masks freak me out these days. You should’ve seen some of the stuff in the art show. Made the Death Knight look like a fairy princess.”

Byleth stands. “We deserve a great dinner, care to join us at Dedue’s?”

“He’s here? Cooking? You bet!” You realize this is the beginning of something amazing.

#fe3h #feth #fire emblem three houses #fe3 x reader #m!byleth #Yuri Leclerc #fe3h fanfic #fe3h fanfiction

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uwua3 · 3 years

Note

hi bunnie!!! i’m simping over juza again (but when am i not) so may i request some soft juza dating hc’s?? anything is fine 🥺👉👈 ilysm 💕

hi, mel~ ♡ i hope you’re doing well! :D i know you’re a fan of genshin impact, so i hope you enjoy this !!! <333 this isn’t as #Soft as i wanted, but i hope it makes you smile regardless 🥺 i love you lots !!! so does juza~ ´͈ ᵕ `͈ ♡°◌̊ (ahhh can you ever date a fatui harbringer though? hopefully some day TT)

summary: before juza leaves, he gives you a dream he will defend until the end

warnings: genshin impact spoilers(?), mentions of death

author’s note: no, i will not elaborate on why i have this extreme association of juza with childe. please do not ask me, as i will write *too much*. however, for any of my a3! genshin fans, please enjoy this piece for 11th fatui harbringer, hyodo juza! (there are no MAJOR spoilers for childe’s story—just his personality/family relations!)

+ i do NOT ship childe/traveller !!! childe is a young adult while traveller is canonically a teenager, i do not support the actual ship itself. please note juza is 18 in this writing :)

word count: 1,566

music: who are you, really? – mikky ekko, killer – the ready set

until we meet again, in snezhnaya.

🍁🍰 hyodo juza

They call Hyodo Juza, “Defender of Childhood Dreams”.

Because if you make a promise, you keep it. If you make a mistake, you apologize. If you give someone a dream, you defend it ‘til the end.

Despite always being away from his home country of Snezhnaya, Juza found himself keeping his word no matter where he went. As one of the older brothers of the Hyodo household, Juza could clearly remember his younger siblings’ tears as he departed all those years ago.

“Toymakers go all around the world for the best toys! I’ll send home lots of gifts, promise.” Juza swore on his life before disappearing away in the snow, wielding the emblem of the Fatui at eighteen.

“Brother Kumon, I will be home soon. I will take the first ship home, just as I promised—and you know how I always keep my promises.”

Yours faithfully, Your loyal knight

Juza sits in Liyue now, the ink staining the parchment against his will as he carefully signs his name. Gifts of all kinds sat beside him, such as kites, rattle drums, porcelain dolls, and snacks. After all, Juza did make a promise to send gifts. His younger brother, Kumon, deserved the best.

Before Juza could remember the chill of the snow down his spine and the numbing cold of frostbite he hadn’t felt in so long, the surface of his tea became unevenly rippled. At a distance, Juza could already tell it was you. Your rather odd companion, Paimon, could be sighted a mile away with how loud she was. On the other hand, you attentively listened as you stood out amongst the crowds.

Placing his quill down, Juza placed a pleasant smile upon his face. For a second, Snezhnaya disappeared. The frozen binding of his loyalty to her Majesty, the Tsaritsa, melted to reveal a heart longing for you to turn your head.

Even if it was for a moment, Juza’s head cleared of it all. His family waiting for him to conquer the world, his brother awaiting his latest toys, the expectation of laying all seven stars upon the Cryo Archon’s feet. All of it disappeared and all that was left was your face.

Honorary knight of Mondstadt. Hero that slayed Dvalin, or Stormterror. Lost twin looking for your sibling across Teyvat. You, a person from a different world, had made Juza forget why he had been fighting. Ever since he was fourteen, Juza fought tooth and nail just to survive. Now, Juza almost felt like he didn’t have to even move a finger as you met his eyes and returned his smile.

Juza would go through the abyss again, for three years even, to keep that smile.

When you walked over to his table of one, Juza lifted his hand in a wave as he called your name. Like you two were just friends, and nothing more. However, friends... wasn’t enough, not for Juza.

“Finally! My only worthy opponent, have you come for another fight?” Juza half-joked, his voice betraying his rumbling excitement and passion to be beaten once again. You always managed to gain the upper hand despite everything, and the rush of feeling like he was about to die gave him a thrill like no other.

But, you just shook your head as Paimon rolled her eyes, crossing her little arms mid-air. “Gosh, Juza, all you think about is fighting!” Juza held his hands up as if he surrended (he never actually would) and rested his hand on his spear, feeling the cool metal. Juza could imagine the electric sensation of his delusion, crackling for a fight regardless.

Only you could get him so worked up, Juza thought.

“No, I. . .” You trailed off, pausing to look away. The lowering sunset reflected in your eyes, like waves of Liyue’s harbor. Juza watched as your heart beat faster, uncertain, which was strange for such a renown legend in the making. Finally, you met his eyes with the confidence he knew and loved.

“I wanted to see you again before you left Liyue.” You honestly admitted and Juza let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The bustling merchants of the city of contracts continued to thrive around the two. Carts of many merchandises wheeled past them, children ran by making up fantasies beyond the ocean, and business never stopped as trade went on and on. This was Liyue at its finest, and Juza was sure he’d miss it. Or, more specifically, you.

“Really? Perhaps I’ll have to take you home to my family one day. In the snowy hills where everything is cold.” Juza spoke like he was telling a story, as if he was speaking to Kumon back in their one-room hut. As if the snowflakes were in their hair, gloves keeping their hands functional, and makeshift fire was burning weakly between them. You seemed to change, posture weakening as if you were... safe.

You relaxed and didn’t have that subconscious to fight, not when you were with Juza. While you and Juza were two opposite ends of the spectrum, you two had one similarity that bound you together: being born into a life where fighting was the only option. Your hand that always hovered above your weapon fell to your side, and you took a seat across from Juza.

Juza, eleventh Harbringer of the Fatui, feared by all for his chaotic wild card battles. Yet, here he was, writing back home and drinking tea with a traveller who had done the impossible. You made him feel like putting down his weapons and running away, you made him want a second chance at life. As long as it was with you. Only you.

“Snezhnaya... tell me about it.” You said and Juza’s fingers twitched. Visions flew by his mind rapidly, mostly unpleasant and hard to speak of at a place like this. Juza wouldn’t dare tell you about the droughts of hunger when the war left the people to fend for themselves, the iced-over corpses serving as markings in the mountains, nor the everlasting pine trees that spoke of disaster with each collapse. Juza couldn’t say it, not when you were looking at him so wholeheartedly.

“My favorite thing to do is ice-fishing.” Juza started and launched into a whirlwind of his number one hobby. Spoke of the early morning hours cutting holes into thick layers of ice, wobbly legs shaking on the large expanse of the frozen lake, and sitting in silence as wildlife swam beneath them. Juza told you about the spike of adrenaline when he could feel the ice crack haphazardly, the jagged splits uncommon but exciting every time. When Juza shared his most beloved memories, he couldn’t help but feel the Snezhnayan cold with the closest possible feeling to joy.

You listened once again, face pensive and eyes focused on Juza’s hand motions, content tone, and honesty above all. You could almost see the nameless lake, the snow banks, the shadows of fish. You exhaled, and despite the warm atmosphere of Liyue, you swore you could see your breath solidify as if it was Dragonspine.

When Juza closed off his story with a smile, you spoke without a care in the world. As if your sibling wasn’t missing. As if you didn’t have to find all seven archons. As if the fate of Teyvat wasn’t upon your shoulders. Right now, it was just you and Juza. Juza and you.

“When I come to see you in Snezhnaya, I want to have your best fish dish.”

Juza propped his elbow upon the table, before holding his pinky out. You took it with your own, and Juza shot you a wink of many unsaid words. A contract, if you will. Fitting for Liyue.

“It’s a promise. You know I always love testing my limits for my opponents.”

If you make a promise, you keep it.

Juza pulled back first, as he always did. Standing up, Juza paid the bill generously with his excessive Mora. The words “goodbye” left a spicy taste on his tongue, so Juza refused to say them. You two held each other’s gaze for a moment too long, but didn’t mention it.

“I’m sorry for leaving you so soon.”

If you make a mistake, you apologize.

You didn’t react immediately, you just nodded as if it was okay. It wasn’t, really. You both knew Juza’s sudden departure was shrouded in unknown mystery. Neither of you had the courage to properly address it, however.

“But, I’ll see you again. I promised, didn’t I?” Juza began walking away, knowing he was due to leave and run far, far away to his next assignment. Liyue had no place for him anymore. Even when the stars of Teyvat claimed there would always be a place for adventurers, Juza wasn’t so sure if they meant him as well.

All you wanted to do was run after him. Sprint towards Juza and make him stay, even though he never would. You wanted to stand up and weave through the crowds to see his back one last time. But, you didn’t. You didn’t want to make this harder on yourself than it already was.

Before Juza disappeared for a long, long time, he looked over his shoulder with a wave.

“Farewell, my friends. Until we meet again... in Snezhnaya.”

If you give someone a dream, you defend it ‘til the end.

#hyodo juza #juza hyodo #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3! one shots #act! addict! actors! one shots #a3! actor training game #mankai a3!#mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #juza x reader #a3! juza #a3 juza #genshin impact

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canchewread · 3 years

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Editor’s note: this post is part of the Recommended Reading series here on Can’t You Read; an ongoing and evolving feature that combines an easy to swipe info-graphic, a short journal, and a link to an important related discussion I’d like to share with readers.

A Culture of Predation Can’t Stop Fascist Pig Violence

In the wake of the frankly surprising (but extremely welcome) guilty verdicts in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, I’ve tried very hard to reign in my cynicism. After all, the conviction of a cop for murder “in the line of duty,” let alone a white cop who murdered an African American man with an impoverished background, is about as common as a goddamn unicorn fart, and on that account alone the verdict is worth commemorating, if not necessarily celebrating.

While it would be unspeakably obtuse to suggest that the verdict represented some sort of positive justice, it’s also undeniable that many feel this moment may indeed be a starting point; a chance to at least begin to imagine what a positive justice for African Americans might look like. In particular numerous observers have pointed to the very public crumbling of the proverbial “blue wall” of silence, the fact that Chauvin’s fellow police officers passionately testified against him with the whole world watching, as a positive omen for the future of police reform.

Unfortunately I (and many other observers) have doubts about this position. I don’t mean to be a downer, but the truth is that nobody, not even immunized murderpigs and their commanders, can justify the horrifying video of Chauvin mindlessly executing George Floyd over the course of nine and a half minutes. Faced with the choice of openly embracing their own “little Eichmanns” in front of an outraged public, the Blue Meanies decided that ultimately it wasn’t worth protecting a fuck up like Derek Chauvin. The cost, both to his fellow thug cops, and the profession of policing as a whole, would simply have been too damn high to justify the reward.

The sad and horrifying truth here is that if Derek Chauvin had simply shot George Floyd, instead of casually kneeling on his neck for almost ten minutes, he’d probably be a free man today; just like so many cracker murderpigs before him. Furthermore, even this smallest of concessions probably wouldn’t have happened without months of nationwide protests conducted under a state of constant assault by violent, openly rioting police officers. That last reality is certainly not lost on fascists and neoliberal authoritarians; why else do you think reactionary lawmakers are rushing to pass legislation that criminalizes mass protest against racialized police violence?

Still, you can’t blame folks for hoping; hope can be a good thing if it gives you the strength and courage to continue a seemingly impossible fight for actual justice. Perhaps some long day from now we will look back on this moment and say “and the conviction of Derek Chauvin was the point when the wave ultimately broke, and the tide of cracker police violence finally rolled back” - even if it’s clear that these convictions, by themselves, do not have the power to enact the change we so desperately need.

Where I can and will find fault however, is with those deluded and disingenuous souls who have used this moment to once again champion the doomed cause of police reform; blithely ignorant or willfully oblivious to the fact that police reforms already failed to prevent the murder of George Floyd, and so many others like him. The bald truth is that the current establishment movement towards police reform is about maintaining the power and funding of the very same violent uniformed thugs who’re murdering poor people on behalf of the capitalist state in the first place; that’s why nobody is talking about removing qualified immunity for police officers, and that’s why even some cops themselves are coming around to the idea of reform at this late a date. In many ways, the real importance of the movement to “Defund the Police” is that the mere threat of taking away the sweet filthy ducats that pay murderpig salaries has already shifted the carceral establishment’s position towards bargaining; albeit, in bad faith.

The road to neofeudalist hell is paved with dark intentions however, and what establishment reformers, even and perhaps especially those who’re prepared to acknowledge the fundamentally racialized aspects of police violence, aren’t prepared to discuss in the open is the nature and purpose of policing itself in a capitalist society. There is no public examination of why it is that we keep hiring folks who turn out to be violent white supremacists to be police; and there certainly will be no discussion about the ways class relationships intersect with race through the designed function of racialized policing.

Despite the pro-police propaganda you’ve been fed all your life to suggest otherwise, the vast majority of what police actually do in America is to protect the wealth, property, and feelings of affluent white people and the corporations they own. Far from solving major crimes and preventing violence, modern policing in the Pig Empire revolves around nuisance violations, so-called broken windows policing, and other methods of harassing poor people for minor infractions of the law; remember, the police encounter that lead to the murder of George Floyd started over the purchase of cigarettes and a dodgy twenty dollar bill. The reason murderpigs can get away with violently assaulting protestors and journalists who threaten the established order is because that is precisely what they’re being paid to do, and indeed what their predecessors before them have always been paid to do.

On the surface, this class and capitalism analysis may appear to create a tension with the narrative that white supremacy and racism are also driving the crisis of police violence, but that’s really just about the same old establishment spin. As I’ve discussed in numerous prior essays, you simply cannot separate capitalism from white supremacy, or even racism, because bigoted ideas are propagated and spread for the specific purpose of marking out certain marginalized groups for exploitation and highly-lucrative (for some) repression.

Do you want to know what systemic racism in policing really looks like? It looks like hiring murderpigs to repress the poor, knowing full well that due to centuries of slavery and exploitation, the nonwhite and particularly African American population will be vastly overrepresented in the targeted communities. It looks like a supposedly colorblind war on drugs, the ongoing use of demonstratively racist stop and frisk practices, and expanded powers for your community’s “gang squad” in pretty much any neighborhood that just happens to be predominantly Black. It looks like literally profiting from these practices in ways that are sometimes extremely brazen and obvious, but sometimes hidden from everyday sight; even if they’re hardly much of a secret. The fact that the police are ultimately enforcers for the capitalist ruling class, also makes them enforcers of the white supremacist order that capitalism is so dependent upon in our society; there is no contradiction involved here.

Look; you don’t get rid of fascist murderpigs and white supremacists in law enforcement by throwing more money at nazi cops. Joe Biden can summon up all the pretty words he likes, but you can’t address the racialized nature of police violence without fundamentally altering either the racialized nature of inequality in American life, or the very purpose of policing in our society; and he’s sure as shit not talking about doing any of that at all. Thus, no matter how surprised and hopeful I am after the Chauvin guilty verdicts, that sense of positivity is ultimately tempered by the realization that “nothing will fundamentally change” - and that includes cracker thug pigs executing unarmed Black men on camera.

Although they might finally be better than openly fascist Republicans, the Democrats still don’t have answers to the problem of racialized police violence because ultimately, they don’t have answers to the crisis of capitalism itself. It’s not a question of reform or changing the law; murder is already illegal, even if you’re a white cop. Inequality, and the security force violence necessary to maintain it, is a festering sore inside the American body politic, and there are indeed consequences for essentially ignoring a crisis now so obvious and enraging to the public at large.

What kind of consequences? Well, let’s ask researcher and professor Temitope Oriola who provides one terrifying answer in the public journal, The Conversation:

“The United States is at Risk of an Armed Anti-Police Insurgency“ by Temitope Oriola

Or, you know, we could just abolish the murderpigs first; your call really - but don’t expect Palooka Joe to be much help, either way.

- nina illingworth

Independent writer, critic and analyst with a left focus. Please help me fight corporate censorship by sharing my articles with your friends online!

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook. Podcast at “No Fugazi” on Soundcloud.

Inquiries and requests to speak to the manager @ASNinaWrites

Chat with fellow readers online at Anarcho Nina Writes on Discord!

“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

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hazza-bear-care · 3 years

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Stay Safe (3/3)

A/N: LAST PART BABES!!! Thank you so much for all the love this series has gotten, but the time has come for it to end. Let me know what else you guys want to see and I’ll keep posting from every fandom!!! Also, I know the Washington Football Team is no longer affiliated with the name ‘Washington Redskins’ but their old logo is pretty recognizable, so shut up. #HTTR for all my D.C peeps out there ;P

Summary: After MONTHS of teasing, Spencer and Nova finally seal the deal.

Warnings: SMUT, oral (female receiving), fingering, unprotected sex (Kinda? Nova’s on the pill, but wrap it before you tap it), daddy kink

~~~~~

The weekend had come sooner than Nova had expected, the tiring cases making the week fell shorter than 7 days. Much to the chagrin of her roommate, Nova spent the better part of an hour in the shower shaving everything but her head in an effort to look perfect. Earlier in the week she had managed to sneak away to a boutique, desperate for a new lingerie set. As she stared at the plethora of colors, Spencer’s voice echoed in her head, describing that males were more attracted to their mates in red which prompted her to purchase a maroon set. She thought about being ridiculous and cheesy by embroidering her own Redskins logo onto the hip, but decided against it seeing as neither she nor Spencer were big football fans.

After blow drying her hair, she decided on straightening her locks as to prevent frizzing as much as she could throughout the evening. Her makeup came next, opting for a slightly more natural look for the night, noticing that Spencer seemed to like the bare faced version of Nova.

Already wearing her new lingerie, Nova chose to wear a navy blue polka dotted dress, the extremely low cut neck flashing a decent amount of cleavage without giving away the surprise of her lingerie. The dress fell to the middle of her thighs and she paired the dress with a pair of black pumps and silver accessories, a black cardigan draped over her shoulders. Now she was all ready for a date she didn’t know if she wanted to go on. Her mind kept reeling for days about her stunt in the elevator. Although it was enjoyable for both parties, she still didn’t know if it was smart to pursue a relationship with a coworker, especially with how soon everything had happened.

Wrapping her cardigan around her thumbs, Nova paced in her room, first date jitters causing her to gnaw at her crimson lips. Her worries were soon interrupted by a knock on the door, indicating that the man of the hour was just outside her apartment. With one final deep breath to settle her nerves, Nova grabbed her purse and opened the door, a very handsome Spencer waiting on the other side. She greeted him with a tight smile as she stepped into the hallway of her apartment building, locking the door behind her.

“You look.... wow! Nova, you look great! Are you ready to go?” Nova nodded, untucking her thumbs from the cardigan. Spencer led her out of her apartment building and to his car and opening the passenger side door for her. Nova knew this date was important to Spencer due to his hatred of driving, especially through DC rush hour. She, however, still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was wrong.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Spencer asked, tapping Nova on her thigh.

“Um, nothing important, Spencer. I guess I’m just excited,” Nova finalized her thoughts, the unsettled feeling in her stomach still making her nauseous.

~~~~

Halfway through dinner, Nova and Spencer decided to sit in silence after having many a conversation fall short. Nova’s nerves had made her lose her appetite, so the burger, fries, and side salad sat relatively untouched. With a clatter of his fork against his plate, Spencer cleared his throat and attempted to make eye contact with the girl across from him.

“Nova, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just not very hungry tonight, I guess.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it, Nova! Now tell me what’s wrong,” Spencer whisper-yelled, the irritation very prominent in his voice and eyes.

“I just don’t think what we’ve been doing lately is... smart. I just started working with you guys and our first case, you fingered me on the jet!”

“I didn’t hear you complaining!”

“Excuse me, Spencer, I’m still talking! My mom always told me to never get involved with people I worked with, and after many failed attempts of aforementioned romance, I finally took her advice and swore to stay away from my coworkers. So this sudden attraction between the two of us threw me off. My anxiety levels have been off the charts thinking about what’s going to happen when and if we break up. I’ll have to quit my job and move to a different part of the country, Spencer.” Nova stopped talking before she choked, the tears in her eyes very prominent when she tried to meet Spencer’s gaze.

Everything that she said suddenly made sense to Spencer: she was scared.

“Nova, you have nothing to be afraid of, I promise. I’ll make you a deal: we go out for an undisclosed amount of time. If we break up, I give you full permission to find a taser and use it on me as many times as you want. Deal?” Nova chuckled and sniffed, nodding in agreement to Spencer’s deal. The pair continued to eat, Nova completely ravenous now that the nerves had settled.

Spencer paid the bill like a gentleman once dinner was over, Nova’s leftover’s tucked safely under her arm as she was escorted back to the car.

“So, do you want to go back home?” Spencer asked, fully prepared to let the night end right then and there.

“No. My roommate has midterms to study for so I told her I’d stay out of her way as much as possible.” Nova admitted, not wanting the night to end just yet.

“Then we’ll go back to my place. Is your roommate going for her Master’s too?”

“Doctorate in Philosophy. Poor girl won’t have a job after she graduates.” Spencer chuckled loudly before defending that philosophy was an acceptable major. The ride to Spencer’s place was fast due to a surprising lack of traffic for 9:30 at night. His apartment was on the third floor, which he explained had more to do with availability rather than the inevitability of hearing his neighbors stomp around above him. Spencer took Nova’s food out of her hands and left to his kitchen giving Nova the opportunity to snoop at his belongings.

The whole room smelled like books, the multiple shelves almost overflowing with books covering every subject.

“See anything interesting?” Spencer asked, wrapping his arms around Nova’s waist.

“You’ve read all of these?” Nova asked, amazed at the impressive selection.

“Yes, ma’am I have. But you didn’t answer my question: do you see anything you like?” Nova turned her attention back to the bookshelf, a very nice leather bound book catching her eye.

“This one,” Nova replied, pulling the book off the shelf.

“Proust? Good choice, sweets.” Spencer kissed the top of Nova’s head as he snatched the book from her hands and led her to the couch, allowing her to to get comfortable before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and opened the book. Spencer began reading one of the most complicated books in the world with such ease as if he’d read it a million times. The words flew out of his mouth with a soothing rhythm that it almost made Nova drowsy. As happy as she was, Nova still couldn’t shake the one question on her mind.

“Spencer? What are we doing?” Nova asked, interrupting the 20 page sentence her date was reading.

“We’re on a date, Nova.” Spencer finalized, closing the book on his thumb to remember his place. He glanced over at the girl in his arm and noticed her gnawing at her bottom lip.

“You know that’s not what I mean. I’ve been on the team for three weeks now, Spencer, and we’ve done more in those three weeks than I’ve done in a three month relationship.... I’m just scared it’s going all too quickly and neither of us are going to be able to enjoy it.”

“Come on.” Spencer stood from his place on the couch and helped Nova stand herself. He knew she was nervous, granted he knew this wasn’t her first time.

“What? Spencer I....”

“I know, Nova. But you don’t have to be afraid, okay? I’ve got you.” He brought his lips to hers, the kiss a minor attempt to calm her down. Nova sunk into the kiss, her knees weak and head spinning. Spencer broke off the kiss and lead her to his room, Nova’s nerves twisted her stomach as she followed. Spencer kissed her once more as the door to his bedroom was pushed open and Nova was wrenched inside. Spencer was careful, gentle, as if his actions would cause Nova to shatter completely, He could feel her heart beating faster as he gently pushed her against the wall, his hands coming up to cup her face.

“Spencer..” Nova whined as his lips moved to her neck, wet kisses making her weak in the knees. He started unbuttoning the top of her dress, the sides of it opening to reveal the maroon lace underneath. Spencer stifled a groan at the sight of what Nova had managed to hide during the entire date, blood rushing to his erection.

“For someone who was nervous three hours ago, you sure did come prepared.” Attempting to lighten the mood, Spencer joked as he lead Nova to the bed, pushing her to lay down on the pillows behind her.

“Spencer-”

“Shh. Let me take care of you, Nova. I’ve got you.” After repeating himself, Spencer made his way down to Nova’s core, flipping the dress of her skirt up and growling at the sight of her matching panties. Kissing her knees, Spencer spread her legs open and settled between them. Nova tensed as Spencer peppered kisses on her thighs, making his way to her core. She choked on her breath as he placed a warm kiss to her panties, the warmth of his face making her want him more.

Spencer pushed Nova’s underwear to the side and buried his face in her heat, the gasp she released sounding delicious to him. His tongue danced around her clit as his fingers itched to get inside her heat once again, the memory of her walls clenching around them hazy. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he admired how sweet she tasted, the sounds falling from her lips making her sound like an angel. Deciding she was ready enough, Spencer tested the waters by inserting one finger into her tight pussy, walls already clenching from the intrusion.

“Fuck you’re so eager, aren’t you baby girl?” Nova whined and nodded, bucking her hips in a futile attempt to get more friction from Spencer. The man in question chuckled at how needy Nova was before coming up from his place and kissing her lips, taking the opportunity to slip another finger inside her. He slid his tongue into her mouth as she gasped, the feeling of Spencer’s fingers and mouth making her head spin. Spencer sped up his movements, his mouth muffling the noises Nova spilled into his mouth.

“Spencer, please!” Nova whined. Spencer pecked her lips once again before he returned to his previous place, his lips immediately wrapping around her clit yet again. Nova moaned loudly, jumping at the feeling of pleasure. Her hands found a place in Spencer’s hair and tugged rather harshly which evoked a moan from Spencer, the vibrations against her clit causing her to buck her hips yet again. She was close and Spencer could feel it. He curved his fingers, easily accessing the spongy spot that caused Nova to practically scream. Her thighs shook and her toes curled, the grip on Spencer’s locks tightening. When her orgasm finally washed over her body, she froze, eyes rolling back into her head and jaw dropping into the perfect ‘O’ shape. Spencer didn’t ease up until she started pushing him away, her breath stuttering as she tried to catch it.

Once she had calmed down enough, Spencer sat her up and removed her clothes, dress, shoes, and underwear scattered around the room haphazardly. As Spencer left the bed to get undressed himself, Nova attempted to follow him, determined to return the favor.

“No. You get back up there, baby girl, this night is about you.” Spencer towered over her, his shirtless physique not comparing to the beauty of Nova’s naked form still on the bed.

“But-”

“I said no, Nova. Now get back up there.”

“How about you make me, Daddy?” Spencer growled and practically jumped out of his pants, a hand immediately wrapping around Nova’s throat. He pushed her back into the pillows, lips smashing against hers. The once romantic evening had turned into a night of intense passion, the pair not caring about the shift in emotions. Nova’s hand somehow wrapped around Spencer’s dick, the man above her hissing into her mouth. His grip on her neck tightened as he pulled away and kissed down her body.

This was the first time he had seen Nova fully nude and he couldn’t get enough of the view: her naked body complimenting his bed perfectly, as if she was what his adult apartment was missing. Spencer didn’t realize that he was staring until Nova wrapped her arms around her breasts and stomach, the insecurities settling in her bones.

“You’re beautiful, Nova. Please don’t hide from me, okay?” Spencer adjusted his stance, moving Nova’s hands from her body. Still feeling a little insecure, Nova reached up and kissed Spencer softly, the atmosphere once again shifting back to the romantic ease that it had started with. Spencer returned the kiss passionately, his hands trailing up her sides and settling on her breasts. She whined again, Spencer’s warm hands comforting her.

“Are you ready?” Spencer asked as they both got situated. Nova’s legs spread by her own volition as she tried very hard to look anywhere than between Spencer’s legs.

“Yeah, Spence. Please do something before I change my mind.” Spencer laughed at her eagerness. He swiped his hand through her folds, gathering some of her slick on his fingers, which caused her to moan, and pumped himself a couple times before lining himself up at her entrance. Watching her expressions, he slowly thrust himself forward, pausing a little when he heard Nova gasp. She met his line of sight and nodded, telling him to move. Spencer thrust again, sheathing himself inside her heat fully, the two of them moaning at the feeling.

“Fuck, baby, you’re so tight.” Spencer groaned, moving his hips slightly. Nova moaned at the feeling of Spencer’s dick slipping in and out of her.

“Spencer, please go faster.” Spencer obliged and picked up his pace, the fast movements eliciting loud moans to fall from Nova’s mouth. Spencer gazed affectionately at the girl below him, the view of his dick splitting her open turning him on even more than he already was.

“You like that, baby? You like the feeling of Daddy’s cock deep inside you?” Spencer asked, wrapping his hand around her neck yet again. Nova’s eyes rolled into the back of her head in pleasure, a very loud moan spilling from her. He wrapped his lips around one of her nipples, biting lightly at the nub.

“Yes, Daddy, please, more.” The hand that was on her hip traveled to her clit, his thumb rubbing as fast as his hips were going. The rest of his hand was spread across her stomach, the appendage moving slightly as he thrusted in and out of Nova’s glistening pussy. Her head was thrown back in pleasure, the sounds flowing freely making him go crazy. He left her nipples and pressed his lips to Nova’s, tongues dancing frantically. The pair separated but kept their foreheads together, the passion very obvious in both pairs of eyes.

“Fuck, Nova, I’m close.” Spencer grunted, speeding up his ministrations yet again.

“Me- fuck, yes! Right there, right there, right there! Fuck, Spencer!” Nova didn’t need to confirm that she was close as well, but Spencer took the note and kept hitting the right spot, going impossibly fast. He rubbed her clit, holding back as much as he could before he came.

With a shout, Nova came, her powerful orgasm making her numb. She clenched her eyes shut, the fireworks exploding repeatedly as her body shook. She barely heard Spencer’s groan as he spilled his seed in her, hissing at how much her walls were clenching around him. He fell forward, resting his full weight on top of Nova’s body as they both came down from their most intense orgasms ever.

“Holy...” Nova started, once again running her hands through his hair. Spencer chuckled and nuzzled further into Nova’s chest, never wanting to move.

“Will you answer my question now, Spencer?” With a sigh, he shifted and held himself up with his forearms. His brown eyes, bore into hers as he tried to find the right words.

“Nova, I don’t want this to be a one time thing. You don’t deserve to be used like that. You’ve held my attention since your first day at the BAU, so I figured I’d make a move before someone else did. I know everything we’ve done has been... unorthodox, but it’s just because I liked you so much. I promise from now on we will do the dating thing correctly; no sex until you say so. Nova, I know you’re scared, but I promise you’ll have nothing to fear while we’re together, okay?” Spencer’s eyes were wide as he pleaded for a second chance, a better chance.

“Okay. I swear to God you make me regret this, I’ll do more than just use a taser on you.” Spencer and Nova chuckled, smiling into yet another kiss before settling into a more comfortable position, both of them hissing when Spencer pulled himself out of her heat. He stood from the bed in all his naked glory and left the bedroom, which of course confused Nova. When he returned, he had a glass of water and the abandoned Proust. He handed the glass to Nova, who gulped down a majority of it before settling back into Spencer’s arms as he picked up from where he left off. Soon, Nova fell asleep feeling safer than she’d ever had before and she wasn’t complaining about who held her close.

Spencer kept reading long after Nova had fallen asleep, but he promised to catch her up the next morning. For now, she’d sleep in his arms, in his bed, in his apartment. And he wasn’t complaining at all.

#Criminal Minds #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid smut #spencer x reader #derek morgan #Penelope Garcia #aaron hotchner #spencer reid #Jennifer Jareau #derek morgan smut

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cloveroctobers · 3 years

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• JENIFER “JEN” MARLOWE •

IG Info/bio: @/justjenw1n | 220k followers | Fashion | just a LUVer who owns a lovely blog that you’re more than welcome to check out here... astoldbyjenmarlowe.co.uk 🪞🛍🪄

22 (24) (25 in 2021) years of age

From London, England

Her family has French origins

Tends to visit once a year mainly with her family

For her 18th bday, her parents also sent her to Paris with her bf that she’s been dating since she was 14

they broke up since he wanted to stay in Paris to pursue his dreams and she felt like she needed to be back home...which she felt Paris was not

Extremely close to her parents, some may say a little TOO close...

See, I feel like jen comes from a family that spoils her where her parents did everything and took care of everything for her. She had the privilege and didn’t have to work too hard to get things she wanted so that made her a little bit different than a few of her friends, hell—even her bf

Didn’t have to work until she reached her twenties

She also didn’t have too many friends because her parents felt like her cousins and/or her sibs were really only allowed to hold that title

However her parents had some sort of a soft spot for her when they allowed her to date her bf at 14 since he came from a nice background...

And to have at least 1-2 best friends...

I can’t decide if I see her having 3 other sibs with her being the second eldest, or her being the eldest with a younger sister? I can also see her being a only child too? Idk y’all can decide

Because her family is a tight knit one, she values everything they say and do...which is canon/evident

She got her thigh tattoo in Paris and even thought about asking her parents permission but her bf talked her out of it

she later showed them that night while he was in the shower. Her mother openly disapproved saying it was, “unladylike or unclean” while her father was more lenient towards it

Her mother even scheduled her for laser appointments but this was one of the things jen was sure of, she loved her tattoo and she didn’t want to erase it from her body which led to her mother not speaking to her for about a month—even tho they live in the same household

I feel like she looks more like her dad with her mom’s hair and smile

Got into fashion due to her maternal grandmother who seemed to live a extravagant life as a old time actress, she always had and owned the finest of things

Jen loved having sleepovers there, it felt like she had her own personal Liz Taylor inside of her nan...but better!

Definitely found inspiration through Liz Taylor, Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, and Naomi Campbell

she had no clue what she wanted to do in life (she never had to think too hard about it until now, it’s true what they say about your twenties) and she made the choice not to continue thru with uni & I’m not going to make her out to be the stereotypical “dumb blonde” I think she did well in school—so she kinda just chilled after it was all over

Her first job at 20 was probably working in retail where she learned all about the bs you put up with but she loved clothes! That never changed

So she decided 6 months into her job that she was going to make a fashion blog

she made one separate from her tumblr but kept it under construction since she needed to brain storm what exactly this blog would entail

It didn’t take too long to her to figure it out by how she wanted the blog to look then discussing pieces from celebs/models then slowly discussing her own wardrobe + advice

She didn’t immediately gain success for it —altho she did have a good 1k people follow her thru her tumblr where she also provided the link to her separate blog... but she worked/works hard at it, hoping one day it’ll get her somewhere and that maybe she can get paid for it too?

Retail fucking sucks and people are horrible twats so when she was approaching 21 she deff quit with her parents still hammering...more so her dad on what she needs to do with her life but she found happiness in her blog and no one was going to take that away from her —not even her parents

‘What’s the use of working if it doesn’t make you happy?’ She thinks but again! she has the privilege of living under her parents roof and not having to pay bills so she didn’t have to worry too much rn she knows they’d never kick her out right?

she has two bunnies named “bugsy” and “Lola”—u know the reference right?

I feel like she values the flinstones & jetsons because it was something her dad loved watching as a kid and still does , probably has the dvds showcased in her room that she watches when she feels sad

Seems like a smiley person but when she’s sad? It kinda sucks to see cause she turns into a whole different person and she always seems happy with a smile so wide that turns her eyes squinty

If she disagrees with something, she’s 100% giving her opinion whether you like it or not? Wrong is wrong. But when the shoe is on the other foot? She hates being wrong LOL or doesn’t view herself being wrong. Doesn’t take accountability well...at all!

She’s also showed her ass by being a gossiper and fake as hell with Allegra about mc with the whole, “let’s pretend like we’re there for her” if you’re not fucking with somebody just say that or SHOW it sis cause that snakey shit will come back to bite you in the ass (I forgot about this lol as I’m replaying)

she’s all “mega resting bitch face” until she breaks out into a large smile

Libra sun? + Virgo moon? + Gemini rising?

I feel like she only knows what she wants when it comes to relationships but not with the rest of life?

Lol she was very determined with levi in the beginning, explored shit with jake, (I can’t remember if that was after you/mc showed a interest in him or not in that route? I’m doing a talia/Rohan route rn But that’s kinda foul if she’s smiling in ur face and then boom goes and does what she wants but hey that’s the game right? Fck that tho) and then stood by Tim after only some time?

She wasn’t feeling him in the beginning either cause he thought she was too posh for him and snakey which he’s right to some degree but she’s also right if she finds him too immature for her liking

To you jim? Ten? Stans— Idk what their ship name is but it probably wouldn’t have worked out in the long run either because I don’t see both of them wanting to change themselves completely to satisfy the other. (Tim tried) Sure if you’re showing unhealthy behaviors and are open to diminishing that for yourself then trying to work on your relationship then that’s great! But they already started from the jump not liking each other’s personalities/characteristics....

And hey! Ofc I know people grow to like things they might have disliked about you in the beginning but you can also find yourself not fully accepting it in a relationship and that doesn’t mean you didn’t try

+ it’s been hinted at that they’re not endgame & if you love yourself some Tim not platonically then this works in ur favor. if not? Then you can keep them endgame by all means! For me? That endgame shit is a no! For those that don’t gaf about either of them that’s fine too lmao

YES I feel like they were both hurt over the breakup and it probably happened right around the holidays or either a couple of months after Christmas/New Years 2019

Jen is probably the type to keep checking up on her ex, not necessarily talking to them but finding out who they’re with now

and if it’s Tim with mc she’s definitely gossiping about the shit with erikah and Allegra or making shady tweets or posts on IG for sure

“5 outfits to wear when you run into your ex” type posts on her blog looool

She hopes if she runs into Tim, she’s looking her best and she would 80% go up to him & mc/his new girl if not mc and be all huggy with him and holding conversation before she even thinks to acknowledge mc/new girl and when she does it’s a shady convo with fake smiles

Absolutely loves watching housewives so she was prepared for that moment if it ever does come

Her parents openly didn’t like Tim which made him feel like shit since it seemed like jen never defended him in front of them but again, she values her parents opinion and always wants their stamp of approval that’s just the way the girl is/ was brought up

She owes them everything but deep down knows that in her relationship with Tim she could have been a little more understanding of his needs like he was with her love for her parents...but she’ll never admit that

Doesn’t get over breakups as easily as it may seem like her exes do in her opinion.

It sure didn’t take long with Tim to date mc/new girl months after they broke up! Which was like a slap in the face

The ex bf she spent time w in Paris who looks like Matthew Noszka is now engaged, lives in AMERICA—& of all places??? California to be exact, and just released his debut album!! She knows which songs are probably about her, it’s a nice album she screamed about it for hours into her pillow and cried for what felt like weeks

Lost her voice over that breakdown too

Her mother even went as far as sending a nasty letter to this ex bf’s new address...since ya know? jen’s dad is a private investigator & all!!! but dad had no knowledge of this being done

She’s still fond of Levi and jake but not like in love with them? Like she thought/felt she was with Tim but she still considers them her mates

Maybe in 2021 she’ll be open to dating again and hopes erikah and Allegra will be her wingwomen when the time comes BUT she’s focusing on her blog rn and it’s the best it’s ever been!

She had the show to thank for that now that she has a manager and is getting paid for running her blog now! That’s right this girl is officially employed!

“At least one good thing came from the show ;) 🧽🥐🥂” type of tweets

There’s never not a moment where she’s not connecting her posts whether thru ig or Twitter to her blog: astoldbyjenmarlowe.co.uk!!!

Both erikah and Allegra talk a little shit about that together...WHEN they DO talk, the pair only really socialize when jen initiates it but if one pisses the other off?? they’re going to gossip about it with the other forsure

She doesn’t look that tall to me? Taller than erikah? 5’2-5’5 the 5 is pushing it for me? Maybe? lol I’m still deciding between her and Allegra far as height and I’m too lazy to go back and see what I put for her

Hates straightening her hair, that pin straight look is not cute to her. She loves having waves and body to her hair

Get her eyebrows micro bladed since she doesn’t have much hair up there to begin with

Adores French cuisine, always has since she was a little girl. Bisque used to be her fav back then and all that she would eat

Loves spring season especially pastel colors when it comes to her wardrobe

The type to say one thing and do the complete opposite

I feel like she probably has a little bit of lisp and it’s not really noticeable until she says some words, she’s insecure about it and thought it had something to do with the structure of her teeth and begged her parents to get them fixed but it literally had nothing to do with them

Yet she still got colorful braces in middle school even tho her teeth were pretty straight. She didn’t have to wear them for a whole year, thank goodness

Went to speech therapy to help

Has stacks of fashion magazines even from the early 90s all over her room: her night stand, her vanity, her closet, underneath her bed etc...

Adores the Hadid sisters, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, & Georgia May Jagger

Makes the best white chocolate chip (that’s right, white not just regular chocolate) banana bread but cooking/baking? Isn’t really her thing

Early riser

Loves yellow: yellow phone case, yellow laptop, yellow room, yellow tulips, yellow shades, etc...

Getting Prada shades was probably one of the best things that happened to her, s/o to her nan for granting her this wish

Words of affirmation is her love lanaguage, this girl is a talker and a bit of a thinker too I mean duh? She runs a blog

Likes bright colors on her toes but nude and clear polish on her hands?

Loves a good mascara but she also loves magnetic lashes but is trying her best to grow her lashes out rn! Thanks to erikah for sending her some good ol’ coconut oil!

Smokey eyes? Set her up

Gets a belly ring, and two more tatts one in between her boobs and the last on her ankle & that one she shed a tear over!

Maybe she’ll start changing her physical attributes more so than the way she carries her life at first? (Or ever) She’ll cut her hair below her collarbone to the top of her chest, and maybe she’ll try a light light LIGHT brunette (she loves being a natural blonde) with blonde highlights? Who knows

loves espadrilles and wedge sandals

Loves going wine tasting and visiting vineyards, if she’s vacationing? You can bet ur ass she’s looking for a vineyard to visit

Deff a lightweight

Here’s her unpopular opinions on s2: Thought Felix was a wannabe Tim and hates the fact that he follows her, thought graham was unattractive and said so to Allegra who snickered, thought marisol’s clothing choices were rather boring,

didn’t feel 100% bad for Hannah but disagrees with the way Gary and noah spoke about her + the way Gary tried to slide back over to Hannah on her comeback episode

but doesn’t feel like Lottie is wrong for choosing Gary after Hannah left

isn’t a fan of priya but is glad she’s doing fashion since jen strongly believes in if something isn’t making u happy then u need to let it go

Thinks Hope should have won and cannot tolerate Bobby. Feels he’s WORSE than Felix,

would be open to dating Ibrahim or Carl from that szn

has spoken to Harry from s3 due to his drunkenness and actually made a friend out of him? But low key wants to get to know seb? Take that info as u will 👀

Her anthem: Michelle — SUNRISE

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im-whatchamccallit · 4 years

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Their Idol Girlfriend is Given a Nation’s Title//ATEEZ

(A/N: I’m currently in love with WayV’s new video and haven’t figured out how to function normally after it. Ty)

Hongjoong

Hongjoong was proud of you for being the “Nation’s Pick”, seeing it as a well-deserved opportunity due to your talent and growth. You would be responsible for presenting the country to the entire world for future tourist and, instead of worrying about you traveling and being too busy to spend time with him, his main concern would be if you were ready for the upcoming task.

Hongjoong would listen to the speeches you’d have to do for certain events, staying up with you to research the other countries you’d be visiting, rehearsing greetings in those languages to make sure you seemed inviting and genuine. It almost felt like you were a trainee again.

Only after you felt fully prepared would Hongjoong grow upset at his future separation from you, going from his normal professional-minded self to his normal clingy-boyfriend self, cursing that the Korean Tourism Organization would choose you of all people, But how couldn’t they? You were known worldwide at this point, were great with the public, and very well spoken. Now he just curses you for being too perfect.

Seonghwa

Having the title of “Nation’s Thief” was amusing to both you and Seonghwa, he just let it go to his head a bit more.

With Ateez steady popularity, and many fancams of him being shared worldwide over millions of times, it was only natural that Seonghwa would become something of a bachelor in his home country. The moment the public learned that you, a fellow idol, were his girlfriend, the playful name of ‘thief’ was thrown around in interviews and online. You never took it to heart which allowed Seonghwa to bask in the purity of it all. Seonghwa would spam his social media with photos of you and him, captioning them with jokes of your title, more specifically about if any other “thieves” wanted to steal him away (only for you to make him change the caption because, joking or not, you both know people would take him up on that offer).

Yunho

The title of “Nation’s Fairy” left you in disbelief, and even more so Yunho. Why? Because the almost secret videos of your contemporary dance recitals from your youth were released, causing the media, your fans, non-fans, and various other celebrities to take into account how graceful and agile you truly are.

Ever since you debuted as an idol, your dances were mostly modern and hip-hop, a complete 180 from your childhood, but you were just as elegant. And, once Yunho discovered the reason behind the sudden title, he was not as shocked as before.

Yunho always knew you were a great dancer, watching you and taking in your every move and technique, amazed at how fluid they were, he was just surprised people noticed it now. Overall, his initial shock would disappear and he would continue to appreciate you as is, even asking when you’ll do more contemporary dances in the future, at this point secretly expecting more than what your idol self has shown.

Yeosang

It was undeniable that you were the nation’s sweetheart, you were adorable and kind hearted, everything about you screaming innocence. So it was always fun for Yeosang to tease you about the not so innocent things you’d do. When you let out a swear because you dropped something, or even grab a beer before settling in to watch a movie for the night, or even just kissing him once he initiated it, he’d always say in that almost sing-songy voice,

“What if the world knew our nation’s sweetheart acted like this?”

The title wouldn’t effect either of you much, Yeosang not seeing the true impact it has on you or your career. Sure, you sometimes had to pretend you were the purest thing on planet earth, but you didn’t mind being seen as cute and lovable. Yeosang would be fine with the sudden burst of attention you got and wouldn’t feel any different about the situation, even when you two were spotted together, Yeosang’s soft appearance nearly giving him his own title as the nation’s prince. So maybe it’s a win-win.

San

San was proud when you finally received the title of “Nation’s Girl Group”. He remembers it like it was yesterday, when you burst into their dorm and screamed “You won’t believe this!”

San would be a bit disappointed that with the title came a complete shift in your relationship, you two barely seeing one another. All preplanned dates would be cancelled because of last minute interviews, you’d be touring heavily and requested to model or make a cameo on some movie or drama, and your only form of contact would be minutes long FaceTime calls of you apologizing for not seeing him as much. But San would remind you both that once Ateez became the nation’s boy group, he’d be busy but will always make time for you, so he appreciates you doing the same now.

To put your separation worries to rest, San would suggest making it a competition, seeing how long you’d stay the nation’s girl group before Ateez makes it as the nation’s boy group. Of course, he felt awful betting on if you’d be able to maintain your title, but you and he had a strong competitive drive either way, and he thought it’d be a good way to encourage you to work harder, which is all he ever ask of you to do with your career and vice versa.

Mingi

Being the nation’s “little sister” was something you weren’t too fond of, and Mingi knew that, learning to avoid those words and topic when alone with you, but he obviously found himself gravitating towards the title more after finally seeing what the general public has all these years.

Mingi would go back to all your performances from your childhood when you first began singing, all the interviews you did acting so cutely that it made everyone’s hearts swoon, even to recent interviews where you would respond to any questions and comments in a shy manner. You truly were someone worth protecting, no wonder the nation saw you the way they did.

Nonetheless, Mingi would try to push aside the protectiveness that came with bestowing you with the title, reminding himself you aren’t the same little girl the world come to know you as, you were an adult that sometimes swore and sometimes drank a little too much just because you were of age and could, you could drive, you paid bills and owned your own home, and you would cry from hard days and curl up into a ball to sleep. You were an adult human, something you secretly hoped people would realize for years, but reluctantly kept up your squeaky clean public image, and what more could Mingi do than comply with your wishes?

Wooyoung

Wooyoung was a bit confused on how you didn’t let the title of “Nation’s First Love” go to your head, he knows he’d let the vanity consume him. Yet you were so humble.

Wooyoung felt the title was very fitting, the day he met you his heart nearly burst out of his chest and that was from your looks alone. But when you spoke to him, and he finally got to know you, your personality was enough to make him want to propose to you then and there. Wooyoung wouldn’t be too jealous at the attention you’d get from the media and general public, not even people gawking on the streets bothered him, his biggest concern would be if you were so perfect because you were pressured to be.

“It’s just the life of an idol; we only show enough of our true selves to connect with fans, but leave our truest selves for the days we need to remember who we really are.”

He always joked you were a fake philosopher when you said things like this, but learned to take that specific phrase to heart. You were an idol-actress with a fanbase that loved you and vice versa. You were always smiling for cameras and talking about your career as if it weren’t a big deal. All just to come home and wear sweats while eating instant ramen on the floor like you did as a kid.

Wooyoung found comfort in the fact that while you wooed everyone in your day to day life effortlessly, but that he was the only one that knew the actual you.

Jongho

Nation’s Mother’s Friend’s Daughter. It was honestly the last thing Jongho thought anyone would call you, yet here you were, shy and awkward at the fact you were blessed with such a title. He didn’t get it at first, wondering what exactly it meant and what would bring the public to this conclusion, but the media always seemed to give him examples.

“She’s an idol, but makes time to visit hospitals to keep the elderly and children company! I’d love to see more idols like her!”

“I just heard she made a huge donation without even alerting the media! She’s really a kind soul!”

“Did you know she’s pursuing a law degree? She’s so incredible!”

Granted, you never really liked for people to compare themselves to you, especially when it came to your fellow idols, but you humbly rejecting the praise only seemed to make it happen more. Although Jongho never saw it as a bad thing, and other idols never took it to heart, he still wanted to ease the unnecessary guilt you felt with having your title. He didn’t know how, but you both going out to eat after a day of shopping, you ordering something small like always, gave him the idea to order beer and chicken, as much as you could both possibly consume within an hour. You were always praised for being so in shape and healthy, never eating “fatty foods”, that he allowed you the opportunity to make one “mistake”, something harmless that would make you feel human. And after the first sip of the alcoholic beverage, and the world not suddenly collapsing around you, you truly did.

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springday-aus · 4 years

Text

SVT’s Dino: Just Another Foodie Call

—

Fic Piece Written By: Admin Grandma of @springday-aus

Main Characters: Y/N [fem. reader] and Seventeen’s Dino [Lee Chan]

Other Characters: Seventeen members [Minghao, Seungkwan, Vernon], oddball dates [multi-group + multi-members: ATEEZ’s Hongjoong, GOT7′s Bambam, and NCT’s Jungwoo], and Yeri (Red Velvet)

Genre: romance, comedy, college!au, waiter!Chan

Type: one-shot writing piece

Word Count: approx. 6.5k

Plot Summary: first dates are always awkward, but not for you. In fact, you actually became a master of them. But, what are all of these dates for? Easy answer: free food. Now that you think about it, there’s only one other person who seems to know your real motives—Chan, a waiter from your favorite restaurant.

“—so, the best time to buy stocks is once a pandemic hits.”

“Hmmm…” You nod along, as your date continues to ramble on and on about business. You make an effort to maintain some eye contact, in order to seem as if you were engaged in the conversation. In reality, you were wondering how far along they were making your food. Usually, they would be platting at this moment, but it is a Saturday—meaning the dinner rush was just getting started.

“At that time, they’re lower, therefore cheaper.”

You continue to hum, not really listening to what he says, but trying to seem attentive to his words. You try to remember: look a bit interested in conversation and that’s enough to keep a guy’s attention. You glance up at him, taking in how animated he is as he talks.

But, then again, he seems to be able to maintain this conversation on his own.

You find yourself thinking: what was his name again? You glance down to the table, where his unofficial business card lays. Ah, right—Hongjoong. He’s a year above you. Business major, obviously something you picked up from the conversation alone. On the bright side, you didn’t have to worry about when you ran into him in the future.

Just as he’s diving in further about the importance of stocks and investments, the entree plates finally come out and are set in front of the both of you. You mouth a thank-you to the waiter, who gives you a polite smile in return.

Hongjoong continues to talk. “Then, as things become back to normal, the rates start to go back up and you get more than what you originally paid for. The only issue is time and how long it—”

Jesus, these noodles look so beautiful covered in the sauce. Only God knows what the hell is in it, but it’s delicious nevertheless. The toppings are equal in distribution and the garnish looks perfect, as if the peak of the flavor mountain in front of you. Yes. This. This is why you are here.

For a moment, you think you could cry. You’ve been waiting all week for these noodles. You take a glance at Hongjoong, who continues to ramble on and on about... savings? Did he move on from the other thing? Or was it bonds? Honestly, you’d stopped paying attention after he started promoting about the benefits of a savings account to you.

In your category of first dates, you’d put Hongjoong in the chatterbox section, which means you can catch a break from these weekly dates. Yeah, he’s boring, but he’s a super nice guy—from what you can tell, you know he’ll pay for the meal. You almost feel bad about using him. Almost.

Lifting your fork, you twirl a good amount of the noodles and drown it further into the sauce on the plate. Yes, come to mama. You carefully lift the fork to your mouth, trying not to shove it into your mouth like some goddamned animal. Once that first bite hits, you almost melt on the spot. God, that really makes the wait worth it.

The night continues on and Hongjoong, eventually, starts to eat—after he asks your opinion on how to survive an economic crisis. Frankly, you can’t remember much to what happened on the date so far. You must have tuned out more than you originally thought. But, then again, when do you ever remember what happens on these dates? Except for a special case, a guy named Cameron (aka, he who shall not be named), every other guy tends to be forgotten about.

As normal, you clear your plate—it’s clean of your food and you sigh with content. Your cravings have been satisfied. You wait for Hongjoong to finish eating, chatting him up to give some type of entertainment for the dinner. You use as much small talk as you can, from the weather updates to the different types of food served here.

Near the end of the meal, as he finishes his plate, you smile up at him as politely as you can. “Shall we get the check and head out?”

He returns the smile with one of his own. “Yes, that sounds good. It’s—” He checks his watch. “—about 6:30, which means the traffic shouldn’t be as bad right now. I can accompany you back to your apartment.”

He calls over the waiter, asking for the bill. Once it’s laid on the table, you slowly grab your purse and reach for your wallet, but you don’t really get a grip on your card to actually pay.

“No need (Y/N),” he says. “I got it.”

You give another smile, which seems more genuine than any other smile you’ve had tonight. Trying to hide your satisfaction, you furrow your eyebrows to feign concern. “Are you sure, Hongjoong?”

“Of course,” he says. “Women can pay, but it doesn’t mean they should.” He lays his shiny card on the black tray. “Especially on a first date.”

He gives another smile with his pearly whites and you have to hold back a smirk.

Men are idiots.

The sun shines particularly bright this morning. Now that you’re out, you regret making plans before noon. You open the door to the familiar campus cafe, retreating to your usual corner—where Minghao and Seungkwan are waiting for you.

You take a seat in front of them, ungracefully throwing your bag onto the empty seat next to you. Without a word, you slowly place your head onto the table and into your arms. The two put a halt to their conversation, noting your negative aura. Seungkwan pushes the iced latte towards you—not close enough, in fear of you knocking it over.

Minghao takes an unnecessarily long sip of his iced americano before speaking. “So, how’d the Saturday night date go?” he asks.

Seungkwan nods along and uses his spoon to cut a part of his strawberry cake. “Oh yeah, what was he like? Did you have fun?”

You lift your head and lean against your chair, feeling a migraine start to form from the subject alone. “He was fine. He was just… more boring than I anticipated.”

“So, no second date?” Minghao asks.

“Most likely.”

“Dude,” Seungkwan says. “When has there ever been a second date for (Y/N)?” He sets down the spoon on his plate—looking at you now. “How many dates have you been on now?”

“Enough.” You take a sip of your coffee. “Stop calling me out like this. Y’all are lucky I came.”

Seungkwan scoffs at your statement, going back into his cake.

“We knew you would be easily lured out by free coffee,” Minghao says. He shakes his head, not even trying to hide his disappointment.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“That judgey face—the situation is just..” You purse your lips and try to find your words, but end up lost in another train of thought. “Just, shut up.”

You grumble into your cup, more to yourself than them. “You just don’t understand the situation.”

They both raise an eyebrow at you. “Then make us understand,” Minghao says. He takes another long sip of his drink.

“Listen, in this patriarchal society, I am put at a disadvantage.”

“And this is related... How?” Seungkwan asks.

“I’m a broke college girl, who’s not unattractive,” you say. “What’s wrong with using it a little?”

“You know,” Seungkwan says. “There is a term for it. Instead of a booty call, it’s known as a foodie call.”

“Hm,” you say. “I like that.”

“Foodie calls over booty calls,” Minghao says. “Classy.”

“That’s the goal.”

“So, who’s your next date with?” Seungkwan asks.

You shrug, taking another sip of your coffee. “Right now, I’m still looking. We’ll just have to see.” You pull out your phone, scrolling through your messages. “Most of them are upperclassmen who don’t know what they’re getting into.”

“Update us on that,” Minghao says. “Because we need to know the poor chump your sapping money out of.”

“Hey!” You cross your arms. “Stop making me seem like a gold-digger. It’s just dinner, not a Gucci purse.”

“Do you want a Gucci purse?” Seungkwan asks.

You shrug. “I mean if it comes with the dinner, I’m not complaining.”

“Is that technically gold-digging?”

“I don’t think so…”

You originally started this whole operation because of your favorite noodle dish at your favorite restaurant: Asianly Classics. There was only one problem—you couldn’t afford the dish every week. It’s not because it’s an extremely upscale place; it’s just because the business is local it means the menu is kind of… pricey. It doesn’t help either that it’s located in the city, meaning the prices are constantly rising.

The first time you did it, it was unintentional. Your friend had been set up on a blind date and she couldn’t make it due to a prior engagement. So, she asked you for a favor and you went in her place. You weren’t sure of other places to go to, which led to you meeting him at Asianly Classics. He was super polite about the whole situation, especially since he insisted on paying for your meal because of the ‘inconvenience’ the date might have been—leading to your wonderful idea of the foodie calls.

Deep down somewhere, you know it’s wrong to exploit these simple college boys. But, it’s hard not to because they’re... simple, college boys with two brain cells that are dying from classes and with reality hitting them hard. It’s just easier this way.

It’s not like you’re a sugar baby (no disrespect to those women who are really stepping up their game though) or a booty call (no disrespect to the women who are having healthy, safe sex), so why were the guys making a big deal out of it?

You break from your thoughts. “Even if I was a gold-digger, that’s none of your business.”

Seungkwan playfully rolls his eyes at your words, then pulls out his laptop and opens it. “Well, speaking of business… We do have to work on our presentation for Intro to Investments 101.”

You throw your head back, releasing an unladylike groan. Eventually, you sit back up and begrudgingly pull out your laptop.

Minghao sits up, stretching his arms with his fingers interlocked. “I brought the notecards and pens. We can figure out who presents what once we sort it all out.” He sets out the materials on the table, opening a pen cap, and testing them out on a new notecard.

“Curse uni for making this a required course,” Seungkwan whines. “I haven’t even been paying attention.”

“When do you ever pay attention?” Minghao asks.

“Don’t worry,” you say. You tap your temple twice, before pointing it back to them, as if to share your only brain cells left with them. “Saturday’s date taught me enough to compensate for our lack of attention span. That’s gotta count for something.”

Minghao laughs. “I guess we’ll just have to see exactly how useful that information can be.”

Another Saturday has rolled around and you sit at Asianly Classics once again. But, this time, you sit in front of a different date. Bambam sits with a leg crossing the other, as he talks animatedly about some party from last night. You can only smile at him, nodding along every once in a while to make it look as if you were paying any attention.

“—it was so crazy! Jackson needs to stop making those crazy drinks because mixology is not a strength of his.”

You let out a fake giggle and you prop your chin onto your hands, batting your eyelashes. “So what would be considered his strength?”

“Anyone who knows him would say friendliness or something.” He takes a sip of his water. “But, what they don’t know is that he’s on the way to the Olympics for fencing. That reminds of this one time, where he….”

As he starts up another story, you start to tune out once more. You will admit that this one is more entertaining than the last one. You’d trade fun college stories than financial tips any day—no offense to that other guy though. Bambam is a year older than that other guy, but by the way he’s talking, it’s hard to tell.

Bambam continues to talk—meanwhile, you continue to nod along to his words, smiling and laughing when appropriate.

“... that’s when he fell! One little poke and he just falls into the pool! Some athlete—he can’t even keep his balance! Phew, he’s a real funny guy.”

You let out another fake laugh, glancing back towards the kitchen door. How long has it been since you ordered your food?

Leaning back into your seat, you adjust your purse from behind you. You needed a breather from this one. You could feel your energy getting sapped from him. “Excuse me for a moment,” you say as you stand up. “I need to use the bathroom for just a second.”

“Oh, of course,” he says. He sits himself up, uncrossing his legs as if he suddenly remembered he was in a public space and not some fraternity house. “Go ahead, take your time.”

“Thanks,” you say with a smile. “I’ll be back soon.” You stand up, taking your bag with you. Your feet automatically take you down a familiar hallway where the bathrooms are located. Just as you are approaching the doors, you see a shadow of a figure—who addresses you before you fully acknowledged his presence.

“Just where are you running off to?”

Just outside the men’s bathroom, Chan leans against the wall with his phone in hand. He looks at you with a teasing smile and you can’t resist mirroring it.

You click your tongue as you approach him. “And here I was, just wondering where my favorite waiter was.” You move yourself next to him, close enough to nudge his shoulder with your own. “I didn’t see you last week.”

He chuckles. “I was here last weekend, same time” he says. “And the weekend before that, and the weekend before that. That’s kind of how jobs work. Just because you didn’t see me, doesn’t mean I wasn’t there.”

“Ah, really?” you tease. “I had absolutely no idea.” You both stand there in silence for a second, before he speaks up again.

“So, how’s the date going?” Chan asks. “Is he as bad as last week’s?”

“Actually, he’s not that bad.”

“Oh?”

“He’s not as boring as the last one. That’s all I’m going to say.”

“I don’t think that it’s that hard considering what I overheard from last time—something about investing your stocks.” He tilts his head to the side with a playful glint in his eyes. “Are you investing in your stocks, (Y/N)?”

You let out a little laugh. “I swear. Chan, you make these dates a little less worse.”

“Thanks,” he says, flashing a smile at you. “You better get back out there before he thinks you crawled out the bathroom window.”

“Psh, I would never.”

He gives you a look, which you playfully roll your eyes to. You push yourself off from the wall and start to make your way back to your table. Chan turns his attention back to his phone. Without looking up, he waves as you start to leave. “Bye~”

“I get the hint,” you say with a groan. You turn back to him. “And please let Paul know I would really like more sauce with my noodles?”

He gives you a thumbs up. “As always.”

“Thank youuuu.” You manage to move yourself away from the hallway and back to the dining area, where your date awaits.

You give him a polite smile as you take back your seat. Ah, no food yet. “Sorry, if you waited long.”

“Psh.” He waves off your comment. “I didn’t wait long. I hope you don’t mind though, I ordered some dessert while you were gone.”

“I don’t mind dessert,” you say. You curl a piece of hair behind your ear. “Are we sharing it?”

His mouth curves into an o-shape, realizing your concern. “Oh, we can share if you would like,” he says. “And don’t worry about the bill—since I ordered more, I’ll cover it.”

You have to hide your smile. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He pushes his rose-lens shades up and you have to resist rolling your eyes at his insistence of keeping them on while indoors. “It’s not fair to split it.” He gently takes your hand on the table. “It’s okay, (Y/N). Don’t worry about it—Oppa’s got the tab.”

Oh, God, he used the o-word. You bite down your tongue and save the words for later.

Looking away from him, you glance towards the other section of the restaurant, where Chan is serving a different table their food. He bows his head as you see him mouth ‘enjoy your meal.’ He makes eye contact with you, mouthing the question: ‘is he paying?’ You give him a discrete thumbs up underneath your table.

Your attention is taken away from him, as your waiter comes over to set your food on the table. It looks just as beautiful as last week’s. Only this time, Paul had added some extra sauce, which drowned the noodles. You could cry from the beauty of this plate.

“Your dessert will be served later,” your waitress says. “Thank you for your patience.”

“Thank you,” you both say.

Bambam immediately digs in. On the other hand, you look up to find Chan—where he’s already smiling at you.

“How’d your date go?” Yeri asks. With a bit of skip in her step, her bookbag bounces along with her footsteps.

You hug your textbooks closer to your chest and you reply with a bit of an exasperated sigh. “God, he was one more the more interesting ones.”

“Who was it?”

“That upperclassman named Bambam.”

“I heard he’s a wild card.”

“He is a wild card. The entire night he was just telling me all these wild stories about his friends, his parties and all that other crap. While he was more interesting than Hongjoong, I was so tired by the time our entrees got to the table.”

Yeri sucks in a breath. “Sucks to suck, bro. You wanted to go on all these dates, so you have to face consequences of that choice.”

You can’t say anything else because she’s right. You don’t really need to go on these dates, but if that means free food, why should you complain?

The both of you continue your walk to the library, taking in the fresh air and atmosphere. You’d forgotten how big the campus is—or at least how long it takes to get from the dorms to the library center. Originally you had just met Yeri for lunch, but the both of you were invited to an impromptu study session with some others in your class and decided to walk there together.

“On the bright side,” you say. “I saw Chan.”

“Chan?” Her eyes narrow at you. “Isn’t that the waiter who likes you?”

“No,” you say with a huff. “We’re just friends—acquaintances at least.”

“Can you guys hurry the process because I made a bet with Doyeon you’d get together in, at least, a month.”

“Yeri, you are such a dedicated friend.”

She perks up, ignoring the sarcasm. “Why, thank you, (Y/N).”

You can only roll your eyes at her, but her smile only widens.

“But seriously,” Yeri says. “You go on all these dates, complain about the guys, and yet, you talk more about Chan than you do about any of those other guys.”

“Dude, I don’t even have his number. If we see one another, we talk and that’s it. I highly doubt it would go anywhere else.”

“I’m just surprised that you two have been doing this dance for nearly four months and yet… nothing.”

“You know, men and women can just be friends, right?”

“Yeah, but you two are a different case,” Yeri says. “Considering how often you mention him. I haven’t even met him and that says something because I’ve met all of your friends.”

“You haven’t met him because I literally don’t have his number. We just run into each other—we don’t plan anything.”

“Well, I think there’s something.”

“You always think there’s something.”

“No, I—”

“(Y/N)?”

You and Yeri turn to see Chan, along with his friend, who holds a skateboard in one hand. You all stand near the entrance of the library; you two were going in and they were just leaving.

Yeri’s clearly confused, but puts two and two together when your eyes light up.

“Hey!” You step a bit closer to him, taking a look at his outfit. “I almost couldn’t spot you for a second. I’m so used to the uniform.”

“Yeah, I am a bit more casual today, in case you haven’t been able to tell.”

“Hmm,” you hum along with a teasing smile. “Were you going for broke student chic?”

“Always.” He mirrors your smile with one of his own. You both stand there for a bit in your own bubble—with you ignoring Yeri’s smug look and Chan ignoring Hansol’s look of disappointment.

“Oh, speaking of being broke,” you say. “You working this weekend?”

“As always. You have another date on Saturday?”

“As always.”

“Who’s the poor sucker this time?”

You roll your eyes at his words. “Maybe you’ll get to meet him this time. He’s really nice so we’ll see how it goes.”

Chan lets out a small laugh, nodding along. “Alright, I got some plans so I’ll see you Saturday?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” You give him a little wave with your fingers as you step back next to Yeri. You head into the library, shushing Yeri and her little jabs about Chan.

Meanwhile, Hansol steps next to Chan, coming into his peripheral vision. He doesn’t say anything; he just shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

“What, Hansol?” Chan asks. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Hansol sighs heavily, rubbing his temples. “You’re so whipped and you don’t even know it. I’m so sad for you.” He puts a hand on Chan’s shoulder. “Ignorance is bliss, my friend.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Chan gives him a look, before hesitantly speaking further. “It’s not like that, you know.”

“Hmm, I’m sure it isn’t.” Hansol flashes a fake smile. “Now, now—let’s get to the dance studio. We still have to meet the others there.”

“Okay, weirdo.”

Saturday rolls around earlier than you had originally thought. You’d almost forgotten about the date until you had received Jungwoo’s text a couple of hours before. That text gave you enough time to quickly sort out and arrange your outfit (with the help of your roommate). So, by the time he shows up at your door, you easily manage to follow suit and head to the restaurant.

Compared to the other dates you’ve had, you haven’t had one as polite as Jungwoo. He asks about you, along with your interests, when you ask about him. He opens doors for you and he even covered your head when you got in the car. You haven’t even been on the actual date yet, but you’re already having a great time.

Right now, he drives down the familiar road to Asianly Classics. You both agreed on a radio station, which plays a soft melody to go along with the evening mood. He continues to ask you about this and that, the conversation flowing between you.

You hadn’t even noticed you had already arrived. After he successfully parks, you both head out of the car and towards the main entrance. Jungwoo eyes the place, taking in the atmosphere and aroma.

“I haven’t been here,” Jungwoo says. “Is the food good?”

You give him a smile. “I recommend this place to everyone. Trust me, it’s great.”

The both of you head inside, stopping at the podium. The host arrives and grabs two menus. “Table for two?”

Jungwoo smiles at her. “Yes, thank you.”

The both of you follow her through the restaurant and are seated into a comfortable booth in the corner. Jungwoo opens the menu and starts browsing, while you immediately open to the noodles page—already prepared as to what you were going to order.

“Everything here looks good,” he says. “Is it wrong to order two appetizers, an entree and a dessert?” He asks with a playful glint in his eye.

You let out a small laugh. “It would be worth it, trust me.”

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I wouldn’t make you pay for all of that.”

“Aha, well, thanks.”

“Good evening, I’m Chan and I’ll be your server for this evening.”

You look up from Jungwoo, from hearing Chan’s voice. Your jaw drops at his change of demeanor, hiding it behind the menu and away from Jungwoo’s eyes. He raises an eyebrow at you in response, dropping it once Jungwoo’s attention is on him.

“Are there any appetizers you would like to order?” Chan asks.

“Not at the moment,” Jungwoo says with a smile. “Unless I could be convinced?” He looks up from the menu to look at you.

“I think I’m good,” you say. “But, if you want a recommendation, I would say the papaya salad is worth it.”

“Another choice is the crab rangoon,” Chan says. “The chef uses her own secret recipe for the filling and it’s amazing.”

“He’s right,” you say. You look from Chan to Jungwoo. “It is amazing.”

“Well, damn,” Jungwoo says. He sets the menu down and looks at you once more. “I am convinced and will order the crab rangoon, along with the kimchi stew for my entree.”

“Crab rangoon and kimchi stew,” Chan mutters as he writes. You have to stifle your giggles from his concentration on the pen and pad. When he looks up, your lips pressed together, holding back a smile. “The usual for you?”

You nod. “Thank you, Chan.”

“Please let me know if you need anything else,” Chan says with a smile.

“Thank you.”

He takes your menus and gives you both another smile. With that, he walks back to the back to give your orders to the chef. Your eyes linger on his figure. He turns back once more and you give him another smile, before he turns away again.

“So, you’re a regular here?” Jungwoo asks.

Your attention focuses back on him. “Yeah, I come here often.”

“I can tell,” Jungwoo says with a chuckle. “You two are close?”

“Close enough,” you say. “You know, Chan goes to our university too.”

“Really?” Jungwoo pokes his head up and tries to find Chan. “I thought he looked familiar.”

“Yeah, he’s a dance major.”

Jungwoo smiles, but there’s something about it that makes you tilt your head. “You seem to know a lot about him to just ‘come here often.’”

“Well, we do run into each other a lot at the library.” You try to think how often you talk to Chan. “And the dining halls.” Your head tilts. “And the university gym... I see him a lot more than I originally thought.”

“Interesting, isn’t it?” Jungwoo asks.

“Interesting how?”

“Interesting how we start to pay attention to things when others point them out,” he says. He takes a sip of his water before speaking up once more. “Do what you will with that information.”

“Exactly what do you think I should be doing with that information?”

“Something that will get you done with all these fake dates and on one that you’d actually enjoy.”

“I’m enjoying this date though,” you say. “Are you not enjoying this date?”

“No, I’m enjoying it,” he says. “But I just want you to know, you should pay a bit more attention to those around you.”

“What’d you mean?”

“Just…” He shrugs, struggling to find the words.

“Please don’t beat around the bush,” you say.

“Okay, okay,” he says. “I just think you should be spending time on these dates with someone who you want to go on dates with…”

“Like who?”

His eyebrows raise at you and his head is tilting towards the direction of Chan, where he’s currently serving another table.

You sigh, leaning your chin in your hand. “Why does everyone keep saying that? We’re… acquaintances, barely even friends.”

“Really?” he asks. He crosses his arms. “You looked more excited to see him than you did me like twenty minutes ago.”

You were already sick of Yeri talking about it and now, someone you’re on a date with? While you know your relationship with Chan is…. different, it really is just an acquaintanceship (if that’s even a thing). You literally don’t have his number, which means no plans are made—ultimately ruling friendship. On the other hand, you do appreciate the time you get with him, whenever you do run into him. Now that you think about it, your friends do make those weird faces (which you mostly ignore) whenever you talk to, or about, him.

“... Did I?”

He nods. “Look, (Y/N),” he says, leaning on the table. “It’s not my business, but... I wouldn’t mind getting my food to-go to, say, walk my dog.” He gives you a gentle smile, resting his hand on yours, as if for assurance. “Just say the word and I’ll go on a nightly walk with Obok; it’s up to you.”

Your lips press, thinking for a bit. It’s rude to just ask Jungwoo to leave, so you could hang out with someone else. On the other hand….

Your eyes move away from Jungwoo’s and focus on Chan, who’s a couple of tables behind him. His eyes are in little crescents, as he laughs from a joke his co-worker makes. His nose is scrunched up and his decorative glasses are just on the edge of his nose. While his hair is slightly messy, his waiter uniform is nice and orderly, showcasing his legs and fit waist.

Looking back to Jungwoo, you give him a smile, lightly squeezing his hand. You couldn’t think of anything else to say, so you say the only thing that comes to mind. “Thanks, Jungwoo.”

He taps the table and gives you another smile. Wordlessly, he stands up and gives you (what he believes is) a discreet thumbs up. He walks towards the counter and chats with the host there, probably asking for his meal to be boxed. On the other hand, Chan gets back to your table once your date has left.

“What happened to him?” Chan asks with a pout. “He was cool.”

You innocently shrug your shoulders. “He said he has to walk his dog, so…”

“Sorry about your date.” He gives a half smile, as he sits down at the empty seat in front of you. “At least he’s still paying.”

You stifle a laugh. “I feel kind of bad.” You pause, glancing at Jungwoo’s back. “He’s been really nice to me and I was actually having a good time.”

“Well,” Chan says. “I’m assuming you still want your food?”

“Of course,” you say. “I’m not going to decline free food.”

He can’t hold back his smile, shaking his head along with it. “Why would I think so otherwise?” He gets up. “Don’t worry, it’s gonna be out soon.”

You give him another smile and he walks off to check on your meal. On the other hand, Jungwoo walks out with a paper bag in one hand and waves you goodbye with the other.

You think about what Jungwoo’s said… maybe you should just ask Chan out and see how things go. Honestly, there isn’t much for you to lose—considering that you don’t share classes or friends.

As you were mentally trying to weigh your pros and cons, your thoughts are interrupted as your plate is set in front of you. Your head snaps towards Chan, who looks down at you with a soft smile.

“Enjoy your meal, (Y/N).”

“Thanks.”

Just as he turns away, you grab onto his wrist. He turns back.

“Something wrong?”

“Uh.” You blink, not fully processing what you’d just done. “Sorry.” You let go of his arm. “That was kind of aggressive.”

He only smiles. “You’re okay. Did you need something else?”

You let out an awkward chuckle. “Um, when do you get off tonight?”

“You’re lucky,” he says. “I get off around 7:30.” He gives you a questionable look. “Why?”

“You wanna hang out after your shift?”

There’s a light blush on his cheeks and he clears his throat. “Um, sure, if you want to.”

“I’m not trying to pressure you or anything,” you say. “I just thought we could spend some time together…”

He gives a smile that gets bigger and bigger with each second, which you can’t help but to mirror. “Yeah, no. I, uh—I’d like that.”

“Okay.” Your smile grows. “Just let me know, okay?”

“Okay, and don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll pay, especially since I know how much you love men paying for you.”

“Oh my god, shut up. Just because a couple of guys pay for dinner—”

“Uh-huh, a couple. Maybe a couple dozen.”

You close your eyes, trying to manage your breathing. You lean on the table, glancing up at him. “Chan, you’re lucky I like you.”

Chan smiles before turning back around, unable to stop the butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

“This place is so cool,” you say. You spin a bit in your stool, but manage to maintain eye contact with Chan. “How’d you know about this place?”

“I used to work here during high school,” he says, fiddling with his fingers. “It was really fun because it was literally just high schoolers and college kids. Our boss was the only ‘mature adult’ and she didn’t come around often.”

You hum, taking in the old ice cream parlor. It’s designed to look like a diner—almost like Oberweis. A checkered pattern of red and white squares and triangles filled the top half of the walls, which your eyes couldn’t help but to follow around. The corners of the ice cream shop have some faux marble decorations on little white shelves, along with the lining of the walls, making it a bit more old-fashioned.

The burgundy colored booths are placed along the walls, which seated families, couples, and friends. Meanwhile, the larger space is occupied with small, round, white tables with red chairs, on top of a black and white checkered floor. You and Chan sit on stools that are placed along the countertop, waiting for your orders to arrive.

He’s still in his uniform, but the top few buttons are unbuttoned (which you may or may not have stared at as he did it) and his bowtie is completely undone, laying on his shoulders. He keeps his glasses on, even though he told you they’re for decorative purposes.

“I heard that working at an ice cream shop is good for your arms,” you say.

“Yeah,” he says. “Good for your arms, but bad for your wrists and your stomach.”

“Stomach?”

“You have no idea how much ice cream I ate that year.”

You laugh at the look Chan gives you and he smiles.

“It’s all fun and games until you’ve gained like ten pounds,” he adds.

“I think it’d be fun to work in an ice cream shop,” you say. “Obviously, food service is horrible in general, but… it must be fun to work with such people of similar age.”

“Customers for food service are always a pain in the ass,” Chan says. “That’s universal.”

At that time, your server arrives and places your orders down. The both of you thank him. You silently raise your ice cream and he raises his, lightly tapping against yours.

“Cheers,” he says.

“Cheers.”

For a moment, it’s quiet between the two of you. You both eat your ice cream, taking in the lively atmosphere.

“You know,” you say. “I think this is the first time we’ve officially hung out together.”

“I think you’re right,” Chan says with a laugh. “I would’ve remembered if we did.”

“You would’ve?”

“Yeah,” he says softly. “You know, you’re kind of unforgettable.”

Your smile grows. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He exhales, blowing up towards his bangs a bit. For a moment, he hesitates on speaking—biting his lower lip. Your gaze fixates on that a bit longer than you’d like to admit. “If you don’t mind, I want to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“What—what happened tonight?” He explains, when your head tilts at the question. “Like, what chased your date away and led you to me?”

You let out a small laugh. “First of all, I love the choice of words.”

“You know what I mean though.”

“Second of all, I didn’t ‘chase him away’ because he chose to leave on his own.” You fiddle with your spoon, splitting your ice cream repeatedly. “We were having a nice conversation.”

“And?”

“I don’t know. We were just talking and he said…” You sigh. “He implied that I needed a push in the right direction to do the things I wanted to do.”

“The right direction of what?”

Your eyes shift and you fully focus on your, now melting, ice cream. “Just… where I should be spending time and who I choose to spend it with.”

Chan gets quiet. “And that’s me?”

“Yeah,” you manage to say.

It’s barely above a whisper and, yet, Chan still managed to hear it. He clears his throat, trying to ignore the blood rushing to his cheeks. He doesn’t hide his smile, even when he looks at you.

“I guess I could say now…” he starts to say. “I liked being behind the scenes for your dates, but.. I didn’t really like the guys you were with.”

“Chan.” You place your hand on his. “They weren’t awful.”

“I know,” he says. “It’s just that they could have been so much better.” He pauses. “I do like that Jungwoo guy though. He’s pretty cool.”

You laugh at that. “Well, I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t give me the push, so… yeah, he’s pretty cool.” You pause. “I’m still surprised though.”

“Surprised about what?”

“Surprised that you’re okay with me and… manipulating men into buying me dinner.”

“The thing is,” he says. “Is that I know you’re not inherently bad.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because.” He tucks a stand of hair behind your ear. “From what I’ve seen behind the facade, you aren’t different, just—you’re just more quiet.” He corrects himself. “Not that you’re loud or anything, just—just that the guys you’re with don’t really get to know you and that’s… that’s not what a date is supposed to be like.”

“What is a date supposed to be like then?”

“Hopefully,” he says. “I can take you on a better one next time?”

“Yeah,” you say, interlocking your fingers with his. “I’d be up for that.”

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