#Though in my case its going to be solely to add up more angst to Tony's suffering | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cinnaminsvga · 4 years

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🌸 social media au where y/n posts a fake boyfriend application on twitter as a dare but ends up seeking something real in the long run (aka how to fall in love the zillennial way) 🌸

A/N: I know I said this update wouldn’t be written, but I decided to fix the little drabble I already had written and... It’s not as bad as I thought and now I’m moderately happy with it. Anyway... We’re entering angst city babey so please put on your seatbelts because we are SOARING! || W.C. 1.8K

prev // part 18 of ? // next masterlist here.

[updates every 6PM PST]

After sending his last text to you, Namjoon is only slightly surprised when he sees your caller ID flashing on his phone screen. When he looks at the time, he notices that it had taken you less than a minute for you to call him, no doubt ready to scream your head off at his outrageous suggestion. Admittedly, he knows that his idea might be a little outside of your comfort zone, but he believes you can do it. If his people reading skills are even remotely average, then he’s sure that it’ll work if you just—

“KIM NAMJOON! HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT CONCLUSION?” Your voice is loud enough to burst an eardrum, but luckily, Namjoon had already expected your volume and had held his phone an arm away. In his nine-ish days of knowing you, he’s somewhat accustomed to your theatrics, though you’re still no match for Hoseok’s excited shrieks.

“Hello Y/N,” Namjoon hums, sitting up groggily from his bed. It’s a bit too early to go to sleep, but he supposes that your panicked screams are going to keep him up a little bit longer. “I feel as though you’re overreacting a little.”

“A little?” You scoff loudly, and Namjoon can imagine you pacing circles in your room. You did always seem a little fidgety when you two went out together. “Namjoon, you can’t just expect me to go on a date with Jungkook—“

“Why not? You guys go out all the time, don’t you?” Namjoon points out, smiling slightly at your exasperated huffs.

“Well, that’s different! Those were platonic hangouts! Just bros being bros!”

“Then change the context a little bit. You don’t have to ask him to be your boyfriend just to go on a date.”

“Namjoon, I know you’re a smart man but I don’t think your math skills are all that great,” you say brusquely. “That doesn’t add up! If I ask him on a date, then he’ll know I’m into him and—“

“And that’s a bad thing?” Namjoon interrupts, raising a brow. “Y/N, we both know you’re being a little unreasonable right now.”

You splutter for a moment, but you find that you’re unable to retort. Namjoon smirks, continuing, “Y/N, I know you’re worried that Jungkook might get swept away now that he’s quote-unquote ‘single.’ I get it. But if you’re not going do anything about it and suffer in silence, then he’s definitely going to leave. Besides, I already told you that he probably likes you back, judging from how jealous he got. You could probably even ask your friends and they’d tell you the same.”

You snort. “God, I’d rather die than talk about… love stuff with those freaks I call friends,” you cough out a laugh, muffling the sound before it can continue. Namjoon knows you’re a bit conscious of your “unflattering” snorts, but he just finds them cute. A lot of the things you don’t like about yourself are cute in Namjoon’s eyes. “I can’t even imagine going to any of them about this… They’d just bully me and make me do something I don’t want to do!”

“Isn’t that basically what I’m doing right now?” Namjoon laughs, giggling even harder when he hears your tired groan.

“Yeah, but you’re nice. Unlike those meanies,” you say. Namjoon hates to admit it, but he does appreciate being special to you, even if it’s over something trivial like this.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Namjoon starts. He can hear you humming in agreement, but he doesn’t stop there. “But, it is a suggestion. Seeing as how you don’t have any other idea how to solve this mess, I’d say go for it. What’s the worse thing that can happen?”

“Um? I get rejected? Hello?”

“You don’t have to let him know it’s a date, you know.”

“What do you mean? Namjoon, you should stop speaking in riddles because I honestly don’t have enough brain cells for this, clearly.”

Namjoon sighs. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… What if you fake date him?” When you don’t reply immediately, Namjoon is quick to keep talking. “Not that I’m asking you to stop fake dating me! What I’m trying to say is… Maybe try to rekindle the rumor that you and Jungkook are dating? He doesn’t have to know it’s a date, so long as everyone else thinks that you two are.”

“I… I guess?” You sound unsure, though Namjoon admits it’s kind of a long shot to begin with, not when you wouldn’t know the last thing about being subtle. He kind of wants to throttle you, in a gentle way. It’s honestly frustrating to see you like this, and he just wishes he could… Make the problem go away.

That would be easy. If Y/N just stopped pining after Jungkook, then he could just come in and—

His thoughts skid to a halt, nearly slapping himself to keep from going down that road again. Look at him, trying to help you with your mess when even he can’t get a handle on his own emotions. What is going on inside my head, he thinks sadly to himself.

“Listen, it’ll be really easy! All you have to do is text him and say, ‘Hey, wanna go have dinner with me tomorrow?’ but bring him somewhere nicer, perhaps? Then take a photo of him all dressed up and looking boyfriend-y and post it on Instagram. I’m sure that’ll shut people up.”

“Namjoon, I don’t know if you’re aware, but Jungkook’s definition of ‘dressing up’ is combat boots, a hoodie, and his god-awful backpack the size of Africa. He looks like a nerd.”

“I mean, you kinda dress alike…” Namjoon mutters, and he’s thankful that you don’t hear his slight slip-up. He clears his throat. “A-anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine? I think it would be more suspicious if he wore a suit and tie or something. So long as you guys look cozy and comfy together, I’m sure people will take the hint. If worse comes to worst, I can maybe slip something to Johnny and he can retract his statement or something.”

“I hope to god that isn’t the case,” you say. Namjoon nods, before realizing you can’t even see him.

“Right. Well, I think everything should work out perfectly. Just ask him to some popular couples restaurant. Maybe the nice Italian place in Hongdae? Something more romantic, not necessarily fancy.”

There’s a pause on your end for a moment causing Namjoon to sweat a little, wondering if he might be overstepping. He does genuinely want to help you, though he hopes he isn’t actually weirding you out somehow. He’s not adept at handling love problems as much as he’s trying to appear to be, since he’s mostly using the romance novels he had read during his teen years as his sole source of reference. This is what I get for not dating for so long, Namjoon thinks, grimacing.

“Namjoon.” You break the silence, your voice quieter than before. Namjoon has to strain his ears a little, pursing his lips as he waits for your response. “Are you…”

Namjoon tilts his head. “Am I?”

Namjoon hears you hesitate, stuttering syllables over his phone speaker like you aren’t quite sure how to ask your question. “Do you remember when I asked you a few days ago if you were sure you don’t actually have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah?”

“I just… I don’t know how to say this without being weird, but I just want to say you’re great. Like,” you huff out a laugh, incredulous. “You’re just… The perfect package? You’re so kind and so sweet and it’s just? Almost mysterious how you don’t have someone special to call your own yet.”

Namjoon smiles wryly to himself, head bowed as he stares at his wrinkled bedsheets. “I suppose other people don’t feel the same way.” He tries forcing out a laugh, but it sounds a little strangled. His chest feels tight, strangely. Hopefully, you don’t notice.

“No, I highly doubt that! You’re literally the perfect guy. Any person would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend.” You sound almost indignant, like you can’t imagine anyone ever thinking badly about him. He almost wants to laugh, but he tightens his hands into fists instead, digging his nails into his palms and leaving crescents in their wake.

“Well then… I guess that makes you lucky to have me, then?” Namjoon nearly slaps his hands to his mouth, a cold tingle of embarrassment mixed with fear running down his spine. Did he really just say that— “What I mean is, erm…”

“N-no, I get you.” You’re giggling, but—is he imagining it?—you sound a little nervous to his ears. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost imagine you blushing, bottom lip trapped underneath your teeth. “I guess I am lucky to be your fake girlfriend, huh? Even for just a few weeks?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon breathes out the word, guilt washing over him like waves. Here he is, feeling things that he shouldn’t be, over a girl who was never his to begin with. There are seedlings in his chest, barely anything to write home about. But he knows—a gardener can see the garden even before the flowers have bloomed. Each day he spends with you is another day they get a chance to grow, and he’s afraid he’ll soon be overrun, unable to handle the forest that is bound to erupt. “Just a few weeks,” he echoes, unable to completely hide the sadness from his words.

“I guess I am just being melodramatic about everything, huh?” you say. It takes a moment for Namjoon to even remember what the two of you had been talking about, so caught up in his thoughts that he has to pinch himself back to reality.

“Think of it as a funny story to tell your grandkids,” Namjoon says.

You laugh, and Namjoon can feel a seedling sprout its first leaf. “Yeah. Definitely. God, I can’t even begin to think about kids… Not when I can’t even ask him out on a fucking date.”

“You can do it, Y/N.” Namjoon whispers. He flops back down onto his bed, eyes half-closed as he stares at his cracked ceiling. If he breathes quietly enough, he can hear the sounds of Seoul outside his windowpane. If he stops breathing altogether, he might be able to hear you across the city, your socked feet padding towards your bed, curling up into your own blanket.

“Thank you, Namjoon. Really.”

For what? Namjoon leaves that part unspoken. “You’re welcome,” he says instead. He drops the call, feeling a little emptier than before.

#bangtanarmynet #bts social media au #bts scenarios #bts texts #bts fake texts #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts #jungkook scenarios #namjoon scenarios #jungkook fake texts #namjoon fake texts #jungkook fanfiction #namjoon fanfiction #jungkook x reader #namjoon x reader #kim namjoon #jeon jungkook #bangtan

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pradaksj · 4 years

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7 Rings | 03

♛ pairing: taehyung/reader

♛ rating: mature

♛ word count: 7,000+

♛ warnings for this chapter : light descriptions of anxious behavior (but nothing intense)

♛ summary: In desperate need of money, you and your best friend come up with a plan to infiltrate one of Seoul’s richest families, the Kim family. The plan was simple, garner some money and disappear, but of course things don’t always go as planned. Especially not with someone like Kim Taehyung.

━ ❝ Whoever said money can't solve your problems, must not have had enough money to solve 'em.❞

♛ chapter index/masterlist || series masterlist

Chapters⇢ 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08

Present Day: Thursday Morning.

This was not supposed to happen, no, no, no. This was not what was planned, rehearsed, nor memorized. No, no, no!

You anticipate for him to scream, to snap at you and tell you off in front of everyone. It seemed fitting for someone like him to do, it’s what you expected.

You could feel all eyes on you, the venue itself had gone deaf silent, almost as if everyone else was holding their breath along with you, waiting to see your demise. You couldn’t blame them, you had spilled your drink on one of the most prestigious guests here, and though it wasn’t as if the world was going to end because of this, to you it felt like it. Your “mission” was going to end before it could even start.

Panic immediately overwhelms you. This was not at all how this was supposed to go. You wanted, no, you needed words to come out of your mouth, to say something, anything, but you couldn’t. Your mouth was completely frozen in place, and all you could do at the moment was stare at the big blob of red on his white buttoned up shirt, to which you were at fault for. Slowly you watch his mouth open, your mind immediately beginning to think the worst, but what comes out of his mouth completely surprises you.

He laughs.

The formation of a boxy smile takes its place on his face, his eyes now crinkling out of sheer laughter, and his hand now covering a portion of his face.

“I really didn’t mean to do that, oh my—” you finally blurt out, quickly grabbing a napkin and beginning to uselessly blot onto the already bleeding stain, but almost immediately feeling a hand grab at yours, stopping you from what you were doing.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassures, slowly pushing your hand away from his shirt.

You immediately shake your head, your words now faltering in cohesion, “No it’s not, I r-really didn’t mean to do that, I just—”

“And I’m telling you it’s okay,” he repeats himself, “I think you’ve done the most interesting thing around here in a very long time,” he whispers, sticking his hand out for you to shake, “I’m Taehyung,” he introduces himself, as if you didn’t know who he was.

The words themselves come out exactly like how Yuna would imitate during “rehearsal”. Though his voice was of course much deeper, almost reminding you of silk, seductive in it’s own way. You finally look up to see him, to actually see him face to face, immediately feeling your face get red.

It surprised you really, you had seen Kim Taehyung a countless number of times on TV, on several gossip blog headlines, posters, magazine covers, and an endless number of promotional advertisements all across Korea, but wow did they do him no justice. The man was truly stunning, and with every passing second you made eye contact with him, you could see why he was South Korea’s most sought out person.

From the sharp facial features, to the slightly sun-kissed skin that seemed to have its own natural glow, and his (what you assumed was permed) black softly-waved hair, made him in every way … dangerous. Kim Taehyung was dangerous, and you knew it. And it was important that you remembered that, because if you didn’t then things were not going to go as planned and quickly at that.

It took you, what felt like a whole hour, to finally process that his hand had been stuck out for who knows how long. “Get a grip of yourself y/n,” you thought to yourself, the only reason you were so nervous was because you knew what your intentions being here were, no one else here did.

“Don’t panic, breathe, recuperate, and adapt,” Yuna’s words rang in your head, as it was what she’d emphasize you do, just in case something went wrong or unplanned, “You are someone confident, you are someone poised, and most importantly you are someone rich,” she’d scold you, practically drilling the words into your head. You just hadn’t expected that you were going to have to use her advice this early on. “You got this,” you silently whisper to yourself, just breathe.

And so just as you saw him beginning to pull his hand back, you quickly grabbed it and began to shake it in return, “I’m y/n,” you nervously grin, “I’m so sorry about that, I just—” you faintly pause, “I guess you can say I just get shy around people I don’t know and well I just got so nervous,” you embarrassingly ramble on, pushing your hair behind your ear.

“Like I said it’s fine, really,” he says, looking down at the stain which for the most part was no longer as wet as before, now only damp in moisture, “It’s just a shirt really,” he chuckles.

“I know, but still,” you reiterate. You silently take a look around the venue. People had seemed to have quickly forgotten about what had transpired, going back to their regular day to day conversations without a care in the world, “It’s just that I’m new around here and well I just want to make a good impression on people,” you explain, your words clearly catching his attention.

“Oh, where are you from?” he harmlessly asks, genuine curiosity emitted from his tone.

“I’m from—”

The Day Before: Wednesday Evening.

“The United States?—No, No! Seoul! No! Uh—” you immediately feel the squirts of ice cold water on your face from Yuna’s plastic spray bottle, the twentieth time today.

“Wrong!” she scolds, spritzing you one more time for the heck of it causing Hoseok to burst out in fits laughter, for again, the twentieth time today.

You dramatically let out a huff of air in irritation, as well as pouting and crossing your arms in annoyance, “How many times do we have to go over this y/n!” Yuna screeches, grabbing her metal pointer stick, and harshly hitting the cheap whiteboard covered in red messy scribbles that you two bought the night before, “You’re from Seoul, but you moved with your rich old family to the states a couple of years ago, and you’re back here on vacation for the next ten weeks because you were “homesick”, which explains why he’s never seen you before in his life!” she explains, “What’s not clicking?” she says, now tapping her forehead with her index finger.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it,” you sneered.

“Well y/n! We can’t afford any mistakes, and it’s very important you know the basics because the moment he catches you in a lie, all bets are off on that money,” she sighs, her face now softening, “I know that right now you may think I’m being a bitch right now, but trust me, you’ll thank me later,” she snaps her head towards Hoseok’s direction, who for the past hour had been doing nothing but devouring snacks while watching the two of you bicker, “Am I right or wrong?” she asks, causing him to raise his hands as a way of saying he wanted no part in this.

You squint your eyes at him, “Maybe if we had more time, I’d be less strict about all this, but time is on the essence! Ten weeks will go by in the blink of an eye,” she adds, causing you to grunt because sadly she had a point, “So back to the top!” she yells, her facial expression going back to being firm, “Where are you from?”

You roll your eyes, “I’m from—”

Present Day

“Seoul, but you’ve stayed in the states, huh? That’s really cool, I’ve only been to LA and New York a couple of times for certain events… so what was your experience like over there?” he asks, taking a sip from his mimosa.

You don’t hesitate to answer, the response ingrained in your brain, “It was really nice, though I found myself being homesick quite often if we’re being honest,” he nods his head.

“Ah, yeah I completely get where you’re coming from, I—” he catches himself mid-sentence, shaking his head, as if disappointed with himself, “There’s just no place like Seoul huh,” he says instead, to which you nod in agreement.

You proceed in planting the seed to Yuna’s plan, “I have to go back in a couple of weeks though, I still have a year left to go for my bachelor’s, and well I’m really just here for visits sake,” you explain, your nerves slowly withering away. The more you spoke, the more natural things were beginning to feel, smooth and easy like melted butter on toast.

And in a way you weren’t entirely lying. You were going to have to leave at some point, you did have a year left in school, and technically you were just a temporary visitor in this whole world of the rich. Of course, there were some major differences between the truth and what you were leading him on to believe, but at the end of the day this wasn’t going to hurt anyone.

“Oh I see, what are you majoring in?” he politely asks, silently hoping he wasn’t intruding too much. Taehyung for the first time in a very long time, felt nervous. For one thing, you were very pretty, breathtakingly so, he almost felt like a kid with a schoolboy crush. It was quite embarrassing really.

But Taehyung was waiting. He was waiting for you to do something or say something that would confirm that you weren’t the person he’s hoping you to be, that you were in fact a stuck up brat just like the many he’d seen and met before. That you were just like anyone else here who solely cared for numbers, and their own personal riches. It was as if he was anticipating the feeling of disappointment.

“Business, accounting if we’re being specific,” you respond to his question, breaking him from his train of thought, “I’ve always been pretty good with numbers,” you say, “but not enough to become a full on STEM major or anything like that,” you joke, garnering a light chuckle from him, which you could easily tell was completely fake.

Maybe he was right, maybe you were just like the rest of them.

“I see, I see, I just finished my studies recently,” he comments, “I majored in finance though,” he says, which ultimately doesn’t surprise you. Not only because it seemed fitting for someone like him to get a bachelors in that field, but because you basically memorized his Wikipedia page as well. Supposedly having gotten into and graduating from SNU based on his own merit. Though you had your doubts of course, it was probably just best to keep your thoughts to yourself.

What you needed to focus on was getting him to ask you out on a date, considering an awkward silence on both ends had now arisen. A part of you was now severely worried about that date not happening anytime soon. Did you say something wrong? Maybe he wasn’t as interested in you anymore? Business is a pretty boring major, but it’s what Yuna told you to say, and well it is what you were actually majoring in. Maybe you should say something? No, just stick to the script. He isn’t saying anything though….

“Originally I wanted to major in photography,” you blurt out, catching him by surprise, “I was gonna minor in it, but being an accounting major was hard enough as it was, and well family pressure,” you say, your fingers tapping against the surface of the bar, “Nowadays it’s more of a hobby I do, here and there,” you say, curiosity now apparent on his face.

What you were telling him was in fact true, you loved photography, at one point even wanting to make a career out of it, but to become a professional photographer was hard enough as it was. In all honesty, you respected those who had the ability to confidently pursue their dreams. People like Yuna for example, who despite the risk of failing being high, never gave up. It was a risk you were unwilling to take, preferring a secured financial future over the latter.

“I especially like candid photography, there’s just something about it,” you ramble on, “it’s relaxing in a sense, like you learn to be more appreciative of what’s in front of you,” you gush, almost forgetting why you were talking about this topic to begin with.

Taehyung on the other hand looked at you with a grin on his face, finding your babbling amusing to say the least. It was in every way adorable.

“I have these binders at home filled with—” before you could continue on, the sound of a phone ringing interrupts. A look of annoyance now appears on Taehyung’s face, as he begrudgingly took out his phone from his pocket, hesitating to accept the phone call.

“You don’t mind if I—” you quickly nod your head, flashing him a superficial smile, as he momentarily stepped away from the bar.

You quickly took a sigh of relief once he was no longer in view, taking this as an opportunity to take a breather. Personally, you didn’t like this tense feeling, and you could imagine how much more heightened it’d be in these upcoming weeks. “Could it perhaps be … guilt?” you think to yourself, you quickly shake off the idea.

“I’m sorry about that,” you hear his voice, failing to hide the peeved look on his face.

“No, it’s fine, really,” you insist. A pregnant pause now in the air.

“I was hoping—”

“Are you—” both of your cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Oh my bad, what were you going to say?” you ask.

“No, you can go first,” he smiles.

“No, no, you go ahead,” you persist.

“You sure?” he asks, to which you nod in return.

“Well I have to go right now, attend to some personal errands and stuff,” he glances down at the stain, “also change out of this shirt,” he jokes, “but um,” he momentarily hesitates, “But I was hoping we could go out some time, grab some coffee or something.” Bingo. Step one, check. “I mean unless you don’t like coffee, I don’t know why I assumed you did, we can always get like smoothies or something, um,” he falters, his hand now scratching the back of his neck. “Hm cute,” you think to yourself.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” you grin, “I was going to say the same thing actually, but yes I would love to get coffee with you, ” you respond.

“Perfect! I was thinking maybe tomorrow evening, around 10AM? I’ll pick you up,” he states, the excitement clearly evident.

“Yeah, sounds great,” you giggle.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he waves, before turning around and beginning to walk away. But after a couple of seconds he abruptly stops in his tracks and turns back around, causing you to genuinely laugh as you knew why he had stopped.

“I really forgot to ask for your number…” he facepalms himself.

Thursday Night.

“You had one job!” Yuna dramatically flails her arms around, she and Hoseok now having been filled in on everything that happened this morning.

“And I got it done, didn’t I?” you retort, causing Yuna to roll her eyes, mumbling a sassy “I guess” in return.

“You’re so lucky I don’t have my spraying bottle on me right now,” she jokes around, but a part of her was more likely than not actually serious about it.

“Anyways, I’m surprised he actually ended up going up to me after all,” you mused, “Didn’t think it’d actually work.”

“Well with what I had you wearing, of course he was going to go up to you little miss y/n! A ruched floral dress with a summer straw hat at an all white attire event? Do you have no faith in me woman! Actually no, have some faith in yourself!” she loudly lectures you, playfully hitting the side of your arm. “The bad posture was something you already had experience with on your own merit,” she teases, causing her to start dying of laughter at her own joke.

You scowl in return, “Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny,” you grumble out, subconsciously fixing your posture.

“Anyways, what was the famous Kim Taehyung like? Is he really the heartthrob everyone makes him out to be,” Hoseok chimes in, his chin resting against his hand, eager to know the more about your encounter, “Come on, I need details, not no flimsy recap.”

“Um…” you hesitate with your next choice of words, “he’s um..” how could you describe Taehyung? He certainly wasn’t what you thought he was going to be like, “He’s a,” you pause, the two in front of you now looking at you with eager eyes, “He’s a nice guy… for now at least,” you conclude, surprising both Hoseok and Yuna alike. “I—” you sigh, “I think apart of me, like a very little tiny part is already starting to feel gu—”

“Ah! Don’t you even say it!” Yuna interjects.

“You didn’t let me finish!” you scold, immediately causing Yuna’s mouth to go shut. “Though a small part of me does feel guilty,” you pause, “at the end of the day Kim Taehyung is nothing but a rich boy with a grand old penthouse, flashy cars, and has enough money that could last him for several lifetimes. His father is a multi millionaire tycoon who from what I’ve heard exploits people for his own personal gain. Two sides of the same fucking coin. And so maybe right now he may seem like some nice guy, but it’s probably all an act. I’m not the bad guy here, I know I’m not. And I’ll be damned to let anyone, even if it’s myself, convince me otherwise, not with what I have at stake,” you finish off, staring at the invoices which were held up by magnets on your refrigerator, a reminder of what you were doing all of this for.

Kim Taehyung is nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess, and it was your job to make sure he stayed in that position. Nothing more, nothing less.

Earlier That Day.

“You called me?” Taehyung enters his father’s office, still feeling aggravated at the sudden interruption from earlier. His father doesn’t even bother to look up from his pile of papers, only making a quick motion at Taehyung to sit down on the arm chair placed across his desk.

The sound of silence filled the room, as his father continued to scribble down who knows what, on his sheets of papers, clearly focused on what was in front of him which only bothered Taehyung more. “Was there a point to all of this?” he thought to himself.

“Yes there is,” his father suddenly said, causing Taehyung to straighten up, not realizing that he must’ve said what he was thinking aloud. He finally looks up to face Taehyung, the stern look he always had on, well placed on his face. He quickly pulls open his drawer and grabs what seems to be a magazine out, smacking it on his desk for Taehyung to see. He sighs, “So you care to explain what this is all about?”

The title, in a big bold yellow colored font, reads, “Kim Taehyung Gets Physical With Paparazzi, Trouble in Paradise?” accompanied by a collage of photos which included Taehyung post physical-assault on the paparazzo and his argument with Sunhi, all painting him as some kind of villain. Taehyung remained silent, instead avoiding eye contact, only causing his father to let out a sardonic laugh, his frustration clearly evident.

“Ah Taehyung,” he starts off, “I feel like we’ve had this conversation many, many, times,” he lets out another sarcastic chuckle, “and I have to say, you had me fooled when you told me you were ready to come back,” he continuously taps his fingers on his desk in a rhythmic pattern.

“You don’t get—”

“I don’t care for the sob stories Taehyung, I really don’t,” he interrupts, finally snapping, “In fact I have staff telling me that is was Sunhi who cheated on you, something along those lines,” he mumbles, “What you do on your free time, or who you’re seeing is really none of my concern,” he pauses, “until it has the potential to affect my business, and the image it upholds,” he clarifies.

“I know,” Taehyung hisses.

“Then those little antics you used to like to pull off shouldn’t be making a return,” he narrows his eyes at his son, “because we all know the results of those,” he harshly reminds him, causing Taehyung to ball his fist in anger, “So I suggest you get a hold of yourself, quickly at that, so that I don’t have to clean up your messes like before,”

“You don’t have to remind me every waking fucking moment,” Taehyung harshly says, getting up from the chair. His father is quick to do the same, the two now facing each other, the desk being their only barrier.

“And who the hell do think you’re talking to like that,” his father spits, “It was me who got you out of that mess that night, hell if it weren’t for me you’d be behind prison bars at this very moment,” Taehyung looks away, his eyes now watering, “You should be nothing but grateful,” Taehyung quickly wipes the tear that uncontrollably rolls down his cheek. The feeling of shame now overshadowing the feeling of anger he originally felt. He attempts to take deep breaths, anything to prevent himself from looking any more like a coward. He didn’t want to cry, no he refused to cry, especially not in front of his father.

“A house made of glass trying to throw brick stones,” his dad scoffs, “Ironic really,” a vile smirk now on his face, “just get out my sight already, consider this a warning,” he concludes before sitting back down and continuing his work, acting as if nothing had happened. Taehyung stood there for what felt like forever, his eyes still brimmed with tears, before silently making his way out into the hall.

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” he kept telling himself as he made his way down to the lobby, but it was hard. He could feel the lump in his throat waiting to be let out, as well as how his lip would quiver whenever he’d force himself to smile at the several staff members who would politely greet him. It was almost as if he was suffocating.

He unlocked his car door and made his way inside, immediately punching the steering wheel in subdued frustration. He looked at himself from the car mirror, staring at his red puffy eyes, still refusing to allow himself to cry despite being alone. Instead he took more deep breaths, once again tucking away the turmoil he’d been feeling for a very long time back into the depths of his heart.

Turning on the ignition of his car, he made his way out of the building’s parking lot, quickly shaking off what had happened. He had a date to look forward to tomorrow morning, and he wasn’t going to let anyone ruin that.

Friday Morning.

“Ta da!” Yuna shimmys her hands, proud of the outfit she’s ensembled. She was definitely making use of Mrs. Choi’s closet, “You don’t think this is a little too much?” you question, feeling slightly insecure about what you were wearing, the tan beret on your head slowly becoming crooked. This was definitely better than anything you’d pick on your own for a morning cup of coffee, that was for sure.

“Oh of course not!” Yuna exclaims while quickly fixing your hair, “Now put this on top of the turtle neck,” she says, passing you a brown plaid double-breasted coat, “and then,” she glances at the two bags in her hands, debating which color would look best before ultimately picking the cream colored cross-bag, “put this over it.”

She claps her hands together, clearly proud of her fashion sense. “The perfect outfit for your date, doesn’t she look so pretty Hobi?” she gushes. Hoseok looks up from his phone, the three of you were now on a nickname basis.

“So she does,” he smiles, “but maybe a black bag might fit the outfit better,” Yuna’s eyebrows quickly furrow.

“Hey leave the fashion to me, computer boy!” Yuna playfully squints her eyes at him.

“I’m just saying! A white turtleneck and a cream colored bag isn’t the look you think it is.”

“Yeah well,” she puckers her lips like a kid, unable to think of anything to counter with, she instead says, “that uniform you’re wearing is ugly!” causing a dramatic offended look to appear on his face.

“Oh I’ll have you know—”

“Will you two stop with the bickering?” you interrupt him before he could attack in return, “Taehyung is going to get here any moment, and you,” you point at Yuna, “need to start heading to work, while you,” you point to Hoseok, “need to get back to work,” you reaffirm, silencing the two who were now staring at you like lost puppies, “Well what are you waiting for, shoo!” you commanded, your statement coming off a little more harsher than you intended, but you blamed it on your nerves. You couldn’t help it because well, you were indeed very nervous.

“Ah okay, okay. Let us know how it goes!” Yuna says, before dragging Hoseok by the arm and leading eachother out. “And remember to stay calm and collective!” he shouts before being yanked on by Yuna.

You let out a deep breath of air. You hadn’t been on a date in a very long time, and though one could consider this a “fake” date on your part, it was a date nonetheless. You needed to leave a good impression, enough that he'd be willing to take you out again after today.

[From: Taehyung]

[9:55] Hey, I’m around the corner from the address you texted me :) I should be outside in like 2 mins

[9:55] i'm in the black mercedes benz btw

[To: Taehyung]

[9:55] perfect ☺️ i’ll be out right now then.

You fix your hair one last time, making sure everything looked perfect. “It’s not a date, just two strangers getting coffee together,” you reassure yourself one last time before making your way out.

The car ride to the coffee shop per se wasn’t awkward, but formal to say the least. Of course, Taehyung didn’t exactly expect you to immediately be talkative once you stepped into the car, but judging by how stiff you remained the whole car ride, and the lack of conversation there was, he also knew that he didn’t want you to feel timid to talk or as if you had to hold yourself back in front of him. He wanted things to feel natural, like how you were when you were talking about photography, where he could tell you were genuinely just being yourself.

Honestly he was used to women usually going out of their way to show off in front of him, or to make themselves seem like someone they weren’t simply to impress him, so this was definitely... different than what he was used to. But for some reason it made him even more curious to get to know you, eager to see what you were hiding behind that brick wall of an exterior you’ve seemed to have set up for yourself. He assumed it was going to take time for you to warm up to him, but the problem was that Taehyung wasn’t much of a patient person to begin with.

“After you,” he says, politely opening the door to the coffee shop for you. You whisper “thank you” to the small, but kind gesture.

The coffee shop in itself was very cute. From the cushioned cream-colored loveseats decorated by pillows you’d find overpriced on Wayfair, to the bright lighting provided by a massive roof skylight, and lastly the wooden bookshelves decorated with a variety of different novels, all which gave the coffee shop a very pleasant home-like feeling to it. If you could describe it in one word it’d be “warm”.

You stood there like a lost child for a moment, unsure of what to order as you studied the menu. They had a variety of drinks, things you were sure you had never even heard of, either that or they just had a fancy way of describing everything in order to boost up the price. “So any idea on what you want?” he asks.

“Um,” honestly you really weren’t much of a coffee drinker, having ordered the same drink at Starbucks for the past several years, “Surprise me,” you awkwardly smile, before making your way (practically running) to a wooden table next to a window view.

You were definitely peeved with yourself because you knew that you needed to stop being so damn quiet because God was that car ride awkward, insufferable almost. But you just weren’t good at this kind of stuff, never had been.

Even during high school when you had gone on your first ever official date, you ended having an utter meltdown in the restroom after your date awkwardly pointed out that you had a piece of spinach stuck in between your teeth, a waitress on break had to comfort you before you could even step out again. Even then you had your mouth glued shut afterward, paranoid about embarrassing yourself again.

And that wasn’t the only embarrassing incident you’ve encountered in past dates, there had been plenty more, but that would take a hefty amount of time to talk about.

Point was, you’d always find yourself acting like a turtle hiding in its shell or like a pufferfish, blurting out the most random and embarrassing things at any given moment. It was always one or the other and it always left you with a humiliating story to tell Yuna, a prime example being accidently spilling your drink on the son of a multimillionaire. You kept anxiously bouncing your leg as you watched him order at the cashier register, thinking of ways to start a conversation.

“I got you a heavenly toffee, it’s an espresso with toffee nut syrup, caramel cream, almond milk, and whipped cream,” he places the drink on the table for you, “I figured you could never go wrong with something sweet,” he smiles.

“Oh wow,” you say, genuinely delighted with his choice, “their mugs are so pretty,” you quietly comment, observing the intricate design on the ceramic mug.

“Yeah it’s definitely one of my favorite coffee shops in the area, I also recommend this one called Seoul’s Magnificent Mocha, they have good drinks as well,” he chuckles, recalling his last visit there.

“Well if I’m being completely honest, I’ve never been too enthusiastic for coffee, but,” you take a sip of the drink in front of you, “I have to say this is really good,” you laugh, pleasantly surprised at the sweetness of the drink, you could hardly even taste the bitterness of the coffee.

“So y/n, tell me a little bit about yourself,” he says while taking a sip of his own coffee.

“Oh well hm—” you try to recall the things Yuna would tell you to say, but with Taehyung intensely staring at you, your mind had gone completely blank, “well,” you felt your face getting red at the pressure you felt, your ears definitely feeling hot, “there’s not much to say really. I’m a pretty boring person,” you let out a very awkward chuckle, looking down in embarrassment.

“Don’t say that,” he says, “we could start off with something simple, like,” he looks up for a moment in thought, “what’s your favorite color?”

“Yellow,” you simply state, no commentary, no “What about yours”, no nothing, Yuna would probably squirt you with her bottle 100 times if she was there. Your brain was having a “we threw out his name” moment from Spongebob. Nothing but fire and chaos going on in there.

“Oh…” he pressed his lips together, slightly disheartened at your lack of enthusiasm. Was there something wrong with him? Maybe he was just badgering too much? Before he could dwell on it too long, the sound of a camera flashing caught both his and your attention.

“Oh no,” you quickly think to yourself, immediately turning away from the window in order to cover your face. Taehyung didn’t bother to question as to why you had turned so quickly because he was quick to do the same. Your reason being was that you couldn’t afford to land on the front cover of a magazine or appear on a gossip channel because the moment your mom saw from her hospital bed, it’d be a wrap for you.

“Damn it,” he groaned, “I thought it’d be too early for them to follow me out here,” he says. Honestly, Taehyung didn’t mind the paparazzi taking pictures of him, at this point he was used to it. But what he didn’t want was to put you in the spotlight with no say on your part, especially knowing how stalkerish the paparazzi could be. The moment they got a clear identity as to who you were, you’d be followed until the end of time, and he would definitely feel guilty for that.

“We gotta get out of here before more of them arrive,” he cursed, “Just don’t look back,” he directs, slowly turning his head back to see if he could spot where the person taking pictures was. “Alright the guy seems to be planted from afar, so I think we can walk out the entrance, just make sure you cover your face with your hand or something or you could use your beret,” he jokes around. “You don’t gotta tell me twice,” you think to yourself.

You nod at his directions, the two of you quickly getting up and putting your mugs away, before speed walking back to the car. You could only cross your fingers that a clear photo of you wasn’t taken.

Taehyung quickly zoomed out of the area, but despite his efforts, everytime he glanced at his rear-view mirror he could spot the black van still following him, which only put him in a bad mood.

“I’m gonna have to drop you off at the back or something, or else you’ll find men always outside your building for the rest of your trip until they find out who exactly are you,” Taehyung scowled, mad at himself for being so careless. You wordlessly nod your head, a little intimidated at how angry he looked.

The car ride back to your place is quiet, nothing different than the car ride to the coffee shop. “I’m sorry,” he exhales once you guys are outside the building, “I should’ve been more careful,” he mutters, internally scolding himself.

You shake your head in disagreement, “Trust me, it’s fine, it’s expected really,” you mumble, your words causing him to feel a slight sting to the heart. Though he didn’t even know you well enough for your words to genuinely hurt, for some reason they did.

“Well I’ll text see you some other time Taehyung,” you formally bow your head, getting out of the car, and quickly walking into Mr. Choi's building, leaving him taken aback by your words. One could say he was looking into your word choice a little too much, but no, he knew exactly what you meant. And so with that he left feeling disheartened.

“So how’d it go?” Hoseok catches you right as you enter the elevator.

“Horrible, it went horrible,” you state, the elevator doors closing before you could say anything else.

Saturday Morning.

“Your kimchi came out way too salty,” your mom criticizes, taking a bite of the food you’ve brought, “should've added root vegetable or something,” she shakes her head in dismay. She expects you to fire back with a remark, but instead she watches as you just sit in the hospital chair, eating your food in pout.

Today was your visiting day, and though you tried to hide your dismay at yesterday’s date when talking to your mom, it kept popping up in the back of your mind like an annoying itch. Of course your mom had noticed your odd behavior from the moment you walked in, but for you to be eating in pout meant that whatever it was that was on your mind, must've really been bothering you.

“Now are you gonna care to explain why you’re feeling so down,” she questions, “or are you going to keep sulking in your seat,” she chuckles.

You wrinkle your nose, “It’s nothing ma,” you try deflecting the conversation, your gaze wandering to the TV.

“Ah so it’s about a boy,” she laughs, causing your head to snap in her direction, a puzzled look now on your face.

“And what makes you so sure?”

She shrugs, “Because I’m your mom and I’ve seen that look many times,” she grabs the remote from the hospital’s bed stand, subsequently turning off the TV, “come on, I’m in cool mom mode now,” she cringely says, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Oh god,” you mumble, loudly sighing before beginning, “so there’s this boy,” you start off.

“I knew it,” she sings, jokingly winking at you.

“I went on a date with him the other day and well I don’t know, I tensed up, you know how I get,” you explain, downwarding your gaze to the floor in shame as you recalled your behavior from the day before.

“Mm,” she hums, sounding unconvinced, “well there must be a reason as to why you got so tensed up, and I’m sure you know why,” she deadpans, her face now becoming stern. So much for being in “cool mom” mode.

“Well I don’t—”

“No, no, no, I’m not accepting your excuses,” she vigorously shakes her head.

You sigh, “I just,” you pause, remembering that you needed to be careful with your words, “I just really want him to like me that’s all.”

“And?”

You groan, “And well I feel like I have to act a certain way or be a certain way in order for him to like me,” you explain, “and I just don’t think I have it in me. I don’t think he’s the type of person to like me, well for me, I guess you can say he’s like the popular kid in those high school movies, you know?” you let out a dry laugh knowing that the situation was much more than that.

“Well can you tell me a little about this boy?” she quieres, grabbing a strand of your hair and beginning to play with it.

“Well I’m not going to give you details because for all I know we might end up bad,” you say, making an excuse so that you wouldn't have to give a name, “but this guy, well he’s been told to have a reputation. He’s selfish, he’s reckless, he’s rude, and the only person he cares for is himself,” you rant, your mother now seeming taken aback by your description.

“Is that what people tell you, or is that what you think?” she laughs, “because the way you just said that, it seems like those are your personal feelings about him, and so I can’t help but wonder why you would want to go out with someone like that,” she wonders. “Oh honey, you have no idea why,” you think to yourself.

“Well because that’s what people like him are, that’s what they’ve always proven themselves to be, it’s what—”

“You assume he’s going to be like,” she cuts you off, her tone now dismissive.

“It’s what I know he’s going to be like,” you retaliate, crossing your arms like a little kid, causing her to laugh.

“Oh y/n y/n y/n,” she continues playing with your hair, “I want you to listen to what I have to say, okay? And then once I’m done, you can either take my advice to the heart, or let it go in one ear and out the other, alright?” you hum in response.

“Okay so the first thing I want to talk about,” she clears her throat, “is that it’s wrong of you to make assumptions about this person, or anyone in general.”

“I know but—”

“Ah, what’d I tell you about listening. You didn’t let me finish,” she scolds, gently tugging the strand of hair she was playing with, “I want you to go on another date with him, but open minded this time y/n. No preconceived notions, no overanalyzations of the things he does so that you can make him fit into the mold you’ve made for him, no nothing, and the same goes for you,” she takes a sip of her water bottle, giving you a chance to quickly say something.

“But ma, the girls I’ve seen him date in the past, I’m,” you sigh, “I’m nothing like them,” her eyebrows immediately furrow.

“And who said you had to be anything like them?” she grabs your hand, causing you to quietly stare at her, “but this leads to my second point. No more putting pressure on yourself to be someone you’re not,” she softly nudges your shoulder, “Just give him one genuine chance, just one, and if it’s not meant to be then it’s not meant to be,” she says, finishing her little speech.

“But I want him to like me,” your voice cracks, desperately wanting to replace the word “want” with “need”.

“Hey don’t cry,” she chuckles, quickly pulling you in for a hug, “Trust me y/n, as long as you be yourself, any boy who's lucky enough to get to know you will fall in love. I promise you that.” she softly whispers into your ear. And with her words you could immediately feel the pressure come off your shoulders, the words not only comforting, but hitting home. “Okay so I need you to promise me that the next time you see him, it’ll be a fresh new slate for both him and you, alright? Shake off, whatever you have on your mind, and just enjoy what’s in front of you.”

“Okay,” you breathe out, deciding that your mom was right, things needed to change, and you were going to do just that.

Saturday Night.

“So how did that coffee date of yours go?” Namjoon mentions, causing Taehyung to frown at the memory.

“If I’m being honest, not that well,” he sighs, pouring himself a glass of whiskey from his alcohol shelf.

Namjoon’s face scrunches in confusion, “Well, what went wrong this time?” he laughs.

Taehyung shrugs, trying his best to seem unfazed, “I don’t know, I guess she just wasn’t that into me,” he comments on you lightly, “Maybe it was for the best, I don’t really have time for another relationship anyway, not with my busy schedule,” he says, taking a sip from his drink.

“Busy schedule, but you had the time to go get coffee immediately the next day after meeting her, with no second thought? Yeah that makes sense,” Namjoon teases, causing Taehyung to roll his eyes.

“Like I said, I don’t know, she just was not budging, it was like speaking to a brick wall the whole time, and I’m sure if the paparazzi hadn’t interrupted it would have remained like that the whole time,” he sneers while pushing his hair back, “which is weird cause I don’t know there was just something about her, I just can’t describe it, but I just know she was holding back.” he explains, causing Namjoon to snort, “But anyways, it’s my fault, I set my expectations too high, thinking I was going to find love at first sight, actually no I blame you for putting those thoughts into my head.”

Namjoon raises his hands in defense, “Hey, all I did was pressure you to go up to her, everything else was your own head’s doing.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right, I’m just gonna be a lone wolf for a —” the sound of a “ding” interrupts Taehyung before he could complete his sentence, and so he checks his phone to see who could’ve texted him.

Namjoon stares at Taehyung who was now intently staring at his phone, looking quite flabbergasted, “Well, what is it?” he questions, a goofy grin now slowly appearing on the wavy haired young man’s face.

“I,” he lets out a chuckle, “I think I’m going on a date tomorrow night,” he faintly blushes, turning his phone to show Namjoon the text he just read, which reads:

[From: y/n]

[9:02 PM] you + me, tomorrow @ 5:30 , Ilsan lake park, i’ll bring what we need.

[9:02 PM] yes or yes?? 😇

[To: y/n]

[9:03 PM] i’ll see you then 😅

a/n 🧚🏻 : did I mention this is slow burn???? LOL. originally I was going to include date #2 on here because I only want this series to be a max of like 8-10 chapters, butttt I also wanted to update so ... but all the buildup will (hopefully) be worth itttt. the smut is coming soon in other words LMAO. I also took a while to update bc I was trying not to make y/n too annoying and just make the characterization how I pictured it to be, like I needed to establish the generalization she has on the Taehyung but IDK lmk what you think, message me, comment, send an anon, anything is welcome 🤍

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convenientalias · 3 years

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I Rate Some Kdramas I’ve Watched by Quality of Whump

A while back I rated every cdrama I’d watched by quality of whump bc it is a main factor about what makes me like a cdrama. Now I’m having a boring evening so I’m back for the sequel: the same thing but for kdramas. Two quick qualifications:

1. Unlike the cdrama post, this is not ALL the kdramas I’ve watched bc there are too many and some of them I can’t really remember. (I’m also not including any kdramas I haven’t finished.)

2. Actually I’m less likely to watch a kdrama solely for whump bc I tend to look also for Suspense or Historical Aesthetic. (why is this more the case with kdramas than cdramas? I Don’t Know.) Anyways, if you’re lucky, you can get at least 2/3 of these things.

Without further ado:

Circle: Two Worlds Connected--I forgot to add this show at first but it is very whumpy. Yeo Jin Goo spends the whole thing looking extremely stressed and it’s a good look on him. People are getting kidnapped! Threatened! Having their memories erased! People are losing their brothers! People are crying! Good whumpy show, 8/10.

Confession--This show was mostly boring and kind of bad but the whump was decent. There was a guy who had a heart transplant whose heart was now having issues. Idk, he fainted a couple times, it was fun. There may have been other whump but it just wasn’t a very memorable show. 4/10.

Extraordinary You--Eun Dan-oh has a chronic illness (I think it’s a weak heart??) which might be more fun for me if I liked girls being whumped, but I’m not super into that. Bad things do happen to Baek-kyung, but it all feels samey and never goes anywhere. Oh, I do feel awful about Dried Squid Fairy’s tragic backstory though. I guess like a 4/10 again.

I Picked Up a Star on the Road--This show’s characters are mostly insufferable but its whump is pretty good actually since it’s centered around a dude getting kidnapped. Played for humor but that’s okay. However, there were characters more worthy of whump than the lead, and the whump was not equally passed around. 5/10, I feel like the vibe of this kidnapping is more kinky than whumpy.

It’s Okay Not to Be Okay--You know what? Sometimes women getting whumped is good when those women are Seo Ye Ji. Bad things happened to other people too but mostly whenever Ko Moon-young’s past or her relationship with her mother came up it was very good whump. 6/10.

The King: Eternal Monarch--This show’s decently whumpy but I somehow don’t feel it. Lee Gon’s father figure dies and he’s separated from his loved ones and all kinds of bad shit happens to him but I don’t care that much about Lee Gon so?? that’s unfortunate. Bad things also do happen to literally everyone else but, idk, it still doesn’t feel super whumpy to me. Two best whumps are poor Eun-sup getting shot and Kang Sin-jae’s ongoing existential crisis. But listen, they should have whumped Jo Yeong and I feel they did not adequately take advantage of the opportunity to do that. 6/10, you could probably make an argument for me to go higher but I don’t want to.

My Country: the New Age--If you’re not watching this show for whump and angst I’m really not sure what you’re watching it for. The history?? The maybe 2.5 minutes of chill per episode? I mean there are lots of pretty people and good ships but the main appeal of them is that everyone’s Suffering (TM). A lot of people get stabbed and/or betrayed. Even the happy scenes feel sad bc you don’t trust them. Ending is tragic and I would usually take off points for mixing tragedy with my whump but I accept it bc it was cathartic. 10/10.

Psychopath Diary--Genuinely I can’t remember if this show had good whump. I feel like if anyone I would have wanted to see Seo In-woo whumped bc he was pretty but I don’t recall that happening much. I think there was some though? 5/10 for “I can’t remember but I want to believe.” This drama probably shouldn’t be on this list but I love it so I’m including it despite my bad memory.

Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung--This light-hearted show still crammed a lot of whump in! Dowon gets everything from nightmares to fevers to arrow wounds to traumatic revelations, and Min U-won and Goo Hae-ryung both get arrested at different points and almost killed at others and have tragic backstories as well. Everyone’s fucked up over something but there’s no reason to let that ruin the rom-com/workplace comedy vibes, people. A lovely blend of light tone and still pretty intense whump. 8/10.

Save Me--This show combines the above mood of “I’ll take lady whump if it’s Seo Ye Ji” with a heavy dose of “what if we also whumped Woo Do Hwan? What if.” I don’t really like fiction about cults--they really creep me out--but the whump and the characterization of this show are both incredible, and honestly I feel that it’s a show where the whump and the characterization feed off each other and make each other better. 8/10.

White Christmas--Everything about this show is great, whump included. I mean some of the whumpiest scenes are just very tense chase or fight scenes with kids having mental breakdowns and attacking each other but they’re still good. People are threatened at gunpoint, locked up in dorms, pushed off cliffs, and generally beaten up. There’s a little hurt/comfort too but mostly it’s just hurt. A bad time for everyone except me, the viewer. 9/10.

That’s all, folks. I hope this very official and objective ranking will be helpful to at least someone.

#kdrama #whump

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smol-and-grumpy · 4 years

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Sky Full Of Stars - CH04

Sequel to Something Just Like This

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: He’s Dean Winchester, ex mobster boss, still a little cocky, less ruthless and not at all short tempered anymore. Instead, he thinks he’s hilarious (she doesn’t agree, though). They both try to live a quiet life. And Dean hopes, very hard, that his former life won’t come knocking at their door.

Warnings: NSFW, fluff, a dash of angst

WC: 3413

SERIES MASTERLIST

Dean’s on pin and needles. He’s trying to be as quiet as he can when he walks around. Y/N’s pissed and each one of his movements could trigger her wrath.

She’s well overdue. If she was a steak, she'd be more than well done, and would taste like soles of his shoes.

It has been a week. A fucking full week. Seven friggin’ days. Her due date came and went and with that, her patience. Even more so, after Jess gave birth and they’ve been over to Sam and Jess’ house for a visit.

The baby clearly is in no rush but Y/N’s patience is on thin ice, and so is Dean because apparently, he put her in the situation in the first place.

After thirty-six weeks, she decided that she’s had enough and wishes her bump away. She was actually sure that the baby will come before its due date, was dead set that it’ll come to them something after thirty-eight weeks because she said that if she gets any bigger, the only thing she’ll be able to do is roll around and she won’t need him to drive her to the hospital because she’d be rolling there. Dean smirked at the vivid image in his head and that wasn’t really his best move because she was so mad, she made him sleep on the sofa.

They’ve tried everything that should trigger the birth and help along, too.

He cooked spicy food, which she upped up and made it so spicy that Dean ended up having contractions instead of her.

He’s been to a twelve mile hike with her this morning and now he’s exhausted but she keeps on going, walks up and down the stairs so often that Dean’s sure the wood will have holes and he needs to fix it while she’ll still be in the hospital.

Dean’s sitting in a recliner, and tries to be invisible, he doesn’t need to trigger her anger today.

After a while she stops pacing around up and down the stairs and Dean thinks it has started.

“Baby? Is it—”

“—No.” Her voice is still grumpy, but it has been grumpier so Dean takes it, “I’m taking a bath.”

She goes up, and stomps on the landing.

“Do you want me to jo—”

She slams the door.

“—in you.” Dean finishes his sentence in a mumble.

He sighs, rubs his hand over his face, strokes at his scruff and lets himself sink into the seat. He closes his eyes, for a brief moment, he probably has to go check up on her, but now he needs a fucking minute to himself.

Dean doesn’t know how long he closed his eyes for, it feels like minutes, but Y/N’s standing before him in nothing but a towel, dripping wet.

She pouts. And the effect of her pout should be wearing off after such a long time, doesn't it? Well, it doesn’t because he’s still so fucking weak whenever he sees that pout.

He doesn’t say anything though, doesn’t really know what to say because he doesn’t know if she’s going to unleash her wrath or start to cry.

So he waits.

Y/N walks closer on her bare feet, places her hands on his thighs. “‘M sorry,”

His lips curve into a smile then, because he knows the storm is over for the time being. It has been like that for a couple of weeks now and Dean tried to understand her point of view. Tried to think how he would feel carrying around excess weight that’s so heavy it makes it hard for him to breathe. So in other words, he totally gets why she’s so done with all of it. And she can be angry at him all she wants, he said they’re going through this together and they will. Even though it’s just the beginning.

And even if she’s angry and has no other outlet than him, he takes it. Take everything she gives him because at the end of the day, she’ll almost always come around and tell him how sorry she is.

“Come ‘ere,” He says, pats his lap.

She climbs in, places her knees next to his thighs and nudges her face into the crook of his neck, noses at his scruff. She’s dripping wet but he doesn’t really mind, hugs her, and kisses the top of her head. “Rough day, huh?”

“Uh-huh,”

“I know.”

He rubs along her thighs and she sits up a little straighter. She’s not too heavy, still fits into his lap perfectly and Dean wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

She leans down to kiss him and Dean has to crane his neck a little, meeting her half way because of the bump.

“You know,” She says, her hands play with the collar of his shirt. “I’ve been a dick to my fiancé.”

“Have you?” He frowns a little but hides the fact that he’s excited that she uses the word fiancé because it’s the first time he hears it out of her mouth.

“Yeah, he’s been nothing but supportive but I’m having a hard time and I let it out on him.”

“That’s understandable.” His hands squeeze and knead her thighs.

“He doesn’t deserve to be threaded like that, though. I hope he still loves me.”

“Baby,” Dean whispers, pulls her down by the back of her neck to kiss her. “I can never unlove you. You should know that by now.”

“I love you,” She kisses him again, deep, more demanding and Dean tries, he really tries to be good but he can’t hide the fact that only a kiss of her turns him on so much. He’s growing hard awfully fast.

And it doesn’t go unnoticed because she has a button somewhere either, is so goddamn responsive that it’s sometimes hard for him to catch up to her. She grinds down on his cock, moans a little into his mouth.

“We haven’t tried one thing yet,” Y/N whispers against his lips.

“Baby, no.”

The last time Dean fucked her was almost two weeks ago and he also said on that last time, that he won’t fuck her anymore until the baby’s here. She cried and thought that he said it because he doesn’t find her attractive anymore when it’s only reason was because he doesn’t want to hurt her. He tried to explain and it took almost a night for him to get her to believe him.

“Please? It could help.” She pouts again and Dean could club himself over the head because his willpower is hanging by a fucking thread.

It doesn’t really help that she unknots the towel around her body, lets it drop to the floor, making him fucking drool. Her nipples have darkened, are bigger, her tits fuller. She uses her body as a knife to cut through the thread his willpower’s hanging on. And that, Dean thinks, is not fucking fair.

How could she even think that he doesn’t find her attractive when the evidence is visible in his pants. Hard and throbbing, aching to be freed.

The bump makes her attractive too. There’s a life growing inside of her. A life growing out of something he planted in there.

Y/N plays with the waistband of his sweats, her fingers dip into the elastic of his underwear and Dean’s hands come up to play with her nipple, to knead at her tits.

“Please?” She moans and honestly, how can Dean say no to that?

“Okay,” He gives in, and adds, “But you can stop any time, alright? If it hurts or it gets uncomfortable, stop, you understand?”

She nods her head so fast Dean thinks she’ll get a whiplash.

He leans back a little, “Go on, take it out,”

The smile of her face is so sweet and beautiful he has the feeling that he’s going to burst.

Taking it out, he helps her a little by lifting his ass so she can bring the fabric past his balls. And then he realizes that he probably should take her to bed, should spread her out, should fucking lick her open, the whole nine, “Baby, we should go up,”

“No, I can’t wait,” She grinds harder, her hands now fisting his cock and Dean’s strangely okay with that because he doesn’t know if he would have the patience to wait until they’re up the stairs when all he wants is to be inside of her. It has been two fucking weeks after all.

She lays his cock down and spreads her pussy lips on it, rubs her clit along his shaft, smears her slick around his cock.

Still a fucking tease, always was, always will be.

Dean places his hands on her ass, it itches him to spank her but he doesn’t. Instead, he helps in guiding her, it’s really the only thing he can do because she’s in the driver’s seat, he’s only sitting shotgun and the driver gets to pick the music.

It might have just been five minutes at most, but Dean’s slowly growing impatient. “Baby, if you really want me to fuck you, you better hurry up, I’m dying here.”

Y/N chuckles, leans down to kiss him before she pushes herself up on her knees, places his cock at her entrance and proceeds to slowly impale herself on it.

She does it so agonizing slow that Dean feels every crease, every bump inside her tight walls.

“Fuck,” He breathes out, barely able to hold himself together as she works herself lower, making him go deeper.

He wants to tell her not to go too low, wants to tell her not to sit down fully, but his voice doesn’t leave his throat, gets logged in there because all he can do is groan out when she sits so low, his balls are touching her ass crack.

Her hands are braced on his chest and she throws her head back, moans with him. She doesn’t even move, just sits there as her cunt flutters and cramps down on him and it’s all it takes for him to make that jump over the edge. He shuts his eyes, bucks up into her while her pussy’s still convulsing around him.

“Wow, you came,” She chuckles, “I barely did anything.”

“Shut up, you did too. Couldn’t help it, you felt so good,” He’s out of breath, “But I’m still fucking hard. So go on, knock yourself out.”

It’s no fucking lie. He rarely could go twice before. But with her, it’s often the case. He doesn’t know how she does it but he doesn’t complain.

She starts to ride him, fucking herself on his dick. She’s so wet with all the cum running down his shaft, it feels so goddamn perfect, Dean’s not sure how long he can last this time.

He rubs at her clit, and she starts to fuck him harder. It isn’t long until she comes again and somewhere after her second orgasm, it felt awfully wet down there. His sweats and underwear are drenched.

“Baby,” Dean groans, tries to hold out his pending orgasm. But it’s nearly impossible because she comes again, her walls milking at his cock, takes every drop of him that he’s able to give her.

“Fuck,”

Dean hears her swear but he’s still zoned out from his last orgasm, and when he opens his eyes, she looks at him in shock.

“Shit,” It’s now that he realizes it. “Are we?”

She nods with a grin.

“Now?”

Another nod.

“Fuck, I need new pants,” He lifts her up, places her feet on the ground and pulls his pants up to be able to run when he speeds upstairs.

Y/N follows him but waits at the foot of the stairs.

Dean quickly changes his pants and underwear, didn’t even drop the soaked ones into the hamper because there’s just no time.

“Get my dress,” She calls up and Dean grabs the dress that’s hanging by the door for four fucking weeks already in case they need to up and leave and she needs something to get in easily.

He runs down the stairs and is already halfway down when she says, “Dean, the bag.”

“Oh, bag, yeah.” Dean turns around again.

“But you can give me the dress.”

He throws it in her face, hears her chuckle as he runs up to get the bag they have packed — also for four weeks already.

Coming down the stairs she looks up and he knows that he forgot something again.

“Towel?”

“Right,” Dean realizes, “Go and wait in the car.”

Her contractions start on their way there and the interval between them gets shorter the closer they get to the hospital. She’s squeezing at his hand and for such a small person she’s awfully strong. Dean has to bite down on his lips to not cry out whenever there’s a hard squeeze.

“You okay?” He asks when he feels her squeezing exceptionally hard.

“I’m not!” She’s panting, breathes the pain away, “Do I look like I’m fucking okay?”

Wow.

Dean shuts up.

“‘M sorry,” She apologizes. When the pain’s gone it’s like she’s a whole different person. “Please whatever I say, don’t take it personally.”

“It’s alright, I get it.” Dean places her hand to his lips, kisses it.

“It’s all your fault, you know,”

Dean raises an eyebrow, “Oh, so now it’s my fault?”

“Yeah, you put that thing in me and now I have to go through this.”

“Baby,” Dean circles his thumb on the back of her hand. “Everything’s gonna be okay, alright? I promise.”

“I’m scared—oh fuck!”

Another contraction, Dean bites it out.

“Promise me something?” She’s still cramping and hisses through gritted teeth.

“Anything,”

“If something goes wrong and they take the baby away to do whatever they need to — you go with the baby. Don’t worry about me, alright?”

“Y/N,” Dean swallows. He really doesn’t want to think about that. The chance of things like these happening is so small.

“Promise me, Dean.”

“Okay, alright. I promise,” He says, seals his promise with a kiss on the back of her hand.

They’re waiting in the birthing room, and she has changed into a hospital gown that leaves her backside wide open. She’s hooked to a machine but she paces around — apparently it helps with the pain — pushing the machine everywhere with her.

He wonders if she’s going to be mad if he took a picture.

Yeah, she probably will, so he abandons the thought.

It’s two hours later when things start to get interesting. Her cervix dilated a full 9cm and the head’s already poking out. Dean only knows it from the doctor though, and didn't really see it with his own eyes.

Apparently he’s not allowed to watch because it could scar him for life.

They certainly don’t know him.

Honestly though, he doesn’t know if he would want to see it even if he would be allowed. It’s not that he thinks it’s disgusting, he just thinks he’ll probably faint because he can barely keep himself upright next to her, has to brace his elbows on the bed, because his legs feel wobbly.

He brushes the sweat away from her forehead, strokes her hair back and kisses her. Her hand squeezes down on his again and Dean’s not complaining even though his hand feels numb. But she’s going through a lot more pain than he is, so he should fucking suck it up.

Dean tries his best to help her, breathes with her in between pushes, brushes her sweat away, talks her through it whenever she thinks of giving up and thinks that she can’t make it.

“Got it!” The doctor shouts and a nurse rushes to her aid, places the newborn onto a blanket and rubs it clean, it starts to cry immediately.

And in that moment, when the crying hit Dean’s ear, that’s the moment he broke as well, he just can’t hold it back anymore. The relief he feels is incredible.

He looks over to Y/N, and she weeps. Dean moves closer, cradles her face and lets her weep into his neck. The collar of his shirt is wet, he couldn’t care less.

“Do you want to know the sex now?” The nurse asks, and Dean’s not even sure. “You can come cut the umbilical cord, you’ll see it then.”

“Uh, I really don’t know if I should,”

“Dean, come on, I could push it out and now you can do it too.” Y/N says softly before her another wave of pain hits her. He didn’t even know why because the baby is out, right?

“Baby,” He says, leans over and grabs at her hand.

“She’s fine.” The nurse assures him, “It’s the placenta that needs to get out too.”

Oh well, that’s so fucking reassuring. It doesn’t help calming his heart because he thought that the pain was over.

“I’m fine, go.” Y/N says, breathes again and pushes and Dean reluctantly leaves her side.

His heart is beating fast, and he’s shaky on his feet. He hopes he won’t pass out before he reaches the nurse because that would be really embarrassing. He’s Dean fucking Winchester, not a wimp who passes out when his girl gives birth to his baby. So he stands up a little straighter, breathes in and walks towards the nurse.

The nurse is smirking at him, was probably watching him while he prep-talked himself in his mind into walking here and Dean should mind, should maybe be a tiny bit embarrassed but he sees the baby and the nurse is the last thing he cares about right now.

“We think you should tell the sex to your wife,” The nurse whispers and hands him the scissor. Dean unceremoniously cuts the cord, wonders if he should have done anything else? Say a few words before? Like they do when they christen a ship or something? But either way, his brain isn’t capable of thinking. He’s not even saying anything when the nurse says wife instead of fiancée or girlfriend. Maybe because he doesn’t mind the word. It actually sounds quite good in his ears.

When he wants to return to Y/N, all while he tries not to look at the mess between her legs, the nurse pulls at his arm, “You’re coming with me Mr. Winchester,” So he follows, because that’s what Y/N told him to do. Whatever happens, go with the baby, she said and so Dean does.

He stands next to the nurse when she cleans his baby. She then proceeds to wrap the baby back up into the blanket and hands it to him. His first instinct is to kiss the baby, right there between it’s eyebrows. He’s sweating again now, is not sure if he can hold it and walk over at the same time, and he senses that the nurse knows, he’s probably not the only idiot who feels lost and overwhelmed so the nurse has her hand on Dean’s arm, with one hand braced on his back as she helps guide him back to Y/N.

He smiles at her because she smiles at him. She’s crying and he knows he is too because everything’s blurry.

Dean sits on the bed with half his body, leans over to hand her the baby.

Their baby.

When the baby’s secured in Y/N’s arms, Dean moves to the side, leaning on the bed so he can kiss her cheeks, her temple, and then they marvel at the baby together, while one of her hands comes up to pet his cheek, fingers stroking his scruff.

“It’s a girl,” Dean whispers, has to control his voice so as not to cry again.

“A girl?” Y/N’s sobbing and he turns to kiss her again.

“A girl.”

“Dean, we have a girl,” She says and then she stops stroking him, takes her hand back to place it on the girl's face, and paints the pad of her index finger along their baby girl's nose, her eyebrows. And then she lifts the baby, kisses her.

“We have a girl.” Dean repeats and his arm goes up, wraps them around the two most precious things that’s his. Because that’s what it is, ain’t it? They’re his. He’s keeping them. He’s not going to let anything or anyone take them away from him.

CH05

#sky full of stars #dean winchester #dean winchester fic #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fan fic #dean winchester fan fiction #nathalie writes

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halitophobia · 4 years

Text

Blind Eye - Four

Parings ⟶ OC x Hank's Daughter! Reader (TEMPORARILY) , RK800! Connor x Hank's Daughter! Reader (EVENTUALLY)

A/N ⟶ Ha...so let’s just pretend that I haven’t been gone since...dude I don’t even know...September? Yeesh...well, I haven’t forgotten about this story that I started and have not lost interest...I’ve just lost motivation. For ten months. Anyways, here’s part 4 and I hope you enjoy it. I appreciate everything and if you’re here, having read the past parts, welcome back! Long time no see...Alright without further ado, please enjoy :)

Much love.

Disclaimer ⟶ over the century I’ve been gone, I have not established ownership over DBH characters

Warnings ⟶ swearing, violence, mentions of death, stubborn reader, stubborn Hank, spoilers...?, slow burn, sLoW bUrN, SLOW BURN, alcohol abuse (Hankster), angst, toxic relationship, eventual....fluff, happiness, cute stuff, flustered Connor, flustered Reader, all the gushy-ness, and ?????smut?????

Word Count ⟶ 3228

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

----

NOV 6th, 2038

AM 10:53:11

The sweet, comforting sound of middle-aged men arguing about an empty milk carton wakes you from your beautifully sound slumber.

With one eye open, you tenderly lift your arm to flip over your phone. The blue light screams at you so invasively, you almost forget to check the time. As it renders in your brai-

Shit.

You hurl the covers over and yank yourself out of bed. You have exactly seven minutes to get out this motel before they charge you another night. You hiss as the unnecessarily freezing floor hits your soles, then drop down beside your suitcase. Toiletries and clothes are strewn somewhat near, quickly finding their way into a miscalculated arrangement. You collapse onto the case flap for strategic compression, swearing as you catch your hair in the zipper. Once the suitcase is successfully shut, you stand triumphantly...and realize you are definitely not wearing pants. Comedically, you stare at the wall ahead of you, truly contemplating whether it's worth scavenging the depths of your now clumpy suitcase to find your sweatpants, or to run out in the bite of winter...

With legs spread out around your luggage, you dig through, trying to cause the least amount of disturbance. However you forget the whole point of searching gently once you feel the familiar fabric and jerk them out not so gently, creating a volcanic explosion.

No, no thank you. Thank you for giving me this chance to further fuck up my belongings...

As you seal the case shut with great difficulty, you quite literally launch it toward the door. You check the bathroom to make sure you're not missing anything, then race to your bag. With a cute jig, you shove your shoes on while fumbling with the door handle. As you slam the door behind you, you pause, seeing a completely calm and silent hallway.

Ba-da bing, ba-da boom...

Fixing a few strands of hair, you give your room a lock and sign out of the motel.

----

PM 1:10:45

"I'm home!" you holler, expertly chucking your keys towards a bowl on the kitchen counter. You watch as they collide with it and thrash the contents inside, bringing everything to the tile floor. Nice...

You move through the kitchen (which functions as a hallway), into the living room - corner as you like to call it. To your left sits an aged leather couch, pillows deformed and flat. Across that is the ancient one; the almighty TV3000, surely made three thousand years ago...A rickety window directly in front of you allows natural light to flood a small area of wall below the completely meaningless picture Ben insisted on hanging. Speaking of, there he lays limbs strewn out, trickling down the couch. His jaw, fallen down, reveals a gaping hole which projects a discomforting grumble and snort. You study his breathing pattern, then let your eyes wander to his hands; one lazily rested atop his stomach, and the other hanging off the couch with the neck of a bottle between his thumb and index. You scoff.

"Ben," you test, with a nudge to the couch. "Ben." you repeat.

You sigh, moving beside him and crouching down to his level. "Wake up."

He grumbles in response, swiping his lips with his tongue.

"Ben, you've got a shift in twenty. Get up, shower, and go."

"Shhhhhhh..." he starts, "too loud."

You swallow, lowering your gaze to the cracked hardwood floor. "How much did you drink last night?"

Your eyes narrow as he shakes his head, adjusting his position. You stand, leaving to your shared bedroom. Ignoring the much disturbed bed and clothes dotting the floor. You dig around the closet, clutch a certain bundle, then return. You drop the clothes with a hint of 'you're a shit' energy, then watch as he frustratingly awakes.

"What the fuck?" he snarls.

"Get up, shower, and go." you repeat, accenting select words.

"Fuck you." he mumbles, sitting upright.

He groans, letting his head still from the commotion, and with his eyes closed, he reaches for your thigh. He rests his head against it and sighs.

"How was the shift?"

"Good. Got a good bite that'll last us a couple days or so." you answer, involuntarily playing with his hair. He doesn't need to know how it really went and how you practically begged to be paid. Let's be honest, what did you contribute last night?

He yawns, "Then I don't have to go in for work."

You frown, pulling away. "Yes you do. Aaron said you're done unless you clean up your act."

"Yeah, yeah. Take a joke, will you?"

He uses your thigh to stand, draping an arm around your shoulders. He places a lazy kiss to your forehead and grins. It's scratchy and rough due to his ignorance for lip balm.

"You're great, Y/N." he states, wandering to the bedroom.

Your eyes close as you hear the shower running. Letting yourself fall back on the couch, you run a hand through your hair. It's been like this forever. You can't remember life before simply because you can't imagine this one being nearly as lively. You can't remember having to crunch out bills like this. You can't remember a floor that doesn't wail at you. You can't remember feeling so full that you need to un-button your jeans, or a silent neighbourhood with that one family that invites you over every Friday.

That life you lived before seems so un-reachable, so beautiful, that it's become imaginary. You love Ben. You do. He makes you smile. He makes you laugh when times are tough. He holds you through bits of the night and tells you he loves you. Though he's changed. When you touched his lips, young and naive, he knew excitement. Hunger. Want. When alcohol touched his lips, plentiful and cool, he knew ease. Numbing. Solitude. You weren't a stranger to this behaviour, you'd seen- you see it with your father. You know how to handle it.

He doesn't mean that.

He's got other things that are worrying him.

He's just stressed.

He's just tired.

He loves you.

He does.

"We need more shampoo."

Your eyes open, and are met with his, looking much younger and fresh. You nod, "I'll add it to the list."

"When uh, when does my shift end?" he asks, touching up his hair.

"Six-thirty."

His nose scrunches, and with a sniff, he turns to you. Instantly knowing, you stand, meeting him at the counter. He offers a small smile, acknowledging the tired in your eyes. He looks good; showers always fix the bags. Maybe last night had a lighter mood...

"You get some sleep, yeah? I cleaned the bedroom a bit."

You nod, returning his smile. He juts out his chin, looking down at you through his lashes. You lift, keeping you arms by your sides as you meet him for a kiss. He places his hand on your crown, pressing his lips on your hairline.

"See ya at nine."

"Nine? You get off at six-thirty."

"Stopping by Jordy's." he states, grabbing his keys that are on the floor with yours and a pack of gum. "Love you."

You frown, the door nearly secure in its frame-

"Pick up dinner, okay? I didn't get anything while you were out."

Now it's secure.

A scoff leaves your lips as you look to the crack embedded into the doorframe. You've convinced yourself it grows deeper and longer, his eager 'goodbyes' being the cause. Succumbing to yet another pause, your eyelids flutter shut once again; though not for long. Now that Ben's gone, you have duties.

Number one. Count empty bottles. Six and a half. Number two. Search for anything out of the order. A slightly bloodied rag partnered with a slightly bloodied countertop. Seems like someone was eager to open a bottle... And finally, get rid of his secret stash.

Thankfully, he didn't stock up much. Maybe just enough for the weekend or a 'stop by Jordy's'. With a small exhale, you clutch two packs of beers, heading for the door three to the right.

"Ben?"

"Huh? Oh, I-what are you doing with those?"

"What are you doing with that?"

His eyes follow yours, the expedition ending at his first two fingers. Between them burns a cigarette, merely used if not freshly lit. He left ten minutes ago...is this not his first?...Your eyes slender as the layers of thin paper slowly recede. The air is thick; squeezing both of you tight and still. The start of a lecture bubbles from your stomach while a story fabricates in his. The creases buried beneath the stillness of your face emerge, your lips quivering to expel words.

Though, yesterday's events rattled you enough.

"If you leave now, you'll arrive only minutes late."

A low sigh seeps from your body as you step forward. You gingerly press your palm upon his lower side and your other on his fist. Nimbly, you dance your fingertips along his knuckles and with your eyes on his, you swipe the cigarette from his hand. It falls and you listen for the minuscule bump it'll make as it collides with the concrete.

He thought that was the end of your show, but the respite was only an intermission. You tighten your hold on his abdomen, then crush the embers beneath you, a quick twist or two becomes music to your ears. His jaw tightens and his throat bobs. If only you knew how many more have touched his lips; blackened his lungs.

"Put those back."

His voice slices the silence, but your hardened stare adds more. This is the first time he's caught you, but if only he knew how many more bottles have been sold to the neighbours; dropped by their door.

He's relieved. You have yet another tear in your perfect image. He's usually one to slip up, this moment adding to his endless list of mistakes, but now, he concludes, you've got a growing list of your own.

A change of emotion from your face doesn't come, and you turn around toward the door. Your fingers curl on its handle and you send him a side glance, entering the apartment. With that, he stares where you once were, swears and threats swelling his tongue; he could storm back in there and he will.

But he needs this pay check. He needs this money. You don't need to know why.

----

PM 3:08:30

BZZZzzz...BZZZzzz...

Your eyes snap open, a brief gasp travelling your throat. A quiet curse entangles with an exhale as you reach for your phone. Whoever's on the other end won't be receiving a cutesy 'hello'...you were napping so peacefully.

"Yes?" you offer, rolling onto your back.

You're on your side of the bed; the clean side of the room, dragging your gaze over the popcorn-styled ceiling. As the caller begins to speak, a headache begins to form. Captain Fowler.

"Detective Anderson..." he pauses and you simply close your eyes, "I'm surprised you actually answered." he chuckles lightly, though you hear a more pressing undertone, indicating he has business to express.

"With all due respect, Captain...get to the point."

He replies with a grumble, and you hear his chair squeak through the phone. It's a discomforting pause for him, but a moment to rest for you.

"I have a new shift an-" he starts.

"I'll save you the time. No."

"Y/N..."

"No."

"Look, you need to get back out there. Your position here is wavering. I have been easy on you for too fucking long and that desk can be filled quickly..."

His voice is firm; comforting to you since it's all you've known. You smile softly. He's trying to threaten you.

"Fill it." you jest.

"You're willing to let that go, eh? Even to an android?"

The curve of your lips flatten and suddenly you're upright. That's fucking cold.

"Fowler you-"

"Hank was chatting it up an' everything. They have a common ground for dogs."

"Shut up."

"The thing was wigglin' in your chair, leaning back in it,"

"Shut up."

This isn't fun anymore. This is getting too close to home. You're seething. The anger in you reaches your ears, pink from your sleep, now red from your wrath. You storm with rage, huff hot, heavy air...though this time, there's more to it. Not only are you raving...you're hurt.

It's that easy? That easy for you to be replaced? You never thought your skirmishing would come to this. Androids have taken everything from you. From both of you...and he does this?

"Y/N."

Leashed and choked, you're brought back to your senses.

"If I do this, will you discard of it?"

"Of...what? Th-oh. The android."

Your jaw clenches, the skin around it bulging while you wait for his answer. You snicker. Hank's traded you for a piece of plastic. A rancid, putrid, self-centered-

"Get out of your head and listen to me,"

None of those thoughts left your lips; you wouldn't let that spill. He can't know you're hurt. Because you're not. No. You don't care.

"Take the job."

"If you trash it, I will."

You won't budge. It's you or it.

There's silence. A sigh, nearly a growl. Then a crackle through the line signifying a shift in his position.

"I'll see to it."

It's an accomplishment. Hank's a downright fuckhead and he'll be the one to apologize. To make amends. In the meantime, you'll climb that tower and set his work ablaze. You'll fight against him. Make him pay for everything he's done. He'll watch, clutching onto his beloved robot as you succeed like he once did.

"Well?"

Right, Fowler's still on the line. You aren't surprised he's hanging on. He's a soft spot for you ever since the incident; you and Hank, but you're more personable. You take advantage of him though. His calls, offering work. Shifts that you and Ben survive on. You'd be rubble without the cold Captain, surely. You don't deserve any of it, but on the other hand, the pride clouding your head traps the gratitude. Or maybe you can't find the words. The second sounds kinder, but you're not sure if you yourself even believe it.

"I don't have money for the trip." you bite.

'Thank you...'

"Your pay check will cover it."

'You're welcome...’

To your surprise, a smile finds it way to your lips. He can't see it. You don't want him to. For the first time through this treacherous hike, there's rope for you to hold. It's frayed at the ends and secure to nothing but twigs, but it's presented itself and you take your chances.

"So when do I start?"

"Leave now. A Lieutenant plans to head out to a case and I direct you to join." he takes a moment, "This situation is critical and it requires you to be local."

You nod. You know what he means. You'll need a place to stay. The first place that comes to mind is the motel you left earlier today...but even after getting this temporary job, it's expensive. Too expensive...

The Captain acknowledges your hesitance, predicting your setback.

"You know there's someone here with a home. And a dog..."

"Where do I meet the Lieutenant?"

Fowler stops his pushing, but only this time. He speaks as you begin to pack while scribbling the address down. You sit on the suitcase an- oh...I should probably...

'Can't talk now. Leave a message.'

"Ben, I..uh...Fowler's offered me a job," subconsciously, you start to fiddle with the zipper on the case, "Well, temporarily...but it's still good money. So...I'm leaving now and uh...well I have to stay there for a couple days. I don't know how long um," you take a breath, suffocating your bag and the grudge you held, "look I'm sorry for today, I'll put some cash on the counter for dinner and...I'll give you updates. Um...see ya."

A groan escapes your lips and you head for the door. Leaving this place doesn't tug or heavy your steps. You do this all the time. You're not attached to any places anymore...always sleeping in different rooms, organizing clothes into different compartments, dragging your luggage onto busses. It helps, in a way, knowing you don't have strong ties to one place other than...Ben. He helps too. Lets you know there's a sense of being somewhere. It's with him. You think.

The doors of the bus slide open and you step in with ease. This is routine. You know this. The bus accelerates pulling you back, but it feels different, like this time, you might regret leaving. This time, you'll come back changed. Or you won't...come back.

----

PM 3:52:10

The elevator ride is intruding. Clicking, clunking, rattling...hell you can't even think. You can't prepare yourself; put your mind at rest and focus on the case. Then, like bird shit slapping the top of your head, you realize...you have no idea what you're going in to. You don't know who this Lieutenant is, nor what the case is about. Is it in your area of knowledge? It has to be. Fowler wouldn't put you on foreign grounds. He is an ass though...he could do it to make a point.

Your damned anxiety dances over you like a sugar plum fairy. Can this elevator go any faster? Your right leg starts to shake. It's a habit. Just get it over with. Just get it done. Just let it go. The words you feed yourself are no use. You're just regurgitating them back. It's pathetic, really. You've seen the worst of the worst, yet you shrivel at the thought of working with a stranger on an investigation you have no idea about. Cute.

The ding invades your mind and you bite the inside of your cheek. Hard.

Fuck it. Right? Fuck it!...

A loud scrape sounds before the doors even budge. They part and you're face-to-face with a poorly papered wall. To the left, you look, is another wall, and to your righ-

"Mmph!"

Adrenaline crashes over you while a person crashes into you. A heavy person. Before you can process, your chin's scaping the chipped floor and your arms are pinned from behind. Legs tighten around your hips while a hand presses your cheek. There's a halt in movement allowing you to assess the position and its gaps. Your eyes slam shut; you have to think and think quickly. You recognize a space between the legs and yank your top knee through, driving theirs to the wall. After creating an opening, you heave yourself out, bucking your shoes into their chest. Scrambling to stand, your ankle's caught in an excruciating hold and a growl from you is the first verbal sound. The skin on your left cheek burns again as it’s raked on the ground. You're being hauled back. You feel legs return to your torso and hands tearing yours apart to each ear. With your back flush on the floor, you finally look at your attacker.

What. the. fu-

"Connor! Hold them tig-Y/N?"

You glance back and forth at the two.

"Oh for fuck's sake."

----

#connor x reader #connor rk800 x reader #detroit connor x reader #dbh #dbh fanfic #dbh x reader #dbh connor #detroit become human #connor #rk800 #hank anderson #hank x connor #Hank's daughter #Bryan Dechart

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florencewellch · 4 years

Text

IT Chapter Two: A Failure.

I will be criticizing the characterizations, the plot, the horror aspects and I will be comparing the film to the 1990 miniseries and the 1986 novel.

Characterization:

Ben. While he is still similar to his book counterpart, the writing for his character in the movies could have been better, because apart from being the lovesick poet and the history buff (a role which belonged to Mike in the book and in the 1990 miniseries), he didn’t get much of a characterization beyond that. In the novel, Ben was still a curious kid, who was interested in architecture and physics, and he was still a hopeless romantic, but he was not quite the poet the movies and the fandom makes him out to be, and as he stated in the book the reason why he liked haikus is because they are “structured poetry”. He was also the one responsible for building the dam in the barrens, the silver bullets and the underground clubhouse, which, except for the latter, were all excluded from Muschietti’s films. Another important moment from the novel, which was left out of the movies, was the scene where he stood up to his Gym teacher, who was complicit in the bullying he suffered at the hands of his classmates, which could have been in the second film, instead of his flashback with Pennywise, who was disguised as Beverly, a scene which didn’t provide the viewer with any new information about the character and its sole purpose was to pay homage to the 1990 miniseries.

Beverly. The movie at its worst never gets as bad as the book did, but one would expect that two movies made in the 21st century would be more progressive than a novel written in the 1980s, while certain aspects of the character were slightly better handled in the movies, it was not as good as it could have been. In the first film, Beverly is an outcast due to false rumors of promiscuity, an odd choice, because in the novel and in the miniseries she was bullied for being poor and wearing secondhand clothes, and because classism was still an issue in 1989 (the year the first film is set), it’s still is todays, so that was an unnecessary change. As was the fact that she didn’t interact much with other Losers, aside from her love interests (Bill and Ben), but perhaps the most infuriating decision was turning her into a damsel in distress and removing her role as the sharpshooter of the group. There are still positive aspects in Ch1’s treatment of Bev, she was given a personality while her book counterpart was an incredibly flat character. In the second film the scene where she is physically assaulted by her husband is played for shock value, while in the novel Beverly left her husband severely injured and he was later killed by It, in the 2019 film this scene was never addressed in a meaningful way, so it just comes across as gratuitous violence. Perhaps the best decision the second movie made regarding Beverly’s character was replacing the one-night stand she had with Bill with just a kiss to show that those childhood feelings no longer existed.

Bill. He was much better handled in the movies, while in the book the other Losers (except for Mike and maybe Stan) idolize Bill, in the movies they don’t, which makes them equals. My only complaint would be that scene in the second movie where he tells Audra that he wishes she would be like that woman he wanted. This would have made sense if they were going to stick with book arc and have him cheat on Audra, because he was still attracted to Bev, but that didn’t happen so that scene felt out of place with the rest of the film.

Eddie. He is the case of a character who was relatively well-written in the first movie, but then suffered a complete personality change in the second film. While in the first movie Eddie was brave and kind, traits which his book counterpart has, Ch2 Eddie was mean-spirited and cowardly. Most of his arc and coding was given to Richie, because the director thought that his fear of illness and relationship with his mother was enough, but he failed to realize that his fears of illness/germs and that feeling that he’s rotten are due to his internalized homophobia. And Muschietti didn’t even do a good job at handling what remained of Eddie’s arc (his fear of illness and relationship with his mother), he played it for laughs. He did not even let Eddie have agency over his death, in the novel he chose to sacrifice himself to save Richie and Bill. In the movie he still saves Richie from the deadlights, but he turns his back on It, giving the creature the opportunity to stab and thus losing any agency the character had over his fate in the book and the miniseries. He also butchered his death scene, which in the novel was when he finally accepted himself:

“Fading, fading back. Becoming clearer and clearer, emptying out, all of the impurities flowing out of him so he could become clear, so that the light could flow through, and if he had had time enough he could have preached on this, he could have sermonized: Not bad, he would begin. This is not bad at all. But there was something else he had to say first. “Richie,” he whispered. “What?” Richie was down on his hands and knees, staring at him desperately. “Don’t call me Eds,” he said, and smiled. He raised his left hand slowly and touched Richie’s cheek. Richie was crying. “You know I … I …” Eddie closed his eyes, thinking how to finish, and while he was still thinking it over he died.” (Stephen King, IT pp. 1086-7)

And Muschietti replaced that with a scene that made Eddie’s death all about Richie’s grief and changed his last words to “I fucked your mom”. All the emotional impact his death had has been completely lost.

Mike. No doubt he was the character who got the worst treatment in both movies. In the first movie, he was barely given any screen time, his role as the history buff in the group was given to Ben and they killed off his parents. In the second film, they didn’t even give him his a proper place to live in, he was just leaving in an attic, they had him steal artifacts from Native Americans (I’ll discuss that later), drug one of his friends, lie about the Ritual of Chüd being effective and he was the only Loser who didn’t even get a flashback of their own. While in the book, he was the historian, had the best parents and was one of the most important Losers. The only positive change that Muschietti made was having Mike go down to the sewers with the group for the final battle.

Richie. Even though he was played by Bill Hader, he wasn’t given the opportunity to be funny, apart from 1 impression, which was improvised. Also they removed his struggles with his sexuality in the first film, which was poorly retconned in the second film, his own bi-coding in the book was ignored and replaced with Eddie’s gay-coding (whose sexuality was left ambiguous at best), had him try to run away every 5 seconds (which something he never did in the book, he is one of the most loyal Losers), made his parents negligent just to add more unnecessary angst, because Muschietti thinks trauma = nuance. And just flattened an interesting character and took away any charm he had in the book, miniseries and Ch1.

Stan. While he was still the least developed Loser in the book, we never even get his POV, he had more character traits than just “the kid who gets annoyed easily”. In the book he was an eccentric kid with an equally eccentric sense of humor, had an interest in ornithology (completely left out apart from that puzzle), a good relationship with his parents who encouraged their son’s hobbies and weren’t as orthodox as the movies portray them. They replaced his encounter with the dead boys in the Standpipe for a painting (apparently that was Andy projecting himself onto Stan), which makes no sense because the dead kids offended him and Stan is a logical person, he would not have been scared of a painting. And they romanticized his suicide, framing it was an act of heroism, which sends the wrong message about suicide and is inaccurate, because the reason why the Losers were able to fight It is because there were seven of them, It was even scared of them. So, saying that his death was necessary to keep the Losers united just misses the point.

Issues with the Plot:

Raising the stakes to be more dramatic ended up hurting the story, while in the book the Losers’ decision to stay and fight It was one of selflessness, they decided keep a promise they made when they were eleven years old, in the second movie if they didn’t destroy It, they would end up dying, so this decision became one of self-preservation.

In the movie if they didn’t kill It, they would end up dying. This damaged the plot and eliminated the feeling of friendship, in this movie the Losers barely felt like old friends and more like co-workers. Another odd choice was to include the Ritual of Chüd, turn into a Native American ritual and portray them in a stereotypical way and it was also unnecessary to include that, because the ritual doesn’t work, so the viewer just wasted an hour watching the Losers looking for their tokens and in the end It was killed by the power of bullying. Another flaw of Chapter Two is its runtime, the movie is almost three hours along, most of the flashbacks were unnecessary and its structure is rather disjointed.

The film also fails to address important scenes in a meaningful way, while in the book the murder of Adrian Mellon was based on a real event and was included to condemn this action, the film never addressed it (it wasn’t even mentioned afterwards), instead it was played for shock value. Probably because the actual scares of this were not effective at all, instead of relying on practical effect and trying to create tension, the filmmakers decided to use CGI for all these scenes. It would have been wiser if they had only used it in essential moments, for example, when It turned into a giant spider. In an attempt to avoid the criticism the 1990 miniseries faced for keeping the spider while also trying to stay faithful to the source material, they decided to create a ridiculous hybrid, a giant clown with spider legs, whose death was caused by the power of bullying. Ironic for a movie which was supposed to condemn such a thing. What the viewer was left with was a dull, unimpressive, charmless movie, filled with problems caused by the director’s failure to understand the source material and the characters.

#I spent 2 days working on this and have been thinking about this for a year so I'd appreciate reblogs #Ch2 was a mistake

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damn-stark · 4 years

Text

All That’s Left ch.5

Stars Wars Au

A/N- ;) share your thoughts lovelies! And i may not have uploaded the Finn request but I bust my ass to finish this chapter ;)

Warning- ANGST, swearing, violence, slow burn, long chapter

Pairing- Poe Dameron x reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“The Knights of Ren.”

At the knowledge of the group that was now most likely chasing you, the air suddenly felt thick, it began to feel as if your lungs weren’t breathing in enough oxygen. Like at any moment you were going to pass out or maybe just die here in this damn forsaken dry planet. At least then the pressure of being everyone’s saving grace was going to be off your shoulders.

Regardless, fear, anxiety often did that to you, it messed with your head and caused panic attacks in the worst moments. And knowing who they were wasn't a help. They were ruthless, Snokes band of misfits that did his dirty work, gifted with abilities like Ben’s and Rey’s. But unlike them the Knights of Ren used them for evil. Perhaps that’s why the fear you felt before was now heightened to the highest level.

They were here for you. Why else would they be where you were? They were here for you.

Now you weren’t one to curse. But this felt like the opportune moment to start. FUCK.

Poe’s gasp pulled you away from your running thoughts, while your eyes followed his walking figure until he stood beside you, seeing his eyes narrowed on the retreating ship. “What? But why—” his eyes shifted to you as realization hit on the only reason why.

“I have to go.” You burst as you began to walk away with some sort of determination. Some.

“You’re right, we have to warn the others.” Poe said as he was hot on your trial, clueless as to what you actually referred to.

“No, Poe. I have to go.” You explained, hearing said man come to a stop behind you. “Alone.”

“What do you mean?” He probed.

You sighed and turned to face him. “They’re here for me. I’m putting everyone in danger. I have to travel alone from now on.”

Poe’s dark eyebrows furrowed as he tried to comprehend the dumb idea you had, “why do you think we’re here in the first place?” He argued as he slowly began to walk towards you, “we weren’t forced to. We knew the risks, and we all chose to help you regardless. So don’t come at me with that savior crap.”

You swallow thickly and watch as he now stood a couple inches before you, his eyes softening at the sight of your disbelief at his words. You knew what he was saying was somewhat true, but that didn’t mean how he said it didn’t leave you speechless.

“I know you’re trying to look out for the crew. I appreciate that you are, but,” Poe paused and swallowed thickly, his hand reaching to grab yours, but stopping just inches before he could fully grab it. Just letting the heat of his hand ghost over your hand, and making the memory of what he was going to do moments ago resurface, making this moment much more tense than it should have felt. “We’re risking our lives for the resistance, for the galaxy, and you. For the hope your…immunity brings. I let you go and that hope is lost.”

I? I let you go?

No you’re reading too much into it. He didn’t mean it like that...but if he did?

No.

Your lips are left partially open at his words, your ability to speak is apparently non-existent. Again, fuck. Why did this man have this affect on you?

“We’re a team.” He continued in a softer tone, “We’re doing this together. You’re not leaving this crew and I’m not leaving you.”

Fuck. Because your anxiety wasn’t already over this planet's atmosphere.

Somehow a gentle smile is able to pull at the corner of your lips through your confusion and anxiety. When your eyes wander his perfectly tan face, you see he has the same smile on his lips, one that is almost hidden by his thick beard. You wanted to add something on what he mentioned a little bit ago, but it was impossible to say anything when all your brain seemed to focus on was how close he was standing in front of you, how loud it had gotten—and not loud like there was a lot going on around you, no. Loud in the aspect that all you could hear was your beating heart through your ears, you could practically hear the tension surrounding Poe and you. And the way he looked at you like if there wasn’t anything else in this world didn’t help your situation.

Stars, his eyes were so warmly brown.

Of course you had found him attractive after that...at odds first meeting. Who wouldn’t? but he had a girlfriend before and you respected that. But now...well now he didn’t, but there was another problem—Beside every inch of his soft pink lips being beyond tempting and inviting. The problem was that what you were feeling for Poe, couldn’t happen. You had a—

Every thought in your brain was suddenly thrown out the window at the feeling of Poe’s lips crashing with yours. It was so sudden that it took you a moment to react—given your reaction was to kiss him back.

How could you not, though? His lips were soft and his touch was comforting. The kiss felt sweet and electric, like you could hear fireworks popping off just by the feeling of this kiss. It was also so addicting that you never wanted it to stop. And you weren’t the only one who felt that way. Poe seemed to enjoy it, or as much you could tell. He gently placed his hand at the side of your head and pulled you closer to deepen the kiss, while his other hand traveled to your waist to pull you closer to him.

And he didn’t stop there, he began to guide you back so your back could hit the car as he was beginning to get more into the kiss, to really show you what he could do. But it was also at that feeling when you tried to pull away, placing your hands on his shoulders to push him back. He didn’t grasp the idea of what you were trying to do, not until you managed to break away. Even then he had a smile playing on the corner of his now swollen lips, something that made you hate yourself for what you were going to do.

“Please don’t do that again.” You mutter through heavy breaths, “I-I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Poe blinked repeatedly in disbelief at your words, his Adam’s apple rising and slowly sliding back down in his throat as he swallowed thickly. His eyebrows now deeply knotted and his eyes trying to read your face in case you were just somehow playing a cruel joke.

It wasn’t, but that’s what confused him, your words contradicted your actions.

“But—”

“Just don’t.” You tear your eyes away from him and add something else in a low whisper before heading towards the car, “let’s go get the others.”

——

“Ben! Where’s Ben?!” The moment those words left your mouth, said tall man walked out of the Falcon, his eyes solely focused on you and searching every inch of your body in case you had somehow gotten injured in your short leave. “It’s the knights of Ren they’re after us.”

“What?” Rey cut in, her eyes bouncing from a very upset Poe and you. “How did they track us all the way here?”

“They were in Ajan Kloss too. I saw their ship—”

“You saw that they were following us?” Rey interjected sharply.

“Yeah—I mean no. I saw their ship but I didn’t know they were there for us or that they were going to follow us?” You explained in a less urgent voice, feeling now more discouraged knowing that she wasn’t going to go easy on you.

“You saw them and didn’t tell anyone?” She snapped.

What was her problem with you? Did you do something to her for her to act so snippy with you?

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t think they were after us. I thought they were with Armitage. I didn’t think they were going to follow us through hyperspace!”

Rey scoffed and shot you a glare, her lips parting to throw you a remark. “Didn’t think—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ben cut her off, “they’re following the Falcon, not the car. We have to leave before they catch up.”

“Too late.” A strange voice smugly interrupts, “we’ve caught up.” The voice appears from behind the Falcon, a mask with a single red marking on it hiding the features. It’s head turned from Ben and then to the rest of the crew, before lowering it’s head and reaching the sides of its helmet to pull it off its head and reveal a man. A strangely attractive man.

Was it weird to think of him that way when you knew he was out to get you?

A little.

Regardless he was, no denying it.

“Nice to see you again kid.” The man directed to Ben, “even if you never did accept my offer, it’s good to see you’re doing okay.” It was hard to tell if he was being sincere. The way he expressed it. In such a cool and husky voice made it seem that he truly meant every word.

“We have nothing you want or we may want from you. You and your merry band of assassins can leave.” Ben spoke bluntly, making the man scoff and for his deeply blue eyes to search the crowd until they found you, a smug smile soon thereafter appearing on his lips.

“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” He voiced smugly as he slightly threw his arms out as if almost offended. “No manners.” He shook his head and clicked his tongue before continuing. “But where are mine, am I right? I am called Ren. And I’m here to respectfully take…” His finger waved around the crew until it was pointed at you. “You.”

At the gesture, Poe took out his blaster and inched towards you to keep you behind him.

“I said respectfully.” Ren continued while he slowly walked towards you, “come with me right now and I won’t make my knights forcefully take you out of the grasp of your brave boy here.”

You gulped and stayed quiet, unable to keep your eyes from examining Ren’s heavily scarred and strangely exposed upper body.

“She’s not who you want.” Ben added, “leave her alone.”

Ren kept walking towards you, the smugness never wiping away from his features and instead seeming to become even more smug. “The girl I’m looking for is a cute thing. She’s about...yay high.” Ren lowered and lifted his hand until it matched your height before continuing, “she has very pretty e/c eyes and h/c hair, she also has a very important bite mark.”

At his words you instinctively pulled your jacket sleeve over your hand to cover what he mentioned, while with your hand you grabbed onto Poe’s as he remained by you with his head held up high. His body blocked you from moving towards Ren, or from him being able to reach you—like if that bothered the man as he kept moving towards you.

“Oh wow.” He grinned, “Look. We have ourselves a lucky winner. I found her.” He cocked his head to the side and now offered you a crooked smile. “Don’t be shy girl, it’s okay I don’t bite.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” You retorted.

“Leave her alone, Ren!” Ben bellowed from behind him while he had his lightsaber on the ready. “Or you’re not going to like the way this is going to end.”

Ren swiftly turned away from you to face Ben, his own hand now on his own lightsaber hilt while the other was out by his side. “Hell, kid! Look at the balls on you! You’re definitely not that scrawny little boy no more!”

Poe slid his hand away from yours and used the fact that Ren was distracted to turn to face you and instruct, or more command you, “Get in the car.”

“But—”

“I wasn’t asking. Go.”

He didn’t even make direct eye contact with you, he just said what he said and turned away to quietly motion the others to do the same. Something they all managed to do without alerting Ren, who was still arguing with Ben and getting dangerously close.

“We have to leave now that he’s distracted, we won’t make it out with him trying to get us.” Poe explained as he got in the driver's seat.

Your eyebrows furrowed and your eyes went from him and Ben.

“No,” you began.

“What about Ben?” Rey and you said unison.

The brunette and you made quick and awkward eye contact at your shared interaction, neither of you saying anything else in that regard. It would be too weird if you did anyway. It’s still too weird.

“Yeah, about that.” Poe mused.

“Do we have to get him?” Zorii questioned.

He might be rude, but yes, yes you did. He was as much part of the crew as anyone else. And he wouldn’t leave any of them….well he would but that was beside the point. You couldn’t leave him.

Chewbacca expressed a low growl, and Rey nodded her head to agree. “Chewie’s right. We can’t leave him.”

Poe’s eye roll was seen through his rear view mirror before his groan expressed what he felt. “Fine. Hold on.” Without another warning, Poe stepped on the gas and drove directly towards Ren. Said man turned at the sound of the car rapidly driving towards him, his actions to stop the car too late as Poe slammed into him and the man went flying back.

“What the hell?!” Finn bellowed, expressing what everyone else felt at the action. Well mostly everyone.

Even if you didn’t say it, and even if you weren’t the one driving, that felt like a rush of excitement. It was exhilarating.

“Hurry, Ben get in!”

Without needing it to get repeated, Ben rushed to hop onto the car. Not taking Poe long to drive out of the place and making the tires skid on the ground, pulling dirt and making a dust cloud as he floored it. Leaving the Falcon behind.

“Ben, are you okay?” You asked in a worried tone.

Ben looked over his shoulder to you, his lips parted and sharing a blink, looking almost surprised you would ask him something like that. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He blinked to look at Poe “I’ll be better if Dameron stepped on it.”

Poe scoffed, “they’re not behind us, we’re on the—” he spoke too early as several blasts hit the back of the car, and shattered the rear windshield. Completely making the fear from before return tenfold.

“Shit! Shit!” Poe rambled as he slammed on the gas pedal. “Chewie, get your crossbow and start shooting them out of the sky!”

The Wookiee nodded in agreement and stuck the top half of his body out the back of the open car window, repeatedly shooting the looming threat on your tail, while Ben, Rey and Zorii helped by shooting from the windows they were seated by. All while Finn and you had to duck down as more blasts hit the back of the car.

You hated being useless in times like these. It sucked.

“How are you doing?” Finn asked to pass the time.

Your eyes shifted to meet his, a scoff escaping your lips, “wonderful. You?”

“Oh well I could be better. How did the mission go?”

You gripped onto the bottom of the seat as Poe did a sharp turn into a corn field in hopes to lose them their, but they were in the sky and you were on the ground.

It didn’t work.

“It...it. Well it was totally something.” You continued.

“Care to elaborate?”

You briefly glanced at Poe and then turned back to Finn, shaking your head and simply answering with a brief answer that definitely didn’t have more to it. “Well you know the norm, infected and well. That’s it.” BB8 chirped to add more and reveal your complete truth, but you kicked him gently and showed him a forced smile and spoke through gritted teeth, “shut it, ball.”

Finn was going to ask about what he just heard, but the sound of something exploding from the sky made you both look up to see one of the ship's wings on fire.

“One more shot!” Rey exclaimed as she aligned her blaster. Right when she was going to hit it, the object was shot out of her hand. “Hell!”

Without hesitation you handed her your blaster, something she seemed surprised to see and take. Just because she was snippy and weird with you didn’t mean you were going to be like that with her. She didn’t do anything to make you mad, and you didn’t do anything to her.

She was just weird. For some reason.

Regardless one more blast to the burning wing sent the ship burning down. Making everyone in the car celebrate on the little win.

“Thank you.” Rey whispered with a faint smile.

You offered her a short nod before taking back your blaster and awkwardly looking away.

“Well that was something.” You added as you sunk into your seat. “It was exciting though.”

“I’ll say.” Poe agreed, his eyes meeting yours through the rear view mirror, and letting his gaze linger for a moment longer until after you looked away. “We’ll be okay for a while. They’re still alive, but they won’t catch up anytime soon.”

Ben scoffed, “we hope.”

——

It was too cramped.

Usually confined spaces weren't a problem. Especially when you were in the safety of a group of people. The more people the better, y’know.

But as if right now, all you wanted to do was jump out of the car or just shoot everyone. Either one would work. Something just to end all this annoying and awkward atmosphere. Especially around Poe.

Importantly around him, who by the way has chosen to live in ignorance of your existence.

Which is stupid since he alone was the instigator! He kissed you first. And even then he alone was choosing to act as if you didn’t exist, he would only talk to you to share a couple words, but beside that he would avoid you. And you for one were okay with being his friend and acting like the kiss never happened, but he just didn’t bother to try.

But that wasn’t all, oftentimes you would catch him staring. He thought he was being discreet, but he wasn’t….were you though? Perhaps not. Regardless he could at least try to be a friend….but maybe you could try harder too. Even if everything about him made you want to kiss him again. Just to relive that moment over and over again. To be more than just friends. But that was also a stretch.

Damned bite.

“Are you even listening?” Ben asked, breaking you from your stupor….

You blinked, “what?”

Ben quirked an eyebrow and shared a look with his Wookiee friend. “What Chewie said.”

You blink again.

“Sorry I didn’t listen. What was it?”

“Of course you didn’t.” Ben grumbled under his breath.

Chewbacca repeated what he had said in the moments you were gazing? Admiring? Ogling? Watching? No, that one sounds weird. Gazing. That’s it. The moment you were gazing at Poe.

“He said that he’s tired of being cramped in this car for multiple hours with no breaks.”

Ben rolled his eyes and offered you a narrowed look. “I give up with you.”

You nudge his shoulder with your own and offer him a smile, “I was joking.” Ben watches you from the corner of his eyes with a straight unamused face. “You’re a great teacher. Now I won’t be lost when Chewie is talking to me.” As soon as you look away, Ben can’t help the smile that grows on his face at your compliment.

“We can stop and camp for the night.” Ben added.

“We’re almost there.” Poe argued. “I can drive for the rest of the night.”

Ben glared at him through the rear view mirror. “What’s the point? The headlights are busted, if you crash into something then it won’t do any good.”

“The knights of Ren are still after us. We take a break now, they’ll catch up. What would be the point then, Ben?”

Here they go. Right on schedule.

Zorii groans loudly next to you and hands you a couple of credits.

“Told you.” You quip in a low whisper so neither arguing man heard you.

Zorii shakes her head and shrugs, “bet you ten that Poe gives in and says a stupid remark.”

You smirk and nod, both of you looking back to the scene you both were now used to.

“Fine! But if they catch up and kill us then don’t complain to me!” Poe remarks.

“Ben won’t complain to you because we’ll be dead If they shoot us.” Zorii teased, just irritating Poe even more, “Obviously.”

You hold back a laugh and hand Zorii her credits without having to say anything, but share a smile.

——

It was about damn time! Anymore time spent in that damned box of a car and your ability to walk would be only but a dream since they would have stopped working on how cramped they were. To the point where several hours passed and it seemed that you couldn’t even feel them. Unmoving for hours is a pain. Add two men that are constantly at each other’s throat and well that’s just icing on the cake.

At least being stuck and thinking you’re going to die in the void of cold space is more bearable than hearing Ben and Poe argue.

“I’ll go search for something to burn while you all get started.” Poe comments, shoving his hands in his pockets and lifting his shoulders to keep somewhat warm.

And you didn’t know what it was, the icy breeze that hit you, or the fact that sitting and waiting in one spot for him to return was almost the equivalent pain to sitting in a car, but you confidently spoke up.

“I’ll go with.” All eyes fell on you, causing your face to heat up and causing you to slightly regret announcing it in such a dramatic way. “He-he needs someone to watch his back.”

“Y/N.”

“Ben.” You shoot back while you begin walking after Poe, “I’ll be fine. We both will.” Without waiting for his response you turn away and rush to catch up to Poe. Said man just remaining quiet as you walked by him on the dry terrain.

Probably just ignoring your presence altogether.

You glance at him a couple times, waiting for him to say anything, but all he does is let the tension build up around you

“So…” You roll out slowly, “are we going to talk about the gundark in the room?”

Poe scratches the side of his beard and lowers his head. “What are you talking about?”

You groan, “you not talking to me.”

Poe looks up again and swallows thickly, his hesitation lingering for a couple minutes. “I talk to you. I talked to you this morning.”

You scoff and pull your jacket closer to your body, “you literally just said “can you hand me that?”

Poe finally looks at you after you mocked his voice. Hiding an amused smile that threatened to show. “Cute.”

“Five words. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.” You interrupt, “just talk to me like you did before.”

“What do you want me to talk to you about?”

Stars he’s being difficult.

“I don’t know! Anything! Just don’t pretend I don’t exist!” You didn’t mean to raise your voice. That was just sudden.

But also something that caught his full attention.

Poe licked his lips and sighed deeply, his hand going to scratch his beard again and returning to his pocket. His eyes nervously shifting from you to the path ahead, before he finally shared what he’s been keeping in.

“Okay…..then I can say how it just feels weird that I kissed you and you seemed to like it but you just coldly rejected me.”

“Oh, maker, Poe!” You groan.

Poe stops walking and pulls your arm to make you stop in front of him, his eyes narrowing on you and his face turning serious. Over all just making your heart rapidly beat…..

At the way his look slightly...scared you. Yeah, that’s it. Nothing more to it….ha.

“See exactly why I didn’t say anything!”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you scoff, “you ignored me because you thought I was going to overreact? Poe, it was just a kiss!”

Poe let your arm go and blinked a couple times, his eyes frantically studying your face for a further explanation or a trace of this being some sick joke.

“Just a kiss, huh?” He nodded, pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek before he huffed and began to walk off.

You called out behind him. “It can’t mean anything more!”

Even if you wanted it to mean much more.

He stopped, but kept his back to you. “Why not?”

“Because.” You mumbled.

Because my life is sealed. Because my life has an expiration date—is what you wanted to say.

“Why not?” He repeated whilst he turned to face you.

You swallowed thickly and shrugged. Suddenly feeling unable to say anything anymore after the surprising confident outburst.

“Why—”

“Because, Poe my death is fated. Once I reach your base it��s over for me. All you’re going to get from me is heartbreak. And trust me you don’t want that.”

Poe’s shoulders dropped, his face softening and partially basked by the soft colors of the night sky as it came near and pushed the sun away.

“I’m sorry.” You finished before wiping the tears off your cheeks and spinning on your heels to rejoin the group.

“I’ve told you already,” he spoke up making you stop in your tracks. “No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not even me.”

Through the loud thoughts running in your head, you didn’t realize he was walking up to you until he turned you around to face him.

“But you don’t want this,” you whisper, “you don’t want me. Why would you? I’m basically dead.”

“I do.” He moves his knuckle to the bottom of your chin to lift your head so you could see him instead of the ground, his hands then moving to cup your cheeks. “I do want you. I don’t know what it is about you, but I do want to risk everything.”

“Why?” You sniffled as you shifted your eyes to the ground. “I have nothing to offer you.”

“Look at me. Y/N look at me.” Slowly doing as he said you blinked to look at him, “all I want is you. Nothing more.” He leans in closer and presses a kiss on your lips. An action you stopped even if your heart told you otherwise.

“Even if I did decide to do this….there's still Ben.” Poe’s face dropped at the sound of his name, his mind running with different outcomes and how you were going to finish your sentence. A slight bit of hidden jealousy sparking within him. “Ben wouldn’t like that we’re together. At all.”

“I don’t care about him.” Poe responded bitterly. “Why does he matter?”

You pulled away and wiped your tears again. “Because he told me not to get attached. If I do this it’s what I’m doing.” Even if you were beginning to get attached already.

What the hell are you even thinking?

“I don’t care what he has to say. Why should you? He’s not anybody to tell you anything.” He argued, his scowl returning.

“He saved my life.” You snapped, “without him and his dad I’d be dead. I may not see him as anything more than a friend, but I respect him….and if he finds out that I’m doing what he told me against, then he would hurt you and I don’t want that.”

Poe stood quiet for a moment, his eyes drifting to the ground and his hands going into his jacket pocket, a perplexed look replacing his scowl. Letting your eyes wander his face, the heartbeat in your chest picking up again, feeling butterflies in your stomach at the realization of how close he was and at the slightest look of him.

Damn he was a beautiful man. And beautiful is meant wholeheartedly.

The things you would let him do….

“What if…” he spoke up, making your shoulders jump as he broke you from your stupor, “what if we didn’t tell him or anyone. What if we kept our relationship a secret?”

“Poe.”

“I told you, I’m willing to risk it. I know that you may not have long, but I want to risk everything. Please let me.” He cupped your cheeks again and gently began to caress your cheeks with his thumb.

A sigh left your mouth, your hands reached to grab his. An unreadable reaction painted on your face. With a previous thought repeatedly running in your head. What the hell were you thinking?

All you did know at this precise moment was two things, your answer, and the fact that every emotion Poe felt over this situation, over you, clung to his last word.

“Please.”

A/N-Here’s our main boy Ren. The leader of the knights of Ren!! And before you ask. Yes, yes I do find myself intrigued by this fictional character.

Tagged- @thescarletknight2014 , @lanatheawesome , @yodaboo , @geo-winchester , @ginger-swag-rapunzel , @mamanoota5 , @peachdameron , @roserrys , @too-lit-for-fanfic , @jimpyknees , @softly-sad

Permanent taglist- @commondazy , @ms-dont-care

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sonicgetsrawed · 4 years

Text

Put it on Repeat, Don’t Let it Stop

Basically a fic with the boys as exes in a ghost hunter au!!! Warning for blood, violence, temporary character death, emotional angst, actual death but in the past it’s a ghost hunter au someone had to be deaded!!!! There is a happy ending though!!! Enjoy!!!!

It had been six months, two weeks, and three days since Varian left. Five months, one week, and four days since Yong returned to school. Four months on the dot since Nuru accepted an internship at some tech company and quit. Three months and five days since his last case. And back to six months, two weeks, and three days since it all fell apart.

Hugo dragged his feet across the floor as he poured himself another cup of coffee before promptly sitting back down at his desk. The sunlight barely shining through the blinds on the windows of the dingy studio apartment. It was a temporary arrangement he kept telling himself, just until he could get back on his feet, but that temporary arrangement somehow quickly turned to half a year. Hugo sighed as he propped his feet up on the desk, scrolling through job searches as he sipped at his coffee, still hoping his work phone would ring, the outdated phone sitting on the corner of the desk, the screen covered in a thin layer of dust. His lips curled in disgust as he scrolled past yet another add for a dog walker, just how many dogs were there in this god forsaken city? He reluctantly clicked on it, he was almost out of money and he was fairly certain Donella wouldn’t excuse his rent again. He was halfway through the application when he heard his work phone ring.

“Fuck.” Hugo cursed under his breath, jumping at the sound, some of his coffee spilling from the mug and onto his shirt. He eagerly reached for the phone that had remained dormant for the past three months, his breath hitching when a familiar name and picture flashed across the screen. Babe, with hearts on both sides of the name, Varian’s freckled face and buck tooth smile staring back at him, his blue eyes captivating even in the picture. Hugo’s heart stopped, his finger hovering over the answer button, he hadn’t heard from Varian since they broke up. He’d pretty much erased all existence of the boy from his life, burned photographs, deleted pictures off his phone, he’d even gone as far as to delete his contact information, the only thing he didn’t have the heart to toss out was that stupid plush raccoon Varian had somehow left behind, which now was stuffed into a box and shoved underneath his bed. He thought he’d purged Varian from all places except his head, heart. Obviously the only thing he missed was clearing out his work phone. But this had to be a work call or else Varian would’ve just called his personal number. He wasn’t petty enough to scream at him through his work phone, and as much as Varian could hold a grudge it wasn’t likely he was calling to argue after six months. With only another moment of hesitation Hugo accepted the call, shakily bringing the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” He could hear the sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line. It made his heart stop, all the memories he had since locked away of their two years together came rushing back, the nights they spent together, the arguments they had, the tears they shed. Even the small moments they shared, Varian starting his day with a cup of hot chocolate instead of coffee, the way he’d pack Hugo’s lunch with two apples because he always seemed to skip breakfast, and the random kisses to his cheeks whenever Varian got particularly excited about something. He almost missed it, but it was all tainted with the memory of their breakup. The hurtful things Varian said, the things he said in return, when Varian packed his things and left with nothing more than a slam of the door. How he spent day after day waiting for a call, a text, anything that might hint at there still being a chance at salvaging their relationship, but nothing ever came, and as many times as he typed out his own apology, his finger hovered over the call button, he never had the guts to actually go through with it, so the best thing to do, the only thing to do was to move on.

“Hi.” Varian answered, his voice soft, hesitant, shaking slightly from what had to be nerves. Hugo bit his tongue fighting back the urge to both comfort him and yell at him for the things he said. Varian spoke again before Hugo could calm himself enough to address the call rationally. “I, uh, I need your help.”

This time Hugo’s breath hitched. They had worked together once upon a time, Varian knew just as much about this kind of stuff as he did, if he was asking for his help it must be pretty serious. “What did you do?” Hugo asked, not caring that his annoyance slipped into his words. Varian always seemed to push the boundaries further than he should, it was only a matter of time before it bit him in the ass, and now Hugo had to help clean up the mess.

The silence on the other side stretched out longer than it should’ve, Hugo’s patience wearing thin. He was about two seconds from just hanging up the phone when Varian spoke again, something odd in his voice, was it fear? “It’s probably best if I show you.”

Hugo pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh. He didn’t really want to see Varian in person, but he had to if he wanted this case, if he wanted to get paid. “Okay.”

*******************

Two hours and a lot of cleaning later, not that there was a lot of cleaning to be done, it was mostly surface cleaning and trying to hide the peeling paint, the hole in the floor that he’d thrown a rug over, although there was nothing he could do about the terribly outdated appliances. He was just trying to make it look like his life hadn’t fallen apart the moment Varian walked out of it. A soft knock rang out through the apartment. Hugo mentally cursed himself for not changing out of his pajama bottoms and coffee stained tank top. Reluctantly he swung the door open, the creak of its hinges almost deafening, the cold air biting his exposed skin.

He felt sick, it was almost like he was looking at a ghost, ironic given his line of business, but Varian looked the same as the day he walked out. Those infuriatingly adorable front teeth sticking out from his slightly parted lips, the splash of freckles along his nose and cheeks, his dark hair sprinkled with white from the snow, that odd blue streak sticking out amongst the dark locks, and his eyes, his eyes, the same beautiful blue that he could easily get lost in, even though they had lost some of their sparkle, their wonder.

“Can I come in?” Varian asked, his voice sending shivers down Hugo’s spine. It was so different seeing him in person, hearing his voice loud and clear without the static of the phone line. The younger shaking slightly as he pulled his too big coat tighter around his frame, the patchwork on it making Hugo think it had to be a hand me down from Eugene.

“Yeah.” Hugo answered, his throat feeling unusually dry all of a sudden as he stepped out of the doorway to let Varian in. Hugo quickly shut the door before anymore warm air could escape, taking a moment to examine his ex a little more closely. He looked thinner than he already was when they were together, his ribs poking out slightly against the fabric of his shirt, he looked paler too, his dark hair only making it more evident, and then there were the dark circles underneath his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t gotten a good night's sleep in six months. The more bitter part of him was happy that Varian seemed to be doing as poorly as he was, but the more compassionate side wanted to see Varian thriving, doing better without him, to come back stronger.

“Nice place.” Varian said, startling Hugo out of his thoughts, his eyes narrowing at the comment. Although he wasn’t entirely sure if it was a jab or not, Varian’s tone even and neutral.

“Thanks.” Hugo replied flatly. His eyes momentarily locked with Varian’s, something flashing across Varian’s face before he shook his head, settling in the seat across from Hugo’s. Hugo frowned, taking his seat and pulling out a notebook to write on. “So, why does the great Varian need my help?”

“Can we please not do this?” Varian said with a roll of his eyes. He was hunched in on himself, defensive, nervous, spooked even, Hugo refused to believe it was solely from having to come to him.

But ever the asshole he was Hugo feigned innocence, curious as to how far he could push Varian’s buttons. How much did he actually need his help? “Do what?”

“Thi- never mind.” Varian sighed in defeat, slumping back in his chair, eyes closing for a brief second. He looked downright exhausted, guilt welling in Hugo’s chest at trying to push him. “You know the castle my dad was hired to renovate?”

“No shit. I’ve been trying to get in there for years.” Hugo said. He remembered Varian showing him the blueprints he sketched just a few weeks before their breakup, he was surprised they hadn’t started renovating yet. The castle was a major tourist attraction, and it was rumored to have supernatural activity through the roof. Hugo had never gotten to see it though, the castle had been closed to the public for the past five years, which just so happened to be when he moved to New Saporia. There had been a tragic accident at the castle, the public was told, someone died and it needed to be shut down. However it seemed that time was coming to an end. He knew the tourist industry had taken quite the hit when the castle shut down even though the main island was still open, the castle had been the main attraction.

“Well, today’s your lucky day. A few of the workers complained about some odd activity and my dad asked me if I could check it out and, well-“ Hugo raised an eyebrow at Varian’s unexpected pause, the younger rolling up the sleeve of his jacket and presenting his arm.

“Shit.” Hugo mumbled underneath his breath, his fingers ghosting over the angry red mark on Varian’s forearm, a crudely drawn Coronan sun etched into his skin by what he assumed to be a nail. It was strangely warm to the touch, almost as if he were sticking his fingers close to a flame. There was only one way he could’ve gotten that mark, only one spirit that was known for using the last symbol of the Coronan reign. “Varian, what did you do?”

“I summoned the Princess.”

Hugo’s breath caught in his throat, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. It was no wonder Varian needed his help, this was way out of his league, hell it was way out of Hugo’s league. There were books, a shit ton of books, on the history, the legends, of the last princess of Corona. On how her life ended unexpectedly and it led to the fall of Corona, and more importantly how she never seemed able to move on from the castle, left wandering the halls waiting for her loved ones to return for all eternity. Which is why he moved here in the first place, to catch a glimpse of the Princess, if he could prove her existence he’d finally be taken seriously for once. It was a dangerous task, the few people that had supposedly gone looking for her turned up dead, all sporting the mark that Varian now had on his arm. And apparently his stupid ass ex-boyfriend had decided it was a good fucking idea to do the same.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Hugo ground out, his jaw clenched in anger, frustration, definitely not concern.

“I thought I could handle it. I thought I could help her.” Varian shot back, pulling his arm out of Hugo’s grasp.

“Help? You can’t help her! She’s a fucking ghost! This is why I always have to clean up your messes! This is why you can’t handle it!” Hugo shouted, slamming his hands down on the desk. He hadn’t even realized when he stood, but he was damn well aware of when Varian did. The chair he had been sitting in clattering to the floor, the shorter’s lips pursed, eyebrows furrowed, the small twitch of his nose that happened only when he was particularly worked up over something. They were nose to nose, so close he could feel the soft puffs of Varian’s breath. It was enough to send him spiraling, forcing him to take a step back, his expression softening when he realized Varian was more than scared, he was terrified.

“Fuck off! I was just- forget it. I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Varian huffed, turning on his heel, a determined look on his face as he marched towards the door.

“Varian, wait!” Hugo protested, grabbing Varian’s arm before he could get any further. He released him immediately, a burning sensation shooting up and down his arm as soon as he came into contact with Varian’s skin. Varian pulled away as well, tugging his sleeve down, his eyes wild in fear. Hugo looked down at his hand, the tips of his fingers an angry red as if he’d touched a hot stove, but the rest of his hand fine due to the gloves he wore. He frowned at it, it was an odd effect but they could figure it out. If the Princess really had been the mythical Sundrop he supposed it made sense for her mark to burn.

“Hugo, I’m-“ Varian started, stopping himself before he could say that word, the word they both had trouble saying, because if he said it now, here, why couldn’t he say it then? When he needed to hear it.

Hugo swallowed thickly, placing a fake smile on his face as he waved his hand through the air. “Don’t sweat it, Goggles.” Hugo froze, Varian stiffening at the nickname. He hadn’t meant to say it, it was a stupid slip of the tongue, but he’d said it nonetheless. It could’ve been worse he could’ve used an actual pet name. At least Goggles he could work with. Still, it didn’t help the already awkward situation, Varian seemed more on edge, his ears tinted pink from embarrassment, anger, annoyance? He wasn’t sure which, but none of them would do him any favors. And they needed to be able to somewhat work together to figure this out.

“This was a bad idea.” Varian said finally, an odd look crossing his face as he took a step back, looking ready to run. Hugo’s stomach flipped as he was hit with the overwhelming feeling of deja vu, it was so much like that night, so much like it. Every part of his mind was screaming at him not to let Varian go again, he couldn’t lose him again, he wouldn’t let him slip through his fingers, he couldn’t, he couldn’t.

Hugo took a deep breath, it wasn’t the same, it wasn’t like that night, this was strictly business. He had to push aside personal feelings and do his fucking job. “Varian.” The name felt odd on his tongue now, bitter almost, but Varian seemed to take more kindly to it than nicknames, relaxing just the smallest amount. “I’m- let me help you. This isn’t something you can do on your own, obviously.”

He expected an argument, something to hint at that attitude that he used to love so much, but Varian simply nodded, and maybe that was the scariest of all. “Okay. I- thank you.”

*******************

Varian’s car was exactly as he remembered it. The beat up leather seats peeling, the scratch on the left side from that particularly bad accident Varian had been in last year still had yet to be patched up, the car still taking three turns of the key to actually turn on, even the passenger's seat was adjusted just the way Hugo liked it, so if he had to guess Varian hadn’t had anyone in the passenger’s seat since their breakup, or at least anyone that cared to adjust it. Hugo scrolled through the radio stations, looking for something to fill the suffocatingly awkward silence, it was an hour drive and he really didn’t want it to be miserable. Hugo froze, an eyebrow raising as he realized all the preset stations were still to the ones he liked, and he knew for a fact Varian did not like them. They always had vastly different music tastes, usually sticking to instrumental music when they were working on projects together.

“I haven’t had time to change them.” Varian said, casting a sideways glance at Hugo, his shoulders tense.

“Naturally.” Hugo said, settling on a station and sitting back in his seat, eyes focused on the passing buildings.

“I’ve been busy.” Varian explained, his grip tight on the steering wheel.

“I believe you.” He didn’t.

**********************

“We’re here.” Came Varian’s soft voice, Hugo jolting awake.

“Fuck.” Hugo mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. A lot of good that coffee did. Hugo unbuckled his seatbelt, scrambling out of the car, Varian already out and unlocking the gate that surrounded the island.

“We’ll have to walk to the castle.” Varian said, pushing the gate open. Hugo nodded, grabbing his equipment from the backseat. “I don’t think you’ll need that.”

Hugo frowned at that, pulling his bag closer, the chill of the night air sending shivers down his spine, or perhaps it was something else. “I’d like to be on the safe side.”

“Suit yourself.” Varian shrugged, gesturing for Hugo to follow him to the other side of the gate, locking it behind them, a strange feeling washing over Hugo. For better or for worse things were going to be drastically different once they left.

The walk to the castle was just as quiet as the car ride, perhaps more so. There was something bone chilling about the empty streets at night, just the two of them, the echoing of their shoes on the cobblestone, and the white puffs of air in front of them. It stopped when they got to the castle. Usually spirits gave off a colder aura, but it was strangely warm the closer they got to the castle, Hugo even shedding his winter coat by the time they reached it.

“Why is it so fucking hot?” Hugo groaned, trailing behind Varian as he led them into the castle, their flashlights their only guide.

“You’ll see.” Varian said, his eyes darkening. He had opted to keep his jacket on, shivering even in the overbearing warmth of the castle. Hugo placed his jacket around Varian’s shoulders, averting his eyes as soon as it was on. Varian didn’t say anything but he could tell he was grateful by the way he pulled the jacket closer.

Something was very wrong and it was affecting Varian.

Hugo moved his flashlight around, looking at all the various paintings that lined the wall. He recognized a few from history classes, stopping briefly at the portrait of King Andrew the first ruler of New Saporia. His rule hadn’t lasted long, the man dying an untimely death somewhere in his first year of rule. There was something disturbing about the man, much of the history before the rise of New Saporia had been erased, no one but the man in the picture knowing the truth. He wondered what secrets he kept, what the truth actually was about this place. Why had Corona actually fallen?

“This way.” Varian called, Hugo tearing his eyes away from the portrait and following the sound of Varian’s voice. Varian was half sticking out of the wall, a large tapestry covering the hole in it.

“Of course there’s a secret passage.” Hugo huffed, quickly making his way inside the dark tunnel. Somehow it got hotter still. Hugo could feel the sweat starting to form on his brow, Varian shivering more intensely. He was really starting to get worried. As much as he’d claim that he hated the younger for breaking his heart he didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, he didn’t want him to die.

“This is it.” Varian said, stopping in the middle of a circular room, various items lining the walls as if they had been put down here for storage. One item in particular caught Hugo’s eye, another portrait but this time of the last Princess of Corona. She sat in a chair, her parents on either side, one side torn, the other faded to time, only the Princess really recognizable. Her smile was bright and kind, her green eyes welcoming, her long blonde hair done up in an intricate braid. There was nothing that screamed wrong about her, and yet she was the source of all their current problems.

“Hello!” A female voice called, the painting suddenly lighting up as a golden transparent figure came out of it. Hugo let out a yelp, dropping his flashlight as he scrambled back, not that he needed it anymore, the whole room lighting up at the Princess’s arrival. “Oh, I see you brought a friend!”

Her laugh filled the room, bouncing off the walls in a tone that was far too high to be human. In fact she looked almost nothing like her portrait. She glowed a golden yellow from her chest, the color fading the further it moved away from the center, her hair was loose, the strands moving through the air as if she was under water, her feet not even visible, not that she needed them she hovered in the air, dangerously close to Hugo’s face. He couldn’t help but stare into those soulless golden orbs she had for eyes, her smile stretching her face too wide, her lips too thin, just the edges of her sharp teeth visible in her smile. And she was warm, so terribly warm.

“He’s not a friend.” Varian said, sounding weak. Hugo would’ve turned to look at him but he was terrified to let the Princess out of his sight.

She frowned as she tapped her nails together, her too long nails, almost as long as her fingers themselves. In fact it didn’t even look like there was a separation from her fingers and her nails. “Oh, dear.” She said, a pout forming on her face as she gave Hugo a once over, clicking her tongue in distaste before she flew over him and to Varian. “Did he hurt you?”

She floated upside down, watching Varian with a sick sort of amusement in her eyes. The gold aura pulsing in time with the mark on Varian’s arm, which was now glowing. Hugo cursed under his breath, so that was how she was killing them. She was draining their energy until they dropped dead, for what he didn’t know, but he didn’t really care to find out. Hugo swung his bag around fully intending to pull out the ghost banishing plasma gun they had developed early on in their ghost hunting careers, but a small shake of Varian’s head stopped him. Hugo froze, listening for now. He could watch wait for a better moment to blast the bitch to hell.

The Princess’s head snapped towards Hugo, the rest of her body not even moving with it, a questioning look on her face before turning back to Varian. And then she laughed, it was a different laugh than before, while it previously had an almost playful tone to it, this one only spoke of ill intent, almost like nails on a chalkboard. Every inch of his body screamed to run to leave Varian to the fate he chose, but he stayed, this time he stayed.

“He did hurt you, didn’t he?” She asked, her nails dragging along Varian’s face, his complexion getting paler still. He looked like he might drop at any second, the only thing keeping him upright being her clawed hand and her golden locks cocooning him. He watched entranced as her eyes glowed brighter, Varian’s taking on the golden hue for just a second, a gasp escaping his lips, a tear rolling down his cheek. What the fuck was happening? What the fuck was she doing? “I won’t tolerate people hurting my friends.”

In an instant it felt all the warmth was sucked from the room, leaving nothing but the biting cold air as her hair started to change from golden to pitch black. She let go of Varian and he dropped like a stone, his knees hitting the cold floor with a thunk, blood dripping from the newly acquired cuts on his face from the Princess’s sharp nails.

“Varian!” Hugo called, running towards the younger, the mark on his arm glowing a bright blue, the middle of the Princess’s chest matching. Hugo threw caution to the wind as he pulled out the gun, fully intending to put himself between the ghost and boyfri- ex, he meant ex. He didn’t get the chance, the Princess intercepting him before he could reach Varian, her soulless black eyes staring into his terrified green ones.

“Wither and decay.” Her words rolled off her tongue, her hair filling the entirety of the room, blocking Varian from his line of sight, the air draining from the room. He couldn’t breathe, as much as he tried he couldn’t get any air into his lungs, the steady drip of blood coming from his nose, it felt like his insides were being torn apart and rearranged. And if this is what he was going through he couldn’t imagine what Varian was.

“You’re the one that’s hurting him, you bitch!” Hugo shouted, pointing the gun in her direction, his finger on the trigger. He didn’t pull it faster enough, the Princess surging forward her claws digging into the flesh of his arm, the gun clattering to the floor, Hugo slamming into the nearest wall. Ice spread through his veins, his chest throbbing with the effort to breathe, to get any intake of air into his lungs. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t fucking breathe. She smiled that wide toothy smile, all her sharp teeth on full display, her hand raised poised to strike his heart. Hugo squeezed his eyes shut as her hand soared through the air, he didn’t want to see it, he knew the pain would be unbearable, he just hoped it would be quick and Varian got out alive.

“Stop! Princess, please, stop this!” Varian shouted, and to Hugo’s surprise she had stopped, her claws just centimeters from his chest, but stopped nonetheless. She screamed, ear shattering, blood curdling, more shrill than anything he’d heard before.

“No!” She shouted, trying to move her claws closer, but she couldn’t, some invisible force holding her back. Her hair dropped to the ground, gravity affecting it in a way it hadn’t before, clearing the way enough for Hugo to see Varian standing behind her, his arm with the mark outstretched like hers was, the other holding it back, blood coating his hand as the mark freely bleed. Hugo gasped as he was suddenly able to breathe again, greedily gulping in air as the Princess put all her effort into fighting against Varian’s hold on her. “Let me go! Let me help you!”

“This isn’t helping! This isn’t his fault, I walked out, I broke his heart, I was selfish, I was stubborn, I refused to apologize. This is my fault, all my fault. So, please let him go. Please, Rapunzel.” Varian cried, tears mixing with blood as they rolled down his cheeks. Despite the situation Hugo’s heart soared, Varian still cared about him, enough to admit that he was wrong. It was almost as if a switch flipped, all the pent up rage and anger melting away into relief, happiness, at the fact that after this was over they had a chance to properly fix things.

“You called me Rapunzel.” The Princess said, her hair flickering back to gold for a second as she turned to face Varian.

“Yeah, yeah I did.” Varian said, his voice rushed, desperate, his eyes darting between Hugo and the Princess. Hugo taking the opportunity to inch closer to the gun.

“So you remember?” Her voice was low, dangerous, deadly. Varian’s mouth opened slightly as he fumbled for words, only able to provide a shake of his head. “You remember how you tried to tear my family apart? How you tried to kill my mother? How you tried to kill me and anyone who stood in your way?! I apologized to you and still you threw my apology back in my face! Do you remember that?!”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Varian stuttered, stepping back as the Princess moved closer, her hair swirling around her again. Hugo’s fingers brushed the gun, trying desperately to get a hold of it with his slick blood coated fingers.

“Of course you don’t! But I won’t let you hurt anyone else, you don’t deserve my friendship, you don’t deserve forgiveness! Why did I have to die when someone like you got to live?!” She screeched, lunging towards Varian just as Hugo grabbed the gun and fired a shot.

He was a second too late, an inch off his mark, her claws digging deep into Varian’s chest, a strangled gasp escaping from his lips. The Princess removed her bloody claws, as Hugo forced himself to move. And for the second time that night, Varian dropped. Hugo discarded the gun, skidding on his knees to catch Varian before he hit the ground, blood already bubbling from between his lips. Hugo shook as he cradled Varian close to his chest, tears blurring his vision.

“‘M sorry.” Varian forced out, his eyes glassy, unfocused, his hand clinging tightly onto Hugo’s as his body jerked in pain.

“No, no, no. You have nothing to be sorry about.” Hugo said, smoothing back Varian’s bangs. His own voice shook with tears. “I should’ve called, I should’ve gone after you, but I was scared you didn’t want me to, I was scared you didn’t love me anymore.”

“I wanted you to.” Varian said, looking like he wanted to say more but a bloody cough wracked his body. “I-I-“

“Don’t strain yourself. You need to save your strength. I’m going to get you out of here, we’re going to get out of here.” Hugo reassured, placing a shaky kiss to Varian’s knuckles. He glanced around the room looking for something to help, he wasn’t sure if he could carry Varian with his torn up arm, hell he wasn’t even sure if the Princess was still here.

“Hugh.” Hugo turned his attention back to Varian, the younger’s voice softer than he’d ever heard it before. There was something strangely peaceful in his eyes, a soft lopsided smile on his lips. “‘S okay. I love you too.”

And with one more jerk of his body Varian’s eyes went dull.

“Varian? Please, I need you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I- I can’t lose you, please don’t leave me. I love you, I love you so much.” Hugo pulled Varian’s body closer, sobbing into his shoulder. “Come back, please, come back.”

“You really did love him. Why?” The Princess asked, her feet padding against the cold stone floor for a second before she dropped to sit across from Hugo.

“Why?! You- you want to know why?” Hugo snarled, pulling Varian’s body as far away from her as possible, nothing but hurt and sadness in his green eyes. “I loved him because no matter how shitty life got, no matter how shitty people were, he always saw the bright side of things. Sure he was stubborn as hell about it, but he never let people down. He was selfless, kind, he had such a wild imagination, and his dreams, damn they were impossible, but he made you feel like anything was possible.”

“Dreams?” She repeated, testing out the word as if it were something completely foreign, something long forgotten.

“Yeah, dreams. Haven’t you ever had a dream before? ‘Cause Varian he was mine.” Hugo said, wiping a few stray tears away, not caring about the blood he smeared on his face.

“I didn’t know. I guess I spent so long here, alone, I forgot all about my dreams. Thank you, for reminding me.” The Princess said, her face softening as she stood, her teeth becoming less pointy, her smile more natural, her claws shrinking into normal fingers, her gold eyes turning a bright green, she became so much more human.

“Where are you going?” Hugo asked, watching her as she smiled at the ceiling.

“To find my new dream. I’m sure he’s out there waiting for me.” Rapunzel said, her hands clasped over her heart, her golden hair separating from her choppy brown hair. “Tell Varian I’m sorry.”

Hugo’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, the gold swirling around the two of them. “I don’t understand.”

Rapunzel simply smiled, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she started to fade into the golden light. “Flower gleam and glow.”

************************

“Hugo? Hugh, are you okay?”

Hugo forced his eyes open, Varian’s blurry face coming into focus. “Hey, Sweet Cheeks.” Hugo drawled, a lopsided smile on his face.

Varian laughed, a few relieved tears rolling down his cheeks as he wrapped Hugo in a tight hug. “I was so worried about you.” He mumbled into the crook of Hugo’s neck.

“I was worried about you. You’re the one that died.” Hugo said, holding Varian as tightly as possible, for once not questioning the logic of how Varian was alive, just grateful that he was.

“What happened?” Varian asked.

“I don’t know, but I think she’s in a better place now.” Hugo answered, placing a soft kiss to the top of Varian’s head. “And I think we are too.”

“Yeah. Hugo?” Varian lifted his head, his eyes searching Hugo’s, a thoughtful look on his face. “Did you mean what you said? When you thought- when I-“

“Every damn word.” Hugo interrupted, smiling widely as he cupped Varian’s face, pressing their foreheads together.

“I’d like to give us another try.” Varian said, his smile matching Hugo’s.

“It’s going to be a hell of a lot of work. I’m not that easy to get along with.” Hugo said, stroking Varian’s cheeks, trying not to question how every injury he had acquired was now gone.

“I know.” Varian responded with a small laugh.

“Then me too.” Hugo closed the distance between them, capturing Varian’s lips in a passionate kiss. It wasn’t going to be an easy road to repair their relationship, but this time he was going to fight for it.

#tangled the series #varian #hugo #varigo #varian and the seven kingdoms #Rapunzel #ghost hunter au #angst with a happy ending #temporary character death

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onf-headcanons · 3 years

Text

ONF IN PSYCHO PASS AU (part 2)

Setting : angst, murder (influenced mass murder), futuristic society, you can read the introduction post prior reading this AU headcanon (for a better understanding cos some keywords will be slightly difficult for non anime audiences)

And warning long post and shipping hinting (I wont write it over explicit but if you are anime audience you can get the hint of which character I based so its suggestive should you integrated anime counterpart to ONF couterpart) if you are uncomfortable with that just kindly ignore it. Only adding it not just because to follow original series but also for the AU/headcanon storyline conflict purposes

Below is the known situation when the story starts in Yuto's POV

Yuto - Inspector

Changyoon - Inspector

Hyojin - Enforcer former Inspector

Jaeyoung - Enforcer

Minkyun - Analyst

Seungjun & Minseok - dead

And again sorry if its messy (Cos mainly I just want this AU to exist and making it to a birthday gift for myself XD)

The whole structure is followed the anime,but I will fast paced-ify to focus on main storyline. Also I will tweak my words/wordings to a more simpler format so that I wont cause you all headache.

Part 2 lets go (and here is where the story starts to be different from the anime plot, but main structure is kept the same)

1-4

(What's written in the file)

The 1st file

Kim Minseok, deceased at age of 20, was a former analyst in CID

2 years from today, it is reported that Kim Minseok was being held hostage along with his friend. It is his off day and the mall he was at, was coincidentally assaulted by terrorist. It is clearly that the attack is meticulously planned.

The group of terrorist have split themselves into smaller groups and used the first attacked location as their base. The head of the group with a about 20 men stay at the mall while the rest the members head out towards the city and started violence.

The group of terrorist took many hostages and they hid themselves in the warehouse (the only building that is currently safe to hide), threatening authorities for money and even the releasing of some mastermind/potential criminals.

They even mentioned should authorities killed 1 of their own, they will kill 1 hostages. That is the reason why they took hostages with exact number of the members in the terrorist group.

The authorities noticed the detected raise of area stress level. Since military are involved, CID are teamed up other department to resolve the issue while politicians try to juggle with terrorists. The goal is to rescue all hostages.

But while waiting, the terrorist had fun torturing their hostages but still keeping alive, based on witness, they are torturing hostages to kill time. (This also resulted authorities had to put effort to operate Psycho Pass cleansing program. as aftermath.)

When rescuing hostages, as reported by former military staff, that the boss of the group killed a hostage who was believed to be a friend of Kim Minseok. The boss was handled immediately before he can do more damage with Lethal Eliminator wounding him badly. This was proved by Lee Seungjun, former and deceased Inspector from CID who was assigned to back up with hostage rescuing mission.

However, Sibyl system detected Kim Minseok's Crime Coefficient level kept rising and spiked up to a highest record in history, marked 812 . Sibyl system judged that there is no saving for Kim Minseok and is to be executed at once. With some difficulties, Kim Minseok was executed by quick decision made by former military staff.

The 2nd file

Kim Hyojin, current status : alive. Former Inspector and current Enforcer of Bureau stationed in CID.

His Crime Coefficient level has tendency to be unstable after the death of his brother Kim Minseok and his colleague, Lee Seungjun. However it was under control as it did not surpass 100.

Based on witness, and observation, Kim Hyojin believed that Lee Seungjun was murdered instead of suicide. It was believed that he over committed into his delusions due to denial while grieving the loss of his brother and his best friend.

And to the extent he assaulted a former military staff who was also assigned to the hostage rescue mission along with Lee Seungjun. And that moment his the record of Crime Coefficient raised to 224 as he was "clouded by anger"

He was later assessed and treated before demoted to Enforcer.

1-5

(loosely based on episode 6,7 and 8)

Even though vague and its just suspicions, Minkyun voices up about a similarity he noticed from previous cases the team has handled recently. What Minkyun noticed was, even though the MO are different in all cases, the criminal are using a similar tech when they are committing crime

Hyojin and Changyoon's experience understand and believe in Minkyun's intention and worry should there is a mastermind behind and there is a larger picture. The team are in dumbstruck that those two would suddenly agree with each other.

"We need to be alert, cannot afford to repeat the tragic event happened 2 years ago." Changyoon comments

"Should there is another huge crime event, the whole city and country's Psycho Pass will go crazy, what happened 2 years ago only child's play in comparison." Hyojin adds

Yuto could feel his back bone shivers when he heard Hyojin talks about it non chalantly. Does he?

And look at the timing, before they can dig deeper into the tech, it is reported that a girl school faculty had a murder case.

While handling the case, Yuto finds opportunity to apologies to Hyojin because he has read into Hyojin's and Minseok's file. That was when Yuto and Hyojin are at office being a support back up for the crime scene investigating members.

"Wait, Why do I have to get angry, Yuto-ya?" Hyojin replies Yuto with a question. And this was a bit unexpected because Yuto thought Hyojin would feel down or upset or even get angry at Changyoon for spilling his history without his consent.

"I guess should I am angry, that would be solely directed at myself..." Hyojin continues with a thoughtful expression. But there a hint of sadness to it. "I knew something was wrong when I observed Seungjun's dead scene and my instincts told me that it might related to my brother's death. Just because I could not make it into words, no one believed in me."

"Is that why you confronted with the ex - military staff?" Yuto pieced the puzzle together. And Hyojin confirms it with a yes.

Yuto can understand why the word "delusions" are used. But unlike others, he does not push away Hyojin's emotions and "delusions".

Yuto timidly asks, "Lee Seungjun.-sshi?..Changyoon-sshi says he is your best friend...Must be someone you treasures."

Hyojin nods and his facial expression becomes brighter. "He is, I known him for ages, we always got each other's back."

"What kind of person is he?"

"Sometimes annoying, but a warm and excellent friend. Knowing him is the best and proudest thing that could happen in my life. " Hyojin smiles as he reminiscing about Seungjun. "I guess Changyoon already told you that I led the team back then right?"

Yuto nods and quietly listens to Hyojin talks about the old days.

"But actually without Seungjun being the pillar support to the team, I don't think I can lead well. Even though outsiders sees the team only led by me. But..." Hyojin pauses for a bit. "It was also led by Seungjun too. Along with Minseok, I never expect both of them to die in those ways."

Initially Yuto wanted to ask more about the old days, but when Hyojin spoke the name of his brother, Yuto pursues his lips as a sign of hesitation. But to his surprise...

"Do you know that Minseok joined the Bureau in a very young age?" Hyojin raised his head and looks at Yuto with glittering eyes. "Wait, you are 99 liner right? That makes you the same age as Minseok!"

Yuto could not process for a bit, so he went along with the flow. With that, more details about Hyojin's brother came out. So Minseok was filed as prodigy during a young age and arranged to join Bureau as an exception. And due to his young age and no plans for him to head out for action, the Bureau only focused on Minseok's academics and training as Analyst. Minseok did some basic self defense but it is not sufficient to qualify as a fighter.

"Aah... Should Minseok and Seungjun are here right now, they will be happy to meet you. Minseok never really had same aged friends when he is in the Bureau..." Hyojin gazes at Yuto as he mutters.

And speaking of Minseok, Yuto then suddenly remembers something and asks Hyojin about the hostage they met on Yuto's first day. "Hyojin- hyung... by any chance, actually you were not trying to hurt the hostage we met on my first day but were trying to contain them by driving them to a dead end?"

"Took you damn long time to figure that out." Hyojin pouts. "To think innocent people getting involved and caught up to things that are way out of normal....Anyone, even Minseok must have been very terrified and stressed to the extent his hue clouded and contaminated."

"But is he truly beyond saving?" Hyojin raise a question with a cold stare that gives Yuto chills.

Yuto keeps his silence as he worried to speak one wrong word. He wanted to say something but the event was 2 years ago and in file writes Hyojin as delusional, and since Changyoon is awfully cold towards Hyojin... Yuto does not know if he should trust everything the person in red hair says because he is questioning the system or trust his own hunch that Hyojin might have some insight that everyone chooses to ignore.

"Come on, don't look so acted up! Sorry if I scared you." Hyojin pats on Yuto's back and changed the mood.

Yuto smiles back at Hyojin and carefully offers, "Hyung , on next off day, can you bring me to visit their graves? I would like to pay my respect towards them as a junior joining this team."

Hyojin lifts his hand and pats Yuto, he smiles even wider and nods at younger one, "Sure. I promise I will not cause any trouble. Our Little Rookie Inspector."

Yuto understands it Hyojin teasing him again, but he let it slide because the mood is finally cheerful now.

"Thank you Yuto." Hyojin suddenly drop that out of no where. "Ever since I became Enforcer, no one talk about them anymore. It is nice to hear their name coming out from 3rd person's mouth and no one is depressed upon hearing it."

Yuto nods as a reply, and that moment, Minkyun returns with the other team. Hyojin instantly puts his index finger close to his lips, indicating the whole conversation a while ago to be kept secret. And Minkyun caught that, playfully wailing that Hyojin is being unfair and he should not just share his secret to Yuto only.

So the case that they has to attend to this time was young girl students being murdered, dissected/dismembered and later ensemble to look like an art piece of dark and grotesque genre.

It was suspected that a former teacher is committing the crime due to revenge by abducting the students and displaying the achievement by making the corpse into "art form". However, it did not take long for a second case with the same MO to appear and there is still no sign of the former teacher to be found anywhere in the city. Before any new evidence to be found, the Bureau can only back up by help enhancing security at the all girls school.

While looking at the photo of exhibit of dismembered victim, Jaeyoung unconsciously mentioned about genre and art style and the keywords enlightened the team. Minkyun search the data base but none could be found. Leaving the option of dark web, but it is unwise for Bureau to deal with those even if its for case solving purpose..

Hyojin remembers a criminal locked might help and once he gotten Changyoon's approval, Yuto and Hyojin immediately head to the place, hoping the person in Hyojin's mind could lend a hand. Yuto is curious on why Hyojin is so confident that the said person might be helpful, Hyojin mentioned that he was the one who put the said person behind the bars for having high Crime Coefficient level while selling illegal inappropriate artworks banned by authority policy.

Thankfully, the artist in confinement noticed the genre and art style by browsing through MO photo data provided by Hyojin and Yuto. It gave a huge clue, the MO was inspired by a famous underground artist, whose works are banned on market but the sales thrives in the black market. Apparently the artist has black market art persona and the normal persona. Art maniacs knows about this so it is not really a secret unless you dig into to it enough.

The team let Minkyun to run the data base to see if there is any connection between artist and students, even teachers and staffs in the school and BINGO. Apparently the artist's daughter is attending the school.

Knowing its a very suggestive clue, the team rushes to the school to get their culprit. They succeeded on getting the criminal this time but the murder still succeed in doing her 1 last act getting caught by CID. (Here is different from anime)

While monitoring back ups helping to clear crime scene, Changyoon calls Hyojin to have a chat at the Enforcers wagon and let Yuto to monitor Jaeyoung.

Back in the wagon, Changyoon and Hyojin temporary forgot their conflicts and start to piece the puzzles together. Changyoon even though sometimes is a bit not flexible, but when he sees Hyojin acknowledging Minkyun, he knows that the Enforcer in front of him is still the ex superior he knows.

Changyoon scratches his head a bit and tells Hyojin that the current and previous virtual community case felt a bit off. And should Minkyun's hint are actually legit, how should they tie up all the puzzle together?

Hyojin while biting his knuckles he goes, "Even though the young criminal this time has a high IQ. but as a minor, it is hard to believe that they can prepare such intricate crime display."

"I agree. " Changyoon adds, "This is an all girl school with dorm and I don't think our young criminal can gain access to the tools even if she wants to."

Hyojin and Changyoon come to a conclusion, that there is definitely a mastermind or consultant helping out criminals to execute their crimes, but who?

All cases looking irrelevant against each other but with the frequencies of cases occurring here and there, it does not hurt to think whoever behind this definitely is aiming for a raise of area stress level in a national degree. If that so, they might not dealing with a mastermind, but a group of crime syndicate who is trying to initiate a psycho hazard.

Although they both do not have strong evidence to prove their point but should their speculations are true (because of their first hand experience come contact with all these cases), it is already scary. While terror attack can produce fear and violence in large scale straightforwardly, a raise of crime number/disturbing criminal events affecting citizen's mental security can have long term effect. It is also a way to make authority focus on cleansing and clearing the hue and got distracted from something even menacing.

After a few seconds of silence, Hyojin finally breaks the ice., "Do we have a list of mastermind criminals that the terrorist group requested the authority to release 2 years ago?"

Changyoon replies "Yes we have, but... the authority did not really released them for reals. Its just a fake act to buy time...."

Hyojin stares at Changyoon in a straight face as they had thought of the same possibility.

"Hyojin are you suggesting that the terror attack was just to cover up a secret swap?" Changyoon stood up in disbelief, eyes wide open. "Thats crazy! Do you know how many terrorist members are there on that day? That many manpower and gunpowder just to do a human swap? For what purpose?!"

"And if there is a secret swap, are you saying that there is a traitor in our government?" Changyoon exclaims.

Hyojin only lowers his gaze and mutters, "I don't know." and he continues

"And you still think I am crazy?" Hyojin raises a corner of his lips and look at Changyoon with a victorious smile.

"I know you are delusional but this is insane, Hyojin." Changyoon frowns while he mutters. "Why do you have to complicate things and push yourself so hard until your Psycho Pass get clouded so bad?"

"My brother and my best friend both died with unconvincing cause of death. There are numerous points that are quite fishy regarding to the terror attack 2 years ago, Changyoon." Hyojin stares at Changyoon with firm eyes and its overflowing with hope.

"Seungjun wasn't himself after the death of my brother, it was not only guilt and regret he was feeling, he never acted like that before. He knew something. He must have seen something." Seeing Changyoon standing in front of him in silence, Hyojin took the chance to continue.

"I was there, I was the first person to find Seungjun's death scene. And as an former Inspector, I can tell you that was not a suicide." Hyojin starts to get excited as he voices out his points. "Who would choose to burn themselves and set a fire to their apartment room while at it when they can have a quick death?"

Changyoon still looking at Hyojin as if he is looking at a clown.

"You are a smart guy Changyoon, you can definitely tell there is something off if you..."

"Shut up." Changyoon silences Hyojin as he knows Hyojin is trying to persuade him to share common interest, Changyoon groans in irritation and barges out from the wagon, leaving Hyojin startled.

Jaeyoung who come across to this, asks if Hyojin did anything to piss Changyoon off in a concerned tone, Hyojin only denies him by laughing it off.

And Changyoon, who dashes into his car, punches the steering with his might before covering his face with his hands.

"What am I to you then?" he whispers into the silence. "Am I not your friend as well?"

To be continued on part 3

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inevitably-johnlocked · 5 years

Note

Have you got some fanfic where they shared a bed, but its a untold thing? And then, that happen to be a rutine, but they still not talking about that, and then finally John just move to Sherlock's bedroom? I love that kind of unspoken things :D (This ask is because a just read "Assurance by belovedmuerto" and fell in love with that) Thanks you so much ^_^

Hi Nonny!!

AHHH Yes, I love that sort of Bed Sharing, though it’s taking me a bit to remember which of my bedsharing fics have it as just sort of an unspoken thing, LOL. I’m sure I’ve missed a slew of them; here’s me going through my other lists and pulling the ones I recall into one list, LOL. Feel free, Lovelies, to add your own fics!!

BED SHARING ‘JUST HAPPENS’

See also:

The Speckled Blonde / BedSharing

BedSharing Pt. 2 and Insecure Sherlock

BedSharing Pt. 3

Whispers in the Dark by coloured_ink (G, 833 w., 1 Ch. || Bed Sharing, Anxious Sherlock, Anxiety, Caring John, Spooning, Little Spoon Sherlock) – Sherlock has anxiety attacks. Good thing John always knows what to do.

Easy like Sunday Morning by lbmisscharlie (G, 910 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Breakfast in Bed, Epic Friendship, Platonics/Domestics) – John and Sherlock and their lazy, dysfunctional Sunday mornings in bed. In which Sherlock has difficulty sleeping and John makes lots of toast. Shameless fluff. Part 1 of No Mushrooms Please

Settling In by PorcupineGirl (T, 1,030 w., 1 Ch. || Ace Sherlock/Straight-Biromo John, Queerplatonic Relationship, Fluff) – Asexual!Sherlock/Straight!John in a queerplatonic romantic relationship. It’s a bit of an oddball, but anything fluffy and loving and nonporny will be endlessly and forever adored. It’s always fun to see the two work out that hey, we’re in love, we don’t have sex, but it’s still a wonderful and meaningful relationship.

The First Night by TheForerunner (NR, 1,043 w., 1 Ch. || ACD Canon || First Time, Fluff, Non-Explicit, Prose) – When all was over, Sherlock reached to dress again and John reached to stop him. They sat at opposite ends of the bed and one set of eyes surveyed the other’s set of limbs, and they were quiet in the downbeat, melody suspended. Sherlock was sheepish, and this confused John, who now smelled of his companion and felt they were part of one another.

The Cure for Snoring by Goddess_of_the_Night (G, 1,278 w., 1 Ch. || Sleepy Conversations, Bed Sharing, Cuddling, Fluff, Domestic, Platonic / Sleepy Cuddles) – Sherlock and John spend the night in Scotland after finishing a case. The sole Inn in town only has one room left…one bed. This would be fine - if not a bit awkward - if Sherlock hadn’t developed a habit of snoring loudly. John suffers through many hours of sleeplessness before he discovers that skin-to-skin contact stops the noise. Part 1 of Dreamscapes

In Dreams by Youarethelightoftheworld (T, 1,340 w., 1 Ch. || Falling in Love, Accidental Cuddling, Snuggling, Fluff, Romance, Domestic Fluff) – Every once and a while, the dark makes it easier to see.

Moonshine by CKLizzy (T, 1,408 w., 1 Ch. || Cuddling / Snuggling, Touching, Dev. Rel., Bed Sharing, Comfort, Touching) – Sometimes, routines changed. Sequel to “Nightfall”. Part 2 of Solace

So, this is normal for us now? by TooManyChoices (M, 1,445 w., 1 Ch. || Bed Sharing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Est. Rel., Cuddles) – John and Sherlock have been sharing a flat, and a life for some time. This is a story of how the glacially slow movement of their relationship makes another agonising crawl forward another inch.

To Sleep, Perchance to…Cuddle by nerdyandiknowit (NR, 1,563 w., 1 Ch || Sleepy Cuddles, Fluff, Stubborn Sherlock, Bedsharing, Cuddles & Snuggles) – Almost immediately after they got together Sherlock formed this dependency on John-he could not (or would not as John believes) sleep without John being there, in bed, next to him.

Random Numbers by songlin (T, 1,671 w., 1 Ch. || Ace Sherlock / Straight John, Cuddling / Snuggling, Massage, Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Fluff, Post-TRF, Slice of Life) – A collection of moments in the relationship of asexual!Sherlock and straight!John.

3:00 in the Morning is a Great Time to Talk by Aztecwarfareandcrumping (K+, 1,775 w., 1 Ch. || Hurt / Comfort, Friendship, Bed Sharing, First Person POV John, Cuddling, Worried Sherlock, Comforting John, Platonic Affection/Love) – “Are you trying to talk your way into my bed?” “Obviously.”

Caught by Salambo06 (E, 1,859 w., 1 Ch. || Frottage, First Time / Kiss, Bed Sharing, Wet Dreams, POV John, Masturbation) – A hotel room. They’re here for a case, hadn’t planned to spend the night and ended up sharing a room. No, sharing a bed. Suddenly John is very much aware of his own hand closed around his hard cock and the ragged breathing next to him. Closing his eyes for the briefest second, John dares to turn his head just enough to confirm what he already knows. Sherlock, on his side, watching him.

Baskerville After Dark by Ttime42 (T, 1,921 w., 1 Ch. || THoB, Friendship, Humor, Bed Sharing, Missing Scenes, Cranky John, Cuddles) – John and Sherlock have to share a bed at Baskerville. Gen, but can be preslash.

The Lie-In by KendylGirl (M, 2,000 w., 1 Ch. || POV Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Fluff, True Love, Introspection) – Five months after his return, John and Sherlock spend a day in bed. Part 2 of When to Let Go

Tangential by Bitenomnom (NR, 2,047 w., 1 Ch. || Ace Sherlock, Fluff and Love, Cuddles, Friendship, Sherlock is a Kept Man, Sherlock Divorces his Work, Nightmares) – In which John stitches up Sherlock’s head (but not really), Sherlock comes into John’s room at night to take his laptop (but not really), Sherlock is married to his Work (but not really), and John is more than proficient at keeping Sherlock (really, definitely). Part 48 of Mathematical Proof

Feel your breathing by Mixxy (T, 2,129 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF, Cuddling, Separation Anxiety, Platonics) – And he was numb yet feeling far too much, he was back on that pavement, and his mind was buzzing far too hard, whispering you didn’t do it in time, Mrs. Hudson is dead, Lestrade is dead, your John is dead dead dead- And then John’s hand was around his wrist, thumb rubbing over his pulse point, and Sherlock’s not sure if it was to comfort him or John but either way it worked.

Assurance by belovedmuerto (T, 2,382 w., 1 Ch. || Bed-Sharing, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Idiots in Love) – It’s not so much the ‘you’re half-dead, you wanker,’ or even the broken ribs, the hairline fracture of the pelvis, the dislocated shoulder and knee, and the wrenched ankle.

Lie-In by scullyseviltwin (E, 2,540 w., 1 Ch. || Bed Sharing, Morning After, Fluff) – “I can’t believe you drank an entire bottle of wine.”

Nothing Left Untouched by ForeverShippingJohnlock (K+, 2,617 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Romance, Bed Sharing, Oblivious Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Grumpy John, Fluff and Cuddles) – Sherlock rearranges the flat. So what if John’s bedroom is now a research library. It’s not like John needs a bedroom, he can share with Sherlock. They’re friends and John has obviously slept in close quarters with men before and it’s not like Sherlock sleeps much anyway. It’ll be fine.

Turn the key, and come home by TooManyChoices (M, 2,718 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Angst With a Happy Ending, Emotional Messes, Implied Sex, Angst and Humour, Bed Sharing, Post-TRF) – Sherlock and John have been dancing around what’s between them for years. Will John return to Baker Street, and if so, will things ever be the same?

BBCSH ‘The Comfort of Company’ by tigersilver (T, 2,769 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF/Mary, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Bed Sharing, Grumpy John, Touching, Clingy/Handsy Sherlock, Cranky Sherlock, Fluff and Light Angst) – It’s a trope that John and Sherlock end up sharing in the same bed eventually and I admit I do adore it unconditionally, along with all it infers as to the lowering of defenses and the heightening of trust. I put forth for your consideration that the notion persists because those who think about these things realize these two men are each in dire need of some good company.

Affirmation by jamlockk (E, 3,096 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Dev. Rel., PWP, Love Declarations, Emotional/Overwhelmed Sherlock, Comforting/Caring John, Gross Fluff) – “Sunlight dappled John’s skin, casting a glow across his spreadeagled form as he dozed among the rumpled sheets. Sherlock knew the expression on his face was hopelessly soft but for once did not care about showing his true feelings so openly. He simply stood there, in the doorway, gazing at the impossibly beautiful man currently snuffling softly in his slumber.” Part 8 of All the ways we love

After the Bombs by VampirePam (T, 3,337 w., 2 Ch. || THoB AU, Drugs, John’s PTSD, Panic Attack, Nightmares, Caring Sherlock, Cuddles, Bed Sharing, Angst, Hurt/Comfort) – In which the drugs Sherlock used to dose John trigger a severe episode of PTSD. When terrors old and new cause John to fall apart, Sherlock must rectify his mistake and pick up the pieces.

Measuring Damage With the Fujita Scale by teahigh (T, 3,548 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Vacation / Holidays, Friends to Lovers, Bed-Sharing, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Angsty Fluff, Scars, Awkward Talks) – John goes back into town, into the storm, and Sherlock realises he forgot to say, “I just want to be alone with you.”

Stay by msdisdain (M, 3,561 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Angst / H/C, Bed Sharing, Nightmares, Blow Jobs, Anal) – John’s nightmares are nothing new. Sherlock’s inability to ignore them, however, is.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics by entanglednow (T, 3,614 w., 1 Ch. || Asexual Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Sharing Body Heat) – In which there’s no heating and there’s a dead owl in Sherlock’s bed. Part 1 of Thermodynamics

On Hiatus: Rotterdam (T, 4,240 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Drama, Couple For A Case, Post-TRF, John Joins Sherlock, No Slash) – “Used them after uni a bit. Purely for research purposes, of course,“ Sherlock said tiredly, head lolling against John’s shoulder.” Sherlock goes on a mission alone, or: Two blokes in a luxury hotel in the Netherlands. Non-linear timeline. Set during the Hiatus.

Everything by patternofdefiance (E, 4,409 w., 1 Ch. || Snuggles and Cuddles, Bed Sharing, Frottage, Vulnerable Sherlock) – John wakes up with an armful of Sherlock. This – situation – is unusual, yes, and definitely unfamiliar, but in no way does it feel wrong. Rather, it feels the exact opposite. Part 13 of I Blame Tumblr

One Day Like This by nondeducible (E, 4,872 w., 1 Ch. || First Time, Bed-Sharing, Romance, Fluff, Virgin Sherlock) – When Sherlock emerged from the bathroom, the sight before him nearly took his breath away. The only light in the room was the small lamp on the bedside table. John’s skin shone like gold, his hair like the purest silver. He was on his side, facing the empty part of the bed, his outstretched hands ready to embrace whoever climbed in next to him. Sherlock could imagine, just for a second, that this was their shared bed and he was coming back to settle into John’s arms.

Sleeping next to you by Salambo06 (E, 5,018 w, 1 Ch. || ASiB Fic, Bed Sharing, Frottage, Mutual Masturbation, Rimming, Anal, First Kiss/Time) – Based on an Anonymous Prompt: “So, that scene from ASiB when Mrs H has been attacked by the american CIA guy & John, Sherlock & she are in Mrs H’s kitchen when John says "She’ll have to sleep upstairs in our flat tonight. We need to look after her.” to which Sherlock replies with “no”. John of course suggested that because he cares about her safety, but maybe he also did it cause he /wanted/ that to happen. What if they finally agreed on letting her have John’s or Sherlock’s bed & J&S sleep in the same one?“ Part 12 of Tumblr Collection

What Happens in Vegas (is legally binding in the United Kingdom) by moonblossom (E, 5,051 w., 1 Ch. || Accidental Marriage, Friends to Husbands to Lovers, CSI Crossover, Fluff & Porn, Bathtub Sex, Hand Jobs, First Time) – When a case sends the boys to Vegas, John comes out of it with a bit more than he bargained for. Part 19 of Prompt Fills, Remixes, Works inspired by others

Bed-Sharing Between Flatmates by testosterone_tea (T, 5,053 w., 1 Ch. || 5 and Ones, Bed Sharing, PTSD John, Science, Whump, Insecure Sherlock, Asexual Sherlock) – 5 times Sherlock had an excuse to share John’s bed, and the one time he didn’t need one.

To Sleep, Perchance to Smother Your Flatmate with a Pillow by Linpatootie (G, 5,308 w., 1 Ch. || Bedsharing, It’s an Experiment, Fluff and Humour) - Sherlock wants to conduct a sleep study of sorts. John contemplates smothering him with a pillow. Part 1 of Two Coffees One Black One with Sugar Please

Adjacent by weeesi (E, 5,711 w., 1 Ch. || Bed Sharing, Fluff and Smut, Pining Idiots, On a Trip, Frottage) – Sherlock and John spend the night at a hotel in adjoining rooms, and keep finding excuses to visit each other’s rooms, until WHOOPS they’re sharing a bed.

I can’t pretend by Salambo06 (E, 7,692 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Victor Trevor, Jealous John, Miscommunications, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Anal, BJs) – They had arrived more than a hour ago, and the moment they had walked inside the hotel reception, John had understood why Sherlock hadn’t wanted to come. Two men, posh suits and expensive watches on their wrists, had come to greet them with sharp remarks and badly hidden mockery, and John had seen red. Sherlock hadn’t said anything, mostly ignoring the two men entirely, and without thinking twice about it, John had slid an arm around Sherlock’s waist and introduced himself as his husband.

A Terrific Soporific by antietamfalls (T, 11,269 w., 1 Ch. || Bed Sharing, Sleepy Cuddles, Fluff, Insomnia, Experiments, Ace Sherlock) – Sherlock, a long-time sufferer of insomnia, is forced to share a bed with John at a hotel while on a case. To his astonishment, he finds that spending the night next to John helps him sleep and becomes determined to maneuver himself back into John’s bed.

The River Variations by withoutawish (T, 11,619 w., 1 Ch. || Soulmates, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Three Garridebs, Romance, Light Case Fic, Near Death Experience, Angst and Fluff, Dark Humour) – John Watson never knew that he wanted a ‘no toast in the mornings’ normal until he realized what an honor it is to be destroyed by Sherlock Holmes.

Always the sun by Rose de Sharon (K+, 12,377 w., 3 Ch. || Song Fic, Alternate Post-TGG, Friendship/Bromance, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection / Reflection, Injury Recovery, Obsessive / Protective Sherlock, Nightmares, John’s Past, Bed Sharing / Cuddles) – Sherlock ponders about how much his life has changed since John has become his flatmate.

Shuteye Shenanigans by Ayakae (K+, 13,263 w., 8 Ch. || Post-TRF, Friendship / Epic Bromance, John’s Nightmares, Angsty Fluff, Bed Sharing, Humour, Cuddles, Taking Care of Each Other, Domestics) – John Watson has never slept with Sherlock Holmes. Never ever ever. And never will, thank you very much. Well, there was that one time, but John didn’t count that. It was completely different, just like the second time it happened. And the third. And the fourth. Epic bromance, but it can be read as pre-slash if you wish.

Knotted by naughtyspirit (E, 23,166 w., 4 Ch. || UST/URT, Cuddling, Sharing Body Heat, Confessions, Kissing, Mastrubation, Frustration, BAMF!John) – John has to cancel a date because of Sherlock’s case, which leads them to be tied up in a basement from which they have to escape. They get wet, get tied up close and John has to step up and save them. Because he’s pretty. And hot. And just a little bit of a BAMF.

Here Comes The Sun by JennLynn77 (E, 32,126 w., 15 Ch. || Post S4/TFP, John Whump, Caring Sherlock, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Emotional Sex, First Time, Virgin Sherlock, Switchlock, Cuddling/Snuggling, Surgery/Injury Recovery, Endearments, Anal, Hand Jobs, Porn with Feels) – John suffers an injury and needs surgery. Sherlock, and those around him, help John recover. Along the way, John and Sherlock realise what they mean to each other, and what they’ve had together all this time.

Bedtime Stories by Liketheriver (M, 34,388 w., 1 Ch. || Emotional H/C, Romance, Angst & Humour, Bed Sharing, John First Person, TRF, John Whump) – John’s POV during Season 2 and beyond when Sherlock takes up semi-permanent residence in his bed. A collection of codas and missing scenes wrapped up into one long fic and topped with a bow that takes the story beyond Reichenbach and into happy territory once more. Part 1 of Bedtime Universe

A Love with No Name Series by aceofhearts61 (G to M, 49,955 w. across 20 stories || Asexual Sherlock / Straight John, Est. Rel, Queerplatonic Relationship, Romance, Cuddling, Fluff, Platonic Romance, Domestics) – In which Asexual!Sherlock and Straight!John are platonically in love life partners.

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #bedsharing #my fic recs #Anonymous #accidental bedsharing #long post #e-rated fics #oops there's a bed

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megashadowdragon · 4 years

Text

tyrian will kill nora but nora will kill him as well (mutual kill )

while tyrian was caught in mistral it was by a joint operation by both atlas and mistral what if the reason why atlas got involved is because he killed important people from atlas and its been stated that we will get some nora backstory in v7 and its long been thought that nora is from mantle but she ended up orphaned in mistral

maybe noras parents went to mistral for a trip and tyrian ended up killing them with the kidnapping part being a separate crime or since he is wanted for kidnapping he could have kidnapped nora (which solves the hole that some people pointed out in the nora is from mantle theory of how would such a little kid get that far from home all alone? ) but nora didn’t see his face or was so traumatized that she blocked it out which is why she didn’t recognize tyrian when they met in v4 or she was just too young

and I believe that fria is noras grandmother fria has been stated that she doesnt really have any family left if she is noras grandma it would fit given that noras parents were killed and she was kidnapped ( and likely assumed dead )

so what if nora is in frias last thoughts and nora gains the winter maiden powers

greekgeekgoddess . tumblr . com/post/189399396548/winter-wont-become-the-winter-maiden/embed

Okay time for the theory goggles to get back on. And yes I am aware this theory will be seen as a stretch. But as a writer. There is a possibility. And this latest episode added another piece for me.

It’s gonna be Nora Valkyrie everyone.

And I already here you all scrunching your faces and saying.

“Kai, how would that even happen…”

And here’s some points.

Winter outright states that Ironwood plans to make her the next Winter Maiden. They even show us the current one.

And while I can see how people would believe Winter has a shot, I’m not so sure.

Granted she has been visiting the Winter Maiden for a year. Exchanging pleasantries and stuff. And yes being the only person for Fria to talk to does give more of a chance. But this isnt textbook.

It has been stated clearly. That whoever is in the maiden’s final thoughts gains the power.

What does that have to do with Nora? Well I’ll tell you.

So at RTX 2019, Miles and Kerry shared some things to look forward to. One of which being more Nora story. And to be fair we have been getting some. Romance angst with Ren, her intense care and insight on Mantle. (Which makes me think she is from this kingdom).

But I feel we can do better.

And why? Why am I so convinced that Nora is the one who will get it in the end?

RWBY CHIBI surprisingly.

*Looks directly to CRWBY like off of The Office* “That’s right you sly dogs. I caught that!”

SO HERE WE ARE YOU READY?!

We know that in Volume 4, Nora was already orphaned before Ren.

And yes the local kids were teasing her. But they said things to the effect that she looked like she was dressed weird.

Like they weren’t used to seeing her type of clothes.

What is it similar to.

MANTLE CLOTHING

Who is her family you ask?

Her grandmother. Her possibly last relative. I do believe Nora’s mother and father had died. Making Fria her sole relative. Who probably raised her.

LOVED HER

NEVER FORGOT HER

THINKS OF HER CONSTANTLY

What I mean is. “IF”, and I could be wrong. But I’m throwing my hat in. IF THEY ARE A GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDDAUGHTER. Then there is a chance that Fria never let Nora be erased from her heart. Even if she thinks Nora died in whatever happened that separated them. She would think of her granddaughter as she died. Not Winter.

Dont get me wrong Winter is wonderful. But knowing how crafty the CRWBY can be at times… my money is on Nora until proven otherwise.

(Update)

I would also like to add two more points.

Fria’s eyes are the same color as Nora’s, though hopefully we can get a better look at them later on.

Also. Fria’s name. Is a different spelling of the name Freya based off of.

The old Norse goddess Freya.

And we all know Nora is based on Thor.

Little fun fact. Thor = Thursday

Freya = Friday” plus in norse mythology thor disguised himself as freya to get his hammer back and nora is based on that story ( the theme of jnpr is that they are all based off of characters/person ( in jaunes case ) who crossdressed in their stories and are of the opposite sex (or in other words you could say they are chosen ) and that story is why thor was chosen as her inspiration which is why it would be a fitting reference for thor to take up frias mantle as winter maiden in a twist to the myth rather than disguising herself as fria nora takes up her position

and of course nora becoming the winter maiden will put a target on her back and tyrian kidnapping nora and killing her parents is a perfect set up to a confrontation between the two possibly with nora if/when she finds out deciding to go after him.

in a sense like ren she goes against the monster who killed her parents

and I think it will end with the two of them causing each others deaths tyrian has a poisonous scorpion tail and noras inspiration thor died via poison killing the midgard serpent and then dying due to poison afterwards in a mutual kill and tyrians inspiration is the scorpion from scorpion and the frog who was willing to sting the frog killing it even if it meant his own death and there are alot of parallels between v7 and v3 )

shattering-the-mirror . tumblr . com/post/189545999830/i-think-we-have-a-problem-volume-7-and-volume-3 “it will be just like beacon again

and nora vs tyrian will be a maiden powered member of team jnpr vs a member of salems circle a bit of a flip on cinder vs pyrrha ( a maiden powered member of salems circle ) vs a member of team jnpr

so both of their inspirations end up dying after doing something which causes someone elses death though while with noras inspiration it was in a fight in the villain tyrians it was due to the scorpions nature so I think nora and tyrian will cause each others deaths like tyrian killing nora but dying due to the injuries he sustained ( he couldnt resist continuing after her ) or nora landing mortal blow but dying due to tyrians poison etc

plus ren had to face the grimm who killed his parents nora will have to face the person who killed hers

@lil-red-reaper

@redwhiteblakeyellow

@thehtg-therealone @darksaiyangoku @greekgeekgoddess @littlemisssquiggles

@pyrrrhashes

@majoringinsarcasm

@the-heart-alchemist

#rwby #rwby theory #rwby theories #rwby theorys #rwby volume 7 #rwby meta #tyrian callows #rwby tyrian #tyrian rwby #nora valkyrie #nora rwby #rwby nora #rwby volume 7 spoilers

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cncos-baby · 5 years

Text

Sólo Tú

GUYSSSS IT'S MY FIRST EVER IMAGINE AND I WANT TO THANK THE TWO LOVELY LADIES: Dina; @soyunalocagreek and Char; @damnthoseeyes for the edits and writing the smut for my shy ass.

Word count: 2,949

Content type: Angst, fluff and smut, also some profanity

It's the boys' first day back on tour. They have their first concert in McAllen, Texas and they are thrilled. They're so glad to be back on the road and have been rehearsing constantly. At this point it's just a quick run through of all the songs. You being the awesome girlfriend you are, have come to support your boyfriend, Joel. You're on a three-month hiatus before school begins so you're able to accompany them for the whole tour.

"Hey baby. Are you excited to be back on the road?" You ask Joel.

"Of course amorcita, I'm living my dream and now that you're here with me it's even better." Joel smirks while pulling you into a sweet kiss that slowly turns heated and passionate. His lips find yours and you can't help but feel like everything is tingling. He gently bites on your bottom lip causing you to gasp, his tongue darting into your mouth, tasting your fruity essence. Your tongues fight for dominance and Joel puts up a great fight but, when you run your fingers through his hair, he's putty in your hands and from there things start to get a bit handsy, well until Richard interrupts…

"OY PIMENTEL!! IT'S TIME TO GET BACK TO REHEARSAL, YOU CAN SUCK FACE WITH YOUR GIRL ANOTHER TIME... OR SHE CAN SUCK SOMETHING ELSE. I DON'T CARE BUT IT'S TIME TO GET BACK TO DANCING LOVER BOY!" Richard shouts with a smirk on his face.

You pull apart and the blush on his face makes you just want to boop his nose...which you do and it sends you both into a fit of laughter another round of adorable shenanigans commences with him trying to playfully bite your finger and ends with him tickling you after you try running anyway from his wandering fingers. Then you hear Chris calling which means he really better get back to work before something even more embarrassing is shouted across the room.

The boys run through Mala Actitud, Bonita and Mamita before they get to one of your personal favorites; Sólo Yo. Its solely the breakdown that makes you heart beat faster and makes you blush bright red; hands all sweaty and wet and somewhere else too. Joel being the focused artist he is, he puts his full attention into gyrating his hips and moving sensually to the music, but don't get it wrong, during the actual concert Joel's eyes never leave yours and the little smirk on his face makes unsaid promises.

But this rehearsal is a little different from the rest. For some odd reason, you cannot rip your eyes off of Richard. Is it the way his washboard abs are on show, the way his hips thrust with passion or the languid roles that emit from his body? You just can't tell.

Once you realize that you've been staring, you look around and see that you're not the only one that's noticed. Erick has his left eyebrow cocked upwards in a curious look as he continues to grind against the air to the rhythm of the music. You lower your head in embarrassment, your cheeks flaming and you think you've been drooling a little bit. To save yourself from further embarrassment, you hightail your cute little ass, (that Joel loves to squeeze so much) out of there and into the powder rooms just down the hall, not too far from the boys' dressing rooms.

Once you get back to where the boys were rehearsing, you see that everyone is missing except Renato, who is scrolling through his phone distracted.

"Hey Ren, where are the boys? Is it time for the show already?" You ask as he looks up.

"Yeah, los chicos are in their dressing rooms getting ready for the show. I think Joel is in the shower though."

"Gracias Renato, I'll see you in a few." you yell over your shoulder as you head back to Joel's room.

When you enter he's still in the bathroom, so you sit on the sofa in the corner of the room sliding your hands against the soft velvet. After another 20 minutes you start to get antsy. You start walking around the room and smile fondly at the pictures you and Joel took at the photo booth two weeks ago at the Santa Monica Pier. Your heart fills with warmth as you stare at the photos stuck into the mirror of his vanity. You know Joel was trying to balance his time between you and his family during his much-needed break, he barely had any time for himself and you felt guilty.

Joel comes out of the bathroom suddenly and you turn around to admire his freshly washed curls and the way he made his sparkly outfit look so good. He gives you a small smile and continues to get ready for the show.

“You ready baby?”, you ask, as Joel gives you an impassive look.

“Mhm”, he mutters as he continues to finish messing up his curls and tying his signature bandana.

“Papito, are you okay?”, you ask, concerned at his standoffish attitude. The only time you saw Joel like this is when he was stressed or you two had gotten into a fight.

“Yep. I gotta go. I'll see you after the show.” Joel mutters as he walks out the room, skipping your ritual good luck kiss before the show.

'That was weird’ you think. You don't know what has upset him but you intend to find out after the show. You don't want to confront him right now, just in case it gets him even more upset.

You make your way backstage and blow Joel a kiss like you usually do before a show, then make your way into the utmost front row where Renato, Clara and the rest of the team sit during the shows.

The boys come out on stage and the crowd goes wild. The five of them turn their charm on and get into performance mode. You see Joel looking around the crowd but when he sees you, he turns away quickly, blows a kiss to the crowd and you see him wink and smirk at a really beautiful girl near the front row. You frown and feel a pang of immense jealousy in your chest.

Finally the boys get to Sólo Yo and the breakdown is about to begin. Your eyes are on Joel but he's not looking at you. You see him looking straight back at the girl he winked at earlier. This time he's not sticking to his usual hips rolls and thrusts. Joel has gone full out Magic Mike, he's grinding into the stage floor and you turn around to see every fan with a sign dedicated to your boyfriend in complete shock, when Joel gets up he shoots you a smug grin and looks back at that girl giving her another wink. You wonder what the hell is going on but you're not waiting until the end of the show to find out. The boys are on a 30-minute break in about five minutes so you quickly make your way back stage.

As the boys enter the backstage area, and towels and water bottles are being tossed at them, you grab Joel by the wrist and forcefully drag him into his dressing room with a huff. You usually hate confrontation, but right now the anger boiling deep inside of you is hard to contain.

“Joel, what the FUCK was that?” you seethe.

“What do you mean baby?” he says back with equal acidity in his words.

“Joel!! I'm not kidding, am I a joke to you? What's with the winks at that gorgeous girl? And what about your cold attitude towards me?” you grit out.

You can't help but be insecure, Joel could have any girl and she was gorgeous, you know you're not the prettiest, skinniest girl out there but Joel chose you and you're scared he might be regretting his decision or he has changed his mind .

“Me? You're questioning me? I wasn't the one ogling at Richard's abs during rehearsal! What, am I not good enough for you? Do I not satisfy you? Tell me!!!” he spits back but his voice falters near the end.

“Joel… mi vida, you are everything I want and more, don't ever doubt that, te amo. Sólo Tú Trust me papi, you satisfy me more than anyone will ever know.” You start off in a soft voice that slowly becomes seductive. You add a nice wink and you bite your lip at the end, for good measure.

Joel’s angry facial expression falters and is replaced by one of confusion. He lifts an eyebrow and his lips part slightly, letting out a sound of confusion.

“Umm… why are you doing that”?” He asks, as you lick your lips and shyly look him up and down.

“I want to prove to you that I only have eyes for you Joel, but I don’t know how to do that. I mean, I have an idea, but you have a show.” You turn around and feel a hand gently grab your wrist, pulling you towards a warm, sweaty body. Joel brings you nose to nose and you can feel his breath fanning you face from the proximity. He says nothing, but you stay there forehead to forehead as you think of a way to make it up to him.

“Princessa, I need to get back on stage, but we need to finish talking about this after. I'll see you then okay?” Joel slides a palm against your cheek and you can't help it, your eyes water as he presses his lips to yours firmly and you two break apart. You feel a little bit more reassured, but you still don't feel it 100%. Joel says one thing, but his actions proved otherwise and, he's usually a man of his word and that is what you're holding onto right now.

Before Joel can leave again, you slowly bring your hands to the base of his neck, tangling your fingers in his curls as you gently press your lips to his, closing the space between you. You mesh your body to his and soon you feel his hands on your hips, letting his finger grab onto your shirt. He’s pulling you closer to him, and you happily push yourself closer to him until you both are backed into a wall. The kiss is needy, heated and full of jealous passion. You tug on his curls, pulling his head back exposing his neck as his eyes close. You place a kiss underneath his jaw and you can feel his breath catch in his throat as you kiss the smooth skin. Your mouth lingers there, feeling his pulse quicken and soft pants escaping his open mouth. You lightly smirk against the skin and pull back, examining his face. His eyes are closed and his head has fallen back against the wall, the skin of his neck exposed. He has a small band of sweat forming on his forehead and a few of his curls are coated in the glossy liquid. It's not from the show, for he and the boys had already changed into the next outfit.

Your eyebrow quirks up and you notice his breathing. Short, uneven breaths that come out in small huffs. He’s turned on, and that gives you an idea. You press yourself back into his body, your hands releasing the grip on his hair and traveling down his chest and stopping short of his pants. His head whips up as you toy with the buttons and his hands catch your wrists.

“Baby, what are you doing?” His voice cracks just slightly and his expression is one you can't necessarily read.

“I need to show you that I’m serious. You satisfy me more than anything and I want to return the favor.” You plead, eyes searching his for some sort of look that says ‘go ahead’, but all that’s there is a look of confusion, as well as the arousal he can not hide. His breathing picks up and he’s struggling to get out words, stumbling over sounds and mumbles.

Finally he lets out a breath and says, “Baby, you really don’t have to. I’m sorry I was a jerk, but you don’t-“

You interrupt.

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to.”

He pauses for a minute, before smirking and saying, “Well if you really want to.” You laugh before pressing your lips to his, unbuttoning his pants and kissing down his neck as you pull the clothing below his waist just low enough to give you access to his cock. You push the fabric of his shirt up and slowly kiss the skin underneath, gently working your hands around his exposed length. You hear his breath hitch as your fingers wrap around his hardening cock, and you slowly start to pump up and down, watching his face contort into an expression of pleasure, his head resting against the wall.

You apply a bit more pressure as you pump, watching him get harder and harder under your touch. You slowly kiss the tip of his cock, sending a shiver through his body as you smirk before slowly taking one quarter of his length in your mouth and hearing him groan above you. You slowly bod your head over that small area, swirling your tongue around the tip, before pulling away with a pop. You give his cock a few more pumps with your hands, watching as the precum spills out of him and you gently kiss it away as you lick a stripe from the base of his cock to the tip before taking him whole in your mouth.

You swallow him whole, feeling every ridge of his hard, thick, uncut cock in your mouth and the feeling is pleasurable to both you and him. You feel his rigid tool sliding in and out of your mouth as you swallow him whole while his face falls backwards, letting out a groan as your name tumbles out of his lips. You smile to yourself and quicken the pace as his hands make their way to your hair, grabbing a fistful and pulling you closer to take more of him, his tip hitting the back of your throat.

You pull away agonizingly slow, and make sure to gather the rest of his juices in your mouth, before you circle the tip of his cock with your tongue, his breath staggering when you blow cool air against it. You pull away from his pink, glistening, erect shaft, and heave, looking up at him with innocent eyes as he looks down at you, hands still in your hair and his chest rising and falling with anticipation. You can feel his fingers gently tugging you closer to him, his big, honey brown eyes begging you to keep going, to keep pleasuring him and you laugh before abiding.

You once again lick along his shaft agonizingly slow, circling the tip once again and lapping up more of the juices that have spilled out of him, the fluid coating your tongue before you slowly take him in your mouth, one inch at a time before he’s screaming for you to just take all of him at once. You feel his hips jerk in your direction and you have you press a hand against his abdomen to keep him still. Whimpers and whines escape his lips as you hollow out your cheeks and bob your head faster and faster until you hear him whimpering that he's about to cum. His hands grip tighter in your hair and they are pulling you impossibly close as he eagerly approaches his release, not wanting it to end but desperate to let go and watch you swallow his seed. You relentlessly push him in and out of your mouth until he's nothing but a heaving mess of pants and moans and as soon as he says he's about to climax, you feel his painfully hard cock squirt with cum into your mouth. His hands don’t loosen the grip on your hair and you are forced to swallow, feeling the hot seed spill into the back of your throat. He watches as you mouth fills with a mixture of cum and spit and he moans at the site of it dripping out the sides of your mouth. You swallow the rest of him and pull away, picking yourself up of the floor and hooking your fingers into the loops of his pants, pulling the up and pressing a kiss to his lips as you button his pants up once again.

Joel lets out a sigh of relief before his hand finds the back of your neck, pulling you to him and closing the space between you once more. You pull away as he is still panting and running a hand through his curls, pushing them back as his tries to even his breathing. His darkened eyes becoming slightly heavy as he blinks, looking at you with love and admiration.

“Did you like that papi?” You ask, as he huffs with a smirk and pulls you into another kiss.

You hear a knock at his door and then a loud booming voice that belongs to Richard.

“OY JOEL! WE NEED TO GET BACK ON STAGE!! HURRY THE FUCK UP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?! COME ON CABRON!!”

Joel sighs before pulling you out of the room, preparing to get on stage once more.

“I’ll return that favor for you after the show princessa.” He leaves you with a wink and disappears onto the stage.

#cnco imgaine #cnco imagines #cncoimagine #cncoimagines #joelpimentel #joel piment #joelpimentelimagines #joelpimentelimagine #joel pimentel imagine #joel pimentel imagines

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were-dragon · 5 years

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I'm sorry, has anyone really expected me not to go with body swap on this prompt? That will never happen. Day 5: Role reversal. Winston and Symmetra are working on a way to teleport multiple people at once, so in case of a crisis, agents don't have to go in one by one. As usual, the crisis comes much sooner than expected - and the first practical test does not go as planned. Who is even surprised at this point? Now the team in question has to deal with the fallout and some uncomfortable revelations. ...and yes, at this point Symmetra is my main sacrificial lamb for lousy plot bunnies. Meh, someone had to be

Words: 5+k

Rating: T

Pairings: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada, Genji Shimada & Hanzo Shimada

Tags: Bodyswap, Light Angst, shimada brothers feels, Shimada Dragons, Noodle Dragons, but a bit more ferocious, this had a potential to either be 20k of hurt/comfort or this one-shot for day 5 prompt, honestly it was a tough choice, Peapod McHanzo Week, Friendship/Love, Best Friends

“Explain.” Hanzo’s tone makes it clear enough this is the one and only chance for them, in case they missed the murderous intent on his face. It was surreal to see that expression on McCree’s face pointed towards anyone friendly and it made Winston trip over his own tongue.

“I- um, we are still in the stage of finding out all the- the details. As we told you before the mission, the device was not properly tested but we deemed it stable enough for a case of emergency.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Which, may I add, came to pass.”

“As you are all here and alive it was clearly a good decision,” Satya huffed, pausing in her work over Winston’s station.

McCree’s - well Hanzo’s - arm shoot up to hold off the archer. “Whoa there, pardner. They’re working on it. Let’s keep them to it, okay?”

“McCree,” Hanzo growled and began to look up just to realize he is the taller one of them now and turned his gaze down. His own face was looking at him with an infuriatingly placating smile on his lips.

“I must agree with Jesse on this,” Angela said pausing at the mechanical, and male, voice the words came out in. “I need to do tests on all of us. Really, we shouldn’t have loose time with a debriefing, this is clearly a medical emergency ergo it takes priority.” Her helmeted head turned to where her body was standing rather rigidly, arms holding as to not to touch her own body, making her look like a bad mannequin. “You should have told me, Genji.”

“I… am sorry, doctor..” Was the stilted answer in her own voice.

“Well, I’m not done with this!” A booming voice made them all flinch, including the speaker herself.

“Hana,” McCree started but the huge German knight whirled at him.

“Don’t even, Hanzo! I mean McCree! Just don’t. Look at me! I’m- old! And a guy!”

“This is most peculiar!” Agreed Reinhardt, his usually greater-than-life voice underwhelming coming from D.Va’s tiny body.

“We just want to know when do ya think we can get back into our own bodies,” McCree asked placatingly the scientist and architech respectively.

Winston scratched his head in thought but it was Satya who answered.

“There is much to be done first. We don’t even know how this came to be. We won’t try to reverse it until we know, we could do more harm than good.”

“Because you did such a great job the first time around,” Hana griped in what should probably be under her breath tone but Reinhardt’s vocal box turning into a sentence of regular loudness.

“Uncalled for,” McCree said reprovingly and to her credit, she winced.

“Yeah, sorry. This is just-“

“Uncomfortable,” Genji filled in, still too rigid to be anything but supremely uncomfortable.

“I know. But I’m inclined to agree with Angela, you should all move to med bay. I promise we will let you know the moment we have any new information.”

So they did. The deflated shuffle walk of individuals not quite sure how their bodies work and too afraid to breaks something. Or someone.

McCree sighed, his right hand still holding onto the serape just to hold Hanzo back just in case. And they thought the mission was bad. Fucking typical.

“I see,” Zenyatta said, his head looking from one to the next. “Genji?”

“Here, Master,” Genji replied, Angela’s body raising a hand, barely breaking out of its dejected posture.

“I see,” Zenyatta repeated. “Would it be okay if Genji accompanied me elsewhere, doctor Ziegler?”

“I need to check over everyone first, Zenyatta. And I have some questions for Genji I need to-” she paused, clearly not wanting to say it out loud.

“I understand but maybe I could lend you a hand in that way later?”

“It is okay, master,” Genji sighed. “I do not wish for Angela to be in undue pain because of me.”

“Pain?” Hanzo asked with urgency. “Were you injured on the mission?”

“No, brother.” Without his mask, all of his emotions were clearly written all over Angela’s face. It spoke of sadness. And guilt. “I speak of the pain of being a cyborg. I might have neglected to inform doctor Ziegler about my usual state of being. I’ve learned to ignore it.”

Hanzo looked stricken, then bowed his head, gritting his teeth. The hat was shielding him from most of the room but McCree was standing right next to him and he knew his own face, alright? He knew how he looked when he was fighting tears.

“Anija, please do not-”

“I am sorry,” Hanzo blurted before all but ran out of the infirmary.

“Aniki!”

“Hanzo! We need to check you over!” Angela called after him in Genji’s mechanical voice and McCree internally cursed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back,” he said to the room, making his way to the door. “Just, do yer thing and we’ll be back.”

He did not wait for their response and made his way where he knew Hanzo would be. His gait much smoother and faster than what he was used to, also quieter. It felt much easier to move and he silently marveled at Hanzo’s fitness. “Damn ninjas.”

He knew he would find Hanzo on the balcony under the roof where he usually tended to retreat to. There would be no fancy wall climbing in Jesse’s body and boots, though.

So when he opened the door and his gaze fell on the man leaning on the railing with a hand over his eyes he was unsurprised.

He hadn’t said anything as he neared the archer, just took in the shaking shoulders and wet sounding breaths.

It took a while before Hanzo spoke. “You should stop smoking,” was the first thing he said when Jesse was close enough.

“Yeah. Yer not the first one to tell me that.”

“And your endurance is atrocious. My sides never hurt after such a short distance.”

“Hey know, no need to be mean. We can’t all be fitness-freak ninjas.” McCree went with the banter as he closed the remaining distance, standing next to Hanzo, looking down at the monitoring station. Just to give Hanzo some semblance of privacy.

Hanzo scoffed, trying and failing to stop the wetness gather in his eyes.

After a few more moments of whipping the moisture from his face, Hanzo sighed, tone grouchy. “This body cries very easily.”

“Yeah, always did,” Jesse chuckled. “On the flip side I don’t suffer from puffy eyes much, so yer in luck there.” Out of habit, he patted his chest pocket for a cigarillo but of course, there was none. And neither was a pocket. Now that he considered it, he hadn’t really had craving for it. But he wouldn’t say no to a drink.

“Did you know?”

There was no need for clarification. “I knew back in Blackwatch, hoped it changed with time. Guess not.”

Hanzo made a self-deprecating noise and Jesse cringed a little. It was weird to hear himself do it.

“Why would he keep it a secret?”

Jesse tried not to let his face show any pity but he held little hope as Hanzo probably knew his face as good as Jesse knew his.

“Ya know why. Yer brother forgave you and wants you to do the same. He wouldn’t want to add up to the fuckton of guilt you already carry around.”

Hanzo growled. “Do you not think it deserved? He might have survived but the past eleven years of his life were filled with pain. In mind and in body.”

“Han, let it go. If not for you then for him. Genji worked so hard to move past it. Yes, he lives with physical pain but you can’t tell me he’s not happy.”

Hanzo pressed the fingers of Jesse’s flesh hand into his eyes, letting out a long breath.

“I do not think I can. Not yet anyway,” he continued before Jesse could say anything else. “But I will not bring it up with him.”

Jesse guessed that was the best deal he could break right now. He patted Hanzo’s left shoulder. The man’s face contorted.

Oh. Right. Genji wasn’t the only one with constant aches.

“I am telling doctor Ziegler about this.”

“Aw, Han. Come on.”

When they got back into the infirmary, Genji, presumably still in Angela’s body, and Zenyatta were gone. The doctor was now checking over Hana who was holding herself very still. Jesse noticed some items scattered on the ground and a tipped over chair.

“Not used to taking this much space, huh?” he asked, sidestepping Reinhard who ironically took as much space as usual despite the smaller packaging.

“It’s the worst! I keep bumping things. And people.” She leaned forward, wincing. “And my back aches. And my joints.”

“Tis the weather, little one. It can’t be helped. But you will find I’m more than fit!”

Hana’s grumbles made Jesse chuckle into his hand. Everyone turned to look at him.

“Oh my god, did you just giggle? I didn’t know Hanzo could do that!”

“Aye, it’s most unexpected.”

Next to him, Hanzo bristled. “I do not giggle .”

Hana laughed. “Maybe you don’t but he does. And right now that makes you the one giggling.”

“It wasn’t a giggle,” Jesse protested but he could already tell it wouldn’t change a thing, so he deflected. “Just focus on your achy joints, firecracker, would you?”

That was enough for Angela to get back to work, her movements little stilted and jerky.

It the end Reinhardt was fine, he was perfectly alright, with the sole exception that the body was not inhabited by him. And it went similarly when Mercy checked Hana’s body as well, passing all the response test with flying colors.

“Alright, who wishes to go next?”

Hanzo stepped forward before McCree could say a single thing. He sat on the bed formerly occupied by Reinhardt and thrust his bent left arm forward.

“Dammit, Hanzo.” McCree couldn’t help himself.

“I said I would inform the doctor and that is what I am doing.”

“Is there something wrong?” Angela crossed her arms, one hip cocked slightly to the side in posture she usually took on when someone was about to be in trouble. It looked strange on Genji, to say the least.

“McCree’s arm causes him constant discomfort. I believe it is not completely usual.”

The doctor hummed. “Can you give me a number on a scale from one to ten?”

Hanzo thought. “Solid four.”

“‘S not that bad!” Jesse protested but neither of them was listening.

“Hmm.” Angela took the arm carefully into her hands, straightening, bending, and twisting it in this or that direction. Hanzo’s face remained stoic but McCree nearly winced himself when she turned the palm away from the body. He knew what Hanzo must be feeling at that moment. The archer obediently described all sensations and Angela nodded, while still prodding at different spots.

“I believe we have the cause. The anchor for the prosthetic arm is pinching a nerve right here,” she pointed at a specific place. “I am afraid we will need to refit it.”

“Goddammit,” McCree murmured. He hated the first fitting and the second one even more. “Do we have to, Ang?”

“Yes, Jesse. If it didn’t go away on its own so far there is little hope it will at all. Either the pain will keep worsening or your arm will go numb and probably weaken considerably. Worst-case scenario, you will lose control over the prosthesis.”

Well, fuck. He sighed, making a grab for his hat, that, of course, wasn't there.

“Alright, fine. When?”

“I can have it ready in a few days, I’ll ask Torbjorn to prioritize it. You should speak to him about any changes you might want.”

“Nope. No changes. I’m used to this one, so make it as close to it as possible.”

Angella nodded, clearly not surprised by his choice. “I will tell him. We will be ready when this thing is reversed.”

“No.” Hanzo jumped in. “There is no reason to wait for us to be in our correct bodies. Tell me when it is ready and we will do it immediately.”

“What in the hells, are you crazy?!” Jesse grabbed his shoulder turning him so they could face each other. “You have no idea what yer sayin’.”

Hanzo scoffed. “Do not treat me as a child, McCree. I know how serious the procedure is but I’m sure doctor Ziegler will agree it is best to fix this situation as soon as possible. Is it not?”

Angela was looking Hanzo but with her face hidden behind the faceplate, Jesse couldn’t tell what she thought about it.

“Are you sure, agent Shimada? We will have to attach a new anchor for the prosthetic arm, I do not have to tell you the nerve re-attachment will be excruciating even with anesthetic and there will be rehabilitation necessary afterward.”

“Angela, no.”

“I understand and I am willing.”

She looked from Hanzo to Jesse, who was putting on his best begging face, and back to Hanzo before nodding. “I will inform Torbjorn there is no need to wait then.”

“I don’t get a fucking say in this? It is still my body! If anyone has to go through that shit it should be me, not Hanzo.”

“It still could be you, Jesse. We do not know how long it will take for Satya and Winston to reverse this. And agent Shimada is right, we cannot wait too long. How long has it been hurting like this, Jesse?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Eight or nine months? I don’t remember.”

“Jesse!”

“It’s not that bad! I just learned to work around it, ‘s all.”

There was a string of muttered German that he didn't really need to speak to understand.

“We are not waiting any longer.” She raised her hand to stop his protests. “You know I can overrule you on this, Jesse.”

Jesse knew. Reyes made damn sure of it. And goddammit he should have taken the time to officially quit back then. He and Genji were probably the only ones with that particular clause in their contracts.

He also knew Angela never acted on it unless it was beyond serious. He rubbed his face with both hands before letting his shoulders slump in defeat.

“Fine. Schedule it as you see fit.”

“Thank you,” she said, there was a palpable warmth in that mechanical voice.

The rest of the examination went by quickly and nearly silently. Hanzo waited for him until he was done as well before saying goodbye to Angela and leaving the infirmary.

They managed to walk for all of sixty feet before Jesse turned on Hanzo, grabbing the serape and pushing his back to the wall.

“What the fuck do you think yer doing, Shimada!” he hissed at the now taller man. Spitting those words into his own face felt cathartic in a way he did not wish to think about.

Hanzo barred his teeth at him. “I am saving your arm!”

“No, yer tryin’ to punish yourself for Genji! And I don't appreciate you using my body to do it!”

Hanzo looked floored before gathering himself again. “Is that so? And this from a man who spent nearly a year in pain and is about to lose an arm because of his own foolish pride!” He pushed Jesse away with a grunt, stabbing a finger into his chest. “Do not presume to know my reasons!”

It felt like a slap, Jesse took a step back, watching as Hanzo’s chest heaved with anger hard enough he could see it even with the chest plate. When the archer turned and stalked away, leaving him to stand in the hallway, Jesse was still replaying Hanzo’s last words in his head.

Then he let out string of curses Hanzo’s mouth probably never before formed.

The knock on the door was soft and Genji contemplated ignoring it. He felt tired. Exhausted even.

He spent several hours with Zenyatta talking and thinking and feeling. And all we wished to do now was to shut down for a while. Or sleep. As he was not a cyborg at the moment and there was no forcing it.

He turned over on the bed just to discover he had to scoot a little to even reach the edge. One of many disorienting things about being in the body of a rather lithe human woman.

“Genji.”

McCree?

Genji frowned. The voice was soft but in a completely wrong way. Then he remembered.

Rising and opening the door was almost an automatic move. Hanzo did not seek him out often and Genji cherished those few occasions he did so. He did not wish for Hanzo to feel like he wasn’t welcomed now, after learning the unfortunate detail of Genji’s continuous existence.

Needless to say, it was bizarre to have to look up at him as McCree was much taller than Angela. He got used to being the taller brother now, it was his little joy.

“Aniki. How are you?”

The flash of pain was something he was not unused to see on Jesse’s face but it has been a while since there was a reason for it to happen in front of Genji. But now the knowledge of workings of McCree’s face was his boon as Hanzo seemed to lack the poker face he had in his own body.

“I wished to ask you that.”

Genji gestured for him to step into the room and let the door close behind them. There wasn’t much in a way of seating in his room. He lacked the desire for comfort as his body’s senses were limited in that and many other ways. But they used his bed as a makeshift couch before, they could do it now as well.

“Would you like to sit?”

Hanzo nodded, making his way across the rather narrow space; he avoided the weapon rack with Genji’s swords but his foot caught at one of the feet of the bed, making him stumble and drop down hard on the mattress, making it squeak.

Genji snorted. It came out much higher than he was used to and his brother shot him a look, eyebrows arched.

That was fair. There was more than enough ammunition for both of them here.

“I take it McCree’s body is not treating you kindly?”

Hanzo scoffed. “He’s a stubborn fool, I am unsurprised his body is as well.”

“Harsh, brother. Did something happened?” Genji asked as he dropped on the bed; it did not make a sound, not even a decent bounce. How disappointing.

Hanzo scowled. “I do not wish to discuss McCree.”

Genji stared at him contemplatively, deciding if he should let it go or push. But maybe now wasn’t the best time for that. “Alright.”

“How are you feeling? Did doctor Ziegler said everything is good with you as well? Or as good as it can be at least?”

Genji smiled at Hanzo, forgetting he had no faceplate to hide it behind. His brother blinked several times, before looking down and scoffing as his face grew a shade darker.

“I am well, Hanzo. It was a shock, I will not lie about that. But mostly I was afraid I would hurt Angela’s body by accident. Next to my cyborg body, hers is quite fragile. It will take me some time to acclimatize, as Master put it. As I did after getting my new body.”

Hanzo nodded. “Understandable. If you will accept my advice, do not try to climb any walls.”

Genji blinked. Hanzo was staring back at him. They both started to laugh at the same time.

“You did not-” Genji wheezed.

“I wish I did not. I nearly toppled over the railing.”

That set up Genji all over again. His brother, who had the uncanny ability to climb any smooth surface by the age of seven, couldn’t do it with a pair of cowboy boots on.

“I would pay money to see that.”

Hanzo chuckled. “You may try and ask Athena, maybe she will be willing to part with the security footage for a favor or two.”

“I may just do that.”

He leaned back into the wall, sighing contentedly. “This is nice.”

“Mhm.”

“I must say I’m surprised, I expected you to… react in some way to Angela’s revelation. I thought that was why you have come.”

The quick intake of breath whistled a little between Hanzo’s lips. But to Genji’s surprise, there was nothing more.

“Do you not have questions, anija?”

“None that I think I need the answers to. I believe I understand your reasons for keeping it secret and I won’t pry. If you choose to speak to me about it in the future, I will listen.”

“How unexpectedly mature of you,” Genji quipped and Hanzo’s elbow connected with his upper arm.

“Shut up.”

Genji chuckled. “So what brought on this world-shattering epiphany? Or should I ask who?”

Hanzo shot him a dark look. “I told you I do not wish to speak about him.”

“So it was him.”

“Genji…”

“I simply wish to know if I should go knock him around a bit.”

Hanzo snorted. “In that body? Also, you would only bruise my own body. Best not.”

Genji sighed dramatically, stretching his legs. It felts extremely satisfying and it made him smile again. “I guess that’s true. But I could at least bitch at him a little, doctor Ziegler has a magnificent voice when it comes to yelling.”

“Personal experience?” Hanzo smirked.

“Maybe.” Genji finally decided to give up and simply plastered himself to Hanzo’s side. It wasn’t quite right but it hardly mattered.

“What are you doing?”

McCree’s put-upon tone had nothing on Hanzo’s, Genji chuckled. “Clearly, I am snuggling the resident cowboy because you are too chickenshit to do it yourself.”

He fully expected to be punched for that one, realizing too late it wouldn’t just bounce from his metal plates. Luckily, his brother was aware enough to slow his hand down before it connected. It still stung.

“You are not funny.”

“Lies.” Genji grabbed the hand and pulled himself closer with it, now putting his head on Hanzo’s shoulder. It was supremely uncomfortable but he could hold it for a little while.

“But seriously, are you okay, aniki?”

Hanzo sighed but leaned back enough so Genji could fit under his arm instead. It was a weird position but at least it was more comfortable. “I feel strange. I forgot how it feels without them constantly poking at my mind.”

A wave of goosebumps went over Genji; yet another sensation he hadn’t felt in a decade. “I know what you mean. I do hope they will stay put without us there to draw them out. But at least the good doctor knows Ramen. And Ramen likes her, so she shouldn’t cause any problems.”

Hanzo went very still under him. “Oh. Oh no. ”

Jesse felt worse before. Really, he did. Much worse even. But that hardly helped at the moment.

He spent an hour pacing around the compound, Hanzo’s body brimming with restless energy. Nothing like the slow humming undercurrent of his own he was used to. How was the archer always looking and acting so calm and collected was beyond him. The urge to run, climb, and throw punches all at once was making him supremely agitated.

In the end, he made his way to his room, punched in the code, and headed straight for the bed and the stock of bourbon under it.

Some indeterminable span of time later and more than half a bottle in, the agitation turned into a sulk. Not much better but at least he didn’t felt like he needed to go run a marathon anymore.

Jesse was aware he fucked up.

Badly.

He shouldn’t have said those things. He and Hanzo had a rocky start, mostly on account of Jesse’s long friendship with Genji and the somewhat aloof nature of the Shimada heir. But they got over it. And as they were passing it they discovered many common interests. And even better, a similar sense of humor. After that their relationship skyrocketed and soon reached a friendship Jesse would never expect. Nowadays they barely spent any free time without each other in some way. Even if they were far, or occupied by something, they tended to send each other messages, pictures or quips at the expense of those they were physically sharing space with. And somewhere in the middle of that, they entrusted some of their secrets to each other. Shards of unsavory pasts, mistakes that haunted their steps and dreams. Regrets.

Jesse hadn’t even noticed when he started to trace the outline of the dragon tattoo on Hanzo’s arm. It was such an intricate piece of art. Hanzo once told him that unlike regular tattoos this one did not fade and it stayed as sharp as it was the first day it was put on his skin.

‘Magic.’ Hanzo grinned at him that evening, taking a sip from his gourd before letting Jesse have one as well.

Jesse was confident this blunder wasn’t about to ruin what they have, their foundations were built much more solidly for a fight like this to shake them. But that did not mean he didn't feel like shit about it. He hated fighting with Hanzo. Real fighting. Not the banter, or quips, or shots they took at each other on regular basis. That was fun, they both knew it.

“Shouldn’t have brought Genji into it. ‘M such an idiot,” he murmured into his palms as he rubbed at his face.

True .

His eyes flew wide open and he dropped his hands.

“What.”

Sssstupid, cowboy.

The bright blue glow was as familiar as it was unexpected. He could feel the tingling under his skin turning into prickling and then burning as the glow intensified and morphed from tendrils into two thin, long forms floating in the air above him.

“Howdy?”

Why are you here?

He isss not here.

Where issss he?

What did you do with massster?

To say the dragons were aggravated was a gross understatement and Jesse suddenly felt a nibble of fear.

They were hissing over each other, twisting in the air and to his horror, growing.

“I’m sorry. I know this must feel wrong to you, guys. We got switched but they are working on getting us back in order, I swear!”

We can hear you.

You have hurt him.

We ssshould eat you.

“Oh god.” Pinned in his own bed under the coiling bodies of ancient spirits he saw wreak more havoc in battle than most bombs can, Jesse felt terror like scarce ever before.

He isss not here-

We could devour you whole.

-to ssstop usss.

“B- but it’s Hanzo’s body!” A new sort of horror poured over him as the thought of Hanzo losing his body got to him. Would he survive that? Would it kill them both? What if this wasn’t permanent and when they switched back, Hanzo would have nowhere to go and just disappeared?

We can sssave the body.

We can only take your sssoul.

That was somewhat relieving. Just a little. But he was still scared shitless. He barely noticed the sound of door opening and voices shouting.

Massster!

We can feel him!

He isss here!

“Udon! Soba! Stop this immediately!”

Jesse watched the spirits float over to where Hanzo was standing in Jesse’s body, the dragons swirling around him, poking their noses with trembling whiskers into his sides, and neck, and tugging at his clothes.

Hanzo was talking in fast Japanese, his voice stern and angry sounding.

Jesse flinched as someone touched him; Angela immediately pulling back, hands up in a placating gesture.

“It is only me. Are you well, Jesse?”

Oh. right. Not Angela. Genji. He let his eyes fall shut and head drop back on the pillow.

“Not gonna lie. I’ve been better.”

“Did they hurt you?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Not really. Scared me shitless though. They are not happy with me. Not one bit.” He peered from under his lashes at Hanzo, who was now holding the dragons who solidified around him, like two glowing blue anacondas. He was looking at Jesse with a forcibly neutral expression. “Can’t say I blame them.”

Genji let out a relieved breath, turning to his brother. “Anija?”

“They are calming down now. But I do not understand what drew them out in the first place.”

Jesse blinked, then groaned. “‘S my fault I think. Was touching the tattoo. Thinking about you.”

Next to him, Genji choked.

“Fer fuck’s sake not like that! Just, I don’t know, tracing it. Hadn’t even noticed at first.”

“Ah.” Was all Hanzo said.

The silence in the room was getting a bit awkward when Hanzo sighed and asked his brother: “Genji, could you give us a moment?”

“Sure, aniki!” Genji said happily, before turning to Jesse, murmuring: “Don’t fuck it up or I’ll fuck you up.” In that tone Angela only ever used on runaway patients who had the audacity to bring cigarillos and whiskey back to the med bay. He gulped.

Hanzo must have caught it because he rolled his eyes at his brother as he passed by.

Then he turned to Jesse, who was still lying on the bed. The dragons lifted their heads from Hanzo’s shoulders, watching Jesse intently.

“They won’t hurt you.”

“Mmhm.”

“They are under strict order not to.”

“As I said, I wouldn’t blame them. They got right to be pissed.” You got right to be pissed , was what Jesse meant to say. But Hanzo seemed to hear it anyway.

He let out a breath, sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed, careful not to actually sit on one of the coils around him.

“I-”

“I’m sorry!” Jesse blurted, suddenly afraid Hanzo would try and apologize to him instead. Hanzo huffed, a small smile curling his lips.

“I know you regret your words, Jesse. Just as I regret mine. But what I meant to say is that I’ve been thinking, and your words weren’t completely baseless. My decision was influenced by my guilt. But”- he raised a hand as Jesse opened his mouth to speak. “But it was only a small part of it. This is a serious issue and I would not have you risk your arm for my comfort.”

“Han, this is more than just about comfort. There’s a reason I haven’t said anything for so long. That surgery? I still have nightmares ‘bout the first one. Yes, they’ll give ya anesthetics but not enough, they need you to be awake and feel for their readings to be worth a damn.”

Hanzo nodded. “I am aware.”

Jesse was now focusing solely on Hanzo’s eyes.

He looked into this pair of eyes nearly every day of his life; he knew every speck of gold and green that appeared in them over the years, searching in them as often as he did for the answers he needed at times. But never once they looked like this. Like they are not his at all.

“Please, Jesse. I might be unable to keep Genji from pain but I can do it for you .”

He nodded, defeated. “If yer sure then.”

“I am. I would see you happy and healthy when we get to back to our own bodies. Our competition will be much more interesting without a handicap on your side.”

Jesse let out an indignant squawk. “Oh yer just full of yourself, ain'tcha, Shimada?”

Hanzo arched an eyebrow at him. “I believe you are the one who is full of myself at the moment.”

The groan was heartfelt, and it was only because of Hanzo was still intertwined with his dragons that Jesse didn’t chuck a pillow at him.

The archer was still chuckling at his own god-awful joke when Jesse spoke again.

“Hey, Han?”

“Yes?”

“Thank ya.”

Hanzo smiled at him. “You are welcome. But there is no need for thanks, now or later.”

“I mean, fer always having ma back.” He reached towards the archer’s hands just to stop himself a foot away. He did not fully expect the man to close the distance and intertwine their fingers. Knuckles brushing against knuckles, warm skin against his colder one. Hanzo’s fingers are always cold , Jesse thought. I guess I’ll always have to be there to warm them up.

The thought came out of nowhere, yet it felt like it was always there. Flickering in the back of his mind.

Well, damn.

“Hey Han?” he asked again. The archer humming, thumb brushing over Jesse’s index finger. “When we have our bodies back, wouldya like to grab some tea and cake with me?”

The finger stilled for a second, two, three; then it started to move again. There was a softness to his voice Jesse never heard in all his days.

“I would like that very much.”

#mchanzo #hanzo shimada #jesse mccree #peapodmchanzoweek #my fics #shimada brothers #day 5 #genji shimada #shimada dragons

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more--than--anything · 6 years

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Thorns & Roses: Our Thoughts on Season Three

With all eyes on the imminent Season Four premiere, let's take one last look at Season Three. Blindspot survived its sophomore season and came into its third season with what TPTB called a soft reset. With a brand new set of tattoos, a shiny new villain, and airing on a new night—the often-feared Friday death slot—Blindspot promised a lighter and more fun season and sold that premise by promoting everyone’s favorite Rich Dotcom to a recurring role.

So what was our overall impression this season? How did Blindspot fare in the death slot? Did the fresh new look and feel succeed? Was it as light and humorous as they promised?

L: I don't know about the light and humorous part. I mean, should I still feel traumatized by the finale almost four months later? (At what point is it no longer socially acceptable to cry over the death of a fictional character?) But angst aside, I felt this was a pretty solid season. There were some really good plot twists, solid character developments, and interesting, action-packed cases, but there were also some plots that dragged while others felt rushed or inconsistent. If I have one complaint about this season, it would be that there seemed to be too much going on, and trying to keep up with all of the storylines left the pacing of the individual threads rather uneven. I really loved Roman's storyline this season, but if I had to rank seasons, I would have to put the first two ahead of this one, simply because of the pacing issues.

Y: I agree. It was a very solid season, strengthened by the Roman storyline as its backbone, and with the soft reboot, the characters came back with fresh and interesting new baggage that made getting to know them again all the more exciting. I’m not saying it was flawless—like you said, some plot holes, some dragging plots, and a few questionable character decisions here and there—but it was definitely fun, explosive, and nerve-wracking, and months later I still haven’t stopped using the finale as an excuse to occasionally stuff my face with chocolate. And to answer your question, I don’t think there is a statute of limitation on the whole crying-over-the-death-of-a-fictional-character situation.

Rose: Roman's expanded role as Villain/Mastermind

Y: Ever since we saw Roman walk away in the season two finale, bid Jane farewell and turn his back and limp away like the gorgeous bastard that he is, we knew things wouldn’t end well, or at least, he was going to be somewhat pissed off for a while. And pissed off he was, for over two years.

But he was patient and he was diligent and he was kind of stalker-ish? Either way, Roman came back in season three a new man. With his childhood scar magically—or surgically—gone and his entire existence focused solely on one thing, Roman was the puppet master of this season. But unlike his mother, Roman was not driven by some greater goal, not by a belief that the country needs to be fixed, not by a logic—faulty as it may have been—that theirs is a cause that is worth all the crimes and sacrifices being made. No, Roman was driven by revenge, by anger, by betrayal, by loneliness, and by heartbreak.

And that made for a far more complex and enjoyable villain this season. He was methodical, he planned his playbook play by play for years, and he knew what he wanted, yet being driven by emotions rather than logic made him even more volatile and unpredictable. Add to that the fact that he was sick and dying and, with at some point literally nothing to lose, Roman—and Luke for that matter—owned every moment of season three.

L: He really did. And even though his journey didn't end the way I'd hoped it would (I still cannot watch his final scene without crying), his arc over the past two seasons was one of the best in this show. When we first met Roman, he was functioning mostly as Shepherd's puppet, lost and adrift without his sister's influence to keep him on track. At the end of season two, we saw him align again with Shepherd and then turn away from Jane, so he entered this season as a real wildcard. Whose side would he be on? Would he try to break Shepherd out of prison? Would he go after Jane? Or would he reconcile with her and become part of Team Fed? And I'm not going to lie, as damaged and sociopathic as he might have been, I was rooting for him to turn away from the Dark Side and reconcile with Jane. But even though that didn't happen the way I wanted, his journey was still fulfilling. I liked that he didn't try to pick up where Shepherd left off, nor did he just go after Jane. Instead, he chose his own target, which was slowly revealed to us. And he did ultimately succeed in this task—he brought down Hank Crawford—and he reconciled with Jane before he died. I guess I need to find some comfort in that?

Even though Roman began this season as the villain, abducting and tattooing his sister without her consent, I feel like he was trying to work his way back to Jane in his own unique way. The new tattoos seemed intended as punishment for ZIP-ing him against his will (especially given that it was, in essence, a death sentence). And the target he selected was one who had harmed both of them, so he was trying to bring down Crawford as much for Jane as he was for himself. By using the FBI to investigate crimes and feeding them information, he was acknowledging that Jane hadn't been entirely wrong in choosing that course. But the tragedy of Roman is, of course, that things didn't work out the way he'd planned. He fell in love with a woman he wanted to make his future, but instead she ended up being the cause of his death. He faltered in his plan, torn between Blake and his goal. Crawford ended up dead, but his empire is alive and well and in the hands of the woman who cold-bloodedly killed Roman. He reconciled with his sister, but too late to fill in all the gaps between them. And he left behind a host of other mysteries—new tattoos, hidden drives, some anonymous family member on the other end of the phone?—that will ensure his legacy lives on.

Going into the next season, I am really excited to find out who was on the other end of Roman's mysterious phone calls. And I am very interested to see how Remi handles the news of his death, given how close she was to her brother. I foresee her seeking vengeance against Blake... and maybe against Tasha for her part in Roman's demise.

But I'm still going to really, really miss Luke Mitchell on this show.

Y: I think one of the most important things was seeing Roman with Blake. It’s true he didn’t get the ending we wanted for him, but I think in some ways, he was redeemed. Despite his misguided ways, he was working to bring down someone evil. I can’t blame Roman for his ways. He was broken in that sense beyond repair, but he still saw Hank and the evil he presented. His ways may not have differed much from Hank’s, but his intentions were good. He didn’t know any other way that the world works and yet, inside of him was someone who hated what had been done to him and who he was and who tried in the only ways he knew how to make the world a better place and remove the evil from it. If that’s not tragic and heartbreaking, I don’t know what is.

But back to Roman and Blake. We already knew that Roman loves Jane or Remi, in the twisted way that he did. But the weight he carried with him since season two—thanks to Dr. Sun—was that he was incapable of love. He was convinced he was too far gone, a monster who was not capable of love. And I’m not saying his relationship with Blake was healthy necessarily, but it did prove that underneath all the damage, there was still a beating heart, a human being, who wanted nothing more than to love and be loved.

I’ll never be okay with how Roman’s story ended or his entire story for that matter. I’ve never come across a more tragic character. Luke Mitchell deserves all the awards and all the recognition for pulling it off. Roman managed to terrify us and infuriate us and break our hearts. I still weep to this day thinking of the life he had to live and the fate he met. The final scene with Jane just brings it all together to deliver what is probably the most emotionally scarring scene on this show ever. And they barely spoke ten words.

Rose: Hank Crawford as this season's Big Bad

L: Last season, we got to watch the FBI go up against Shepherd. And she was a pretty damn good villain. But Crawford? He was even more chilling. Not only did he show a total lack of remorse for what he'd done to the Krugers and scores of other defenseless children, he was proud of his so-called "passion project." Even as he was dying, he was smiling, because as he told Jane, "I made something great." He was an adversary worthy of our FBI team, and I am eager to see them take apart the rest of his empire and Kira Evans and Blake (and maybe Tasha with her??) in the new season. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Blake suddenly moving up into the Big Bad desk, so I am interested to see what they do with her, or if we ultimately get a bigger Big Bad to contend with.

Also, Hank Crawford gave us Director Hirst, who was a pretty damn good villain in her own right (kudos to Mary Stuart Masterson for her portrayal, which hit just the right note between utterly charming and downright alarming). All the action and drama with the Crawfords during the second half of the season kind of eclipsed the team's struggle to bring down Hirst during the first half, but that challenge certainly delivered its share of gut punches, as we agonized over Stuart's tragic death, Reade's questionable loyalty, and then the team's race to bring Hirst down before she destroyed their careers. The last episode in the Hirst arc was one of the best this season.

Y: What is it about this show and creating these villains who are so morally ambiguous that you cling to every scene they are in and every line of dialogue they say? I thought Shepherd last season could not be topped, but I was wrong. Crawford was just as complex, just as manipulative, just as twisted, and just as fun to watch. I love how they manage with their villains to take you down that thread where you listen to them and think that you actually agree with them, or at least that their ideology isn’t so wrong, and you find yourself being pulled into what they’re saying—until they pull a stunt like nuking the eastern seaboard or stealing children to create merciless super soldiers.

Hank Crawford and David Morse in turn were a gift to season three. And that scene in the orphanage in the finale was just mind blowing. In every sense of the word and in every aspect of it, that scene was mind blowing. That is all.

I just hope season four can continue with this trend of villains that make you question your own moral compass and provide one chilling and spine-tingling moment after another.

Rose: Team Fed 2.0—Rich is in, Tasha is out, and Reade is in charge

Y: I love this team. I love them to pieces. I absolutely loved where they got to at the end of season two—as a badass crime fighting team, as friends who support each other through everything and as a family who would sacrifice everything for each other. But season three started with that two-year time jump and as much as I would have loved to see the team back where we left them, that would have been absolutely ridiculous. And the time jump and all that happened during that time was exactly what we needed and what they needed to keep it all interesting and to challenge them to become even stronger and closer and a more tight knit unit. Or at least they were that for a while.

Tasha leaving for the CIA brought in the tension and that feeling of unintentional betrayal, Patterson leaving the FBI and going to Silicon Valley only to be dragged back in gave us that homecoming that we all were feeling, Reade becoming the boss injected new blood into the whole office and shuffled the dynamics in a most interesting way, and finally Rich Dotcom joining the team was just everything we all needed in our lives but never dared to ask for. The time jump, the distance and separation, the new roles and new alliances provided a fresh new dynamic to a group of people we already love and pushed them through new unexpected challenges of themselves and each other and their relationships and allowed for interesting arcs and journeys individually and as a team.

Of course it did not all end well. Patterson and Tasha spent a handful of episodes wallowing in angst that was at times almost too much to handle, Tasha and Reade danced around their feelings and the awkwardness hit a whole new level and Rich… well, Rich is Rich. But at the end of the day, the team were willing to give anything to have Tasha come back to the FBI after her humiliating departure from the CIA but she had other things on her mind, and where that puts us for the next season is in a very very exciting place. But despite all that, once again we reached the end of season three with this team as close and as tight knit as ever, with Rich now a welcome member of this family. And that is all I’ve ever wanted. Seriously.

L: Look, I'm gonna be honest here. The tattoos are mysterious, the explosions and the fight scenes are cool. But the reason I tune in each and every week for this show is to see these characters. I love this team. I love the way they interact, the way they all bring something unique to the table. I love the way they trust and look out for each other—both in the field and in their personal lives. They are a family, to quote Reade from the season two finale, "And families fight. Sometimes, they lose hope. But what they damn sure don't do is give up." And this team never, ever gives up on each other.

I wasn't sure about the time jump when it was first presented in the season two finale, but I love the way it gave each of these characters new depths. By the time we rejoin them, we see that Reade has settled into his role as AD of the NYO, Tasha has fully embraced life at the CIA, and Patterson has left the FBI behind for a glamorous new career in Silicon Valley... which she abandons in about two heartbeats to take charge of the NYO lab again. And that makes sense, too, because all of these characters (and Jane and Kurt) are driven by similar forces: They thrive on adrenaline. They embrace the puzzles and challenges the tattoos represent. And they are driven to protect innocent people from the bad guys who refuse to play by the rules.

I thought there would be more friction from Kurt and Jane having to report to Reade, but I think his promotion to NYO made sense (especially in light of Hirst's agenda), and I liked that both Kurt and Reade realized pretty quickly that it made more sense for Kurt to call the shots in the field (as he did even when Mayfair was in charge of the NYO) and for Reade to handle the bureaucratic, suit-wearing side (which just made Kurt impatient and cranky). The writers could have drawn this conflict out more, but I'm glad that they didn't, because it kept the focus on solving the new tattoos and bringing down Hirst.

Patterson's arc this season was a little more subtle, but she did get her own episode (in which she proved that she is so badass she can solve tattoo cases while in a coma), and overall, I found her evolution this season to be one of the more satisfying arcs. When we first see her again, we find out that she's packed up and moved to Silicon Valley and left the FBI and the NYO behind. But as we watch her struggling to cope with Stuart's loss, we realize that she hasn't resolved her issues so much as run away from them, which means that she brought them all right back to New York with her. We feel her betrayal by Tasha when she realizes that Borden is still alive, and the scene at the end, when she declines to speak to him, is one of the most powerful scenes of the season. "In my head he's become this great mythical monster. But now that he's in front of me, all I can see is a weak, broken shell of a man. No meaning has to come from this happening to me. It's just a terrible thing that happened in my past." A terrible thing she can finally leave behind, which is a huge victory for her. And I loved that this led into the bit with Jack Izenberg—it was an absolutely terrible, horrible, no good, very bad date, but it was a date, and she survived it, and we finally feel like she's ready to move on, past David and Borden, and embrace whatever her future has to offer.

I absolutely loved Rich's role this season. Yes, I was worried that it might make the show seem more frivolous and less believable, but I think the writers hit exactly the right note with his character. Yes, he's outspoken and over the top and has no filter whatsoever, but he also really cares about this team. I think my favorite Rich moments occurred in 3.08, as the team was trying to bring down Hirst. Rich knew that if he helped the team, there was a good chance that he could go back to prison forever. But even when Hirst offered him his freedom and the chance to be reunited with Boston, he still chose the team. I'm really excited that he's been promoted to a series regular this season. Is it too much to hope that we can also get him back with Boston in season four? I really need one ship that doesn't seem doomed.

Thorn: Pining Tasha and the unnecessary love triangle

Y: Sigh… where do I start with this one? I can talk about how this storyline drained one too many scenes and minutes out of a show that often rushes through things so fast that it gives you whiplash. Or I can talk about how it took one of its most interesting and most influential female characters and had her do nothing more than pine for a guy for half a season when she could have been doing a thousand different things. Or I can talk about how they took one of the best written friendships on TV and sent it into a messy, unnecessary, awkward romance arc.

But, L said I can express exactly how I feel about Love Triangles and that is what I will do. So if I may step up on this podium to let you know how I feel about Love Triangles. This whole thing would probably not have bothered me as much had they not used a love triangle to up the ante on its dramatic effect and in the process ruined the story arcs of three poor innocent souls and reduced them into… whatever they ended up being as part of participating in this trope.

Don’t get me wrong, I love tropes. I am a huge fan of tropes. Tropes are good. There is a reason they are tropes and used so often. There is absolutely nothing wrong with tropes.

Except the love triangle. Ok, maybe there are a few more that are more problematic, but by being one of the absolutely most popular, the love triangle gets the bulk of my hatred and bitterness. Why? Because it’s lazy. Because it is the easiest route to follow when you want to inject drama into a relationship. And because no one ever comes out of a love triangle looking better than they were before or even looking good for that matter. Characters become despicable and the exaggerated drama is never ever believable or useful or constructive to the narrative.

And it’s just lazy! So lazy! There are so many different ways your couple or two characters who have feelings for each other can face difficulties or obstacles or drama, there is no need to shove a third innocent character into the mix and make a mess of things. And even worse, no love triangle has ever been wrapped up narratively in a way that was satisfying for anyone.

I just really really hate love triangles, okay? So much.

I’m going to step down from this soap box now and step outside for a minute.

L: I don't hate love triangles quite as much as Y does. And there have been times that I thought this show used them quite well. Jane/Oscar, Kurt/Allie, and even Jane/Oliver were all used effectively to further Jane and Kurt's individual character journeys. Kurt and Nas last season was an example of a less-effective triangle. And then there's this one, with Tasha and Reade and Meg. Maybe it's a case of diminishing returns? Have we hit our love triangle limit on this show?

Honestly, even with the perspective of a few months, I still really don't get why it was necessary. We had the awkward kiss in season two, and it seemed like that was enough to put a lid on this plotline. But for some completely incomprehensible reason, we had to dig it back out and shove it into this season's storyline, which didn't work for me for a whole bunch of reasons. First of all, I really, really loved the deep friendship we saw between Reade and Tasha in the first two seasons. It was so refreshing to have such a deep friendship between and man and woman that wasn't a sexual relationship. Sacrificing that for another tired love triangle seems like a poor trade indeed.

As Yas said, this triangle didn't do anything good for Tasha's character. She's always been a no-nonsense, take-charge kind of character. She left the FBI for the CIA because she just wanted to get the job done, without wading through all the bureaucratic limitations. But instead of seeing her actively moving in this new direction, we have to get a seemingly-endless number of scenes of her pining hopelessly after a man she'd apparently left without a backward glance a year ago. And now that he's happy with someone else, it seems like if she truly loved him, she'd just shut up and be happy for him. (Consider for a moment the way Jane awkwardly told Kurt how awesome Allie was, or how Kurt encouraged Jane to date Oliver—in both cases, it broke their hearts, but they cared about each other so much that the other's happiness was more important than their own.) But nope, now that we've headed down this plot path, we have to achieve full awkwardness, so Tasha has to wait until Reade is engaged and then dump her feelings on him and cause his relationship to implode—which makes her look incredibly selfish at best. And then, having finally achieved the relationship she's been pining for all season, she picks up and walks away from him (for the second time in two years) for reasons that are apparently more important that her feelings—which forces us to question just how deep those feelings really were, if they are so easily abandoned.

In the same vein, this plot didn't do any favors for Reade's character either. In three seasons, we've now seen him profess love for three different women: Sarah Weller, Meg, and then Tasha. Honestly, his deep and undying love seems somewhat superficial (and that's even without comparing him to Weller's borderline-obsessive commitment to Jane, which we'll get to in a minute). I'm going to admit here that the whole Sarah Weller plot still feels like unfinished business to me. Reade was forced to break up with her by Sandstorm, not because his feelings for her were in question. He was in love with her, Sarah was in love with him—and Tasha knew he was in love with Sarah, and she showed no jealousy at all. In fact, when he told her they'd broken up, Tasha told Reade, "I think you're making a mistake with Sarah. You were really happy with her. Like, happier than I've ever seen you. If I were you, I would hold on to that."

I'm also pissed off that we never found out what happened to Meg. She was a really interesting and compelling character with a solid arc of her own who was jettisoned the second she stopped being an impediment to Tasha and Reade hooking up.

But lastly (and probably most importantly), I felt like this plot sucked up a lot of screen time in what was already a very jam-packed season. We ran through the Avery rescue/Clem revelation/Jeller reconciliation plot at lightspeed, ditto Boston's ten-minute reappearance in Rich's life, all of which were handled quite perfunctorily and would have greatly benefited from more screen time. The whole Tasha/Reade storyline could have been cut with zero impact on the rest of the season, and the time saved could have been spent flushing out other plots that were rushed through far too quickly or abruptly dropped.

Rose: Character cameos and surprise returns

Y: There’s something about this show and knowing how to write guest characters and supporting and recurring characters who you instantly fall in love with and eagerly wait for them to return. Some are quirky and hilarious, others are morally ambiguous and intriguing, some are complex and mysterious, and all are just so much fun to have around and manage in their short appearances to add so much more. So every time I find out about one of them returning, I just get so giddy with excitement. And season three did not disappoint with the returns—except that Sarah and Sawyer seem to be the only two who will never ever return but I digress.

We saw Matthew Weitz make a visit to the NYO and this time be more useful than any other time he’d shown up but still equally smarmy and sleazy and annoying to viewers and other characters alike. Even when he’s helping them, Weitz finds a way to annoy the hell out of everyone and get on their nerves.

The Sandstorm survivors all came back and managed to cause mayhem and chaos even while handcuffed and locked up in interrogation. I mean, for the most part. Borden came back from the dead to break up one of the most precious friendships on the show—Tasha and Patty—and begin the downward spiral for our favorite CIA operative. Shepherd’s return was absolutely incredible as she managed to get into Kurt and Jane’s heads and under their skin. She also proved that being held in a black site is absolutely no reason to not have flawless hair, skin, and make up. Cade was probably the least problematic on his return, but he did manage to break our hearts with his tragic story, and his return helped us see clearly where Keaton and the CIA stand when it comes to former Sandstorm operatives, which I think is something that will be of significance next season.

And speaking of Keaton, he had a few more appearances this season, too. And I know he’s not everyone’s favorite, but for me, Keaton is one of the most intriguing and enjoyable characters on this screen. He presents a certain dichotomy within the FBI universe, and it’s always a challenge to know where to put him and how to react to him because essentially, he’s one of the good guys, but he’s not one of our good guys. I love that Keaton exists in this universe and he will always be there to challenge us as viewers and the characters as well.

And speaking of good guys who sway in the grey, how awesome was Nas’s return? I think that episode alone redeemed the mess they made of her character in season two and justified her existence. What we saw in episode 3.13 is the Nas I wanted to see all throughout season two, and I’m glad she had her chance to come back and make things right.

It was also nice seeing David and Pellington make a comeback in the Patterson-centric episode where she finally managed to find closure for their deaths. Pellington had less to do but watching David help Patterson crack the case and solve puzzles gave me all kinds of feels. But it was cathartic, as much for me as it was for Patterson, I think.

Her dead ex-boyfriend was not the only surprise appearance involving Patterson. We finally got to meet someone from her family and excuse me, but I cannot say this without all-caps but BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY IS PATTERSON’S FATHER AND KURT WELLER IS A BILL NYE FANBOY!

If you put a gun to my head and make me choose my favorite thing about this season, it won’t be Roman’s storyline, and it won’t be that Jane and Kurt are married, or that Bethany is a grumpy toddler who takes after her father—no, it would be that Bill Nye guest starred, made a Star Wars dad joke, and had to watch Kurt Weller fanboy around him. What can I say? It’s the truth.

L: BILL NYE IS PATTERSON'S FATHER. I'm pretty sure the novelty of that one will never wear off. Is it too soon to start begging for him to come back in season four??

I do love the way Blindspot brings back characters. I mean, Rich Dotcom started out as a guest star who has now graduated to season regular. Yes, he's a special case, but I love how we never really say goodbye—even deceased characters come back in dreams and explosion-induced comas. (Which gives me hope that we haven't seen the last of Luke Mitchell on Blindspot.) I can't help but wonder who will show up in Remi's flashbacks next season, besides Roman—Markos? Oscar? Parker? Nigel Thornton? The mysterious Hobbes? Speaking of Hobbes, will we find out what he's been up to since he last encountered Jane? I think we can count on Shepherd showing up again, but I'd love to see Hirst again too.

I loved Cade's encore, and while I am a teensy bit annoyed that we had to learn he was still alive via the deleted scenes on the DVDs, it does give me hope that we will encounter him again and maybe see him be reunited with his husband and child.

I'm sure Keaton will continue to be a controversial figure in this fandom. He tortured Jane, but he helped her escape from the assassins who were after her. He seemingly turned on Tasha, but he's been a solid ally for Team Fed. I look forward to continuing to debate his position along the spectrum from villain to hero in season four.

I will always miss Sarah and Sawyer (and be forever bitter that they apparently skipped Kurt's wedding), but at least we did get to see Allie (and her superlative snark) and Bethany this season, in a far-too-brief visit. I want to see more of them next season; there is no such thing as too much Allie, and I'd love to see what Remi thinks about the mini-munchkin she's been helping to raise.

Rose: The introduction and evolution of Avery

L: I know that Avery was a bit of a lightning rod for viewers this season, but I absolutely loved her introduction. Jane has been able to distance herself from her past (from Shepherd and her childhood) fairly easily, and even though Roman gave her a family tie, he essentially disappeared from her life as soon as he regained his memories. Avery is the first person who was part of Jane's past—a rather significant person, as her loss apparently changed the whole course of Remi's life by leading her to enlist in the military where she was recruited by Orion and ultimately returned to Shepherd's side in order to take Orion down—who also becomes a fully-cognizant fixture in Jane's present.

Y: I admit that I did not know how to react to Avery’s introduction at first and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the storyline when it first came to light that Jane had a daughter. But I cannot deny that it did not take long for me to jump on board that development primarily because of what it meant to Jane and what it brought into her story. Like you said, everything from her past had been dark and unattractive, and Jane had spent her whole time as Jane trying to distance herself from it. On more than one occasion even, Jane vocalized that very notion, saying that she just wants to focus on the present, that she’s done with her past, etc… but Avery brought in something neither Jane nor the viewers expected, and it turned things upside down for our heroine.

L: I loved that Avery shows up angry and resentful. And although at first I was hoping for more of a secret agenda from her (this show loves to give us mysterious introductions for characters who turn out to be more ordinary than we hope—cough, Nas, cough), I was very satisfied with the arc that Avery's character goes through this season. It's easy to see how a young woman who has lost her parents and is alone in the world could fall prey to Roman's machinations, and I liked that it took her a while to warm up to Jane. It also helped Jane's character a lot this season, giving us a chance to see her vulnerable side that was in rather short supply this season.

Y: What you’re saying is someone in that writers’ room has a teenager in their life and drew a lot of that experience? But yes, I agree. They could have easily had Avery and Jane just run into each other's arms, but I like the approach they took better. They were both in new and uncharted territory, and the time and effort it took both of them to adjust and warm up to each other, and the journey they went through separately and together was very satisfying.

L: I also liked how Avery's introduction was used to give depth to Kurt's character. Meeting his missing wife's adult daughter was a total sucker punch for him, but he immediately recognized that she really was Jane's daughter. And then quickly set out to tell her how great her mother was, which made Avery teaming up with Roman to frame him for her murder even more tragic. But we never see any anger or hostility from Kurt toward Avery for that. And there is no denying that the scenes in which Kurt deals with Avery's supposed death at his hands packed some of the most powerful emotional punches of this season. Sullivan Stapleton does pain and anguish like no one's business, and you'd have to have a heart of stone not to react to his confession to Jane.

I really want to see more of Avery next season. How does Remi respond to having her fully-grown daughter reappear in her life? Does Avery pick up on the differences between Jane and Remi? But I have a bad feeling that Avery is going to go down the same path as Bethany and Sarah Weller—family members who disappear the second they are no longer vital to the main plot.

Y: Yes, Avery has the potential to play quite the pivotal role in season four. She can definitely be used as a device to mess up all of Remi’s plans and shake things up emotionally and psychologically for her. But very much like you, I have that same feeling that she’ll be shipped off somewhere off screen and we’ll find out about it by accident from someone like Brianna or Afreen in the background of a deleted scene.

Thorn: Clem and the blink-and-you'll-miss-it triangle

Y: If you thought my feelings about a love triangle involving a couple I do not ship are over the top dramatic then I think you can imagine how I feel about it when it involves my OTP. You’ve been warned. So with my hatred of all things love triangles established, you can imagine how I feel about any love triangle that involves Jane or Kurt. If we put Kurt’s relationship with Allie aside—because that one did make sense in my books even though I didn’t like it—I have a raging hatred for every other love triangle involving these two.

But the Clem thing? Oh the Clem thing has its own special place on my hate list. I never thought anything could replace the Kurt/Nas fiasco. That thing did no one any favors and ruined the potential that Nas had, but the Jane/Clem shit storm? Oh boy. The problem is that I understand why Jane would sleep with Clem. I don’t justify it or forgive her or condone her actions, but if I put everything except plain logic aside, I can find a way to understand the act itself. What I can never wrap my mind around is what the point of writing that storyline was if they were never going to do it any justice in how they resolved it, and if it was not going to play any role in threatening or affecting Jane and Kurt’s present relationship, and if it is going to have zero impact on the characters, and if it’s just going to go poof at the end of the same episode it was introduced in!

I. Just. Do. Not. Understand. What. The. Purpose. Is. From. A. Narrative. Point. Of. View.

Did it move the plot forward? No.

Did we learn anything new about anything that is important? No.

Did the characters learn anything from the experience? No.

Did it prompt any character breakthroughs? No.

Did it have any emotional impact? Did it have any narrative impact? Did it introduce a new conflict? Did it resolve any conflict? Did serve as a test for the characters? Did it do anything useful whatsoever?

No. No. And No.

So, not only did we have to suffer through one of the most irritating tropes that could ever be used, it was not even useful narratively in any way, shape or form.

The only thing it did do was make me look at Jane during these episodes and not like her at all, and worst of all, not even recognize the Jane I love.

I am just so angry.

I’m gonna step away from my computer now and go look at pictures of puppies. And I’m going to let L take over from here. Hopefully her contribution is more useful than my angry rant.

L: This plot point was definitely one of the hot-button issues this season. There were people who hated the Clem storyline so much that they quit watching (or at least threatened to quit watching) the show because of it. I don't think the idea of Jane having slept with Clem was so far-fetched, but the way that it was presented was clumsy at best.

Part of the problem is that the idea of "Jane as an action hero" seems to have eclipsed "Jane as a fully-realized character." What sucked me into this show in the pilot was not Jane kicking butt. It was the way that Jane went from being so lost and vulnerable to kicking butt and then back again; the contrast between these two extremes is what made her character so compelling. This season, it felt like writers have become so enamored of Jane as a superhero that they skimped on the side of Jane as a whole person, with all the self-doubts and weaknesses that made her so human, that made us care about her (and by extension this show) so very much. And again, some of this is due to the overall unevenness of the pacing this season—it feels like we're spending more time on explosions and elaborately choreographed fight scenes (or, ahem, unnecessary love triangles), and less time on character development. And Jane's character bore the brunt of these cuts.

The lack of vulnerability in her character is most apparent in the whole Clem plot. The writers are careful to show us how devoted Kurt was while Jane was on the run—he took a leave of absence from the FBI, sold the house in Colorado, used up all of his life savings to search for Jane. And of course, our hearts melt for him. What a man! Look how much he loves Jane! But we're given no information about Jane during that time, except that she "found her purpose" working K&R jobs. Hardly sounds like she was pining away for Kurt, does it?

And then we find out that she slept with Clem, while Kurt was giving up everything to scour the world for her. And frankly, in that light, she looks pretty selfish and uncaring. The writing in the Clem scenes didn't do her any favors at all. I think we were supposed to feel like Jane had given up on ever being able to return home to Kurt, that she'd given up hope that he would still be waiting for her even if she were able to return. (And to be fair, in seasons one and two, Kurt's method of dealing with not being with Jane was to immediately hook up with Allie or Nas, so honestly, I wouldn't blame Jane for thinking that after eighteen months without her, he'd gone back to his usual coping strategies, hopefully with more reliable birth control.) But none of Jane's vulnerability comes through in the Clem scenes. What we're given instead is Jane being all badass, as usual, working K&R jobs and sleeping with Clem. When she tells Kurt, the actual reveal is given off-screen, and all we see is her being completely unrepentant (and frankly, rather callous) about it. We see zero regret or self-recrimination from Jane, either immediately after sleeping with Clem or when telling Kurt about it. No vulnerability, and as a result, zero sympathy from the viewers.

And it is frustrating as a viewer because when she's given the chance, Jaimie Alexander does vulnerable incredibly well. And she's the main character, the reason we've been watching this show for three years. We want to love her, to understand her, to root for her. But we're just not given that opportunity.

Even when Jane and Kurt reconcile later, the subject of Clem is never mentioned again. It feels like it was thrown in by the writers so that they could say, "Oh, Kurt lied to Jane? See, she lied to him, too. Even-Steven. All good, move on." Except that we know that two wrongs never make a right. You can't "cancel out" infidelity. Instead of having no issues to work through, they now have two major issues to make their reconciliation exponentially harder. Only we never see them working through anything at all. But I'll save that rant for the Jeller section.

Thorny Rose: The very uneven Jeller relationship arc

L: So all of this ranting about love triangles and dropped plots brings us to the Jeller relationship arc. I wanted to love their arc this season so much. I was so excited about the prospect of the two of them finding their way back to each other after such a long separation (probably nearly as long as they had known each other, if the events of the first two seasons each take place over a series of months, with Jane's hiatus with the CIA in between). And it started off so promisingly, with the two of them basically flinging themselves back into each other's arms and into their relationship and pretending that nothing had changed. Starting them off this way made it pretty clear that they were going to run into problems as soon as they inevitably discovered the things that the other one was hiding. And those problems would have been plenty, but as we talked about above, we aren't given equal perspectives for both Jane and Kurt.

We're shown how desperately grateful Kurt is to have Jane back. He is loving and understanding when Jane informs him that she "found purpose" working the K&R jobs. He barely bats an eye when she shows him her cache of passports and money. He hardly reacts when she tells him about Clem—and that's really part of the problem. He basically accepts whatever she tells him and loves her anyway, without question, without hesitation. As much as I loved his devotion, I also wanted to see him react. Knowing that Jane had lost faith in him, in them, during their separation had to hurt. Knowing that she'd slept with another man—and we never see her really explaining the nature of that relationship to him, that it was more of a one-night stand than a six-month love affair, so from his perspective it must have seemed like she found purpose and a new life partner with Clem—must have torn him up inside. But we never see him reacting in any way to this knowledge. All we see is him trying desperately to atone for Avery with Jane.

On the flip side, we see Jane being rather matter-of-fact about her return to New York and to Kurt. We don't really get any sense that she suffered during their separation as we are shown that Kurt did. Or that she was trying to come home to him as desperately as he was trying to find her. Or that she gave up and resigned herself to what little purpose she could find in lieu of happiness. We're left to guess what was going through her mind. What we do see is her walking away from Kurt when he confesses the truth about Avery and being unable to forgive him. We see her being as happy to see Clem as she was to see Kurt in Nepal, and see her dump her affair with Clem on Kurt rather callously, with zero remorse. All of which seems to create a very uneven balance of power in this relationship. Jane's seeming indifference makes Kurt seem almost obsessively devoted. And in the face of his devotion, Jane seems far less so.

And then we get to the big reconciliation scene, which was so powerful and emotional (and one of the best scenes between them this season) and made it clear that these two were taking their first, tentative steps toward each other, but that they still had a long way to go to rebuild the trust and the foundation between them. Again, such a promising start! Finally, a little vulnerability from Jane! And then... the writers immediately drop this thread. We see absolutely nothing between the two of them after that, episode after episode. We're given one throw-away comment from Kurt to Nas about the two of them "getting there" toward being happy together again. But scenes (or even brief moments) between Kurt and Jane that actually show them working toward that? Not. A. Single. One.

What makes this so incredibly frustrating to me as a viewer is that we know these writers are more than capable of giving us exactly this. This type of slow, gradual arc is what made season two so powerful: the tiny, careful steps Kurt and Jane made toward each other, as they rebuilt their trust and acknowledged their feelings. The moments where we see them admitting that they trust the other, moments when they can't hide how much they care, packed a wallop. Not even necessarily full scenes, just those tiny moments in the quiet lull between more action-packed scenes. But this season, we didn't get to see any of this. At all. Even more inexplicably, we didn't even get to see the more expected signs of affection. After Jane walks out on Kurt, she shoves him out of the way just as the hotel freezer explodes. She immediately rolls over and puts her hand on his chest, checking to make sure the husband she just left is unharmed. But several episodes after their supposed reconciliation (when all of their problems have apparently magically fixed themselves off-screen), their romantic date is interrupted by assassins, and Jane is told point-blank by Roman that Kurt is dead, along with the rest of her team. And when he shows up she flings herself into his arms in abject relief, right? Just kidding. She... looks in his direction.

And that kind of sums up my dissatisfaction with Jeller this season. The writers want this to be the main ship. They want us to respond and cheer and cry for them. But then they skip so many moments when we would have done exactly that. So I keep coming back to... Why? Do they still believe the ridiculous rumor that married couples are boring and that viewers don't want to see them? Was there just too much plot going on that there was no room for these kind of character moments? Or is Jane as the action hero just so cool that we're not supposed to care what makes her tick anymore?

And that's probably my biggest fear for season four. Remi has already been shown as being more hard-hearted and action-driven than Jane. So I am afraid there will be little to no chance that we'll see any of the vulnerability that we've been sorely missing in Jane. I don't want to lose the aspects of her character that made me root for her—and they aren't her abilities to fire weapons and take out combatants. I really miss Jane's heart, and the way she wore it on her sleeve in the first two seasons.

So if there's one thing that I'm hoping for in season four, it's that we will get to see the tiny steps that Kurt and Jane-as-Remi make to find their way back to each other. Because even though Remi has forgotten all about being Jane, I do believe that somewhere inside of her is the woman who loves Kurt and will find her way back to the feelings she has for him. I hope. Because I still really adore both of these characters, and I love watching the two of them on screen, whether they are defusing a bomb or debating the merits of vegan entrees or backing each other up in a gun fight. This show is at its very best when it doesn't shy away from showing these two are navigating their lives—the good, the bad, and the ugly—together.

Y: Can I just sit here, nod my head passionately and say over and over that I agree with every word of this? Because I do. I agree with everything L said up there. My love for Jeller has not wavered or become any less, and I have moments from this season that easily fall into my top ten moments of all time, but with that said, the frustration is still there. And my frustrations are not at the storylines but at the two things L has highlighted—the lack of balance in their relationship and at how rushed some aspects of it were and how the writers seemed to forget what had made Jeller so special in the first two seasons and the complete lack of those moments that have always made this relationship the heart and soul of this show.

And it takes us back to what we brought up in the beginning. With so much focus on the action and on the cases, we lost so much of the character, we lost all these vulnerable, real human moments—with Jane and Kurt and with the other characters. And I am not talking about fifteen minute soap-opera-ish scenes of characters monologue-ing their feelings, that was never what Blindspot was about. On the contrary, it’s always been about these small moments, in subtle lines of dialogues or touches or looks. Season two was the perfect example of how to do this, of how to take a broken and fractured relationship and rebuild it slowly and meticulously and carefully. And that’s where our frustration lies. We have experienced firsthand what these writers can do when it comes to these two characters and to this relationship and yet when they had the chance to do it in season three, they did not.

And yeah… I’m not going to add anymore to what L said because I just… what she said. I just co-sign what she said up there.

I think one way of putting it simply is that one major beef with this season, when it comes to Jeller and many other storylines, is the lack of emotional resonance. So many things happened that were just that, just things happening, without any emotional reaction or resonance or consequences.

But for the record, I still flail uncontrollably every time I see their wedding bands because I’m a sucker who just loves them so much and still cannot believe those idiots are married. I can’t help it. They own me.

Rosebuds: Those cliffhangers and the things we're excited to see blossom in the new season

Y: Every show out there likes to end its season with a cliffhanger. It’s normal. But a cliffhanger—a single cliffhanger—apparently was not enough for Blindspot this season. No, we had to go out with three mind-blowing, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat bombshells before the months-long hiatus. That’s just the way we like it.

I think the cliffhangers set up season four quite nicely—and by nicely I mean it has the potential to destroy us emotionally from the very first episode. One thing we probably know for sure is that they won’t kill off Stubbles. At least not yet. So, of the three major cliffhangers they left us with, this one I’m least concerned about.

The Tasha/Blake cliffhanger is insanely exciting because we have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on there. There are people who are already condemning Tasha, convinced that she’s officially joined the Dark Side. I’m on the other team, the one that’s picked up a few crumbs in season three to make me believe that maybe, just maybe, all of this is a deep cover op for the CIA and she’s not actually on Blake’s side. But all in all, what this gives me is hope for a juicy storyline for Tasha where for once she’s not the sidekick but at center stage.

And finally, there is Remi’s return. True story—I went shopping this morning to buy my premiere chocolate stash. I bought chocolate. I bought a whole lot of chocolate.

L: This is sound planning. I have chocolate and backup chocolate. I should pick up some backup to the backup, too, shouldn't I? Just in case.

Remi's story is going to open up a whole new angle to Jane's story, and I am beyond excited about it. As we talked about above, it's been relatively easy for Jane to divorce her present from the life she lived as Remi. And while that might be the easier approach, we've always known that eventually there would be some sort of reckoning—at some point she was going to have to come face to face with what she'd done as Remi and reconcile both of her halves into one whole person. Now, I totally admit that this isn't how I thought it would happen, but it's kind of even more interesting this way, watching Remi have to reconcile herself with Jane, instead of the other way around. And I can't wait to see who we end up with at the end—not Remi or Jane, but someone new, someone totally herself, who owns her past, present, and future. And who is still no doubt a force to be reckoned with!

Tasha is long overdue for a meaty storyline of her own. She's been kind of a secondary character in Reade's two storylines—Coach Jones and his relationship with Meg—but I am excited to finally see her in a spotlight of her own. I can't wait to see how her partnership with Blake plays out. Is she still working with the CIA? Has she jumped ship to yet another agency? Turned to the Dark Side and decided to become a crime lord? I love Tasha, and I really want to see her have some adventures of her own. And while I know that her relationship with Reade is supposed to be the big cliffhanger here, I am worrying far more about her repairing her already-damaged friendship with Patterson, because the fracture between the two of them broke my heart more than any romantic conflict this season.

I might be most excited about finally discovering the identity of the person on the other end of Roman's mysterious phone calls, the person he wished he could have "just been a family" with. Is this the person who appears to be a third Kruger child we glimpsed in the flashbacks to Jane's childhood? If meeting Roman rocked Jane's world, I think meeting this new sibling—possibly someone Remi didn't know had survived—could rock the foundations of Remi's existence. And given that she's a wildcard to begin with, the fourth season of Blindspot promises to take this wild ride to higher heights than ever before!

That's all from us! What are you excited to see this season? Have you stocked up on enough chocolate? Is that actually possible? Come talk to our ask box!

We'll see you back here in a week when we kick off our Season Four review series!

—Laura & Yas

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just-come-baek · 6 years

Text

Wedding Fever 1

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader

Word count: 9.3k

Summary: Baekhyun is the best man, and I am the maid of honor at our friends’ wedding. Although should we be excited about our friends getting married, we seem to complain a lot more every time we meet for another preparation. Maybe it’s a bit fanciful of me to think that, but I hope, somewhere between choosing flowers and venting about the reception prep, he’ll like me just as I like him.

A/N it was supposed to be a long ass one-shot but then I decided to split it into two (or three) chapters. The smut will be in the last part. 29/05/18 - edited!

Masterlist | next part

“Hi, are you busy next weekend?” My friend, Jiwoo, asked as soon as I answered the call. She had always been like this when she wanted something; always straight to the point, no beating around the bush. But of course, when it was the other way around, no man could convince her to squeeze something into her schedule.

“What is it?” I voiced in boredom. When it came to her, I had to know first what she wanted, and then consider. I had made that mistake way too many times before, and now, I knew better not to agree without hearing her first. “If it’s another blind date, I’m gonna pass.”

“You won’t let that go, will you?” she stated, and I didn’t even have to reply for her to know the answer. This guy that she had set me up with had been terrible. And I’m not exaggerating; his hand, instead of accepting my handshake, went straight down to my butt in a poor attempt to slide his sausage fingers into my trousers. He was handsome, true, and I was desperate for an orgasm, also true, but not with someone who had absolutely no manners.

“So, what is it? Be quick, I don’t have all day,” I lied, but she didn’t have to know that. I just finished my work early, and I didn’t have anything to do. However, I let her think I was awfully busy because she wouldn’t ask me of as much as she probably wanted me to.

“Why are you so grumpy today?” she inquired, but I only rolled my eyes at her, dismissing her remark. Being her friend was difficult, and I had to stand my ground, even though she could think I was mean and peevish. “Anyway, Hongbin and I are throwing a party for our closest friends; do you think you can stop by?”

“It depends on what you want me to make,” I stated truthfully; it wouldn’t be the first time when a friend invited me to a party and asked me to cook something. Actually, now when I think about it, my culinary skills were the sole reason why I appeared on certain parties…

“Just a few goodies,” she spoke in a higher tone as if it was supposed to convince me. It wasn’t in her style to try to butter me up, in such circumstances it usually would be Hongbin the one calling me, but I shrugged that disquieting feeling. Something fishy was up, yet I wasn’t going to question it now. In case I’m right, they confirm my suspicion at the party anyway. “I’m in charge of dessert, so I thought that you could cover the main dish. You can pick whatever you want, I’m sure it’ll be delicious nonetheless.”

Trying to win me over with a compliment? I thought as I poked my cheek with my tongue. How much I wished it wasn’t that easy! She’s lucky because I’m a sucker for compliments. She had known me for years, and it’s obvious she used the flattery card on purpose, being perfectly aware that I wasn’t going to say no.

“Okay, let’s say I’m in. How many people are going to be there?” I said, pretending that I still had doubts about this friendly gathering. Actually, I did have doubts. Jiwoo’s definition of a small hangout was different than mine; not like day and night, but I would never consider a party for fifteen people as humble, yet she had proved me wrong.

“It won’t be anything outrageous this time. Only our most important friends are on the guest list, which roughly adds up to six people.” She explained, and in the meantime, I reached for a notebook to make notes. “So, can I count on you?”

“Of course, you can,” I replied casually, already thinking about the shopping list. “I’ll give you a receipt for the ingredients and my labor, so don’t be surprised,” I added matter-of-factly, and Jiwoo chuckled, expecting this kind of remark from me.

“I’ll pay you back in wine; is that okay with you?” Jiwoo spoke playfully, and I sighed in content; whatever we wanted from each other, we would pay our debts using wine as currency. It had always worked. “Okay, so see you on Saturday at seven.”

When Saturday finally arrived, I woke up at eleven, being tired as ever. Weekends should be time to catch up with sleep and recharge your batteries, but it had never worked for me. On Fridays, I always go out with my colleagues, and it’s a miracle if I come back home sober.

Groaning, I rolled off my bed.

It was going to be a long day, and I didn’t doubt it for a second. First off, I’d have to take a shower and eat something before I’d go outside to do the groceries. Then, I’d have to work my magic and prepare something delicious, so when finally everything’s ready, I could dress myself up. Jiwoo had sounded as if she had a secret to spill, and if she planned on inviting the most important people in her life, I knew I had to look extra fancy.

Oh my God, she hasn’t got knocked up, has she?

Shaking the thought off my mind, I picked a set of fresh clothes and walked under the stream of hot water. We were both young, barely twenty-three, yet in her case, pregnancy couldn’t be that bad. She had been in a stable relationship with Hongbin for over a year now, so it wouldn’t be that shocking. It’s natural for their bond to progress.

Whereas, my sex life’s seemed to be stuck in the same momentum since I had got dumped. And, if it’s any comforting, I’m pretty successful in other areas, work-wise, for example. So, ultimately, it isn’t as bad as it could be.

For today’s party, I decided to prepare a big bowl of enchiladas for those who don’t mind a little spice in their life, and a plate of lasagna for whom prefer mild meals. And though I’m famous for my pizza, I concluded it would be too much of a hassle since it requires much more effort to make when I’m catering for a group of six. Enchiladas and lasagna are greasy dishes, and people quickly get full, so it's an excellent choice for tonight's gathering.

And maybe, I could get some starters if I get inspired when doing shopping.

Having showered and dried my hair, I put on the previously chosen clothes and left my apartment. The nearest supermarket was about three blocks away, so I didn’t bother starting the engine nor catching the bus. My friends often complain that I don’t exercise enough, so the stroll to and back from the supermarket should suffice until gym passes get cheaper.

Professionally, I strolled, or rather skated between aisles, pushing myself with my right leg. I picked up the best ingredients for the upcoming supper. For fellow shoppers, I might've seemed a bit childish doing shopping like that, wearing a power pink T-shirt, shorts, and a pair of trainers. I didn’t care, though. Not when debating which wine to choose, not when lifting a few bags of potato chips and a jar of lollipops.

I arrived at home thirty minutes later, and the first thing I did was to turn on the TV, choosing TLC channel which was airing another episode of Say ‘Yes’ to the Dress, and opened the bottle of wine, as cooking has always brought much more joy when I had a glass of wine within the reach. Moreover, it usually helped me not to graze while preparing the meal.

When another bride complained about the brand dress that she wanted, but it didn’t fit her figure, I mixed all sauce ingredients. I listened to bride’s complaints and the shop assistant’s professional pointers, wishing for commercials to start. I watched programs like this one, quite compulsively at that, but at the same time, each scene was annoying me. It’s strange but when the episode ends and another starts, I can’t get myself to switch the channel.

Today must’ve been a marathon; the lasagna was already in the oven, the bowl of enchiladas waiting for its turn on the counter, and I could still hear another Atlanta bride bicker with her family about her choice. Sighing, I opened the freezer and grabbed the unfinished cup of mint ice cream. If I was going to watch it, I needed some sort of comfort food.

I sat comfortably on the couch, and I munched on the ice cream, my ringtone saving me from another round of whiny and indecisive women.

It was Jiwoo.

God bless her timing!

“Hi, what’s up?” I asked, popping a spoon of ice cream into my mouth.

“I just wanted to ask if you need a ride. Hongbin is going to be in your neighborhood, and he can pick you up. What do you think about it?” Jiwoo explained, and I sighed in relief. She saved me much trouble before I even realized I had it.

“Thanks,” I replied excitedly, counting how much money I would save if Hongbin could give me a lift. Considering the fact that I already had a glass of wine, driving there wasn’t an option. “What time can I expect him?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure; he’s meeting a client right now, and I have no idea how long it’s gonna take.” Jiwoo spoke honestly; she couldn’t be sure, Hongbin’s industry was quite unpredictable, and I understood that. “He has your number, though. He’ll call when he’s finished.” She concluded, and I hummed in acknowledgment since her offer was reasonable. “Okay, no problem. The goodies you asked me for are ready anyway,” I agreed, giving her an update on my mission.

“Oh, and what have you cooked? Is it pizza?”

“You’ll find out when I get there,” I dismissed her inquiry, leaving her with a cliffhanger. Either way, the food was delicious. Besides, I was certain that no one would complain. “I gotta go if you want me to be ready when Hongbin arrives. Is there a dress code that I should abide by?”

“No, but you could dress up. Baekhyun’s going to be here, and you won’t get into his pants, wearing a tracksuit.” Jiwoo spoke, and I wished she was within my reach so I could smack her across her face.

“And why should I care that he’s going to be there?” I asked nonchalantly, trying to act as indifferent as I could muster up. I might have fantasized about him a couple of times, but it didn’t mean I was planning on beginning anything with him. I had met him around the time when Jiwoo and Hongbin started dating, and if Baekhyun and I had a chance to become something more, it would have already happened.

“Oh puh-lease, you’ve been crushing on him since you met him! And don’t deny it!”

“I don’t see how’s that relevant,” I shrugged, ignoring her statement. At this point, denial was the best strategy. If only I could back up my defense with constructive arguments which had the power to shut her up once and for all, it would be perfect. “I’m over him. Whatever ‘crush’ you’re referring to is in the past. Really, I mean it. Besides, there’s this new guy at work, and he asked me out.” I lied blatantly, hoping she’d believe me.

Baekhyun isn’t a guy one can get over so easily. I suffered (and still do) from the worst form of infatuation. And though he’s not really my type, with each meeting I want him more. At first, I couldn’t stand his presence, but then it grew on me, and it stuck like this ever since. However, we had known each other for over two years now, and chances for romance between us oscillate around zero. It’s that simple, so it’s pointless to try any further.

“I hope you’re not bullshitting me right now,” she whispered, as she wanted to believe me. It didn’t mean she did, but at least she tried. “But for real, put on something nice, you can show him what he could've had. Show him what he’s missing out on.”

Of course, she wouldn’t let it go.

What was I thinking?

“Ugh…fine,” I gave in, even though I knew it wouldn’t work. Baekhyun and I weren’t meant for each other, and I realized it before my infatuation consumed me. Maybe for some women, it’s okay to be holding out for a hero, but I was completely done. Two years was more than enough, and I gave up with no regret. “I’m hanging up, see you later.”

Hongbin texted me around six o’clock and arrived about thirty minutes later. Thankfully, by the time he knocked on my doors, I was already dolled up.

Despite Jiwoo’s persistent advice, I decided not to overdo myself. I didn’t want Baekhyun and the rest think that I tried too much. If anything, I opted for nonchalant and classy, so I straightened my hair and chose a black dress that reached down to my mid-thigh. It wasn’t slutty, though. It was long-sleeved and showed no cleavage. My make-up wasn’t excessive, either. My lips were painted red, my eyes highlighted with black mascara and brownish eyeshadow. A little bit of blush on my cheeks, and I was ready to go.

“What’s that smell?” Hongbin asked when I opened the doors and let him in. “Mm…it must be delicious,” he admitted, roaming around the kitchen looking for the food. “How much time do you need?”

“Actually, we can leave right now,” I replied as I walked across the room. Hongbin straightened up, smiling at me. If he hoped I had cooked something extra for him, he was wrong. He has Jiwoo, and it’s her task to coddle him. “I just have to put foil over them, and we’re all set,” I added, pushing Hongbin away with my hip since he was blocking the oven.

Skillfully, I packed the food, whereas Hongbin whistled and played with his car keys.

The drive to their apartment was quick, but when we arrived, we were the last to join. Apparently, the only guests besides me and Baekhyun were Hongbin’s parents, and although I put one of my best dresses, I still felt a bit underdressed. Even Baekhyun wore a suit shirt and a bow tie. I should have known better.

When Hongbin’s parents kissed my cheeks, I excused myself to help Jiwoo in the kitchen. It’s not that I didn’t trust her, I did. I just didn’t want to stay alone with Baekhyun when Hongbin would be too engrossed in the conversation with his parents.

“You should’ve worn high heels,” Jiwoo mused when I entered the kitchen. “Your skinny legs would’ve seemed even longer. Baekhyun would start drooling on the spot!”

“And you should’ve told me you’re planning to parent-trip us!” I fought back aggressively. I didn’t appreciate what she was trying to do, and she ought to have known that! “I can’t believe you’ve done that! How could you?”

“I’m trying to help you. For how long have you been lusting over him?” I folded my arms across my chest, too stubborn to admit the facts. “Just give it a try, okay? Give him one last chance?”

“Whatever,” I barked in response.

Unwillingly, I returned to the table. Smooth jazz melody was playing in the background, while the guests were comfortably chatting. Smiling at them, I took a seat next to Baekhyun.

“I can’t believe that you’re all still hanging out together,” Hongbin’s mother said, as she clapped her hands in joy. Apparently, Baekhyun and Hongbin had been friends since middle school. And then two years ago, Jiwoo and I joined the group, making the old lady incredibly happy. Shame that Baekhyun and I never hang out alone!

“Why is it so surprising?” Baekhyun asked loudly, pretending to be offended.

“I don’t know, you and Hongbin are so different,” she replied, and I nodded my head. She was right; Baekhyun and Hongbin were like day and night. It’s really shocking how they remained friends for so many years.

The moment we exhausted the topic, Jiwoo joined us with the meals that I had prepared. It was steaming deliciously, and it smelled even better. Everyone licked lips in appetite, observing her every move.

“Dig in,” Jiwoo said, as she sat down in the only free chair. Listening to her command, Baekhyun stood up and started distributing Enchiladas, whereas Hongbin did the same with the lasagna. And when everyone had food on their plates, the round of compliments erupted, feeling the urge to extol the dish and the person who had cooked it.

As I predicted, the half of the food was enough for everyone to be full. However, Jiwoo had baked red velvet cake for the dessert, and though I had never been a fan of sweets, I couldn’t refuse a piece.

“It’s so nice to hang out like this. The whole family together,” Hongbin’s father stated, as he gave his wife a peck. The scene playing in front of my eyes was adorable, and I wished I could be the same in their age. They’re obviously soulmates, and everyone should envy them.

“Actually, we have something we’d like to share with you all,” Hongbin started, smiling like an idiot at Jiwoo who was sitting across the table.

No fucking way!

Was I right? Is she pregnant? And she didn’t even tell me anything! What a bitch!

But wait a second; she’s on her fourth glass of wine! If it’s not pregnancy, then it must be…

“We’re getting married!” Jiwoo exclaimed, and everyone started to cheer for them. So, it was that news that she wanted to deliver. “We’re having the ring resized, but it is official.”

When I downed my wine, the rest of the guests stood up to congratulate the pair. I would gladly wait for my turn. The moment Jiwoo was released from her future mother-in-law; she smiled at me and sat in Baekhyun’s seat right beside me.

I couldn’t voice how much happy I was for her. I was also kind of envious, but mostly happy. They deserved each other, and I really supported their relationship. They had gone through a few rough patches, and it was about time they formalize their bond. So instead of stuttering throughout my spontaneous speech, I simply wrapped my hands around her, squealing.

Roughly twenty minutes later, when the shock died down a bit, everyone grabbed one’s wine glass, and we all moved to the couch, where Jiwoo and Hongbin shared all details about their future wedding.

To put it simply, it won’t be a simple reception but an all night long extravaganza.

Jiwoo wants an enormous, white, sleeveless princess gown with ten layers of tulle and a heart-shaped cleavage, while Hongbin will wear a simple black tuxedo paired with a back tie. Although nothing is booked yet, they want the reception to be held in June in a garden in outskirts of the city. Around two hundred guests. Moreover, they’re going to have a three-tier vanilla wedding cake and about a hectoliter of alcohol.

I almost got a headache when I estimated how much it’s going to cost them. It’s their wedding, though. Go big or go home. It’s the beginning of their life together, and they shouldn’t skimp on it.

Around ten o’clock, Hongbin’s parents called it a night and phoned for a cab, and we decided to carry on the celebration. It was still early, and I didn’t even get drunk yet.

“I’ll clean this up,” Jiwoo spoke, as she stood up. “Be here right back.”

“Wait, I’ll help you,” Hongbin offered, as he followed behind her, collecting the dirty plates after the supper. I was sitting on the couch with Baekhyun leaning against it, as he was sprawled on the floor.

In complete silence we watched their interaction; Hongbin with his sleeves rolled up was washing the dishes and Jiwoo was wiping them and placing them on the counter. They were giggling and bumping hips playfully, happiness just emitting from them.

“They’re disgusting,” Baekhyun commented, as he shook his head and took a gulp of beer. He was driven by envy, and I couldn’t blame him since I felt the same.

“That’s why I always try to meet them separately,” I remarked, and Baekhyun chuckled. “Unfortunately, it rarely works,” I added absentmindedly, as I was focused on another romantic scene in the kitchen; Jiwoo smacked Hongbin’s butt with the cloth, and Hongbin blew the bubbles at her in revenge.

“Yeah, the lovebirds are inseparable,” Baekhyun admitted with a sigh, and I leaned forward and clinked my glass against his beer bottle, saluting to that.

“Someday, you’re going to be like that, too,” I teased, and he almost choked on his drink. “All smitten and corny,” I added, making him look at me as if I just offended his mother.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, I want to throw up when I look at them, then how would I live with myself if I was like that too? It’s impossible,” he defended himself, and I only giggled in response. Baekhyun was a great guy, and if I didn’t make him feel like Jiwoo affected Hongbin, someone else could.

“On the second thought, I bet you’d be even more whipped,” I concluded before I started laughing at my suspicion. “Baekhyun, the henpecked husband.”

“Take that back!” Baekhyun whined, obtaining the lovebirds’ attention.

“What’s going on?” Hongbin yelled from the kitchen, interested in whatever was happening between us. He wasn’t helping Jiwoo set us up, right? “Please, tell me you aren’t fighting.”

“No, of course not,” Baekhyun denied the charges, as he chugged down his beer. He was probably too sober to deal with the lovebirds, and I’d feel the same if I wasn’t such a lightweight. “We’re just excited about the wedding, that’s all.”

“That’s amazing because there’s one more thing we’d like to request of you,” Hongbin started, and looked over his shoulder, waiting for Jiwoo to join him by his side. “You two should stand with us at the altar.”

“What do you say? Do you want to be my maid of honor?” Jiwoo asked me, and everyone waited for my reply. Baekhyun already agreed to be Hongbin’s best man, but I had doubts about it since I didn’t think I was suitable for that position. I had no idea how to help them organize the perfect wedding. But then, Baekhyun was just as clueless, so it should be fine.

“Of course, I’d be honored!”

After that long, eventful night everything went to hell. Baekhyun and I had no doubts it was the very beginning of the end, the epitome of apogee, or as I liked to call it—the wedding fever. Whenever I hung out with Jiwoo or Hongbin or them both the conversation would change to wedding discussion. (At one point, I even bet with Baekhyun, as we tried to confirm that hypothesis. It’s not important but we were right.)

When lovebirds were excited about planning, Baekhyun and I grew tired of it quite quickly.

Not even a month later after the engagement reception, they invited us over for a casual hangout. I wouldn’t have attended if they told me it was an ambush. Baekhyun fell for that deceit, too. (The look on his face when he saw a dozen of different invites was utterly priceless.)

“I don’t think I can do it any longer,” Baekhyun whispered into my ear when Jiwoo went to the kitchen for another bottle of wine. “It’s overwhelming,” he added, this time louder a notch, since he wasn’t afraid that they could hear it. Hongbin was talking on the phone in another room, whereas Jiwoo was fighting with the corkscrew.

“Well…in that case…brace yourself because it’s only gonna get worse,” I mused, chuckling as I downed my glass of wine. The wedding planning was only going to intensify, and though I was as fucked as Baekhyun, it still brought lots of joy when I thought about it. We were both stuck in that crappy situation, and humor based on our misery seemed suitable. There’s always a silver lining, even in these circumstances. We had each other’s backs whenever we wanted to vent about the wedding, and it actually helped us blow off some steam, though we were still quite grumpy when they invited us over for some unforeseen reception preparation.

“The wedding is in June for fuck’s sake!” Baekhyun spat bitterly, slowing losing all his patience. It was still a surprise that he managed to last this long without snapping. “It’s in twelve months for crying out loud!” He yelled, and I rolled my eyes at him.

“Take it easy,” I advised him before a vein could pop out on his forehead. “And do you want to know a secret?” I asked, and Baekhyun leaned slightly, curious about what solution I had for his problem. “Just avoid them. Do you have any idea how many times I had to stay late at work this week? None, but Jiwoo thinks I worked overtime every day.”

Baekhyun stared at me in awe, his mouth open as if he was perplexed that I was able to lie to my best friend’s face in so cruel way. I understood her excitement about the most important day in her life, but I was already overwhelmed by the groundwork we had been doing for the past three weeks.

“You’re so mean,” Baekhyun whispered after a while, although I knew he was planning to do the same whenever Hongbin or Jiwoo would ask him for something. What a hypocrite!

“I’d rather be mean than deal with them every free moment I have,” I admitted, and Baekhyun smiled brightly, not expecting me to be so frank about that matter.

“True,” he agreed with me.

“Don’t use that excuse too often, though. They may suss us out if we blow them off too many times, okay?” I warned him, and Baekhyun nodded, realizing that our strategy wasn’t entirely faultless.

“Okay, who wants a refill?” Jiwoo asked when she came back to the living room with the opened bottle of wine. Having exchanged a meaningful gaze, Baekhyun tore his eyes away, as he cracked a faint smile toward Jiwoo, raising his empty glass, and I waited for my turn, needing another dose of alcohol in my system if I wanted to survive the night.

“Which invitation do you like the best?” I inquired, trying to fake my interest. I didn’t give a shit since all of them were very fancy and beautiful, but I knew that Jiwoo would go easy on me if I seemed indulged in the topic. In her eyes, Baekhyun would be the ‘silent’ one whom she had to force to join the discussion. “The one with the beige ribbon kicks ass.”

“Hmm…you sure?” Jiwoo contemplated, and I took a sip of my wine, knowing she’d reject my proposition; I wasn’t the person she trusted when it came to style, and even if I managed to choose the best option among all, she still would rebuff my suggestion. No hard feelings, though. It was a two-way street; I had been dismissing all her advice about hitting it off with Baekhyun, so overall, we’re even. “I think the powder pink ones would be better, you know, they will go better with the general wedding theme. And what do you think?” she asked, focusing her attention on Baekhyun. Just like in my prediction, she’d involve Baekhyun in the discussion, allowing me to enjoy my wine in silence.

“I think you’re right,” Baekhyun answered quickly, and I cocked my eyebrow, suspecting he hadn’t even listened to our conversation, agreeing with whatever. And he had dared to say he would have never been whipped. He was, and Jiwoo’s only his friend.

Pathetic.

“Okay, so right now, we have to choose one among ten pink ones,” Jiwoo stated ecstatically, sitting beside Baekhyun with a wide palette of invitations. “Which one’s your favorite?” she asked him, but Baekhyun looked at me as if I ought to have told him a correct answer. Too bad I couldn’t help him.

“Maybe you should discuss it with Hongbin; it’s your wedding, not mine,” Baekhyun made a point, but Jiwoo still wanted to know his opinion. She wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t ask for suggestion only to prove to you that you have none sense of fashion.

“You two are worth each other,” Jiwoo spoke a bit angrily, and Baekhyun and I exchanged glances, having no clue what she was implying. Almost as if she didn’t know I was pining for Baekhyun for quite a long time to no avail. “Both useless; why have I even invited you over?” she asked, and I wished I knew the answer to that.

When neither of us replied to her rhetorical question, Jiwoo rolled her eyes, and raised from her seat, flying off to Hongbin, knowing he’d take her seriously. Baekhyun and I weren’t much of a help, especially when we were slowly getting tipsy. It was difficult to pretend to care when being so lightheaded as I felt right now.

“When this hell will be over?” Baekhyun asked as he leaned against the backrest, tilting his head backward. He was looking at me with his sparkling eyes, and I was enchanted, unable to answer him when I started into the stars in his eyes. And when I did the impossible–tore my gaze away–I looked at his sharp jaw, losing my shit again. At this rate, I’d never get over him. If anything; I’d fall for him even more.

“Probably later than you think,” I snickered, and Baekhyun beamed at my response. Yeah, we were both awful people, and we were paying the price.

By midnight, Baekhyun and I were drunk, sprawled on the couch, yawning, whereas Jiwoo and Hongbin were sitting together in an armchair, hugging each other, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears. Thankfully, I was shitfaced; otherwise, I’d have already thrown up at the sight in front of me.

“I should get going,” Baekhyun announced, as he tried to stand up, but failed to do so, falling back on the couch beside me.

“Nonsense, you two should stay the night,” Hongbin announced, not even allowing us to decline. Yeah, we had had a couple of glasses of wine, but we were still capable of getting to our homes safely. “The end of the discussion,” he added before either of us managed to argue.

Without any further commotion, Jiwoo went to their bedroom for some clothes so we could change, whereas Hongbin ran off, looking for some extra blankets and pillows.

Within fifteen minutes, Baekhyun and I were lying under the sheets in the living room. Needless to say, it was awkward and uncomfortable. The lights were off, Jiwoo and Hongbin were gone in their bedroom, and I was stiffened, afraid to move.

“Do you think they’re doing it?” Baekhyun asked, and I instantly turned to look at him. What the hell was that? Why was he thinking about it?

“I hope not,” I spoke uncertainly, “but they’ve just got engaged, they’re probably like rabbits,” I added matter-of-factly. Jiwoo knew I had been under the dry spell for way too long, and no matter how selfish she could get, she would never do that to me. For the sake of our friendship, she could sacrifice one night of sex.

“They better be quiet,” Baekhyun threatened, and I felt the urge to ask ‘or what you’re gonna do’, but I bit my tongue before the words left my mouth. “I don’t want to get reminded that I am not getting some every time I look at them,” he added, and I rolled my eyes, slowly becoming too tired to be having this conversation with him.

“Then maybe you should fall asleep before their moans get out of hand,” I proposed, and Baekhyun turned to me, giving me ‘a bitch please’ face. “What?”

“Are you seriously okay with that?”

“No, but if it bothers you so much, we could hit it off, muffling their sex sounds with ours. You know…like horny college students.” I spoke, catching Baekhyun off guard. Surely, he didn’t expect me to put it that way since he probably thought I was a prude. However, alcohol which was circulating in my blood made me bolder and more brazen.

“You’re drunk,” Baekhyun said in a reprimanding tone, making me regret I had even touched wine. I had a crush on him, and I wanted to be perfect in his eyes, and when he was telling me something like that, I sensed I disappointed him, and it made me feel terrible. “You better go to sleep, you’re saying nonsense,” he added, as placed his forefinger on my forehead, gently pushing my head on the pillow.

I couldn’t argue with him. I’d probably embarrass myself further.

“Goodnight, Baekhyun.”

“Goodnight.”

Baekhyun and I are just acquaintances who follow each other on many social media but never exchange any messages. We have no trouble talking when we meet, but neither of us had ever tried to reach out; I because I had always been too shy to make the first move, and Baekhyun, well…he must have had his reasons.

On Friday, though, he messaged me, and it was enough of a reason to freak out.

Him | 18:59 | got stood up by the lovebirds

Him | 18:59 | I could use a drink

Him | 19:00 | want to come with?

Why did he have such a bad timing? I already had plans, and I couldn’t (didn’t want to) cancel them. I was meeting my friends whom I hadn’t seen in a while, and I was dying to catch up with them. And when we finally set the date after weeks of organizing, I couldn’t ditch them.

Me | 19:04 | sorry

Me | 19:04 | already have plans

Me | 19:07 | how the hell did you get stood up???

Me | 19:07 | loser

I typed back quickly, as I threw the phone on the bed. I had twenty minutes till my bus, and I wasn’t done applying my make up yet.

I was meeting my friends at the club, and though I wasn’t planning on hooking up with anybody, I wanted to doll myself up, and at least, I could use the night to stroke my ego a bit. The feeling of being desired by many yet beyond the reach of all of them could do wonders to my self-esteem, and after the uneventful meetings with Baekhyun, I needed it more than ever.

Him | 19:08 | they’d choose sex over you too

Him | 19:09 | so you’re standing me up too

Him | 19:09 | you mean

Him | 19:09 | I’d never do that to you

It didn’t take him long to reply. He must’ve been really hurt by Jiwoo and Hongbin. And normally, I’d do everything to make him feel better. Today, unfortunately, I couldn’t. My attempts in consolation would have to be limited to texts.

Me | 19:23 | you’ll be fine

Me | 19:24 | it won’t be a first time

Me | 19:24 | you better get used to it

Quickly, I studied my reflection, grabbed the purse, and walked out of my apartment. I couldn’t be late; the girls would skin me alive.

On my way to the club, I kept texting Baekhyun. When he was done with venting about the lovebirds, we swiftly moved from one topic to another. Probably, people on the bus thought I was a lunatic smiling at my phone like this, but I didn’t care. He had reached out to me first, and though I didn’t have a lot of expectations, I was going to cherish whatever he was to give to me even if it was just a piece of conversation. I’d gladly take it.

Texting with him was so much fun that I almost missed my stop. Without waiting for his another reply, I threw my phone into my purse before I hopped off the bus, energetically walking down the pavement, choosing the shortest route to the club. I was wearing high heels which I rarely do, and I didn’t want my feet to start hurting before I even got there.

When I got inside, my friends, Miyoung and Namjoo, were already sitting at the bar, sipping on their cocktails. They didn’t notice me at first, but I couldn’t blame them; the music was blasting, and they were in the middle of a conversation.

“Hi,” I shouted when I approached them, and they instantly turned to look at me, both of them smiling. We hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and it was nice to meet up. I needed the girls’ night, especially after all the wedding preparations I had gone through.

Shortly after, Miyoung’s boyfriend joined us, and we moved to the booth where it was only a bit quieter. Over sweet drinks, we talked about the current affairs and our plans for future, and though Miyoung was unaware, I could sense that their wedding would be next.

Slowly, I was getting intoxicated, and when the silence engulfed us between topics, I’d sneak a peek at my phone, exchanging texts with Baekhyun. The whole time we had known each other, I had no idea that texting him would be so fun, but now, when we hit it off via messages, I couldn’t force myself to stop.

And that’s exactly why I texted him the club’s address; Miyoung and her boyfriend were having the time of their lives on the dance floor and Namjoo was flirting with the guy who approached our table. There was nothing wrong with an additional company–the more the merrier, especially with Baekhyun cracking up one joke after another.

By the time Baekhyun arrived, I was sitting by the bar, talking with the bartender, listening to his recommendations. I wanted to try something new, and he was listing me the ingredients the cocktails were made with, and I rejected them whenever it consisted of something I didn’t like. I wasn’t picky–he was just keen on adding pineapple to every drink, so I had no choice.

“Hi there,” Baekhyun said, as he sat on the stool beside me, startling me at first. I was staring at the bartender’s show, and hearing Baekhyun’s voice so suddenly, I almost got a heart attack. “Whoa, you’re looking fancy, I feel so underdressed,” he commented, as he gawked at me in admiration. His eyes glistened with something, and I hope it wasn’t the club’s lighting. “What are you doing here all by yourself? Where are your friends?” Baekhyun asked, and I swiveled in the chair, scrutinizing the people on the dance floor in an attempt to find my friends.

“The couple dancing like forty-year-olds on a wedding - it's Miyoung and her boyfriend. And there’s Namjoo, making out with that guy over there,” I explained, briefly introducing them. Baekhyun nodded his head, comprehending the information. “Surprised I have other friends than Jiwoo?” I teased, and Baekhyun just smiled at me warmly.

“I’m actually relieved,” Baekhyun replied, and I hit his shoulder. “Why aren’t you dancing?”

“I will,” I answered simply, but then I added, “when I feel the rhythm.”

“And when that’ll be?”

“The crowd isn’t ready for my sweet moves, you know,” I said, the cocktails I had drunk prior his arrival boosting my confidence. “Like seriously, they are no joke. The last time I went clubbing, one guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to dance in his music video.”

“And you rejected? Why would you do that?”

“Are you for real?” I asked, cocking up my eyebrow. “The guy acted so suspiciously I thought he’d pull me into his van the second we had left the club.”

“Oh, shit,” Baekhyun cursed, and I turned, trying to spot the factor behind his profanity.

“What is it?” I asked, clueless.

“That’s my ex, and we didn’t break up on good terms,” Baekhyun explained briefly, and I put my straw between my lips, not knowing how to reply to that, so instead I focused on my drink, trying not to think how stiff Baekhyun seemed. It’d be for the better if he faced the music by himself. “Fuck, she’s just seen me,” once again, he cursed, ducking his head down, as if it was to make him invisible, protecting him from his ex.

“Baekhyun, is that you?” a sweet voice asked, and I turned my head away, not wanting to see the woman’s face. I’d rather star in that guy’s MV than see what type of women Baekhyun was into. The last thing I wanted to do was to find out that Baekhyun was into sex bombs.

“Oh, hi, what a small world,” Baekhyun greeted her with a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the same question!” she spoke excitedly, and I rolled my eyes. Fuck!, she seemed nice, and if she was as attractive as her voice, I was screwed. “We’re having an office party, but I think I’m the first one to show up. I should’ve seen it coming, they’re always late. And what about you; what brings you here?”

“You know…just having a drink with my girl,” Baekhyun spoke, and I almost choked on my drink when his hand landed on my thigh, turning me around, so I could properly meet his ex. “Today’s our monthiversary,” Baekhyun added, and I politely nodded my head, confirming his words. It was weird, and regardless of my crush on him, it was unacceptable. He’d pay for it.

“Oh, then I won’t be interrupting,” she said kindly, wishing us an auspicious date.

“Sorry, I didn’t think this through,” Baekhyun apologized when his ex walked away. “And thanks for keeping up with the act.”

“Yeah, no problem,” I answered nonchalantly before I swept his hand off my tight. “Hands off the merchandise, Byun.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he apologized once again, flashing a sheepish smile. “I owe you a drink.”

“Oh my God, you’re such a cheapskate!” I teased him playfully, and Baekhyun smiled at me, shaking his head in disbelief. “Anyway...I’m gonna hit the dance floor, and when I come back, there better be a drink waiting for me,” I said, and Baekhyun nodded his head, watching me head toward the crowd.

Having drunk a few drinks and cringed in front of his ex-girlfriend, I was more than ready to flee his presence, letting the rhythm take control over me. Keeping my distance from lone wolves scattered among the people, I swung my hips from side to side. I didn’t need a partner to rock my body, showing off my moves.

“We should go,” Miyoung screamed into my ear, explaining that her boyfriend had one drink too many that night and they had already called for a cab. “Are you coming with?” she inquired, and I shook my head; I had Baekhyun to keep me company. “Are you sure? Namjoo’s going, too,” Miyoung added but she couldn’t convince me to abandon Baekhyun.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I replied, and she nodded. “And don’t worry, I met my friend, you’re not leaving me alone. I’ll be safe.”

“Okay, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she teased, and I grinned at her before I gave her a hug. “Text me when you get home safely.”

“Okay mom,” I answered her with a roll of my eyes. When she was about five meters away she mouthed something which I read ‘don’t have too much fun’, but I could always get it wrong. Though, it was unlikely since she had used to use that line pretty often.

The next song played by the DJ wasn’t as good as the previous one, so having lost my interest I came back to the counter, sitting down beside Baekhyun.

“Whoa, you weren’t lying,” he commented, and I just shrugged, looking at the drink which he had got me. “You know how to move.”

“That’s creepy. You were staring, weren’t you?” I asked him, but Baekhyun just shot me a glance which was saying ‘are you kidding me?’ Of course, he had stared at my killer moves!

“I was, just like every guy in the club,” he admitted shamelessly, making me blush. I didn’t care, though. I had been drinking and dancing, my face had to be red despite the make-up I had put on. “You can’t blame me, I’m a simple man.”

Oh, so Baekhyun wasn’t completely indifferent.

He could be swayed.

Even by me.

When we finished our drinks, Baekhyun insisted on walking me home, and though, it was a shame he didn’t have an ulterior motive to do so, I couldn’t bring myself to reject his proposal. It was fun to be around him alone, and I’d talk to him until he’d want to stop.

“I’m hungry, should we get some pizza?” I asked when I felt a twist in my stomach. I had drunk all these drinks, and now I was craving something greasy, so my hangover wouldn’t be so severe in the morning.

“You’re reading in my mind,” Baekhyun admitted, and I pulled out my phone, scrolling down my contact list, searching the number of the pizza place near my house.

“With a lot of meat, some pepperoni peppers, and some extra cheese?” I asked Baekhyun, and he instantly agreed. At least pizza topping-wise we were a match.

“Marry me,” Baekhyun said, yet I couldn’t treat him seriously.

Trying to refrain myself from grinning, I cleared my throat when someone answered my call with a generic greeting. Quickly, I recited our order, hoping I didn’t sound too drunk from them to assume it was a prank of some sort.

“Great! Thank you,” I said as I hung up. “Our delivery should be done within thirty minutes, so we better speed up if we want to make it before the delivery guy,” I added, and without any further questioning, Baekhyun picked up his pace.

“Should we stop by the liquor store? You know that beer and pizza make the most iconic duo, right?” Baekhyun questioned excitedly, and I laughed so hard, I forgot about my feet which hurt like hell because of the heels I was wearing.

“I should have some in the fridge,” I remembered, and Baekhyun smiled in relief. “But if I’m mistaken, we would have to settle for coke or tequila. Choose your fighter,” I added, and it was Baekhyun’s turn to chuckle.

“Okay, so I guess the problem is solved,” he said, looking at me, noticing my weird walking. “Are you alright? Do you want me to carry you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous; I’m a big girl,” I declined his offer, though I was very tempted to agree since it would be a perfect excuse to touch him. With a glint in his eyes, Baekhyun took a step towards me, as if attempting to lift me up, but then I mirrored his actions, stepping away from him. Talking to him was addicting, and I wasn’t ready to find out how being held by him would feel. At this point, I’d never get over him.

“Ah…the bitter taste of rejection,” Baekhyun mused playfully, inhaling the night’s air. “So that’s what it feels like…utterly terrible,” he added, as we started walking.

“You seem you’ve got over it rather quickly,” I remarked, and Baekhyun just smiled.

“What’s the point of dwelling on so much?” He asked, but I didn’t know the answer. Baekhyun was right, and if everybody had his mindset, break-ups would be much easier to deal with. “I tried. It didn’t work, and I have no regrets.” Why did it sound so simple?

“Are you a life coach? You definitely sound like one,” I teased, but Baekhyun didn’t even bother to comment on that. “You’re not charging me for this session now, are you?”

“The first session is free, but when you come for an advice again, you better take some cash. I ain’t cheap.” Baekhyun carried on with the charade, and I started laughing. “But then again, you gave me a tip how to deal with Jiwoo and Hongbin, so I may give you a discount.”

“How much? Fifty percent off?”I asked excitedly, clapping my hands vigorously.

“It’s a total rip-off! I thought of giving you like…I don’t know…five percent?”

“Hypothetical discount of a hypothetical session…” I wondered as if trying to calculate how much this friendship with Baekhyun would hypothetically cost me. “I think I hypothetically can’t afford your companion. Sorry, but I have to save up for the lovebirds’ wedding gift. And speaking of which; what are you getting them?”

“What? Do I have to give them a gift? I thought the torture I was going through was enough to make up for the gift. It isn’t, is it?” he asked, but I firmly shook my head. “Damn, I don’t know, they already have everything.”

“Right?” I asked, being glad that finally, someone agreed with me. Jiwoo and Hongbin were a terrible couple; they possessed everything, so buying them something new verged on a miracle. “I don’t know, either. We could have a whip-round, so we could club together for their honeymoon. As far as I recall, they haven’t decided on the destination yet.”

“Right now, the only trip I can afford is a bus ride,” Baekhyun retorted, and at this point, my stomach started to hurt due to excessive laughing. It’s his fault, though I wasn’t mad.

“It’s okay; they have expensive taste, anyway,” I answered with a shrug. Jiwoo and Hongbin would probably like a trip to Hawaii or any other fancy island, and that kind of entertainment was way over our budget. “Then, we have to get them something handmade, something that cannot be purchased at the regular store.”

“This wedding is so problematic,” Baekhyun commented, and I nodded, agreeing with him. “Why have I even agreed to participate in the preparations? It’s too much of a hassle.”

“Pretend it’s a practice before your wedding,” I advised, but Baekhyun just rolled his eyes at me. “What?” I creased my eyebrows, as I realized he shot me a glare as if I was an idiot.

“I won’t be having my wedding, not when it’s so much work.”

“You don’t mean that,” I started, uncertain how to defend my stance. On one hand, I realized how much preparation the wedding needed, but then when you’re going it with the person you love, it’s worth the effort. He just didn’t meet his soul mate yet.

“Of course, I do! Do you think I’m kidding?” I bit the inside of my cheek, as I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to have an argument with him about it, and thankfully, fate was on my side tonight, since we already reached my apartment.

“We’re here,” I announced excitedly, showing Baekhyun the way upstairs. By the time we climbed the third floor, I was panting. Baekhyun was probably too, but he was better at faking. “One more and we’re there,” I spoke, guiding him to my modest flat.

Clumsily, I fought with the lock, but Baekhyun was checking something on the phone, not realizing how much time it took me to open the door.

“Make yourself comfortable,” I said, once I swung the doors open and threw the keys on the counter. Quickly, I kicked off my shoes, and while Baekhyun was busy with studying my apartment, I made a beeline to the kitchen for two glasses and the unfinished bottle of wine.

“It’s cute,” Baekhyun commented, as he sat down on the couch, his eyes still roaming around the interior. “You’re reading in my mind, I was slowly getting sober.” He said casually, reaching for the glasses, setting them on the coffee table in front of him.

“Do you mind if I change?” I mentioned, pointing at my outfit. He thought I looked amazing wearing it, but I wasn’t going to suffer in that dress, just because he enjoyed the view. I’d rather sit in a simple T-shirt and pajama pants; my chances with getting into his pants were lost a long time ago. It was just a friendly hangout, and I wanted to be comfortable.

“Yeah, sure,” Baekhyun answered, beaming at me with one of his bright smiles. “You go change, and I’ll pour us wine,” he added, and I ran off to the bedroom, pulling the dress over my head. Baekhyun was sitting in my living room, and I wasn’t going to waste time being away from him. I had done a lot of stupid things, but this one wasn’t to be another one.

Swiftly, I searched for the set of clothes which now was my pajamas and changed into it. It took me three minutes tops, but when I returned to Baekhyun, he already paid for our delivery, setting the pizza box on the coffee table.

“How much do I owe you?” I asked, taking a seat beside him, reaching for the biggest slice of pizza with the pieces of meat.

“Don’t mention it, you’ll pay the next time,” he answered casually, and I almost choked, given the fact that Baekhyun hinted he’d not be entirely grossed out by the idea of meeting me again. It was comforting, but then I didn’t want to read too much into it. One nice word from him, and I’d seriously start to plan our wedding which was obviously ridiculous.

“Obviously,” I said, trying to sound casual. It was such a simple gesture on his side, but then, it gave something to look forward to. He had better mean it.

Munching on the food, I quickly reached for a remote to turn on the TV. Of course, I had left it on TLC, and right now, my guilty pleasure was being aired. Fucking Say ‘Yes’ to the Dress! What else could it be?

“You seriously watch that crap?” Baekhyun asked in hopes I’d deny. Instead of firmly shaking my head, I shrugged, flashing him a sheepish smile. “Whoa, you’re really something.” He added, and I quickly took a gulp of wine, buying myself to come up with a convincing lie. How could I vent about wedding preparations when I was watching shows like this in my free time? I couldn’t let him think I’m a hypocrite.

“You know…I’m a chick, and it’s a chick channel. You can’t blame me.” I defended myself, but Baekhyun didn’t seem too convinced. “It’s like I’d judge you for watching Top Gear. That would be weird, wouldn’t it?” Baekhyun nodded, chewing on his food. “That’s what I thought,” I spoke confidently, returning to the greasy slice of pizza.

“Do you think you have more of that?” Baekhyun asked, tilting his head in the wine’s direction. After he had poured us drinks, the bottle was empty and judging by the look on his face, he wished to have a refill. “Another glass would help me erase this terrible scene from my mind,” he added, mentioning the argument the bride had with her bridesmaids. “I hope Jiwoo will be just as picky as that chick. You deserve it for making me watch.”

Rolling my eyes, I set the uneaten pizza slice back in its box, as I stood up, “let me check, I think we’ve run out of wine, but I should have some whiskey on the stock, is that okay?”

“I just want to forget, really, a bottle of bleach would do.”

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