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xotaemintol · 3 months

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(18+COLLEGE AU) PARK JISUNG X FEM BLACK READER: Unravel Me (part.1)

☘︎ “the sun will be shining the flowers still are blooming, then leaves will turn again, but time will be frozen for us.”☘︎

Plot: You and Jisung are college students and after becoming partners for a project in your psychology class you finally get the chance to talk to each other. (Romantic slow burn, includes fluff, smut, and slight drama) PART: 1/5 (word count: 3317) RATING: 18+ semi slow burn (yes there will be smut) Pronouns used: SHE/HER TWS: NONE

You walked through the halls with your laptop tucked underneath your arm and your phone in your hand. You had another twenty minutes before your last lecture of the day started, but you needed to get there. But you needed to speak to your professor about the paper you submitted last night. You sent him an email, but he didn't respond and the paper was worth more than 20% of your grade for this semester, and you couldn't let the simple mistake of forgetting to put it in the correct formatting ruin your current grade—especially since you need this class to graduate. So you power-walked through the halls hoping you'd be the first in the lecture hall. When you saw that his door was still closed, you smiled and ran the rest of the way—pulling the door open happily and sighing in relief when you saw it was just him.

"Good morning, Ms. Y/LN. You're quite early today, aren't you?" Said Dr. Lee in a cheerful and surprised tone; you laughed a little as you closed the heavy door carefully and rushed to his desk, "Sorry, I just needed to ask you about my paper," You responded, "I made a mistake, and the formatting got ruined as I was submitting it, is there any way I could resubmit it after the lecture?" Dr. Lee, with the sleeves of his gray sweater rolled up and his medium-length black hair just as unruly—yet neat as always paused for a moment, tapping the pen between his fingers on the his large wooden desk as he lowered his gaze at what seemed to be an endless stack of ungraded papers from the last written exam. Dr. Lee has always been the most relaxed and easygoing professor; if not for him being married with his looks, he'd be more popular amongst the horny college girls trying their hardest to pass with a easy C-. But, luckily for them, he's always understanding.

"Well, Y/N, you know I have a lot to do today," He said with a slight gesture to the papers in front of him, "So I probably won't get around to grading those essays at all this week, so I'll do you a favor today." His response made you smile. You knew you didn't have to worry; you couldn't be more relieved if you tried. "Ahhh! Thank you, Dr. Lee! I'll get it resubmitted as soon as I get to my dorm!" As he nodded and laughed, you began to rush to your desk in celebration, but before you could sit down, he stopped you, saying: "Y/N, do you think since I've done you a favor, you could do me one?" You immediately turned around to him with wide eyes, your mind dove straight into the gutters as he stood up and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his cozy gray sweats; he walked around his desk and leaned against it, crossing his leg over the other as he waited for your response. Nervously, you said, "Uh...well, I wouldn't mind," as you hoped that he wasn't saying what you were thinking. Your response made him smile wide; pulling his hands out of his pockets, he clapped them together loudly and stood straight, saying: "Great! Come over here for a second."

You looked around the lecture room nervously as he rushed back to his desk, feeling a little uneasy as you slowly approached him. Dr. Lee said jokingly, "Come on, hurry it up, Ms. Y/N."You took a deep breath and returned to his desk, standing at the side of him nervously as you awaited what he'd do or say next. "Do you know Park Jisung?" His question caught you off guard, and you were so shocked that you thought you misheard him for a second—why was he asking you about Jisung? You've never spoken to him once, and it's not like you could anyway. You only have this one class with him, and he's always quiet unless he has to speak. Sometimes, you see him when you're eating lunch or at the library; you've caught him at the gym once or twice, but you've never actually spoken. And it's not just you; he doesn't talk to anyone except his dorm mats—even though he doesn't speak to anyone, he's at the center of every girl's conversation. Every girl you've been friends with has had a crush on him, he even gets baked goods, cards, chocolates, and flowers well after Valentine's Day. Almost every girl has his birthday memorized, and they regularly give him gifts on his birthday. You think it's a little much, but you can't judge, despite your lack of gift-giving and interest in attempting to strike up a conversation with him—you have a crush on him too.

But still, you couldn't figure out why he was asking you about him. "Of course I do. We don't talk, but I've seen him around; why?" Dr. Lee sighed and peeked over your shoulder to look at the door, "I figured..." Dr. Lee rolled his eyes and leaned against his black swivel seat as he thought carefully about what to say next. "I'm sorry, but is something wrong?" You asked, "Is he okay?" He looked at you with raised eyebrows and laughed a little. "He's fine, I was just asking." You nodded, feeling confused and intrigued, but decided not to question him any further; you didn't know why he'd think you and Jisung were friends to begin with, so you brushed it off and once again began to walk to your seat. "Oh, one last thing, Y/N." You turned your head to him and raised your eyebrows as you softly hummed, "Do you think Jisung is attractive?" Your eyes went wide as you stared at him with a baffled expression. "You can be honest. You don't have a boyfriend, and Jisung is attractive to you, right?" Feeling embarrassed and confused, you nervously laughed and nodded a little.

He's not wrong—Jisung is extremely attractive, he's quiet, intelligent, tall, and shy, and you've heard he's a fantastic dancer. "I mean...yeah? But why are you asking?" Dr. Lee nodded and grinned, saying a quick "No reason." Before getting up to open his door, signifying that it was now the five-minute mark. Going up to the top row, you sit your laptop down and plug up your phone, waiting for the room to fill with its usual faces before class starts. One by one, people entered and sat in their regular seats. At this point, you would've been running down the halls to make it before the door closed so you wouldn't have seen Jisung walking in with his headphones and round, frameless glasses sitting on his nose. You smiled a little as you looked at him, reflecting on your conversation with Dr. Lee made want to laugh, he had hit the nail on the head perfectly about you finding Jisung attractive—his pretty, plump, and full lips fit his face perfectly, his nose just as gorgeous as his eyes and it makes him completely irresistible. His outfits always make you think of what type of boyfriend he'd be.

He always dresses casually, but he makes it look so good. Today was no different either. His black turtleneck and matching black pants that fit him just right looked unbelievably comfortable and warm. Even though you were far away, he looked like he smelled so good, and that alone gave you butterflies. As you continued to stare, he sat down and placed his heavy-looking bag on the floor; as he turned to the side and reached down to go through it, you thought it was a little odd but cute—as he continued to go through his bag you watched with a slight smile. But your smile quickly faded, and your eyes darted away as he suddenly looked directly at you. Maybe you were staring a little too much? You thought that he must've felt your eyes on him or that he had noticed from the corner of his eye, so you decided to stop staring—you didn't want him to think you were some weirdo. As the last person comes in, the door is closed, and like always, Dr. Lee begins his long, playful good morning ramble. Usually, you listen closely, but no matter how much you try to distract yourself, your mind drifts, staring blankly ahead with Jisung at the front of your brain.

You grin a little as you imagine what talking to him would be like; he's never occupied your mind so much before, but now you can't stop thinking about him. And you were so entertained by the thought of him that you didn't even notice Dr. Lee calling you until someone beside you tapped your shoulder. "Ms. Y/N, are you feeling okay?" Dr. Lee asked; you looked at him confused as you sat up in your seat, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the amount of attention on you, "I'm fine, sorry, I was just a little distracted." You answered awkwardly; for some reason, instead of brushing it off and kindly reminding you to pay attention, he shook his head and clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Y/N, do me a favor and come sit down here," He said, "I need you paying attention because this lesson is imperative for your final grades and so I want everyone to pay close attention." You looked at him even more confused than before; he had never made anyone move when they weren't paying attention—granted, it's not often that someone is very blatantly ignoring him, but still, it was shocking that he was making you sit closer as if you were failing his class. But without a fight, you nodded to save yourself the embarrassment, and starting moving down to the second row.

But as you reached the fourth row he stopped you Dr. Lee stopped you and said "Actually, could you sit beside Jisung?" You stopped and looked at him him; strangely, Dr. Lee was grinning as if he had told a joke that only he was in on. "You don't mind, right, Mr. Park?" This time, you looked at Jisung, who sat motionless with his eyes looking straight ahead as he shook his head, "Great, please take a seat, Y/N." Your stomach felt so uneasy as you reached the only empty section. Of course, no one else would be sitting near him in the fourth row; he always sits right underneath the air vents and right beside the window—plus, they keep a distance so they don't seem like weirdos, so as you sat down beside him you prayed that it wouldn't get awkward. Even though you don't talk, you don't want to ruin your chance to be friends with him.

"Thank you, now! Let's move on to our next subject; seeing that this is psychology and can get a little dark sometimes, I thought we should talk about something pleasant." As you glance at Jisung from the corner of your eye, you notice that he's also sneaking a glance at you, and the moment you see him, he quickly looks away, and his cheeks begin to turn pink slowly; unfortunately for you, this causes an eruption of butterflies and endless swirls in your stomach. "Today, I want to talk about the beauty of love; how many of you have been in love before? Raise your hands." As a few hands raise, you look back at Dr. Lee, and he's looking right at the two of you, "Jisung? Y/N? You two have never been in love before?" He asked with a slight laugh and his hand raised, "Don't be shy, I know one of you has," from the corner of your eye, you notice Jisung raise his hand; this makes Dr. Lee smile even more, "Y/N?" Sighing, you raise your hand and play into his little game, but once again, your mind starts to drift as you wonder what type of girl Jisung would fall in love with. You never really thought about it, but now, as you imagine it, a girl like him comes to mind.

For a while, there was a rumor that Jisung had a girlfriend because he had become friends with a girl, because she was really pretty everyone swore they had to be dating. You had heard from a friend who heard from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from some guy who heard it in the men's dorms that Jisung liked her, and that's why he became friends with her. "Amazing, now you all might be wondering why I'm asking this, right?" Dr. Lee pauses, "Well, about 70 percent of people don't end up with the love of their life, and are you curious about why this is?" As Dr. Lee continued to explain, you sat beside Jisung with sweaty palms. Your stomach felt so tight, and the slightly musky smell of citrus, Calderwood, and flowers coming from him made that feeling double. He smelt so good that you could start purring. You hadn't noticed how much time had passed until Dr. Lee suddenly clapped his hands loudly and sighed, "As much as I would hate to spring a new project on all of you suddenly, this is worth 40 percent of your grade and it will be your last project of the semester," Taking a deep breathe you focus your attention on him and cross your legs, "But, because I'm so kind I'll make it a group project, you can pick your partner so please do so now and I'll explain the rest." You turned your head to the right, watching as everyone quickly asked their friends to partner with them; everyone was quick to choose a partner they knew could get the job done quickly while you sat awkwardly, waiting for a chance to get up and find a partner yourself.

You were so busy watching everyone else that you didn't notice Jisung looking at you, not seeing how his face turned red as he prepared himself to speak to you. "Uhm, Y/N..." The sound of Jisung's voice almost made you jump, it was so smooth and deep—the soft pulse you felt between your legs made you want to scream. You try your hardest to contain yourself as you turn your head to him; you were surprised to see a pretty, red blush on his face, it only made you swoon even more. As he spoke he didn't altogether avoid making eye contact with you, he looked in your eyes only a little as he shyly asked. "Uhm, do you want to be my partner?" You couldn't hide your smile as you nodded happily. You could see him trying his hardest not to smile as he looked away and cleared his throat...you never took him as the shy type.

Class was over just as soon as it began and your palms were sweating profusely as you awaited the perfect opportunity to ask Jisung for his number, slowly you collected your belongs and pretended to look for things as he spoke to Dr. Lee—you felt so nervous, despite knowing that he'd say yes you were still so on edge. And when he finally began to walk away from Dr. Lee you were so anxious that you immediately jumped out of your seat and began to rush down the rows of seats, politely saying excuse me to the group of people standing around as you brushed passed them.

But suddenly stopping you Dr. Lee said "Oh, Y/N, I need to talk to you about the paper you submitted." As he walked around his desk.

JISUNG's POV

I sigh as I walk through the loud bustling hall, my phone had died just minutes before class ended so I couldn't put my headphones in to drown out the sound of the unnecessarily loud talking—my best bet was to get back to my dorm as fast as possible to avoid the usual stares and unsolicited flirting. It would be nice if I could just get back without having someone corner me into giving them my number or taking theirs, I managed to get through a whole lecture without being hounded and I even got to talk to Y/N. Sure I didn't say much, and maybe I was a little quiet and awkward, but I still talked to her. I smiled a little thinking about her, I didn't expect her to agree with being my partner—usually she just asks to work alone and Dr. Lee always lets her. So I can't help but feel a little special about her saying yes.

I've always wondered what she thought about me, she never seems to pay me any mind and has never tried talking to me once—we've had the same classes for almost three years now and even when I see her outside of school she always seems to be in her own world; or just avoiding mine. Sometimes I notice her looking my way but it always seems to be a coincidence and she always looks away the second I look at her, when I talked to Chenle about it he was confident that she had a crush on me but that was two years ago...now he thinks that I'm just imagining it and I can't blame him. I've had this same crush on her for three years now and the most I can say is: "We made eye contact today." But what am I supposed to do? I don't want to make her uncomfortable by approaching her, I always imagined being more confident in myself and going right up to her; in my mind it's the same thing over and over again.

I see her leaving class and instead of standing there breathlessly, I approach her smoothly. In my head I'd say something straightforward but romantic, "I just couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are." And she'd swoon, Ive always imagined that she'd have these beautiful stars in her pretty eyes as she looks at me—just imagining a smile on her gorgeous two toned lips with that shiny coat of lipgloss gives me butterflies. I could hardly stand sitting next to her, the way she looked at me when I called her name...not to mention how good she smelled. I thought I would melt if she actually said anything to me, I couldn't imagine how I would've reacted if she asked me instead.

I roll my eyes as I finally begin to leave campus, I can already tell that I'll be hung up over that one interaction for the next few weeks...how will I handle actually working with her personally? I mean I'm supposed to spend a whole two weeks with her and- "Jisung!" I stop hearing my name being called, "Jisung!" As I look over my shoulder my eyes go wide at the sight of Y/N running towards me. The sun hitting her beautiful brown skin makes her look so unreal, I can't help but stare as she rushes towards me. It feels like I'm dreaming. "Sorry," She said as she tried to catch her breathe, "I...realized that we don't have each others numbers." She said with a laugh, I could feel those same butterflies in my stomach as she looked at me with her shiny brown eyes. God...she's so damn pretty. "Oh, sorry..." I responded, "My phone is dead but I can give you my number." She nodded with a gut wrenchingly beautiful smile and reached in her pocket, only when she pulled her phone out and gestured it towards me did I notice how shaky her hands were. Chenle won't believe this…

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drurrito · 7 months

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I wrote this fairly quickly bc my crim prof is painfully hot and I am suffering as a result. All mistakes are mine.

Pairings: LawStudent!Reader x LawProfessor!Wanda

Warnings: like one cuss word lol -- reader's age is not specified and neither is Wanda's at this point -- if you want to be a K-thru-JD, be my guest.

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You’re staring at the heavy wooden door in front of you. Your eyes trace over the markings, this building is your favorite on campus because of the architecture. It was once a grand library in the late 1800s and now it holds most of your 1L classes. It’s also home to the office of your Criminal Law Professor whom you’re supposed to be meeting with in a few seconds.

You let out a long exhale as you stare at your watch. You try to ignore how sweaty your palm is as you clench your hand into a fist to knock on the door.

“Come in,” your professor’s voice is calm, with no hint as to why you were summoned to her office in the first place. It came through an email yesterday afternoon after class. You blinked at your screen while your friends teased you about being in trouble.

Are you in trouble?

You step into her office and she’s sitting at her desk writing something down.

“You wanted to see me, Professor Maximoff?”

“Yes,” she sets down her pen, “can I get you anything? Water? Tea?” She gives you a warm smile that would normally disarm anyone but it only makes you stiffen with nerves.

“No thank you, professor. I’m good.”

“Sure," she leans back in her chair and gives you a serious look that makes you flinch, "what did you think of the lesson yesterday? Any questions?”

Did she really call me in here to talk about yesterday’s lesson?

“No, professor, none that I can think of. Inchoate crimes seem pretty straightforward,” you nervously nod and her lips twitch into a smile.

“I look forward to reading your analysis on it for tomorrow’s discussion board then.”

“I’m just about done with it,” you breathe, it was the truth. You know you won’t see your class ranking until after your first year of law school but it seems to already be obvious to everyone that you’re top of the class. It’s not by luck, you've always had to work harder than everyone else to get where you needed to be. It does help that you’ve wanted to go to law school since you were a child. Now that you’re here, everything just clicks.

“Y/N,” Profesor Maximoff’s voice makes your eyes snap to hers. Her usually bright shade of hazel eyes are now much, much darker.

“You’re a good student, you know that right?"

That makes you clear your throat, “thank you, professor, I’m just trying to make the most of this opportunity — it’s pretty busy at times.”

“You must be too busy to realize how you come across as well.”

“I’m sorry?” You have to ask to make sure you heard her correctly.

“You realize this is the first time you’ve held eye contact with me for more than three seconds?" She crosses her arms and that makes you tense even more.

“You’ve been counting?”

“At some point, yes. It’s like clockwork," she unfolds one arm to frame her face and you can't help but appreciate her jawline and the perfectly manicured finger that's tapping away at her cheek.

You have to look away and take a breath. You feel like an idiot for having such obvious tells. Of course, if Sam and Bucky can clock your nervous habits, Professor Maximoff can too.

“You don’t let your eyes land on me for too long, they bounce around the room a lot, like right now.”

Your eyes fall on her again, but this time you make it a point to hold it for as long as you can physically bear it.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I’m not rude, just shy at times. I can see how that comes off as standoffish.”

“It’s okay,” she gives you a nod with a smile. It’s the same combo she gives during her lectures. You only know this because you’re its number-one fan. Your jaw reflexively drops but you quickly pick it back up before she notices.

“You know,” she slides out of her plush leather chair and saunters out from behind her desk, “at first I did think you were just rude.”

She shrugs for a beat before stepping closer to you, “but then I think about how often you hold the door for me.”

And closer.

“And how you say ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ whenever you pass me on campus.”

And closer.

“Now, it all makes sense.”

Your cheeks begin to burn, you want to step back to give her space but she’s already a breath away from you by the time your brain can form the idea.

“Y/n.”

“Yes, professor?”

“Do you like me?”

Fuck.

She asks it so innocently you almost forget where you are. You're not two people casually exploring each other's fascination with one another. You're not on some kind of date, she’s your professor and you’re just a 1L. She watches your throat squirm as you swallow. Your mouth is now bone dry.

“I…it’s--just a little crush, yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, professor,” you respond so quickly and she hums in praise. Something pulls deep in your belly but you don’t have any time to figure out what it is before Professor Maximoff speaks again.

“Just a little?”

She leans impossibly closer to you. Your eyes don’t have a single corner to escape to, your breathing is shallow and sporadic.

“Yeah.”

She doesn’t correct you this time and you can’t help but feel a heavy pang of want. You watch a smirk stretch across her face and you feel like prey that’s about to fall victim to--

“That’ll be all, y/n—please close the door on your way out.”

She backs away before you do, turning on her heel to sit at her desk just the way you found her.

You stand there dumbly nodding for a moment. She subtly raises an eyebrow in your direction and that’s when your limbs begin to move towards the door. You quietly shut the door behind you before slumping against it, air filling your lungs once again. You shake off whatever you're feeling and head home, still trying to wrap your head around what just happened.

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda x you #marvel fanfic #works

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stay-mon-army · 2 years

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A Little Bit of Chemistry

Warning(s): embarrassment, self-consciousness

Word Count: 2,417 words

Pairing: Gaon x Gender Neutral!Reader

It wasn’t that you were bad at chemistry. You wanted to get that clear right off the bat. You were fine at chemistry; it was just that this professor was an absolute asshole. All he did was complain that his students kept failing his exams, but he wasn’t ever teaching you what to do. You would go to class, you would take notes, you would study said notes, and somehow you always failed his quizzes because none of the content was anywhere in your notes.

You hated to admit defeat and go to a tutor. You weren’t stupid, you were just a victim of bad teaching. But finally, you realized that if you didn’t get someone else’s input (preferably from someone who had passed the class), you were going to have to take the class again, and you just couldn’t do that. You refused to sit through another semester of this professors horrible test-making.

You had asked the professor if he could recommend you a past student who might be willing to help you with studying and he had been quick to mention a boy named Jiseok who had passed the class next semester. He gave you his school email address and seemed very excited that a student was working towards passing his course. Whatever, he was the one who made everyone fail anyway.

You had emailed him last week and he had quickly agreed to help you study for the chemistry class. Apparently he was a chem major and was always excited to talk about his passion and help others understand the arguably difficult topic. You agreed on a time and place to meet up to begin working.

Before you know it, it’s the day you are meeting with this mystery boy at the library. You grab your chem stuff and begin the trek up to the large building. You wait in the entryway for a moment, realizing you didn’t ask where in the building you were going to meet. He had said he would book out a study room for you both to have a bit of privacy, but you don’t know which one he had booked.

As you stand there, looking around for the boy that you’ve never seen before, you feel a hand tap against your shoulder. You turn around to come face-to-face with a smiling boy with shoulder-length black hair, his eyes crinkled up with his grin.

“You must be (Y/N), right? I’m Jiseok!” His voice is lilting and upbeat, exactly as you would have expected based off his happy demeanor. He looks like a happy puppy, excited and bouncing with energy. “I got us a study room so we can go work on your studying!” He points towards the back of the library, where the study rooms and computers are located.

He begins to walk in that direction, smiling back over his shoulder as he checks that you’re following along with his stride. You quickly start after him, taking long strides to catch up with him so you weren’t following at some uncomfortable distance. As you reach the study room, Jiseok pulls out a key and unlocks the door, stepping inside to hold it open for you. Inside is a small table with three chairs around it. On one wall is a whiteboard with markers and an eraser so that students can work together.

You slip past him through the doorway, thanking him as you set your stuff down onto one of the chairs. He closes the door and plops himself down onto the edge of the table, crossing his leg under the other that’s dangling over the edge.

“So, what exactly are you learning right now?”

You spent the whole two hour session letting him know where you are content-wise in the class. You tell him your problems so far and how everyone seems to be struggling but that you think the professor doesn’t want to change anything even though he’s obviously the reason you’re failing. You let him know what you know and that in every previous test had nothing gone over in class. At this, Jiseok laughs.

“Oh yeah, Mr. Donaghue is horrible at making tests that actually meet with what he’s teaching. That happened with my class too. Since your class is still on the periodic table stuff, your next test will likely be on atomic structure. He somehow always assumes that students make that next jump on their own, and they never do.” He quickly pulls out papers and his laptop, flipping it open quickly and typing hectically on the keyboard right away.

You sit and stare at the boy before you, blinking for a moment before you chuckle softly to yourself.

He doesn’t pause his typing, but he looks up at you with a small smile. “What?”

“You’re kinda amazing.” You laugh, shaking your head. “You just remember all of this and know exactly how to help. What are the chances I found the only person who could manage to help me ace this class with just a simple question to Mr Donaghue?”

Jiseok smiles even wider, his eyes sparkling at you obvious content at him as a tutor already.

“Maybe you’re just lucky.” He grins, ducking his head back behind his laptop as he keeps searching. Finally, he turns his screen around so that you can see it as he shows you some sort of powerpoint presentation. “So, I’ll go over some of the basics, and then I have some worksheets and problems to see how much more detail I need to give you.”

~~~

You ended up loving to spend time with Jiseok. You liked chemistry before, but the way he taught it made it feel so much more fun. He always made jokes to help some content stick, or he would create problems that had impossible situations or ideas hidden within them. He smiled every time he saw you and always wished you an amazing day when you two went your separate ways after a study session. You could almost call him a friend; you never hung out outside of your study sessions, but you looked forward to your study sessions, and part of you was interested in interacting with him in a more relaxed and fun environment.

So, one day, you decided to invite him to hang out with your friends. You were throwing a small party, which was just a couple people having food and watching stupid movies, but you thought he might be interested. He was always laughing and making jokes with you, and he hadn’t been shy when you first met each other. You were hoping he would respond positively, even if he might be a little unsure at first.

What you weren’t expecting was to watch his face drop. He had been smiling, ready to start talking about the newest topic after you passed your last exam, when you’d interrupted to extend the offer. His smile slid from his face, almost comically, and his eyes visually shuttered. He paused for a moment, his mouth hanging open, before he snapped back to a smile, although it didn’t reach his eyes again.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I have to study for an exam the next day, so I’ll be busy. Maybe next time though!” He grins at you, throwing in a sheepish shrug when you really look at him for a second.

You try not to think too much of it and you smile back, although your eyebrows stay furrowed as you look down at your notebook as you flip to a blank page to prepare to take notes on what he teaches you today.

It doesn’t hit you until you get back to your dorm that you hadn’t gotten to tell him the date of the party, so he didn’t even know when you were inviting him over.

~~~

The next time you began to raise your eyebrows at Jiseok’s behavior was when you managed to run into him on campus. Before that, you hadn’t seen him anywhere on campus; you almost thought that he wasn’t really a student. You were always on campus with friends, doing work, or just getting some exercise, and you had never seen him anywhere. However, the day before a major test, you were walking around campus to destress from studying on your own in your dorm and you saw Jiseok sitting with a few people you assume are his friends.

At first, you weren’t going to approach, because you thought he might want to spend time with his friends and you didn’t want to bother him. But then you remembered that you wanted to get to know him, and you thought that this would be a nice way to break the ice between you two and your study-only relationship. So you took a breath to calm yourself and you stepped up to their table, smiling down at Jiseok.

“Hey, Jiseok! How are you?” You try to sound chipper and surprised to see him. His head whips around to look at you, mouth opening and closing for a second as his eyes nearly bulge from his head.

“Um, hey.” He says, turning and looking at his friends quickly, obviously awkward about the situation. You stand there for a moment, looking at his friends. One is looking at him with a look of disapproval, another is chuckling behind his hand, while the last is looking at you, pityingly and kind.

You stand for what feels like an eternity with Jiseok not looking at you. Finally you clear your throat, mumbling a “goodbye”, and rushing off, holding your notebooks closer to your chest as you turn away.

You can’t believe you made such a fool of yourself. You wanted to be mad at Jiseok for treating you like he had never seen you before. You wanted to scream and cry about how he let you flounder there in front of his friends when all you did was say hello. You wanted to be so angry about his dismissal of you like he didn’t want to recognize that he knew you when you so obviously knew him. But instead of all that, you hated yourself for thinking that it was a good idea to approach him. That he would accept your random friendship when you were just some stupid student who needed help with chemistry. You weren’t friends. You didn’t really know each other. You felt absolutely idiotic for thinking that this was a good idea. You never wanted to show your face on campus ever again. You never wanted to see Jiseok again.

But you had a study session with him tomorrow.

~~~

You almost cancelled your session. You almost texted him and told him not to worry about meeting. That you would just figure out the last two months of class on your own. That you weren’t worried anymore and that he had helped plenty, thank you, you were finally a chemistry master.

But you knew that wasn’t going to help anything. While you were tired just thinking about having to interact with Jiseok after that super awkward interaction with his friends, you needed his help. Another quiz was coming up in a couple weeks and you needed to practice what only he knew was on it.

You arrived just on time to your session, in the same room as you always meet in. Jiseok was sitting in the room already, his laptop and notebook open before him, texting vigorously on his phone. As you open the door, he quickly locks his phone and places it face down on the table. He looks up to you with a wide smile on his face.

“Hey, (Y/N)! How have you been?” He’s got that giant smile on his face that always makes you feel like the coolest person in the world— like you had done something amazing by just existing.

And that smile alone destroyed your mental fortitude.

You drop your backpack onto the table and cross your arms. How dare he. Acting like he didn’t complete embarrass you in front of his friends yesterday, like it wasn’t the worst possible option from the interaction, like he didn’t act like he didn’t know you when you were out in public. You hadn’t done anything to him, so you needed to know why he felt the need to treat you the way he did.

“Why did you treat me like that?” You ask, voice coming out much smaller than you meant it. His smile falls from his face, his eyes wide, mouth agape.

He gulps and blinks at you. “What?”

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with your stupid little tutor case? Is that what happened? All I did was say hello. Do you not want to be seen with me? Huh?” He stares at you as your voice rises, you can feel your face getting hot, but you don’t care. You need to get this off your chest. You need to know. He doesn’t respond and you repeat yourself. “Are you embarrassed to be with me?”

You finally stop, breathing heavily as you feel the emotions boiling in your blood. When Jiseok doesn’t respond at first, you groan loudly, spinning to face away from him and dragging your hands over your face. You hear him shift, but you don’t look at him. You can’t, because if he keeps looking at you with those sad, scared eyes, you might just combust into anger again, and you want to compose yourself again.

“I’m not embarrassed by you. I was embarrassed- I am embarrassed about how I feel when we are together, and I- I was afraid...” His voice is quiet, gentle, soft, you almost don’t hear him. You pause, back straightening at the response you weren’t expecting.

“A-about... how you feel?” You whisper back, staring at the wall before you, afraid to turn around and scare him off. Maybe, if you don’t look at him, he might continue to confess to you, explain what happened.

“I’m afraid others will know. That they’ll figure it out because I’m not sure if I’m ready to do anything about it. I like how our little tutor sessions are. I’m not ready to change anything about that yet. Because, I’m such a coward, and I’m afraid.” He sounds choked off and you turn quickly, throwing caution to the wind.

His eyes are staring at his hands in his lap, like he knew you were looking at him and he couldn’t meet your eyes. His hands wrung in his lap, his body shaking lightly like he was afraid of something. Afraid of you learning this about him.

“What do you feel, Jiseok?” You don’t know why your voice won’t get louder than a whisper, like you were afraid that he would run away or shut down if you spoke too loud.

He raises his eyes to yours, shining and wide like a sad puppy. He blinks, takes a deep breath, exhales, and opens his mouth. “I think I like you.”

You blink back, having had a suspicion that was where he was going, but not totally expecting him to say it. “I-”

“We can pretend I didn’t say anything. Like I said, I don’t think I’m ready for anything to change. But I don’t want you thinking I don’t like you or that- that I’m embarrassed about knowing you.” He’s looking back at his hands, twisting them tightly around each other like the pressure will take away the embarrassment you know he feels.

“Let’s meet for dinner later.” You say, standing still and holding your breath.

“What?” His head snaps to you, eyes shining now with something new, something deeper.

“Let’s meet for dinner tonight. We have our study session right now, like normal. And then later, we get dinner together. It can be at the cafe or the dining hall or wherever you want. We hang out as friends. We get to know each other. We see how things go.” You sit down on the seat across from Jiseok, feeling tense and self-conscious. You don’t really know what’s come over you, but you know that this is what you want.

Weren’t you feeling bad because he didn’t seem to want to be around you? Didn’t you invite him out because you wanted to spend time with him outside of the tutoring session? You didn’t know if you liked him, but you wouldn’t mind getting to know him better to figure it out.

His eyes flicker across your face, looking for something. He must decide he likes whatever he sees, because his mouth splits into a wide smile.

“We see how things go.” He says, holding out his hand. You smile back and shake his hand.

You were excited to see how things go.

#gaon xdinary heroes #XH Gaon #gaon xdinary heroes imagine #xdinary heroes #xdinary heroes imagines #xdinary heroes imagine #xdinary heroes gaon #jiseok #kwak jiseok #xh jiseok #xh jiseok imagine #xdinary heroes jiseok

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seokiloquy · 2 years

Text

Drapery - Azumane Asahi

Au: Regular (Timeskip)

Tags/Warnings: GN!reader, multiple tenses cause time, mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 1.3k

Azumane knew the feeling of another’s skin beneath his hands. Over the years, he has been intimate with the nature of others’ bodies. He has learnt the patterns of waists, legs, shoulders, and arms into a near science: soft, sharp, boxed, round, big, or small. Each body is different from the next, unique and the same, and ever-changing. Azumane has held hundreds and is always keen to experience the build of another. Such is the world of fashion.

“Can you lift your arms for me?” he asks one hand on his subject’s bare shoulder, holding the end of his tiring measuring tape.

“Like this?” You raise your arms to a T rolling your shoulders back to maintain posture.

“Perfect, thank you.” His hand slides down your arm, pulling the measuring tape until meeting the bend of your wrist.

You were new. Fresh from dropping out of university, which also happened to be where he found you, crying on the front steps of the fashion studies building where he was about to meet an old professor of his.

It was almost dark out. The sun was peeking through alleyways, and you were curled over your knees, gripping your skirt that was torn to shreds, falling to pieces at your feet. Even through tears and choked words, you somehow managed to speak firmly and eloquently to Azumane when he approached.

“It’s all over, I hate this world, this art, these people, yet I can’t think of a single other thing to do with my life, and it’s heartbreaking. I never wanted to hate the one thing I love. It makes me feel ugly, disgusting.”

After sending you on your way home, he spoke to his old professor and inquired. It all ended with an email inviting you to his workshop.

“Have you ever modelled before (L/N)? You seem to have practice,” he asks, writing his final measurement down, and offering you a hand to step off the podium.

“Not for anything other than class projects. And well, you know how that went.”

He did. It had taken you repetitive hours of ranting into a glass of wine from his kitchen for you to calm down and speak on something other than the repetitive harsh words of a high fashion professor.

“Other than school, I would try making my clothes and have my family help get measurements. But that’s about it. No runways for me.”

“Runways are a bit overrated, but I’m happy to have a new addition to my team.” He gestures to the empty room. Tables covered with unfinished cuts and stitches, and walls filled with rolls of fabric. The warehouse is empty otherwise. “If they were here, I’m sure they’d agree.”

“It’s their day off, isn’t it? Why don’t you stop for the day?”

He sighs through his nose, pushing up on his glasses to get a better glance at you sitting on the nearby stool. Kira, his manager, is out with friends, and his small team of sewers with different specialties are off doing who knows what.

“I wanted to make sure we had these for Monday.”

“It could have waited till Monday too.”

Pushing a hand through his hair, he gave you an unamused look. “Did I interrupt your plans?”

“In fact, you did.”

“Really, and what were these plans?” He rolls up his measuring tape and sets it down with his clipboard on the nearest table, the same one you’re sitting at, head in your hands, with a cheeky smile. He raises a brow.

“To eat pizza with wine on your couch, of course.”

“Ah, yes, very eventful.” He pats your shoulder before walking by. “Come on. Let’s head out and order that pizza.”

He can practically hear you buzzing happily behind him.

Azumane didn’t actually have any models within his team. All his models were either temporarily contracted or freelance. Though he knows some personally, to the point of repeatedly calling a few friends and having them in his shows, none stayed exclusively to his brand.

Adopting a college drop-out with similar interests and nowhere to go gave him that opportunity.

If only you’d stop eating his half of the dinner.

“I’m only taking a bite!”

“Ya, of my meal. Eat your own.”

“You’re paying for it anyways.”

“Should I order another side dish?”

“Don’t spoil me.” You tease, smiling across the table while your chopsticks steal another slap of salmon from his plate.

“You already are.”

“Only because you are incredibly kind.” It’s genuine.

He doesn’t quite know how you can switch expressions and tones so quickly when he’s stuck in a frustrated, calm, or nervous wreck. He doesn’t quite yet know your natural state, other than being a sloth on his couch.

“Don’t say that.” He can feel the nervousness climbing up his chest.

You play with your chopsticks before setting them down with a shrug. “I mean it. I would probably be back home with my family, barely making it by, or even on the streets if you didn’t kidnap me.”

He chokes, muscles tensing into a multilayered frown that reaches his eyebrows.

“I didn’t kidnap you!”

Your laugh is lighthearted, rolling and tumbling like a breeze over hills. As you settle down, his expression softens again. “Seriously. Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t have given up.” He says after a moment’s pause. “On fashion, I mean. You could have done so well.”

“Maybe, but if I loved it enough, I wouldn’t have given up on it in the first place. No matter the circumstance.”

It tugs his chest a little.

Fashion shows are stressful, heartbreaking, discouraging, and hopeful. Still more so negative until it’s over.

Between makeup artists touching hundreds of faces, hair-stylists tugging on scalps, seamstresses pinning clothes, and (most) models sneaking in food wherever possible so they don’t faint, all while barely having space to stand (let alone sit), there is no sense of peace.

Azumane went out of his way to buy food for everyone (Including the models) when he felt the tension rising, which they ravaged until it looked as though it weren’t there in the first place.

It hurts, physically and mentally, on all parties. Yet, once it’s over, he can’t help but want to do it again.

You fall back onto his couch when you arrive home so quickly that he hasn’t even gotten his shoes off.

When he looks over the back of the couch, he sees your bleary eyes surrounded by smudged makeup and a dopey grin that you send his way between yawns.

“Did you have fun on your first runway?” he asks, resting on his elbows.

“It was nerve-wracking; having all those people staring felt like I was in school again waiting for a critique.”

The comparison has him biting his cheek.

“Yet. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more confident and empowered. I know they were there to see your designs, but they were staring at me wearing them, and they were in awe. I felt beautiful.” You yawn again, wiping a hand over your mouth, where it pulls away with a colourful smear that reflects onto your cheek. Staring at the remnants on your hand, then to Azumane, you smile.

“Asahi. Thank you. Can I do it again?”

Reaching down, Azumane uses his thumb to try and wipe off the smudge on your cheek, only to find it spreading and looking worse than before. You grin, playfully following his thumb with your teeth in an attempt to bite it.

“You can do it as long as you want. For now, though. Sleep. I’ll get some makeup wipes and take care of your face.”

When Azumane returns, your head is bent back, mouth open, with soft snores escaping you. He tries to be gentle as he wipes away the colours and lines from your skin, but he’s confident that you won’t wake up even if he were to set off fireworks.

He grins once your face is bare and clean. “You are beautiful.”

Closing your jaw with the tap of his finger and covering your shoulders with your blanket, Azumane shuts off the lights and goes to bed.

Short and Sweet, cause school sucks and makes it hard to write -Bacon

Posted: 09/10/2022

#asahi x reader #asahi azumane #azumane x reader #asahi azumane x reader #Haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #x reader #oneshot #oneshots #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu reader insert #reader insert #aus #haikyuu aus #fluff #haikyu #haikyu x reader #anime x reader #anime

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bloomblitz · 2 years

Text

Dracula Daily October 3

The longest email we’ll ever get, so I’ve heard? Under the cut it goes then!

Let me put down with exactness all that happened, as well as I can remember it, since last I made an entry. Not a detail that I can recall must be forgotten; in all calmness I must proceed. Didn’t....didn’t we start an entry with basically these same lines some months ago? It sounds familiar...

The patient was now breathing stertorously and it was easy to see that he had suffered some terrible injury. My god he’s still alive!

I thought that, somehow, Mrs. Harker had come into the room. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!OOOOOOOO!!!!O!O!!O!O!OO!!O!O!O!!!!!!!!!!!

"I didn't know that she was here till she spoke; and she didn't look the same. I don't care for the pale people; I like them with lots of blood in them, and hers had all seemed to have run out. I didn't think of it at the time; but when she went away I began to think, and it made me mad to know that He had been taking the life out of her." NOOOO! NOT MINA!!!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!

"Dr. Van Helsing, you love Mina, I know. Oh, do something to save her. It cannot have gone too far yet. Guard her while I look for him!" get yourself somebody who loves you as much as Jonathan Harker loves Mina

All the manuscript had been burned, and the blue flames were flickering amongst the white ashes; the cylinders of your phonograph too were thrown on the fire, and the wax had helped the flames. You’re too late Drac, everyone’s read those and between them all could easily recount every detail.

"Thank God there is the other copy in the safe!" ...that too. Take that, you damn vampire!

"except that the poor fellow is dead." Dammit I really wanted Renfield to eat Dracula

'First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet; it is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!' Honestly by this point, between that mother back at the castle, the babies and Lucy, I thought Drac just killed people, and that Hollywood made up the whole ‘talking with his victims’ thing (Jonathan was a special case).

And so you, like the others, would play your brains against mine. You would help these men to hunt me and frustrate me in my designs! Even Drac admits Mina’s a smart woman

the whitening hair I know its to be expected, what with all he went through, but dammit he’s too young!

the very first thing we decided was that Mina should be in full confidence; that nothing of any sort—no matter how painful—should be kept from her. SEE?! If she had stayed with you guys that night none of this would have happened!

Now, Madam Mina, you are in any case _quite_ safe here until the sunset; and before then we shall return—if—— We shall return! Don’t doubt yourself Helsing

As he had placed the Wafer on Mina's forehead, it had seared it—had burned into the flesh as though it had been a piece of white-hot metal. !!!! Why?! Why is Mina affected so strongly while Lucy was fine with a crucifix?! Is there a quicker way to turn people, and Drac was acting fast as a way to get back at the Drac Attack Pack?

To one thing I have made up my mind: if we find out that Mina must be a vampire in the end, then she shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone. ...are you saying you’d rather become a vampire in order to stay with Mina forever, instead of killing her as they did Lucy?

The last I saw, she was waving her hand in farewell. I really hope this isn’t foreboding in some way

Look out for D. He has just now, 12:45, come from Carfax hurriedly and hastened towards the South. Damn telegraphs are faster than vampires! (at least those in their weakened daylight state.)

It was just an ordinary knock, such as is given hourly by thousands of gentlemen, but it made the Professor's heart and mine beat loudly. Now why would Drac knock on the door of his own house?

He held up a warning hand as he spoke, for we all could hear a key softly inserted in the lock of the hall door. Now that’s terror!

The first to act was Harker GO JOHN GO! FOR MINA! FOR LUCY! FOR YOURSELF!

The expression of the Count's face was so hellish, that for a moment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the terrible knife aloft again for another stroke. GO JOHN GO!

My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. Your girls that you all love are mine already; and through them you and others shall yet be mine Damn Drac can hold a grudge

True to our promise, we told Mrs. Harker everything which had passed Good, good!

That poor soul who has wrought all this misery is the saddest case of all. Oh Mina

assured Mrs. Harker that she might rest in peace ...poor choice of words, Helsing

there is no rest for me until.... Later.—I must have fallen asleep Falling asleep mid-sentence. Been there.

#dracula daily #this was a loooooooong entry

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jcmarchi · 4 months

Text

How you can use AI to push boundaries in SaaS products

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-you-can-use-ai-to-push-boundaries-in-saas-products/

How you can use AI to push boundaries in SaaS products

My name is Juliette Denny, and I am the CEO at Growth Engineering. We create really engaging technology fueled by artificial intelligence.

Now, I know this subject can seem like traveling to an alien planet, but I’m giving you a step-by-step guide to reach lift-off!

Here’s the breakdown: 👇

Main talking points

What is AI

AI in more detail

Hollywood has warped our understanding

Business applications

Unprecedented growth

Better outcomes

What is AI?

There’s a number of different definitions of AI. But none of them define it better than this quote from Professor John McCartney.

In other words, AI represents our efforts to stimulate human intelligence through machines. AI is usually applied to automate tasks or processes to make them more efficient.

These are the more challenging tasks that humans would do, rather than easier tasks. An important thing to note right off the bat, is that AI isn’t a substitute for human activity; it augments human activity.

AI can take over tasks that would be more time-consuming for a person, like looking through legal documents to find precedents and commonality. On the other hand, things that’re easy for human beings, like walking, are very hard for AI to pull off.

Okay, so now that we’ve got the definitions out of the way, let’s dig into AI in a little more detail.

AI in more detail

Now, within the subject of AI, there are many subcategories, and we’re going to cover them in this section.

Weak/narrow AI

Typically, when people are talking about weak or narrow AI, it’s the type of artificial intelligence that’s limited to a really specific or narrow area. So, for example, we have Alpha Zero. That’s a computer system that’s basically excellent at chess. But if you were going to bet on this system in a game of Scrabble, you’d be out of luck.

General AI

This system seeks to establish a kind of intellectual agent that can learn any top tasks that humans can. In other words, it’s on par with a human ability. This has been used when assessing loan criteria, for example, whether something is low or high risk.

Super AI

As you may have guessed by the title, super AI would be something that has superseded human intelligence. The potential of these kinds of technologies is unprecedented (and potentially scary!) It’ll probably be a long time before we arrive at this point.

Machine learning

This is a subfield of the wider AI. It allows the software to learn through an algorithm so that it can complete tasks more efficiently.

Deep learning

This is a type of machine learning that uses artificial neural networks. It progressively learns from the data that’s being pushed through the neural network. This is a textbook example of AI augmenting human actions.

Hollywood has warped our understanding

Sadly (or maybe luckily!) we’re not anywhere close to Terminator 2 or Ex Machina.

Better examples

Modern-day examples of AI include things like:

Recommendation engines

Virtual assistants

Chatbox

Intelligent Search

Email filtering

Driverless cars

All of these are powered by AI. Now, we’ve highlighted some modern examples of AI, let’s look at some companies that have invested heavily in AI.

Domino’s

So, I don’t know about you, but I love pizza, but do you know what I didn’t love? Ordering pizza on my cell phone for deliveries. Often you’d be waiting there, not knowing what time it was going to arrive, wondering if they’d forgotten about it even!

What Domino’s pizzas did is they used artificial intelligence to develop a model which allowed them to predict when your pizza was going to get to you. They went from an accuracy of 75% to an accuracy of 95%. This also worked out well for Domino’s because it meant they weren’t getting as many calls.

Deutsche Bank

This company really utilizes AI in a different way. They used it to identify attractive loan clients to speed up their loan approvals. This happens as the customer is actually filling in the form, and it’s really speedy and efficient. Just think about how much manpower and how much expense banks must rack up from having to employ people to carry out those checks!

The knock-on effect has been that more people have signed up to use this process. Now, more loans are getting approved, and more business is being done.

IBM Watson

IBM Watson has a number of applications in terms of customer service. They have a smart assistant, which uses conversational AI to help resolve over 7,000 customer inquiries a day. The reason why this works is that most of the customer inquiries are the same customer inquiries, it doesn’t require human intervention, so we’re driving down the cost of delivering the service.

Real breakthroughs

Having said that, there are also really powerful examples of AI. It has the potential to engineer unthinkable technology, as well as technological and scientific breakthroughs. Because machines are able to analyze data so much quicker than mortal brains.

A good recent example would be…

Deep Mind

Deep Mind’s AI program was able to solve a problem that scientists have been trying to crack for almost 50 years. Now, I’m no protein scientist, but what a protein does largely depends on its own unique 3D structure. Understanding how different proteins can fold can really help us develop new medical treatments.

It represents a real, significant advance in human understanding. Because scientists were unable to understand how the math worked, It was estimated that it would never be known.

But of course, Alphafold came to the rescue! It’s a software from DeepMind that’s able to analyze the available data. It then develops really strong predictions of the underlying physical structure of the protein within a matter of days.

Unprecedented growth in AI

A lot of large organizations are investing in AI. If you’re a small or medium-sized business, never think that you are locked out of AI, because the reality is, there has been a huge amount of investment made by the big technology companies. And now this technology is widespread. It’s very accessible to smaller companies.

Don’t believe me? Here are some key stats on the growth of AI:

97.2% of organizations are now investing in AI (NewVantage Partners)

AI tech investment will reach $232 billion by 2025 (KPMG)

AI will contribute $15.7 trillion to the world economy by 2030 (PwC)

Why should AI be so interesting to you? Well, first…

It automates time-consuming tasks

Let’s say in customer success, for example, they’re answering the same questions over and over again. By utilizing bots, you can speed up the time that you can respond to customers.

When you usa a customer support helpline, you’ll typically encounter a bot filtering out the common questions before they put you in touch with a human being.

AI increases team efficiency

Your team is freed up from answering the same question over and over again. They can work on more challenging questions, and they can really formulate creative ways to innovate, do their jobs, and deliver value for the customer.

Is AI going to replace humans?

This is really the million-dollar question, right? But the reality is, it’s really not true at all. Robots are not going to replace humans, they’re going to make human jobs more humane.

Robots will be doing the four Ds in jobs. These are:

Jobs that are more difficult

Jobs that are more demeaning

Jobs that are more demanding

Jobs that are more dangerous

Humans get to be the superheroes

They can get creative and really focus on solving complex problems, those wonderful things robots will never be able to do. What we really should be doing is trying to advance AI and machine learning to take over stuff that we really don’t want to be doing ourselves.

What we do at Growth Engineering

The first thing is, we are not a big company. We’re working on a shoestring budget to produce something which is really meaningful. Humans are naturally curious, but sometimes when it comes to doing online learning, we stop being curious.

Our main goal is to determine how we can get AI to facilitate learning being easier. Here are some of the ways that we think can achieve that:

AI can automate tedious admin tasks

When you join a Learning Technology Department, you don’t join because you want to work a learning management system or create e-learning, you join because you love training people. So, one of the things that we really wanted to do is enable L&D professionals to focus on what they love doing, which is developing people.

How can we utilize AI for account provisioning, user provisioning, etc?

AI can create personalized learning pathways

Think about your Netflix recommendations – which are AI automated– how would you feel if it kept pushing the same content at you based on an algorithm? E-learning is the same. By freeing up people, we can allow them to curate pure curiosity and deliver the stuff our learners really want.

How can we refine learning?

One of the things that’s really important in learning and development is showing that you can do something as well as know it. We want to make learners more than a passive recipient of a piece of content.

AI can help in getting people to practice the skills before they actually put it into practice.

We want to make it easy for admins to understand the process of learning.

We want them to understand that:

You need to see the information.

You need to be reminded of it through testing and assessments.

You actually need to do it.

If we can pull together processes, AI can actually facilitate this for the admin, and we’re going to get better outcomes.

Better outcomes

Example 1: recommendation engines

There are many big technology companies that have recommendation engines you can plug into really easily. All you need to do is Google AI and you will find a whole variety of different services that they offer. One of the things that they offer is recommendations engines.

What does that mean for us? Well, we need APIs that bring together our user-provisioning information with our content information in order to deliver good recommendations for our learners

Now, one of the challenges in this is that the model can only be trained once the user information is there. You need to have a cold start, but once you get going, one of the great things about recommendation engines is they focus very much on what colleagues in your industry are doing rather than the actual content itself.

Example 2: User & content provisioning

This is admittedly pretty boring, but it’s a massive part of onboarding.With our customers from big companies like L’Oréal and BT, the users and content they provision can come from five or six different enterprise platforms.

Not only that, the content can come from five or six different content providers, including their own content providers. We can end up with different elements of metadata in the information that we get. For users, we can get a lot of patchy information.

Often it’s a real nightmare for some of our clients to be able to put the data in the structure. We need to onboard them and get the right recommendations in terms of content. What we’ve been able to do with AI is use auto-tagging.

This allows us to match between the content and the provisioning data in order to get the model started. It’s not quite a cold start. We’re able to get between 56 to 70%, depending on how much information is coming over from the content metadata.

Example 3: Intelligent search

We need a deep intelligence search on our own platforms, as well as on the learning content itself. We need to do intelligent search on everything in the ecosphere of our customers, not just the information on our platform, Intelligent Search is a great way of doing that.

Using API’s, you can easily push out to other platforms, get that information, and then bring it back to your users in whatever the user interfaces.

Example 4: Content Creation

Content creation is a massive headache! Most organizations have a huge amount of information that they need to get out to their people. Some of our biggest clients are in retail, and there are products coming all the time. You can have a situation where you’ve got to spend 180 hours creating a single hour of e-learning. Yeah, no-one has time for that, right?

AI can very easily upload PowerPoint presentations, upload work docs, upload PDFs, and then put it into a series of templates. Again, this frees up educators to do more actual educating. We’re in a situation where we’re able to coach people one-on-one in a more personalized manner.

Example 5: AI coaches and mentors

Okay, so let’s say we know what the correct curriculum is, if we push that into the AI engine, we create the content really quickly. Once students start asking questions, the AI can query it out, and find subject matter that answers these questions.

You’re going to have some tutors there initially, but it could be a very personalized level of learning.

Ideas are cheap…delivery is expensive

This may be true, but let’s also remember that there is no delivery without ideas. You’ve got to start somewhere, right? We can’t just all throw up our hands and say, “it’s all too big! It’s all too complicated. It’s all too expensive.”

AI is absolutely not a mysterious planet that can only be visited by spacemen, or, in real world terms, the top five technology companies. It really should be the new bread and butter of any SaaS company.

At Growth Engineering, we’re a very, very small company, but we’ve made AI and ML absolutely central to how we operate.

Everything that our department does is driving towards this idea of utilizing AI and ML where possible, in order to deliver more, for less. That mindset change is a really important part of moving towards AI.

The problem is always data

Don’t think that your first thing you’re going to be doing is building neural networks. The thing is, you don’t have to. There are just so many free and open-source elements to try. Instead, the constraint is always data. If the problem is that you’ve got lots of replicable data, then you will very easily be able to find an AI or ML solution.

Find the thing that can be automated

Find the process within your organization that can be automated. Find out which of those processes you’ve got the most data for. If you don’t have a large amount of data, then reach out to open source sites for code that’s been written, and try and play around with it, if you can’t find it for free.

There are lots of SaaS providers that have all the components you really need in order to plug your data for.

Find a pilot project

Finally, if you have exhausted the above, look at paying for a pilot project for a consultancy. This can be internal or it can be external. To be honest with you, I don’t think you need to be putting in huge amounts of resources for actually building the model.

Key takeaways

AI helps us to automate time-consuming tasks: Just imagine the much innovative, creative work your team can do when they’re freed by AI!

It has helped other industries to cut out costs and drive more value: It might seem like a big investment, but it’s more than worth it. Believe me.

Intelligence is what makes us human: AI is just an extension of that.

AI is not going to take over our lives. If anything, it’s going to make our lives infinitely better.

Have fun!

0 notes

lookwhatilost · 1 year

Text

i’ve been trying to ply myself with as much stimulus as possible tonight, which hasn’t been great for my productivity, but i can’t see myself sleeping tonight, so i make it work.

so while i’m trying to avoid letting my brain burn, let me talk about a tweet i wasn’t fond of. to paraphrase what it said, the OP wasn’t fond of people playing devil’s advocate for the ~~gender critical~~ crowd by pointing out that they have trauma, people it ignores the trauma that they inflict through their behavior.

my main objection to this is that it’s responding to a premise that i don’t think is applicable any longer as of 2023. you have your flagship example of jkr, who’s weaponizing her baggage, but i don’t really get the sense that she’s a representative sample. in my time poking around on the darker corners on the internet, it seems to be an ideology that takes all kinds, ranging from people with philosophically bankrupt utopian ideals of gender abolition to people who don’t even have a premise outside of vitriol for the sake of it.

(side note: if we were to throw out my point and say, sure, it is all because of open wounds, this is also an extreme example of why “my trauma” is an unworkable justifying mechanism for anything. intense emotion isn’t a reliably perfect and proportional response to pain, it manifests in nonsensical areas sometimes, and the same can be said of what lingers and what doesn’t. even if you could transpose consciousness, it isn’t an argument. none of us are valid! none of us are free of sin!)

but my other one is that it seems incredibly uncommon for anyone to really dig into how this ecosystem works, that there’s an entirely separate news media ecosystem that directly feeds into this.

i’m digging out an ancient example from the annals of my memory, but around 10 years back, there was some really stupid incident that came out of a college in florida related some professor allegedly writing the word “jesus” on a piece of paper and telling the students to step on it. if you haven’t heard about it, congratulations on being young and/or not lurking in the atheist ratsphere when some meta-discussion was happening about this. predictably, it was more complicated than that, but whatever.

this didn’t get a lot of mainstream press coverage because it’s not a story, but there were christian-specific news outlets who circulated this – and reliably did the same with similar stories like that. jury’s still out on whether the stop on jesus thing inspired a whole series of christian propaganda films, or if it was that old chain email that follows this story nearly too a tee. but what i’m getting at with this tangent is that the kind of people getting a lot of news from sources like this are going to walk away of the opinion that christians are an oppressed minority in the united states, even though it’s completely ridiculous to suggest that as the case.

reduxx and 4thwavenow basically function in the same way, serving up a new pile of “stomp jesus” style shit each day, directly to your laptop. people talk about social media radicalization constantly, which of course can play a role, but this backchannel has an established history of turning people insane in the past, and it’s doing it again. sleek front-end web design and sorta kinda maybe true stories in intense concentration is the skeletal system of this whole shit.

0 notes

erodasfishtacos · 3 years

Text

Not Your Charity Case

prompt: Harry is a frat boy - who doesn’t need sympathy from anyone. He makes Y/N feel a sense of home when they’re together. But is Harry just like every stereotypical frat boy?

word count: 6.2k

warnings: minor violence, language, deaf!harry, smutttt

other: when Harry is talking to Y/N or any other characters - it is to be noted that he is signing. When Y/N talks to Harry - she is also always signing

Let me know if you’d want to see anything else from this verse:)

+++

You were rushed - you really shouldn’t stop at the local coffee shop for a sugary, delicious mocha chip frappuccino.

Despite what people say, professors are much more lax and carefree in college.

It was about two weeks into the new semester, - your third here- and the seasons were changing - becoming autumn.

Chilled breezes, falling leaves, and vivid colors of nature made you happy.

When you arrive in line, there are two people ahead of you. A girl currently in front of the cashier and a tall male with a red and black flannel on behind her- typing away on his phone.

When she moves to the left, the broad man steps forward. His snapback facing backwards, brown curls dancing around his neck. You can’t help but notice how tall and lean he is, shoulders broad and straight.

You definitely haven’t seen him before on campus. You’d remember.

From what you can see, he shows the young girl behind the counter the screen of his phone without saying anything at all.

The raven-haired girl’s face pinches in annoyance. “We don’t accept orders like that. You need to tell me what you want.”

You’re a little surprised by both the rude cashier but also the man who doesn’t respond right away.

He attempts to show her his phone again but she shakes her head - annoyed.

You become interested in the situation when I watch him sign, a few gestures before pointing to his ears. In the most obvious form of saying “I can’t hear.”

The clueless girl gives him a blank look, “Listen, there’s a line. I don’t have time for this.”

You hoped you weren’t overstepping your boundaries when you slide up next to him, tapping him on his shoulder to get his attention.

It is a bit startling how gorgeous the boy is. He was tanned with bright green-eyes and a defined jawline that was currently clenched in frustration.

You sign, “What are you trying to order?”

He studies you for a second with hesitance before his long slim fingers begin to move, slowly as if he thinks you may be inexperienced in the form of language.

He replies, “Large coffee with a little cream and two sugars.”

You squeeze in front of him, “It is not only rude but illegal to not serve based on disabilities. Refusing an order from a deaf person isn’t moral or acceptable.”

The girl has enough decency to mumble an apology and turned bright pink, “Sorry, he doesn’t look deaf. “You roll your eyes - how can you tell that someone is deaf based on solely appearance? This girls a fucking idiot, you think.

You repeat his order to her, along with yours - sliding your debit card towards her and give her your name for the order.

The man trails behind you to the small waiting area. “Thank you,” he signs simply. You nod and return the pleasantry. The. hand him his steaming hot coffee.

“Thank you again. I’m going to be late to class, so I have to go,” he tells me, seeming a little out of place signing with a stranger.

“Go ahead, I’ll see you around.” It was the first time in a long time you’ve signed to anyone outside your family.

+++

Sipping your drink as you are only five minutes late and the class hasn’t even started yet. The man you just helped was sat in the back of the classroom, unloading his laptop.

With a little bravery, you wriggle your way through and plop into the wooden chair easily. Letting your backpack fall to the ground. Curly looks over at you with a frown, he signs, “Why are you sitting next to me?”

You blush, “I don’t know? Thought it’d be good to have someone to talk to.”

His hands are tense as he replies, “I’m not a charity case, so you can leave me alone.”

“Never said you were,” you huff when you tell him. Not appreciating how rude he was being. Signing had its own tones and expressions so to speak. For example, when someone is happy their signs and movements are different than when they’re sad or frustrated.

Harry seems to be the latter. You wrestle out your laptop to the PowerPoint that was going to be discussed today in class. You noticed Harry stared very intently at the professor to read his lips and expression.

You was surprised he didn’t have an interpreter with him but you’re sure he got special accommodations elsewhere. Even though that was absolutely none of your business.

His shoulders are tensed and he makes sure your arms don’t brush like you have cooties for the entire two hours. The nameless boy is up and out of his seat as soon as the professor shuts off the projector and turns on the lights - signaling class to be over.

Well fuck him then.

***

You don’t make the mistake to sit next him again. But that doesn’t mean you could ogle his strong muscular back and big hands.

It wasn’t your place to care but you felt twinges in your tummy when you noticed him struggling to keep up with the fast-speed class on certain days.

You were in the large, rustic library that smelled of old books and damp wallpaper. It was dead silent as people furiously studied or worked on papers due.

As you paced the shelves, you could not find the book you needed for your American Literature class. Fuck the Dewey Decimal System.

Part-time uni students probably just stuffed returned books in any open space they saw fit. But you need this book in particular, a discussion board post due by midnight and it was currently eight-thirty. They had ran out of copies at the on-campus bookstore.

After a valiant effort, you trudge up to the checkout counter. A little sign reads, “ring me if no ones here!”

You impatiently ring the silver bell. But no one comes. You give whoever is working a minute or two but nothing. Another ring it is.

Silence. No one. Of fucking course, luck is not on your side tonight.

You dramatically clunk your head onto the high counter top in front of you - groaning at the fact you may fail the assignment.

A tentative pat on your shoulder makes you snap your head up. To see the boy you’ve been constantly avoiding standing behind the checkout desk.

“Are you okay?” He asks. He had a name-tag on - Harry. He honestly looked a bit out of place. Harry appeared to be a frat boy. He was still had a boyish air about him but an intensity that was unmatchable.

He didn’t look like he would work in the library. He looked like...well he looked like he would be a beer pong referee or something.

You couldn’t see below his torso but he had a plain black snapback on and a vintage Elton John concert tee. A cross necklace dangling over the worn shirt.

You smile, embarrassed, but reply, “Just being dramatic. I can’t find a book and I was waiting here.”

There’s mirth in his eyes when he points to the bell,”Did you ring the bell?”

Your brows furrow, “I did.”

“Well I can’t hear it, I’m deaf,” he deadpans with a straight face and a dry sense of humor.

You roll your eyes, laughing nervously, “I didn’t know you were working!”

“What do you need?”

He helps you locate the book in two minutes flat before checking you out and you rushing home to finish the homework.

You felt bad ignoring your little sister’s FaceTime calls but you promised to call her back tomorrow.

***

Though once again, you hadn’t interacted with Harry since last week - you constantly found yourself studying his stoic profile or fast moving fingers.

You would never befriend Harry because you feel bad for him - like he presumed. You enjoyed American Sign Language and it actually made you feel back at home.

You’re little sister was born completely deaf. She was much younger than you - eight years old. Fifteen years apart to be exact. You learned the language along with her and your parents.

When you were at home and your sister was there - you guys tried to only sign so she didn’t feel left out. So Harry felt like home - a little despite his completely off-putting demeanor. It made you a little bit more persistent than with any other frat boy.

***

The bulletin board in your advisor’s office caught your eyes. None of the little tabs ripped off in interest.

‘Student with ASL experience and above a 3.5 GPA needed for tutoring sessions - twice weekly. $16 dollars an hour.’

After your meeting, you tugged the little scrap of paper off and tuck it into your pocket. You couldn’t know for sure if it was Harry but you didn’t know of any other deaf students in the program.

You say ‘fuck it’ and type out an email to the advisor of academic affairs and accommodations to throw your hat in the ring.

***

You don’t hear back for three days - nearly forgetting about it in the mean time. Your eyes scan quickly over the email to grant you the position. They include contact information for no other than Harry Styles.

After psyching yourself out a little and a few paces across your kitchen tiles - you text him.

Hey! I’m your new assigned tutor. Would you like to set up a time and place? As well as what kind of help you’re looking for.

The reply text comes shortly after

Hello, thank you very much. I am just in need of hearing ears. I am deaf and have a hard time keeping up with the my professor. I have begun recording the lectures in hope that you can sign then to me.

Sure thing. That won’t be a problem!

I live in Alpha Sigma on 3rd street. I have my own room. I’d rather not have the tutoring session in public. However, if that makes you uncomfortable - we can figure something out.

You take a minute to debate. You understand why this would be a task too loud for the library and why he’d want privacy. You didn’t feel like I’d be uncomfortable with him.

I saw twice a week so does Tuesday and Thursday at seven work?

Sounds great. Thank you again x

Did he know it was me? Was he expecting it to me?

***

He was definitely not expecting you. You automatically knew that by the way his friendly smile dissipated into a frown when he opened the door for you.

You attempted to look nice today without trying too hard. A loose crop top with the university’s name, a pair of tight black leggings, bulky white socks bunched at your ankles, and white sneakers. Very 80’s.

You try to keep your composure, “Hi Harry, I’m going to be your tutor.”

He slowly nods at you, huffing out a breathe of irritation before inviting you into the frat house.

You’d only been here once or twice for a party so you had no idea what the house actually looked like when there weren’t bodies and booze everywhere.

He’s walking you past a group of boys playing FIFA on the flatscreen in the living room, white claws open everywhere.

“Y/N! Hey babe!” You look over to see Niall - one of your good friends from your part-time job at the bookstore - trotting over to you guys.

The blonde pulls you into an overexcited hug. He reminded you of a cuddly, soft puppy dog most of the time.

“Are you Harry’s little tutor?” Niall coos, leaning over to pinch Harry’s cheek.

Harry- who was observing the conversation, focusing in on our lips, immediately bats his friend away. A small scowl forming on his face.

It automatically turns into a playful brawl where Niall tugs Harry into headlock. But he has no strength on the brunette.

Harry turns out of it quickly and pushes Niall to the ground. He straddles his stomach and begins to jokingly pinch and slap at him.

Niall hisses, “Ouch! You motherfucker! Big oaf!”

Then you don’t know why you find this endearing but Niall signs the word, “uncle” a few times to signal he’s accepted his lost.

The fact that they wrestle so much that Niall learned to sign how to give up made you giggle more than it should.

Harry crawls off of him, running a hand through his messy curls, his face a little flushed.

“I’ll talk to you later!” You tell Niall as your trailing behind Harry up a flight of stairs.

His room is extremely neat. A fluffy navy comfort decorated his bed with a few photos of flowers and nature on his wall. A tidy desk tucked away in the corner that had all of his school work loaded on top of it.

He chooses to sit in his desk chair, motioning for you to perch on his bed. You look at him expectantly when he pulls out the tape recorder and sets it on the surface.

He pulls his laptop into his lap and begins signing, “I need you to transcribe the lecture for me so I can follow it. We can skip through the bits where he is rambling or off topic.”

You nod, letting him know to begin whenever he’s ready. He presses the side button and the recording starts but it super unclear and garbled.

“Did you record this from your seat?” You ask, the professors words nearly inaudible and fuzzy.

“Yes.”

“You need to bring it to the front of the room. Ask Dr. Morrison to lay it on his desk before class. I can’t hear anything but static and mumbles,” You tell him.

He laughs and shakes his head. His movements rough and angry, “Of course its fucked up. I get you as my tutor and then the recorder is shit.”

You glare at him, offended as you haven’t done anything to this boy. “Excuse me? I’ve literally been trying to help since I’ve meet you. What is your fucking issue?”

“I’m not a charity case! I don’t need you to feel bad for me. I’m not helpless! You’re probably just a silly little girl who took ASL in high school because it was cool and trendy. Go back to focusing on psych.”

“Fuck you, Harry,” Your gestures getting sharper and your face sour, “You know nothing about me so don’t act like you do. I don’t feel bad for you or think that you’re helpless.” You put up a hand and tell him to not talk.

“I was just being nice because I thought you were handsome and at first, seemed friendly. It turns out you’re just like every douchebag frat boy I’ve met. What a disappointment,” You chuckle, swinging your bag on your shoulder and storm out of the room without another look.

***

The cafe was jammed packed - it was Waffle Wednesday. You had said waffles in your tray and were about to plop down on a stool when you hear your name being called.

“C’mere, come sit with us!” He hollers over the commotion of the crowd. Niall.

You’re about to decline when some dude slips behind you and snags the stool. Shit.

A bit unwillingly you slide into the booth next to Niall, cracking open your sparkling water. “Mates, this is Y/N, we work at the store together and she’s Harry’s tutor,” he tells them. “Y/N, this is Liam and Louis.”

“Hello,” you try your best to come off as friendly even though you can feel Harry’s glare on the side of your face. You ended up falling to easy conversation with the boys. Niall has a very limited ASL vocabulary but tries.

The boys are also trying to talk slower and more pronounced so Harry can watch and understand. A couple of times he taps Niall on the wrist to repeat what was going on.

Your phone begins buzzing and you apologize for the interruption. It’s your little sister, Mazie, FaceTiming.

You answer the phone with a frown, signing “Aren’t you suppose to be in school?”

Mazie looks upset, eyes a little watery. She gestures back, “I left early. I’m sick.”

“Are you really sick or where you getting bullied again?” You asks her.

Your sister hesitates before sniffling, “You already know. I hate my school.”

Mazie has had other children bully her for her disability since she started preschool and it as still happening in fourth grade.

“What can I do to help?” You frown, never wanting to see your baby sister cry.

You chat for a few minutes to help her calm down. When the phone call ends, you don’t realize that all the boys were watching you in interest. Harry in particular, keeps his focus on you with a wrinkled forehead.

“My sister’s deaf,” You tell them. The whole time you’ve been sitting with them you’ve been signing and verbally speaking to help everyone be able to be included in the conversation.

“That’s sick!” Louis says, smacking Harry’s arm. “Just like our lad Harry.”

Harry grumbles when Louis shakes him a little. It seems like the boys loved to physically interact with Harry which was endearing.

Harry allows him to for a moment before he flicks his cheek hard and laughs when Louis flinches. The conversation goes back to normal.

***

Harry jogs up to you after your group shares farewells and a few punches. You pointedly ignore him as you trek to the class you two have together so it’s not like he can’t walk this way too.

“Please, wait,” Harry asks. He walks in front of you.

“What do you want?” You huff, keeping my glare firm and directed alley at him.

“I’m sorry. I made the wrong assumption.”

“You made a lot of wrong assumptions. The fact that you think of me so lowly is sad. I’ve been nothing but nice,” You try not to focus on his large palms that curve over the caps of your shoulders.

“I’m not very trusting of people.”

You snort rather unattractively, “No kidding”

“Can we please start over?” He asks, stepping back to give you space. He didn’t realize how close he’d been standing to you until your hair wisps across his nose.

“One more chance, Styles.”

Harry lays a hand on your upper arm and squeeze lightly before signing the simple gesture of ‘thank you.’

***

It turns out Harry is very handsy and physically affectionate. It wasn’t creepy though or something that ever made you feel uncomfortable.

You were still tutoring him but you hung around the frat with Harry nearly everyday. The days you just wanted to lay in bed resulted in a grumpy FaceTime from Harry.

Harry once stated during a tutoring session, “It is easier for me to show how I’m feeling with touch than words. If I ever make you uncomfortable - please tell me and I will stop.”

You smile slyly at his words that sounded more like a question, asking if he can touch you. “I guess I’ll let you feel me up every now in again.”

He giggles and looks down wolfishly - like an entertaining thought is dancing around in his mind.

You tuck your finger under his chin to gaze at you. “In all seriousness, I give you my consent to show your feelings with physical touch. I trust you and know you won’t do anything to make me uncomfortable.”

The curly-haired brunette smiles happily, his hand cupping the side of your neck and brushing over your pulse point.

He hadn’t touched you here before and it seems like it was his first goal to do so once he got permission. You can’t help but take in a deep gasp of air. You prayed he didn’t notice but by the small lift of his lips he did.

The simple touch made a flame of arousal swirl in your lower stomach. You felt like you were about to start sweating.

“Anyways,” You clear your throat and snatch back up the recorder. It now had better quality after Harry listened to you about placement.

***

The frat house was ridiculously full of drunk college students. Everybody on the dance floor was sweaty and sticky with a variety of different substances.

Niall had invited you - so you were searching about for him. Pushing through the crowd and nobody was able to hear you say ‘excuse me.’

You finally found fresh air in the backyard where beer pong and cornhole were set up. Niall was tossing his ball across the table, trying to splash in Liam’s red solo cups.

Harry was sitting on a cushioned patio chair, watching the game commence. Maybe he was a beer pong referee after all.

He looked so fucking good tonight. He had a yellow snapback taming his curls - backwards of course. A black Rage Against the Machine shirt and his signature black skinny jeans. **

You made eye contact and were about to wave when a girl plopped down in the seat across from him.

Awkwardly you turn away, greeting the other boys and taking a seat in a lawn chair to watch them start their third round of the game.

Your eyes keep darting over to Harry who is staring blankly at the girl. She starts stroking his biceps and tracing across the tattoos like they belong to her.

Harry is attempting to let her know he’s not interested. His signs uselessly as she’s staring at his lips and not hands.

You’re moving before you know it, without another thought, you squeeze in between the two - separating them. You dramatically slide into his lap, funnily enough one strong arm wrapping happily around your middle.

The pretty blonde pouts out her lips, “Is he your boyfriend?”

Before you’re able to reply, Harry signs the obvious signal for ‘yes’ to the girl. Then rudely makes the shooing gesture. She’s up with a huff and stomping back towards the house.

Harry turns you sideways on his lap so that you two can see each other’s hands, “You saved me.”

“You’re just such a stud, have to protect you,” You joke - but not really.

He raising his eyebrows and smiles, “You were jealous.” It was a statement not a question.

You blush wildly, avoiding eye contact which you know he hates. He hates anytime you cut off ways of communication.

Harry taps your lips until you look up at him, “it’s really fucking sexy when you are.” A perk of sign language. He could dirty talk just about anywhere and mostly no one would ever know.

His thumb drags on your full bottom lip, signing clumsily with one hand so you had to use context clues to piece it together “Don’t think I forgot when you called me handsome a few months ago.”

“I don’t remember, doesn’t sound like me,” You boldly lie, snickering and nipping at the top of his thumb

His eyes become a shade darker when your teeth meet his skin. He presses his thumb further in until it’s in-between your teeth. The moment is broken when Niall screams, “Styles! You’re up next!”

You and Harry become separated after you spent nearly two hours watching all these drunk boys play beer pong. Harry was ridiculously good at the game and only had to drink two cups from the table.

You had wandered back into the house where the party had died down. There were only a handful of stragglers left but mostly just the fraternity brothers and their close friends.

With a fresh alcoholic seltzer in your hand - you didn’t trust open bottles at parties like this - you gaze at Harry through the back window.

Harry was being jumped by Liam and Niall. He was snarling playfully as Liam toppled them all over into the grass. Niall tries to stand up but Harry’s hand wraps around his ankle and makes him fall right back on his bum with a girlish squeal.

Niall leans over to give Harry a wet-willy but Liam manages to throw a plastic cup directly at Niall’s forehead. Harry and the other boys dissolve in childish giggles. Faces red from laughter and liquor. You feel a smile painted fondly on your lips from watching them.

“Hey, Y/N right?” A voice interrupts from behind.

You spin to face a guy you barely recognize from a previous class you shared. You smile nonetheless, “Hi...”

“Jake, Jake from Social Constructs and Society last semester.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” You smile and allow him to talk your ear off because you struggle to say ‘no.’ He was fine, nothing special, typical business major who thought he was hot shit because his daddy owned a golf course he wanted to take you to.

It was a normal conversation until his voice gets lower as if he’s trying to be more seductive, “Want to head to a room with me?” He nods towards the staircase.

You chuckle in disbelief at his bold and forward question. “No thank you, I’m good.” You really had eyes for one person right now and he was currently cussing out Niall in sign language in the backyard before tackling him once again to the ground.

“C’mon, I can really show you a good time,” He persuades persistently, stepping into your space - causing your nervousness to spike.

“I said - no thank you,”You bite out, starting to feel scared when he blocks your way out of the kitchen and presses himself against you and the counter.

“You’re really something gorgeous, you know?” He asks, ignoring my struggles to get away from him.

“Stop touching me!” You scream, hoping Niall or one of the boys would hear your wail. He puts a hand up to your mouth to muffle you but that only results in you biting him.

“Fucking bitch!” He cries out, pulling his hand back and winding up to either punch or slap you right in the face. You prepare for the impact.

Then in a blink off an eye, it becomes a blur, a muscular figure is crashing into Jake with full force and knocking him straight into the linoleum floor with a loud crash.

It’s Harry. Broad shoulders and thick but lean tattooed biceps. He’s standing over the harasser and drops on top of him. It shouldn’t look as graceful and tactful as it does.

You’d never seen anything like this from Harry before. Once you really got to know him - he was a gentle giant who liked romantic comedies, soft blankets, and vanilla cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles.

Harry’s fist is repeatedly connecting with the dark-haired boy’s jaw with full force. The only noise is from Jake as Harry is dead silent but his eyes zeroed in on the target.

When blood begins gushing from the man’s nose - Niall and Liam decide it times to physically pull Harry up. Harry had a slight red mark on his jaw when Jake had managed one punch before being defeated quickly.

Harry signs to Niall, “Tell him.”

Niall places his foot on the dude’s chest to keep him down, “My mate wants to let you know if you touch her again we’re not going to pull him off and he’ll gladly beat you to a fucking pulp.”

Jake groans, clutching his nose to stop the bleeding, “Fuckin’ asshole.”

You were still blown away as you watch Harry’s heaving chest as he glares down at the boy. His fist clenched and knuckle bloody and swollen. Harry’s attention turns towards you. His furious expression melts into worry. You can read his face so clearly. He’s afraid he’s scared you off.

It was hard to believe you had this drop dead gorgeous frat boy defending you past midnight on a Friday night. A boy who didn’t need to hear but just to see you needed help to step in.

All your desires and lusts after the man in front of you burst like a rubber-band and the urge to have him felt uncontrollable. “Take me upstairs,” you demand quickly, arousal creeping up your spine.

He doesn’t understand you’re extremely turned on. Instead he looks like a kicked dog who’s about to get in trouble again.

Nevertheless, he takes your hand and maneuvers out of the kitchen and up the stairs until his bedroom door is closed.

Harry lips are turned down unhappily as he begins, “I’m sorry, love. I...” he pauses a moment before continuing. “I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I hope you don’t think less of me.”

You look him dead in the eye and sign, “Kiss me.”

He blinks slowly at you like he just hallucinate the gestures.

So you repeat your motions, slow and with intent, “Kiss me, touch me, do something.” No more time is wasted as he is stepping in front of you and cupping your face in his hands.

Without any hesitation now, he pressing a bruising kiss to your lips - taking your bottom one between his and sucking.

Your hands are immediately tugging at the hem of his vintage shirt, pulling apart to bring it over his head. Dark ink decorates his torso, for some reason something you weren’t expecting. A butterfly on his abdomen, two fern branches, tattoos on his side.

Harry chuckles, “This is new to me.”

Your eyes go wide and you sign, “You’re a virgin?”

Harry snorts and rolls his eyes before telling you, “God no. I mean I’ve never been able to really communicate during sex.”

Then before You can speak, he cuts in a bit frantically, “I’ve always gotten consent - not like that. I mean-“ You cut him off with a kiss - knowing he would never do anything you didn’t want.

You wanted everything from him.

“If you’d believe it, I like a bit of dirty talk when I fuck - but no one understands what I’m saying,” He tries to crack a joke but for some reason seems insecure and nervous.

“Hey,” You take his chin so he shyly meets your eye, “I can’t wait to hear it - you’ve already made me so wet.” His eyes light up like a kid on Christmas.

“You’re such a good girl,” he signs before tugging off your shirt and instantly finding your lips again. His hands are skillful as they unclasp your bra without any struggle and tosses it.

You tugs a bit as his hair to show your enjoyment as his tongue finds your nipple - lapping before taking it between his teeth. As good as it feels, you want him to feel even better.

You push him back until he’s sitting in the edge of the bed, legs spread and hands behind him on either side holding him up. Jaw clenched with arousal and restraint.

He’s pressed against the zipper of his jeans. And all you wanted to do was see him in all of his glory. You’re quick to undo the button and determined to get the finicky zipper down as well.

His fingers come beneath your chin until you’re looking at his sparkling eyes, a look of lust made his lids a little droopier and his mouth slack from heavy-breathing.

“Are you sure you want to? You don’t have to - I want to eat your pussy either way, pet,” He signs, leaning in for a slow, wet kiss.

You sign back with a pout, “Shut the fuck up.” He huffs out a laugh, letting go of your chin and wrapping a hand in your hair to keep it out of your face.

As soon as he’s helping you wriggle his briefs and jeans down his narrow hips, you’re met with the prettiest cock you’ve ever seen.

When you make eye contact with Harry, he raises a eyebrow and grins cockily, “Is it nice enough for your liking, love?”

You nod breathlessly - wasting no more time before ducking down to take him to your mouth, a slight burning in your throat from how big he is.

His hands keep ahold of your hair, thumbs pressed against your temples as you bob down his length with sloppy, warm licks.

Harry’s moaning as you pop off to kiss and suck at the underside of him, hands coming to cup and roll his balls. It is a few moments later when he taps your cheek to get your attention, one hand leaving his hair to sign that he’s close.

Your mouth speeds up, wanting to give him all the pleasure you could. Your hand coming to stroke at what couldn’t fit in your mouth, pumping quickly.

Before you know it, Harry’s rutting his hips upwards and coming with a long, deep moan from the rumbles of his chest. He’s pulling you up into his lap, pressing appreciative kisses to your cheeks and jawline.

Big hands palming at your breasts before slipping down into your leggings, brushing softly over your mound.

You whine and hitch forward to grind against his palm as soon as he cups you. He smiles widely at your desperation, pressing the heel of his palm harder against you to create more pressure.

You were already so wet and turned on that it wasn’t going to take much. The ball of your climax was burning low in your tummy. However, you wanted him to taste you like he said he would.

You sign, “I’m close. Please, I want your mouth on me.”

With that, he’s flipping you until you’re laid out on the bed. His hands tugging off your leggings and underwear with no further ado. “Holy shit,” He gestures, gazing all over your body and not stopping on one spot for too long.

“What?” You ask, fishing for the compliments you know he’s about to shower you in.

“You’ve got such a pretty pussy,” he signs, dimples popping in his cheeks and a curious finger traces your entrance before dipping in.

You lightly kick at his stomach, “Get on me.” He pouts, crooking his finger against your spot before pulling it out. Fucking tease.

Then his face is disappearing between your spread thighs and a strong lick is delivered from your clit all the way down to your bum.

Since he can’t hear you, you grabs handfuls off his hair. Tugging at the roots, scratching your nails into his scalp to let him know how good he is. So fucking good.

When you accidentally buck your hips hard against his mouth, you curse and run a apologetic hand through the locks. He doesn’t look up at you but lift a hand and signs, “Again.”

You absolutely whine, begging to ride him with determination - climax on the brink. He hums causing vibrations on the sensitive nerves. With that, your hips are meeting his tongue and you’re coming. His face dampening with your release - happy as a clam when he pops back up.

You can’t remember the sign for condom, so you sign, “Protection?” Harry understands right away, rustling through the drawer until he finds a stray packets, “It’s been awhile.”

“Same,” You gestures - watching as he slides it down his length and crawls overtop of you. He was pink and swollen - having to be a bit sensitive from just coming a little while ago.

“Ready, love?” He asks, pressing soft kisses to your jawline. You nod, reaching down to guide him in.

And you weren’t lying, it had been a while and he was big. The stretch wasn’t uncomfortable, just a lot. But his wet, open-mouth kisses made you stay grounded.

Harry’s moans were absolutely obscene as he slide all the way in before stopping to give you a moment. His arms strong, holding himself over you. The cold metal of his necklaces brushing against your tight nipples.

When you have him the okay, he begin giving you deep, hard strokes on each thrust. His noises so loud they had to be able to hear them downstairs. They were deep and low - rumbling in his chest with pleasure.

Then his hand is coming to your throat. For a wild moment you thought he was going to choke you but instead he rest it lightly, palm flat.

It takes you a moment - then it hits you.

Holy fuck. He is feeling the vibrations of your moans - erupting from your vocal cords. Feeling out the movement from your throat so he can feel how much you’re enjoying it.

You should be embarrassed but you can’t find it in you when you come again right on the spot. His fingertips nudging into the skin to feel the intensity as it wracks through you.

When you’re done riding out your orgasm, he reaches for the headboard behind you with his other hand, gripping it tightly as he begins to pound in with all his strength.

The bedframe is hitting the wall so loud that the whole house must be able to hear it. Hitting with every directed thrust until his mouth is dropping down into a long, timbred moan and he’s coming.

---

Later, when the two are you have settled for the night in the warmth of his bed. Harry seems a little nervous, once again. It takes him a moment to meet your eyes and brushes a strand of hair off your forehead.

“What is it?” You ask, tucked into his side. His body so solid and comforting.

“It’s corny,” Harry frowns, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes flash across your face.

“Tell me,” You insist, bringing his hand to your lips to kiss his fingertips.

“I feel like you were made for me. Like...we were meant to be together,” Harry signs, hesitant to share his thoughts. But it doesn’t scare you away. You can’t help but agree.

“I think so too,” You reply before pressing another kiss to his puffy pink lips.

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getosubaru · 2 years

Text

It’s such a long walk when you got somewhere to be; I just thought maybe you were gonna walk with me (chapter four)

story summary: MC decides all of the student council is going to therapy and hell hath no fury like a prepared human. They’ve got highlighters and they’re not afraid to use them.

chapter summary: MC is really going through it.

pairing: Lucifer/reader

rating: m

chapter wc: 3.3k

a/n: Please keep the theme of this story in mind before you read on. This may get uncomfortable, especially if you have any past history with trauma. In my opinion, no one would be fine and dandy after what MC experienced in season 1. There will be fluff and comedy in this story, but “angst with a HEA” means we have to suffer too.

warnings: angst & trauma; small text only for description; gn!reader; possible spoilers; not proofread/betaread; mental breakdowns

title taken from “therapy” by dresage & g smith

previous | series masterlist

An email to your professors gets you out of class for the day. Just a common cold, nothing serious, but you’re unfortunately too sick to get out of bed. Luckily, none of your professors are there when you turn your music up too loud and dance around the kitchen making breakfast.

Your housemates took it with far less grace, complaining and whining when you texted the group chat and promptly fell back asleep. It might’ve been ignoring their follow-up texts that actually irritated them the most.

With the house to yourself for once, you take the opportunity to do a bit of selfcare. Laundry gets done, a face mask gets put on, and the show you’ve been binging gets turned on. The past few days have left you drained.

More like the last year, really. The emotional labor you’ve put in is so much more than the average person could be expected to manage. It wasn’t just Lucifer that spawned your desire to shove everyone in counseling. And now, somehow, you’re still meant to pull weight.

Stamping your feet and yelling about how unfair it all is wouldn’t be productive, but you’re about at your limit.

You haven’t had to go to every meeting. Mammon, the twins, and Satan seem to have managed just fine without you. Lucifer is scheduled today, as well as the rest of the Fantastic Three. None of them are likely to ask for handholding.

Diavolo might, you suppose as you rinse your mask off. You text him the offer just in case and then smack yourself on the forehead for making more work for yourself when you’re already run down. This is why you’re in this situation in the first place.

Your D.D.D. buzzes in your hand, cutting off your self-chastising.

“MC?”

You sit down on your bed and contemplate faking sickness. “Rissa, hi.”

“How are you doing?” she asks. “I ran into Beel in the library and he said you’re sick.”

Damn him. Rat traitor tattling on you.

“I’m okay. Just a cold, I think.”

Rissa hums and you can almost hear the skeptical twist of her lips. It takes everything in your power not to spit out more lies. One of the biggest mistakes made when trying to deceive someone is talking more than you need to. You keep your mouth shut and wait for her to make the next move.

She takes the bait. “I just wanted to check that you weren’t feeling too run down from attending sessions with your housemates. It can be stressful when you haven’t had training in separating yourself from others’ trauma.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a bit late for that,” you say before you can stop yourself.

“I’m always here to talk or listen if you need.” Her voice is calm, patient. “I noticed you’re not scheduled for an individual session.”

You’re angry at her for her composure and politeness. You’re angry at the unspoken suggestion that you need to talk things out with her. As if you haven’t managed everything just fine for the last year. The death threats, the murder attempts, the one that succeeded.

“I spoke with Solomon earlier,” continues Rissa as if you aren’t seething. “He said that sometimes pacts with high-ranking demons, especially avatars, can affect human moods if they aren’t careful about it.”

“Interesting.”

She laughs; the sound irritates your ears. “That’s what I said! Apparently, there was a period where every time Asmo—“

“Rissa, I’m so sorry, but I really need to lay down. I think a migraine’s coming on,” you interrupt.

“Of course. Just let me know if you need anything, okay? If you’re feeling up to it, I’ll see you tomorrow with Belphegor?”

You confirm with her and manage a goodbye that doesn’t sound acidic. A dark, pissed-off thread still feels coiled around your throat. Your fingers fumble the touchscreen of your D.D.D. as you try to hit call, narrowly avoiding deleting his contact altogether.

“Satan, get your ass home now.”

The fourth-born paces the length of your room. He argued against bringing Solomon into it, though they are allegedly friends. His trust doesn’t stretch far enough to involve the sorcerer.

“What time exactly did you say Rissa called you?” asks Satan.

“Half-past nine, according to the call log,” you reply without looking up from the book in your lap. “It hasn’t changed since the first time you asked.”

“I was in the alchemy lab then.” If he keeps up his path, you might end up with an interesting groove worn into your floor. That would be treacherous to navigate in the morning.

“You weren’t around Lucifer, your project was behaving, and your partner wasn’t in class,” you say, ticking off the points with your fingers. “Therefore, you had no reason to be mad.”

The book he produced from the fire hazard he calls a room isn’t offering you anything you don’t know about pacts. It’s light on information regarding the avatars, which is a given considering how rare pacts with them are. Even Mammon only makes one or two a century—except for when he’s tricked by covens of witches, you suppose.

As far as you’re aware, you are the only human to ever hold pacts with Lucifer, Satan, and Levi. No one has managed to fill out the bingo card with all seven.

You slam the book shut and toss it to the side. “Sit down before you make me dizzy.”

“I just don’t get why you would be experiencing this without reason,” he groans before, thankfully, sitting next to you on your bed. “Have you had feedback from any of the others?”

You scan over the last week in your mind, looking for any emotions that felt off in the same way. It’s normal to get some echo from your pacts; while not as strong as the twins’ shared connection, you can sometimes feel the pact marks react to the avatars’ own sins. But never in a manner that made you question your own emotions.

The heat under Lucifer’s pact mark at the meeting sticks out. That’s how the pacts should function theoretically.

“No, not like this,” you say after a long moment.

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

You stretch out to kick at his side. “Don’t get pissy. That’s the last damn thing we need.”

Satan apologizes, taking deep and measured breaths. His control over his sin has always impressed you, though you know it was hard-won through centuries of work. Of all the brothers, he’s the one who’s always seemed the least affected by his nature.

The “youngest” three move at the whims of their sins. Days will pass where the only reason you know Belphie is even alive is the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Poor Beel, constantly chastised and mocked, has described the hunger he feels like a clawing chasm ripping at his stomach. When you’re in so much pain all the time, you’d do anything to make it stop.

You know less about Asmo’s experiences. Sometimes he’ll be gone for over a week, only to come back glowing with a radiance that could set the sun to shame. No one talks about where he’s been; the one time you asked, Satan told you some parties aren’t safe for humans and refused to elaborate.

Levi and Mammon fare only a bit better in your opinion. Kleptomania and intense self-loathing are not traits usually associated with healthy stability. In Levi’s case, his envy nearly resulted in your death—over a book series. And if you’ve found Mammon rifling through your things for something to sell once, you’ve found him a hundred times. It took invoking his pact to get him to stop.

For all his power and composure, Lucifer is the most affected. Does he even realize it? How much of that stubborn, arrogant assumption of omnipotence was there before he fell? He works himself into the ground to keep the illusion of perfection alive. The standards he sets for himself—for his brothers—are unrealistic at best. He demands flawlessness and has the audacity to be surprised when it always results in failure.

Knowing his behavior stems from love and fear just makes your heart hurt all the more when you see the hollows under his eyes purple and his shoulders slump from exhaustion.

Satan has only lost control once around you. Well, twice, if you consider the scene of your murder. Before you approached them and announced you were alive, he nearly took Belphie’s head off with his own hands.

“Stop,” orders Satan suddenly. “What was that?”

You shake your head to clear your thoughts and turn to him. “What?”

“Whatever you were just brooding about,” he says, reaching over to tap your pact mark. To your shock, it’s oven-hot on your skin.

Oh. Wait.

“We’re fucking stupid.”

Satan reels back, glaring a bit at your words. His expression morphs into concern when you start to laugh. Full, loud guffaws heave out of your chest until you’re curled in on yourself and clutching your stomach.

“MC?”

“It’s—“ Your cheeks ache from how wide you’re smiling. “It’s not you.”

There is nothing funny about it and you can’t stop laughing. Satan looks more alarmed by the second.

“What are you talking about?”

Your giggles take a desperate tone, while tears run down your face. Clasping a hand over your mouth, you start to sob.

Satan calls your name but you’re no longer hearing him. It’s Belphie’s voice drawling the familiar syllables before snapping your neck. Levi screeches it with his claws drawn and Lotan at his back. Lucifer’s voice, low and musical, calls you beautiful before he threatens your life. A friendly chuckle from Diavolo wraps around your name as he informs you of your kidnapping—sorry, exchange program.

Two arms wrap around you, bringing you back to the present. There’s shouting in the hallway but it’s muffled by the bulk of whoever is holding you. You inhale harshly, fisting your hands in thick, fine fabric.

Leather and smoke.

His hold is tight, firmer than should be comfortable. Your lungs should feel restricted, but the compression might be the only thing keeping your chest together. It’s everything else that hurts more anyway. He’s here and you can’t stop crying and you’re small—tiny and fragile compared to these giants you’ve been trying to prop up with weak, mortal hands.

Lucifer’s voice rumbles against you as he tells someone to get Simeon. The sounds of the others shut off with your door snapping closed. It’s just him kneeling on your bed with you clutched tight to his chest. The ridiculous buttons of his stupid uniform coat dig into your face but you can’t bring yourself to care.

He murmurs nonsense into your ear, soothing and gentle words meant to calm, though the exact meanings are lost as you try to quiet down. It hurts. Your eyes ache, your face is swollen, and your ribs feel as if they’re about to snap with each gasping sob.

Cool hands press against your face, dry until they meet the tears spilling down your cheeks. The shock of his bare skin on yours is enough to make you open your eyes. You can’t see much, smushed as you are, but the familiar black of his coat eases something in you. Lucifer always takes care of things, he can fix it, he looks out for those he considers his—your inclusion in that category has been made quite clear.

Not long after Belphegor’s release, you and the eldest grew closer. The lengths you were willing to go to for his family meant everything to him. You were one of them. A space in the tapestry of the seven of them was reserved for you, weaving the family together when the threads seemed liable to fall apart. Lucifer preferred the metaphor of glue on shattered pottery, but that was a bit too pessimistic in your opinion.

“Make a pact with me,” he said against your shoulder.

You twisted away from the fire to look at him. “Demanding,” you teased.

He smiled, soft and gentle. How brilliant red could look so warm was a mystery to you. Where you once saw hard rubies or the spill of blood there were only roses, delicate and blooming.

“Yours, just as much as you are mine.”

He hadn’t lied, had he? Lucifer’s pact mark stands proud on the center of your chest, just below the dip of your collarbone. Glaringly conspicuous, of course, but it’s better than your forehead.

Lucifer thumbs over the swirling lines just as he had when they first appeared. The visible, tangible proof of your connection is something he’s grown mildly obsessed over. Whenever you’re in arm’s reach in private, his fingers find their way there. It’s a familiar ritual you find comfort in and your harsh bawling subsides under the motion. He doesn’t let go after you calm down, just settles against your headboard with you in his lap.

“You’re wearing your shoes in my bed,” you croak. The offended tone you intended gets lost with the rough state of your throat.

He huffs a dark laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next time you scare the hell out of me.”

“How—“ You cough to clear your throat. His coat is soaked with your tears and snot already that one cough isn’t going to do any more damage.

“You threw us all into quite a panic. It was like a sudden tsunami.” He’s quiet and there’s a tremble at the edge of his voice. “I was walking to class and just went to my knees because my chest felt like it cracked open.”

“Sorry,” you whisper.

Lucifer’s grip on you tightens for a moment before he pulls you back to look at your eyes. “No. Don’t do that right now.”

There’s no escaping the intense vehemence of his stare. It tunnels into you with a fire that doesn’t hurt. The ferocity lingers even after you close your eyes.

“I didn’t mean to worry everyone.”

He sighs, pressing a kiss to your forehead and tucking you back under his chin. “Simeon will be here soon. He’ll look you over and make sure there isn’t anything that needs healing.”

“Why Simeon?” His avoidance of his former brother isn’t exactly a secret.

“Celestial magic is more attuned to healing,” he says simply. “It’s just a precaution.”

His tone leaves no room for argument, not that you intend to give him a fight on this. It will make him and the others feel better. And Simeon might be able to fix the headache you feel coming on. It’s Lucifer’s next demand that stirs rebellion in you.

“You’re sitting down with Rissa tomorrow. I’ve already gotten you excused from classes.”

“Lucif—“

Three light taps on your door keep you from giving him a piece of your mind. His savior appears in the form of a concerned Simeon. The angel slips in the room, batting away a ring-laden hand that tries to yank on the door frame.

“Goodness, MC. You’ve got them all in a state,” says Simeon.

Someone yelps behind the now-shut wooden door, confirming the chaos that waits in the rest of the house.

You scoot back from Lucifer’s chest and settle next to him on the bed. While there was nothing indecent in the way he was holding you, Simeon’s presence makes you feel a bit…guilty. Damn angels and their aura of purity, though you know your friend is nothing of the sort. What you learned in a round of “Never Have I Ever” at the castle has totally dissuaded you from the idea.

“Have to keep them on their toes.” You shrug with a levity you don’t feel.

Simeon approaches your bed slowly, making every movement known. His caution probably has less to do with you than the demon sitting between you both. “May I?” He gestures at your head.

You nod and wince, immediately regretting the action as your headache throbs.

Lucifer tenses when Simeon reaches across him to lay one soft palm on your forehead. A pleasant warmth radiates from where he touches you, sliding over you like the sudden appearance of the sun on a dreary day. Your eyes drift shut and you sigh as the pain in your head and face recedes. The heat spreads down your neck to your knotted shoulders, uncoiling the tension in your muscles. Even the bruise on your hip from where you bounced off the kitchen counter vanishes.

“Anything serious?” asks Lucifer.

You contemplate snapping at him for daring to interrupt your daze. The magic soothes the muscles in your calves and saps all of your irritation out of you. Simeon laughs quietly when you hum.

“Only a human who needs to carry lighter bags on campus and get better shoes.”

“Definitely dire then.” Relief coats Lucifer’s voice.

Simeon’s magic retreats gradually, but an echo of the warmth remains. You blink a few times, feeling like you’ve just woken up. All of the swelling is gone, leaving no trace of your earlier breakdown behind.

“Whoa,” you breathe. Is it too late to transfer to Purgatory Hall?

Lucifer clears his throat to gain your attention back. He’s trying to hide a pout with his lips pressed together, but the pinch of his brows gives him away. “Better?”

“I think he just fixed problems I didn’t even know I had,” you say, stretching your arms above your head and twisting them around.

“Celestial healing magic can be a bit intrusive,” explains Simeon with a sheepish grin. “Sorry I didn’t warn you.”

Before you can ask him to stay longer and tell you exactly what he just did (or ask him to stay forever), Lucifer rises from the bed and thanks Simeon for coming. The dismissal is clear and the angel just shoots you a smile. You shake your head at Lucifer’s antics. It would be annoying if you were capable of feeling annoyed right now.

When Simeon’s gone, Lucifer turns to your gently swaying form. “Do you feel up to lunch with everyone?”

“It’s probably best to get it over with,” you reply. “Especially since I think several governments would classify Simeon as a controlled substance.”

“Remind me to tell him you said that,” he snorts.

Five pairs of hands pat and poke at you when you emerge into the dining room with Lucifer close on your heels. Even Leviathan snags one of your pinkies with his. Asmo and Mammon are the most obviously worried, both near tears and trying to fit inside your skin.

“Enough,” snaps Lucifer when Belphie drapes himself across your shoulders. “Either respect the concept of personal space or I will make you.”

They all jump back at the venom in his voice, appearing properly scolded. Satan isn’t among their numbers. The fourth-born leans against the wall almost across the room from you. His rigid stance is only highlighted by his tail coiled closely around his leg. You step away from the others and peer at him with wide eyes.

“Hey, I’m okay.”

His eyes flash with the harsh green you’ve come to associate with him. He doesn’t move from his spot, arms crossed tightly across his chest. “Are you?”

Several hands try to pull you back from the rageful, shaking demon. They always doubt his control.

“Stop,” you order with the full weight of the pacts.

If you let them snatch you back and coddle you, he’ll never believe that you trust him again.

Satan tilts his head as his brothers flinch back from you. He stays still, watching you cross the room to stand toe-to-toe with him. Instinct screams in protest—warning you from launching yourself at danger and wrapping your arms around him. Logically, he should be the biggest threat in the house to you.

But Wrath embodied hugs you back and tears drip onto your neck.

taglist: @inb4belphienaps @bunnaccino @simeonsaysobeyme @abberant-butler @velaris-citizen-in-devildom @stormberrie @silentlyunlucky @ice-icebaby @jadedrogue3

a/n: if you want to be added to the taglist, shoot me an ask! (and if you want to be removed don't feel bad just let me know)

#obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me shall we date #obey me!#obey me fanfic #obey me satan #lucifer/reader #lucifer x reader #still figuring out how tagging works rip me #lo.writes #lo.long walk

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hyunsuks-beanie · 3 years

Text

Come With Me

Culinary major! Soobin x food vlogger! reader; just some teeth rotting fluff

Word Count: 3.35k words

Mellow speaks: So I finally completed this long overdue and super fun request!!! Honestly, writing this was just so amazing, and I kinda drew Y/N based on my own self, so I hope you enjoy reading it!!

Rushing into his apartment, Soobin didn't waste a single minute in discarding his bag on the floor, rushing towards his laptop and turning it on. As the screen booted, the final-year culinary major prayed to the gods for the livestream to not have started yet. The winner of the contest from last month was to be announced at the beginning of the stream, and even though Soobin didn't have any hopes of him winning, he couldn't help the tiny voice at the back of his head saying, "What if?."

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a voice, sweet and velvety as always. There you were, on his screen, the biggest of smiles plastered on your face, making him feel warm all over. Y/N L/N, his favorite food vlogger in the world, ready to start another livestream. Soobin had always been more of a silent supporter, his introverted self being too shy to even post a comment under any of your videos, partly because you had a habit of replying to as many of those comments as possible, and he knew for a fact that he would combust on the spot if you were to ever reply to his praises of you.

You see, he greatly admired your love for food and your wanderlust. He was also a great fan of the way you spoke, and the way you articulated your ideas and thoughts. Truth be told, he genuinely liked you, and not just your voyager self. Watching your videos over the years, he had found himself developing a small crush on you, knowing full well that it was probably just him being starstruck. So, gathering all the bravery he had, the boy had finally pressed "Send" on the application form for the competition on the last day, after contemplating it for God knows how long.

There had been only one question on the form, asking respondents to describe what food meant to them. A smile had graced Soobin's lips as you answered it, pouring in his most sincere thoughts on everything culinary. What had pushed him to participate, you ask? It had been the prize, of course. A chance to hang out with none other than you yourself, through a one-on-one video call. He had always wanted to see you in person, to tell you how much your vlogs meant to him. How they had helped discover his own love for food, had helped him find his happiness in the kitchen.

And that had brought him to right now, biting on his fingernails as he listened to your regular introduction, one that he knew by heart and repeated after you, subconsciously. "Hey my food-holics! How are all of you doing today? Hale and hearty, I hope!," you said, following up quickly with a brief overview of the contest, before announcing the winner, as Soobin waited with bated breath. "All your answers were amazing, and I could relate to so many of them! It really sucks that we can only have one winner, since you're all winners to me!," you smiled, and he caught himself copying your expression. "So now, the winner of the contest, and the person who gets to be my new friend, is @aglio_olive!!," you exclaimed, clapping your hands as your eyes crinkled up in joy.

The fact that you had just announced him as the winner of registered belatedly, as Soobin was busy gushing over how adorable you had looked while clapping. He felt his mouth drop open, finding it hard to focus on what you said next. "I'll be contacting you via email shortly," you had said, and that was all it took for the rest of the livestream to go by in a blur for him, as he waited for your mail, checking and re-checking his inbox every two minutes. But it wasn't until the next day that he finally received what he had been peeling his eyes out for. An email from your official account (or that's what he figured), informing him that the meeting would take place on the coming Saturday, at 6:00 pm. Now all he had to do was wait three days, but it was easier said than done.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Soobin was equal parts bubbling with excitement and panicking with nerves. Reluctant to trust his own fashion choices, he had called over his best friend, Yeonjun, hoping to get some much needed guidance. "Should I wear this suit? Or will simple tracks be better?," he had asked, making the older boy shake his head as he patted him on the back. "My friend, Y/N's neither your professor, nor your friend. You're meeting them for the first time, so why don't you just wear something comfortable, that would make them feel at ease too?," he smirks, throwing a plain blue hoodie his way.

As the clock struck 6:00, Soobin found himself seated at his study table, ready to start the meeting. He had even prepared cue cards to help him if he got stuck, and they were propped conveniently next to the laptop. He reached out for them, but just at that moment, his screen came alive with someone waving at him with a smile on their face. Awestruck, he simply waved back, too tongue-tied to say anything. "Wow," he thought to himself, "They look so much better without makeup." A couple seconds later, a new kind of panic set in. "Am I staring too hard? Is it creepy? Should I look down? No but I need to keep eye contact!"

Little did he know, you were having similar, if not identical thoughts. "Wow, no one told me he was gonna be this cute. Blue suits him so well! I'm no staring, am I? Should I speak first? Or should I wait for him to say something?" This finally resulted in the both of you speaking at the same time, something you would later smile about. Because saying "How are you? I'm Soobin," and "I'm Y/N! How are you?," helped you crack into laughter, breaking the ice and easing the awkwardness. Once you had gotten past the niceties, it was time to get to know each other better. The cue cards lay unused, as Soobin just spoke about whatever came to mind, praising your vlogs and thanking you for teaching him more about cuisines. You, on the other hand, took the time to get to know him better, asking him questions about what it was like to study culinary science, something you had never gotten the chance to do.

The hour-long virtual meeting flew by in the blink of an eye, or so it seemed to the both of you. Talking to you, Soobin didn't once feel that you were a stranger or that he was just a fan. You seemed like a genuine and warm person to him that he couldn't help but admire you even more than he did before. To him, somewhere during the meeting, you stopped seeming like a famous vlogger anymore, and instead, all he saw you as was a friend. You, on the other hand, had made up your mind about him being the most interesting person you had ever met, and couldn't stop a sad sigh from escaping your lips as you looked at the time. "Well, Soobin. It's been a pleasure meeting you," you had said, making him smile wistfully.

The moment he had logged out of the meeting, he found himself missing you. He thought back on how nice you had been, smiling when he pictured your face, your hair slightly messy but not too unkempt, an oversized hoodie thrown over your body. To him, it had honestly felt like he was conversing with a friend, and he couldn't bring himself to let such an amazing person walk out of his life. So, without thinking, he began typing out an email to your account, his finger hovering just above the "Send" button. He stopped short though, realizing that your official account wasn't meant for personal mails, and realizing that he had no other means to contact you. Pouting, he fell face-first onto the bed, his energy going down all of a sudden.

He woke up to a "ping," indicating an email on his phone. Unlocking it, he noticed a mail from an account he had never contacted before. Clueless, he clicked on it, the phone nearly falling out of his hand as he read through it. It had been you, after all, reaching out to him through your personal account, and telling him that you had loved talking to him, and would like to be his friend. And thus began the most beautiful friendship either of you had ever forged, full of memories even though you hadn't met each other.

Late night video chats and good morning calls became a ritual, and Soobin found himself busily typing away on his phone every free second he got. You told him all about your escapades and trips, sending him photos and urging him to try cooking whatever you ate and whatever you liked. He, on the other hand, would teach you to cook, sending you tips and giving you suggestions on what to eat. Food was an intergalactic part of the relation you shared, but it was far from being the only thing.

When things got hard for him, you were there to push him towards his dream, reminding him day in and day out that he would have to give in his all to achieve it. "You'll be the greatest chef one day, Soob," you'd giggle, causing him to let out a whine as he said, "How would you know? You haven't even tasted my cooking yet!" He too, was there to provide you a taste of what it felt like to be grounded to one place, to have everything you wanted right next to you. He was there for you to cry to when someone posted a nasty comment under you video, and he was there to virtually feed you when you missed a home-cooked meal. Inside jokes became a thing, as did bitching about classmates and complaining about managers.

Over time, your friendship started blossoming into something more, as Soobin found himself catching feelings, real feelings, for you. The way you smiled, the way you would bite your nails just like him as you went through what people had to say about your videos, the way you cracked stupid jokes and laughed at them alone, he found himself loving them all. He had given his heart out to you, and he didn't want to take it back. You, meanwhile, had been a bit more careful of your feelings, wary of harboring any hopes for a long-distance relationship. But over time, you too, found yourself drowning into the oceans that were his eyes, watching the way his lips moved through the screen, imagining them on yours. Over time, you too, felt your feelings grow, but being your stubborn self, you didn't act on them.

Days turned into months, and soon enough, you were keeping Soobin company through his late night study sessions, talking to him in the hopes of keeping him awake. Helping him prepare flashcards, and letting him teach you a full four-course meal so that he could practice for his practical exams. "What are you gonna do once you graduate?," became a regular question you posed towards him, and every time, it was the same reply. "I don't know yet, Y/N. I want to do something like you. I want to travel the world and learn about different cuisines first-hand."

As Soobin's exams drew nearer, you found yourself bring just as worried as he was, worried about how he'd fare in the examinations, worried about what he'll do when he gets his degree. But keeping your concerns aside, you did your best to push him to do his best, study that last chapter, practice that last technique, memorize that last recipe. "I just wanna sleep, Y/N," he'd whine, only to have you let out a giggle at how adorable he looked. "It's for your own good, bub," you'd reply, your smile somehow managing to give him the strength to put in just a little extra effort.

Seeing him work so hard, you couldn't help but want to give him a surprise by congratulating him in person when he graduated. So, you decided to plan a trip to Seoul, shooting a film vlog just an excuse to finally meet your closest friend, and the person you had a crush on. You had initially wanred to keep the plan a secret, but soon realized what a waste it would be to not use it to your advantage. And so started your ingenious way of getting Soobin to hit the books. "I'm coming to Seoul after your exams, but I'll meet you only if you put in all your effort," you'd tell him, repeating it like a mantra day in and day out.

In response, the boy would pout and whine about how he "hated" you, but started putting in double the effort, just to make you proud. Your tactic seemed to work, but Soobin was still nervous. Nor about the theory, but about the practical exams. "What if I don't do well on the exam? It happens all the time on Masterchef," he said one day, looking into your eyes as you attempted to calm him down. "I know you'll nail it, Binnie," you replied, smiling at him through the screen. "Just think about what makes you happy while you cook, and you'll be good to go." As if on a whim, Soobin muttered out a soft, "You," causing your breath to hitch as you asked him to repeat. "You make me happy," he said again, looking down as he felt his cheeks growing warm. You couldn't help but smile at his sudden confession, sending a virtual kiss his way. "Now go study, you idiot," you giggled, proceeding to tell him about your day as he pored over his books.

The day of his practical exam rolled by, and as you had said, Soobin decided to cook while thinking of something that made him happy. He thought back on the day when you had told him about a delicacy from a city you had visited, and had convinced him to teach you how to make it. The memory alone made a smile appear on his lips, reminding him of how happy the two of you were. And so, that's what he cooked, passing his exam with flying colors. He was so happy he could have kissed you if you were there, and he told you that, causing a laugh to escape your lips. "I'll be there soon," was all you said, fighting to control your excitement.

Soobin passed with flying colors, earning his degree fair and square. And the one person he wanted to thank for it, was you. As you had promised him, a week later found you roaming the streets of Seoul, as you hurriedly made your way towards his college, ready to finally meet him at his convocation. Climbing up the stage to accept his degree, his eyes were busy scanning the crowds, eager to see your face. When he couldn't find you, however, he felt his smile falter, as he took in a gulp.

"Where are you Y/N?," he thought to himself, hand itching to check his phone that was lying in his back pocket. You had told him you'd be here on time, so then, where were you? Just as he feels himself falling deeper into his thoughts, he (like everyone else in the hall) hears footsteps running down the corridor, finally revealing you standing at the entrance, out of breath and with a huge smile stretching across your face. "You're here," he mouthed, his smile matching yours, as you replied with a simple nod and a "Congratulations," your eyes brimming with tears of joy for the boy.

Accepting his degree, Soobin walked off the stage to sit with his classmates, eyes meeting yours every so often as he tried to fight the urge to rush to you and hug you. Once the ceremony ended, neither of you wasted a second in finding each other, throwing yourselves into a hug long overdue. It didn't feel weird as you snuggled your face into his convocation robe, and it didn't feel weird as he did the same into your hair. Pulling away, you just couldn't hide the smiles that threatened to take over your entire face, taking each other's hand as Soobin left you to his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Y/N," he introduced, and his mom didn't miss the spark in her son's eyes as he looked at you.

Once you were done with the niceties, the two of you made your way out into the city once Soobin had handed his robe over to his mom. Walking the streets with him, with you cracking jokes and him pointing out tourist sights to you, you felt something you had never felt, no matter how many cities you visited. A sense of comfort, a sense of belonging. You felt like you were home for the first time in ages, and it was all because of the guy walking next to you. As if on a whim, you whipped out your video-camera, switching it on and turning it to yourself. Soobin belatedly realized what you were doing, when he heard you recite you introduction. Looking at you in shock, he felt his mouth fall open as he heard you say the words, "Friend," "Soobin," "Featuring," "Guide," in quick succession, piecing the sentence together in his brain.

"Y/N! What are you doing??," he whined, looking down to hide his face. "Awww Soobinnie is shy!!! Sorry guys, it's his first time," you cooed, a giggle escaping your lips as you turned your camera off, trying to convince him to feature in your vlog. "But I won't know what to say!!," he retorted, making you snicker. "Just take me out to eat somewhere tell, and tell the camera why you like the place you like and the food you like. It's not that hard!," you replied, and after much convincing (and some borderline begging), he finally agreed.

He showed you all his favorite eateries and restaurants, gawking at the insane discounts you got him, and just enjoying watching you eat in person, sharing his food. By the time evening rolled out, the two of you were full to your throats, looking out over the river from the bridge. "Thank you Y/N," Soobin said, turning to look at you. "For today, and for everyday. For being there for me, and for being the best friend I have ever had, and more." "Thank you too, Soob," you replied, your eyes stinging as you looked up at him. "Thank you for making me feel at home. Thank you for becoming my home." You hadn't noticed just how close your faces had become, both of you having leaned in subconsciously. Finally, Soobin closed the gap, your lips meeting his in a kiss that's full of the pent-up love and emotions.

His lips were soft against yours, molding with yours like two pieces of the same puzzle. Pulling away, a smile graced your lips as you looked up at him shyly, whispering an "I like you," causing him to repeat your words and adding a "too," cheeks rising up in a smile. Biting you bottom lip, you say, "Come with me," making him tilt his head in confusion. "You said you wanted to be like me. To learn about cuisines first-hand. Then come with me. I don't want to be away from you, I want to be with you 24/7, and not virtually. I want to talk to you in person, to hug you, to kiss you." You notice his smile growing wider, and so you ask, "So, what do you say?," as he replies by placing his lips back on yours.

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agent-whiskeys-sweetheart · 3 years

Text

Meant To Be

Pairing: Hotch x F!Reader

Summary: You are studying to be an FBI profiler with a little over a year left before graduation. When the BAU team shows up in your town for a case you jump at the chance to shadow them for a day. However, things quickly take a turn when you meet Aaron Hotchner, your future boss. And the most breathtaking man you’ve ever met.

Warnings: None! A little dramatic??? This is a purely self indulgent, love at first sight kind of fic so just prepare yourselves.

Word Count: 4,063

A/N: So I had a mild stroke trying to figure out the timeline for this series so please just don’t look too much into it lol.

MAY 2006

FORT WORTH, TX

It was just barely six in the morning when you pulled into the parking lot of the precinct. Although the sun hadn’t peaked over the horizon yet, you were surprisingly awake. In preparation for the day you had gone to bed at eight the night before which left you well-rested and alert. There was no way you were going to let yourself be off your game. Not today. Of all your classmates, you had certainly progressed the quickest. Due to your high success rate, your professor had authorized you to shadow the team of FBI profilers that were coming to your city for a case. It was an amazing opportunity for someone with a over a year left before graduation so you immediately accepted. Not allowing yourself to make even the slightest mistake, you planned everything down to the last detail in the days leading up to this. Nothing would be able to faze you. With the confidence of a woman who’d been working in this precinct all her life, you strode into the lobby. The receptionist asked for your ID which you quickly displayed. It was only temporary but even so, there was a certain amount of power you felt when she cleared you to continue into the building. After stopping briefly to ask for directions you made your way back to the Police Chief’s office. When he hears your knock, he looks up from his paperwork with a polite smile.

“Well, good morning. What can I help you with?” Clearing your throat, you prepare your most professional voice as you reply.

“My name is Y/N L/N. We met earlier this week. I’m going to be shadowing the team of profilers who are flying in today.” Recognition crosses his features as he makes his way over to shake your hand.

“Of course. I remember. It’s nice to see you again. You’re very punctual. That’s a good skill to hang on to.” You smile in gratitude. “Well, the profilers aren’t here just yet. If you’d like you can wait in here or we can find an empty desk for you.”

“Actually, I was hoping I could look over the case files. I’d like to be as up-to-date as possible before they arrive.” As he nods, the two of you make your way into the hallway. Towards the back corner of the common workspace is an empty desk that he allows you to sit at. While you put your things down and take a seat he disappears long enough to retrieve a file folder and set it on the desk in front of you.

“This should be enough information for you to be able to help out. If you’ve got any questions in the meantime, you know where I’m at.” With another polite smile, he leaves you to continue his paperwork. It doesn’t take long for you to read the case file. There had been a conspicuous string of murders in the area, which began about two weeks ago. Four couples were murdered in their homes, all wealthy without children. A list of witnesses and family members had been compiled to make the interview process a little easier. You predicted you’d most likely be helping one of the profilers in questioning the people on this list so you tried your best to memorize the names.

It seemed like hardly any time had passed when you heard the main doors of the precinct opening to reveal a group of five people walking up to the receptionist’s desk. The sight of them immediately perked you up. It was difficult to make out any individual faces at first but you knew these must be the profilers. As they each scanned their IDs and made their way into the main workspace you quickly gathered your things so that you would be ready to move the moment they were. It didn’t take long for the Chief of Police to reappear, welcoming the profilers and showing them where they could set up their equipment. Every member of the team had a distinctly different look and behavior but they all seemed to work in unison. Even though they’d only been there for five minutes they exuded professionalism and efficiency. As you watched them you had to remind yourself to breathe. You had as much right to be there as them. Admittedly they did have a lot more experience than you but that didn’t change the fact that you’re all on the same team now.

Waiting patiently, you finish putting the case file back together and fold your hands to rest them on the edge of the desk. When the Chief of Police calls you over you gather up your things and make your way around the various desks to stand next to him.

“This here is Miss L/N. She’s a student at our local university. She’s gonna be tagging along with you guys today for a little real-world practice.” As he introduces you, you take the opportunity to study the faces of the people in front of you. There is only one you recognize for certain. They all have their attention set on you as well which makes you suddenly very aware of yourself. “Anyway, I’ll let you all introduce yourselves.” With a nod, he turns to speak to you. “If you don’t mind stopping by my office at the end of the day, I’ll get you all checked out alright? In the meantime, have fun I guess.” He adds with a laugh before finally leaving you alone with the others.

The first one to extend his hand to you is the one person you are familiar with. More than familiar, seeing as he is kind of your hero. You had been the one to initiate the arrangement, having sent him an email a few weeks ago. He had seemed more than willing to let you work with them for the day and he was nothing but helpful, just like you knew he would be. Seeing him now was nearly surreal.

“Y/N, I remember.” He begins, shaking your hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jason Gideon, as you know. Glad to have you on board.”

“It’s absolutely an honor to meet you, sir. I’ve been a follower of your work since I knew what profiling was. I am so grateful for this opportunity. I am more than ready to help in any way I can.” As you speak, a warm smile lights his face. One of friendliness and hope.

“Of course. I think I speak for my team when I say we’re grateful as well. Not many people in our field get a chance to guide the next generation to a life of helping others. Anything we can do to support you as a future member of our team, we’re happy to do.” This response is entirely heartfelt and shocking to you. Of all the ways you’d imagined this interaction starting, this wasn’t what you had in mind and yet it was exactly what you needed.

“Thank you, sir.” Was all you could manage as you work to maintain your fading air of professionalism.

“Well, with that I’ll let everyone do their own introductions.” Almost immediately another man stepped out of line and reached for your hand. He was very conventionally handsome and the way he carried himself told you he knew that he was good-looking. The smile he flashed you was contagious as you shook hands with him.

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart. I’m Agent Derek Morgan and I am very excited to get to know you.” The woman next to him has to pull him away, shooting him a look. She seems very severe and yet when she turns to look at you there is a distinct kindness in her eyes.

“Knock it off Morgan. You’re gonna scare her off before she even gets a chance to meet anyone else.” She says over her shoulder, taking your hand. “I’m Elle. If he keeps bugging you, I’ll be more than happy to rough him up for you.” Morgan holds his hands up defensively when he catches Elle’s eye again before giving you a small wink.

“Nice to meet you both.” It’s hard to contain your laughter but you manage, giving a small smile instead. Another woman is standing beside Gideon who shakes your hand. She is very beautiful and seems to exude confidence and grace.

“I’m JJ. I’m the Communications Liaison for the BAU. We spoke briefly last week.” You nod in recognition. She had helped you coordinate the time and place to meet up for the day.

“Of course. Very nice to meet you in person.”

“Likewise. We’re excited to be working with you.” She gives you a warm smile which you gladly return before looking to the last person in the small group. He looks to be about your age, very sensibly dressed with a nice posture. There is a slight awkwardness in the way that he shakes your hand but he gives you a quick smile and you can see that he has a hidden friendliness in his demeanor.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid.” He says shortly to which you politely nod.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” With that, you turn back to Gideon to ask about your assignment for the day. However, you can’t help but feel like something is missing. “I read through the case file this morning so I can be of use wherever I’m needed. Did you have an assignment in mind or will I be moving around throughout the day?”

“I think it would be beneficial for you to work with SSA Hotchner. He should be here any minute.” That’s what was missing. Hotchner. You had heard his name before but you didn’t know much about him. As you waited for him to arrive, Gideon began delegating tasks to each of the other members. Despite not being given a task yet you listened intently until the front doors of the precinct opened.

However you had pictured Hotchner, the man that walked through that door was the furthest thing from what you expected. The sight of him striding in from the lobby made your breath catch in your throat. There was an innate power in the way that he moved. So much purpose and intensity. His eyes were dark and they found your face almost immediately. It was enough to make you squirm but you maintained your composure. Gideon turned to greet him before gesturing back towards you. “This is Y/N L/N. She’s a student who is here to shadow the team for the day.”

With the slightest hesitation, you extended your hand toward him. His eyes didn’t leave yours for a moment as he shook your hand.

“I’m SSA Aaron Hotchner. It’s very nice to meet you.” He spoke with a clear sense of professionalism.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m looking forward to working with you. I have a feeling I’m going to learn a lot from this experience.”

“I hope so. It was very smart of you to seize this opportunity. It does not come around often. Soak up everything you can today and I’m sure it will bring you a lot of success in the future.” You listen to him intently, nodding with a small smile.

“Hotch, would you mind if she rides along with you today? We’ve got a list of witnesses we need to speak to and I think it would be good for her to get out in the field rather than being stuck here doing paperwork.” Gideon interjects, looking to both of you as he proposes the idea. Hotchner looks around the precinct briefly for the other team members before giving Gideon his attention again.

“Of course. Do I need to brief her on the case?”

“Actually, I already familiarized myself with the case file before you all got here this morning.” You interrupt before Gideon can respond, causing both the men to look at you. “Sir.” You add, clearing your throat. They both share a knowing look.

“Perfect,” Hotchner replied, with a respectful nod. Satisfied with the interaction, Gideon dismissed himself to begin his work leaving the two of you alone. “Give me a few minutes to speak with the Chief of Police and then we can get started. Would you mind waiting out front for me?” You nod eagerly which prompts him to walk back toward the Chief’s office. Once he has disappeared around the corner you make your way to the front of the building, stepping through the main doors. The cool morning air brings with it a sweet wave of relief. You hadn’t realized how hot you were until you had stepped outside. Nerves were already building up in your system when you were being introduced to the rest of the team but meeting Hotchner had tipped you over the edge. There was no denying that he was a very handsome man. The evidence was in the blush that was surely covering your face. Mentally scolding yourself you take a deep breath. You were a professional and you would act as such. No matter how deeply moved you felt when he looked into your eyes like that.

A few minutes later Hotchner made his way through the front doors causing you to stand at attention. Moving briskly, you followed him into the parking lot and pulled yourself into the passenger seat of the dark SUV he had just unlocked. He remained silent as he began typing an address into the GPS before pulling out of the parking lot. Once you were on the road he looked over at you briefly.

“How much do you know about questioning witnesses?” He began.

“Quite a bit. I’m only about a year away from graduation so I have a fairly advanced understanding of a wide variety of concepts that pertain to profiling.” Watching the GPS, he nods. Feeling a tinge of awkwardness, you allow your eyes to stay focused on your lap.

“Good. Any real-world experience?”

“Unfortunately no. In my courses, we do simulate certain scenarios fairly often but there isn’t much opportunity for real application.”

“Well the best advice I can give for today is to stay quiet and watch me. If I need you to speak up, I will tell you as much. Otherwise, don’t say anything. It isn’t that I distrust you. It would just be irresponsible of me to allow someone with zero field experience to question the victim’s friends and family during some of the most difficult times of their lives. Especially without having seen what they’re capable of beforehand. I’m sure you understand.”

“Oh absolutely. I completely understand. I know that I’m here in more of an observational capacity today. And even if I wasn’t, you’re the boss. No explanation necessary.” Hotchner is quiet for a moment. If you hadn’t been so preoccupied with avoiding eye contact, you would have seen the remnants of a smile on his face.

“I should have you talk to the rest of the team. They could learn a thing or two from you.” This causes you to laugh lightly.

When you finally do decide to look at him the sight steals your breath yet again. He is bathed in the golden light of the rising sun and he seems almost ethereal. You can see a flash of his deep brown eyes which seemed very soft now in the glow of the sun. As though he could feel you looking at him he turns to meet your eyes although this time you don’t look away. The two of you sit there in what seems like the most eternal moment, dancing in and out of each other before he breaks away to look back at the road. For a moment you could almost swear you saw something there in his eyes, something almost like longing. It must have just been a trick of the light.

“So, what made you decide to be a profiler?” The moment is over as quickly as it began as he speaks up.

“Well, I’ve always had a deep fascination with the human psyche. Finding out what makes people tick. Picking apart their personalities, their behaviors. Growing up that almost felt like the only way to understand the kids around me. By studying them. Every friendship I had felt like a science project. When I found out that I could use that ability to be part of something bigger than myself, to make the world just a little brighter ... well, it was really a no-brainer.”

“That’s very ... noble and, honestly, very uplifting to hear. With this job, you experience a lot more bad days than you do good. Sometimes it is hard to remember why we started doing this in the first place. It’s people like you that remind me this job is worth it. Hang on to those beliefs. They’ll help keep you sane, I can promise you that.” With a nod, you give him a kind smile.

“I will. I promise.” It isn’t much longer before you arrive at the first house. The interview is fairly straightforward. You stay close by Hotchner’s side as he introduces the both of you. Once you’re inside you sit quietly as he begins asking questions, merely listening and taking mental notes of the way he conducts himself. It is over fairly quickly and then you’re both back in the SUV and off to your next destination. The next two interviews are the same. On the third, he lets you ask a few routine questions. It is a simple gesture but you are very grateful for the experience and you handle yourself very well.

Your final interview is with the parents of the latest male victim. When Hotchner knocks on the door, it takes a minute for it to open. Standing on the other side is an older man with a tired expression.

“Yes? What is it?” The man says briskly. Hotchner pulls out his badge.

“I am SSA Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. This is Miss Y/N L/N. May we come in?” Hearing the term FBI causes the man’s expression to darken rather quickly as he looks between the two of you.

“Where’s your badge?” He questions, nodding in your direction. Remaining silent, you share a look with Hotchner. After a second of thought he gives you a small nod of approval.

“I’m not actually an FBI agent yet, sir. I’m a criminology student at the local university. I’m shadowing Agent Hotchner today as a learning opportunity before getting out in the field myself.”

“A learning opportunity?” It takes the man almost no time to answer and you can hear a significant shift in his voice. “You’re using my son’s death as a learning opportunity?”

“You misunderstand--” Hotchner begins in your defense before you quickly cut him off with your own response.

“Sir, I can’t begin to fathom what you’re going through. But I can promise you that my lack of experience is entirely made up for by my desire to see the person who did this to your son pay for it. It doesn’t take training to see that your son deserves justice for his death.” The man is silent but keeps his eyes locked on yours.

“My wife and I have already told the police everything we know.”

“We know, sir. It will only take a few moments of your time and anything you can tell us might be crucial in finding your son’s killer.”

“No. No, we’ve already talked about this more than any parent should ever have to. If it’s that important go ask the police what we said.”

“Please, sir--” Before he can finish, the man smacks the door frame.

“It took the deaths of eight innocent people for you to swoop in and save the day. You really think I want to waste a second of my time speaking with you? I have nothing more to say. Now get out of here.” With that, Hotchner nods before turning to leave which prompts you to quickly follow. As you get near the SUV you are startled by the sound of the man’s door being slammed shut. Once inside you release the breath that had been caught in your chest. When you look over at Hotchner his expression shows a deadly calmness and you are suddenly struck by the idea that he must be pissed at you.

“I’m so sorry. That was all my fault. I upset him. I shouldn’t have said anything to him. I should have just kept my mouth shut like you told me to. I had no right to do that. I’m sorry.” The crushing weight of embarrassment and guilt settled over you. This morning you had felt more than ready but now it seemed like the day had been filled with challenges you couldn’t possibly have prepared for. In only a few hours you had managed to show your boss that you are completely incompetent. You ready yourself for what must surely be his wrath however when he turns towards you his expression shifts from one of unwavering calm to gentle kindness.

“It’s okay. I’m not angry with you. What you said was perfect, it’s exactly what I would have said. You were establishing a rapport with him to gain his trust. You did the right thing. Believe me, it wasn’t you. There is nothing either of us could have said that would have gotten a different result.” When he sees that you are still wary he shifts in his seat to face you more directly. “As a future member of my team, you have my trust. You handled yourself very impressively today. You’re going to make a very fine addition to the BAU.”

His words ease your anxious mind as you nod quietly. Soon after Hotchner is pulling back out onto the street to take you both back to the police precinct. After a minute of silence he glances over at you.

“So ... are you still sure you want to do this?” The question catches you off-guard but it takes you no time at all to answer.

“More than anything.” This time you do catch the faint smile that crosses his lips which causes you to give a small smile in return.

“Good.” Is all he says for the rest of the ride back to the precinct.

The day is over much more quickly than you had hoped for. When you step back into the police building you make a beeline for the chief’s office, remembering his request that you find him again at the end of the day. You return your temporary ID and he fills out a form for your professor to verify your activity for the day. Once the formalities are over he bids you a good evening and shows you back out to the main workspace. The team all gather briefly to say their goodbyes as well. You thank Gideon profusely for allowing you to join them before shaking hands with the rest of the team members. As you make your way to the exit you see Hotchner standing near the main doors.

“Thank you so much for letting me tag along today. I really learned a lot.” As you say this you extend your hand which he quickly takes.

“Absolutely. It was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to seeing you again in a few years. In the meantime, here’s my card.” He reaches into his inside jacket pocket and pulls out his business card which he hands to you. “If you ever need anything, feel free to give me a call.” Tucking the card safely into your pocket you thank him with a smile before heading out the main doors to your car.

Once inside you pull the card out of your pocket and sit for a minute, staring at it. Unable to control yourself you let a giddy smile paint your face. After the day you had, a year has never seemed longer. The anticipation of your future at the BAU looms over you but rather than filling you with nerves it brings you hope and excitement for the things to come. Opening a small compartment on your dash, you tuck the business card away before heading home to get a good night’s sleep filled with wonderful dreams.

Tags: @talesfromtheguild @lannister-slings-and-arrows @gamingaquarius @gryffindorwriter @nopeforyou @sheerfreesia007 @roxypeanut @ohpedromypedro @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa @readsalot73 @the-mechanical-angel @races-erster @maxlordd @pascalisthepunkest @paintballkid711 @hotchafterhours @h0tchner @ssahotchswife @ssahotchhner @technotic-prophecy @klinenovakwinchester

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thefanficmonster · 4 years

Text

Unlucky

Part 2: ‘Lucky Me’

Corpse Husband x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Corpse decides to email back a person who has sent him quite a few creepy stories. She never seems to run out of scary encounters of both sorts: paranormal and stranger-danger. He gets suspicious that the stories are all made up so she can grab his attention, but he’s in for a surprise.

U/N - username

Requested: No

Corpse’s POV

I’m looking through my most recent emails from fans. They are all of scary encounters they’ve allegedly experienced. By now, I’ve read so many, it’s easy to decipher which are real and which are just made up nonsense. Some, I must admit, give me chills. Big props to the people who write those, especially if they are made up. If you can make someone’s skin crawl with your twisted, frightening imagination, you have one, for lack of a better term and in the most positive way, fucked up mind.

My cursor lands on the familiar username I see almost every other week. U/N. They have been sending stories consistently for about three years now. They, and I’m saying they cause you can never be sure who’s hiding behind the username, are either the most unlucky person to walk the planet or the one with most twisted imagination and story telling skills. I’ll admit, sometimes I narrate a story just because it’s well written. Believability is not the only thing I go by, I also reward creativity. And this person, U/N, has had their spot in many of my videos in the last three years. I’m honestly hoping they are made up, or at least some of them, because not only are there too many of them, but none of them fail to give me that eerie paranoia after I read them or the chills while I read them.

Once again, they have submitted a downright terrifying story. It would be a shame if I didn’t narrate it.

It would be a shame if I....

If I never actually meet them.

This many run-ins with people with malicious intent, always getting away by some miracle, what if they one day don’t make it out alive to tell it.

My heart sinks a little at the thought. I feel like I know this person, like we’ve known each other for three years now. They know the things the whole internet knows about me, and I, along with my regular watchers, know their stories. That’s by no means enough, now that I think about it.

My next action is really out of character for me. I decide to reach out to them. My fingers fly over the buttons on my keyboard too fast for my rational side to try and stop them. Deep down, I know I’m doing the rightest wrong thing I’ve ever done. My previously sunk heart is now in its assigned spot again, beating quickly.

You don’t know what you’re doing

I maybe don’t, but knowing isn’t what’s important right now. I just wanna do it.

~ Hey, this is probably, what, your twentieth story so far. I’m just curious, how many of these are made up? By the way, your stories are amazing and I’ll probably keep narrating them even if they aren’t real. They’re just that good.

I send the email before I can talk myself out of it. I get up from my chair immediately afterwards, putting as much distance between me and the computer as possible, silently promising myself I won’t be checking my mail every five minutes.

Y/N’s POV

I anxiously refresh and refresh my email inbox, waiting for the dreaded email back from my professor. Being halfway through the college experience, I know how tough this professor’s class is and how much I suck at it. I sent him my completed assignment last night, barely making the deadline mind you, so now I’m sweating hardcore, staring my computer screen down.

After refreshing for the millionth time, I’m met with a new email which makes my heart stop for a second or two, my stomach dropping. Then I take the time to read the sender’s name, the subject and the first sentence of the email, and all the previous changes in me reverse. My heartbeat picks up speed, going faster than a galloping horse and my stomach turns, making me feel the sensation everyone calls ‘butterflies’.

Nah, man. This shit ain’t real. It can’t be.

But then again, what if it is. What if I’m about to full-on ignore my favorite youtuber because of my paranoia. Well, it’s not exactly unsupported. My life has been a shit show of unfortunate event and situations I’ve literally had to claw my way out of in order to stay alive. Now, when something of the sort happens, it’s just another weekday. However, I still wanna share these encounters. Not only because they are proof of the dangers girls have to deal with on a daily basis, but they also get narrated by one of my favorite people ever. What more can a girl ask for?

~ Listen, I’m really not looking forward to getting catfished. Please leave me alone

It’s short, not sweet, and to the point. It’s easy to understand, and it clearly states that I’m not falling for it if it’s a scam, but if it’s real....someone call 911 cause I think I’ll faint.

~ I get it, you have trust issues. But that’s understandable. From the creepy guy messaging you on all your social media. To the stalker you had from you high school, or even that teacher that turned out to not be a teacher at all and just a pedo, I see where the lack of trust is coming from. But I assure you, they only thing I wanna do is chat.

The shock and happiness overwhelm me when the reply arrives not even ten minutes later.

Holy shit, this is him.

I start typing and then erase the typed half-sentence at least three times before receiving another email from him. From Corpse Husband. Corpse freaking Husband. How the fuck am I supposed to compose myself enough to reply to him, let alone sound cool and leave a good impression.

My hand shakes as I click the newly received email.

~ You probably don’t know what to say. Either that or you just don’t wanna talk to me. If you’re just baffled and surprised, reply with your name. If you want me to fuck off, ignore this email completely.

The smile I didn’t realize was there grows into a grin as small bursts of laughter escape me. Laughter caused by disbelief and shock. The type of laugh you let out when you score a good mark on the test you thought you completely fucked up.

~ Y/N. My name’s Y/N.

PS: The stories are all 100% real. All happened. In the order I sent them too. And before you ask, I guess I’m just unlucky, but you are proving me wrong right now.

I don’t know where that confidence at the end came from, but I don’t care really. All that matters is that this might just actually be happening and it might be the best thing to ever happen to me.

~ Man, you’ve had it rough. Tell me, is there an easier way to access you than email. Like Insta DMs? I feel we have a lot to talk about and email is not the most convenient.

At this point, it feel so much like a fever dream that I decide to treat it as though it is. I just go with the flow.

~ Yeah, but first.....am I really not being catfished right now?

The email I receive as a reply to this message is empty of text but there’s a file attached. Not gonna lie, I am a bit hesitant to open it, but I decide that if this turns bad, I’ll just have to deal with it. In the meantime, I’ll believe it’s not a scam.

It’s an audio file: “No, Y/N, you are not being catfished.”

That voice. That god damn voice. It could convince me of anything.

And now it’s convinced me into believing him. And finally letting out that squeal I was holding back before sending him my Instagram username.

#corpse #corpse husband #corpse husband fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #x reader #reader #requests open #request #husband #corpse simp #love #romance #among us

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bts-trash-blog · 3 years

Text

Best Of Us

Chapter 8: Focus

Summary: Being an Omega is hard, it could be so lonely. The hardships that you would sometimes feel seemed to much, always expected of things you could never fully reach. Always seen as a piece of meat to some, seen as weak and stupid. So you worked your ass off to finally work your dream job. And the world all changed when you met one of the bosses. And couldn't help but end up falling.

Paring: Rap Line X Fem!Chubby OmegaReader

Warning: A/O/B!VERS, mentions of sexual harassment, heats, ruts, knotting, breeding, angst, possessive behavior, more warnings will be added as needed.

An(IMPORTANT...kinda of lol): Hello my sweets! I just wanted to give you all a heads up that I will be closing the Tag list after I realize Chapter Ten, just for a bit it will open back up eventually its just getting be to much to keep up with at the momment! So defiently keep an eyes out in the next couple of weeks of the tag list closing and when it should open back up if that makes senses lol. Also I was woundering if you guys would like to talk about the story togthers after each chapter? Like a reading party where you guys send in your thoughts and I will respound to as many, if not all of the replys, asks and anons! Defeintly tell my your thoughts on that if you fine it intresting or not! I hope you like this chapter, it’s most defitnly on the long side compared to the perivous chapters, and they only seem to keep getting longer lol. Anyway have a great day, and I hope you enjoy reading!!!

Chapter edited

PREV._.NEXT

God you were crazy,you had to be.

The way the air caught your breath as you wandered outside had you memorized, no matter what age you were the cold always fascinated you. It was memories of the snow days your father would pull you out of bed for, hands on your hips as he lifted you off the ground and caught snowflakes. Or the way you watched your mother fall to the ground to make snow angels how your father as you and your cousin had run around the snow, would catch your mother and spin her around. Their joint laughter had made you freeze eyes casting over seeing your mothers bright smile as your father peppers kisses across her cheeks, as you stood frozen your older cousin shoved a snowball in your face. The burn of your cold nose now having you reach up and rub, the overly large sweater that wraps warmth around you faintly smells of your mother. She had grown worried as days passed and you sat in your room, nesting, trying to get the paperwork done that the ‘sweet handsome Alpha’, Jin, had dropped off. You had yet to confined to your mother what was spiralling with your internship, your college professor none the wiser during your call on Wednesday. His voice filled with joy as he spoke of the email that Yoongi had sent him, encouraging your professor to give you the next couple of weeks off for class since he believes that this supposive internship was turning into a real opportunity for you. It drove you insane on how fast he was to jump, assume. Though you would do that same, you think.

The sound of someone talking on the phone had your mind racing back to the real world, eyes looking around, the tall glass building on the other side of the road. The way the sun reflected off of the glass shook you to the core, imagining Yoongi sitting at his desk, dark brown almost black hair falling into his eyes, the stupid look on Hoseok face when he constrates on the computer screen in front of him. The scent, the combined scent of the three of them, the same one you smelt the night that your world flipped, coursing through your head, the idea a lone had your stumbling over your own feet.Taking a deep breath, the sound of some teenagers laughing had you looking to the side, three girls, Beta, were walking next to one another, looks over worry and even on of disgust caught your eyes it had you cowering, rushing the the cafe door. As you entered, you saw cotton candy pink hair, the large round cheeks as Jimin called your name, it had you smiling as the boy left the counter moving to gester for you to sit making you straighten up as you do.

“You’re hair..is..uh pink.” he giggles as he sits in front of you, hearing the Beta from before chuckle as he shakes his head, his hair tossing side to side as he smiles brightly at you.

“Very, I’ve been wondering when I’d see you, thoses Alphas and their Omega come having been coming for the past three days, asking if you’ve shown up.” He wiggled his eyebrows as you bow your head, hair falling, covering your face as you take a deep breath and shrug. “Never thought they’d like another Omega besides Joon.” His words caught your attention as you look at him with a head tilt, “Namjoon is a friend of mine.”

“Oh cool, didn’t know you were close to any of them.” Jimin awkwardly nods as he huffs and takes a breath.

“So are you gonna stay?” His question made your heart stop, chest tighten, the air catching in your throat as you seem to choke on it. Coughing as he moves forward, hand resting on yours as he looks you in the eye. Safe. You are safe. “It..it’s okay if you don’t. Seriously, I..I don’t know how it feels for a trip to want to court you, let alone a thrio who all think you are already theirs, especially that possessive Namjoon.” His words go from serious tone to a teasing, his smile falling back on his face as his thumb rubs up and down your hand as you look at him. “Namjoon is probably more possessive then any Alpha I’ve met, and both of my parents are Alphas and so are my brothers, and my little sister who just presented is an Alpha. None of them are as possessive as our tall sweet Namjoon.” His words were rambled, eyes blinking, slowly looking away from your face, your own eyes widening.

“The only Omega in a whole litter?” You wonder aloud, making him nod slowly as his hand moves away from you, making your skin freeze as you take a deep breath. “Sorry that was blunt.”

“It’s fine, i’m used to it, being the only Omega out of five is odd, especially when the other four are Alphas.” His words had your nodding slowly as he cleared his throat and smiled back at you. “Being the only Omega was pretty handy though, got whatever the fuck I wanted. But back to what I was saying, the fact that Namjoon is willing to share his boys, and love you is pretty amazing to me if I’m being honest. So whatever you choose I’m gonna say it, he’s gonna be protective of you either way.” You nod at his words, his body moving up and out of the chair as he smiles at you and looks to his watch. “Well they should be showing up in twenty mintiues, think you’re gonna stay today?”

“I’m not sure yet.”He nods as he smiles as he places a hand on your shoulder, his forehead nuding your temple making your body relax as you take a deep breath and sigh. Hand moving to grab our phone, a text from Bambam had you swiping it open.His text had your heart pounding, cheeks growing red as your body grew hot it made you slowly blink as you took a deep breath in.

BamBam: So I am now a marked Omega, bounded.

Y/n: OMG I’m so happy for you Bammie, definitely need to see it next time we meet up.

BamBam: We’ll no shit, who else am I gonna show it too? My mother?

Y/n: I mean maybe?

BamBam: My mother will cry and tell me to stop growing up, then ask me about pups in the next sentence.

You let out a snort at his text, shaking your head as you place your phone back into your pocket, the feeling of eyes on you had the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Your body tense as you move to keep your eyes down, moving your hands to grab a sugar packet as Jimin walks back up to you, a caramel macchiato in hand as you smile at him.”On the house.” Nodding you move to take a sip of it, meeting his eyes as he gives you his large smile. The ring of the door opening had Jimin moving back behind the counter, the smell of Alpha musk head cowering as you constarat on your drink, hoping that the Alpha wouldn't notice you, or would just ignore you. Yet you didn’t seem that lucky as you felt eyes on you, the sound of the deep voice ordering a coffee to stay has you shuffling your phone out of your pocket hoping that if you were on your phone he’d leave you alone. That he’d ignore you in some way. But luck never seems to be on your side.

Looking up when you hear the slide of a chair in front of you, you see brown eyes with black hair falling in his eyes as he gives you a smile as you look back down your phone. Body slightly cluring in one itself as you took another sip of your coffee. Healing the Alpha now sitting in front of your clear his throat, a growl rumbling with it had your body tensing, hand squeezing the cup making some of the coffee drip out of the straw as you look up at him. His smirk had only grown at your reaction, his body leaning forward as you take a deep breath in and lean back. A napkin being grabbed as you try to whip away at the croffe from the table. His eyes follow your hand as you take a deep breath in as he lets out a grunt as he rolls his lip between his teeth as he slaps his hand on the table.

“So pretty Omega, what are you doing here all alone?” His voice was a force smooth, his eyes gleaming at you as he leaned further, closer to you. Taking in a breath, your scent as his lips part and he smirks brightly at you. “I asked you a question.” He growled, making you jump your eyes closing as you take a deep breath.

“I’m waiting for someone.” Your words were sharp, quiet to the point as you started to take deep breaths again and again. Trying to compose yourself, to calm yourself down.

“Well how about I keep you some company till they show up...or you could just leave with me.” He pauses as he takes another deep breath in, your place you cup down letting out breaths again and again. Go away, leave me alone. You want to say, to scream it out like you had like last time. But the three men had made you cower, made you want to shy away from people around you. Your courage closed off. “Smell delicious little girl.” His words had your chest tightening as you stood up, leaving your cup behind as you rushed to the door, wanting, needing to run across the street, wanting to hide behind Hoseok as Yoongi chewed this Alpha a new one. You want them. “Hey get back here, I’m not done talking to you.” The Alpha tone had both you and Jimin whinine, your body freezing before the glass door. Three figures moving across the street had you whining as you heard the Beta manger growl, “Turn around.” You felt your knees shake, wanting to fight his command you whimper as you almost fall. “Now come here, and shut it beta I’m with my Omega.” his words felt wrong, gave you a nasty taste in your mouth as you shake your head at the Beta who let out a whine at the Alphas tone. Jimin cowering behind him as you felt your feet stumble forward, knees buckling as he growls when you weren’t moving quick enough for his liking. “I don’t have all day, now come.” You omega rushed forward wanting to stay safe to listen to the campand as you felt your neck stretch out as he chuckles and patts your cheek “That's a good girl.” His words were full of nothing but humiliation as you let out a whine, bowling lower as the door opens, the sound of a gaspe as the smell of sweet vanilla with firewood mixing with peaches had your heart slow as you hear a deep growl, mixing with another and whine hidden between the two.

“What the fuck is going on?” Hoseok. Your eyes close as you hear the Alpha in front of your growl as he scoffs at the trio.

“None of your business is just punishing a disrespectful Omega is all.” His words held a smirk, the tone and the words had you letting out a whimper, the sound had a hand resting on your shoulder, physical contact. Hoseok touch was familiar being the only Alpha out of two that has truly touched you in any way. And yet it makes you flinch slightly as your eyes peek up at him, his warm brown eyes looking down at you nodding behind him making you stand rushing backwards till hands were around your waist. Twirling your around, back facing away from the two as you hear growling making your grip the top beneath the palm of yours hands as you take a deep breath in.

“That Omega is ours, not yours.” Hoseok's words in any other time would’ve made your huff and roll your eyes, dismiss the man and walk away but Yoongi scent of freshly burning firewood with pine had your nuzzling closer. As close as you could get with clothes on.

“Focus on me.” His voice was soft, breathy against your ear, Yoongi's hand falling to your lower back, another slightly larger than Yoongi's hand pressed against the back of your head making you look up and peak seeing Namjoons cold eyes staring past your head. His fingers lace your hair between them as he moves closer, pressing himself flesh against Yoongi's back making the Alpha purr, his cheek rubbing against your neck as you take another deep breath. Trying to shake the Alpha command away from your mind, wanting to breathe, needing to focus. You hear the Alpha chuckle, as Hoseok growls once again.

“Well shit I’m sorry, she just doesn't have a mark let alone a scent mark. She a good fuck? I haven't tried an Omega yet...would you mind sharing for a fresh Alpha?” His words had the chest you were pressed against rumble with a growl, suddenly the sound of skin hitting skin with a grunt and a growl had you jumping as Yoongi twirl you around, your back against Namjoons chest. The omegas hand sliding across your waist holding you to him as Yoongi pulls back making you shake your head and whine as he pulls back his cold brown eyes staring at you as he cups your cheek and presses his forehead against your. “What the fuck? You fuck-” His words were cut off with another sound as a chair scraps against the floor, you hear Jimin whine making your eyes snap over tot he pink haird Omega for a split second, clinging to the back of the Beta who had his eyes wide watching the scen unfold, making you look back to Yoongi then Behind his head. Seeing the Alpha on the ground eyes closed as Hoseok shook his head out, shoulders moving with every single breath he took. Hands on your cheeks had your eyes snapping back to your focus. Yoongi.

“Hey, hey Y/n focus on me.” Your eyes watch his, the way his eyes never move away from your face, how his eyebrows furrowed together, and the way the tips of his ears were a bright red. His hair was slicked back slightly, forehead on show the collar of his shirt was messed up slightly from the coat he probably had thrown on while the three left the office. His tie was a maroon color, resting against an off white top from the feel of it was silk that was tucked into his pants. Your eyes catching the dull looking shoes from the day you had split coffee on, it head your cheek going red as his thumb rubs against your cheekbone having your eyes snap back up to his. “Breath with me, focus on me.” You nod slowly, breathing slowly down as you feel Namjoons nose running up and down your neck, scenting you slightly as his nose rubs over your scent gland each time. It had your body vibrate as Yoongi rubs slightly under your eye as he smiled softly at you as you tried to smile back in the moment you finally realized that tears that were falling down as you took a shaky breath in.

“Is she okay?” You hear hoseok ask making you look to see his warm eyes looking at you as you feel yoongi leave you completely making you whine as Namjoon tightens his grip around you calming you down as Yoongi takes Hoseok's hand. His thumb rubbing over his knuckles as Hoseok's eyes leave yours back to Yoongis as you watch the taller Alpha bump his forehead against Yoongis making him look up and huff.

“Just had to punch him.” Yoongi says softly, his head shaking as Hoseok chuckled softly as he looked at you as Yoongi rolled his eyes once again,hearing the groaning boy behind them, Hoseok turned and growled making the Alpha flinch as he whips his lip and huffs.

“Asshole, I hate new Alphas.” Hoseok's words had Yoongi nodding in agreement when pink hair caught your eyes as Jimin moved closer rmaking you pull from Namjoon as Jimin came closer. Jimins small frame pressing itself into you as you take a deep breath as you see the Beta talking on the phone.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry I couldn't do anything once that ton-” You cut Jimin off with a shake of your head as you grip his arm and give him a half smile.

“I get it.” You whisper as Jimin slowly nods, sighing as he looks behind you, namjoons eyes already on the pair of you as Hoseok and Yoogi get pulled to the counter taking the phone from the Beta. “Who..what is the betas name?”

“Oh thats Taehyung, he he was protecting me I’m sorry he just didn-”

“Stop apologizing, seriously I knew someone was gonna stop it whether it be him or someone from the outside. It's just a part of being an Omega.” Jimin slowly nodded again as the two of you pulled completely away from each other. “I’m just sorry for you having to deal with my situ-”

“Don’t you start apologizing, if I can’t neither can you.” Jimins words were light hearted, a smile on his face as you shook your head and gave him the softest smile, a forced one almost. “Namjoon looks worried.” Jimins words were now slightly teasing, trying to pull you from the situation, and in the end it worked.

“He can hear us.” Your words made me smile brightly as you shook your head and took a deep breath in as you turned around, eyes already on you as you moved slowly towards them. Namjoon meets you halfway, though you step back when he reaches to touch you making his eyes widen as he steps back. “Uh this definitely not how I thought this afternoon was going to go.” Your words were mumbled, soft as you chuckled awkwardly running your hand through your hair as you let out a huff. “I just..I..sorry about it.”

“No need to apologize Y/n, we’re just glad you’re okay.” Hoseok mumbled his own hand running through his hair, the red on his knuckles catching your eyes as you reached out slowly making his jaw slightly drop. You fingertips grazing the palm of his hand at you step forward. Your other hand moving to run over the knuckles, each red mark being gently rubbed by the pad of your pointer finger it had Hoseok's whole body relax as he looked at your movements. “You didn’t have to punch the guy.”

“No one disrpects Omegas, let alone..let alone an Omega that is mine..shit sorry.” He mumbled quickly when the last part of his sentence slipped out past his lips it had your lip slightly curling when the dig of the door opening had you jumping back. A police officer was there, Yoongi quickly moving to speak with them as the Alpha who was now sitting up slowly was suddenly cuffed. Your breathing stayed steady as another officer came up and gave you soft smiles, her beta scent was soothing, light and it did wrap around you.

“Are you okay telling us what happened?” Her voice was soft, your arm wrapping around yourself as your other rested on your cheek, eyes looking down to the ground as you took a deep breath in. “You don’t have to today, but if you want to press charges we do need you to give a statement within 48 hours.”

“I don’t want to press charges..he’s a freshly presented Alpha.” You were quick to respond as she nodded slowly, her hand reaching slowly hovering above your shoulder as she smiled at you.

“Of course, we’ll book him then for the night. Okay?” You nod as you see Hoseok pressing a hand to the back of Namjoons neck as the Beta officer walked away following after her partner as you let out a breath and looked over at the three men who were already looking at you.

Focus Y/n. Focus on what needs to be done.

“Okay so I thought about it..about us?” You question yourself out loud, looking down your fingers twirling the ends of your sweater sleeve. You hair falling in your eyes making your huff as you blow hair making the strains fly up and fall back down just a quickly making your eye roll as you stop fiddling with our sleeves, pushing your hair over your ear as you make eye contact with Hoseok, his eyes already on you as he slowly nodded. “I think..I think we should just leave it be..let whatever happens or doesn’t happen..well uh just happen.” Your words had Namjoon whining as Yoongi let out a tut at him as you gave the three a small smile. “It’s not a no, but it’s not a yes.”

“It's just an open for a maybe.” Yoongi mumbles, making you nod your head as you take a deep breath as you look at them.

“I’m going to be honest with you guys I wasn’t planning to agree to anything and just ask for you guy to drop this whole mate things...but I just have this need to try...which is honestly weird.” You pause as you take a deep breath eyes casting anywhere but the three of them, you felt heat again your arm making you look to see Namjoon already looking down at you through a small frown was on his face as you take a deep breath. “It's not entirely your fault though, I have a lot of trust issues and abatement issues that is gonna make this hard..I don't’ know why I'm letting you know instead of you guys just figuring out maybe it's because of what happened and I feel..I feel safe in this moment with you or its just the high of breaking and Alpha command or what.” You ramble looking down at your feet, the black worn out vans on your feet bending as you move. “I guess..I guess maybe today I was able to see you guys as normal I guess and opened up for a chance? So just don’t..don’t hurt me...cause it’s the only one you get.”

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warmau · 3 years

Text

"i don't even like bugs."

jaemin shrugs as he shows his intern pass to the security of the front gates of the botanical garden

he mentions that you're accompanying him today as a visitor and you smile at the guard who pays you two half a gaze

"well i mean - they're butterflies not like cockroaches or anything so have some optimism?"

you don't argue, among your group of friends jaemin is kind of the symbol of optimism. sometimes it's misguided - like now - but you don't want to put a damper on his mood

after all, he's actually here to do a job

you are here on a summer assignment you have to complete for a photography elective you added to your uni program for the next semester

"nature photography" was the highlight of the project, everyone had been emailed a subject to take pictures of while off from school

you had expected maybe the beach, or flowers, or even tourists walking around in floppy hats

when you'd opened the professor's email and saw "butterflies" you had not been thrilled

but you were lucky enough to know that jaemin had scored his current internship at the botanical gardens, and while he was working with his weirdly favorite thing in the world - fungi

he could also get you access to the butterfly garden, a large indoor space for the various breeds of butterflies from around the world, before it officially opened to the public

"the pavilion is over there, i think renjun will be able to let you in."

jaemin says, pointing down a hill lined by pretty bushes that leads to a glass structure at the bottom

you turn to ask if he wants to meet for lunch, but he's already jogging in the opposite direction

you sigh, fishing your camera out of your bag - which is something you've borrowed from your parents because 'iphone photos are not allowed'

they're just butterflies like jaemin said, they're like...cute bugs.

you tell yourself as you get closer, turning the camera on and then coming to a pause in front of the glass doors that have a clear padlock on them

you loop around and try to find 'renjun' - but no one is in sight

secretly a little relieved that you don't have to go inside right away, you try to find a part of the glass structure where you can possibly get a nice shot of some of the butterflies from outside

a lot of the vines and flowers get in the way, so you struggle until finally, you find a spot that's open and peers right into the middle of the enclosed garden

you can see the butterflies, little splashes of colors that fly past you - magnificent oranges, reds, and blues

you admit they're pretty

but they're even prettier because they're not near you

and then something - no someone - comes into your frame

his narrow shoulders are engulfed by an oversized plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up by the elbows.

over the shirt is a gardening apron and on his hands are a pair of worn-out gloves

his profile is hidden by the dark hair that falls in a curtain and ends in a tickle at his jawline.

one, bright streak of bleach blonde runs through the black.

he reaches out to touch a half-bloomed flower and you watch as the butterflies float on by him

you nearly drop the camera when he turns and locks his gaze with your own

is that renjun? if so im going to kill jaemin! he didn't tell me he was so infuriatingly pretty!

without knowing how to talk to him through the glass, and because the words disintegrate in your mouth, you point to the camera

"jaemin's friend?"

oh, you can hear through the glass

"ye-yeah!"

"one second."

the sound of a click and some scuttling turns your attention toward where the door to the garden opens for a swift second, just enough for renjun to step through, before it closes again

probably to make sure none of the butterflies get out

you grip your camera and when renjun doesn't move, you make the small trip over to him

"jaemin said you're here for a project."

renjun speaks and his voice is softer when it isn't muffled through glass

"for my photography class in the fall, my subject is butterflies."

"what kind?"

your eyes get a little wider with confusion

"what kind?" you parrot

renjun's neutral expression doesn't change

"what kind of butterflies? there are over seventeen thousand species of butterflies - we might not have the species you are looking for."

"i-" you stammer, wondering for a split second if renjun is joking around, "there isn't a specific species it's just....all of them?"

renjun tilts his head as if that notion doesn't really make sense to him, but shrugs and turns toward the door again

"im going to open it quickly so just follow me."

you make a sound of agreement, but when renjun pulls the handle and steps inside.....and you can't move.

the door closes behind him with a sound that makes you jump and renjun turns to stare at you through the glass with a furrowed brow

"what are you doing?"

he doesn't bother opening the door again and you shake your head as a shiver runs through your shoulders

"a-actually is it ok if i stay out here?"

"i thought you needed to take photos?"

"i can take them from here - this lens is r-really good."

renjun doesn't seem to be buying your excuse, but he checks his watch and nods, before disappearing back into the middle of the indoor garden

you take a second to try and figure out what happened - am i scared of going inside? is it the butterflies or is it renjun?

you decide it's the butterflies.

renjun's just a boy - you aren't scared of that, but the thought of being somewhere covered with bugs

pretty bugs or not

is kind of ..... scary.

you pick your camera back up and circle back to your original spot

although renjun is nowhere in the focus, you are delighted to see some butterflies have come to nestle among the plants in view

you bring up the camera and take some shots

one butterfly is sitting directly on the leaves - big grayish, blue wings spread open and engulfed in the sunlight that shines through the glass

you zoom in on it, capturing the full expanse of the wings that stand out on the green

you get so invested you hardly notice the door open up again and then a voice speaks from behind your shoulder

"it's a pseudozizeeria maha."

you don't turn around and just stare at the butterfly still

"a wha- what?"

"a pale grass blue. they're native to south asia but are really common here too. they were first discovered by vincenz kollar, an austrian entomologist."

the sentence nearly makes you dizzy, but you thank renjun for the information

not seeing the small shy smile that casts over his lips when you do

you want to turn and show him the shot you took, but he's already stepping past you to the other side of the pavilion

the time sort of slips away from you before you can check it again and you only leave when jaemin comes jogging down from the greenery to whisk you off for lunch

"should we invite ren-"

you start, but jaemin is already twinkling eyes and nonstop talking about all the fun fungi he's spent his day with.

when you're back home you start to look through the photos you took

most of them aren't super great and the shine of the sun reflects on the glass

you know the only way you're going to get a perfect shot (or at least an acceptable one for this dumb summer project) is if you go inside the actual butterfly garden

sighing, you click to the last shot and are surprised to see that in the far left corner you see renjun's hand - gloved and in the palm of it is a small butterfly that has landed just in time for your shutter to go off

the rest of renjun is out of focus so you can't even see his, very pretty, face

isn't it weird, that he can be around them so easily and im so scared?

you zoom in a bit and wonder how nice it would have been to get a clear photo of the moment. that would be something you could definitely submit to your professor.

before any more thoughts of renjun can float through your mind, your phone pings and you look to see jaemin's contact name

did you get your shot? you can come with me on my next shift if you want to take more photos

you type back a reply before you can even think of it in your head

really? then I'll tag along :) want to take some more photos

jaemin confirms and then sends another paragraph talking about mushrooms and leaves and plants

and you giggle because he's funny and passionate, and also

guess i might see renjun again?

it's hotter than you can put into words the next time you show up at the butterfly garden

you're standing outside in the absolute sweltering heat and maybe the thought of possible colder temperatures inside the pavilion are tempting

plus - renjun is in there - he had waved at you when he saw you standing outside again

this time his apron thrown over a short sleeve shirt and some long jeans

he had motioned toward the door but you had just played off that you were ok outside. burning alive or whatever.

you found the same spot as before, wiping the sweat from your forehead before lifting the camera up in hopes of catching a good picture

but all you see through the lens was renjun, who'd taken the time to roll up the sleeves of his shirt and had seemingly abandoned the heavy apron somewhere inside

his longer hair had been clipped back and he was reaching down to heave a bag of soil up and over his shoulder

oh my god. oh my god. oh my god.

you are caught between taking a photo and just aiming your lens somewhere else out of embarrassment

either way, renjun doesn't seem to notice and continues working, saving you from the horror that would be seeing him turn and stare back at you

but this somehow goes on for the entire time you're there

you go to snap a photo, but renjun is somewhere in the frame

it must just be bad luck and timing

but by the time you're sitting at the garden's cafe with jaemin after his shift and you're going through your photos

all of them have renjun in them somehow

"woah i thought your project was butterflies not huang renjun's?"

jaemin jokes, sipping his iced coffee with an overly excited wiggle of his eyebrows

"shuttup - i just....it's because i am taking them from the outside, i need to figure out a way to get inside and just take the photo and be done with it!"

jaemin outstretches his hand

"gimmie your camera, ill go take one"

you snatch the camera off the table and vehemently shake your head

"no. the last time i trusted you with something expensive, you broke it in the first five minutes."

"hey! i thought ipads were waterproof nowadays like technology really hasn't come that far?"

you roll your eyes in response, to which jaemin sticks out his tongue and then claps his hands together in revelation

"why not ask renjun to take the photo?"

"because i don't know him that we-"

with a dismissive wave of his hand jaemin cuts you off

"he's not a stranger - i know him! if i know him, you know him. plus renjun is super careful and responsible - he's my age and ive already heard some of the directors talking about how they'd hire him as more than an intern if he wasn't still in university!"

wow, i mean i always got the impression he was mature, but...

"c'mon, i bet he'll say yes too! he's really nice!"

finally agreeing and promising jaemin you'll ask renjun when you come back to the garden again

you pretend the nervous feeling in your stomach is just because you don't know renjun that well

not because you also happen to think he's breathtaking to look at - and that it's going to be hell trying to explain to someone who knows so much about insects that you're too scared to go inside and take a measly little photo of them

you find yourself at home, with your laptop open, googling species of butterflies because you think you should at least pick one and ask renjun if he can possibly take a photo of that one

maybe your effort will make the conversation easier

maybe he'll like that i know the latin name for a - what was it? gonepteryx cleopatra?

of course, the next time jaemin brings you along - and abandons you with a thumbs up for his mushrooms and fungi - you are frozen still at the entrance of the butterfly garden

like a broken machine - you just re-read the sign over and over again - announcing that the garden will be finally open to the public in a week

and you nearly short circuit when someone clears their throat behind you

turning around, it's of course renjun, and he's giving you a weird look that is already making this whole situation bad

"h-hey renjun-"

"do you want to go inside with me today?"

you swallow and think you should really just suck it up and go inside. the butterflies aren't going to sting, bite, or eat you - but

"a-actually i wanted to ask you does the garden have any.....any um....gonep- um whats the word gonepetry? gonepetri? um-"

without a beat renjun finishes the sentence for you

"gonepteryx cleopatra's? no, those butterflies favor the mediterranean so getting them here is hard."

"right...well actually i was wondering"

renjun blinks

"oh and you can call them cleopatra's if you want. but unfortunately no, i don't have any in the garden."

god ok, how do i pivot this conversation...

"oh that's cute, um actually i also have a question-"

he waits expectingly and for some odd reason as the second's tick by he gets cuter and you get quieter and it is just a huge mess

and you think you should just book it and let renjun think you're a weirdo

when you finally lift up your camera and take a breath

"do you think you could take the photo of a butterfly for me?"

his brown eyes widen

"oh - like the photo for your project?"

"y-yeah. it's just......im really scared to go in there...bugs are not my thing. i know it's pathetic and they're just butterflies but-"

you look down and the sun and renjun's gaze are getting too heavy to handle

"but i just don't know if i can even focus when there are so many flying around....does that make sense?"

the beat of silence that follows is almost miserable but renjun just points behind him and says

"follow me."

the next thing you know you are trying to keep up with him as he walks past the butterfly garden and down a path hugged by greenery

it's way past where you've ever been and you ask renjun where he's going

only for him to insist you hurry up a little bit

before you know it you are both standing in front of a large, open iron gate, and behind it are rows and rows and rows of rose bushes

they range in color and size and the smell that permeates the air is so lovely you suddenly feel like you're in a fairytale

renjun leans closely to inspect a couple and then stops in front of a bush adorned in the brightest pink roses you must have ever seen in your life

"butterflies are attracted to roses, the colors are vibrant and they pollinate them."

"b-butterflies pollinate? like bees?"

renjun laughs, the sound adds to the almost dreamy vibe - with the way it sounds like the lightest piano keys

"yes and look - i can understand that you'd be scared of being inside a place full of butterflies, but here in the rose garden there are only a couple here and there."

he squats down and cups the petals of a flower with such a gentleness

you follow and are surprised to see a butterfly, with bright blue wings, nestled in the center of the rose

renjun flicks his eyes to your camera bag and you immediately understand why he's brought you here

without making too much noise you get your camera out and steady the lens - just one butterfly does not intimidate you like being in a glass, enclosed pavillion full of hundreds

so you can take the photo easily - though just as you click the shutter makes a noise and the butterfly takes off

you pout and look up to see if renjun is startled by the sudden escape of the focus of your photograph

when you gasp and see that another butterfly, this one a bright orange has settled on the tip of renjun's nose

without missing the moment - you raise the camera

and snap another photo, not taking the time to adjust the zoom or anything

just wanting to capture the little miracle

the butterfly seems to recognize renjun's pretty face is not a flower, not that you fault the butterfly for thinking that it was

as it flaps its wings and goes in search of another rose

you brighten up when you look at the preview on your camera

no blur or sun glare! it's a perfect shot!

and you lean close to renjun to show him and he leans in too

and the centimeter distance only dawns on the two of you when you look up and renjun has already turned his attention on you two

a heat spreads up your face, as it does renjun's and you both pull back from the scalding feeling

"i-"

"sorry-"

shooting back up to your feet you kind of wobble in this moment of awkwardness and then renjun asks

"will you use that photo for your project?"

"oh - if you don't want me to i won't, i think i can use the other-"

"you can use it."

he rubs his arm and then locks his gaze back on you

"but does this mean you won't come back to the gardens anymore?"

i guess since my project is done, he's right. i don't have any excuse to come and bother him by loitering around anymore.

you pull your bottom lip between your teeth and give a little shrug

"probably, jaemin's internship ends soon too so-"

"then would you be ok with seeing me- well-"

renjun flusters

which is somehow a shocking different from his usual blank expression of utter handsomeness. the stark difference is loveable and you almost have to stop yourself from falling over.

"well what i mean is would you want to maybe see me - outside of the garden.....like not here but somewhere else?"

"to hangout?"

you grip your camera and renjun half nods, but then you can see he's trying to think of the right word

"yes to hangout and like....but different, like a different kind of hangout."

confusion settles on your face and you are about to ask what he means exactly when someone burst between you two

"there you two are! sorry, was i interrupting renjun asking you on a date?"

jaemin's voice manages to echo even though you're all outside

and you push him playfully as renjun rids himself of jaemin's body weight and huffs

"aren't you supposed to be looking at toadstools are something jaemin?"

"first of all, toadstools are unscientific and not the correct term for a class of mushrooms. so mind your manners, and second - why would i want to miss the exciting moment where you too finally agree to go out!"

you catch renjun's gaze and it's as big and as wide as yours

"w-was that what you were asking, if i would go on a date with you?"

the words shock you ask they spill from your mouth

renjun nods, slowly, and then casts a look at jaemin

"yes. before this one interrupted."

jaemin looks between you two as if he is guilty of nothing

for a second you forget about him and then nod back

"y-yes id love to!"

renjun's face softens and he's about to ask for your number when jaemin claps his hands and the sound probably rattles the earth underneath you three

"amazing! this is truly a moment to remember!"

you and renjun both lurch at him and he laughs as you two tell him to go back to his mushrooms

and yet somehow, you three are all smiles when the day comes to an end because you and renjun have set up a date and jaemin is taking most of the credit for it

that summer, after you send the photo of the butterfly nestled perfectly on the tip of renjun's nose to your professor, is one that stays with you forever

you spend most of it with renjun, whenever he isn't busy with his butterflies, learning more and more about him

the little things like he doesn't like cilantro, he frequently doodles and draws in his free time, and he breaks everything he does down into a meticulous step by step process

you watch in fascination as he organizes his side dishes by the order he eats them, tabs the important dates in his planner, and pins your candid photos in a perfectly straight line above his desk

you know some of his friends call him a stickler, but it's really just another thing you grow to like about him

after all - your birthday gets a special, green tab in his planner. green means extra, extra, extra important

as for the butterfly garden .... you try a couple of times to go in. each time, renjun lists off a million reasons why butterflies are great and docile and not dangerous or scary

but every time you kind of apologize and say you can't do it - which renjun doesn't hark on you for

he just takes your hand and kisses the back of it, asks if you want to go visit jaemin or see the roses again

and as much as you love your friend, there's been too many instances of renjun leaning in to tuck your hair from your face and kiss you, all while jaemin pops up between you two like he's at the movies

and you two have to turn around and shoo him off as he insists he just wants to bear witness to the romance of the century

you and renjun sprawl across his bed, looking up at the ceiling as he finds comfort in counting the stripes on your shirt in silence and you mumble about how the summer is almost over and you won't be able to just be lazy like this with him anymore

the days of doing absolutely nothing

renjun props himself on his elbow and looks at you seriously

"spending time with someone you love isn't doing nothing. it's the act of growing closer."

you almost blurt out that that's the most romantic thing you've ever heard and you are going to cry

but instead, circle your hands around his neck and flip him over to be under you

poor renjun tells his directors he got bit by a species from the culicidae family (mosquito) to try and hide the blotch on his collarbone

and while the directors are impressed with renjun's knowledge of insects, jaemin just gives him the good old finger guns of 'yeah. sure'.

your photograph gets great marks from your professor, who replies to the image with praise about the lightening and angle

and the way you managed to capture both your boyfriend and the butterfly

you read the email to renjun over the phone and can almost hear the blush on him when you say boyfriend

you wonder if the future is going to be as sweet as this summer, can someone like you who is so terrified of the creatures renjun has structured his whole life around, really be the right choice for him

and when you ask renjun this, on the day before your classes officially start in the fall

he says that you don't have to be just like him for him to love you

it's the fact that you're so very you that he feels stronger about this relationship than he has about any other

and who cares that you don't like bugs. it just means that if you live together in the future he can be the one to get the spider under the cup and let it free while you lock yourself in the bathroom out of fear

you giggle at this, your heart beating against your ribs at the thought of a future so domestic with the boy smiling down at you

and the best thing is that future comes to fruition

when a decade later you're waiting for renjun outside of the botanical garden, where he strolls out with his co-worker jaemin whose holding a funny looking pot of yellow-topped mushrooms

"date night for the newlyweds?"

he wiggles his eyebrows the same way he did when you two were in college

you shoo him off with the hand that has your wedding ring on it and you tuck your hand through renjun's

"date night for you and some fungi, jaemin?"

he makes a face at your comment and bounds off in the direction of his car

you look up at renjun who chuckles to himself and pecks your lips in a greeting

"how are the butterflies this year?"

you ask as you two turn to walk down the street

"beautiful - do you think this might be the year you finally visit the garden?"

you scrunch up your nose and mumble that maybe, you'll have to see if after ten years your fear really hasn't gotten any better

he smiles and says you can take your time - ten, twenty, thirty

he'll be by your side when you decide it is time

you stop to look at him - seeing for a moment the flash of the boy with the butterfly on his nose - and smile

"and ill be by your side for anything and everyhing too."

he picks your hand up with his own - your matching rings gleam in the setting sun

"i know, that's why i married you."

#me and the website for people who butterfly watch became besties for this au #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct au #renjun scenarios #renjun imagines #renjun au #renjun #nct dream #nct dream au #member: renjun #sfw #butterflies/#insects/#nct dream scenarios #renjun x reader #nostalgia au

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spencerspecifics · 3 years

Note

HI HI HI PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WRITE MOREID AT PRIDE AND SOME PINING AND SPENCER THINKS DEREK IS STRAIGHT BUT HE ISN'T AND THEY KIIIITTTTTHHHHH

I absolutely love your energy fuck yes!! I’m so sorry this took forever, ive got school, work and some other personal things happening so I appreciate your patience!

No TW, B u t, a creep hits on Spencer at pride, so if that is upsetting please note that! Thanks :)

———————————————————————

Pride

———————————————————————

Garcia had been pestering Spencer about going to pride for the past week now, and it was slowly driving him insane.

He used almost every excuse he could think of. When he first turned her down, he had simply said, “Sorry, I’m going to be busy that week.” And of course, Garcia being Garcia, she stole his calendar to see what he was busy with (spoiler alert: he had nothing. Except a reminder to go grocery shopping, and email some professors and research scientists back).

So, she persisted, and he came up with a dozen more excuses; “I was considering flying out to see my mom”, “The local museum has a new interactive archeology exhibit for adults, and I want to learn more about ancient structures”, “I have to do a presentation on thermodynamics”.

None of those excuses work, as she sniffed out every lie, “Spencer, you hate flying to Vegas last minute, that archaeology exhibit has been open for months, and your calendar is empty!”

So with her persistence, and legitimate bullying, Spencer found himself finally agreeing. “Fine, but come over to my apartment before we leave so you can help me.” After all, he wasn’t really familiar with pride parades, and what the scene was like there. He was going to be a fish out of water, he already knew that for certain.

True to her word, Garcia showed up an hour before the pride parade was set to start, carrying a coffee in each hand- how she possibly knocked on his apartment door, Spencer didn’t know.

“I brought you a pick me up, that way you have no excuse to be in a bad mood!” She spoke in her signature sing song voice as Spencer let her inside, she barreled in like a hurricane. God, Spencer wasn’t ready for this.

“Thanks..” Spencer decided to reply with that lame response, and not with what he was actually thinking. He took the coffee from her wordlessly as she stepped in further, going to sit down on his couch.

“You excited?” Garcia asked as she set her cup down on his cluttered coffee table. Reid just shrugged, “I don’t know. I don’t do great with crowds.”

“But you do great with disarming murderers?” “You know that’s different-” Spencer said, doing his best to argue, “Reid it is literally not. Both are anxiety inducing, but one is life or death, and it’s not pride. So you can do this.”

Spencer sighed, resigning himself to not arguing with Garcia. Because she was right, though at times her arguments sounded wild. He just had to get over this anxiety and show up at pride, he could do this, right?

Wrong. So, very, wrong. They had left his apartment with thirty minutes to spare, deciding to walk over to where pride was being held- as it was only a few blocks away in a public park.

And as soon as they got there, Spencer wanted out. There were so many people, more than he estimated (and his estimations were usually spot on.), and there was just chaos everywhere. Music, dancing, shouting, singing, drag queens running around happily. Spencer wasn’t sure what to do. He was out of his element.

Garcia seemed to sense that, though, as she dragged Spencer over to some stalls that sold pride flags, pins, and other miscellaneous pride related things.

“C’mon Reid, why don’t you look around and find something you like?” She offered up, something for him to do- something for him to stay busy with. He could do that. Spencer nodded simply, Garcia stayed by his side- looking at pride related wear for herself.

Spencer ended up deciding on a small pin that simply said; “love all”, planning to stick it on his messenger bag strap. Garcia bought a pin as well, but hers just had her pronouns on them; “she/her/hers”.

Looking at all the pride apparel was a good distraction for Spencer, he felt a lot more calmer now- though that didn’t stop him from feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb. He’s just not familiar with this world, and it’s awkward to suddenly be in the middle of it.

Spencer was in the middle of looking at another booth that sold flags, possibly considering buying himself a small one to stick in his pencil cup at work, because Garcia left him to go compliment a drag queen- when a voice broke through.

“Hey, pretty boy!”

That was a voice all too familiar, what on earth was Morgan doing here? Spencer looked up at him as he made his way towards him. “Hey,” Spencer spoke awkwardly. Not sure what to say.

Spencer was gay. He was fine with admitting he was gay, but he hadn’t really told the team. He thought they figured it out on their own. And they probably had, but still, having his coworker see him at a pride event- it was anxiety inducing.

“What’re- what’re you doing here?” Spencer asked, stumbling over his words as he dropped the small flag he was holding back onto the vendors table.

“Oh, well I’m on the local PFLAG committee. I’m just here to hand out flyers and stuff. But I’m glad to see you’re here, I’m guessing Garcia’s here too?” He asked Spencer casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on Spencer.

He was on the PFLAG committee? Why? To help queer people, obviously, but that had to mean he was gay or something- Spencer couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with every possible answer to why Derek was on the committee.

Spencer just nodded in response, he moved himself back from the vendors table to get out of the way, so other customers could look at the flags being sold.

“Yeah, she’s- there.” Reid pointed her out, as if on cue she came out of the thick crowd that had started to gather back up, the parade portion of pride had concluded by now, and people were coming over to the vendors section.

“Hey, Babygirl!” Derek called over to her, and Garcia somehow lit up with a smile brighter than the one she was wearing before, “Well, hey!” She responded enthusiastically, walking up swiftly to give Derek a quick embrace, which he happily returned.

“I wasn’t sure how long you were staying for, but I’m glad I caught you!” Garcia started rambling to Derek, about how the drag queen she met was so nice; “Her name was Mysteria Hysteria. Isn’t that genius?”.

Spencer just stepped back from them both, not sure what to do, not sure if he fully belonged. Pride was a nice event, it was. But the longer he stood around, the more he felt like he should be leaving. Everyone was laughing and smiling, everyone was just happy. And Spencer couldn’t stop racking his brain. In the beginning, he couldn’t stop thinking because of his anxiety, but now he was searching his brain for a reason why Derek was here and what it meant.

Of course, a stupid large portion of Spencer’s mind went to “maybe Morgan likes men”, and then an even larger and stupider portion of his mind had the absurdity to think; “maybe he’s interested in me”. Which Spencer did not even want to remotely entertain, because if he fell down that rabbit hole, he’d never climb back out.

Because yes, he did like Derek. He liked him a lot, the start for his liking towards the man was innocuous enough- which is why it was a problem for Spencer. He didn’t realized he liked Morgan until it was too late. And now he had been battling these feelings for years. Spencer wasn’t ever going to act on them, he just had to live with them- which he had been doing, which he has been content with. But this new information, about Morgan being here, being part of PFLAG- it was going to make Reid’s mind implode in on itself.

Reid decided the best thing was to say; “I’m gonna get some water, I’ll be back.” To which Derek and Garcia both nodded to, and Spencer was off, away from the vendors stand and the only two people he knew at pride.

And while that was a good thing, it was simultaneously not so good. Because now he was alone, overwhelmed, and thinking too much. And now he had a task to do, find himself some water.

That task seemed to be more difficult than anticipated, as the prides layout was a confusing maze, spencer had to pass in front of a group of drag queens in order to get to the food trucks that were on site- but he eventually got there.

He walked up to the first food truck he saw, it didn’t matter what they sold, he wasn’t getting it.

“What can I get for you?” The cashier asked him, “Just a water, please.” He ordered, the cashier nodded and pulled a bottle out from a cooler that was nearby within the truck, handing it over to spencer as they told him his total, a dollar twenty five. Spencer paid quickly, stepping back and away from the food truck, as he wasn’t sure where else to go now. He didn’t want to go back towards Derek or Garcia, he honestly wanted to go home.

He just needed a minute, some space and time to breathe and relax. He was stressing himself out. And about what? Nothing of goddamn importance, just a stupid crush he had been living with for a while now.

Spencer had been leaning against the back the food truck for not long, only a couple of minutes as he was absorbed in thought as he fiddled with the cap on the water bottle.

He was doing his best to follow the grounding techniques he had learned, something to help him calm down, when suddenly- a stranger emerged out of the crowd.

“Hey there, handsome.” The man said confidently as he strode up to introduce himself Spencer. Spencer looked up to meet his eyes, the man in question was a fine looking guy, chiseled jawline, long shoulder length hair, a bit of facial stubble. He was handsome. “Hello,” Spencer answered hollowly in response. In an ordinary situation, he would try and seem more lively- but he wasn’t in a normal situation, not at all.

The anxiety of attending pride was stress enough on its own, but now knowing the guy he had been drooling over for years was here- and worked as a PFLAG volunteer? It was enough to make him lose his mind.

The man didn’t seem to notice Spencer’s empty response, however, as he answered suavely in response; “I couldn’t help but notice you from across the way. I’m Fabian,” Thankfully, the man- Fabian, didn’t stick his hand out for a handshake, instead casually pushing his hair back a bit.

“I’m Spencer,” Reid replied simply, knowing it was best to ride this odd social interaction out, rather than try and fight it. “That’s a lovely name,” Fabian complimented, “Is this your first time at pride, Spencer?” He asked him casually, taking a step forward, closer to Spencer. He was all too confident for Spencer, he too comfortable with invading Spencer’s space. If Spencer could’ve, he would’ve stepped back.

“Uh, yeah. My friend dragged me along.” Reid explained, twisting the bottle cap back onto his half empty water bottle. Fabian nodded, “Your boyfriend didn’t take you?” Fabian asked him. That was a leading question, Spencer had alarm bells ringing in his head the second he heard it. “No. He- um- he met up with us here.” Spencer replied unconvincingly, Fabian obviously did not believe a word he said.

“Well,” Fabian took another step forward, practically blocking Reid in against the back of the food truck, leaning in farther to whisper in Spencer’s ear; “I don’t see him around. So, why don’t you and I get out of here? Hm?”

Spencer wasn’t sure of what to do. He wanted to kick this guy in the crotch and just book it, but he wasn’t sure if his FBI status would protect him in this scenario. He wasn’t sure what could protect him in this scenario.

“Pretty boy! There you are!” A saving grace broke through, and suddenly Fabian was stepping back, and Morgan was walking up.

Thank god, thank fucking god, that’s all Spencer could manage to think as Derek came to stand beside him. “Hey, babe.” Spencer said, cringing at his voice, at what he just said. But that feeling only lasted for a moment as Fabian was still standing right there, staring them both down now.

Spencer could only throw his wish in the sky and hope Derek caught it coming down, ‘please catch along to why I’m calling you babe’ Reid was trying to say.

And Derek caught it, “Hey, baby, was worried about you. Who’s your friend?” He said in his smooth voice, a voice Spencer couldn’t forget. He especially couldn’t forget now, being called ‘baby’ was something Spencer especially could not forget.

“I’m Fabian, you’re Spencer’s boyfriend?” Fabian asked, as if them both calling each other ‘babe’ counted for nothing. “Yeah, I’m Derek.” Morgan responded simply, sliding his hand around Spencer’s waist as if to prove a point. Fabian just nodded, looking between Spencer and Derek one last time before talking; “Well, it was nice to meet you, I’ve gotta get going. See you.”

And then, he was off, fast walking away from Derek and Reid, escaping the terrible situation he had created. Fabian quickly disappeared into the thick crowd, and by then Spencer had his hand squeezing his water bottle all too tightly- as evident by the terrible crunch sound it made. He was too anxious to let go.

“Hey, are you okay?” Derek asked him softly, pulling his hand away from Spencer’s waist. “Can we find somewhere else- can we go sit down?” Spencer asked him quickly. Reid didn’t want to talk about it right this second, right where it had happened. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave pride and never come back.

Derek didn’t ask a single follow up question as he led Reid away from the food trucks, taking him back towards the vendors stands, and then a bit further back, into the normal-not-so-pride-parade-filled park area. Somewhere less stressful, less scary.

“What did that guy want?” Derek asked Spencer casually as they made their way towards a bench that was sat under a large oak tree. Spencer didn’t speak right away, instead he waited until they were seated to start talking.

“He was trying to flirt, but then he wanted me to leave with him.” Spencer explained as he took a deep breath in, just being away from all the loud sounds and sights was helping him calm down. Derek rubbed Spencer’s back in slow, circular motions as Spencer kept talking.

“He was a classic example of a narcissistic personality, it just made me so uncomfortable- he invaded my space.”

“He was a creep, Reid. Simple as that,” Derek kept rubbing Spencer’s back slowly, Spencer nodded. “I know. Sorry, it shook me up.” Spencer attempted to apologized, and Derek was immediately having none of that.

“Reid, no. Don’t apologize for that, don’t you dare. He was a creep, I’m sorry you got caught up with him. It’s okay if you’re shaken up. We can stay here until you feel up to going back, or we can leave. But I’m not leaving you.”

And so they sat for a good amount of time on that park bench, at one point Derek stopped rubbing Spencer’s back, instead just keeping his arm stretched out against the back of the bench and against Spencer’s back. Spencer loved it, but he knew if he thought about it for too long he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking. That was his biggest problem, he couldn’t stop thinking.

He had to know, he decided, he couldn’t just wonder why Derek was on the committee for PFLAG. He wanted to know, he had to.

“Derek?” He spoke up softly, sounds of laughing and shouting and music were still heard in the distance, but they were safe from the sounds under the tree. “Mhm?” Derek hummed in response, looking up at the aforementioned tree that was providing shade for them.

His eyes were tracing the way the branches curved and bent around each other, it was something he did to pass the time. Spencer thought he was extraordinary for it, Derek loved to see where things went; he was curious- after all these years, and all the bad they had seen together, Derek still loved to search and find the beauty.

“Why are you on the PFLAG committee ?” Spencer asked him, it was thankfully an innocuous enough ask to not draw too much of Derek profilings side out to pry apart his question. Derek shrugged, and was quiet for a second before responding, “I know what it’s like to be a scared kid, unsure of his identity. If I can help someone through that, that’s all that matters. Same reason I’m in the BAU, to help people.”

Spencer stayed quiet, Derek’s reason was so sincere and so sweet and kind- and only driving him to think further. Was Derek still unsure of his identity? Was he an ally? Why did he have to make Spencer swoon so hard without even trying?

“So, you’re just an ally?” Spencer approached Derek carefully with that question, not wanting to impose or be rude- but just feign simple curiosity, praying Derek wasn’t using his profiling skills right now to decode Spencer’s fake motive.

Derek didn’t notice, thankfully, as he chuckled lowly in response; “No, pretty boy, I’m bisexual. I don’t really tell the team, but it’s not confidential information. Plus, Garcia found Grindr on my phone. Can’t hide anything from that girl.”

Spencer nodded, mumbling something in response about how Garcia had hacked his email to make sure he was free for pride. And then, the two fell into silence again. But it didn’t last for long, because Derek wanted to know just as much, why was Spencer here?

“What about you, Reid?” Derek asked him cautiously, the way you approach a puppy you find on the side of the road. Calm and slow, trying to get him to trust him bit by bit. “What about me?” Spencer asked, not wanting to answer anything about himself unless Derek was specific.

“Are you an ally?” Morgan asked him, leaving the question open ended. Spencer could say as little or as much as he wanted. This is how you get him to open up, Derek knew that for a fact. “Um.. yeah, I mean- who isn’t? I just- I have to be. I’m.. gay.” Spencer admitted all too awkwardly, not at all in a normal fashion. But nothing about Spencer was in normal fashion.

Derek nodded slowly, not responding as he stared back up, tracing his eyes over the tree branches yet again.

A few hours had passed, Spencer and Derek eventually left their peaceful bench under the large oak tree, and instead moved back towards the parking lot.

“Garcia’s got a ride home already- I think she got that drag queen to get her home.” Derek explained as they approached his truck, Spencer nodded as he followed Derek. “Anyways,” Derek continued speaking, “I can give you a ride home. Let’s get going.”

“You don’t have to-“ Spencer started, Derek immediately shut him down. “I want to, c’mon. It’s late, you’re tired. I know you are. Let me take you home.” Spencer just nodded in agreement, he couldn’t argue with Derek, even if he did try. Morgan was a stubborn man.

So, Spencer followed Derek into his truck, and they sat in comfortable silence as they started on their journey back to Spencer’s safe space, his apartment.

By the time Derek pulled his truck into the apartments parking lot, Spencer knew something was just the slightest bit wrong. Derek had barely spoken for the entire ride, and usually he loves to say something, to make Spencer smile or laugh, or even just nod and mumble in agreement. But he had done none of that on the way to Spencers.

“Are you alright?” Spencer asked, turning to face Derek as he put the vehicle in park. Derek didn’t meet his eyes, staring at the steering wheel instead as he spoke; “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?” Spencer pried, absentmindedly unbuckling his seatbelt as he spoke, “About today.” Derek said, not explaining further. “Was today bad?”

Derek shook his head, “No. It started weird, it’s ending pretty good, though. But I’m gonna regret today forever if I don’t do something right now.”

Now, Spencer was confused. Not sure at all what Derek could be talking about, “What do you mean?” He asked, voice quieter than before.

Derek said nothing as he unbuckled his own seatbelt, turning to face Spencer as well, and then he leaned in- closer than they had ever been before. Their noses were almost touching, and Spencer didn’t move. Instead, he watched Derek’s eyes expectantly.

Then, Derek broke through, they were no longer intersecting each other’s personal space- now they were fully destroying each other’s atmospheres. Derek’s lips were on Spencer’s, a chaste, soft, quick kiss- something Spencer would have wanted to go for a lot longer. But then, he pulled away just as fast.

“...That’s what I meant..” He mumbled after a second, looking back towards the steering wheel, looking away from Spencer- and more importantly, not seeing the smile on Spencer’s face.

Spencer couldn’t help it. He knew it was terrible to be smiling right now- he should jump and say something to fix what was happening. But he had to smile, he couldn’t believe that had actually just happened, his brain was still computing and re-circuiting, trying to savor the memory and not forget how Derek’s lips felt against his.

Spencer dragged himself out of his own head quickly, though. He did all he could think of to do in the moment, get Derek back. “Morgan.” Spencer said, tugging on Derek’s sleeve as he did so, forcing him to look back at Spencer and meet his eyes again.

But Spencer didn’t say anything, and he didn’t give Derek the chance to speak, either. Instead, he leant forward, pressing his lips against Derek’s. This is all he had wanted to know for the longest time, and now he had it.

Maybe pride wasn’t so bad after all, you just have to be with the right people for it to work out.

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