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clubtuan · 3 years

Text

Sorry, I couldn’t get to you

Pairing: Do Kyungsoo x female reader

Genre: The chilling adventure of Sabrina!au /witch!au /ansgt a lot of it/ mention of Swing Kids/ fluff / suggestive

Prompt : « I make my own happiness, and I hope you can too » - Sabrina Morningstar

A/N: I finish CAOS and I miss Kyungsoo. And I have Roh Kisoo feelings so yeah this happened, my first scenarios with EXO. And I totally wrote this listening to ‘’Say Something’’ by A Great Big World 90% of the time.

Word count : 5k

Rain was heavily falling that night, and your familiar, a black cat sitting next to you purring. Life as 24 year old witch in Seoul, but still a single 24 year old, life wasn’t that boring it was just that people were always asking you to introduce them to your boyfriend.. Hell who needs a boyfriend when their cousin is the king of Hell, or when your family is the known as the most powerful witches in this damn country ?

The smoke of your tea was long gone as the liquid turned cold, but a burnt smell came to your nostrils .. Park Chanyeol, the king of the under and your cousin.

‘’Hello cousin.

For the love of Satan, Chanyeol!’’ He laughed and take the place right next to you, taking off his crown. ‘’Hell is hella boring without you’’ he sighed.

The only thing you wanted to answer him was how earth was also a boring playground without him, and how Junmyeon wasn’t helping cause he probably was busy running the Academy of Unseen Arts.

You sighed, humans weren’t funny, working wasn’t funny, and plus your feet hurt, from working in Minseok’s small cafe. ‘’You’re a real drama queen Y/N’’ Said Chanyeol before readjusting his black oversized opened dress shirt. ‘’Go to a club, find a cute or bad boy looking guy and have some fun’’ He said picking up his bloody crown.

You couldn’t believe it, even your cousin was asking you to get .. well for the moment a one night stand, but still asking you to find a ‘someone’ ..

‘’Uh and before I forget honey, you may be a witch but black isn’t our only option here’ He disappeared before you could kill him or throw a pillow to his face.’’ -Unbelievable, was all you said after his exit.

You scanned your shelves full of spell books, ‘dark magic : a witchy way with demons’, other books about demons and others creatures you had to deal with, a big brown book caught your eyes and you smirk taking it in your hands. ‘’Boyfriend, here we meet’’ your cat meow looking at you ‘’I know buddy, but everyone says I should have someone so ..’’

To be real witches and wizards are known to have sex demons, and huge sexual orgies from time to time .. seriously what is the problem with witches and sex ?

Oh yeah Lilith was !

You find yourself in the bathroom that night, sculpting your future boyfriend in the wax of a few red candles. abs ? Check ! Cute looking butt ? Check ! Good look ? Check. Nice ?Also check !

‘’Let the doll sit in hot water for one to two days and your lover will be yours’’ you read out of the book.

The bathtub was full and ready, and your were casting the spell asking yourself the hell you were doing.

You clearly fell asleep, waiting to your full tub to see if anything would change .. but nope nothing really changed except the size of the wax doll, which was now a lot larger and not much looking like wax. Work was starting for another few hours but someone was ringing at your door at 9am. And the same someone didn’t wait for you to entered your apartment.

‘’Y/N? We know you’re here, the cat told us.’’ Aunties !

You exited your bathroom closing your door, they didn’t need to see your future love spell laying in hot water with rose petals !

‘’Aunties hi!’’ They both looked at you as if you were insane, well you totally looked like at the moment, your oversized black shirt, and dried mascara under your eyes !

‘’What are you doing ?’’

I’m creating my own boyfriend, cause people I work with, or I’m friend with ask me about my love life 24/7 .. nah you shouldn’t say that to your aunts or else they’ll kill you ..

‘’Nothing Aunt Zee ! I just need coffee cause I .. I .. Yeah coffee !’’

Both of your aunts looked at each other, but not in the suspicious way you tried to avoid, thanks Dark Lord ! ‘’Your cousin, ..’’ Aunt H started but you clearly were not listening to them. Looking at you bathroom door asking yourself a lot of question, does he has a name or you had to give him one ?

‘’Aunties, if you create someone out of .. never mind’’ you stopped yourself, they didn’t need to suspect you and your future « man »?

And the fact you wanted them out of here .. fast ! No need for them to see a stranger getting out of one of your rooms probably naked and confused !

You were bored to wait for anything to happen, and plus you received a text.

JUNMYEON:

You small witch, don’t forget about the Coven party in 2 days.

If you’re not here, I’ll kill u under the full moon babe xox

What a best friend ! You once again totally forgot about this little Coven thing at Minseok cafe he was hosting with Baekhyun.

Witches parties were always too much, even more if Byun Baekhyun was the one throwing the said party. Going back to the 50s (like literally), ghosts ..

To be honest you wanted your Saturday night to be a rerun of « Sabrina, the teenage witch » under a plaid on your couch with pizza, beer and tteokbokki, not a extravagant party with all your Coven.

BAEKHYUNIE:

Get ready for the night of your witchy spicy life, cause your god fairy mother (me!!)

got some friend who are single & ready to mingle !

YOU:

Baek, no more weird goblin or any magical creatures !

Plus you are late I’ve a date !

His only response was a few shocked emojis, and a few seconds later another text : I’m behind your door with food !

But Baekhyun, being Baekhyun he didn’t ring the bell and come into your home with a huge goofy smile on his lips.

‘’Don’t look at me like that, I’ve got your fav’’

Why everybody was coming to visit you today ? Normally your apartment was cozy and calm .. but not today ! For Satan’s love !

Baekhyun was one of your closest friend, but also a dark fairy and Chanyeol’s right arm.

And fairies loves to party way too much, it was in their personality ! But the cutest thing was his pointy ears.

‘’ So, my lil friend got herself a date ?’’

And fairy were all about gossips! You simply smiled and nodded at your friend. No need to say too much !

‘’Sooo ..’’ You tried to start another conversation ‘’ How is hell today ?’’

He lifted one of his eyebrow ‘’ Yeol was here last night, don’t try to escape my questions woman’’

Maybe you should have stuff your mouth with rice and onions !

Your fairy friend talked and talked, asking you a few questions about your date for the party. You nodded and made a few ‘’oh!’’ ‘’mhmm’’ but must importantly you were eating and trying to avoid his questions.

Until that one moment when Baekhyun suddenly stopped talking, and was looking behind you his mouth wide open.

‘’Sorry babe, I was a bit long’’

Babe ? You turned in your sit and your eyes dropped to a towel, one of your black towel hanging low on some hips, well defined hips to say, and as your eyes were going up to see who that was, you followed a happy trail, your mouth watered at the sight, happy trail being one of your weakness in a man. After his define stomach and sun kissed glowing skin. His heart shaped lips looked so kissable and full, his dark eyes hided behind tick black frame of glasses. God he was beautiful, more than that to be honest, his voice sounded like honey to your ears, his cute hand slowly scratching the back of his head. You watched a few drop of water running on his chest.

Next you saw a lot of beauty marks on his naked skin, a galaxy of beauty marks. The man got you hypnotized with one sentence, this spell was something !

‘’Hey, you must be Baekhyun ! Y/N told me about you’’ you were drinking his every words just like Baekhyun was. ‘’I’m Do Kyungsoo’’

Dark lord even his name sounded so heavenly (damn for a dark lord follower, you think a lot about heaven right now), after his introduction he excused himself to get dress.

‘’Is this your date ?’’ Murmured Baekhyun with too much excitement ‘’Damn girl you just hit the lotto !’’

Your first few days with Kyungsoo was surprisingly good, he already known a lot about you. Because to created him you dropped some drops of blood in the potion.

You asked silly questions to Kyungsoo, just to get to know him better: ‘’Bubble tea or Iced coffee ?’’ sure he was your creation but he still has his own personality. Your afternoon been filled with laughs, his hand in your hair, under your shirt, and finally you naked on top of him. His hands on your hips left some marks just like his plump lips and teeth drew love bites on your collarbone and others behind your ear. Your long black nails left marks on his back from the pleasure .. hell this man gonna be the end of your sanity !

‘’I’m glad you bring me to life’’ his arm was wrapped around your waist, and his lips continued their way in the back on your neck. You never expect anything with this incantation, you never expect the perfect man to came to life in your bathtub but here you were laying under your sheet naked, with Kyungsoo showing his love to you. Drawing abstract shapes on your skin, following your own moles creating a galaxy with his fingers.

Your friends and family were totally shocked to see him next to you, the Saturday night at the Coven party.

Even your aunt fell under his spell, and Chanyeol almost gave him his throne. Kyungsoo always had an answer to every questions about your relationship, his hand never left your side that night, or you find his lips on your cheek every other times.

Do Kyungsoo might be the result of your spell, but you totally were under his.

Days with Kyungsoo were sweet, full of adventures and funny. Sex was insanely good, (yes might be a witch thing but thanks Lilith) the feeling of his hand tracing your body, or even his lips on your skin. Or just his eyes on you were making you feel like the most wanted woman on the earth, Kyungsoo has his ways.

His moles were your favorite thing to kiss after his pillowy lips, but the must was the little mole on his top lip. And for Kyungsoo his lips found their home right under your breast, on ink saying ‘Witch’ he always said your tattoo was full of sarcasm.

Were you suppose to fall to your own creation ?

Your cat was laying on your bed, his head in Kyungsoo’s hand as his was caressing him. You watched him laying underneath your sheet, his chest on full display as your bedding was on his hips hiding a bit of his nakedness. ‘’You know I think he quite like you’’ you said to him ‘’Yeah he is purring, and I like him too .. he is like a part of you’’

You smiled looking at them, the sun was hitting Kyungsoo’s skin in all the right place making you craving him again, on the spot. His skin against yours, his finger interlaced with yours, his low groans .. he was hotter than hell.

Your black familiar exited the room as soon as you found a place on your mattress. ‘’You look cute with my shirt on’’ his hands traveled under the cotton of the shirt, tracing the shape of your chest. He smelled so nice just like lavender and woodland (a/n: if you ever smelled ‘autumn night’ by yankee candle this is the smell I’m talking about), everything about him was comforting, cozy and making you feel somehow safe. His lips right underneath your left ear, his right hand playing with the side of your black laced panty.

He was addicting just like a drug, now he was in your life you couldn’t imagine not having him anymore. Kyungsoo became a part of you, like a missing piece of puzzle and thanks to magic you finally completed the puzzle.

The way he made you feel was crazy, almost too crazy to be real. His breath hitting your neck made you moan even more than his hands running your body, and his length hitting every spots.

Days were brighter than before, spring was almost there cherry blossom were about to bloom, just like you now. And the night getting warmer but for once your bed felt empty and kind of cold without the raven haired boy sleeping next to you.

‘’Y/N ! ARE YOU ISANE ????’’

You woke up to Chanyeol screaming and tearing off his black hair. ‘’Yeol it’s 3 am, the fuck you want now ?’’ You asked, ready to kill him.

‘’Do Kyungsoo ? Huh ?? More like Roh Kisoo ! I can’t believe you invoke a freaking ghost to pretend to be your fucking fuck buddy’’

What ? A ghost ? Fuck buddy ? You were lost, totally lost and you cousin still panicked in front of your bed. ‘’ A ghost, what ? Who’s a ghost ?’’ He sighed loudly. ‘’Cousin, the aunties will legit kill you’’

Your only question was ‘who the fuck is Roh Kisoo ?’ He sighed once again before showing a beige folder (there’s folder in hell ? Anyway that is not the question)

‘’Cousin, he is dead, Do Kyungsoo isn’t real his name was Roh Kisoo, North Korean soldier. He used to tap dance, he was killed because he was about to kill an American soldier on stage’’

You couldn’t believe what Chanyeol was telling you .. you did not invoke a dead soldier, you created him out of wax. ‘’Chanyeol .. I created him. I do not fuck with dead’’

He stopped all his talking to look at you, dead in the eyes (no joke here). Your knees were against your chest as you sit on your mattress, ‘’He lied to me’’ you said softly. Your eyes filled with tears, you couldn’t believe you fell in love with your creation but he seemed so human, probably too human you were now thinking .. cause he been alive once.

Chanyeol wrapped his arms around you, even the king of hell could not bear to see his cousin and best friend crying. ‘’Love, do-does his heart beat ?’’ You looked up at him not really understanding why would it change if his heart was beating or not ? ‘’ If his heart beat, it means two things .. one he has feeling for you and second h-he .. he would become human, 100% human once again and believe his past life is just a dream .. Well his memories of the war and all being a dream’’

‘’And y/n..’’ He started again ‘’ you were in his past life .. his lover actually even if he never confessed or anything to you he loved you as Roh Kisoo .. that’s why he came to you as you created him’’

He put his hands on your eyes, and suddenly flashes of images, of him with shaved hair, kaki clothes, tap dancing, working on things, him stealing a kiss, stealing one of your kiss I the board of daylight, your death with two others persons you didn’t know and finally his own death.

The perk of being the king of hell was having ‘infos’ about people’s previous lives, and Chanyeol was shoving you Kyungsoo past life.

After your cousin exit, you didn’t sleep that night. You felt so small at the time watching the night lights by your window, thinking about everything that happened for the last two months of your life.. getting him, feeling happy and in love (a thing you never felt or lived before), how were you supposed to say all these things to Kyungsoo ?

Were you supposed to giving him up ? Send him back (yeah but were ?) ? Make him human ?

That morning Junmyeon made fun of you ‘looking like a panda’.

‘’ Y/N ?’’ He been calling your name for the last five minutes but your mind was anywhere but in Minseok’s cafe, jumping from memories to memories you created for the last 2 months.

The light was hitting your living room, a cup of coffee in your hand as you sit on your couch right next to Kyungsoo who was reading one your book. At the time everything felt right, as you were looking at him forgetting your cup in your hands, trying to find a single thing on him that was wrong .. but nothing was wrong.

‘’You know, I’ll not disappear love’’ you chuckled at his words, fearing that yes someday he’ll be gone.

His hand find it place on your knee, and his lips on your temple was comforting you and made you blush as a teenager.

At the time everything was simpler, you needed help .. but from who ?

You couldn’t bear to see Kyungsoo, not knowing how you’ll react in front of him, what to tell him, would you kiss him ? Let him make love to you ? Slap him ? Fall apart ? Break his heart ? (you didn’t know if his heart was beating .. if he was human or just the memory of his past life in wax)

YOU:

We need to talk aunties.

You were adult and you needed to face your mistakes, and you were finally doing it. The drive to your aunt’s was the longest it ever was and you felt heavy.

You spent a long time sitting in your car before entering the house, feeling a lot of shame, heartbroken, facing your mistake was harder than expected.

The second you saw your aunts you couldn’t keep your feelings together and start crying.

‘’ Chanyeol told us Y/N and even if your aunt wanted to scold you .. it’s not right to do now’’ started one of your aunt.

Aunt Zee was smoking but not saying anything, you knew she was disappointed. You felt totally out of place if you teleport yourself in a volcano you would to it right away.

‘’ I suppose Chanyeol explain you, the two options you have ?’’ Was Aunt Zee first worlds, you nodded.

‘’ If his heart beat or not, I could send him back or I can make him human.. ’’ your were stop by Aunt H ‘’ If you make him human, you know he’ll not remember you and what you both lived’’

Hearing that broke your heart even more, he couldn’t forget you if wasn’t right.

‘’ But he will kind of stay connected to you, as he has a part of you being your magic. So he is and will be a wizard.’’ Said your second aunt.

All you needed was time, a thing you didn’t have. One last time with him before choosing send him back or making him human and forget everything about you.

‘’But most important if his heart is beating, your trace will forever haunt him. Without him know why and who you are, love’’ said Aunt H, caressing your arm as comfort.

‘’ I can’t kill him’’

Yours aunties listened to you, telling them why and how to ‘created’ him, how happy he was making you, how human he seemed and now you knew why .. you told them everything, even wishing you had a last night with him.

Aunt Zee granted your wish, but tomorrow morning you had to say goodbye to love.

You never expected finding him dressed in his favorite black jumper and his ripped bleu jeans cooking in your kitchen with a glass full of white wine waiting for you next to his.

Your eyes filled with tears when his scent hit you, your head on his chest. ‘’ Let’s stay like this for a moment, please’’ you didn’t want him to see you like that.

The smile dancing on his lips broke you inside one more time, he looked so innocent in front of you, not knowing, almost like a child.

‘’You know babe, tonight there’s a shower of shooting stars let’s watch it’’ Yixing told him, even if he never met the Chinese wizard in real like they met on FaceTime, your friend was crazy when Baekhyun, once mentioned you had someone.

You simply nodded, even of shooting stars couldn’t help you this time.

The time moved so fast as if it was teasing you, your eyes never left Kyungsoo, too afraid to forgot him or to miss a beauty mark or the way his eyes were when he was smiling, looking at you.

Looking at him was the hardest thing you had ever done that night, you were giving up on him and you couldn’t say anything.

The view from the balcony of your appartement was incredible but the only thing you watched was him not the stars traveling the dark sky.

Even the moon seems ridiculous next to him, his glasses sat on his nose and his hair was a bit longer, his fringe hitting the frame of the glasses softly.

He turned his head to look at you, his hand caressed your cheek and his lips collided on yours, his kiss was full of passion, slow. Time stopped when his lips met yours, and you felt his heart pounded underneath your hand.

His heart was beating ..

‘’ .. I love you’’ His eyes were still closed and his lips still so closed to yours, and his thumb caressing your face.

Once again his lips crashed on yours, more intense this time. Yours hands holding the material of his jumper. ‘’Don’t ever forget about me’’ you whisper. His fingers slipped under the coton of your shirt, he pulled you even closer to him, as if no one else in the world existed. ‘’Never’’ you knew his answer was a lie but you needed it.

The time actually stopped at that moment the last time he made love to you, the stars and clouds were not moving and no sounds were heard, a spell to stop time was dangerous and only a powerful witch could to do but at the time it was your last priority.

It was the softest Kyungsoo ever showed you the way he loved you, he was taking his time with you that night as if he knew it was surely the last time. Looking at you his eyes were full of stars and his hands felt like velvet on your skin.

That night you refused to fall asleep, your head stayed on his chest listening to his heartbeat, his words playing over and over in your head, the way he confessed on that night was the hardest to accepted to you.

CHANYEOL:

I’m sorry cousin,

I tried to give a little bit more with him.

He make you happy I know.

You left your bed after reading the text to finally cried yourself to sleep in your bathroom, your hand on your mouth trying to muffled the sound.

The floor was freezing when you woke up, everything felt freezing in your house, in your body. Once you remembered, tears were running your cheeks and this time you didn’t shut yourself and screamed in agony.

He was gone.

He was gone and you were alone.

The first week was the hardest, you didn’t left your room and the last piece of him that was the shirt you wore that night.

The tissue did not smelled like him anymore.

Every day, every hour you were waiting for him to open your door arms full of bags from the grocery store ready to cook you something.

Chanyeol, yours aunts, Yixing, everyone tried to contact you, but you never answered them.

Every night Chanyeol wait for you to sleep and came, he was feeling guilty and you were his best friend. Every night he did the same, he tucked you and stroked your hair. Hoping one day you would be able to find peace with yourself, but that wasn’t the only thing on his plan !

You sat at your kitchen bar, you computer in front of you but all you did was staring at your window, your chin resting in your left hand.

You didn’t even watch Chanyeol sitting right in front of you searching something in one of his books. ‘’Cousin, aren’t you suppose to do mails stuff ?’’

‘’Chanyeol, aren’t you suppose to do king of hell stuffs?’’ Your sarcasm did in fact burn like hell !

‘’You know I became the king of underworld, so you selfishly could stay on earth and do selfish human things as the bratty witch you are’’

Why was Chanyeol even here at this point ? He wasn’t wrong, to be honest. All you did for the last few days was crying, sleeping, and being a brat to everyone who tried to help you what so ever.

‘’Cousin, life have so much to offer’’

‘’Fake, life sucks and I feel so done with it’’ He sighed loudly, feeling done with you.

Ignoring yours friends, cousin, aunts was purely selfish and you knew it but at this point you clearly didn’t give a damn .. but at the same time it was your fault and only your fault, if you didn’t use this spell, just to shut people and their needs to talk about your life.

It’s been 3 weeks, the first been the miserable one, the two second mark the start of the ‘new you’.

You were purely self-destructive at this point, losing Kyungsoo hurt you but what you did to yourself was worst. Invoking sex demons, trying spell to not feel anything, everything was good to ‘make you forget’.

‘’You know Sehun, fuck Satan and all that witchy shit’’

You were clearly drunk, and Sehun knew he shouldn’t give you anymore drinks but his pub had the best reputation with the witch population of Seoul, you lost the count of drinks you already drank.

‘’ You probably should go at home and sleep Y/N, I dont need the king of Hell to come and kill me’’

‘’Chanyeol ? He can kiss my ass ! Y’all can kiss my ass’’ your drunk behavior wasn’t a pretty sight.

After that Sehun didn’t understand a word you said, you were half crying, half mumbling. Poor bartender did not has the choice but to call Chanyeol to have an explanation and to get you back at your apartment.

‘’ Y/N you can’t live your life off ‘not feeling anything’ spells’’

Cold water woke you up, you stood in you shower fully clothed and your cousin holding the shower head.

‘’Why the hell are you doin’ that ?’’

‘’You asshole, needed a wake up call’’

Chanyeol was tired of seeing you being a danger to yourself, and decided enough was enough.

The heavy weight on your shoulders dropped suddenly and you body followed dropping in your cousin’s arms. ‘’ I just miss him so much Yeol’’

He watched tears rolling on your cheeks, not saying anything but his hand caressing your back.

Even if lives are connected Chanyeol couldn’t guarantee Kyungsoo’s comeback, your two souls might be connected since the beginning but the way they forced Kyungsoo into his human form couldn’t guarantee anything about their futur or life together. But he couldn’t tell you all that, like he couldn’t say he was following the man everyday.

And that you left your mark on him, he was now a wizard.

‘’ I’m here Y/N you can sleep’’

He laid you down on your bed, caressing your hair and projecting dreams in your head to give you a break, Chanyeol was the king of Hell, but he was hurt seeing his best friend and cousin living like that, he was ready to fight anyone so you could be happy again and to see you eyes full of stars just like when you were looking at Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol always knew that Kyungsoo’s heart was beating he felt it the first time he met him. And right after that he started his search about the man.

After that night you practically lived in the academy, teaching younger witches just like your aunts wanted. Reading books to perfect your magic. ‘’You know since you came to the academy everything seems simpler’’ Said your colleague Jongdae ‘’ Kids seems to like having one of the most powerful witch of the century teaching them stuffs’’ You nodded.

‘’Sorry Jongdae but I’m taking my cousin out for lunch’’

Chanyeol took you to Chinatown, celebrating one of his friend opening his own restaurant .. who were you to say no to free food ?

Lunch was nice, a private room for the two of you and all the best food on the menu. ‘’So the academy ?’’

‘’It’s good, kids are funny .. Yeol did you .. like killed someone for this guy ?’’

He laughed a bit too much ‘’ Not, it’s a guy a met not long ago and we became friends .. he is like us ‘magic’ he’ll come to see us’’

You nodded, finishing you plate and drinking a bit of the Chinese whisky that was left in your cup.

Chanyeol left you to go the to toilet, what type of cousin is he ? He need to go to the toilet when his friend was supposed to met the two of you ? Asshole !

The door opened and your phone vibrated at the same time a text from you cousin, why was he sending you a text when coming back in the private room ?

CHANYEOL:

I find him for you ..

Who did he find for you ?

‘’Chanyeol ?’’ You knew the voice, you once again felt the time stop when you turned around finding .. Do Kyungsoo in a chef attire.

Do Kyungsoo was the friend of Chanyeol, the one he wanted you to meet ..

‘’You are ?’’ Right he forgot about you. ‘’Oh yeah you’re Y/N .. Chanyeol told me a lot about you and you’re like the most powerful in our coven’’

A single tear rolled onto your cheek, you find him .. he was in front of you.

You finally find him, thanks to Chanyeol.

92 notes · View notes

fakeloveaskblog · 3 years

Note

aw, sweet loceit in the evening sun. logan is actually super good at explaining healthy relationships and boundaries and stuff actually, i betcha he could recognize abuse no problem

…aye remy! REMY!! HAve you thought about going to that gay bar more often? who knows, maybe you'll encounter someone nice, make friends with like-minded people, hear some disco, the full nine yards. janus might be there, remus might be there. (just look around for the guy with the blue tie, he's a great guy, if he's not wearing it he'll look like he has that blue tie kinda energy! you could totally just get drunk and unload your grievances on him and i bet he won't even mind!)

(Mentions of U!Virgil but I say beforehand when that happens so those who don’t like U!Virgil can enjoy the rest of the fic up until then)

(Words: 4100)

Remy wiped away a tear while looking at your message. The cold light from their phone was the only thing brightening up the room. Virgil was sleeping beside them, his arm was laid around their waist.

"You just like tots gave me the greatest idea! I'm gonna invite Rem out to the bar! It's gonna the funnest thing like ever! Thanks girl!!"

2 days later Remus was dangerously close to eating the moss straight from the gay bar's wall. He had been left without supervision for over 15 minutes while he sat outside waiting for his friend to show up, what else was he supposed to do?!

"SSSSUUUP BABE!!!"

Remy came towards him as fast as they could. They had on a short leather skirt, a neon mesh crop top and a leather jacket over it.

They did a little turn "I just like felt a bit glamorous today!"

Remus choked on his own spit "The world must be a dark place when you aren't feeling glamorous"

"Awwww babbbe"

He sent them a big grin. He'd just put on his usual oversized dysphoria hoodie and matching oversized (:O) sweatpants.

Remus' smile disappeared in an instant as he noticed dark bruises all around Remy's neck. Shades of purple and green collided against each other.

"Ehm did a vampire come and attack you last night? Seriously are you alri-"

"JUst a reminder that it will be loud in there" Remy interrupted.

"Oh. Right!"

He fumbled around in his bag after his headphones. After putting it and a chew necklace on he did a thumbs up. Remy took off their sunglasses and leaned down so they were face to face.

Their face was so close he could feel their breathe against his lips. They put the sunglasses onto him and sent him a soft smile.

“There’s like lots of bright lights too” They explained.

Remus’ heart fluttered. He didn’t understand why “T-thanks”

They moved their arm around his shoulders as they went into the bar. It was past 12 am so some of the daytime furniture had been moved to make place for a dancefloor. There was indeed lots of neon lights flickering all around the bar and fast pop music was blasting through the speakers.

It was hard to see any details of anyone around him so Remus quickly forgot about the bruise. In this lighting it just looked like a weird choker anyway.

A guy with a see through shirt bumped into Remus. He had top surgery scars. For a moment they looked at each other in the most knowing way. The stranger looked away and continued talking with whoever he was with.

Remus whole body seemed to vibrate. There were so many butterflies in his stomach it felt like he was going to puke, in a good way.

Remy sat him down on one of the tall barstools and slumped down right next to him “So whatcha gonna drink?”

“The squashed down organs of my enemies!!!” He shrugged “Soda?”

They burst out into laughter “What? You catholic or something? Not allowed to drink alcohol?”

He slumped in on himself and started fiddling with his necklace “I-I dunno-”

“No. No babe I was just like joking. Like a stupid bitch. It’s okay” They waved at the waiter “Your most alcoholic fruit mix and your finest coca cola please!”

Remus leaned in to whisper “With salt”

“With salt? Please!”

He kept vibrating like an overexcited weasel. After getting their drinks he kept tapping the glass to stim some of the happiness out.

“Honestly I’ve never been to a gay bar before. I’m digging it. Just like how I’m digging graves”

They playfully hit his shoulder “Then I’m tots gonna try my best to make this the ultimate first gay bar experience! I can’t think of any other lil fucked up gremlin buddy I would wanna have by my side!”

"Muhahah!! I am officially assigned ultimate gremlin buddy-”

“Greetings” A voice suddenly came from behind them.

Both of them flinched away. Remy let out a short yell and Remus was close to throwing his drink in the person’s face when he saw it was just Logan.

He had on jeans and a black button up with the top button unbottoned. He had with him iced coffee from starbucks because he had to drive home later.

“LOGIE!!!” Remy threw their arms around his neck to pull him closer “Babe this is the Log-legend. Once he was like sooo drunk so when he like tried to kiss me puked on my shoes instead!”

Logan grimaced “I am still very sorry about that”

“Oh I already know him through Janus” Remus replied.

“Oh my gawd babe” Remy looked between them all “So like we all know Janny?! Wig! Sad he isn’t here then”

Remus held up his cola “Cheers to J-anus!” The other two held up their glasses in agreement.

“Cheers”

“Cheerio!”

“He is very pretty and charming and cute” Logan dreamily sighed. He stopped himself from continuing to say compliments.

“Yeah” The other two sighed back in unison.

Logan sat down on a chair next to them. Remy looked around the bar before squinting at him “No Patty?”

He instantly started looking like a Very sad seal “Sadly my wife is away on a convention with her magical girl anime fanclub this whole week. I estimated that going to the bar would make me feel less lonely”

“You have a WIFe??? Like a real one???” Remus exclaimed, his eyeballs were close to popping out from surprise.

“Yes. This may be a controversial opinion but when I marry someone I prefer them to be physically real” He replied druly.

He got a smug grin on his lips “Does she peg you?”

“She does far more than just peg me”

“Nice!” His eyes went even wider “IS That a stim toy??!”

He pointed at the tangle Logan kept between his fingers “Correct. If I do not have something to relieve my focus onto I can easily go into senso- OH a chewie?”

Remus nodded while showing of his chew necklace. The two of them started rambling about their favorite stim toy. Until they went off into special interests (star trek/astronomy and art/animal biology respectively).

Soon enough Remus was showing pictures of the animal bones he’d found. Logan ooeh and ahhed at all of them before asking the most nerdy of questions (where he’d found them, their bone density, if any damage had been done to them) which only made Rem infodump which made Lo infodump which made them both happy stim.

Meanwhile Remy sat beside them completely zoned out. They got time to drink 2 more of those fruit mixes and a few shots. The room was starting to spin.

The loud music wasn’t keeping out the yelling. They dunked their forehead against the bar table and covered their ears to try and get it out. The music was supposed to keep it out! Why was nothing working! The bruise ached. Their throat closed in on itself until they couldn’t breathe.

“Remus” They gasped out. They looked over to their friend with a desperate look in their eyes. They just needed a distraction.

“So my theory for why you keep finding bones in specifically that part of the woods is because of the kind of dirt making it take longer for them to deco-” Logan was explaining while Remus nodded along.

“Rem! L-let’s like go up and dance or something. Please”

This time it caught Remus’ attention. He looked over to them “Sure- are you feeling alright? Did you drink too much? You’re looking like a mummy”

“Yes. No. I just like- Like- They’re playing Charli xcx of course we gotta like dance!!”

“I will protect your belongings then” Logan added.

Remy stumbled up on shaky legs. Remus sent them a warm smile that made them want to cry before taking their hand. He let them lead him out to the dancefloor. Honestly he was pretty nervous about it, but being with them always made some of the anxiety melt away.

They stumbled on their own feet and fell forward. Their friend took ahold of their wrists and pulled them close to his chest. Their faces were so close to each other. So so close.

He didn’t let go. They couldn't remember him ever letting them hold him this close. Their chests pressed against each other. Their arms around his shoulders. His hands on their back.

"You’re right. It is a good song. Good to crash a car too" Remus said absentmindedly.

Remy let up into shaky giggles from how sudden he’d said it “Yeah. Yeah I guess”

They kept giggling. He chuckled back. He started spinning around on the dancefloor. They moved with him. His arms wrapped closer around their waist. Their cheek leaned against the slope of his neck (even though they had to lean down to get on his height level).

Remy quietly sang along to the music which made Remus start yelling along to it. The enby threw their head back from laughter. They took his hand and intertwined their fingers.

Remus moved his hand out and spun them around before pulling them close again. Their cheeks were flushed red, his was as well. He playfully dipped them down when the song ended.

It continued on into a song neither of them knew but they kept dancing anyway. They didn’t stay as pressed close to each other but they always had some contact. Holding hands. An arm around a waist. A head leaning against a chest.

When they finally got back to the bar table they were both panting. Remy was completely leaning on Remus since their body had started to hurt, but even through the pain they were both bubbling over with so much happiness they kept breaking out into bouts of giggling.

To their surprise Logan wasn’t sitting alone. A tall person with long dark hair sat on the chair beside him. Xir hand was on his thigh. The nerd had a soft smile on his face as they leant close to talk.

“Uh Lo?” Remus had to wave his arms around to get his attention.

His head shot around to look at them “Hello” He glanced to the person “These are the ones I was protecting belongings for” He stood up and held out his hand “Shall we?” Xir took it. Logan waved at his friends before going off to the dancefloor with the stranger.

“Huh. Good for him”

“I guess”

Remy ordered another high alcohol fruit mix. Remus happily chewed on his necklace while humming along to the music. Between their chairs their hands hang with their fingers intertwined. Holding their hand had started to make Remus feel all funny in the head for some reason.

The enby watched on as Logan and the stranger danced for a bit before moving to a corner to make out. When the stranger started to lead him towards the bar’s bathrooms Remy turned to their friend.

“Yeah okay he’s not coming back for like a while. Smoke break?”

“Of course!”

They finished their drink before leaving the bar. The pair stopped right outside. Remus sat down on the side of the pavement. Remy tried to sit down but they stumbled over themself and fell flat on the ground.

Remus got up to help “Are you okay? Are you sure you haven’t drank too much?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine” They laughed out.

He sat them down on the pavement while dusting off their clothes. He patted them on the head while pouting “You should get some water”

“Naaaah babe. I’m good”

In the moonlight the bruise was visible again. That horrible dark purple bruise around their neck. It looked like it hurt.

Remus put his hand on their shoulder “Beanie are you alright? I do know it wasn’t some halloween monster that got you that bruise”

For a moment their whole body tensed, they forced a smile “It’s fine. me and my boyf just tried like some new kinky shit in the bedroom y’know. Nothing more” They lied.

They took out a cigarette pack and a lighter from their bag. They traced their thumb over Remus’ lower lip and opened his mouth just slightly. Remy leaned closer while putting a cigerette between his lips. They lit it.

Remus took a deep breathe. It’d been a while since he’d last smoked. He leaned so close the cigarette nearly touched Remy’s skin. They parced their lips as he breathed out the smoke right into their mouth.

A smile spread on their lips. He held the cigarette over to them but they shook their head. They looked around in their bag again and took out a small poppers bottle.

“Should you really take that. Won’t your brain melt out of your ears?” Remus asked “I really don’t wanna have to slorp up your brain juice...yet”

“Relax babe. It’s like not dangerous as long as I don’t like take too much and I only take when partying” It took a moment before they quietly added “And I only party when I need to get out of the apartement”

“What?”

They forced on a bigger smile “What?”

Remy moved the popper up to their nose and inhaled as much of it as they could. It took a few seconds before they let up into a giggle. It was in a higher tone than their usual bubbly laugh, it almost sounded like cackling. They could see stars.

(U!Virgil mentions from here on out)

“Y’know my boyfriend gave me like a flashback or whatever last night” They giggled while swaying from side to side.

Remus gently grabbed their shoulders and moved them to lean against him so they wouldn’t fall over “Uhu. Did you stab him?”

“No silly. He just. He’d been soooo sweet all weeek and I just I just ruined it ‘cause i like overeacted to some joke he made while like we were washing the dishes” They were barely even aware they were speaking “And like it just kept going until we were like screaming at each other”

Remy was still smiling and giggling between every word but tears started to form in their eyes. Their fingers felt numb. Bile was rising in their throat.

“And he just like threw the plate he was holding down on the ground. And it like didn’t hit me. He wasn’t even aiming at me. He was just throwing it at the ground. But it shattered and it was so stupid and overemotional and stupid and pathetic but I just I just curled up on the floor and like had a panic attack like a stupid baby”

They smeared their hand across their face to try and get the tears away. They felt sick. Remus quickly put out his cigarette, it didn’t feel like the right time to smoke.

“And I just like- Is that normal? Is that fine? Like throwing stutff like that? I-I- he’s never done it before. Or I mean like not plates” They looked up at Remus “Is it fine?”

He gulped while fiddling with his hoodie sleeve “Well uh did he apologize?”

“Mhmm. He like- like for some minutes he like kept yelling ‘cause he thought I was just like faking a panic attack to like I dunno manipulate him but then he like comforted me and like calmed me down and like held me and cuddled all night until I fell asleep and- and he said sorry a bunch of times and like he said it would never happen again. He uh usually doesn’t lie”

“Well ehm then it should be fine right? Right?” They both shrugged at each other “I mean everyone can make mistakes! And it was during an argument! Everyone does drastic things during an arguments! So it’s fine. I think”

A shaking breathe of relief left Remy’s lips. They stretched themself over his lap and he moved his arms around them. “Thanks babe. I was like tots worried for a bit but y’know i was thinking like that too. So it’s fine”

“Yeah” He combed his fingers through their hair “You do know you can vent to me whenever right? I promise I won’t gross you out with details about how to pull out rabbit teeth ever again so if I can hold that back then I can also listen to stuff! I can super listen!!”

They closed their eyes. They felt so tired. So tired and sick and horrible. “Mhm. I know babe. I know”

Remy sent him a soft smile before suddenly puking. Some of it came on his pants but mostly on the ground. Remus stood up and carefully moved them down to a sitting position.

He rubbed up and down their back with one hand and held their hair back with his other. Their shoulders were shaking and they were taking in shallow breathes between every sudden throw up.

“It’s okay beanie-boo. Breathe. Breathe. You got all the time in the world. Until the sun blows up at least”

“I-I took- too much- too much” They slurred out before lurching forward again. It seemed to stop for now.

“I’m aware” He carefully wiped away some of the puke left around their mouth with his hoodie sleeve.

They leaned back against his chest. They closed their eyes and focused on breathing. He held them so so gently. As if they would break like glass otherwise. He pressed a kiss to the top of their head.

“There you are!” Logan said as came through the bar entrance “What a relief. I assumed you had left without me because you thought my actions were unacceptable” He noticed how pale and shaky Remy looked and got a worried look on his face “Is everything alright?”

“They feel like someone has slammed a fish into their stomach. Not good” Remus replied.

“I see. I suppose it woud be best to get them home”

Logan picked Remy up with ease to carry them to his car. He was quite sure he’d carried dogs that weighted more than them. Remus anxiously followed along.

He sat them in the passenger seat. He shook their shoulders until they opened their eyes. They let out a quiet whine.

He held up 4 fingers “Remy how many fingers am I holding up?”

“Fuck yourself”

“Noted”

They moved to the side and seemed to pass out again. Logan closed the door before turning to Remus.

“Did they take anything?” He whispered.

“Only a popper”

“Good. Do you need a ri-”

“Bus”

“Okay” Logan was about to go but stopped midstep and lowered his voice even more “Oh and Rem...Could you please not ask Janus to hang out next weekend? I am planning a surprise...I hope it will make him happy”

“Good luck comrade....Please text me once Remy is home safe. Please?”

“Of course”

He did a little nod before leaving. Logan got into the car. He couldn’t stop looking at the bruise around their neck. Remy continued to sleep for most of the ride until they they were 5 minutes or so away from their apartment. They suddenly flinched awake.

“Stop the car!” They gasped out.

“Are you still feeling the same?”

“Logan stop the fucking car!” There was fear in their eyes.

Logan stopped by the side of the road. The road was barren and dark. It had to be past 3 am at least. Remy crawled back into the backseats while their whole body shook.

“Don’t. Look. At. Me”

“Sure” He stared down into the steering wheel to not accidentally see their reflection in the glass.

“I just. I just have to change clothes. I just. I don’t want Virigl to call me a whore again. I mean. He won’t. But what if. What if he gets mad. I just. I just have to change” They slurred out.

They stumbled out of the car after changing into a pair of long pants and closing their leather jacket. A cold chill went up Logan’s spine. He quickly stepped out of the car as well.

“Okay bye bye Logie!!”

They tried to move but Logan grabbed onto their shoulders. He forced back a choking feeling in his throat “What do you mean by your boyfriend getting mad?”

“Pff! It’s nothing! I’m drunk!! Byyyeeeeee”

They started to stumble away but Logan easily followed along “It did not sound like he called you a whor-...you know what...with your consent. I am simply going to remind you that calling a partner things like that is not okay. Not in any circumstance”

Remy’s expression turned cold. They walked faster “I don’t like what you’re implying”

“I’m not implying anything”

“Yes you Fucking are!”

“Exscuse me for being worried about your wellbeing. What you just said sounded like a very bad sign”

“Yeah exactly it only SOUnded bad! My boyfriend isn’t bad!” Remy snarled out.

“I am not saying he is. He doesn’t have to be bad to say awful things, as long as he changes”

They shoved their hands into their pockets. Their hands moved into fists “You don’t know a fucking thing about me. You tried to kiss me once when you were drunk and that’s all. We don’t know each other”

Logan took a deep breathe “I don’t need to know you to see red flags. Remy-” He searched for words “Remy you’re bruised. How- you can’t expect me to not get worried”

Remy suddenly stopped and turned around to meet his eyes. “MY BOYFRIEND ISN’T ABUSIVE! I-”

“I’m not necessarily saying he is. I just wan’t to talk-” His voice started to sound desperate.

They looked like a cornered animal. Tears were brimming at the edges of their eyes “YOU DON’T KNOW A THING!”

“Remy-”

“I DID THIS TO MYSELF!” Their hand went up to the bruise “I DESERVED IT! VIRGIL DIDN’T DO A FUCKING THING! I DID! I TOOK A BELT AND HURT MYSELF! OKAY?! VIRGIL CARES ABOUT ME!”

He tried to sound soothing “Remy please take a deep breathe-”

“NO! NO! YOU KNOW WHAT LOGAN?! THERE IS STILL CUM ON YOUR FUCKING LIPS FROM YOU SUCKING OFF SOME STRANGER IN A DIRTY BATHROOM! SO NO! I AM NOT TAKING LOVE ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO IS CHEATING ON HIS GODDAMN WIFE!”

They stormed away. For a moment Logan was frozen in place before he forced himself to run after them to try and make sure they would be okay.

“I am not-”

Remy looked at him for one last time. The look in their eyes made him feel cold. It was pure hatred.

“Logan get the fuck away from me! I am drunk and high and alone on a street with no one but you who is sure as hell fucking stronger than me and all you’re doing is spouting bullshit! So please get why I want you to leave. And why I don’t ever want you to talk to me again!”

He stopped dead in his tracks “...Right....Yes....I am so sorry”

Remy didn’t even respond. They simply turned and walked away. Logan stayed and watched to make sure they got home to the apartment safe before going back to his car.

He slumped down in the seat. His heart was racing and his thoughts were for once an illogical flurry. He sat motionless for several minutes before finally getting some semblence of an idea.

He took out his phone and dialed one of his usual numbers. It took several signals before Emile Picani picked up.

“Mhm? Logie bear? I can’t today I have clients in the morning” He yawned out.

“This is about one of your patients. I am fearing that they are in danger”

In an instant all of the sleepyness in Emile’s voice disappeared “In danger? Physical? Is it urgent? Do I need to call someone? Which patient are you even referring to?”

Logan hesitated. If Remy had reacted that strongly to him just attempting to ask about his boyfriend it was very likely that they would stop going to therapy if Emile brought it up. His throat tightened, he didn’t want to put them in any more danger.

“I....Nevermind Emile....This was just a far too gone joke...Someone dared me to call you. I am sorry. Have a good night”

He ended the call. He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and let out a long sigh. His hands held onto the wheel so hard his knuckles whitened.

Logan had no idea what to do. No idea at all. All he knew was fear. Fear for Remy’s safety. Fear for their well being. Fear that anything he did would only make their situation worse.

#mini fic #remus sanders #logan sanders #remy sanders #sanders sides #remsleep #resleep #rem^2 #these sure keep getting longer huh #its past 4 am #fun

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friendandphoe · 3 years

Text

okay the formatting on this is gonna be a lil weird bUT!! have this figuring it out/something to last revamp that’s been sitting in my brain for the last few weeks @ahbonjour @museumlad @creativeskull95

There’s no way in hell she’s ever looking Professor Keelson in the eye again. “I’m sorry,” she croaks for the thousandth time, and finds a tissue being pressed into her hand.

“Quite alright, my dear,” Professor Keelson says soothingly, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded over his round belly. “Wipe your face, now, there you go. I’m — well.” And he rubs the bridge of his nose, just under his round wire glasses. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this, unfortunately.”

She nods numbly, ice trickling down her spine.

You ruined everything.

“I’m sorry,” she tries again, because it’s all she can think to say, but the professor waves her off with a weathered hand and pushes himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane as he makes his way to the mini fridge he keeps under the bookshelves.

“Now, now,” he says, almost scolding, and pulls out a clementine, a bar of chocolate, and a bottle of water. “Don’t you start that with me, Ms. Ochoa. This is not the first time I’ve had students crying in my office, I daresay it won’t be the last.” And he sits heavily back down in his chair, setting the snacks in front of her. “Eat, drink. Now, I won’t press on what’s been troubling you, but you know, these tired old eyes of mine do still catch a few things here and there, and I have seen you — well. I don’t like to use the word struggling, but you know, perhaps it is a bit more apt than anything else I could think of.” And she knows he’s looking at her, knows those beady black eyes well, but just focuses on unwrapping the chocolate bar as quietly as she can.

What makes you think we want you around?

“You’ve had a rough time of it, this year.”

It’s not a question, but she still finds herself nodding confirmation. “I don’t know what happened.” She says hoarsely, and reaches for the water bottle.

Leave us alone.

“I’ve been wanting this for years, I worked so hard to get into this program, I just—” and she has to press her mouth shut to keep the lump in her throat from escaping.

Leave us alone!

“Some… stuff. Uh, came up, I guess.”

They sit in silence for a minute, then softly: “The human mind is a wonderful, confusing little thing.” Professor Keelson says. She dares a glance up at him, finds him — thank god — staring out his office window. “It tends to block out anything unpleasant we might not want to hear, and often that negativity will build and build and build until, one day, the weight becomes too much to bear.” He sighs and scrubs a hand through his short white beard, messing the hairs out of their orderly style. “And then we must face the unfortunate truth that sometimes what we thought we wanted is, in actuality, not at all the path we should be taking."

She drops her gaze back down to her bouncing knee. “Is it stupid?” She blurts out, watching her leg blur under her rising tears. “I just — this is a good school, a good program, and I’ll have so many job opportunities when I graduate—”

A weathered hand stretches out across the desk, just reaching to where her pinky would've been. “And yet,” Professor Keelson murmurs. “It won’t make you happy.” He sits back in his chair, looking every inch the benevolent Santa Claus his students know him to be. “And given how miserable you’ve been this year, Ms. Ochoa, I daresay your ultimate happiness is worth far more than any graduating job offers.” His smile drops for a half-second. “Though I can’t say I won’t be sorry to see you go. You’re already one of my best students, you know.”

You're an embarrassment to my name and reputation.

A wet little giggle chokes out of her throat, and she wipes down her face one more time. “Don’t tempt me, I’m half-considering staying,” she admits. “Even with all of this.”

“Ah, but if you do, what sort of state will you be in once you graduate?” Professor Keelson says, raising a bushy brow. “All you young folk are the same. You’re young, you have that wonderful, limitless energy, but you must learn to take care of yourselves now, while you have the space to do so. Won’t do you any good to drive yourselves into the ground every night when you’re my age, you know!” He looks at her appraisingly, then smiles wide. “And you know, my dear, there’s great strength in being able to admit you were wrong. I’ve always admired people who are strong enough to chase their dreams instead of following the easy path. Do you have an idea where you’re going, yet?”

Don’t ever come back here, you little—

“There’s a performing and visual arts conservatory,” she says hesitantly. “River Park, downstate. They’ve got really good photography and filmmaking programs, and, um.” She pauses, unsure how to explain how right it had all felt when she’d been reading about it online. “Well, I have an interview on Wednesday, so.”

Professor Keelson’s smile widens. “River Park! My partner studied illustration there, years ago when we were both young. You’ll do wonderfully.”

She can’t help but feel like his faith is ever-so-slightly misplaced —

I didn't want you.

— maybe it’s just the existential crisis talking, who knows —

Do you understand me?

— but she can’t quite bring herself to argue against the sparkling excitement in the professor’s eyes. She lets him press another chocolate bar and tissue combo into her hand as he shuffles her out of his office, with strict, cheerful instructions to come see him before she leaves for her interview.

You were a mistake.

Tuesday night comes in the blink of an eye; she’d barely dumped her meager wardrobe back into the suitcase she’d kept under her bed and her sticky notes are still haphazardly slapped to the wall above her desk. She’s not exactly sure where the time went — it’s not like she went to any classes. Or ate much. Or was sleeping, really. Granted she did try, but the third time in the same night she woke up sobbing because her blankets had twisted around her leg, trapping her in an all-too-familiar heat vortex—

window won't break it's too hot it hurts to breathe window won't break it's so fucking hot she can't think window won't break but it'll slide get out of this goddamn heat get out get out crunch fuck ow hurts hurts ow fuck hurts her toes shouldn't be ow fuck fuck fuck pointing that way hurts hurts fucking hurts can't feel her knee fuck fuck where's papá—

— she kind of gave up. She doesn't even bother pulling out her shitty, half-broken headphones to try and watch something on Netflix to try and pass the time, she just lays in bed and listens to Rebecca softly snoring five feet away. The ceiling is infinitely more interesting than anything else she could’ve been focusing on, anyway.

Except maybe her portfolio. Which. She hasn’t really. Looked at.

She’s so fucked.

Still, she drags herself out of bed nice and early at 7 am Wednesday morning, beating her alarm by the customary 4 minutes, and actually manages to gather the energy to sift through her remaining clothes to dig out something — well. She doesn’t really have anything “nice,” per say, but she does have an oversized sweater that’ll pass as a dress once she puts on some makeup and a belt and ties her hair up, and that’ll have to be good enough.

You show up to my door looking like that?

River Park is going to laugh her right out the door.

Everything she might need is already shoved unceremoniously into her backpack — wallet, keys, wrist brace, student ID, laptop, flash drive (in its place of honor in the tiny pocket), knee brace, fruit snacks, water bottle — but her eye catches on her DLSR just as she’s finished tying the laces on her most comfortable boot, and she hesitates. She hasn’t really looked at her portfolio much recently — she knows she’s got some old pictures from Manhattan, and maybe some from various campus events that might be good, but it’s been a little hard to go out and take nice shots when she’s been drowning in depression soup for the past four months. Four years. Whatever. Either way, she doesn’t have much to show for herself, and inspiration hasn’t really hit lately.

But River Park is — well, she has no idea, really, she hasn’t seen it in person yet, but the photos online are gorgeous, all glass-and-brick buildings framed by forests and gardens. Very much a college town, from what she can tell, the campus map isn’t really a map so much as a general directory pointing out which buildings were associated with the conservatory, but there was something that felt weirdly homey about seeing those pictures. Maybe it was the layout of the buildings, maybe it was the way they described their classes and professors, maybe it was just the simple fact that everyone in those pictures was genuinely smiling, but she’d gotten this weird, longing ache just below her collarbone that had made her close down all her other college-related tabs and email River Park’s photography and filmmaking department.

Something feels good about that campus. And maybe, if she gets there a little early, she can—

You don't get to come into my life and — and ruin everything I have here.

It’s only seven forty-two. Her interview’s not until one, and the train ride downstate should only take an hour. She’s got time.

Which is how she finds herself knocking on Professor Keelson’s office door, DLSR hanging around her neck, about two hours earlier than she’d been intending to be there, praying to who and whatever might be listening that he’s actually in and she didn’t just horribly fuck this up like she’s been fucking up, oh, who’s to say, just about everything she touches these past few months.

You’re not a part of this family. You never will be.

“Come in, come in!” She hears just beyond the door, and she cautiously peeks in to find the wizened old professor crouching over his printer, staring at it suspiciously as it slowly spits out some document. “Hello, dear. Wasn’t expecting you this early!”

I think you should leave.

“Sorry,” she manages, hovering in the doorway. “I just — change of plans.”

Professor Keelson nods, collects his papers, and creaks over to his desk. “Yes, very good.” he agrees, shuffling the papers into two piles. “Take a seat, I promise I won’t keep you very long. You look nice, by the way.”

She sits, already relaxing in the warm familiarity of Professor Keelson’s overstuffed office. Maybe this is why he’d wanted her to visit before she went, just to make sure she wouldn’t vomit on the interviewers. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’re very welcome. Now,” he says, stuffing one pile of papers into a folder. “These are all your important documents: transcripts, transferable credits, disability accommodations, et cetera. Pardon my overstepping, but you did seem a little, ah, frazzled, shall we say? Last you came to speak with me and I was almost positive that you wouldn’t have thought of pulling the paperwork together.”

Which is absolutely true, she hadn’t, and she can’t even bring herself to feel insulted that he’d assumed she wouldn’t. “Thank you very much,” she says, trying desperately to seem calm and cool and collected and not crush her very expensive, very precious camera in her white-knuckle grip.

A mess. You're a mess.

Professor Keelson’s face crinkles into a smile. “You’re very welcome. You’ll be happy to know that, since you’ve already completed all your core classes and general requirements, all of those credits will easily transfer between the schools. There may be a class or two you’ll have to make up, but you should be able to jump right in with your major-specific classes. Now, this,” he says, folding the other papers into an envelope. “Is your letter of recommendation. I’ll put it in the folder with everything else, but I wanted you to know that you had it.”

Oh, fuck, she might start crying again. “Professor—” she starts, but he’s already slid the folder across the desk to her.

“Ms. Ochoa, if I may.” Her mouth snaps shut, and he continues: “Our time together has been short, yes, but you have been one of my favorite students to ever come through these doors. Barring your obvious intelligence, passion, and work ethic, you’re also relentlessly kind, despite everything you’ve gone through.” His gaze fixes on her cheek for the briefest of moments, tracing over the lumps and bumps of her scars, but his eyes are as soft as they’ve ever been. “I don’t presume to know your history, but I know bits of your present, and the person I’ve seen would make a valuable asset to any school she goes to. If you approach your new classes and projects with as much determination as you did mine, I’ve no doubt your new instructors will be as proud of you as I am. I let them know as much.”

...

She numbly takes the folder, desperately blinking back tears. “Th-thank you, sir.” She manages, thick in the back of her throat. “I-I’ll do my best.”

Professor Keelson takes up his customary position, hands laced neatly over his belly. “You will.” He agrees, smiling. “Now, you should be heading out soon. I’d hate to make you miss your train, especially if you want to get there early.”

“Yes — yes.” And she gets up on autopilot, sliding the folder into her backpack as carefully as she can manage. “Thank you. Thank you so much, professor, I can’t — I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

She’s halfway out the door when she hears him call: “Ms. Ochoa, one more thing?”

She turns.

The professor smiles benevolently at her from his chair. “Don’t give up on yourself before you’ve even gotten started.”

And with that, she’s on her way.

Get out.

So, update: maybe deciding to take her portfolio pictures on her way to her college interview was a stupid idea, but to be fair, a lot of her stupid ideas have worked out pretty decently before, so. It’s fine.

Probably.

She definitely doesn’t almost miss the train by snapping shots of the mostly-empty station, but in her defense, the morning fog hadn't quite dissipated yet, and the spooky air of possibility that the tracks had been extending and disappearing into was just begging to be captured. And she absolutely doesn’t continually hop seats throughout the hour-long ride to get different angles of the seats, the blurry towns and roads whizzing past, or even a couple of self-portraits here and there. It’s not like there are people around for her to bother, anyway, so it’s fine. (Probably.) It’s a little hard getting a satisfyingly dramatic shot of her staring out the window, but she thinks the one where they’re passing through a tunnel and she’s locked eyes with her shadowy reflection might be a winner. She won’t really know until she opens them up on her computer, which will probably end up being just before the interview, with her luck, so. Who knows, she might just be wasting her time and battery life.

It’s the most fun she’s had in a while, though.

And. Fuck, maybe it makes no sense, but she's still got that feeling in her chest. It's creeping up to her ponytail, at this point, tugging on the ends of her curls, ordering her to pay attention.

Capture this.

It's important.

Last time she felt like that, she won an award, so. Y'know. Fuck her if she's going to ignore it.

She cuts herself off when there’s ten minutes left in the journey, just to be sure she’s not scrambling to put herself together as she’s pulling up to the station, but ten minutes, it turns out, is both much longer and much shorter than she thought it’d be. Just enough time to run down the list of all the possible ways this could (and would) go wrong, but not enough to steady her racing heart before the train’s slowing down.

You're delusional. This isn't one of your little fairy tales. This is — it's not going to happen.

Don’t give up on yourself before you’ve even gotten started, she remembers, taking one last breath to steel herself, and swings herself up onto her feet and out the doors.

The station is nice enough, but not terribly different from the one she’d started in besides being a little cleaner, so she shoulders her backpack and makes her way down the stairs and into the town proper.

Which.

Wow.

Maybe it’s just a seasonal thing, maybe not, but all the buildings she can see are draped with hanging lights, and even the curving street lights have extra strands hanging over the sidewalks. She almost wishes she’d scheduled her interview later in the day, just to be able to get a shot of those lights against the dark sky, but contents herself with snapping pictures of the incredibly aesthetic sidewalk and shops. She spots an art supply store with a cheerful blue door sandwiched between a movie theater and an apartment complex that frames up nicely, and there’s a coffee shop with swirling, festive winter-y designs painted on the window with pots of poinsettias framing the corners that’s a — no pun intended — picture-perfect paragon of coziness. She stops maybe a little too long to zoom in on the red leaves and flawless paint, making sure to keep the actual inside of the shop out of focus, because as cute as the beanbags and mismatched armchairs are, she doesn’t really feel like going in to ask if it’s alright for her to take pictures of the small handful of people both in front of and behind the counter.

One last shot of the poinsettias and she moves on, turning her lens to the last few, dying flowers in their garden beds, then to the display window of a bookstore that proudly announces its support of the LGBT community with various painted flags, then to the churning river that cuts through the town and the elegant bridge that arcs proudly above it.

There’s not a lot of people walking around right now, but she can definitely see kids around her age up the street, chatting and laughing amongst themselves as their breath puffs out in front of them. A cute dog bounces over to say hello before its owner tugs it away with a sheepish smile, and even without their leaves, the trees interspersed along the sidewalk stand tall, proud, and lovely.

She’s got that weird ache in her chest again — stronger this time — that indiscernible pull that draws her to stay, and she puts her camera down, puffing out a shaky breath.

What made you think we want you here?

“It doesn’t matter.” She tells herself sternly, leaning up on the sides of the bridge. “It doesn’t matter unless you get in.”

Speaking of. She pulls her phone out of her pocket, fully intending to double check the email she’d been sent with instructions on where to go, but her eye catches on the time.

Twelve forty-six.

So. Maybe not the best idea to go gallivanting around a campus she doesn’t know, especially when she has an extremely important interview to get to, but even as she’s scolding herself, she knows the pink flush in her cheeks isn’t just from the cold, and she’s got more energy now than she’s had in months, so.

Worth it.

Thank god E.A. Archer Hall is straightforward enough to find; Google Maps tells her it’s a seven minute walk in a mostly straight line from where she is on the bridge now, which she just about manages even though it’s cold and her stump is starting to ache. The building is emblazoned with the name right on the side, so it’s impossible to miss, but she needs a keycard to get in, and somehow she thinks her current school ID isn’t exactly going to fly here.

But someone, somewhere, is smiling on her, because she’s only just gotten to oh, shit before a tall woman with vitiligo and long box braids strides towards the door, pushing it open.

“Alejandra Ochoa?”

“Yes, ma’am,�� she says as smoothly as she can behind her chattering teeth, and the woman smiles.

“You're right on time. Come on in, let's get started."

#I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT FIO/STL WOULD GO NOW SO IM REWRITING IT #i dont wanna spoil things bc i am in fact working on the next bits but here are some minor thoughts:#1: alexa starts out as an architecture major then switches schools to go into photography/filmmaking spring semester 2nd year #((not to toot my own horn but the way her major reflects her emotional arc is actually very clever of me if i do say so myself))#2: alexa and jaimey are half siblings through their dad and there will in fact be more Jaimey/Juno development than ive ever done before #((i have a lot of thoughts about their relationship and how it would grow and develop over time so. lowkey Jaimey redemption arc))#3: alexa obviously nails this interview and she hangs out on campus for a lil while afterwards to take pictures #((3.5: she does end up going into the coffee shop and there is in fact a Very Cute Barista and she gets Nervous))#4: the little interjections are things that have been said to Alexa somewhat recently but not all by the same person #thats about it i think anything else would be spoiler-y #n e way i cant wait to loredump all my new thoughts on yall im so sorry in advance for all the notifications you're about to get #im workin on some AU stuff too but lately ive been wanting to write about Normal Kids doing Normal Kid Things so here we are #i hope you enjoyed #movie house #alejandra ochoa #alexa darmond #my writing #shut up phoenix

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kpopisthereasonihavenolife · 4 years

Text

Kitsune: iv. summer

j.hoseok / reader

genre: Demon Hunter AU, Action, Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Japanese Federal Era

warning(s)!!: nudity, thugs/bandit kidnapping, killing/death, hostage situations, threats, violence, y/n fights in the nude (it makes sense trust me), minimual cursing but meh, taehyung is a lil insecure/nervous

w.count: 16.6k

Series | One-shot | Two-Shot | Drabble | [Rated: T]

synopsis: Demons: man-eating, murderous monsters who would kill anyone for the blood of humans: be it man, woman or child. They have no need for comrades. Known cannibalize and kill other demons if they so choose. Demon Hunters are tasked with eliminating any and all demons without question, but what would come to pass if they were told that a demon saved a human life? Views, values and relations become altered and absolutely nothing seemed human anymore. Never sharpen a blade too much, lest you become the wounded.

Series Index | i.demon | ii. winter | iii. spring |

a/n: could you believe that i wrote about 40% of this part while at work in small intervals. It’s pretty amazing how focused I can be on my fics when I’m literally just sitting at the desk LOL. Anyways, I know it’s been long awaited (by few, but still), but it’s a pretty big chapter so it balances out LMAO

t.list: : @kathrynwynterbourne @tiredjedi @kaekae-93 @multycoloredtaco @sunshinechim-98 @baojinnie @perpetually-single @lexi-tries-art @fallingjungwoo

It had only been three days since Taehyung had officially taken over where Fuuta had left off and already things were moving smoothly. He had sent word out after the leader meeting that the previous overseer had died and he had stepped in to handle any and all further issues as well as oversee the actions of the demon hunter organization.

Over the course of the days, Hoseok had been his shadow. Following him when he wasn’t given orders, or fulfilling the orders given to him by the younger man before returning back to his beck and call. Hoseok watched Taehyung carefully. Taehyung was as hard boiled as he was led to believe and the entire situation had to have been crawling under his skin- he just couldn’t voice that.

You had still remained in your fox form, tailing behind Taehyung- viewing him as your new master- and abiding the exact way Hoseok did. You would go if you were told to go and would do whatever task was asked of you. You even obeyed tasks that held the criteria of traveling with Hoseok to somewhere in the city. You weren’t overly fond of the idea that you had to occasionally run errands with the one demon hunter who you had fought with on multiple occasions, but you didn’t want to be yet another weight on Taehyung’s shoulders.

He was so young and yet already commanding such a large organization. Filling the shoes that Fuuta once did was difficult and there would be no shortcuts as he grew into them. He would just need to follow his gut and learn from experience.

It was the beginning of the fourth day where Taehyung had sat himself in his room as he took to his desk on the floor that sat at mid-torso as he knelt in front of it. His legs were tucked under his rear as he was leaned over onto his wooden desk space. His elbow pushing into the wood as his curled knuckles pushed into his forehead. His nighttime kimono was covered in creases and wrinkles, hanging loosely off his shoulders and open at the chest. His long hair hadn’t even been brushed out yet.

He rubbed at his temples before he sighed and lifted his head back up, dropping his arm to rest over the desktop. Looking behind him, there your fox body slept curled into an oval. You had a habit of sleeping beside his head ever since you regressed to your fox form. He leaned back, bracing one of his arms behind him as he twisted at the waist to look back at you with a small grin.

Perhaps it was because you were sleeping, but the small licks of fire that always swirled and flickered from your tails and paws were diminished in the orange light of dawn through his window.

“Y/n,” he softly called. On command the fire that had been small struck to life in small waves of blue as your eyes opened. Bringing your canine body up to arch into a stretch, you were soon prancing on your fire-wisped paws to Taehyung’s side.

You sat beside him, looking up. The top of your head all the way down your spine to your settled two tails were a straight arrow. He used the hand that had braced his back to come up and pet at your head, thumbing behind your ears and smoothing out your bed-fur.

“I have something for you,” he told you, his voice still not as awake as his body. He reached to his desk, pulling a small wooden box from the far corner of it and brought it into sight. “This box contains something meant for your safety on your future journey with Hoseok. However, I’ll need Hoseok here with you both before you can be granted it. It will also act as the official marker of the start of your mission.”

Your wide, fox eyes looked at the wood finished box. Part of you didn’t want anything to do with whatever might be inside if it meant that the object would push you out of this compound with Hoseok. However, you knew that this mission was important- and not just to you. You just bowed your head at him.

Taehyung then directed a small, sadden smile at you. He moved his hand from your head and down your neck to your back. Repeatedly petting you in long strokes.

“Will you ever return to your other form?” You lowered your head. “I wish that you will soon, and that the next time I see you from your journey, we’ll be able to properly talk again.” You looked back up to him standing up to all four as you stepped to place your front two paws on his folded legs. The samurai scratched under your chin. “Go fetch Hoseok for me,” he asked with a smile.

-x-x-x-

The demon hunter lay on his back in his room, staring up at the ceiling utterly thoughtless. He traced the outline of the ceiling back and forth and around with his eyes as one of his arms rested under his head, the other on his stomach. His kimono was open to reveal one of his legs as the chest was pulled open. His swords were across the room against the wall as his haori was hanging up on the wall.

The window to his room was open as the small railing outside of it casted a lined shadow across the tatami floors. It was a breezeless morning as the sun dyed the sky before it breached the horizon.

Hoseok’s eyes shifted from the ceiling to the open window as a light, dull thumping of paws landed on his window railing. He looked down at the shadow on the floor, watching twin-tails waves in opposite directions with the shadow of a fox sitting in his window. He looked back up, finally looking at your sun-lined silhouette.

He sucked in a small breathing, holding it for a beat before he pushed himself up to sit slouched in his futon. He said nothing and you didn’t move. You just stared at each other, his unmoving hard gaze locked onto your fox eyes. He sighed, moving to face forward and run a hand through his hair.

“I'm on my way,” he muttered as he started to force himself out of his futon and up off the floor. His kimono slid further down his shoulders, exposing his bicep as he turned to grab his folded up keikogi and hung up haori.

Behind him, he heard your paws flick from his window to the floor as you jumped fully into his room. He paid you no mind as he fiddled with the thin sash around his waist, losing it before opening the kimono and sliding it off his arms.

He changed in silence, as he expected no less, as you sat in his room. Staring at the door to his room in an amount of patience Hoseok might find impressive if he wasn’t running over and over again in his head that you were a demon.

Hoseok fastened his swords to his hip as he pulled his haori over his shoulders and repositioned it comfortably. Leaving his futon in a heap on the floor of his room, he walked to the door above you. Sliding it open, you sprung up and dashed out ahead of him as he walked into the hall and slid his door shut behind him.

He followed after your trotting form as he made his way to Taehyung’s room. He stood outside his superior’s door as he contemplated just walking in as he used to all the time before when he wasn’t in the high seat he now sat in. Hoseok knew he had to show Taehyung the respect he deserved now, but he also didn’t want to treat his best friend any different than in the past. It was a tough tear between options.

He must have been standing in contemplation for too long because Taehyung had called for him from inside the room.

“Hoseok, you can come inside.” The hunter hesitated just for a moment before he was sliding the shoji open and stepping inside along with you. You ran past Hoseok’s legs and into the room to sit beside Taehyung as the hunter slid the door shut behind him. “Take a seat, my friend,” Taehyung offered as he extended his hand to the space near him as Hoseok just wordlessly nodded and did as he was told.

Taehyung waited a moment as he pet your head, thanking you for bringing Hoseok. He looked back up to his friend.

“You don’t need to force yourself to treat me like you treated Fuuta,” Taehyung told him. Hoseok’s stiff shoulders jumped before they slacked and he let out a small breath. Taehyung chuckled, watching his friend physically deflate. “It’s true that I’m the overall ring leader of the organization, and perhaps you’ll need to address me as such in formal situations, but for the most part I’d prefer if you kept referring to me as you have been.”

“Are you sure that’s actually alright?”

“Technically speaking, no,” he chided with a small grin as he continued to pet and fawn over your fur. “But, since I’m the one in charge, I think I’m allowed to change a few rules. Not to mention one for friends.”

“I think a part of you is still as immature as you used to be,” Hoseok flatly spoke as Taehyung laughed.

“That’s not so wrong, is it?”

“What did you need me for so early in the morning, Taehyung?” Hoseok cut to the chase. Taehyung scoffed, accusing him of already being awake in the first place to which Hoseok just brushed off- ignoring his jest completely.

Taehyung removed his hand from you as he reached for the same wooden box from earlier. He lifted it and set it on his kimono covered leg as he lifted the rectangular top off and placed it on his desk. Inside, he had pulled out a silver blade pendant with a clear crystal in the middle of it. The samurai offered his hand out towards Hoseok as he looked at it with a quirked brow.

“Your hand, if you would,” Taehyung requested as Hoseok hesitantly stuck his arm out so his fingertips touched the other’s palm. Taehyung brought the bladed pendant and slid it across the pad of his middle finger. Hoseok winced at the small cut as he felt the burn then warmth of his blood beading out of his skin.

Taking it from his finger and releasing his hand, the blood of Hoseok’s clung to the pendant before the crystal in the center began to taint red. Taehyung nodded to himself when it was fully crimson. It was as if the crystal had soaked up the blood from Hoseok’s hand like a cloth.

“What did you just do?” Hoseok asked, placing his fingertip in his mouth to suck off the remaining blood there before he dropped it to his lap- but not without shaking it out a few times first. Taehyung remained silent as he then looped the necklace around your fox neck and let it rest on your furry chest. “Taehyung?” Hoseok called again, annoyed by not getting an answer.

Taehyung just shushed him lightly as he picked you up under your legs and moved to sit you away from him in front of both him and the demon hunter.

“Just watch,” Taehyung said.

Hoseok’s eyes started to widen, just a bit, as his jaw almost dropped at your appearance. It began to change, shifting right in front of his eyes. Your second tell before to fade into thin air, as if it was never there. The fire around your paws diminished completely, disappearing as the markings around your remaining tail, paws and cheeks all faded away, leaving your white fur completely clean of them all. Your golden eyes dulling into a shade of boring brown.

You looked just like a regular, white coated fox now. You hopped up once the entire transformation completed as you walked around in circles. You felt wrong. You looked at your lack of a tail, even though when you moved it you could still feel two there. You would faintly smell the remains of the fire that disappeared around your paws and tail. You folded your ears before you straightened them back up.

You looked at Taehyung and he almost chuckled at the narrow slit of brown you sent him in the form of a glare. Hoseok and removed his sword scabbard from his side as he nudged the hilt of it into your side to actually solidify it was still you. You hissed at him for this, swiping at his weapon handle.

“What the hell did that pendant do?” Hoseok asked as he replaced his sword at his side after yanking it away from you.

“It wasn’t the pendant per se,” Taehyung explained. “It was your blood inside the crystal of the pendant that triggered the spell. This will camouflage Y/n’s appearance as a regular fox who just so happened to be following its travel companion. Not a demon fox who is on a mission with a hunter. When she’s in her human form, it will also change her appearance and make her seem like a regular woman.”

Hoseok almost felt sick that you were using his blood to fool others into thinking you were the same species as him; a human being. From the way your body stood rigid, he assumed you weren’t too thrilled about it either. Taehyung just shook his head at the both of you.

“Get over your frustration you two,” he scolded lightly. “It’s necessary to insure safety, like it or not.” You both refused to voice your opinion on the matter- not that you would speak anyways. Hoseok just sat and stewed in his annoyance as you just plopped your bottom back down with a canine huff.

Taehyung ran you both through details of the mission you would soon be embarking on the rest of the morning. Explaining where to head first, and how to look for anything that may be a clue as to where Zath may be hiding.

Instructing to never disregard any demon rumors, never doubt someone’s story- no matter how crazy it may sound, and to never turn your back on someone who claims to need their aid. Even if someone who is pleading for help needs to be helped due to a demon occurrence or not- do not turn them down unless the task is life threatening.

Taehyung was a man of people, never saying no to someone who shed a tear and begged for help. Hoseok didn’t understand his soft heart, and the orders to act according to Taehyung’s heart made his stomach unsettled; it’d be a hefty order to obey.

“If possible, I’d like for you both to head out tomorrow,” Taehyung began to finish.

“Tomorrow?” Hoseok confirmed. “Isn’t that soon?”

“If anything, I’ve waited far too long for the mission to begin. Everyday I waited Zath was roaming free somewhere. I suppose, I used the both of you to cushion myself until I felt like I could handle this on my own,” the leader admitted. Hoseok’s eyes softened.

He did find it odd that when he pledged to take on this mission he wasn’t sent out the door immediately with the other leaders. Instead, Taehyung had him and you stick around.

It was because he was scared to be alone, not wanting to truly be the independent leader he was supposed to be now. He wanted just a few more days to be Taehyung, but now he knew he could no longer be selfish like that. He had to let you both go, and Hoseok felt his heart ache for his friend.

You padded to Taehyung’s front, laying down to place your chin on his leg as he pet you and chuckled- a sound that was sad and bitter to the taste.

“Will you be alright on your own, Taehyung?” Hoseok lightly asked, as if he was walking on thorns.

“I promise I will be. I’ve had my time to adjust,” he spoke so solemnly, Hoseok hesitated. He was tempted to argue to push back departure just a few more days. However, the idea of the argument died on his tongue before he even started it- the look in his new lord’s eyes telling him to drop it.

“Then,” Hoseok started in a sigh, “tomorrow we will depart.”

When Taehyung dismissed Hoseok, he looked down to see you sitting at his side. Your head the height of his knee as your appearance was still like a typical fox with that necklace around your neck. You sat patiently, and only got up to move when the hunter started out of the room completely and down the hall.

He wanted to ask why you were following him around instead of sticking to Taehyung like you had been, but he didn’t waste his breath. He knew you wouldn’t answer him anyways. He had planned to wander around until Taehyung called for him today, but since his mission was officially about to begin, he decided to head back to his room and get packed for departure.

He silently watched you follow after him and even trot behind him into his room as he opened the door, you sliding in with him as he shut it again. Grabbing the deflated and empty cloth bag Taehyung had told him to use, he pulled the twine rope top open.

The bag itself wasn’t impressive by any means. Sewn together with all sorts of mixed patterns of old scraps of cloth. The top was folded and a rope was pushed around the top to pull it close. It was a pathetic excuse of a knapsack, but it would work until Hoseok was forced to purchase a new one- something he hoped he wouldn’t have to do truth be told.

You sat in the corner of Hoseok’s room, the shadow of the morning sun that had risen to almost midsky casting into his room as you lingered in those shadows. You remained as silent as ever and motionless aside from your one visible tail swaying lightly as you watched him shove item after item into his bag.

As he packed away things he had been given by Taehyung to prepare for this journey, he halted as he slumped in his position and looked over towards you with narrowed eyes.

“Do you plan on gawking all day?” He bit, knowing full well you weren’t going to reply. He just scoffed at himself, as well as your silence, as he continued his task of packing.

Later that night, Hoseok was given one last solitary audience with Taehyung as the young head of the organization came to his room. Hoseok let him in as they sat on the tatami, Hoseok’s futon not yet unfolded, but taken out of its place in the closet.

“Here,” Taehyung started, reaching across the short distance between the two men to hand him something. Hoseok took the folded paper Taehyung gave him and inside was a limited number of talismen covered in symbols and a language he couldn’t read. Hoseok quirked an eyebrow, eyeing the spiritual pieces of submission in his hand, careful not to rip the delicate paper. “You may use those in dire circumstances in regards to Y/n,” Taehyung instructed.

“How do you mean? Isn’t that fox supposed to be harmless,” he bit. Hoseok’s tone didn’t go undetected to his friend.

“Although that is true, it wouldn’t be wise to trust that the talisman embedded in her back will stop her demonic nature in full if things get too dire. If she begins to disregard her duty to protect humans or reverts back to her true demon self even the slightest, you must pin a talisman onto her body. That should be enough to calm her and call her back to her senses.”

Hoseok folded the taliemen back up in the protective paper he received them in before he set it aside to his left and sighed. Slouching back, losing all form of formality as he looked up to the ceiling,. The single flickering candle in his room formed shadows along the walls and ceiling tiles as they danced over his head.

“This seems to be growing into more and more of a hassle. Just how many more precautions are you going to have me take when traveling with a demon?”

“Hoseok, there is one more thing,” Taehyung cut in before the topic could run off without him. “If those talisman ever become defective, then I need you to be responsible for stopping her. No matter the price or cost.”

Hoseok halted. “What-”

Taehyung quickly interrupted his friend without explaining himself further on what he could have possibly meant. He spoke just a short while longer with Hoseok before retreating back to his room for the night.

Hoseok was awake a while longer, fulfilling one more task he wished to do before his departure for himself. The second, unused sword that always hung with him at his hip was in need of one more piece of restraint- for future personal precaution.

-x-x-x-

Hoseok had already finished pulling his keikogi on as he slipped his arms through the sleeves of his haori before he slid open his bedroom window just in time for you to jump onto the railing outside of it. It was pretty sad he knew you were going to show up right as you normally did.

Dawn had just broken and the hunter already had his room picked up and his futon put away. HIs bag was sat in the corner beside his two blades as he adjusted the leather belt around his waist and straightened the haori on his shoulders. You sat outside his window, still looking like an everyday, wild fox the whole time waiting on him.

He slid his swords through his belt as he grabbed his bag by the thick rope, wrapping it around his palm twice and slung it over his shoulder. He padded in his tabi socks to his door before sliding it open. He looked over his shoulder, seeing you still unmoved outside his window.

He said not a word, but stepped out of his room and slid the door shut behind him as you jumped back down from his window to the ground below. The day had to begin and farewells had to be addressed; leaving was already hard enough considering the circumstances. Pushing it off anymore would just cause everyone more grief.

Taehyung was sitting in the outside corridor, his lounging kimono still on as it was loose around his waist, revealing his chest and shoulders. He reached out towards the cold stone garden as he watched the winter birds jump and flap around on the ground and to trees without leaves. His hair was free of any ties or ribbons as small strands whipped in the morning freeze.

Taehyung dropped his hand as he felt Hoseok standing behind him in silence. He turned his head, only slightly moving his shoulders to see the dressed and ready to depart hunter. He smiled.

“Do you intend on taking a steed with you?” Taehyung asked as he looked away from Hoseok and back out into the brightening outside.

“I don’t. Although riding horseback would be beneficial, in the long run it could cause more hindrance than progress.”

“I see.” Taehyung moved with a deep breath to stand. His kimono slid further down his shoulders as he adjusted them, his chest still peeking through the fabric. “I shall call for Y/n.” Taehyung looked down at the two swords attached all-to familiarly to Hoseok’s hips. The one that never got drawn was now bound by a charm that reached from the hilt to the beginning of the scabbard and wrapped securely in a red thread.

The new head of the organization narrowed his eyes at the length Hoseok was willing to go just to keep that sword sheathed. He decided to keep his mouth shut about it, however; knowing Hoseok could feel Taehyung’s eyes on the second piece of unused weaponry. He simply started off without a word spoken about it.

It was silent and tense that morning as Hoseok followed Taehyung’s back through the halls. The air was thick like it could coil around the throat and choke someone. Taehyung stopped briefly into a room before he walked back out and in his hand was a small cloth rolled and pinned. It was a small cloth with items inside of it as he began walking back down the hall with Hoseok once more following him as his last minute shadow.

He stopped in the middle of the enclosed hall in front of a circular window that was half the size of himself and with no glass to keep the outside and inside separate. He smiled out of it as if he was looking at something and before Hoseok could question him, there you were popping up from outside. You must have been running around outside for you to be sitting in the window like you were now.

Taehyung pet your head before he brought his hands up to wrap the cloth he held with items rolled up inside of it around your neck. You sat patiently still as the bulge of the make-shift pouch sat behind your head and was tied neatly under your fox chin.

“That is for you to keep. I’m not sure when you’ll decide to change back into your other form, but just in case it’s a long time, you won’t be empty handed.” Taehyung assured you as he caressed your ear. Hoseok watched and his mind briefly wandered back to the previous night. When Taehyung’s attitude changed for the slightest moment when it came to suppressing your true demonic nature and distaste for humans.

The look in his eyes almost looked like he was saying that if worse comes to worse, then Hoseok should-

“Hoseok,” Taehyung called, snapping the hunter out of his thoughts and back to the present. “It’s time you both are to be going. The day won’t wait for you. Come, I’ll lead you both to the front.” The hunter only dipped his head as he began to follow after Taehyung for one of the last times as far as he could tell.

The sensation Hoseok felt in his gut was like a knot that was being pulled so tight the rope would snap as he looked at the center of Taehyung’s back down the hall. The silence of the narrow hall and padding footsteps of the two humans and demon fox were like rolling thunder. Before he could even try to convince Taehyung to hold off on telling Hoseok and you to leave, he was already standing at the entrance to the estate.

Taehyung raised his arm, pointing out towards the city and beyond towards a valley Hoseok knew of that was perhaps a day and a half trip away.

“Through that passage is a hot-spot of bandit and thug attacks. The quickest way to get involved and inside of a syndicate that could possibly be related to Zath is to get captured. It’d be for the best if you act as if you’re taken by surprise. If they don’t show up with you just passing through, set up a camp and they’re sure to get you then.”

Before he knew it, Hoseok was leaving through that entrance and away from Taehyung who just offered them a wave. You were following at his side, your cloth around your neck as silent as ever. As he glanced down at you throughout the city and out into the wilderness, he narrowed his eyes.

Hoseok was officially stuck with you now.

-x-x-x-

Hoseok sat in front of a fire of sticks and surrounded by a ring of stones of all shapes and sizes and textures as it crackled and sent sparks and fire flicks into the dark, damp night air. Shadows of the dancing flames bounced off his cheeks and chin and nose as he sat with his legs crossed and his swords off his hip and to his side.

You sat across from him, your fox chin lifted up as you looked at the sky through the two sides of the deep valley you and Hoseok were deep into. Just as he had known, you were silent and shockingly obedient the entire time since you both had left Taehyung’s side. He expected more of a silent fight, but you were quick to do his quick tasks he says.

He often thought about the envelope of talismen that Taehyung had given him and when he’d have to even think about using them. By the way you were now, anyone would think you were just an obedient fox trailing after him for some reason or another. He had to constantly remind himself that you weren't what you looked like and were in fact a demon who had tried to hurt him before- granted one time was a test.

He watched you diligently.

Perhaps he was assuming things all wrong. He grit his teeth at the idea of being wrong about you and swallowing his pride about it. What if you really were the reliable demon fox Taehyung insisted you were? What if you really weren’t as awful as Hoseok had painted you to be? Was he being unrightfully judging by just throwing you into the same ring as other demons he’s encountered and killed before?

The continuous train of thought bouncing between you being good or evil made him angry because he shouldn’t be wavering on the border like this. He had always made it a point that demons are evil and nothing less, but when he saw and met you properly with Taehyung and Fuuta, his ideology was turned on its head. It wasn't fair.

More than hating demons, he hated being wrong.

It wasn’t often he was, so when it does happen it gets under his skin and makes him itch with an unsatisfying feeling until he finds a way to get over it.

“Hey, Fox,” he called over the top of the flames in front of him. Your chin dipped back down to only briefly look at him before you were pawing at your ear in an effort to show you were listening to him, but not willing to look at him. He almost tutted at your resiliance to be compliant- but could he really talk? “I know you didn’t want to take this job, especially with me,” he started. “So, why did you go along with it?”

Just as he susecpted, you were silent. You just sat and set your paw back down from your ear as you stared at the fire. He had a feeling your answer would reflect why he decided to accept this job as well. It was common ground for you both, your connection and respect for Taehyung. The one thing you could agree on was the new, young leader.

He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he moved to place his hand behind him and lean back so it would support him. He lifted his chin to look at the sky you were looking at previously. He could see the stars peeking through the grey nighttime clouds.

It was quiet with the two of you for a bit longer before he noticed you start to look around, getting more antsy and restless with your small, but notable, actions. Hoseok started getting tense by the way you wouldn’t settle down. He reached for one of his swords, the one he always used, as he started to uncurl his legs from under himself to extend and jump up to his feet if need be.

He glanced towards you as you got to your paws. Your small body was standing tall with your tail lifting up as the fur puffed out. Your whiskers bristled as your ears stood up and you hissed looking to and fro from your left, right and over head. Another hiss passed your snarled teeth before your erect ears flattened against the sides of your head and your hackles raised for an attack.

Seeing what looked like a pure fox of nature made you seem like only a minor threat, however Hoseok’s skin ran with a chill at the thought of you appearing this way in your normal, demon form. With two tails and blue flames dancing around your body; perhaps in the future it would be a good bargaining chip to those unworthy of doing business or conversation with. Something to ponder on.

It was the instant he heard a small clacking of a piece of rubble that erupted the otherwise silent camp he had set up just as Taehyung had told him to when things began to finally unfold.

From hidden ledges of the rock walls jumped men of all sizes and sounds. Dressed in range from full uniforms to nothing but the bottoms of tattered keikogis and a half coats. Some bandaged, some not, some taller, some shorter, some fuller, some stick thin. All were armed however.

Hoseok spun from his position on the ground as his back now faced his campfire that would eventually begin to diminish from being unattended. He held his ground, hand on the hilt of his weapon as you stood behind him on the other side of the fire. He could hear you snarl and hiss as he narrowed his eyes.

Taehyung was right on the money, they came to capture the both of you faster than Hoseok expected. He was almost caught off guard by their haste.

The murmur of cackles from the surrounding group of what seemed to be ten men felt like a knife scraping on stone to Hoseok’s ears. It wasn’t spine chilling, but absolutely irritating. He would typically avoid thugs if at all possible, not liking the way they work and think.

The hunter’s brow twitched when the fact that he had to pretend to be weaker than some lowly valley, lurking bandit to get caught became more apparent.

The group of criminals were quick to rush after Hoseok. It was almost trivial how sloppily these people just ran straight into confrontation without thinking of even the slightest form of tactic at all. They acted how they looked it seemed.

Hoseok’s body almost instinctively started fighting back, however he knew he had to hold himself back in order to get this mission underway. One of the attackers had curled their hand around Hoseok’s bicep, wrinkling the sleeves of his haori as they snagged their fingers into the fabric to drag Hoseok to the ground. The hunter bent his knee as he was shoved to his side in the dirt path before he was being forced on his chest.

He hissed as a knee was pressed into the center of his back- a most unpleasant feeling. Among the scraping of sandals and bags dragging and sliding along the dirt and rock, he could hear you hiss and cry out with high pitched yelps of offense and warning.

“Damn!” He heard someone cry out. “Shut that damn fox’s mouth!” Before long, he heard your loud noises of protest become muffled. They must have muzzled you. It was a small struggle later when he was being thrown into the back of a wagon that had come around the corner of the valley- clearly their get away.

Hoseok’s hands were tied behind his back- with a sloppily tied knot with his eyes blindfolded. He leaned against the side of the wagon and he could tell that the wooden cage beside him had you in it. In front of him, he could hear the faint breathing of two goons probably set to keep an eye on him and his fox companion just in case you try anything funny.

Hoseok was stripped of his swords- something he had to mentally restrain himself from snatching back from the thugs he was supposed to be ‘weaker’ than. His bag was probably already ransacked for grabs. He was sure that even your small cloth pouch around your neck was taken. He had to internalize a groan from how annoying this assignment already was.

Thankfully though, he could roll his eyes behind his blindfold.

-x-x-x-

He wasn’t sure when he nodded off, but he was hyper aware when he was being woken up by a yanking under his bicep as his body was being dragged out of the back of the wagon he drowsily remembered being thrown in. He was practically walking on his knees and rolling out of the back of his abduction transport before his feet hit the ground in an unsteady drop.

He heard ruckus behind him, sleep still covering his mind like a thin veil before he started adjusting. There were two men at either of his sides, both holding his arms to yank and push him in whatever direction they wished. He got annoyed with each motion they jerked from him, but knew if he reacted now he’d risk the rest of this stupid job.

Behind him he heard wood scraping the floor of the wagon and guessed it was your cage being pushed to the edge for someone to take. Before he could try and figure anything else out, he was being shoved forward and directed away- the sounds of the wagon being unloaded fading behind him.

After a trip down halls, many turns and down stairs, he was aware of the sound of other people around him. They didn’t sound like other thugs, but they whimpered and whispered like people who were wrongfully caught around and taken- like he was currently.

The squeaking of metal grinded his ears as someone went behind his back to work on the rope ties around his wrists. The moment they were loosened, he was kicked in the small of his back- throwing him forwards before he hit the dirt ground that crumbled with small bits of dirt and gravel under his palms that broke away from being bound behind him and now braced up by his chest. Metal squeaked again and slammed shut at his back.

He didn’t need to see to know that he was just shoved and shut inside of a cell. He pushed himself up to his knees and brought his free hands up to push the blindfold up his forehead and away from his eyes before flinging it off his head completely. His vision was bleary from the time he spent in darkness- the cloth ever so slightly applying pressure to his eyes.

He blinked and squinted and his eyesight hadn’t completely adjusted before he could see others in the same cell as him. All huddled back against the furthest wall and all clinging to each other like a lifeline.

He scanned the huddle of about 20 people; prisoners. Young, old, woman, men, children- some looking like they had been here for months, covered in dirt and tattered clothes. The women held tightly to a child who may not even be their own to protect them, while the men sat in the front to keep the others behind his back and away from any potential danger. The handful of elders were coddling any weeping women who may have been taken from her family offering hushed words of what could be unrealistic encouragement.

A man approached Hoseok, dusting off the hunter’s shoulder of dirt and placed his hand with a firm grip on him.

“They got you too, huh?” His voice was gruff and the stubble along his chin was a time indicator that he’d been here at least a handful of days by now.

“Are you all townsfolk?” Hoseok didn’t see a single expensive looking piece of cloth anywhere on these people. Most didn’t even have a half-coat like he did. In fact, his red haori may have been the most expensive thing in this cell. He’s half shocked it wasn’t taken off him with his swords and belongings since it was such high end material.

The man sat with a huff as he crossed his legs and his arms in front of him. His everyday, dully colored clothes stained and frayed with future holes. It looked like he was the head dog of prisoners.

“We are. Some of us were taken when out searching or herbs or hunting. Some were just taken straight off a path while traveling or returning to our homes. Nonetheless, we ended up here all the same.” The man looked around Hoseok then to the guards outside the cell who never spoke a word and would switch at dusk and dawn daily. “Were you captured alone?”

Hoseok bit back a click of his tongue. He wanted to say yes, try and ignore the fact that you were obviously taken somewhere else. They were under the impression you were just a fox- nothing special. He assumed they had you stored somewhere else to either try and break into submission or just kill you later. He was pretty positive you wouldn’t get yourself killed though.

“I was the only person captured, but I was traveling with a fox.”

The man raised his brow. “A fox? What in God’s name do you need a fox companion for?”

“It’s a long story,” Hoseok huffed. He just kept repeating Taehyung’s orders over and over in his head to be civil. Typically, he’d blow off any conversation or useless, prying questions that no one else really needed to know. However, he knew Taehyung would answer and give any information in this situation.

Hoseok looked around. It looked like it’d be tough to find a way out with constant guard surveillance and no weapon- so maybe these townsfolk could somehow prove useful in the long run. He wasn’t sure yet, no ideas running through his head.

If there was ever a time to depend on you, this was your test. If he couldn’t break through on his end, you’d have to prove how useful you could be to him. His brows furrowed as he sat in thought. He was pulled from his solitude by a tug on his haori sleeves. Beside him, sitting on her feet after scooching forwards on her knees was a little girl looking no older than eight.

“What?” He unintentionally bit, she didn’t seem to catch his tone- or maybe the tone she received previously from her captors were more harsh than his so she paid it no mind.

“What is your fox like?” She asked, a small gleam in her eyes. A gleam of curiosity and childlike interest.

“It isn’t mine,” Hoseok clarified. His statement didn’t seem to phase her as she just kept staring up at him with expectant eyes. Hoseok groaned. Clearly, waiting for her to leave him alone wasn’t an option stuck in a cell with her. “It’s annoying and disobedient.” That was partially a lie, he breifly thought.

“You don’t like your fox?” She queried.

“Like I said, it isn’t-”

“Is it a boy or a girl fox? What color is it?”

Hoseok paused. He looked around and only a few other prisoners were even showing that they were listening to his conversation- if you could call it that- with the little village girl. Others were engaged in their own chatter, or some were trying to sleep to pass the time, hoping for their nightmare to end and to be free again. He looked back down to the little girl.

He put himself in Taehyung’s mindset. Even in the circumstances that she’s in- captured and being held prisoner with no idea on when or if she’ll even be freed- she sat beside Hoseok with an air of childlike ignorance. Or maybe it was optimism that seemed to outline her eyes. Were all children like her? Just hoping for the best and letting their childlike tendencies help fuel them forward in situations like this?

Had Hoseok been like this before in the past? Back when he was still alive? His fists tightened at the memories and the thought of his second, unused sword before he was pulled from his thoughts by the little girl once more.

“Mister?”

“The fox is a girl,” he told her. “She has white fur,” he simplified, obviously keeping the fact that you’re also a demon to himself. He couldn’t let anyone know, especially the guards he knew were within ear shot. They’d probably kill you immediately if they knew- or imprisoner you with different means to keep you restrained to break you. Anything was possible when it came to thugs who didn’t seem to think before they acted.

The whole reason he was here was to try and get any information about Zath- but he couldn’t very well do that while stuck in a cell and without his Zath scent-smelling demon fox.

Taehyung would probably laugh at the situation he was currently in if he knew.

The little girl in front of Hoseok smiled at the idea of a white fox somewhere in the hideout.

“A white fox?! I bet she’s super pretty. I see foxes outside of the village all the time when I went with mother to find mushrooms. They always ran away from me though.” Her small pout made Hoseok curious.

“You like foxes? Even though they’re wild and could harm you?”

She quickly nodded. “They’re pretty!”

Hoseok almost bet that if he whispered that the fox in question could turn into a human woman, she'd jump for joy at the idea of what you would look like then. Hoseok’s memory of your human form seemed to slip away from him given that it had been several weeks since you had regressed to a fox. Tempting though the thought seemed, he didn’t speak a word of it.

Her quick fire questions continued for a bit that Hoseok lost track of time. He started speaking with other prisoners along the way too. A woman who had come to try and pull the girl away from bothering Hoseok before he dismissed it and said she was fine. An older man who began to ask Hoseok how he got captured- a story he had to spin to keep the real reason hidden. A younger man who use to work in the fields of his village, but was taken when his home was ransacked and burned to the ground.

It was an odd sensation.

It had been some time since Hoseok had spoken with anyone outside of Taehyung and his small circle of fellow demon killing comrades. Just talking casually as he was with other people made him feel like he was just that- a casual villager once again. It calmed him, opened his mind and helped him think.

Was this what Taehyung wanted to happen? Did the leader really plan out or theorize that Hoseok was so tightly spun around work and killing demons that he gave him an order to vocalize and communicate with other humans to derail his tightly spun thread? Hoseok grimaced at Taehyung’s far thinking- especially since it hadn't been that long in the first place.

Soon, evening came among the hideout and the guards were swapped out. Hoseok was leaning against the cell rods, his eyes shut as the other prisoners were almost all sleeping by now. Nothing else to do, having nowhere to go and being all talked out. He listened to the small pieces of chatter the guards exchanged to catch the day guards up on anything that might peak their interest.

“There’s a fox that’s unusually aggressive being kept caged somewhere above us, I heard,” one of them spoke. “It seems to understand what we're saying, or so the boss says. I think he’s gonna keep it caged up and see what happens.”

“Yeah,” another scoffed, “because what we really need is a damn, smart-ass fox running around.”

They didn’t say much else Hoseok cared about and as he heard the day-shift travel back up the stairs, he cracked his eyes open and stared down absentmindedly at the dirt, prison cell floor.

So, you’re being held upstairs, huh?

Hoseok spent one more boring, question fueled day down in that barren, cramped cell. He was slowly starting to piece together information from passing thugs and devise a plan to get him and the rest of the hostages out of the hideout. However, it seemed that this plan of his was going to be cut short.

The afternoon of the third day, there was an explosion from above the basement level prison. That and screams about a fire of blue and red engulfing the hideout.

“There’s a demon!”

An unknowing grin crossed Hoseok’s face as he rose to his feet.

-x-x-x-

You jolted awake when your wooden cage was practically dropped onto a metal crate. Waking up in a frenzy, your attempt to raise your four paws was immediately stopped due to your front right and back left legs being tied together beneath you diagonally. Clearly the thugs who had subdued you had taken future precaution when it came to your mobility.

Your nose was still covered in a thin cloth and tied shut with rope just strong enough for you not to be able to tear through with the raw power of your small fox jaw.

You looked in your cage of thick, wooden bars that was covered by what smelled to be an old, dried bear skin. Your free paws clawed at the bottom of your cage in an attempt to do something- anything. Whether it be to signal your consciousness, your annoyance, to try and spin your body to maybe even snag the bear hide covering your vision from the rest of the room. If you were lucky, maybe you could snag the rope tying your legs together beneath you, but it was just out of your reach.

Whatever your goal was, it wasn’t long before the door to whatever room you were being held it was opened- you could smell the shift in the air difference and hear the slight creaking of the door frame and floorboards. You growled beneath your makeshift muzzle as the bear skin over your prison was lifted and thrown off.

Your wide pupils narrowed into slits at the new exposure to light as your growling increased. These men- these thugs- that had taken you and Hoseok prisoner here smelt like dirt, grime and blood. You had smelt worse- but you had also smelt far, far better than them.

You took a moment to scan around the room. It looked like a storage room. Boxes and crates were lined along one wall. Barrels of what you assumed to be dried foods or stored fish were lined beside stacked crates. Along another wall were bags, clothes, clothes, and sandals thrown about in a messy mountain that climbed in height. Above them were shelves with jars and weapons. Some were lined with knives or daggers, some throwing stars and sai. Along another wall on jutted out wood pegs were swords, naginatas, bows, hanging quivers- some with arrows, some without- even half coats lined on a wall of hangers.

Now, you were here- just another added piece to their stolen collection.

The sound of someone else entering the room caught your attention and your eyes followed them as they threw the cloth you wore around your neck earlier on and what seemed to be the sack Hoseok had with him into the growing pile of trinkets. You saw his two weapons being placed on shelves as well- the one sealed sword certainly made a statement among the others.

That at least told you that he was somewhere in the compound and they didn’t completely split the two of you up and that he was currently disarmed. If you had to guess, he was somewhere caged and imprisoned just like you were. However, he was posing as a simple human- probably mistaken for a merchant without trade- so he was probably not a current threat to them at the moment so his location would be lightly guarded.

You however were seen as a wild animal- a fox who needed tamed.

“Why is this mongrel dawning a pendant around its neck?” The man who stood in front of your cage, front and center, asked as his head lowered to get a look at you. Your body laying stuck on it’s side as two of your legs kicked and pulled against each other to try and snap the rope restraining them. “I thought I made it clear to remove all items from the fox and it’s owner.”

That pulled another, loud growl from your throat. That hunter, your owner? You’d sooner climb up a mountain using only your fangs before admitting that man anything close to an owner. You weren’t owned by anyone.

Your small burst of attitude didn’t go unnoticed. The man in front of you gleamed. “Oh-ho? What is this? Say it isn’t so, but perhaps this fox can actually comprehend human language.” He reached for your wooden cage door and opened it with a few jolts- clearly not well made in the first place. “Remove that necklace from its neck, it has no need of it.”

The moment another man’s hands reached into your cage, you brought your one free front paw to your nose and tore away at the cloth at the end of your nose. Your jerked your head up and your fang sunk into the hand of the perpetrator. The base of your nose may have rope still around it, but you could open the end of your mouth just enough to get a clean bite in- in fact the rope helped keep your teeth in place around his skin.

The man let out a cry as he yanked his hand out of your cage, taking your fox body out with it like a fish on a line. Your fangs remained in the man’s hand as you dangled in the air, still tied and helpless- but on the offense nonetheless.

It took another man to untie the rope at the base near your eyes before you opened your mouth again and dropped to the floor. You immediately landed wrong and fell to your side, once more not being able to move- not even in a position to crawl.

You smelt the fresh blood from the hand of the man who tried to touch you and you saw the small crimson droplets hit the ground and seep into the wood, staining it. You lifted your head, hackles raised and growling. If anyone else tried to take your pendant from you, they’d receive the same punishment.

You let out a small yelp as you felt your tail being grabbed and soon you were being lifted up from behind. You trashed around, the discomfort and pain from being lifted into the air by your tail made you let out small whines and squeals of protest. The man from before, the apparent leader of the group, held you to his eye level but away from his face.

“What a temper,” he mused with a grin. You snapped at him, trying to swing forward to bit that ugly smirk off his face, but he just swung you back away from him- pulling another painful whine from you. “Have it your way, fox,” he sang as you were thrown back into your cage. You rolled along the small floor space of your prison before you bounced off the back, wooden rods designed to keep you in. “You may keep your pendant, but I will be back and I do hope you’ll be more obedient.”

You kept distinct and furious eye contact with the man who thought he had seen it all and had it all figured out. You hated men like him- human’s like him. Human’s who thought that once they had seen or figured one small thing out, they could outplay it no matter the outcome or future rebellion. How wrong he was and you were determined to prove it to him.

The moment you’re free of these ropes, you’ll teach him just how wrong he is.

That following day you weren’t permitting any food or water and by the evening, you were exhausted. Not allowing yourself any rest you kept clawing and scratching away at anything your free paws could catch. The bottom of your cage was engraved with claw marks and littered with splinters and wooden flakes.

You weren’t nearly as tired as a human would be without sustenance or rest, but any longer like this and it would become a problem.

You knew this was just the leader’s way of trying to break you. He surely thought that if you were starved, dehydrated and imprisoned for long enough, when he’d give those things back to you- food, water and freedom- he’d win your loyalty. You began to think that perhaps you allow him to think that for a time. When he releases you, you play the perfect pet before you sink your teeth into his throat.

That’s when your eyes would always travel to Hoseok’s weapons along the wall. He was still somewhere down here and while you didn’t exactly approve of working with him, you had agreed to it and were stuck with him now. It was for Taehyung- it was all for Taehyung’s sake and his safety so he wouldn’t end up like Fuuta did.

You couldn’t waste time here. In all the time you’d spent in this cage, in this room with all these stolen belongings from every corner of this region the scent that you had memories wasn’t there. Zath’s scent wasn’t here. It wasn’t on any of the men who came and went either.

There was always a chance that if they had worked with the demon it was a one time deal. Or perhaps that Zath had already moved locations- but then he should have some sort of lingering scent. You weren’t sure of anything at this point. There was a sort of hazy feeling in the air of the hideout, but that was it. You couldn’t get any solid deductions, just a bad feeling- especially being stuck and tied like a hog.

You needed out. You needed to be able to walk around and investigate. You needed to try and find a trace of a scent in other rooms in other places and with other people. You just needed to get out.

The door to the storage room opened as that same sickeningly familiar man waltzed in and stopped at your cage. Pulling a chair- just as he had before- he sat beside it and began to go on with some sort of briefing as if you weren’t even there.

Lucky for you he didn’t seem to read too much into the fact that you could understand everything he was saying. His intelligence didn’t run too far it seemed.

It was the third day and there he sat just as before, in a chair and talking with a duo of men. Your eyes were shut, feigning slumber to see if they were willing to talk further on things if you played ignorant.

“We’re running short on room in the cell below the hideout,” one man spoke. “The man we captured with the fox is probably the last hostage we could take for now. Unless we free up room or create another cell- holding hostages like them won’t be easy.”

“We don’t have the foundation for another holding cell,” the main man replied. “If it becomes too much of an issue, just kill them. Emptying the lot of them out would make for easy room for higher paying cargo, yes?”

Your eyes shot open and the man had been staring at you. It was like he expected that reaction from you as you started to fumble to your tied feet, still unable to properly gain any sort of balance.

“My, oh my, were you listening, Miss Fox?” His was toying with you. “Soon, your owner will die and you’ll be free for grabs. You won’t be without guidance long, worry not; I plan on making you my little errand pet.”

Kill? He was going to kill them? All the innocent people he had captured below and he was planning to just slaughter them all? Hoseok. He was going to kill Hoseok? Your mind flashed to Taehyung and how angry and heartbroken he’d be if that happened. Then, your mind filled with your parents.

They were killed. Mercilessly and without protection. You couldn’t keep them safe, you couldn’t protect the two people who treated you like you mattered the most to them. The two who took you from being just as ruthless as this man in front of you and changed you.

Kill?

You hissed. One error they failed to correct was re-binding your nose and mouth with cloth and rope. Not muzzling you again was a mistake.

You started thrashing like a fox on fire in your cage. Your head hit against the bottom of your cage and dragged your neck and head along the rods. You whined and hissed and barked like a rabid canine. You were only vaguely aware of a hand coming to clutch at your scruff and yank you out of your cage.

You thrashed and kicked and bit at the hand and wrist that held you and before you knew it, your necklace had worked up your neck and to the top of your head. You curled your fox body up and extended your one back leg to kick yourself free from the grasp of the man who held you. You fell to the ground with a thump as your necklace removed itself from your head and hit the ground besides you.

It happened in an instant.

Flames of blue erupted in the storage room, engulfing you like a bomb. Your previous cage was destroyed and the three men in the room with you were breathless, wordless and choking on the smoke and fire that began to fill the room.

Among the flames, a pair of golden eyes peered through them- pinning the spineless thugs in their place. No one could move, none of them dared to move.

“Kill them, huh?” You hissed. Your flames diminished and there you were. Your human form was bare naked. Flamed covered your breasts and around your lower body. Your red tattoos among your cheeks were nearly glowing and your eyes were shining with a rage so hot it fueled your fire. Your claws were sharp and your temper sharper. “If your plan is to kill the people you’ve captured, then I’ve got all the permission I need to kill you first.” Then, you lunged.

-x-x-x-

The prisoners behind Hoseok began to murmur and gasp in panic as the guards in front of the cell dropped their guard. Hoseok shot forwards, his arms stretching out past the iron bars and wrapped around one of their necks, pulling them back against the cell bars. One arm under his jaw while the other gripping his chin and twisted his head with enough force to create a sickening snap as he crumpled to the ground.

Hoseok ignored the gasps behind him as he knelt down to rummage around the corpse the best he could before he gripped the iron ring filled with keys. Fumbling with them, the clanging of the metal grating on his ears; after so long without water his head pounded.

He threw open the door the moment he heard the correct key slot into the lock and twist- freeing him and the others. He quickly stepped out and moved towards the second guard who had finally become aware of the murder of his partner and the freedom of the two dozen prisoners. “Hey!” He screamed, readying himself for what he expected to be a small skirmish.

Hoseok dashed forward, ducking under the metal tipped rod the guard wielded. Diving to the ground and rolling behind him to stop on his heels and spring up to his feet at the enemies back. His hands grabbing his shoulders and his knee raised as he yanked him backwards. The snaps and screams of the guards voice was in tune to the sound of his spine snapping. Hoseok let the guard fall pathetically to the ground as he picked up the rod. He spun it around, tossed it from palm to palm vertically and nodded.

It would last until he could get his hands back on his own weapons.

There was a tremor above his head. Small pieces of debris shook and fell from the ceiling due to whatever was causing so much ruckus above on the higher floors. He looked up as he could hear the faint screams and cries of battle. He almost smiled.

This was what he remembered. This was the life he was used to. Fighting; ruthless and rule-less battle and survival. He hadn’t been in this situation in a long time- eons it felt like with all the other occurrences that had been happening around him recently. Oddly enough, the bloodshed and violence felt like a form of stress relief. It gave him a reason to take out some pent up aggression- therapeutically of course.

For a moment, he came back to himself. He lowered his chin and looked back into the cell. No one had moved, everyone was still huddled tightly in the cell corners and back wall. Perhaps that was the course of action best for now.

It was odd the way those people looked at him differently now. They had just witnessed him kill a man and injure another that still writhed on the floor like a carriage-crushed raccoon. It wasn’t shocking to see them look at him with fearful eyes, but something about it made his stomach turn nonetheless. These men were keeping them hostage- why wouldn’t he try and end their lives? It was basic self defense.

“I suggest you all stay in the cell,” he announced. “I’m not sure what’s going on up there, but I can guarantee it’s a hell of a lot safer down here than up on the other floors.” Hoseok turned to start his journey up, when a man from the cell had called out to him.

“Are you mad?!” Hoseok halted. “There’s a demon up there!” Hoseok’s back never turned around to look at the man who had attempted to keep him down below. “I understand that you may be some fighter, but a demon running rampant isn’t something you can-”

“I’m much more capable than you assume, Sir,” Hoseok interjected quickly. “I am an able man who has killed more demon’s than I can count. Besides,” he turned before he took one step up, showing he wasn’t backing down. “That’s my fox up there.” Hoseok bounded up the wooden stairs two at a time, ignoring the cries behind him to stay below ground.

At the top of the stairs he was met with a trapdoor keeping him, and the others, down below; a cellar-type door. He quickly jabbed the door’s handle with the metal end of the stolen rod he had and then threw his shoulder up and against it, the trapdoor flinging up and around to bounce off the wooden floor. He climbed out of the basement as cautiously as he could in an active battlefield.

He immediately coughed, lifting the back of his hand and haori sleeve to cover his mouth as he felt like gagging at the taste of smoke on his tongue. It was unbelievably warm up here compared to the damp basement, but that was to be expected.

There was no fire around in his sights, but he could hear the sound of flames sparking and roaring in a lively fury elsewhere. The foundation shook with another tremor of unhuman battle as he finally got his butt in gear. He ran around the floor of the hideout. It was scarce of bandits, probably in an attempt to escape the fire or to hunt you down.

He found another set of just barely put together stairs as he quickly ran up them. Coming up to the next floor up, the floor had spots of flames and debris. Raising his head, it seemed that there was still another level about him and if he had to guess, you were up there raising hell if the screams were anything to go by.

“How did you get out of your cage!” Hoseok’s chin dropped back down as he was met with a bloodied and banged up bandit. He assumed from his familiar tone he was part of the main group who had captured him in the first place. The man readjusted the grip he held on the sword that hung at his side and raised it to point at Hoseok from afar. “Get back below ground level!” He ordered, making the hunter’s brow dip in annoyance.

Hoseok didn’t say a word in response to the thug, he simply raised his temporary weapon and stood in stance. Hoseok could tell just by looking at him that between the fire outbreak and a demon on the loose inside the hideout he was on hyperdrive- something that Hoseok was going to take advantage of.

Just a little bit more noise and distraction could send him into a hurl of overload and leave him open to anything. The man’s stance wasn’t even proper- he staggered on his feet and his arms were trembling.

Hoseok looked around the area he and the man occupied just a handful of feet apart before his sight was brought back to the front from the movement of the man charging forwards with blown-open eyes and a loud, distressed cry.

Hoseok similarly moved. Running to appear to charge into him head on, but at the last moment stepped and pushed himself to the right of the man’s raised arms to swing his sword down- slicing nothing but air. The man let out a breathless gasp as Hoseok spun around on his heel getting behind him and swung the metal ended rod into the back of the man’s head.

He crumbled to the ground with ease and Hoseok couldn’t honestly tell if he was dead or not. He lay on his front, his sword discarded at his side as he lay motionless. The hunter wasn’t about to stop and check to see if he was alive either- what use was it to him if he wasn’t after all?

He did, however, toss away the rod he had been swinging around in exchange for the sword of the man he had just taken down. Picking it up, he twisted and adjusted to the feel of the hilt as he clicked his tongue. Nothing was going to feel right until he had his own weapon’s back in his hands. He just hoped his second blade hadn’t been wrongfully unsheathed.

With a much more comfortable weapon in hand- although still unpleasant to hold- he took off once more. He had just started up the set of stairs leading to the top level of the hideout when another tremor shook the foundation.

“Damn!” He immediately turned tail and started back down the staircase as the top of it began to crumble- the entire case coming down with it.

Steps fell in heavy, burning blocks of wood as they hit the ground. Splinters flew and a blast of heat came down with the wooden debris. Some pieces broke into two or three pieces. Some remained whole but acted as live inferno food to spread your flames and others disintegrated into nothing but splints as they stuck into the floor like an arrow hitting a target.

Hoseok’s footing down the stairs faltered as he tumbled, rolling over his shoulder and onto his back as he quickly bounced back to his feet and rubbed at his smoke dusted eyes. They stung and he got more and more irritated.

He looked up into the hole in the ceiling that would have lead him up as he squint. He thought he saw something moving up above and behind the smoke and flames of blue and red. A set of movement before something came hurling down the hole and onto the ground near Hoseok’s feet.

He jumped away and unlike the pieces of wood and stone that had fallen, this was a body. Charred and burnt to a crisp with puncture wounds leaking blood from his neck. Presumably he was thrown after being attacked- but of course that was a hunch. A very likely hunch- but a hunch nonetheless. The smell made Hoseok’s inside quiver.

He’ll never get over the smell of burning flesh no matter how long he’s been in the field. He can say for certain though that burning humans smells a hell of a lot worse than demons.

“Hey!” He called up towards the carnage above him. He doubted that anyone would be able to hear him at all over the sound of the fire, as he just turned away from it and started to scan the area. There had to be another way up. Another path or maybe something to climb that wasn’t on fire.

Amidst his scanning he failed to hear the bandit sneaking around behind him. Ducking down behind a crate that had yet to catch fire. They pulled an arrow out of the quiver just barely hanging on their shoulder. Knocking it and drawing their bow, they aimed at the center of the hunter’s back.

“Behind you!” Someone called out. Hoseok jumped, instinctively turning around. The archer panicked, unable to get a clear shot, they immediately released. Arm following through behind their shoulder as the arrow flew. Hoseok was able to move to get out of getting directly shot, but not fast enough to dodge the arrow completely. The sharp tip grazed and cut the skin of his bicep. Tearing through the fabric of his haori and his keikogi and tearing his arm open.

Hoseok yelped before he hissed, his hand coming up to grasp around his arm. He felt his blood leak between his fingers as it smeared on his skin. He whipped his head back up to see the archer trying to knock another arrow instead of fleeing as he should have done when the fletchings left his fingertips.

The hunter swapped the hold on his sword’s hilt. Flipping it so the blade was facing backward and traveling up the back of his arm instead of facing outward before he swung his arm in front of him, letting the sword go and flinging it far ahead of him. The blade sunk into the crate the archer hid behind- effectively startling him to lose hold of his next arrow and stumble back to his ass.

Hoseok was quickly over to him, slamming his foot into their chest as he knocked them fully onto the ground. The fire was growing nearer and he was tempted to just throw the bandit into the flames and be done with it.

“Please,” the bandit beneath him begged. “I don’t want to die!” His whines fell upon deaf ears as Hoseok ripped the sword out of the wood crate and held it in his palm so the tip of the blade was positioned in front of their eyes. “Please,” they pleaded once more before Hoseok thrust the blade into their head.

Bringing it back out after the body slackened beneath him, he swung the blade away from him- blood flying off around him as he stepped around the corpse and out into the open again. Looking around he saw the body of the man who had called out to him.

He the leader prisoner being held down below who had apparently disobeyed his suggestion of staying below until it all calmed down. Hoseok rolled his eyes as the man ran up to him.

The man looked at the wound that still leaked down Hoseok’s arm.

“How’s that arm?” He asked loudly over the sound of the fire. Hoseok lifted the offended arm and looked at the cut. It stung like a son of a bitch, but it wasn’t anything to worry about. He’d clean it properly once all was said and done. It wouldn’t be a hindrance- that was the most important thing.

“It’s nothing serious. Forget about it,” he told him. “Why did you not listen to what I said?” Hoseok inquired, a small bite in his tone for not being obeyed. The man just smirked and crossed his arms. He looked to be quite a bit older than Hoseok and the idea of the hunter calling the shots was a refreshing idea, but not something he wanted to stick to his older bones.

He explained that he and Hoseok were still just strangers and that he didn’t need to be instructed to do anything- even if it was for the greater good of someone's safety in the end. Hoseok tutted at him, turning and resuming his search for a way up.

He cautiously walked around being weary of any worn floorboard he could fall through or any ceiling above him that could fall. Support beams were beacons of flames and discolorations thanks to the fire and damage and were just barely holding themselves together.

The man followed behind Hoseok, a rod in his hand- probably taken from the corpse of the thug Hoseok killed downstairs. Hoseok eyed him behind his back- unsure on if he should trust him to be behind him or not. He didn’t even know if he could really fight. Sure he looked like any other village man- toned from field work and fit enough for his apparent age, but Hoseok knew not to assume anything. The last thing he needed was a false image of a man who can’t actually hold his own.

Hoseok just had to hope he knew what he was getting into when he came up from the cell.

The duo stopped as a ruckus came from right above them. Screams and shouts for help and for mercy before Hoseok felt another tremor. The man jumped back- he clearly wasn’t really understanding that the whole reason everything was on fire wasn’t because of bandits but because of a demon. He held his rod tighter in his palms and pulled it close to his chest as he went rigid.

All was silent for just a moment before the ceiling above them broke open. Hoseok was quick to react. He grabbed the man by the back of his torn and tattered clothing and threw him onto his back as he himself jumped out of the way of the falling debris and bodies.

A fireball of blue fire came tumbling down with the carnage and Hoseok covered his face with his sleeve to avoid anything flying into his eyes. When the rush of air settled, he dropped his arm and he wasn’t all too shocked to see you standing in the middle of the flames.

He was, however, shocked to see you in your human form and completely bare breasted. Fire licked around your body, swirling around the calves of your legs and spinning around your waist. It engulfed your shoulders and breasts, cheaply covering you in small portions. Your demonic features were on full display as the red marks ran along your cheeks and your eyes lit up in their demonic gold. The necklace that was supposed to conceal all that wasn’t on your chest.

You were covered in spots and smears of blood that he was sure wasn’t your own.

He was also able to see for the first time the talisman on your back that the others had mentioned before. It looked like it had been burned straight into your body. Symbols and characters scarred your back in twisted skin. It was between your shoulder blades and he narrowed his eyes at it.

So, that was what Fuuta and Shiro had done to force you into submission. They really did just engrave a sealing mark on you.

The man who was on the ground behind Hoseok whimpered as the hunter glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He was trembling as the rod was laying across his lap no longer in his grip as he stared wide-eyed at you. Hoseok held back an eye roll.

“You knew full well a demon was here,” Hoseok quipped as the man looked up to the armed hunter. “Yet, you still left the cell and came up here to do what? Tremble on the ground?” Hoseok scoffed as he started forward. “Fox,” he called as he watched you silently turn to look over your shoulder.

Two bodies were on the floor next to your feet. They were dark and burnt as they got consumed further by the blue fire mixing red with their clothes and flesh. You were obviously in control of your actions or else you would have lounged at him the moment you saw him- like you have before- but you were still standing and listening to him.

Hoseok was hesitant- not for fear, but for his pride. He knew that he would be forced to take the rest of this trip with you; this assignment was both of yours until it was complete. His hand twitched in instinct to raise his sword against you and fight, but he knew better.

You turned fully around to face him and your pupils spread just enough he could tell you recognized him. Thankfully, he didn’t have to rush around and look for his taken bag for the safety talismans Taehyung had given to him in cases of need.

“If you can put this fire out, do it,” Hoseok ordered. He watched your brow tick before your chest deflated like you were holding your breath. Closing your eyes, you ultimately did as you were told. As your breath left you, the fire around, below and above the hideout started to simmer. The flames shrunk and the cracking sounds of it started to fade.

Eventually only small spots of contained fire and sparks were buzzing around. Hoseok nodded looking around at the ruined compound. He could hear a lot better without the raging flames now. It helped that apparently you could control fire even when it spreads so long as you started it. It could possibly become handy in the future.

Hoseok hadn’t realized just how long it had been since you were in this form in front of him. It almost knocked him off his concentration- the eye contact between you two.

“A-a demon,” the man who still sat on the floor whispered. Your head moved as your chin dipped to look down on him. You weren’t exactly trying to cover yourself up as it didn’t seem to bother you that you were openly standing in the nude. Hoseok sighed as he started to shrug off his haori. He caught the faintest glimpse of red on the man’s cheeks due to your exposed figure.

Hoseok threw the haori at you as you caught it in front of your chest. Hoseok’s form looked bare without it on and just his keikogi covering his body.

“Put that on,” Hoseok told you. “I don’t need someone without clothing picking any fights around me. We can find something else for you to wear later.”

You nodded as you opened the fabric and started slipping it on. You bunched and twisted the front of the half coat at your lower stomach and started tying it to keep it closed in front of you. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing. When you were finished adjusting it you turned to Hoseok.

“Thank you,” you told him as his eyes widened a fraction. Not only did you talk to him for the first time in weeks, but you thanked him on top of that. Had Taehyung brainwashed you without him knowing? “Your weapons are in a storage room up on the higher level. I saw them when I was caged before.”

Hoseok clicked his tongue. If that were the case there’s a chance that they could be burned or damaged.

“They aren’t damaged,” you told him as if his face had told you his entire internal dilemma. “I kept your position as my partner in mind when I was allowed permission to defend my life as well as the other hostages. My flames did not touch your sword or the sealed one.”

Hoseok narrowed his eyes, but not out of resentment. No, he was in thought. Your attitude sure seems to have taken a drastic change to come from tackling and pinning him to the ground in Fuuta’s compound, to not speaking to him (or anyone else) at all, just to arrive at this point. Speaking to him with full eye contact and without too much attitude.

It baffled him and he felt like you were trying to be the bigger person, which almost got under his skin. He took a breath.

“Is there a way to get up there? The stairs to the top floor got destroyed and I haven’t found another path up.”

“I will get you up there,” you told him.

“Excuse me?” His shot back without much of a filter. You stride towards him as you grabbed his uninjured arm. He tensed his body, his grip on the hilt of his temporary sword tightening. The man who still shivered at the sight of you and had remained silent on the ground the entire time whimpered as he scooted back away from your close proximity to him.

Hoseok wondered why he was acting so frightful when you had clearly shown you were no threat. He mentally halted himself when the thought passed him.

When did Hoseok deem you harmless?

His was ripped from his thoughts when you bent your knees and jumped. Hoseok’s body was yanked from the floor as you jumped with- literally- inhuman hieght and strength. He was dragged through the air as your jump arched the two of you through the air and you were soon landing with Hoseok on the upper floor. His mind took a moment to catch up.

He then looked at you with a scowl.

“What the hell was that?!” He screeched. “If you’re going to hurl me into oblivion with you, at least tell me!” He warned. You looked at him as if you had just walked him down a hallway and not jumped several feet into the air. He sighed as he pulled his arm from your grip and stood up.

You stood as well and started walking the path to the storage room you were held in. He trailed after you, the sword of his fallen enemy still tight in his palm just in case any surviving bandit tried to pull anything funny.

You both walked with ease, but that should not be considered lax. Your guards were still raised and you both were ready for anything that may pop around the corner.

You showed Hoseok the burned and disheveled entrance into the room and just as you said, the weapon wall and around where they had kept bags and cloth were kept unharmed and preserved. Hoseok let out a small breath when he saw both of his swords hanging safely on racks.

He quickly abandoned the sword he had been using and quickly moved to take them down and replace them on his hip. Finally, he felt whole again. It just wasn’t the same moving and fighting without them at his side. Looking around he went to the other pile of belongs and sifted through them until he found his knapsack. His eyes then caught a glimpse of the makeshift cloth folded into a pouch Taehyung had given your fox form.

He picked it up and turned before tossing it to you. You easily caught it as you looked at the bundled cloth in your hand filled with small items. Perhaps he was imagining it, but Hoseok saw your lips twitch up in the smallest of smiles.

Your expression quickly changed when your head shot up and you spun around. Hoseok did as well, hearing just as well as you did. Somewhere on this floor there were still violence seeking thugs. You could hear their stomping feet and the sound of their gruff voices calling out for survivors to ‘show themselves’ with small- delusional chuckling.

“The vermin just keep popping up,” Hoseok seethed. You both rushed out of the room and were quick to be seen by the bandits. They were clearly shaken up with their hideout being destroyed and their men taken down one by one. They were just asking for early graves.

You let out a small whistle to gain their attention and then they were immediately on track. Running towards the two of you, swords out and ready. Hoseok drew his as you bent your knees. You both broke away from each other’s side and split the two men apart for your own separate battles.

Hoseok felt much more at ease fighting with his own weapons. From the corner of his eyes he watched you in your own scrap. You seemed to almost be playing with the attacker. Jumping and leaned around any swing the man would attempt to deliver. At one point you had jumped just high enough his blade swung under your feet.

Hoseok was trained to kill demons, so facing off against others humans was of little difficulty. You had slammed your heel into your attacker's gut, knocking him into a fit of coughs before you took his wrist and threw him away from you. Hoseok had disarmed his own offender as he knocked the end of his sword’s hilt into the man’s throat and shoved him back down the hole you jumped him through to this floor.

Hoseok sighed, annoyed as he sheathed his sword. He looked behind him to the storage room again.

“We should get the hostages from the basement and return their belongings to them before we go,” he said. He then turned back to you. “You didn’t happen to smell that demon around here did you?”

You shook your head. “If Zath had been here, it must’ve been a long time ago because his scent isn’t anywhere around now.” your eyes fell as you sighed. Hoseok just shrugged.

“Then we’ll move on,” he said, turning around to go back to the storage room. “I'm going to clear out this room. Go get the hostages out of the cell.”

You almost told him no and to think about who he was sending down there. You were a demon, still just cloaked in his haori and demon qualities on display. You don’t even know where your pendent flew off to when you broke free. You just yielded in the end as you turned and jumped back down the hole and made your way all the way down to the basement.

The hostages gasped at the sight of you descending the stairs. They all glared at you- a demon- and you weren’t too shocked about it. You had been the enemy of many for a long time; far longer than you were an ally of humanity. You paid their fear no mind.

“The hideout was cleared of threats. You can come out now.”

“You’re a threat!” A woman cried as you just stared her down.

“That isn’t an incorrect assumption,” you replied, “however, to you I am no harm. Leave and my companion will return your stolen belongings.” You finished what you were tasked to do and were ready to go back above and away from their eyes when something grabbed your hand that peeked of the red sleeve of the haori you wore. Looking down, it was a little girl.

She looked up at you in awe as her eyes traced your red lined cheeks and gazed into your different eyes. You stare down at you.

“Child-”

“You’re that man’s fox, right?” She asked as you recoiled. That man? Did she mean Hoseok? Had he mentioned you while he was down here? Why would he do that, you were just some demon he was stuck with. It was clear as day that he had no reason to completely trust you- let along befriend or speak about you to others. “He said that his fox was the one getting rid of the back guys above us. You’re the fox, right?”

You just nodded to her at a loss for words. Her face split into a smile as she tightened her grip on your hand and rose to her toes in glee.

“Thank you, Miss Fox!” She cheered before she was ripped away from you by an older woman who quickly rushed up the stairs. You just watched the little girl’s back before you looked at the palm of your hand.

It was warm.

You could hear the stomping and rushed steps of the freed people as you stayed below. You kept yourself away from them as you sat on the stairs staring at nothing as your mind was hazy. It had been so long since you had been in this form- you almost felt tired.

Before long, it was quiet upstairs before you hear someone come down the steps behind you. They stood there and it wasn’t hard to figure out it was Hoseok. He would be the only one left, plus you knew his scent fairly well by now.

You heard him move behind you as he knelt on the staircase before you felt his hands coming around your neck. You jolted before you felt something being looped over your head and you spun around. Was he going to perhaps choke you to death? When you turned, he was above you just a step and his eyes weren’t far from your own. It was the first time you both properly made any sort of eye contact without any dire circumstances behind it.

There was no glaring, no hissing or shouting. No active battle or carnage. Just eye contact and the feeling of something now resting on your chest when he pulled his hands away from you.

“Lose that again and you’ll be the one apologizing to Taehyung about it,” Hoseok told you before you lifted one of your hands to touch the pendent you had previously lost. You felt something about your body change and you were certain you looked like a normal woman now.

“Did you-” you started, but Hoseok quickly cut you off. He stood before he turned around.

“This place is a dud when it comes to leads on finding Zath.” You wordlessly nodded as you go to move. “We need to get you something to wear, you can’t keep wearing my haori.”

You followed Hoseok through the hideout and soon out of it. Hoseok seemed to know where he was going when he started walking through a small wooded area that lead out into a path of trees. Following it, you both came to a gate of a private and closed out estate. It looked large as the tall, thick walls around the perimeter kept it away from the outside world.

The front gates opened revealing an older woman who seemed pleased to see Hoseok and yourself before she was inviting you both inside. Hoseok walked in without hesitation, but you just followed behind confused. Did he know this woman?

When you both entered the estate, Hoseok was quick to turn to the old lady.

“You can get her something to wear, can’t you?” He asked, his voice still as monotone as you normally heard it, but it seemed softer towards her. She was older, so perhaps it was his way showing some sort of respect due to age. “She’s a demon though, so she’ll need something that won’t tear and I’m sure you’ve heard from Taehyung that we’re going to be traveling, so something easy on weight and movement would be ideal.”

So, this woman is an ally of Taehyung then? Did she know about the organization you were a part of. She also didn’t seem to mind the open knowledge about your demonic nature.

With a bit more chit chat, Hoseok was walking away and leaving your side with the woman gesturing for you to follow after her. She took you to a room before she asked you to remove the haori of Hoseok’s you still wore.

Untying it and removing it, you gave it to another younger woman not too much older looking than your physical appearance as they started to work. Rope and measuring tactics were put around your body for proper measurements and soon you were being covered and put into all sorts of clothes to see what looked right.

It was hours later and Hoseok was boringly lounging in the sitting room with his swords propped up against his shoulder. He had alredy cleaned and bandaged his arrow wound on his arm and had his keikogi stichched back up- it was a simply fix. He was only brought out of it when the same old woman had told him that you were now well dressed and that he should change and relax for the night aswell before heading out again tomorrow.

He was quickto accept the offer. Sleeping in a futon sounded a hell of a lot better than the prison floor he had been in the last two nights. He was heading off to the room he would be using for the night when he rounded the corner to see you staring out of a window into the darkening sky.

The estate women had placed you in a dark yukata. The robe of the cloth only fell to just above your knees, leaving your legs free for battle and travel. It was black with red butterflies and flowers littering it like a garden in the middle of the night. The sash around your waste was black with red stitching as the sleeves fell to your fingertips and fanned out to hang beautifully to the length of the robe by your knees. They had even pulled your hair back and given you twine sandals to wear.

You finally noticed his presence as you turned to him. His haori was folded in your arms as you started towards him. You reached your arms out to him.

“This is yours,” you said. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow it.” He hesitantly took it back as he just held it like you previously had. He didn’t throw it on considering he was about to change, but you just dipped your brows. “You can have them wash it to get my scent off of it if that’s a problem.”

Hoseok just shook his head and readjusted his stance. He wasn’t aware of how tense he was standing until he forced his shoulder to drop and his stance became more relaxed.

“It’s fine.” You just wordlessly nodded as you started moving to go past him and were only a few steps away when he called for you again. “Y/n.” You halted, spinning around immediately and looking at his back. “Get some rest. We’re leaving in the morning.”

“Right,” you softly told him as he started walking away. You were left in the hall with a state of shock clouding your mind. “He’s never said my name before,” you whispered. You weren’t even aware you were smiling as you returned to your temporary room.

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paradise-creator · 3 years

Text

@ezmariest

hiiii!! I was wondering if I could request a haven box matchup? I’m rlly sorry about submitting it there was too much of a word limit in the ask thing :(

First I’m a bi curious female and I would love a romantic matchup with a male :)

Uh ok I’m really fun and like making weird or random jokes a lot, like a lot humor is kinda my coping mechanism haha😗✌️ I’m very respectful and understanding of other people and I’m really supportive. I’m enthusiastic and talkative with those I’m close with but with other people I’m vv quiet. Im also rlly laid back. A lot of people say I’m really kind or “too nice” and I love helping people or making them laugh. I have a bad tendency to hide my feeling and emotions and usually I block my problems with humor. Many have said I’m very ambitious and I have a lot of goals. I also am pretty insecure and I get down on myself way too much because of a lot of reasons but mostly bc of my high expectations and that I’m a perfectionist. I love sweets

I like goofy or weird people because then I can be myself and I like doing spontaneous and fun things. However I am an introvert so even though I love enthusiastic people, I get drained out when I hang out with too many people for too long. I also don’t like judgmental people, especially if they judge things that others can’t control or others dreams.

Hobbies: I really love sports and I’m pretty athletic. I play volleyball and think it’s fun but my main sport is definetly basketball. I really love drawing and I also love writing. And music is kind of the love of my life and you will always see me daydreaming with my earbuds in just listening to music.

Appearance: I have very long hair that’s really light brown, greenish gray eyes, and rounder features. I’m around 5’8 1/2 and I have an hourglass body but with MUCH more on my thighs and butt😃🤚I and athletic body type and I would say I look ✨sturdy✨and I’m pretty thin everywhere but my thighs and butt like I’ve said before. I value comfort in clothes at the moment so sweatpants and hoodies or just oversized stuff are kinda my go to. However I do want to have a better style which would kinda be a mix of “art hoe” and “alt girl” ahsjhja

Some fun facts about me:

*I love sweets, especially chocolate, and I love nighttime.

*I’m constantly daydreaming and doodling and I get called out on it by my friends.

*I want to be an animator for Disney Pixar when I’m older and My goal is to go to cal arts for college.

*A couple of my favorite songs are eight wonder (lemon demon), rue (girl in red), any mother mother song (but especially “oh Ana”) , and rhinestone eyes (gorillaz)

Ahh sorry I didn’t realize how long this was, thank you so much!! <33

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Hello and Welcome my Starlight!

The Haven box includes:

- Match up

- Sun drop

- Old habits die hard

- His lil' mama

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

I'd match you up with

Nishinoya Yuu, Karasuno's Guardian

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Sun drops

The reasons why I paired you

- SUGAWARA WON'T LEAVE MY MIND AND HE'S ONE OF THE RUNNER UPS XD

- My first thought was Nishinoya but Ushijima and Sugawara said "No ❤️"

- But in the end, I choose Noya!

- You both would just be so cute! Like Yes please

- To him it doesn't matter that you are taller. HE LOVE YOU FOR YOUUUUUUUUUU

-He might be loud and energetic but he really respects your boundaries

- Though, you might have to take care of him more than the other way around, it's a good dynamic

- VERY BALANCED DYNAMIC RIGHT HERE

- You both if often just joke around and it's entertaining really

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Old habits die hard

Random head canons

-You and Noya would have two day SPECIFICALLY for date time and/or Sharing time

-Those two days depends per week and schedule but there has to be TWO days

-In these days you both would just share your thoughts and feelings

-Noya, being a libero, has a tendency to be observant so he’ll know when you’re down

-He’ll joke around with you to lift up the mood but he will turn serious if needed

-C U D D L E S are a must for dates!

-He doesn’t care that you are taller than him, he actually loves it! (He loves being big spoon tho!)

-JUST LET HIM LOVE YOUUUUUUUU Like please

- He will do anything for your attention, (please just pay attention to him)

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

His Lil' mama

“Lil’ mama! My team wants to meet you. Up for it?” Noya asked his taller lover. He then wrapped his arm around her waist as waited for her answer. “If you want too, sure! I don’t mind,” She replied with a smile. “That’s great! Let’s go!” He then said as he dragged her to the gym. “Wait! Like right now!” She replied as she tried to keep her balance. “Yes! Like right now~” Noya said enthusiastically. Some students stared at the taller female in pity. Nishinoya maybe a well of guy but with someone so shy at first glance, it’s hard to imagine their relationship. “Oh c’mon now babe! Don’t back on me now,” Noya said as he stopped. “I just really want to prove to the guys that you exist and not just a replacement for our goddess!” He declared as he held her hand. “I love you more than the goddess!” He added as he kissed her hand.

The greenish grey eyed girl blush a bit and looked away. The whole school can see how whipped Noya is for this girl. As much as it was a surprised for everyone on how Noya got a girlfriend but at least now Kiyoko has one less thing to worry about. “Let’s go rolling thunder to the gym so I can show you off to my pals,” Noya said as they continued but with a slower pace this time. Once they both reached the gym, everyone froze as they realized that the female was way taller. “That’s just sad. Noya is shorter than his own girlfriend,” Tsukkishima teased. “AND SO? I LOVE IT THAT WAY!” Noya barked. “This is my lil’ mama! My love! MY ONE AND ONLY SO DON’T STEAL HER AWAY!” He added as he smirked. Now his girl was behind him, kind of regretting the decision of coming but it made him happy so it was worth it. “Hello there,” She said with a small wave.

“WOW! NOYA-SAN! HOW DID YOU GET SUCH A BEAUTIFUL GIRL??” Hinata asked as he looked at the female. As time went by, the libero and his lil’mama got along with everyone. It was a bit strange at first as Noya has a girl now. And he isn’t all over Kiyoko like he used to but he still is Noya. The team enjoyed the presence and aura of the two. It was somewhat comforting. Once the whole get together and practice ended, Noya walked his girl home. “So, what did ya think? I’m pretty cool on court, ya?” Noya asked as he looked at her eyes. “You were awesome~ Can I watch your practice from now own?” She asked as she hook their arms together. Noya blushed a bit and smiled brightly. “Of course you can, Babe! No one’s stopping you,” He then said as he kissed her cheek. “Plus, having you there, I have my own cheerleader to keep me motivated,” He added as he chuckled. “So I won’t be a distraction?” She asked teasingly as she remembered what happened a few moments ago.

“OKAY LOOK I WAS ADMIRING YOUR BEAUTY AND FORGOT I WAS ON COURT!” Noya said as he huffed. “Plus, I receive the ball anyway. So I did my job,” He added with a soft smile. And then he knew that she was the one for him. Forever and always, that’s what he believes.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Author's note

I'm sorry if it took so long! I was at school. But I hope you enjoy this one and thanks for requesting~

#match ups #haikyuu matchups #anime #fanfic #fiction #haikyuu!!#Haikyu #haikyū!!#noya yuu #nishinoya yuu #submission #☁️matchup

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softforcal · 5 years

Text

Floral : Tattooist!Cal

Summary: Renowned tattoo artist Calum Hood doesn’t take apprentices often, but when he does, he tackles the challenge like everything else in his life: with the utmost professionalism. Until he meets Lily, a learning artist, and Calum falls head over heels before he can help himself.

Warnings: there’s smut. but its super slow burn.

Cal Mood Board: Lily

Word Count: 13.3k

--------------------

The young, heavily tattooed man sat at the receptionist desk in his parlour. His head was bowed, chiseled jaw set, eyebrows furrowed as he studied the papers scattered in front of him.

Art littered the sheets and after a good, long look, the man would either add the paper to a pile on his left or on his right.

The stack to his left was large and separated in two with a combined paper count of well over three hundred.

The stack to his right was substantially smaller, containing only five or six hand picked sheets.

Buzzing filled the space, one of his workers and friends, a man named Michael, was finishing up the last client of the day. His words didn’t even register to the focused man at the front as Michael wiped off the skin carefully, put a bandage over it and then walked the client to the reception desk. The woman paid and left, leaving the two large aussies to silence.

Michael looked over Calum’s shoulder, hands reaching out to pull at one of the last few sheets yet to be judged, “this is nice.” Michael stated.

Calum cocked his head, taking the paper gingerly from his friend.

He had to admit, there was something interesting to the style.

It was floral, which Calum usually shied away from, but something about this piece just captured his eye. The lines were thin and delicate, precise and deliberate, they caught his attention and drew his gaze along each light, flouncy, petal. It was realism, which was Calum’s specialty. As much as he enjoyed the more cartoony things, Calum had a reputation for making tattoos that seemed to jump out of the skin.

And this piece definitely did that.

He added it to the pile on his right.

Michael helped him decide on the last few and finally he was done, having finished with six sheets of paper that Calum then carefully picked up, “now for the hard part.” he stated.

Michael’s laugh echoed through the tattoo parlour, “those all look sick man, i don’t know how you’re going to choose, glad I don’t have your fucking job.”

“You going home for the day?”

“Might go to a bar, wanna drink?”

“Hmmm.” Calum sighed, “I need to finish this up.”

“Well I’ll tell you one thing, if you don’t choose whoever the fuck did that flower piece, I’m going to break into your application file, find them, and get them to tattoo me. Girly or not, that shit was fire.”

-------

Calum’s dog Duke padded around his feet as Calum walked through his apartment. His fingers held the glass of whiskey loosely by his side as he approached his work desk. Letting out a long sigh, Calum collapsed into his plush, slightly worn, work chair, setting his drink down.

The final six contenders were all in front of him.

Two of them were animal sketches, one was more geometric, and the final three were florals. As much as he tried to give each one the same amount of time and attention, his eyes kept going back to that one floral one.

Calum was very specific about taking on apprentices.

He’d only ever had two, and after he was done with them, they were almost as renowned as he was.

Thinking about the artists brought a smile to his face. His hand absentmindedly rubbed at the triangle on his forearm, just under his horse shoe tattoo.

The idea had been Michael’s originally, and it had been a joke. No one thought Calum would actually do it. So when Calum had allowed his first apprentice to graduate to full tattooist stature by taking a gun and putting whatever he wanted onto Calum’s body, everyone had been shocked.

But, his first apprentice had been kind, opting for a geomorphic animal hybrid tattoo. It was medium sized, a black triangle with a wolf face inside. Calum hadn’t looked the entire process, putting his complete trust in the man he’d just spent over a year training.

Everyone had been shocked. His friends had filmed most of it and it had gone viral.

Calum was known for his tattooing skills but he was also known for his tattoos, he could be very particular about who took a needle to his body so this was the ultimate show of confidence in his teaching abilities.

Whenever Calum found himself retreating into himself he’d look down at the lone wolf tattoo on his forearm to remind himself to open up a little, to enjoy his pack and welcome new members.

New apprenticeship applications had been abundant after that, with Calum getting at least three or four hundred applicants whenever he announced that he would be taking on someone new.

The second apprentice had gotten Calum on his stomach with his shirt off and had began to wipe down a very large expanse of Calum’s practically unmarked back when it was decided that Calum’s apprentices would have to run their final tattoo idea by Calum’s senior artists first.

Michael voted yes to having a massive dragon on Calum’s back but Calum, Ashton and Luke had vetoed that idea.

The dragon had been substantially shrunk down to a red and black little reptilian creature on Calum’s shoulder, its tail wrapped protectively around his upper arm. Whenever Calum wore shirts that showed off the intricate, very real looking piece, Michael would always joke and pretend to talk to the dragon which he had since named “lil Sebastian.” Calum had denied this name but that never stopped Michael.

Calum enjoyed the application process.

He enjoyed looking at all of the art which he insisted be sent in with a coded system that he didn’t know, that way, he had no idea of the age, gender, ethnicity, or background of any of the applying artists. He wanted to make it fair. He wanted to choose the best because their art was the best, not because of any other possible side reasons.

The floral piece made him want to know who had drawn it.

Which was odd. Usually Calum was okay with not knowing. But there was, as Michael had pointed out, something about it.

Calum took a deep breath, picking up the sheet one last time.

He wasn’t the type to ever let his heart make decisions for him, but he knew that this choice was backed by his eyes and his mind as well. Whoever this artist was, they had talent, and Calum wanted to be there to take that talent, which was already spectacular, and somehow make it better.

The decision had been made. Now all that was left was for his receptionist (who for the time being was Ashton since their receptionist was on mat leave) would call the artists.

It was a Friday, and by Monday, if the artist accepted, his parlour would have a new apprentice, and Calum would once again embark on a year to three year teaching mission that at the end he would have a new tattoo and an artist to show for it.

-----------

Lily waited for the coffee. The long sleeves of her oversized denim were perfect for fidgeting and she took full advantage, rolling the worn fabric between her fingers.

A strand of blonde hair had fallen loose from the messy bun atop her head, dangling in front of her face, but Lily was too wired and distracted to even notice.

“Black coffee and a frap for Lily?” the cute barista guy said. Announcing her name was just a formality, the barista had flirted with Lily at the till, he knew who she was and his eyes were bright as he handed her the drinks.

She offered a small smile before rushing from the shop.

She’d had a last minute spur of anxiety about showing up to her apprenticeship the first day without anything. She’d rather be on time with coffee than early and empty handed.

Lily dodged around people on the street, her small frame making it easy, the large black denim flaring out behind her like a flag. She slowed down as she approached the parlour.

Her palms were sweating and she could feel her heart practically beating out of her chest. She took a few deep breaths. When she’d applied to the apprenticeship she didn’t think she’d actually get in.

Lily had always loved drawing and somewhere along the way she’d realized that the doodles in the margins of her textbooks could become something more. She’d been accepted to a pretty high end arts school and one of her teachers had brought up tattooing in a class.

Lily had immersed herself, and a month later, had already given herself a stick and poke but it was nowhere near as pretty as she had wanted it to be.

She’d become addicted to tattoos.

By the time she’d finished at the arts school, she’d had numerous tattoos done, all floral, of course.

Lily had found HoodTats on instagram in her second year and had been following his posts religiously since then. He only ever posted his art which was something she always appreciated, knowing that whenever that notification popped up on her phone, she’d be able to see a new piece from the artist as opposed to pictures non-art related.

When he announced his apprenticeship reopening, Lily had worked her ass off, but had accepted the fact that she wouldn’t be chosen.

When she’d gotten a call on Saturday morning and an aussie accent had told her she’d been chosen, Lily had dropped her phone to scream. Scrambling to grab her cell again, she and the man had exchanged a light hearted chuckle, and he’d given her info on what she needed to do. It had seemed so surreal, Lily was shocked she’d even been of sound mind enough to be able to jot down the information on her drawing pad.

And now there she was, standing in front of the parlour.

She stood there for a moment, just looking at the doors.

“You going in or what?” a voice asked.

Lily jumped, grip tightening on her coffee as she turned to look at the man who was standing next to her. She took in his strong jaw and golden skin, and she wet her lips absentmindedly, “yeah, sorry, I uh… fuck, I’m a little jittery today.”

He hummed, eyes scanning her too, then he reached out and opened the door to the parlour for her. Lily offered a small smile and walked in, the gorgeous man following her inside.

“Hey Cal.” the guy at the main desk said, looking up.

The guy from behind Lily grunted in response, and Lily furrowed her eyebrows, Cal as in-

“Hey!” the happy blonde grinned, drawing her thoughts away.

“Hi.” Lily forced a smile, taking a deep breath, “I’m Lily-”

“Right! The apprentice! You’re early!” the blonde said, “I’m Ashton!” he held out a hand and Lily haphazardly set the coffees down, wiping her hand on her pants to rid of the condensation that had marred her skin from the frappuccino.

She shook Ashton’s hand, making an awkward face, “sorry, my skin is cold.”

“No worries, you brought someone a coffee?” he asked.

“Uh… I figured i should bring something so I bought a frappuccino-”

“You mean the black coffee is for you?” the guy laughed.

“Yeah-”

“Offer Calum the black coffee, trust me.”

Before Lily could respond a new guy came into the parlour from the back room and he walked over with a grin, “who’s this?” he asked.

“Calum’s new apprentice.”

“Lily.” she extended the hand to the pink haired guy.

“No shit?!” the pink haired man grinned, “fuck, your art is amazing! I’m Michael!”

He shook her hand aggressively but the light in his eyes told Lily that he was just excited, genuinely excited, to meet her.

“I saw your florals? Damn, if you ever want a canvas, I have a whole leg that’s free and you can just fuck it up-”

“Michael you’re scaring her.” Ashton tutted, nudging his friend.

Michael looked between Ashton and Lily, “no I’m not! I’m not scaring you am I?”

“You scare everyone.” the gorgeous guy from before had returned, and he leaned his hip against the counter. His leather jacket was gone, revealing a black v neck that was pulled tight against his strong chest. His arms were crossed, biceps bulging, arms littered in tattoos exposed and proud on his beautiful skin.

“This is Lily, she’s your new apprentice.” Ashton stated.

Lily’s eyes met Calum and she nearly swore in front of him… again. She’d just said fuck to him outside. To her new boss. She’d said fuck.

Fuck.

Calum looked her up and down again, taking in the oversized denim that nearly hid her tiny frame. Her jeans were black and ripped at the knees and her blonde hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, one haphazard strand in front of her face. She had high cheekbones and soft looking lips, eyes that were a molten chocolate brown peered up at him and freckles splattered her cute button nose.

“So you’re the floral girl.” he said before he could help himself.

She opened her mouth then shut it, grabbing the black coffee from the counter she held it out for him, “i got this for you.”

Calum looked at it for a moment then accepted it, turning it over in his hands to look at what was written on the side.

“Who’s Greg?” he asked.

“What?”

He showed her the cup. Written on the side was a phone number, a heart, and the name Greg. “fuck.” Lily breathed, her eyes widened, “shit, I mean- fuck, not fuck, shit.”

She hid her face with her hands and all three men grinned at her.

“We don’t fucking care if you swear sweetheart, just as long as you keep it to a minimum in front of clients.” Michael assured her.

“So who is Greg.” Ashton asked.

“He’s the barista I guess. I don’t know, he was flirting with me but I didn’t check the cup.” Lily groaned loudly.

“So… do you want the number?” Calum asked, offering the cup back to her.

Lily grabbed the frappuccino, stepping back as she took a sip, shaking her head, “no fucking thank you.”

Calum tried to stop himself from grinning.

He liked her already.

-------

Calum had to admit, Lily learned fast.

He found that he only had to show her something once, and just like that, she knew what she was doing. The first week had been kind of rocky. Calum was a quiet guy by nature, and he could tell that it was making Lily anxious, although she never said anything.

The first day in particular had been interesting.

Every time she took a sip of her frappuccino, she’d make a face and Calum had found it amusing, until he found out from Ashton after she left that the black coffee that she’d given him had initially been for herself. The poor girl had been so worried about making a good impression that she’d forced down one of those too-sweet coffee monstrosities that Calum, an avid coffee drinker, would not have been caught dead drinking.

Lily got flustered pretty easily which was endearing to him given the whole edgy look she was rocking like it was nobody's business.

Wearing almost strictly black clothing that set off the gold of her hair, Calum may have described Lily as goth, but due to her lack of make up, maybe that was the wrong word. She was tiny, Calum always had to look down to meet her eyes, and she tried to hide behind oversized sweatshirts and jackets. She’d roll up the sleeves into large bunches at her elbows while drawing, and she never seemed to be able to sit like a normal human being.

Even on a stool, she’d find a way to tuck one leg underneath her, or use something nearby to rest a foot on.

Calum had always been the type of guy to be quiet and watch, noticing the small things other people wouldn’t notice. Like the way Lily would focus entirely on a drawing, hands almost as steady as Calum’s, but the moment she was done, her long sleeves would be rolled down again and she’d begin to fidget.

Lily was quiet too. Something Calum appreciated.

She didn’t ask many questions which Calum enjoyed, but it did concern him a little. As her teacher, he wanted to make sure that he was actually teaching.

He found himself asking “did that make sense?” or “do you understand?” more than he ever had in his life, always earning a small “yeah” or curt nod.

He’d also noticed the small dimple, just one, on her left cheek, that would appear rarely but it always made him want to smile back whenever it did.

Michael spent most of his free time talking to Lily, which Calum enjoyed, he was never one for small talk. Through Michael’s chats with Lily, Calum had learned that Lily had actually gone to art school. She’d been doodling all her life. She adored flowers, only partially because of her name (she wasn’t that pretentious.) But, the discussions were usually limited to art and tattoo related things, which Calum was beginning to find quite dry.

He wanted to ask questions, but Calum wasn’t the type to pry. He was never appreciative of people asking him unwanted questions and Calum didn’t fancy himself to be a hypocrite.

Besides, Calum was, in a way (in a lot of ways) her boss. And Calum was never the type to toe the line of professionalism. Which is why, when Michael suggested that Lily grab a drink with them after work, Calum thanked god for his best friend.

Lily had agreed and Calum was sure that it was for Michael’s sake, definitely not his own. After all, Calum hadn’t spoken two words together to the girl that weren’t work related.

Besides, one of Calum’s artists had been traveling for a month and was finally coming home, so it would be a good chance for Lily to meet the guy outside of the parlour.

Michael spent the entire day ranting about Luke and hyping him up to the point that if he wasn’t a six foot four, curly blonde, rockstar looking, douche bag, then Lily would have been very let down.

After closing up the parlour, the three walked down the street to the bar. Calum opened the door for them and as they went inside, all of Lily’s expectations were met.

Luke had already grabbed them a booth, and as they walked in, he leapt to his feet, coming over with open arms. He immediately engulfed Michael in a hug before turning to Lily, “you must be Cal’s new whipping girl!” he grinned, wrapping his arms around her next.

Lily was small next to Michael and Cal but with Luke? She was absolutely miniscule. So Luke had no issue simply picking her up off the ground in a hug.

A small squeal left Lily’s lips and everyone laughed.

“Fuck. You’re not a hugger are you?” Luke asked, setting her back down. His hands went to her shoulders, bending down to meet her eyes as he looked at her with concern.

“Uh… that was a hug?” she asked, laughing awkwardly.

Michael laughed, “don’t mind Luke, he’s just a big teddy bear.”

“Fuck off.” Luke said, shoving at Michael who grinned, throwing his arm over Luke’s shoulders as the two walked back to the table.

“Wow, fuck Calum then.” Lily said, voice quiet.

But Calum heard. And Calum laughed, “Luke can be a bit forgetful.”

“I uh-” Lily flushed red and hid her face with her oversized sleeves, “I didn’t mean for you to hear that.”

“It’s alright.” Calum assured her.

“I just… he didn’t even look at you.” Lily stammered, “god, I would be so worried if one of my friends snubbed me like that-”

“He didn’t snub me.” Calum said a tad too sternly, and it made Lily shut her worried, anxious, stammering mouth. She looked at him with wide eyes and Calum sighed, seeing the hurt in the chocolate brown irises. “Sorry I snapped at you I-”

“No it’s fine.” her eyes had widened and her hands were up and waving, sort of distracting Calum actually, as she ranted about how she always swore too much and needed to learn not to always say what was on her mind, even if she whispered it and didn’t expect anyone to hear, not that Calum was being nosey, he was standing there anyways so he was definitely not being nosey-

“Do you drink?” Calum asked, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably as he looked down at Lily.

“Are you offering to buy me a drink?” Lily asked.

Calum stared at her for a moment and that's all it took for Lily to freak out again, getting even redder as she hid her face, “holy fuck! Shit! You see? I have a problem. That was way too flirty. You’re my boss! Wow. I am way too anxious to function, this is such a mess-”

“I’m going to get you a drink.” Calum stated before she could continue, moving past her to the bar and leaving her standing there wanting to die.

“What’s the deal with that?” Luke asked, tilting his chin towards where Lily and Calum had just been standing.

“So the new girl Lily is an anxious little muffin nugget and Cal is…”

“Cal.” Luke finished for him, making them both laugh, “she’s cute.”

“Yeah, and just wait till you see her fucking art!” Michael grinned, “she’s talented, just Calum’s type.”

Lily had managed to contain herself again, walking over to the table where Michael made room for her, “who’s Calum’s type?” she asked.

“No one-” Michael began to say as Luke stated “you.”

Lily’s breath caught in her throat as she looked between the two men sitting in the booth. Michael was gaping at Luke but Luke was grinning, attention deliberately entirely focused on Lily.

“That is very inappropriate Luke.” Michael tutted.

“Why?”

“He’s her boss-”

“Not really.” Luke said.

“Sort of though.” Michael argued.

“Eh, is he really though?” Luke narrowed his eyes at Michael.

Before Michael could answer Calum came back, a Guinness in each hand. He set one down in front of Lily, “hope you like-”

“Guinness!? My favourite!” Lily smiled.

“Yeah, figured you like black coffee-”

“You like black coffee?” Luke made a face at Lily, “wow, you and Cal really are meant to be.”

“Luke!” Michael screamed.

“What?!” Luke threw his hands on the air.

“You left for a month and you have no filter!” Michael shouted.

“I never had a filter!” Luke pointed out.

Michael groaned, “fuck, it’s true, you got me there. Damn it.” he turned to look at Lily, “I’m so sorry, Luke’s not used to being around girls.”

“Yes I am!” Luke insisted, “all the girls love me-”

“Oh yeah? Then why the fuck are you still single?” Michael asked.

Lily and Calum both grabbed their drinks in unison, watching Luke and Michael fight.

“I’m single because a man like me shouldn’t be tied down!” Luke stated.

“Pfff, sure it has nothing to do with the whole ‘oh I don’t believe in love’ thing?” Michael asked.

“If you want to talk not believing in love, go fight Calum!” Luke said, motioning towards the silently sitting artist, “he’s the douchebag who thinks that shit doesn’t exist, not me!”

All eyes went to Calum.

He set down his Guinness, tattooed, ring clad fingers sliding along the condensation covered glass, a moment passed, “so is someone going to ask me something or are you all just going to stare at me?”

“You don’t believe in love?” Lily asked.

“Well when you put it like that-” Calum sighed.

“How else would you put it Cal?” Luke smirked.

He thought about it for a moment then grinned, bringing his drink to his lips, “touche.”

“How about you flower baby, what’s your vibe on that crazy little thing called love?” Luke asked.

“‘Flower baby’ I like it!” Michael grinned, turning his gaze to the only girl there.

“Well that’s a loaded question.” Lily said, shrinking under their gaze.

“You’re single right?” Michael asked.

“Michael.” Calum warned.

“What? I can ask her that sort of thing, I’m not her boss, plus we were all thinking it.” Michael said.

“Michael, this is bordering sexual harassment.” Calum stated, “Lily if you’re uncomfortable-”

“I’m always uncomfortable.” she interjected.

“You don’t have to answer their questions.” he told her.

Lily took a deep breath, “no, I should try to not be so shy all the time.”

“Good for you, cheers to that.” Luke said, lifting the bottle of beer he’d had since before they’d arrived, “so tell us all your secrets.”

“My money’s on single.” Michael stated.

“Why?” Lily laughed.

“Cuz if you had a boyfriend there’s no way in hell he wouldn’t have already come to the shop to check us out and make sure none of us are threats.” Michael answered.

“And then, he’d show up and fight Calum-” Luke continued.

“Can you both leave me out of this?” Calum interjected.

“But Cal-”

“Maybe just stop saying my name how about that?” Calum sighed.

Luke groaned loudly, “you’re lame.”

“So you two are friends right?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Luke said, taking a sip of his beer.

Lily grinned and Michael laughed, “they have a very complicated relationship.” he assured her.

“Your mom and I have a complicated relationship.” Luke quipped.

“How long have you been here buddy?” Michael asked.

“A while.”

“How much have you had to drink?”

“A lot.”

Michael groaned, “man, I haven’t even had a beer yet and I’m already going to have to take you home aren’t I?”

“I’m fine.” Luke laughed.

“That’s your awkward ‘I’m totally not fine’ laugh.” Michael sighed, “okay man, lets go.”

“But we can’t leave Cal and the flower child.” Luke groaned.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Michael said, pulling Luke to his feet.

“But I like flower girl.” Luke whined.

“And you’ll see her at work on Monday when you’re sober.” Michael pointed out.

“Promise?” Luke asked.

“Promise.” Michael said, Luke finally allowing himself to be dragged closer to the door, he turned back and looked at Calum and Lily who were both watching him, “tell them to use protection Michael, we don’t need a tattoo parlour baby.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Luke was not satisfied with this answer, turning to look at Cal and Lily he screamed “use protection!” and half the bar turned to look at the two still sitting in the booth.

Lily flushed immediately and Calum sighed, “we can just finish our drinks and go.” he suggested.

Lily took a sip of her Guinness, “eager to get rid of me?” she asked.

Calum’s grip tightened on his glass, “look, this was probably a mistake, I’m your teacher and this feels inappropriate, especially with how Michael and Luke have been acting-”

“Have you taken your other apprentices out for drinks before?”

“Yeah-”

“So it’s because I’m a girl.” Lily stated.

Calum groaned. He was not a sexist guy. He wasn’t. Which is why he even did applications blind, so that he wouldn’t treat people differently. And now here he was, treating his apprentice differently because she was a woman. A cute woman. Fuck.

“Shit.” Calum said, “I feel like such a jackass.”

“Is it…” Lily sighed.

“Is it what?”

Lily covered her face in her hands, “fuck, now I’m making this awkward.” she peeked at Calum, “I’m going to just say it and we can pretend it never happened, we should pretend this whole night didn’t happen to be honest, like, I don’t know what the fuck has come over me today but… Luke and Michael are throwing me off big time, and, shit, is it… is it because I’m your type? Is that why you’re being so weird? Like, Michael said you’re a quiet guy but this feels more personal you know?”

“I’m just… i haven't had a female apprentice before and I guess I’m not used to it.” Calum studied her and then realized that he’d pretty much just stated that she wasn’t his type, which was a lie, and if there was one thing Calum Hood wasn’t, it was a liar, “not that you’re not my type, you are, I mean, shit, I’m your boss, sort of, and being professional is kinda my thing-”

“You’re very professional.” Lily assured him.

“I just bought you a beer, probably shouldn’t have done that-”

“I won’t tell the head of the tattooist apprenticeship board or whatever if you don’t.” Lily sighed, “Look. don’t treat me differently. I don’t want this to be so awkward, i want to be friends, after all, when this is all over i will legitimately be putting a tattoo of my choosing on your body so we should be friends don’t you think?”

“I just don’t want to make you uncomfortable-” Calum winced.

“If you do, I’ll tell you, how about that?” she asked.

He considered it, “deal.”

They finished their Guinnesses quickly, standing and walking to the entryway to the bar, “well, how far from here do you live?” Calum asked.

“A little ways away, why?”

“I mean, should I offer to walk you home?” Calum tested.

“Would you offer that to your other apprentices?”

“Probably not.”

“Then no.”

“Okay well uh… get home safe then yeah?”

“Will do. I’m a big girl.” Lily grimaced immediately, “wow that sounded so weird. I’ll uh… I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“Yeah.”

Calum almost went in for a hug. His brain was so frazzled. Whenever he took a girl out to a bar they were usually on a date and normally, if he wasn’t interested in taking them home, he’d give them a hug just to say ‘goodbye, never gonna call you again.’

Lily also awkwardly looked like she was about to go in for a hug and they both kind of stumbled awkwardly until Lily thrust out her hand and Calum laughed, shaking it, “uh, have a good night.”

“You too.”

As they both turned and went opposite ways down the street they were both cringing. It was very obvious to them that she was his apprentice and they were two weeks into an apprenticeship that could take more than two years.

They were fucked.

-------

On Monday, Lily and Calum showed up to work fully intending to stay true to their agreement to forget the awkwardness of Friday ever happened, and have Calum treat her like every other apprentice he’d had.

After a bit of small talk with Luke, Michael and Ashton, Calum’s first client arrived and he called Lily over to watch. Calum was very focused when he tattooed, staying completely silent as he worked, which left it up to Lily to make conversation with the clients.

Calum enjoyed listening to Lily chat with clients. She was always so anxious around him, but she relaxed a little bit more around other people. She almost seemed easy going, and if Cal didn’t know her, he would have even gone as far to describe her as an extrovert.

She’d make a great tattoo artist. Always calming down and distracting clients.

Calum almost began getting critical of himself because damn, did he not talk enough with clients? No one had ever complained before so Calum pushed the thought aside.

Calum realized that if he simply didn’t look at Lily, he could teach her better, not get distracted by her pretty freckles or her gorgeous brown eyes-

It worked for a week.

But because it worked, Lily got more comfortable.

It had been a full month when Lily finally got so comfortable that she took off her oversized, black denim jacket for the first time.

It was getting hotter outside, summer quickly approaching, and Lily was wearing a black tank top that exposed her arms and shoulders. As she slipped the the denim off and put it on a chair, Calum’s breath caught in his throat. Delicate tattoos littered the skin from elbow to shoulder, two beautiful half sleeves that he had no idea she’d had.

In classic Lily fashion, the tattoos were all black.

As Calum studied them he realized, “wait, did you… did you tattoo some of these onto yourself?” the art was undeniably Lily.

Lily’s skin flushed, “yeah, iI uh… I bought a tattoo gun a while ago and figured I’d test it on myself.”

“So that’s why your lines are so good already, you’ve literally been practicing on yourself.” Calum would have laughed if it wasn’t so hard core.

“Yeah.” Lily laughed, “I mean, I think they turned out alright.” she looked down at the flowers on her left arm, “the ones on this side are better because I’m right handed, I practiced with my left for ages with paper but it just wasn’t the same so only this peony is mine,” she motioned to a small, delicate flower on her right arm, “everything else was done by other artists I’ve been into for a while.”

Calum recognized the artwork on her right arm, “that was done by Cole.” Cole had been his second apprentice.

“Yeah, he managed to convince me to get a full half sleeve from him so this is all his.”

“Sounds like Cole.” Calum grinned, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to the shoulder to show her the dragon, “he gave me this one, originally he wanted to take up my whole back but I had to draw the line with that one.”

“Yeah, he wanted my whole arm but I told him just above the elbow.”

“Would you ever get your forearms done?”

“Hmm, probably not, but I have an idea for my thigh-” before she could go into more details, Calum’s client arrived and the conversation was cut short.

That day was particularly difficult. Calum just wanted to gawk at her tattoos. She had been a ten before but now? Wow. Calum had a thing for tattoos and the whole thing about Lily tattooing herself was… well, Calum’s pants were getting a bit tight just thinking about it.

It was around one o'clock when Ashton got a cancelation call from one of Calum’s clients. Calum didn’t mind, there was a deposit for half the cost anyways and it meant he had an hour of free time. Calum sent Ashton for lunch which meant he and Lily were manning the reception desk.

Lily was drawing flowers while Calum watched. He didn’t have any floral tattoos and he had been curious from day one what they would look like on his skin. “Do you want to try drawing that on me?” he suggested.

“Uh… are you sure?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, you need practice drawing on people, last time you did, the woman said your hands were cold after.” Calum pointed out.

“Shit.” Lily immediately put down her pencil and began rubbing her palms together to warm them up.

“Here.” Calum handed her a black sharpie.

“Do you want a floral tattoo?”

“I’ve never wanted one before but... I dunno, your flowers are really nice.”

“Thanks.” Lily flushed, “so your forearm?”

Calum arms were pretty tatted as it was but his left was more covered than his right so he offered up the arm, gesturing to medium sized unmarked patch, “yeah, probably here.”

“Any flowers in specific?” she asked.

“What’s your specialty?”

Lily chuckled, looking up at him for a moment as she twirled the sharpie between her fingers, “a lily. But I do a great chrysanthemum or peony.”

“I only know what lilies look like so surprise me with one of the other ones.” Calum said. He liked surprises.

“Well I showed you my peony so-”

“So the other one.”

“A chrysanthemum.”

“Yeah. That.”

Lily took Calum’s offered arm, putting it on the table as she took the top off of the sharpie. “Free handing is okay?” she clarified.

“Go for it.” Calum said, watching as she too the first swipe of black ink over his arm.

“So you mentioned earlier you had an idea for your thigh?”

“Yeah, I was thinking of getting a few big chrysanthemums actually, but I haven’t found anyone who can draw them right.” Lily explained.

“Why don’t you just do it yourself.” Calum teased.

“Cuz it would hurt like a bitch.” Lily answered, “oh, you were joking.”

“A little.”

He watched her drawing the petals, “you know, not to rain on your parade or anything but I feel like I could probably draw a… whatever flower that is.”

“Chrysanthemum.”

“You know maybe if you wrote that down I’d be able to pronounce it.”

Lily grinned. She made it look so easy and Calum studied how she drew each delicate petal. Calum Hood didn’t do flowers, but there was something endearing about how delicate and deliberate each petal was.

After a few minutes she finished, “there. What do you think?”

It did look really good. And again, Calum Hood did not do floral. “yeah.”

He pulled out his art pad and began to try to copy her work and Lily watched, “more curve here and here.” she said, correcting his lines.

Calum grinned, “so the student becomes the teacher.”

Lily flushed, “well, I mean, it’s always been a dream to have you tattoo me, which sounds way awkward saying that out loud but you don’t do floral.”

“I’m doing floral now.” Calum pointed out.

“Still not curved enough.” Lily corrected another petal.

Calum groaned, pulling out another piece of paper to draw a new flower. As he drew, Lily only corrected it twice, and on the third drawing, not at all. Calum held up the paper smugly.

“It looks great.” Lily said.

“So you’ll let me tattoo it on you.”

“Uh…” Lily laughed awkwardly, “I mean, you drew one but I’m going for something a little bigger-”

No one had ever turned down a tattoo from Calum Hood, it was a challenge and Calum liked challenges, “how about this, by the end of the week if I can free hand a bunch of these flowers-”

“Chrysanthemums.”

“If I can freehand a bunch of these cruh-san-the-memes-”

“Nice try.”

Calum groaned loudly, “if I can draw them and you like them you’ll let me tat you.”

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one tatting you when this is all over?” Lily asked.

“Are you seriously going to turn down a tattoo from me?” Calum laughed.

Lily considered it, “fine, but I’m not going to say yes just because you’re you.”

“Fine.”

--------

In secret, Calum spent an embarrassingly copious amount of time looking at pictures of chrysanthemums online. He’d even trained on how to say ‘chrysanthemum.’ He’d drawn so many god damned flowers over the week that it almost annoyed him that he actually enjoyed drawing them.

On Friday morning, Calum showed up to work with with his top three ideas. He was anxious his entire first client, wanting time to show Lily his work and see if she liked them. As soon as the man had paid and left, Calum took out the art to show Lily.

“Okay, what do you think?” he asked.

He was never worried about what people thought of his work.

People always adored his designs. Hell, people flew in from all over the world to let him free hand an original design on their body to be permanently inked forever.

Lily scanned the flowers, “wow, these look super real, did you look them up?”

“No.” Calum said immediately.

Lily smiled and Calum knew that she knew he was lying.

She looked at one of the sketches, “this one is so pretty.”

It was one of the bigger ones but Calum supposed that's what she’d asked for, “so… you’ll let me tattoo you?”

Having Calum tattoo her had been a dream for years so of course Lily knew she was about to say yes. Especially since she had wanted something outside of his comfort zone and it was obvious that he’d put a lot of effort into making something she’d like. It was making Lily’s heart beat faster and she nodded, “you can tattoo me.”

Calum’s eyes lit up, “great, after work?”

“After work?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s kind of sudden isn’t it?”

“Well, I mean, if you want another time-”

“No, after work… works.” Lily said, giggling awkwardly, “I don’t have cash on me-”

Calum’s eyebrows furrowed, “I’m not charging you.”

“You have to charge me.”

“No I don’t.” Calum insisted.

“Cal, I know how much people pay for your tattoos.” Lily sighed.

“It’s on the house.”

Before Lily could argue further, Calum’s next client showed up.

The next six hours were busy, with Lily and Cal speaking barely two words to each other. Lily’s adrenaline was pumping. She always got excited before a tattoo and this was exciting. More exciting than she wanted to admit.

As the clock ticked down to closing, Lily got more and more fidgety.

It was just her and Cal left in the shop, not that she spent much time with the other artists since she stayed glued to Calum’s side, watching him work, all day every day.

After collecting payment from the last client, Cal turned off the open sign, walking back to Lily, “you still want the tat?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, you get ready and I’ll grab the shit.” Calum walked to his work space in the back corner of the shop.

Lily followed, taking a deep breath before she began to unbutton her pants.

“You still sure on the-” Calum turned and his voice trailed off, “placement?” his eyes went to where Lily was unzipping her jeans and pushing them down. Lily felt awkward but when did she not? Plus, Calum had tattooed many people in his life so this wouldn’t be much different.

Calum’s breath was caught in his throat as his eyes traced over the black lacy panties she was wearing.

“So I’m thinking here.” Lily said, motioning to her upper thigh, “I want it to curve in just a little inner.”

“Right.” Cal coughed, “let me draw it on and if you don’t like it we can move it-”

“Calum, I know the drill.”

“Right.” Calum grabbed his sharpie as Lily kicked off her shoes and pants, taking off her jacket and rolling up her shirt a little. Calum returned and got onto his knees, looking up at Lily one last time, “ready?”

“You’re just drawing it, this isn’t even the hard part.”

Calum nodded, “so under the underwear line or-”

Lily flushed, pulling up her panties a little, “just under the hip bone.”

The sharpie pressed against her skin and Lily tried to look anywhere but at the gorgeous tattooed man on his knees between her bare legs.

Calum was right handed and working on her left leg, so to steady her, he had to place his other hand on the inside of her leg, delicately moving the skin a little when necessary. His fingers on her bare flesh was making Lily dizzy.

Calum traced the lines across her thigh, trying to focus all his attention on working and not on how pretty her skin was. And how close he was to-

“So you must see women half naked all the time right?” Lily asked.

“Yeah.” Calum said.

“What’s the nudest you’ve ever done?”

“This one girl wanted something on her pubic bone which I told her was a bad idea but she really wanted it, we were in a back room for privacy and when I came in she was completely naked-”

“Then what happened?”

“Well, I gave her something to cover herself up and she was super awkward the whole time.”

“I can imagine.” Lily laughed.

She could feel his breath on her inner thigh and Lily’s skin involuntarily broke out in goosebumps, “you cold?” Calum asked.

“Yeah but it’s fine.” Lily lied.

Calum hummed and continued working until the drawing was done, “okay, go look in the mirror.” he said, standing up and following Lily to see if she liked it.

Her eyes scanned over it and Calum waited patiently, arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s beautiful.” Lily breathed.

“Chrysanthemums are beautiful.”

“How long did it take for you to figure out how to say chrysanthemums?”

“Too long.” Calum admitted.

“Okay, lets do it. You’ll get the basic lines done today and then shading after work on Monday or something?”

“Do you want to split it up into two parts?” Calum asked.

“Don’t you think this will take a while if you try to do it all today?”

“Yeah.”

“I figured you might have plans tonight-”

“Why?”

“Well, its a Friday night.” Lily pointed out.

“So?”

“So maybe you have a date? I don’t know-”

“Do you have a date?”

“No-”

“Great, so let’s do this all tonight.” Calum stated, “we can order take out half way through or some shit, or after, it's up to you.”

“Take out after sounds good, there’s this place down the street with amazing-”

“Shawarma, fuck, love that place.”

“Me too.” Lily grinned, “okay, I’ll sit down then.”

She got onto the chair and set herself up so Calum could access her inner thigh while Calum pulled on some gloves, sat on his stool, and picked up the tattoo gun.

Lily looked at the ceiling as the sound of buzzing began.

The first feeling of the needle piercing her skin made her sigh and Calum smirked, “you good?”

“I uh… kind of like the pain, that sounds wild, shit, I didn’t mean it in like a sexual way or anything-” Lily began to stammer.

“No, I like it too.” Calum said, cutting her off.

Lily wanted to distract herself from the flush that she knew was creeping over her skin, and It was going to take a while so she pulled out her phone, “can we listen to music?”

“Go for it.” Calum said, focusing on his lines. He didn’t talk during tats anyways so music always helped.

Some old rock music began to play from Lily’s phone and Calum smirked, “nirvana.”

“You like Nirvana?” Lily asked.

“All the old stuff is great.” Calum said.

“Nine inch nails is pretty good, Nirvana, Guns and roses-”

“Where have you been all my life.” Calum teased.

Lily smiled, a tingly feeling in her stomach almost distracting from the needle.

A particularly sensitive spot made Lily grab at the side of the chair and Calum noticed. His jaw clenched. Pain was part of tattooing and he never felt bad about it but there was something about Lily being in pain and him being the direct cause, even though it was his job, that was hurting him.

“Deep breaths sweetheart.” Calum said before he could help himself, the term of endearment slipping out before he could stop it.

Lily sighed, “can you distract me?”

“The music isn’t distracting enough?” he asked.

“Not really.” Lily winced, “shit, why did I think the inner thigh was a good idea? I knew it would hurt like a bitch-”

“It will look great.” Calum assured her.

“It will.” Lily agreed.

She could feel his breath again and she tried to focus on that but as she felt the butterflies in her stomach, she realized maybe that was not the best idea. Having him so close to her, just inches away from where she was positive he could just bury his mouth and send her over the edge in seconds-

“What the fuck?!”

Calum pulled the tattoo gun away, looking at Michael who had just entered the shop, “Michael! Jesus fuck man you can’t just be surprising people who are in the middle of giving tattoos!”

“Shit, sorry,” Michael apologize, “it just… it looked like you two were… well, Calum it looked like you were-”

“Michael. Don’t say it.” Calum warned.

They all knew what he was implying.

“I’m going to continue alright?” Calum asked, drawing Lily’s eyes to his. She nodded.

He started up the gun again and pressed it to her skin, again Lily winced and Michael walked over. “That looks sick already.” he stated.

“Hold her hand.” Calum instructed.

“What?”

“Hold her fucking hand.” Calum said again.

Michael reached out and took Lily’s hand which she immediately squeezed. “So Cal, flowers, since when did you start doing flowers?”

“It’s what she wanted.” Calum answered.

“I just didn’t know you were a fan of flowers.”

“Chrysanthemums are dope Mike.” Calum said.

“You’re wild.” Michael laughed.

Michael pulled up a chair and sat with the two of them for the next three hours, successfully distracting Lily while Calum worked quietly. It was nice to listen to Michael talk because Calum could feel himself straining against his pants and he needed a turn off, like Michael’s voice.

Calum was finishing up when Michael had to go, once again leaving Lily and Calum alone.

“So do you have a skirt or something?” Calum asked.

“No?”

“Oh.”

“Girls don’t just carry around skirts.”

“Right.”

“I mean, you’re going to be really sensitive and your jeans might hurt-”

“Fuck. How come I didn’t think of that? I’m such a shit tattooist.” Lily groaned.

Calum wiped her skin to get the remaining ink away, cleaning the area, “let me put the bandage on then I might have a shirt in the back you can wear as a dress because you’re small.”

Lily stayed quiet as Calum smoothed the see through bandage over her skin. He stood up and went to the back, returning a minute later with a shirt that he handed to Lily, “here.”

She looked at it, “Zeppelin, you have good taste.”

Lily stood up on wonky legs, grabbing the hem of her shirt as she lifted it over her head. Calum looked away but the brief glimpse of a matching black lace bra made his breath catch again.

“Okay, I’m decent.” Lily said in a quiet voice.

Calum looked at the way the shirt hung like a dress down to her mid thigh. She looked adorable slipping on her adidas. She could make any outfit work.

“Still hungry?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“You’re sure I can’t force you to take money for this?” Lily sighed.

“No way. How do you feel?”

“It hurts a little but you were right about not having the added pressure of jeans.” Lily said, “so… let me grab my stuff then we can get food.”

Calum cleaned up the station while Lily put all her clothes into her bag, taking one look at the tattoo in the mirror and admiring his handy work. She couldn’t wait till she could take off the bandage and see it clearly but she knew it was beautiful.

Calum met her at the front of the shop and locked up. The night was warm, the first breath of summer having swept over the city that day, lingering in the air.

They walked in silence down the street to the shawarma place.

They both ordered the same thing, once again proving how much they had in common. When Calum pulled out his wallet, Lily thrust a twenty at the man at the till, “I’m paying for all of it.” she stated.

“Don’t take her money-” Calum warned the guy.

But Lily glared him down, “sorry man.” the vender said, taking the twenty.

Calum sighed and the two of them waited for their wraps to be made. When handed the warm food, Lily stated: “there’s a park close by and we could sit on a bench and eat or something.”

“Good idea.” Calum said.

They began to eat their wraps as they walked, staying mostly quiet but Lily was oddly okay with that. She usually got fidgety with silence and at first, that had applied to Calum, but sometime in the past little while, the awkwardness that usually came with lack of conversation had disappeared.

They sat on the park bench and ate, chatting a little. Easy conversation about apprenticeships. Calum was confident that Lily wouldn’t need as long as the others had which made Lily’s heart race. “You’re really talented.” he assured her, “wouldn’t surprise me if you’d be good to go in under a year actually.”

“I didn’t realize you could just choose how long the apprenticeship is.”

“Well, I mean, usually there are rules, but I think at the end of the day it’s based on my decision. And I could offer you a job at the parlour so that way, its sort of still like an apprenticeship.”

“You’d hire me? Just like that?” Lily asked.

“You’re really good Lily.” he stated, “I knew it the second I saw your application. And so did Michael.”

They chatted about how he got into tattooing.

They chatted until it began to get cold and Lily began to shiver. She pulled out her large denim jacket and seeing her in two things that were way too large was almost too much for Calum in some odd way.

He tried not to look at her but it was very difficult.

Especially her legs. God, he adored her legs already.

“So I should get going.” Lily said when it got to be around ten.

“Yeah me too.” Calum said as they both stood.

Again, there was an awkward moment of whether or not they should hug.

Calum’s self control disappeared as he wrapped his arms around the smaller artist, pulling her against his chest. She hugged back, cheek pressed against his front for a moment before they both pulled away, “get home safe.” he said, voice low and crackly as he cleared his throat.

“I will.”

They turned and went their separate ways with smiles on their faces.

----

On Monday, Lily walked into the shop with a short little leather skirt that, once again, had Calum’s pants getting insanely tight. She breezed in with a smile and a wave to Ashton and Michael who were gawking at her from the reception desk, walking straight to Calum. “So I took the bandage off!” she grinned.

“Let’s see.” Calum said, scooting forward on his stool with a smile. And then, Lily simply lifted up her skirt, completely flashing him a new, adorable, red and black lace thong that took Calum’s attention a moment too long before he had to force his eyes to the tattoo.

“How’s your aftercare?” he asked.

Lily rolled her eyes, “my aftercare is on point Hood.”

He chuckled, “stop flashing me.”

“Fuck, right.” Lily pulled down her skirt, red spreading over her delicate collar bones.

The first few hours were insanely difficult for Calum. It was like every spare moment, his brain would think about those god damned lacy panties.

Instead of taking a lunch break, Lily went up front with Ashton. Calum’s gaze was on her, watching them chat. He didn’t even notice Luke pull his chair over to be next to Calum as Calum waited for his next client.

“So you shouldn’t be looking because in a way, you’re her boss but I can look for you.” Luke stated.

Calum rolled his eyes but tore his gaze away, knowing Luke was right about some things and unfortunately this was one of them.

He had to be professional.

He had to be.

Another week passed and Calum managed to keep his eyes away from the gorgeous blonde and her little skirts. He was almost too good at keeping it professional and his friends noticed.

Luke, Ashton and Michael were at a bar after work when Michael brought it up, “so we need to do something about Lily and Cal.”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“They need to fuck.” Michael stated, “like, I can’t focus with all the sexual tension.”

“Cal won’t act on it.” Ashton said, and they all knew he was right.

Michael groaned, “fuck, I know, we need to make him act on it.”

“How?” Luke laughed.

And that's how Michael's mission began.

His plans were never good.

He took Lily and Cal to a bar then excused himself to go to the bathroom ten minutes in.

He never came back.

Calum had sighed when it became obvious Michael had dipped out, coming up with the only thing he could think of to talk about, “so… netflix.”

Turned out they were both horror movie fans and they’d sat and chatted and agreed about everything for two hours before Calum finally suggested they head out, it was obvious that the yawning girl in front of him was tired from her long day at work.

Calum caught onto Michael’s plan pretty fast and Michael spent many hours coming up with new ways to get Lily and Cal together outside of work.

It was another month before Michael suggested that he needed a workout buddy.

Calum had cocked an eyebrow at him, “you want to work out?”

“Yeah.” Michael tried to sound excited about it but it lacked conviction, “hey, Lily, do you work out?”

“I go for a run every now and again.” she answered, focusing on her drawing.

“A run! That sounds…” for a moment he looked like he was going to try to be enthusiastic but then he broke, “I mean it sounds like torture but I need one I think.”

“Thats something I’d like to see.” Calum chuckled.

“We should all go for a run.”

“I’m in.” Lily said absentmindedly.

Calum’s gaze flickered to her then to Michael who was waiting expectantly. He knew it was another ploy but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Michael in workout gear. “Fine, I’ll come too.”

“Great! Sunday morning?”

----

Michael did not show up on Sunday morning. He sent a text saying he’d meet the pair half way through their run at the park and that they should go without him.

It was a beautiful morning. The day promised to be hot but the morning was cool, sun shining against the morning dew on the grass.

The two began to jog and stayed quiet as they ran.

It wasn’t a surprise when Michael didn’t show up at the halfway mark.

In fact, neither of them even noticed.

As the morning began to get warmer, they were both sweating and Calum finally suggested they stop. LIly collapsed onto a park bench pulling out her water bottle as Calum took off his shirt that was practically soaked.

He groaned at the feel of the air on his newly revealed skin and Lily nearly choked on her water at his gorgeous chest which was covered in tattoos, and perfectly muscular.

“Your tattoos-” she began.

Calum looked down at her, “you like them?”

“They’re beautiful, can… can I-” she began to ask awkwardly.

“Yeah, look as much as you want.” he stepped forward so he could be closer, giving her a better view as she began with the tattoos just under his collar bones.

He explained each one as she went down, watching her focus completely on the black marks that littered his skin.

By the time she got to his abdomen, Lily was surprised she wasn’t drooling. Completely bewitched by each tattoo and the story that came with it.

There was one particular tattoo, just above the waistband of his shorts, and it was so delicately intricate and beautiful, she couldn’t even help herself as she reached out and brushed her fingers against his skin.

His abs immediately flexed, Calum having not expected her prying digits, Lily pulled away immediately, “oh my god I’m so sorry-”

“It’s fine.” Calum assured her, knowing another anxiety ridden stammering rant was coming on, “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

She was already blushing like crazy and Calum was sure it wasn’t from being hot from the run, “hey, would you look at the time!” Lily said, pulling out her phone, “I have places to be.”

“Yeah me too.” Calum lied.

“Well! Nice run!” Lily stood abruptly. There was no awkward move for a hug, they both simply turned opposite ways and ran.

Lily’s heart was racing in her chest. She hadn’t meant to touch him, she just hadn’t been able to help herself. God. He was so fucking hot. She couldn’t even deal with it anymore.

She’d had recurring dreams for over a week of having Calum between her legs like when he was giving her the tattoo, but in her dreams he always had a very different reason for being there.

Likewise, Calum had been so god damned close to letting her explore him with her hands. Her fingers had felt so good. It was insane that her touch had brought electricity coursing through his body like nothing, even the sting of a tattoo gun, had ever done before.

As soon as Calum got home he ran a cold shower, letting the water run over his body but even the shock of the temperature couldn’t distract him. He was in deep already, and he knew it.

----

The others all watched as Lily and Calum interacted the next day.

“The sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife.” Ashton pointed out.

“Do you think anything happened?” Luke asked, taking a bite out of his cucumber.

“I am one hundred percent confident my plan worked.” Michael stated.

“You wanna put money on it?” Luke grinned.

“Fuck yeah, twenty bucks says they fucked.” Michael scoffed.

“Deal.” Luke pushed off of the reception table and walked towards Cal and Lily who were going over the client list for the day. “Cal, I need to ask you something.” he said.

“Go for it.” Calum said, not even looking up.

“Privately.”

Calum sighed, standing and following Luke to the reception desk, “what do you want?”

“We want to know if you finally made a move yesterday.” Luke whispered.

“Fuck are you guys serious?!” Calum groaned, “I am not talking about this.”

He turned and walked back to Lily.

“You owe me twenty.” Luke stated.

“What? No I don’t!” Michael screamed.

“Nothing happened. He’s all wound up still. Nothing happened.”

“He’s got you there.” Ashton pointed out.

“Whose side are you even on you traitor?” Michael glared at Ashton while pulling out his wallet. He handed Luke a twenty.

It had to be, by far, the hardest day for Calum (in more ways than one.)

All he could think about was getting her fingers on his skin again.

He managed to get through most of the day but as the others cleared out until it was just him and Lily, once again, he was in a tough situation.

His last client listened to music with earphones the whole tattoo, leaving Calum and Lily to silence.

He was hyper aware of her as she watched him do the more difficult shading.

He let her wipe away the excess ink and put on the bandage, “you deal with this, I’ll be in the back, there’s a room that needs to be cleaned-”

“The private room? Michael cleaned it after he did that girls tit tattoo.”

“Like I said, it needs to be cleaned a little more.” Calum said.

She watched him go into the back and took the client to the front, taking his payment. The guy left and she locked the front door, turning off the open sign before going to find Calum in the back.

She found him in the private room, standing tall as he wiped down a table. She could only see his back but damn was it a pretty back.

Her heart was thundering in her chest.

She knew what she wanted.

And the logical part of Lily told her that he wanted it too, but the anxious little nugget side wondered ‘what if he doesn’t and you’re about to straight up try to get in your boss’s pants?’

It was a risk.

And Lily did not take risks.

But shit, she couldn’t help herself anymore.

Calum set down the cloth and turned to look at Lily, “you’re done for the day, you can go home.” he said, arms crossing over his broad chest, the tattoos covering his forearms looking absolutely delicious.

“Can I show you my tattoo? Its healed so nicely-”

Calum cocked an eyebrow at her, “go for it.”

He could see the anxiety written all over her face. And she hadn’t tried to show him the tat in a while which he was almost grateful for. Almost. He wondered where this was going to take them.

Lily hesitantly lifted up her skirt and Calum stepped closer to get a better look. Before he could help himself he was on his knees and Lily’s breath caught in her throat.

His fingers brushed over the skin, so lightly that if it wasn’t for the shocks running through her body, she wouldn’t have even been sure if he was making contact.

“Calum, I need to say something.” she said, shocked at her own voice.

He hummed, waiting for her to speak.

“This is going to be the most inappropriate thing I’ve ever said and I’ve said a lot of inappropriate things, fuck, I swear like a trucker half the time, and this is going to fuck me over so bad but I can’t just not say it anymore.” she ranted as Calum stood. At his full height, he towered over her and it distracted her momentarily, loving how he completely dwarfed her. She let out a shaky breath, eyes lingering on his lips momentarily, “fuck.” she cussed.

Calum smirked, “say what you have to say sweetheart.”

The pet name made her heart leap in her chest and she wet her lips subconsciously, “this is so unprofessional.” she groaned.

“Sounds like you have to get it off your chest. And you’re off the clock.” he reminded her.

“Fuck. I really like you.”

That was all he needed.

Calum cupped her face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers. She melted against him, her hands going to the front of his jeans to pull him flush against her. Calum bit down on her lip and Lily moaned loudly into his mouth. Calum was hard in an instant.

His grip went down to her waist as he pushed her back until she hit the tattooing chair, the impact of her bum against the chair made her groan and Calum’s hands moved farther down, grabbing at the fabric of her leather skirt that he dragged up to her hips, exposing the black panties that had been haunting his dreams since he’d first seen them.

His mouth was hot and needy against hers, teeth and tongues clashing in a fiery passion as her fingers went to his hair, grabbing at the thick, dark curls. Calum moaned into her mouth from the small twinge of pain, his grip tightening on her thighs as he lifted her and set her onto the chair.

It was flat, making it easy for him to set her anywhere he liked as he pulled his lips from hers and tore her panties down her legs, shoving them into his back pocket. “Calum.” Lily whimpered, voice needy. His breath wafted over her as he got on his knees on the ground, putting her legs over his shoulders.

Her fingers tangled in his hair as he studied the tattoo for a moment, pressing a soft kiss to the skin that he had marred forever. It was so hot, for both of them, but Lily was anxiously awaiting his mouth as if her life depended on it.

“Please.” she said in the neediest voice Calum had ever heard. He nearly groaned at the sound, turning his attention to where she needed him most.

Calum closed his eyes as he took his first testing lick, wanting to enjoy every moment, every sound, every motion. Calum loved eating girls out, he never got tired of the control, the power, that being between a woman's legs brought him.

Lily shuddered at the first contact of his tongue against her and all of Calum’s self control that he had been so desperately trying to hold onto went out the window. He put his mouth on her fully, hands gripping her thighs as he sucked her clit into his mouth. A loud moan was music to his ears as he focused on the small bundle of nerves, sucking as hard as he thought she could handle.

“Jesus fuck.” Lily moaned, tugging at his hair.

He loved it when she swore.

He loved being the cause of her swearing.

He flicked his tongue against her clit and she cried out louder, both of their grips tightening on each other.

“Fuck Cal I’m gonna-” but she didn’t get to finish her sentence. Calum sucked harder and Lily fell over the edge, moans and whimpers ringing through the small private room as he body convulsed and Calum helped her through it. She was still shuddering when he pulled away, licking his lips as he stood.

She looked so beautiful, skin flushed, just as he liked it.

He gingerly pushed the denim jacket from her shoulders and it slipped to the ground, then his fingers went to the hem of her shirt, pulling that off too. Lily’s eyes were still closed, still in a post orgasm haze as he slowly undressed her, taking his time as his fingers brushed over the tattoos on her arms.

Lily’s eyes fluttered open and Calum enjoyed the beautiful chocolate coloured eyes that looked up at him with lust. Her hands were shaky as she reached out and began to unbuckle his pants.

Calum pressed his lips to hers, reaching around to unclasp her bra. The second the fabric felt away, the slowness was gone, once more replaced by complete passion and lust as Lily pushed Calum’s pants down fully.

She grabbed his hard on and Calum moaned loudly into her mouth as she pumped him a few times, “condoms-” he groaned.

“Birth control.” she stated.

Calum moaned again, “holy fuck.”

He took off his shirt while she continued to work his cock with her hands but as soon as the fabric was gone, he grabbed her fingers, tearing them away and instead putting them on his abdomen, on the skin she’d touched the day before.

He pulled her closer, teasing her entrance with the head of his cock.

“Please.” she whimpered, one of her hands going up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling his lips to hers.

Lily bit down into Calum’s lip and he smirked at the small spasm of pain coursing through his body. He plunged inside of her and Lily moaned, immediately releasing his lip from between her teeth as she gasped into his mouth.

His hands found her waist, anchoring them both as he began to thrust in and out. His hips were buckling of their own accord, Calum completely enraptured by the small, tattooed, blond sitting on his private tattooing chair.

He moved his lips to her neck, biting down against the skin as her fingers tightened in his hair, her lips near his ear as she whimpered loudly, biting down on his ear lobe.

He sucked at her neck, teeth grazing the skin teasingly.

One of her hands moved to his strong shoulders, nails digging against the skin so hard Calum was sure she would leave marks.

But, as they both knew, they both enjoyed pain.

He was getting too close to the edge and he knew it, pulling out of Lily, she whimpered in protest, only to be harshly dragged from the chair and turned around, hips slamming into the soft leather as his hand went to her back, pushing her front so she was flush against the fabric.

He entered her from behind and they both moaned, the new angle hitting a new spot inside of her that was driving them both insane. His hands on her waist easily moved her body to meet every thrust.

Calum was completely using her, and she was enjoying every moment.

A hand wrapped in her blonde hair, tugging so she was standing, back against his chest. His hand moved from her hair to wrap around her front, briefly grabbing her boob and teasing the nipple. Her back arched and she moaned loudly as his hand moved higher still, tattooed fingers wrapping around Lily’s throat.

Her heart was racing in her chest and with the added pressure on her neck, she was seeing stars. Whiney, high pitched whimpers were leaving her pretty lips and Calum was basking in the noise but fuck, he wanted to engulf them. He wanted to breath her.

But the chair wouldn’t do. It was hot, but it wouldn’t work.

This time when Calum pulled out, he dragged the two of them onto the ground, Lily landing on top. She straddled his waist, wasting no time before she sank down on top of him, her hands finding his tattoos chest to anchor herself as she began to move up and down on him.

His hands went to her waist and he looked up at her in wonder as she found a steady rhythm. Little moans left her mouth as she collapsed forward, lips pressing against Calum’s as one of his hands found her hair.

The hand on her hip tried tried to assist her, urging for her to move faster. It was amazing, but Calum was getting impatient again, wanting all the power. All the control.

He flipped them easily and Lily hissed at the cold of the ground on her back but the feeling was immediately forgotten as Calum picked up the fasted rhythm yet.

Her nails tore into his back and their mouths were close but their lips barely touched as they panted against each other. “Fuck.” Lily said, voice shaky, “I’m gonna cum.”

“Me too.” Calum moaned, pistoning into her like a wild man. They were both on the edge and one more thrust engulfed Lily, her body fluttering and convulsing around him which made Calum reach his high too.

He spasmed a little, giving a few more thrusts as their hands tore at each other, mouths hot and pressed together, tongues clashing.

He slowed down and buried his face in her neck, holding himself over her with his forearms.

Lily’s fingers traced Calum’s strong shoulders, “wow.” she breathed.

Calum chuckled, placing one last kiss to her neck before he pulled out and rolled onto the ground next to her.

They both stared at the ceiling, trying to catch their breaths.

Calum sat up and Lily got a good look at his back. She’d broken the skin in three places but it looked beautiful.

Calum groaned, pulling his jeans on. He stood up and buttoned them. Lily appreciated the beautiful man, clad in jeans, looking gorgeous.

He walked to the sink, grabbing some paper towels. He got on his knees between Lily’s legs and cleaned her up, making sure the tattoo was completely wiped. “Birth control.” he smirked, “fucking love it.”

Lily laughed, hiding her face with her hands.

He tossed out the paper towels and came to lie next to her again, pulling her to his side so he could wrap his arm around her.

“We are so fucked.” Lily groaned.

Calum laughed.

They were.

“So… shawarma?” Lily asked.

Calum laughed again, “that’s what I was thinking.”

“Really?” Lily rolled over, hand going to Calum’s chest as she looked up at him.

“We’re the same person. It’s kind of weird actually.”

“If we’re the same person, then what am I thinking right now?” Lily asked.

“You’re thinking that after the schwarma, you should come back to my place and we can trace each others tattoos, go a little slower, and I can make you cum more than just twice.”

Lily laughed, “We must really be connected.”

----

When Calum and Lily walked into the tattoo parlour the next morning, each with a black, iced coffee, it was obvious what had happened.

She was even wearing one of his shirts, paired with the same skirt she’d worn the day before.

There was a mark on her neck.

“It’s like they’re not even trying to hide it.” Michael mused.

“He’s so whipped.” Ashton giggled.

He was.

The guys waited until they could get Calum alone when Lily went on a lunch break to finally ask Calum what happened.

“So are you two finally dating or what?” Luke asked blatantly.

Calum turned to look at them and a flash of pain marred his face momentarily, “uh-”

“You okay?” Ashton asked with concern.

Calum’s eyes widened a little and Michael laughed, “did she tear up your back mate?!”

“She did!” Luke laughed, “she totally did.”

Calum blushed and everyone's eyes widened.

Calum Hood never blushed.

Ashton smirked, “So when’s the wedding?”

----

They spend almost every waking hour together that whole week.

Then the next.

The third week, cuddled in his bed, Duke tucked against Lily’s side, Calum finally asked the question: “want to be my girlfriend?”

He didn’t do love. But he’d never met a girl like Lily before. The past weeks had made him rethink everything he’d ever known to be true. About love, life, happiness.

Everything had changed.

Lily looked up at Calum, finger tracing one of the tattoos on his chest, “yeah.” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

Calum met her gaze, cupping her face to bring her lips to his.

He smiled against her lips, “Thank god for your fucking florals.”

-----

It was no shock that one month became two and two became three.

Attached at the hip like twins, always together, they were the perfect fit. It got to a point where it was almost like they knew what the other was thinking.

Lily was a year into her apprenticeship when Calum announced that it would be her last week. They’d gone out to celebrate, Calum and Lily had even disappeared to the bathroom to celebrate a little in private, much to the dismay of Ashton and Luke, and the glee of Michael.

Calum didn’t even bother to ask Lily what tattoo she had planned for him. He trusted her completely.

The day finally came and once the shop closed, everyone sat around with booze while they watched Lily and Calum. “Pick the place baby.” he smiled.

Lily took his right arm and chose the spot she’d drawn the first chrysanthemum on all those months ago. Calum didn’t look as she drew the pattern, not wanting to ruin the surprise.

He chatted easily, unflinching, with the guys as the buzz of the gun softly filled the room.

“How’s it looking Mike?” Calum asked.

Michael leaned over, looking at Lily’s marks, “looks sick.” Michael grinned.

A little while longer and Lily was cleaning the skin, “okay, you’re all done.” she stated.

Calum brought her lips to his for a kiss before looking down at the tattoo.

He had accepted it would be floral, in fact, he’d been excited about finally having floral.

And he wasn’t disappointed. In fact, his heart swelled in his chest.

Two beautiful Chrysanthemums and a Lily. A little, perfect bouquet, just for him.

“The chrysanthemums so we match-” she began to explain.

“And the Lily because you’re you.” Calum finished for her. Lily flushed and Calum grinned, “Can’t get rid of you now can I?” he teased, “I love it.”

And he did.

But not as much as he loved the woman who had marked his body forever.

Not as much as he loved his Lily.

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reneehearts · 4 years

Text

Not doing this as an ask...because no one ever asks me any 😂

angel; do you have a nickname? Yes: Nee, Renizzle, Nee Nee, Doots

awe; how old are you? 27

baby; favorite color? Purple (I’d you couldn’t tell lol)

bloop; spirit animal? Monkey

blossom; favorite book/movie/song? Water for Elephants/Remember the Titans/Props and Mayhem

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child? Lumpy! He was a lil pastel horse

breeze; most precious childhood memory? Working in the garden with my Papa

bright; mermaids or fairies? Fairies

bubbles; do you have a best friend? I have a few

buttercup; showers or baths? Showers

butterfly; dream destination? Key West or Bahamas...anywhere tropical

buttons; are you religious or spiritual? More spiritual

calm; favorite scent? Pine/Christmas trees

candlelight; what did you dream about last night? I had a dream I was freaking out because I didn’t do my essay for class and it was due in like an hour lol

charming; have you ever been in love? Yes

cozy; eye/hair color? Hazel-ish/blonde

cuddly; what’s your favorite time period? 20s, 90s

cupcake; favorite flower/plant? I have a few favorite flowers: Sunflower, Daisy, Tulip, Lilac/Evergreen tree

cute; what did you get on your last birthday? Jewelry and a designer purse

cutie pie; most precious item you own? My dog

cutsie; what makes you happy? My puppy, ice cream, family/good friends

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free. I don’t know if I ever really have

daydream; how do you want to be remembered? Kind, generous, strong, independent

daylight; favorite album of all time? Collide with the Sky - Pierce the Veil

dear; zodiac sign? Leo

delightful; concerts or museums? Concerts

dimples; have you ever written a letter? Of course

dobby; dream job? Ice cream/candy store owner

doll; how do you like to dress? Cute but casual; leggings, oversized sweaters, bralettes

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences? I’ve had premonition dreams that have come true

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos? I have 8 and probably want more at some point

drizzle; do you believe in aliens? I’m not really sure

euphoric; talk about someone you love. My best friend: she would do anything for me, we have a bond through our ED that is so strong. It’s hard to explain how we are so close, we are very different and come from different lifestyles but she means the world to me. We don’t need to talk everyday to know that we are there for each other.

fairy; do you have a pet? I have my own dog; an Australian Shepherd and my parents have 4 dogs

fluffy; ocean or mountain? Ocean

forever; where do you feel time stop? Work

froglet; are you a good plant owner? Nope

garden; how many languages do you know? English fluently and then a little French and very little italian

gem; who are your favorite tumblrs? I don’t have any “favorites” I just like tumblrs that post relatable and pretty things

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice? Unicorn/fairy dust/pastel

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not? I wouldn’t mind them but I never get them haha

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself. My smile, my hair, my kindness to others, my work ethic and my abs (since I work pretty hard on them lol)

heart; silk or lace? Lace

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it? Coffee with 1% milk

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why? People because you can make up life stories about them and create scenarios. Bird watching would be fun for a little while but boring after a half hour

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep? Fan

jewel; what’s your favorite kind of weather? Hot and sunny!

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends? Have leisurely breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday morning, go to the city either Friday or Saturday and go on adventures, shopping, watch tv and relaxing

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more? Laugh out loud

kinky; do you blush easily? Nah not really

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most? Grand gestures once in a while

kitty; what’s your favorite time of the day? Breakfast time

ladybug; what’s your favorite artist to listen to when you’re sad? I don’t really have an artist I have various songs by a lot of different people

love; what is your favorite season and why? Summer because I love the heat and being able to wear shorts and flip flops and not wearing 7 layers

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream? Macaron: I haven’t had too many but probably either chocolate or cotton candy. Ice cream: a mocha flavor with either brownie hits, Oreo pieces, or chocolate covered espresso beans

magic; what are five flaws you have? I can get mad easily, I’m not patient, I have ridiculous eating habits, I can be lazy and I have trouble communicating how I’m feeling

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks? Soft pastels

munchkin; what do you look for in your significant other? Humor, good looks, kindness, generosity, optimistic

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date? It depends on the season! Hah

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself? On the internet, social media, playing with my puppy, working out, listening to music, watching tv.

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life? Always be kind and respectful because why not?

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more? Bake

prince; how would you describe your handwriting? Neat but after I’ve been writing for a while it turns into a print/script writing

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play? I can play the flute but I haven’t in a while

prinky; how do you relieve stress? Snuggle with my puppy

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/vegetable? Raspberry/asparagus

rainbow; what was the last line of the last book you read? I have no clue

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far? I really have no idea

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you? My gramma’s death

shine; art or music? Music

shimmer; do animals tend to like you? Yes

smitten; do you collect anything? Pins

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with? 1 tempur pedic type pillow then a small pillow on the side

snuggle; what is your favourite candy? Chocolate specifically dark

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind? I have the camera on my phone

sparkle; do you wear jewelry? Yes, rings, bracelets and earrings

spooky; sunrise or sunset? Sunset

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones? No headphones

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child? As a young kid: Barney, as a teen: Lizzie McGuire/Hannah Montana

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house. Either my bed or the couch

soothe; digital or vinyl? Digital

squeezed; who do you miss right now? A few people

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends? Loyalty, kindness, humor

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing? It depends on the situation but usually practical

sweet; do you find it easy to open up? Depends on the person honestly

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any? I do like kids and I want them but I’m not ready yet

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they? My old boss even tho I have lost touch with her

toot; what is something you find unique about yourself? How observant I am

tootsie; what kind of friend are you? Loving, generous, loyal

treasure; what was something that made you smile today? A student that said hi to me

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl? Unfortunately an early bird

whiffle; if you could have a magical power, what would it be? Teleportation

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out? Depends but usually home especially in the winter when it’s freezing

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup? Nope

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person? Mostly tidy

wispy; do you like the place where you grew up? do you think you will live there when you get older? I do love the place I grew up and I’ve moved away and now I’m back, but I just can’t take the cold weather and how expensive it is to sustain yourself here

wobbly; have you ever wished upon a star? I think once

Source: luneve

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cynoirsure · 5 years

Text

sweetener | jjk

pairing — jungkook x reader

word count — 12.4k

genre — bakery!au, fluff

summary — running your up and coming bakery with an attractive boy named Jeon Jungkook turns out to be harder than anything you learned in pastry school.

warnings/tags — none!!

a/n — im telling you now, i’ve been thinking about this fic since september. i had this as a bulletpointed idea but after seeing bts live i’ve been uhh looking like the kermit furiously typing gif. i have not written a fic in a HOT second so this might be a lil mediocre!! also publishing a fic for the first time!! big scary!!

“Add 70 g of egg whites into a bowl, when the egg whites become frothy, add half the sugar,” You mutter to yourself, before pausing. “...and multiply the recipe by 40.” Ever since your best friend left your co-owned bakery for grad school, you’ve been feeling spent by the amount of work being done at your bakery by yourself. You and your friend had never felt the need to hire anyone else since you two were pretty productive, but since you were alone, you took on a lot of responsibilities at the bakery now, including but not limited to: finally nailing the macaron recipe, actually confronting your fear of making croissants, and even sucking it up and actually making the damn tart crusts.

You sighed, zoning back into the macaron shell recipe that your friend had written down, and you realized you really couldn’t do this alone. The bakery could only be open for so long with only one person in the back of the house and also working the cash register. You stopped the stand mixer, walking into the office and typing a simple sign that did the job: Now Hiring Bakers!

The next few days were filled with numerous hopefuls, including teenagers with similar ambitions of yours when you were in high school, amateurs who only knew how to make box cake mix and chocolate chip cookies (you shuddered at the fear of inaccuracy), and other people who only wanted to work because you were cute. After shoving the last person out for said reason, you hit your head on the stacks of resumes in your hand. You were beginning to lose hope in whoever would aid you in helping out the bakery, and at this point you were thinking of switching locations to a smaller storefront so you could manage it all by yourself. Just as you set down the stacks of papers, you hear the door’s bell jingle, and a man who couldn’t be much older than you walks in.

And you couldn’t miss how cute this guy was. He walked in with a simple outfit on, a simple white t-shirt and black jeans, but you could tell that he was fit from the way his arms contoured as he pushed through the door.

“Good uhh...afternoon!” He starts off, pausing halfway to check his watch for the time to make sure he was accurate with the time. “My friend Hoseok was telling me about how one of his favorite bakeries was hiring and I was curious if the position was still open?” His fringe fell in front of his eyes and you were faintly reminded of a coconut.

You hummed in approval, smiling softly. “Ah yes, Mr. Jung and his love of strawberry shortcakes, my own specialty! Well, we are still hiring indeed,” you nod towards the table with the stacks of resumes still stacked. You both take a seat at said table, and he rummages around in his backpack before giving his own resume to you.

“My name is Jeon Jungkook, I’m fresh out of undergrad and I would like to help out in the kitchen!” Jungkook introduces himself to you with a small smile, and you gloss over the resume that he had just given you. He recently graduated from one of the top schools in the nation and his previous job experiences have all been working at Michelin star restaurants. Quite honestly, you were shocked. Whatever deity above had planned for you, you were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Your mouth opens to a small o as you set down the resume, blinking at him.

“You graduated from one of the best schools in the nation, used to work at a Michelin star restaurant, and now you’re here? Why?” You questioned carefully, not to sound too harsh with your word choice. Jungkook’s ears went pink and he looked down into his lap.

“I… Really like the small bakery concept.” He says quietly, his voice suddenly softer and lacking the confidence that was once in his voice. You had to lean in a little more to hear what he was saying, intrigued. “I found my passion of baking when I studied abroad in France my junior year of college, seeing all the different ways this art had come along.” You smile softly, the memory close to your heart as well.

“What’s your favorite thing to bake, Mr. Jeon?” You asked after a pause of comfortable silence. He smiled to himself, before looking up at you. “I love making tarts!”

And with that, you knew the search was over. A cute guy with a passion to making tarts, something you could never nail yourself? “Welcome to the team, Jungkook!” You grinned, holding out your hand.

—

Hiring Jungkook was arguably the best and worst thing to happen to your bakery. On one hand, he was bringing in a lot of customers, the bakery was more busy than it has been before, you could get him to carry most of the deliveries in, and you could finally reach the Good Stand Mixer that your friend put on the top shelf, for some reason. Maybe it was so that the next person you would hire would have good muscles, or by some miracle, you’d grow a bunch so you can reach the top shelf.

However, since the bakery had been getting more busy, you couldn’t be as lax as you were before. With the amount of girls coming in to ogle at Jungkook when he would work at the counter, you had to wake up 2 hours earlier than you would usually to make enough to last you to at least 2:30, and your bakery opened up at 11 AM every day.

Not to mention, he wasn’t just a distraction to the girls coming in. You couldn’t stop yourself from watching his muscles flex while he stirred the last of a cake batter together, or feel a slight twinge of jealousy when he would arrive before it’s time to open up the shop and see his snatched waistline before he put on his apron over his outfit.

You couldn’t blame him, though. He was as equally as dedicated to the bakery as you were, as shown from the multiple times you’d come into the bakery early and he’d already be there, working on something in the kitchen, his oversized black shirt covered in flour.

“Oh? You’re here early, Jungkookie.” You muse, sipping from the mug of cherry blossom tea that you brought down. You lived in the apartment right above the bakery, so you were comfortable with coming down in the morning in your pajamas before Jungkook would come in to help finish off what you had started to decorate. He grinned at you, revealing what he had been working on so early in the morning.

“Ta-da! Try this, it’s a blueberry basil tart!” He smiled so hard that the crinkles in his eyes appeared, a different kind of smile than the one he would show the girls who would come in. You set down the mug, walking over and grabbing a pair of forks for you and him. He already had grabbed a knife to slice a piece of tart for you, beyond excited for you to try the tart. You hold out another fork with him, clinking the forks together before taking a bite of the tart.

You knew this boy said he was famous for his tarts, but what he had put in front of you was like nothing else of its kind. You looked up at his smile, eyes wild in bewilderment.

“Hey Jungkook, do you think you can make like… 4 more of these, full sized? I think I might put them on the menu for today…” You start off. You had never even entertained the idea of a pastry of the day until he came along. His eyes lit up and he grinned at you, suddenly enveloping you in a hug.

“Thank you for giving me a chance, this is what I was truly missing in the Michelin star restaurant experience.” He whispered into your ear, you still being frozen from the sudden hug. You awkwardly hug him back, patting his back and nodding slowly.

“No problem, Kook. Now get to work! We need to put this on the menu.” You pulled away, giving Jungkook two thumbs up and going to the front of the house to find the whiteboard marker to write on the mirror behind the cash register. Jungkook went into full concentration mode, and you started to clean in preparation for the wave of girls that were to come in soon.

—

Turns out that Jungkook making new pastries every day brought out your own creative side as well. Often times, instead of waking up early, you would make some cold brew coffee in the morning and drink it while you were brainstorming ideas to make at night. Jungkook would also stay up with you to a certain extent, but you found out that he lived an hour away from the bakery and when 10:30 would hit, you’d practically push him out of the bakery and wait for his bus with him before going up to your apartment to sleep.

This would become a regular occurrence, even if it meant he would try to pout his way through asking you to stay over. However, one day, you forget to do so. You and Jungkook were super invested in making an earl grey lavender panna cotta that you had seen in a recipe book beforehand but didn’t remember any of the measurements that came along with it. Needless to say, the last 7 hours were tweaking the perfect earl grey to lavender ratio, as well as scooping out the usual popular cookie flavors so you could just pop them in the oven tomorrow morning.

“Let’s take a break, yeah Kookie?” You arched your back, hearing your spine pop in satisfaction before grabbing your phone. He picked up his phone as well, shooting a look at you when the clock read 1 AM.

“Were we really… Grinding for 7 hours for opening today?” He questioned, confused. You raised an eyebrow, checking your own phone and your eyes almost popping out of their sockets. You were pretty sure that the buses weren’t running anymore and you didn’t know how to get Jungkook home since rideshares in your area weren’t always the best.

“Uh, do you have a car or something to take you home?” You asked, leaning onto the counter when he ruffled his hair, shaking his head. “I can call you an Ube--” “Is it possible for me to stay over tonight? I don’t wanna worry my my mom if i’m in an untrusted car,” he smiled, pinching your cheek. “And I don’t want you to worry either. What if I get kidnapped?” He jokes lightly, but your eyes widen in realization that he’s probably right, what if he had died on his way home? You couldn’t bear to lose another beloved worker, especially one that had done way more for the business than you would like to admit.

“I haven’t cleaned in like, a week, but I guess you can come up and crash on my couch for the night?” You were skeptical. Not to mention, Jungkook would be the first boy (that isn’t your best friend’s boyfriend) that would be up in your apartment, and needless to say, you were extremely nervous. Not like your apartment wasn’t dirty, you liked to keep it pretty tidy, and even all your Rilakkuma bears were arranged pretty nicely on your bed and couch.

Even so, you couldn’t drive and it would be cruel to send him home so late. “... Mayhaps, but you still have to show up for work tomorrow, yeah, Kookie?” You say sternly, and he smiled happily, nodding.

“Thank you so so much! I owe you my life, mon petit chou!” The nickname slips out of Jungkook’s mouth and his eyes widen, covering his mouth.

You blink, tilting your head. “A small cabbage, how cute.” You laugh softly, going over to the door that led upstairs. “Well, what are you waiting for? Are you gonna stand there shocked all night or are you coming up?” You ask, making Jungkook snap out of his shocked state and follow you up the stairs. You fumbled with the keys for a quick second before opening the door and toeing off your shoes. Your apartment was a small one bedroom apartment with a futon couch in the living room with 3 bear plushies on it. You went to go grab the spare pillows and blankets in the bedroom closet, gently reminding Jungkook to take off his shoes before setting up his bed for the night.

“Why don’t you go shower so I can set up your bed? I can get you a towel and something to change into?” You turn to Jungkook, who was currently taking off his sneakers. You smile, ruffling his head and opening the door to the bathroom. You grabbed a towel and large shirt that you hoped would fit him as well as some flannel pants, both acquired from when your friend moved away, and set it in the bathroom. As Jungkook went in to shower, you set up the couch to be bearable for at least one night.

When Jungkook came out of the bathroom, you were half awake, watching Great British Bake Off on Netflix and wrapped up in the fleece blanket you had set for him to sleep with, already changed into your sleepwear. He smiled softly, sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

“Are you having fun, petit chou?” He laughed softly, you nodding in and out of your sleep. You were too tired to form a response, you two watching together as they struggled to bake their roulades in time. By the time the episode was over, the room was more quiet than usual. Jungkook stretched his limbs out and sat up to ask you a question, however, you were knocked out, curled up in a warm fleece ball and hugging the Korilakkuma plush close. He smiled, rearranging you so you were laying down on the couch, laying on the floor and preparing himself for a less comfortable night than what you attempted to prepare for him.

—

You woke up the next morning, unfamiliar with your surroundings for about 5 seconds before realizing you were on your couch. You relaxed back into the couch, before freezing up once more. Why were you on the couch?

You sit up on the couch, turning towards the TV and noticing the sleeping figure on the floor. Jungkook had fallen asleep on the floor, one arm cushioning the back of his head and the other one lazily wrapped around his waist, making you feel terrible. Gingerly stepping around Jungkook, you started to make breakfast for the both of you. You plugged in your headphones and started playing music as you took out the ingredients for Nutella crepes.

Jungkook woke up half an hour later, sitting up and watching you wrap up the crepes before clearing his throat. You didn’t pay attention to the sound, Shawn Mendes’s In My Blood blasting in your earbuds. One moment you heard Shawn’s voice loud and clear, and suddenly, one earbud was gently tugged out of your ear, but enough that it startled you.

“Jesus, Kookie, can’t I enjoy Shawn Mendes in peace?” You frown up at him. He flashed a grin at you, shaking his head. He stepped away from you and walked around to go stand at the opposite side of the table, grabbing a plate and thanking you for the breakfast. You both eat in a comfortable silence, your headphones long discarded in favor of the quiet morning with Jungkook.

After breakfast, you got ready while he washed dishes, much to your protest. You also figured out over breakfast that you would be in charge of the front of the house, so you went into the bathroom to put on your face of makeup and putting in your contacts before coming out. You were mesmerized by the way his muscles moved while he was doing simple things such as washing the dishes. He catches you staring, grinning when you blush and turn away, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna go downstairs and start baking off the cookies, yeah?” You say, still not looking up at him. “You go wash up, you smell, Kookie.” You waved to the younger, laughing awkwardly. You didn’t want to make eye contact since you knew Jungkook had that stupid shit-eating grin on his face. “Don’t forget to lock the door before going down, yeah?” You were putting on your shoes, checking if you had everything one more time (even if you did live upstairs from where you worked).

And it baffled you as to why you suddenly got extremely jealous with every girl that walked through and flirted with Jungkook that day.

There are 14 days in 2 weeks. In the last 14 days, Jungkook stayed over 10 times.

You weren’t complaining at all, however. You were kinda glad that the weird tension from the first time that Jungkook had stayed over had gone away, and even if he was staying on the couch, it wasn’t weird. You two even stayed up sometimes running to the 7/11 near your house to pick up some things that you could easily distinguish as his in your house including a child’s toothbrush of Ryan, the Kakao Talk character, some bunny slippers for wearing inside the house, and a bunch of candy that you guys could snack on while watching The Great British Bake Off.

Some nights, however, you felt lonely, even if there were two people in your one bedroom apartment. You would fall asleep thinking about if Jungkook was in the empty space next to you, cuddling into your bear plush harder and wishing it was the brown haired boy instead. You would dream about doing extremely domestic things with him, waking up and bitterly drinking a cup of coffee within the same boat as your emotions.

You couldn’t even get started on seeing him in the morning. While he was at the stand mixer making the first batch of meringues for the day, you had to refrain from hugging him from behind. You know he probably wouldn’t mind you back hugging him but to be safe, you just stood next to him and quietly leaned on him. You didn’t miss the soft smile that would curve onto his face and the arm that wrapped around you to pull you into a side hug. Your heart was beating so loud that you feared that he would hear and tease you, but he never said anything about it.

As the days passed by, you noticed that Jungkook would bring upstairs more and more of his personal items before work began (if he went home that previous night), and the sun started to set before 6:30. This was the prime time to finally make a move that could change gears on your relationship with Jungkook. “Ah, the autumnal equinox. The rise of pumpkin spice, chai tea, apple flavored baked goods, and cuffing season.” Jungkook saunters into the bakery bright and early, his voice snapping you out of your thoughts. You turned to him, squinting at all of the things he had just listed. He grinned at your reaction, peeking over your shoulder to see the words flavor of the day: chai spice macarons written on the announcement mirror.

“And I see you’ve fallen victim to at least one of those things.” He chuckles and you roll your eyes, turning back around with the whiteboard marker in hand. You continue to mind your own business decorating said mirror, humming along to Don’t Forget by Crush and Taeyeon playing in the background. A few beats pass before you feel a pair of arms wrap around your waist, his brown hair coming into view on your right side as his chin rests comfortably on your shoulder. Typically, the height difference would’ve been a lot more noticeable, but since you were standing on a stool to write on the mirror comfortably, the difference was bearable for once. You freeze up a little and you bump your head lightly into him, heat rising to your cheeks.

“Do you need something, Kookie?” You question, and he squeezes his arms lightly around your waist. Since the weather was cooling down, you opted to wear a fluffy knit sweater over some high waisted shorts, and when he squeezed, you could feel his arms around you instead of just the fabric lightly pressing into your skin.

“Do you think… I could sleep with you in your bed tonight?” He asks softly, and your eyes widen, dropping the marker in your hand. Upon seeing your reaction, his own eyes widen for a second before he laughs. “No, not like that, silly! Unless you want to-” he starts, before you start to wiggle out of his grasp.

“You’re disgusting, Kook,” you laugh off, hiding your embarrassed expression and shaking your head. He grins, squeezing you tighter in his grasp. “... But since you asked so nicely, I guess. Don’t expect me to cuddle you, though! I would still prefer to cuddle with my bear rather than you!” You joke lightly, the lie going right through your teeth. He grins, nuzzling into your neck and making you blush even more. This was the first time that he’d ever been so affectionate with you aside from the casual side hug, and you weren’t sure if it was because of the favor or if he was being legitimate with laying on the affection so heavy.

“Mhm, but you’re still warm nonetheless so don’t be surprised when you wake up and I’m spooning you.” He releases his hold on you, grinning and going into the kitchen. You were stuck in your place, hearing the pans start to bang in the back and you just sighed, burying your face into your hands. Tonight will be a long night, and you’re not sure whether or not you’re on board with it or you’re against it.

—

“Hey, I think we should head up, yeah?” Jungkook nudges you as you pull out your latest attempt at your friend’s famous recipe for apple cider donuts. You purse your lips, looking at your watch. The watch read back 2:30 AM, and you realized that meant by the time you got into the bed (with Jungkook, you mentally reminded yourself), you would have to wake up in 3 hours.

“Kookie, why didn’t you tell me earlier? You knew we would have to get up early to finish the cakes anyways!” You huffed, pouting at him. He laughed softly, pulling the tray of donuts from your hand and placing them onto the speed rack.

“I’m sorry,” he smiled, taking your hand as you both headed towards the door that led to the upstairs apartment. “You just looked super in thought with whatever you were baking, I didn’t want to interrupt.” You noticed the way he held your hand, as you guys both went up the stairs. “I was also busy with closing up the shop, since you were in the back of the house all day. Why don’t you wash up first, hm? I’m gonna make some tea for us.” He patted your head, going into the kitchen, toeing off his shoes on the way. His uniform was still on, you noticed, making you smile as you went into the bathroom to prepare for the night.

Once you were out the bathroom, you could hear Jungkook on the phone when you waddled out in your pajamas, and he turned when he heard your feet padding through the hallway. He bid goodbye to who he was on the phone with (his mother, you presumed) and he held out the mug full of sleepytime tea to you. He had taken off the apron, and his hair, once styled to reveal his forehead, had been reverted back to his natural hairstyle. You waddled over, taking the mug with a silent thanks and you sat across from him at the bar table.

“What’s your fondest memory?” You ask him after you finished half your tea, making him look up from absentmindedly scrolling on his phone. He purses his lips in thought, before sighing.

“When I studied abroad during my junior year, I was stuck at the train station and I didn’t have enough money to get home. I didn’t know what to do, so I set down the hat I was wearing at the time and I started to sing.” He nodded, taking another sip of his tea. “I only say it was fond because so many people gathered around to hear me do this mediocre cover of Sofa by Crush, and so many girls offered to pay for me. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even hit most of the lower notes.” He laughed softly, finishing the tea in his mug, watching as you also finish your tea. “What about you?” He questions after setting both mugs in the empty sink, you standing to join him at the other side of the table.

“I think my fondest memory has to be opening up this bakery. Me and my best friend had always talked about opening up a bakery together, and seeing it all come together seems like it happened so long ago, when in reality the bakery’s only been open for two years, going on three in February.” You smile fondly at the memory of the first day, leaning on him. “I’ve always been super dedicated to the bakery, if there was a day that passed that I didn’t want to work to open it, I feared I would lose the passion to open it...” You were beginning to fight the sleepiness, and he could tell.

“Let’s get to sleep, yeah?” He picks you up, your arms wrapping around his neck on instinct. You clung to him like a sloth, nuzzling your head into his neck. Once you two got into your room, he laid you down gently, pulling the bear you promised to hug from where he was to lay and into your arms. He went to go change into his nightwear, and soon enough, you felt the bed dip and a certain pair of muscular arms encircle you, as well as a soft whisper of your name.

“Goodnight, mon petit chou.”

“Shut up, Jungkook”

—

When you woke up the next morning, the bear you promised you’d cuddle all night had ended up on the floor, the bed sheets tangled between your and Jungkook’s legs, and you were cuddling into his chest as much as you could. He was still fast asleep, holding onto you like you were about to fall apart in his arms any moment. The warmth that you two created was too comfortable to move, and you contemplated closing the bakery for the day to stay in bed all day with him.

An alarm went off what felt like 10 minutes later, Troye Sivan’s Youth playing throughout the room. Of course that was Jungkook’s ringtone. You laughed at the thought but when you saw that he wasn’t waking up immediately, you took matters into your own hands. Rolling over him so you were on top, you sat up straight before shaking him a little.

“Kookie, it’s time to wake up for work!” You chirp, seeing a grin rise on his face. Suddenly, you were pulled down from arms that snuck up to your face. You yelped in surprise, wiggling wildly when he laughed softly against your struggle.

“You make too much noise in the morning and you’ve barely moved.” He says into your ear, one arm letting half of your body free as he snoozes his alarm. “Let’s just stay in~ I don’t want to leave the bed.” He grinned, nuzzling your neck. Right as you were about to answer him back, you hear your text tone go off, your best friend’s name flashing across the screen. You sit up on top of Jungkook, pursing your lips in curiosity of what they had wanted so early in the morning.

“I think we’d have to close today anyways, we’re busy!” You grinned, showing him your screen. Your friend had sent a message about a cake for a locally famous artist, Kim Taehyung. Jungkook raised an eyebrow as to question why you would need his contact. “My friend and I have been in talks with Taehyung since we opened this place, and we’re in charge of making the star of his next gallery opening, the most over-the-top cake you can imagine!” You were ecstatic, much like a kid being given an unlimited budget in a candy store. Jungkook smiled at your excitement, happy for you as well as the bakery.

“So we’re closing up shop today so we can work on this cake with the artist?” Jungkook questioned. He wanted to know more about this Taehyung character and your relation to him. He knew of the artist from some of his shows at art museums around the city, since Jungkook was also a fan of art. You crawled back into the bed with Jungkook, nodding and smiling up at him.

“Yep! And not to mention, since it’s only the appointment today, we can stay in and sleep a little longer.” Your arm lazily draped around him, giggling as he pulled you closer and enclosing you in his arms.

“Oh? More time with you is always great.” He grinned down at you. You couldn’t look at him long, since you knew you’d get lost in him if you stared any longer. You felt something soft brush the top of your head, and as quick as it was there, it was gone. “What time do we have to be downstairs then, hm?” He asks quietly, stroking your hair slowly and you felt yourself falling asleep under his touch.

“We go down when the bakery typically opens, and we just talk with the client,” you say sleepily, snuggling into him, “and then we draw up the cake and make the dream come true, since we only get a 48 hour notice, unless it’s a wedding cake.” You two fall in a comfortable silence, and when Jungkook realizes your breathing has gone even and you were fast asleep, he smiles, kissing your forehead and bidding you a goodnight before falling asleep himself, his head resting comfortably on top of yours.

—

Jungkook’s first love was you. He always thought that falling in love hit you immediately, but he fell in love with the way you did small things, how you used to wait with him for the bus home, telling him to text you when he gets back, and even the way you looked when you were so deep in concentration while decorating a single dessert. It was one of his own mottos that living without passion is like being dead, and it filled his heart with joy to see how passionate you were about the bakery.

He didn’t understand why it was so hard for him to make eye contact with Taehyung when the three of you were in the room together. You and Taehyung had clicked and when he decided to zone back into the conversation, you two would be reminiscing about your high school days. From the information that he gathered, you two and the original co-owner of the bakery were the inseparable trio during high school, and while you were drawing out the cake, he noticed that sometimes Taehyung would take the pencil from you and draw some of his own things, and he wasn’t sure if you were totally okay with that.

The hour consultation felt like years to Jungkook, and when it was over he was more than relieved. You and Taehyung said your goodbyes and once Taehyung left, Jungkook wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around you and never let you go.

“What’s up, Jungkook? You seem a little off.” You frown, poking at Jungkook’s side. The time after Taehyung left, Jungkook had been uncharacteristically silent, literally punching into the fondant while he was kneading it out. You figured the poking was going to do nothing, so you went with the second thing that would definitely get his attention. Your arms wrapped around him from behind, the younger boy immediately going tense. He stopped kneading the fondant, sighing and turning to you. He enclosed you in a warm hug, nuzzling his nose into your hair.

“I don’t know, I felt super out of place when you and Taehyung were talking.” He admits, not wanting to look at you. He didn’t want to see how sad you would get when both of you would make eye contact. You blink, trying to figure out why he was so sensitive about Taehyung, when it all clicked in a second.

“Kookie~ Are you jealous of Taehyung?” You giggled, pulling away and scrunching up your nose at him. “Why would you be jealous of Tae?” Jungkook’s ears went red. He turned away from you, the embarrassment creeping up on him quick. You laughed softly, shaking your head at him.

“I don’t know… I didn’t like the way he was looking at you and stuff. It sounds stupid, we’re not even dating, let alone roommates, but like--” Your laughing caught him off guard from him spilling his feelings, and for a split second, he was offended. You made eye contact with him, a mischievous glint in your eyes.

“Kookie… He’s gay and we’ve been best friends for years, it’s nothing big, okay?” You patted his head, pulling away completely. He stood there shocked, mouth wide open. You tilted your head slightly in curiosity, a slightly amused look on your face as he started to stutter. “Enough of that, Jungkookie! Let’s get to baking this cake! The event is tomorrow and I’m not letting you stay in my apartment to just gawk at my friends and their sexual orientation!” You grinned, going back to trimming the cakes. Jungkook shook his head, going back to kneading the colors into the fondant. He really should’ve asked more about Taehyung preceding the consultation, but what was done was done, and he just made a big fool of himself in front of you.

----

The cake that Taehyung wanted was requested as such: “This is my first solo show, and a lot of my pieces are based off of my trip to Italy. Can you make something reminiscent of the Spanish Steps in Rome? But in a fashion that it incorporates mostly this one specific blue palette! Oh, and the cake flavors could be chocolate cappuccino torte!”. Even if you did love Taehyung with all your soul, him being the missing third in your best friend trio, his request was insane and you had to brainstorm the final idea 4 times before both of you compromised on the final look.

You and Jungkook worked nonstop on the cake, only pausing when an alarm went off at 7 to eat food instead of just sustaining off of small pieces of cake and other various leftover desserts that were left in the fridge that had not spoiled.

As you guys ate dinner, Jungkook had a million questions about Taehyung. Such questions included things as how you met, craziest thing you had done together, and if he ever kissed you, which you couldn’t help but look at him as if he was insane. The conversation was so extensive that it had gone into past dinner and into your round two of throwing the cakes in the refrigerator and molding fondant flowers.

You couldn’t help but look over at Jungkook’s concentrated state, watching him delicately thin the edges of the petal and attach it onto the rest of the fondant flower. Taehyung had chosen the crocus flower for this cake, a flower that both you and Jungkook were unfamiliar with. You took it upon yourself earlier to google what the flower was and it what it looked like. The crocus flower is a late blooming flower, an autumn flower that represents youthful joy, which you thought was extremely fitting for Taehyung. Once you and Jungkook saw the image, you set to work with the fondant, teaching Jungkook since he had never made fondant flowers before.

The quiet of the bakery seemed to be too much for the both of you, so a while after dinner, you turned your phone back on to blast music in the back of the house on the overhead speakers. You two worked all night, leaving the fondant flowers out to dry, doweling the cake, and making the basic structural components to the cake. Time seemed to pass by faster when you were working with music, sometimes you would catch Jungkook staring at you while you were working, and while you joked with him to get back to work, you also couldn’t help but stare at him when it was his turn to be busy.

A pot of tea later you and Jungkook had finally finished, watching the sun rise through the window and the early morning businessmen speed walk their way to the train. The clock read 8AM as you both went back up into your apartment, not even bothering to change as you both wiped out on your bed, your head resting on Jungkook’s chest and his arm wrapped around your waist.

By the time you had woken up, it was 3PM, and the lack of warmth from underneath you had woken you up. You smelled something coming from the kitchen, which automatically registered as fear in your brain. The last time Jungkook had cooked in the kitchen, he ended up burning the scrambled eggs that he tried surprising as breakfast in bed for you, and you had woken up just in time before your kitchen (your most sacred area in the house) had burned down. You immediately kicked off the covers, speed waddling into the kitchen to be met with Jungkook’s back, bent over to the oven to pull out a pan of roasted brussel sprouts, potatoes, and beets. Jungkook turned around, flinching a little by your presence, but laughing at your surprised reaction because of him cooking with ease.

“I googled a recipe, if you were wondering.” Jungkook smiled, setting the pan down over the stove and removing the oven mitt. You breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to Jungkook and grabbing bowls and forks from the cabinet.

“We shouldn’t eat a lot, Kookie. If we have a lot of time tonight, I’ll make dinner, okay?” You passed him a bowl, pulling out a spatula to spoon some of the vegetables on the pan onto your plate. You and Jungkook ate in silence, and you took into account the different spices he had used, each differing with the vegetable he had used. After your meal, you both went back downstairs to put the cake into the box, carrying it into the car. The cake ended up being 4 tiers and if you were honest, one of the best cakes you had done. You felt a surge of pride as you and Jungkook went back, a smile so wide on your face that Jungkook couldn’t help but notice.

“What’s with the smile, hm?” Jungkook pinched your cheek lightly, your attention going back to him. He seemed to beam when he was opening the door for you, the sun setting by the time you went back into the store front. You gestured to go back upstairs, your smile less wide but still with as much heart as before.

“I’m just really proud of this cake, as stupid as it sounds. I’ve made and decorated a lot of cakes in the short time of me being a professional baker, but this one really does hold a special place in my heart because of the aesthetic Tae was going for. I went to Italy for a semester abroad in college and just seeing how similar it looks to when I went, I feel proud with the outcome of the cake.” You smiled, unlocking the door and kicking your shoes off immediately. As you walked over to the couch, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel his heart surge with a new wave of love for you.

“Let’s go to Italy someday,” Jungkook blurts out, making you turn around. His eyes widen and he’s quick to follow up “... soon! Like as a friend vacation or something, we can bring along like, Hoseok and Taehyung or something.” He scratches the back of your head. You blush at the idea of going out to Italy, just the two of you on a gondola, leaning in for a kiss--

Your text tone snaps you out of your thoughts, a specific sound only set aside for texts from Taehyung. You whip out your phone, unlocking it quickly to see the message.

[From: Taehyungie 4:15 PM]: heyyyy bb forgot 2 tell u

[From: Taehyungie 4:15 PM]: yr invited tnight!! bring ur bf

[From: Taehyungie 4:16 PM]: cocktail party, not too formal, dont forget the cake

You furrowed your brows at the text, completely disregarding the second part of the second text. Taehyung must have something up his sleeve if he was inviting you along, but you knew you couldn’t get it out of him. You knew Taehyung was good at one thing particularly, and that was the element of surprise.

“Ah, looks like we were invited? It’s not out of the ordinary, but I don’t know if you brought any semi-formal clothes?” You looked up at the younger one, who’s current outfit was his usual white shirt and black pants, only instead of it being clean, it was covered in flour, freeze dried fruit powder, and powdered sugar.

“Oh, I think you mentioned it to me, I can go see what I brought? You can change first, I’ll just change after you.” He nods, watching you type away on your phone. You quickly typed a response, making sure Jungkook couldn’t see your phone. You got up from the couch, walking into your room and into the closet.

[To: Taehyungie 4:23 PM]: o,,, ok

[To: Taehyungie 4:23 PM]: hes not my boyfriend tae

[From: Taehyungie 4:25 PM]: ok but dont blame me when i claim his as mine :P

[From: Taehyungie 4:26 PM]: set up the cake in the main room and then come into the main gallery, you wont miss much with the way you work!!!

You looked up at the dresses that were hanging in your closet, opting for a black halter neck keyhole dress. You hurried into the bathroom, changing quickly and grabbing all the makeup and your contacts, doing your makeup in the vanity as Jungkook went in to change into whatever he pulled out.

When the bathroom door opened once you were done doing your makeup, you knew if you weren’t gone before from what charms Jungkook had, you were definitely a goner by now. Jungkook walked back out with his hair styled to reveal his forehead, a little makeup on, with a fitted all-black tuxedo look, dressed down a little with a few buttons unbuttoned so that it was more casual than having a tie on over the black dress shirt. You don’t think you’ve ever seen a man dress up this nice and this well, and you’ve gone to numerous opera nights where the dress code was formal. Your face went red as he turned to face you, a smirk on his face. It was different than the shit eating smile that he would give you when he wanted something from you.

No, this was some kinda Big Dick Energy smile you had only seen once before. You shuddered when he checked you out, a lazy grin on his face. This was not the first time Jungkook had teased you like this. He’d only done this once before when you were seeing him off one night at the bus stop, after he asked for a kiss on the cheek goodbye.

“You clean up pretty well, mon petit chou.” He chuckles, and you had to hide your blushing face from him. Your hands quickly flew to your face, and all you could hear was his faint laugh. “Why won’t you look at me, hmm?” He typically didn’t like to play around like this, but seeing you all flustered over his look made him feel more confident in the look.

“There you go with the cabbage thing again! Why do you keep calling me a cabbage?” You pouted up at Jungkook, trying to wiggle your hands out of his grasp. He chuckled, letting go of your hands.

“I’ll explain later, but for now, we have an event to go to, don’t we?” Jungkook grinned, standing up and extending his hand to you. You sighed, rolling your eyes and grabbing his hand. Once he pulled you up from the bed and you rearranged your dress, you both went to go slip on your pair of easy black heels, and respectively, his own dress shoes (which you had never seen till today? Jungkook was full of surprises). When you were coming up from fastening your shoes, you felt something wet brush your cheek, making you go red once more. Jungkook had just kissed your cheek and you were trying your hardest not to freak out.

“I bet you’ll be prettier than the art there.” Jungkook says softly, his body ridiculously close to yours. He was being ridiculously flirty, and if he wanted to play like that, well, two people can play that game. You grinned, biting your lip and looking up at him.

“Careful Jeon, you might distract me from the art.” You giggle upon seeing Jungkook’s shocked reaction to flirting back with him, grabbing his hand as you both go down the stairs, almost forgetting to lock the door on your way down.

The car ride there consisted of small playful banter and small flirting back and forth. You couldn’t miss the way how one of Jungkook’s hands rested on your thigh for the ride there, but your mind was stuck on how much you still had to put together at the venue, most of the flowers that you had made still not on the cake in fear of them falling over and breaking during transport. As if Jungkook could feel your worry radiate off of you, he would draw small circles on the flesh of your outer thigh where his hand rested near your knee, calming down your nerves.

The venue was on the opposite side of town, so while you and Jungkook drove down the scenic highway along the lake, you couldn’t help but roll the windows down and let the wind blow through your hair. You heard Jungkook laughing while you watched the skyline come into view and disappear down the highway, marveling at the city. Had it not been for the changing scenery from blues to the yellow leaves on the trees on the way down, you would have thought this was a normal summer night between a couple teenagers.

Once you two got to the venue, you found a cart to wheel in the cake while Jungkook found the last of the fondant flowers in the back, safe from any damage even if the ride down to the venue was smooth. You and Jungkook wheeled in the cake, carefully putting it on the table. The space you and Jungkook were in was quite empty, which gave you a nice ambience so that you could finish the cake.

Rather, you take out the fondant flowers while Jungkook put them on the cake, since he could actually see to the top of the cake. After placing the last few flower buds on the cake and doing some last minute touch ups, you two went into the main room, as Taehyung had instructed in his text. Before opening the door to the gallery where bossanova jazz played softly, Jungkook held out his arm for you to link with, a soft smile on his face. Grinning back, you swallowed your heart back down as you linked arms with him. He kissed your cheek, to your surprise, and when you looked back at him, he chucked softly.

“Let’s give them something to talk about, mon petit chou.”

The gallery itself seemed smaller than you remembered from when you were younger, a lot of ridiculously large prints of photos and abstract oil paintings contributed from Taehyung’s collection. There were some you had recognized from older exhibits where his art had been featured, and seeing how his art had grown made your heart swell. You had known Taehyung for a ridiculously long time now, and just seeing where his art had taken him made you extremely proud.

As you and Jungkook marveled at Taehyung’s work, you heard someone yell your name in the venue, and hurried heel clicking. Before you could register who could be yelling your name, a body slammed onto yours and a familiar laugh filled your ears, one that you hadn’t heard since Jungkook came into your life.

“I didn’t know you’d be here!” Your best friend, Ji Hae, who you had opened up the bakery with beamed at you. Ji Hae looked Jungkook up and down, and it only took her a split second to recognize him. “And you must be the new baker that every Yelp review is talking about! I’m Ji Hae, co-owner of the bakery!” Ji Hae held out her hand to shake Jungkook’s hand. Jungkook’s arm around you slipped off and shook her hand, smiling.

“Ah, I’m Jungkook, it’s nice to meet you, Ji Hae.” He smiled. After he introduced himself, Ji Hae snaked her arms around your waist, grinning.

“You won’t mind if I borrow her, right? I need to catch up with her.” Ji Hae didn’t leave any time for Jungkook to reply as you were pulled away from him. You were completely confused but once you realized you were moving, your senses kicked in.

“Ah, Jungkookie, if you wanna go home and I’m not back, just text me!” You called out before your friend pulled you to another part of the gallery. Jungkook shook his head, going back to admiring the photograph in front of him. It was only a few beats before a flute of champagne was held in front of him. The flute was being offered by Taehyung, who was also holding a glass himself.

“Did they leave you alone? I told Ji Hae not to do that…” Taehyung tsked. Jungkook accepted the champagne from him, nodding.

“Ji Hae surely is a character… The both of them get along well.” Jungkook chuckled, looking over at Taehyung. Jungkook took a sip, watching Taehyung in his peripheral vision nod thoughtfully.

“How much do you know about your co-worker, Jungkook?” Taehyung questioned, Jungkook almost spitting out his champagne. He blinked slowly at the older man, Taehyung looking back at Jungkook with a raised eyebrow. The younger brown haired man coughed a little, wiping his mouth a little from the champagne that threatened to escape his mouth.

“W-well, I know she knows minimal french from high school, her birthday, her favorite tea is herbal and she only has real coffee once a month--” Jungkook rambles before Taehyung holds up a hand, shaking his head.

“No no, what do you know about her? All that stuff you just listed out is basic. Is there anything that catches your attention? It doesn’t have to be big and glaring, small things are things as well.” He grins at Jungkook. Jungkook tilts his head in confusion before it finally clicked in his head.

“Well, when she’s deep in concentration, she tilts her head just slightly, even if the orientation of whatever she’s working on is completely straight. Her favorite color and the colors that she’s attracted to are completely different, and if anyone sings around her, her nose scrunches, although I’m not sure why…” Jungkook trails off, thinking harder about your little nuances, but Taehyung’s chuckles snapped him out of the thoughts before he could delve deeper.

“That sounds so classic of her. You know she was a music major in high school? She’s an amazing singer and it’s sad she doesn’t use her voice all that often anymore. I think you’re the only person to know that about her outside of anyone who knew us back then. I have also never heard of any guy observe her that hard.” Taehyung nods. “Do you spend a lot of time looking at her?” Jungkook goes pink, matching half of Taehyung’s half-and-half pink and blonde hair.

“I’ve been uh… Living with her for the last few months, maybe 3?” This time, it was Taehyung’s time to sputter at the comment. He looked at Jungkook, jaw slack. “So yeah, I guess I’ve been looking at her a lot.” He chuckled nervously.

“I saw her come in with you and she was clinging onto your arm. Is she always that touchy with you or was it just for show tonight?” Taehyung was completely intrigued with your relationship with Jungkook, and Jungkook didn’t know how to avoid the questions, this was Taehyung’s show and he couldn’t go anywhere else without you. You’d probably punch him or something.

“Well, we sleep in the same bed, nothing goes any further than hugging, but sometimes she’ll reach out for my hands to hold, or she’ll automatically lean on me when we’re doing something together.” Jungkook shrugged casually, finishing the champagne that was given to him earlier. Taehyung’s eyebrows raised in surprise, before he set down his half empty glass. He scanned the room before leaning into Jungkook.

“She’s being really touchy and she hasn’t said anything about liking you? Are you sure you aren’t dating?” He reaffirms with Jungkook, who just nods in return. “Just shoot your shot, Kook! She probably does like you, but she doesn’t think about it because she’s so into the bakery.” He flashes Jungkook a boxy grin, punching Jungkook’s arm. Jungkook looked at Taehyung in disbelief, and he was skeptical about Taehyung’s advice. Surely, you couldn’t be into him, right?

“Ah, there you two are!” You came back, automatically going to stick on the side of Jungkook. Taehyung shot Jungkook a look and only wiggled his brows. “Let’s go see the other art!” You smile happily, lightly tugging Jungkook away.

You two continue your night right where it left off, a little bit of flirting here and there, and soon enough, the cake that you two had created was cut. Jungkook noticed that your grip loosened a little, so he took it upon himself to grab a piece of cake off the table and cut off a bite size piece.

“Hey, Earth to mon petit chou, say ah~” Jungkook cooed, snapping you out of your trance. “You’re really distant, are you okay?” He smiles at you, his fork in front of your mouth. You gladly accept the cake at first, watching as his hand sets down the fork on the plate and his arm travels down to hold your hand, squeezing it lightly. You lace fingers with him, nodding a little and smiling. You swallowed the bit of cake before replying to him.

“Yeah, just a little sleepy, should we head back?” You yawn a little, emphasizing on your exhaustion. “I think this is the most human interaction I’ve had in a minute.” You giggle, leaning into Jungkook.

You two congratulate Taehyung on the art show once more, and after numerous hugs and goodbyes are said, you and Jungkook finally make it into the car. Jungkook puts on music once more, but it’s more calm music instead, lulling you to sleep in the car. Once he stopped at the stop sign, he looked over to you, smiling softly as you fall asleep with one of his hands linked with yours. Once you two pull up to your apartment, Jungkook stretches in the car seat and sighs once more. You were dead asleep in the seat, and he figured he would have to carry you back up. He unbuckles his seat belt, cutting off the engine. Getting out of the car and opening your door, he made sure that you wouldn’t fall out, scooping you into his arms bridal-style.

Jungkook fumbles with the keys for a split second, but he managed to open the door with you not waking up, which is a personal surprise for himself. Slipping out of his dress shoes, he opens the door to the bedroom. He lays you down on the bed, taking his time to change into his sleepwear. He kept thinking about Taehyung’s words about how you might like him back, as well as the other facts that he had heard from him.

Jungkook walks back out, frowning when he realized you were still in your party clothes. It didn’t vibe with him for you to sleep in the clothes you had gone to the party in. He nudged you gently, watching you stir to face him.

“Hey, don’t you want to change out of your contacts before we sleep?” Jungkook’s voice rang in your ears. A groan escaped your throat as you stretched out in the bed.

“You don’t live enough, Kookie.” You grumble, sitting up so that you could go change out of your contacts and your dress. You padded over to the bathroom, grabbing all the necessary items such as your makeup wipes and your pajamas, slowly getting ready for bed. Once you were back out of the bathroom, you spotted Jungkook lounging on your bed, checking his phone once more and turning on his alarms. You crawled onto his side, pulling the sheets over your shoulders.

“Goodnight, Kookie~” You cooed before falling back asleep by his side. Jungkook’s heart skipped a beat, gulping nervously at your sleeping figure. Maybe he could entertain the idea that Taehyung was right for a second, that you were in love but you were too oblivious to see it.

Jungkook wasn’t sure how he could live out this imagination, and his heart told him not to pursue anything. He wouldn’t want to ruin anything with the best thing to happen in his life.

----

It was an uncharacteristically slow day at the bakery, you guessed it was because it was finals week for a lot of the schools around you, but nonetheless, a bit too quiet in the bakery. It was actually so quiet that you could hear your thoughts over the soft jazz music that always played at the front of the house. Pursing your lips, you went over to the stereo and turned the music up a little more, bobbing your hair to the music while also rearranging the baked goods.

“First in, first out.” You chanted softly as you rearranged the macarons, making sure to set aside the broken cookies (how did they manage to break?) and the less appealing tarts. Jungkook walked out into the front of the house, seeing you bob to some bossanova before grinning. He goes over to the stereo, turning on a certain album that both you two enjoyed. There was no one in the bakery at the time, so when the song’s beginning started playing, you were thrown off from your flow.

“Jungkook, what the hell?” You sighed, rolling your eyes. You weren’t mad about the music change, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes when he wrapped his arms around you.

“You don’t have the urge to sing along? We’re too busy to go to karaoke and I’ve never heard you sing, only occasional humming from time to time. Didn’t you go to an arts school for voice?” Jungkook teased, remembering the conversation he had with Taehyung at the gallery opening. Your face flushed, which he took as a positive and he started to sing along first. It was Daniel Caesar and H.E.R’s Best Part, and due to the copious amounts of times you had listened to that song, you memorized the lyrics. The chorus came up quicker than you thought, and you found yourself singing along with Jungkook.

“I just wanna see how beautiful you are…” You start singing along in the octave that H.E.R is singing in, only tuning in a little to hear Jungkook’s lower register. You grin and sing along to the rest, wiggling out of his grasp. You never took the time to actually sing full on anymore, and you felt a little rusty singing along. A little while later, you peeked over to Jungkook, who had apparently stopped singing. He was staring at you in awe, his eyes wide. You sauntered over to him after you were done cleaning out the display case, resting your arms on his shoulders, slow-dance style.

“If you love me, won’t you say something?” You smiled up at him. Your heart swelled when you felt Jungkook’s arms wrap around your waist, slow dancing with you as he found his voice to sing back to you. He touched foreheads with you, closing his eyes as you closed yours. You both savored the moment, his breath on yours. You could feel your heart beating as if you just ran, and you opened one eye, starting to lean in. The bell on the door suddenly interrupted both of you, Jungkook flying off of you as you turned away from the door, face as red as the raspberry macarons.

“W-welcome to--” Jungkook cleared his throat, silently gesturing you to go to the back of the house while he regained his composure, saying the name of the bakery as you went into the back, fanning your face. You watched as he helped out the mom with her baby, a soft smile on your face.

The music in the bakery continued to play one of Jungkook’s R&B playlists, a Sabrina Claudio song playing next. As you continued to watch him clean up where you left off, you couldn’t quite place the feeling that Jungkook gave you, and you weren’t sure if you liked it or not.

According to a lot of love language profiles, your heart usually warmed with the idea of someone surprising you with little things, acts of service, to be specific.

It was a trend with all of your romantic partners in your past, you usually felt extremely appreciative when they did small things like make your cups of tea, wash the dishes, or other extremely domestic things along that sort. In return, you would always try to help them out, but you never felt a click with the people you dated.

You never noticed it, but Jungkook would always do these things for you. He would make you cups of tea and remind you to eat when you would go long hours without any breaks, making you your favorite tea when you were having a down day, or even making you a quick sandwich that sat by your side as a gentle reminder. By the time you would notice these things, he’d always be back to the task at hand, whether that be entertaining the girls in the bakery or making more goods to put out.

The winter season where your bakery was located felt like they started from mid October to April. When November hit, you could feel yourself struggling to get out of bed, the motivation in your body slowly decreasing. Jungkook had started to notice this in you, but he wasn’t sure what was wrong. You usually were extremely happy and upbeat, but for a few weeks, you would barely talk in the morning and would prefer to work in the back of the house. Not to mention, you were a lot more touchy and would typically lean into Jungkook more or back hug him when you had the chance.

Although he didn’t mind, and he would typically reciprocate the touchiness, but he wanted to do more, and worried himself about you to the point where he fell under the weather. You seemed a lot more distant when both of you were upstairs, and you would typically stay downstairs for a little while longer, dismissing Jungkook to go upstairs so that he could sleep earlier and not be so sick coming into work.

You didn’t want to tell Jungkook that you would dismiss him upstairs so that you could meet with other people without worrying him. Although you liked Jungkook a lot, you were scared of how he would look at you if you confessed to him. You didn’t know if he even liked you like that, so it was better to be safe rather than sorry. You’ve been distracting yourself from falling further into the seasonal depression and in love with Jungkook by throwing yourself into the world of online dating, swiping absentmindedly when Jungkook worked front of the house. You had a date tonight, and you attempted to look better than normal before closing up the shop and waiting in front.

You had planned on going out with this guy (His name was Kim Seokjin, a nice guy, really) twice before, but he had always rain checked before you could go out with him, and you guys were planning on going to the holiday market downtown. The meeting was supposed to go that you guys met at the bakery and then make your way down, since the train near your bakery went directly down to the market. You both agreed that you would meet at 7:30, 30 minutes after the bakery closed, but once the clock hit 8, you were losing faith in meeting up with him. You waited for him for another hour, and as much as you wanted to not believe it, you had just been stood up.

Admitting defeat, you sulked immensely, going back up to your apartment. This wasn’t the first guy to do this to you, and you were actively seeking for love from people you thought you clicked with. Your brain started to fill itself with self deprecating thoughts as you opened the door, the soft sounds of the Netflix series Nailed It! playing. Jungkook looked up from the couch, already all showered and ready to go to bed, but on nights like these he would wait for you to come back before you both went to sleep. That, along with all your other overwhelming internal dialogue seemed too much that you started to feel the tears well up in your eyes.

“I’m home…” You barely managed to get out from the overwhelming emotions that washed over you. The TV had no noise coming from it, meaning that either Jungkook had paused it or muted it. You avoided eye contact in the general direction from where he was, the tears falling silently down your face as you yanked off the scarf and fumbled with the buttons of your pea coat. Jungkook noticed the way you rubbed furiously at your eyes almost rhythmically, after every button on your coat was becoming undone. He frowned, sitting up on the couch.

“Is everything alright, chou?” He wanted to stand up, but something in him told him to keep rooted. Jungkook was about to turn back to the tv when he heard something rushing towards him, and suddenly you were in his arms, your own arms wrapped around him tightly as you openly sobbed on him. You had never cried on Jungkook, and here you were, bawling on him. Jungkook started to rub your back gently, squeezing you. He had learned somewhere that during a panic or anxiety attack, you should squeeze the person in order to ease their anxiety. He didn’t know what was wrong, but obviously it was something bothersome enough that it would send you into tears like this. He whispered words of reassurance in your ear, continuing to rub your back slowly.

You both stayed like this for a while, your breathing evening out before Jungkook rolled you over so that you were on the couch. He slowly peeled away and before you could protest, he smiled softly at you and stroked your cheek. “I’m gonna get some stuff, okay? I’ll be back soon. Don’t miss me too much.” True to Jungkook’s word, he came back quickly, your blanket, some milk tea that was sitting in a thermos (he probably had made it earlier for you to have when you came home), and a plush that you thought was hidden from him, a little black bear with a heart shaped patch. He sat down next to you again, you automatically curling into him as he wrapped you both in the blanket and made the little bear plush kiss your cheek before setting it in your lap. His arms wrap back around you, stroking your hair softly. “If you’re comfortable, you can tell me what’s wrong, yeah? No rush.” He reassures you. You both sit in a comfortable silence before he hears a sigh come from you. You curl closer into him, the bear being a slight barrier between you and him as you spill to him about the whole date ordeal.

“Jungkookie, I’ve been taken for granted for so fucking long… I always give so much and I never get it reciprocated. It’s almost cruel how scary that giving and receiving ratio is. I’ve been stood up so many times, I’ve never clicked with any of the people I have dated, and I just think something is wrong with me, or maybe I’m too dedicated to this bakery that I can’t ever date.” You bite your lip, smushing the face of the bear in. You had to keep your hands busy so that Jungkook wouldn’t see the trembling in your hands. You couldn’t prevent it for long, however, since Jungkook looked down at your hands playing constantly and held them in his own. You couldn’t look at his eyes, but you could feel his frown. His hands squeezed yours and tears began to resurface. “I just don’t know if anyone will love me for me, in all the times that I’m here running the bakery, love me even with the lack of time.” You could barely get the last part out, hiding your face in Jungkook’s chest once more. Jungkook lets go of your hands, squeezing you once more so that you wouldn’t say any more.

“That’s not true, you have so many people that love you. You have so many friends and I’m sure that they would all hate to see you so sad.” He starts off. There’s a reluctant pause in his voice, a space where he would say he loves you, but before he could say more, you open your mouth.

“I know that there’s that kinda love, but Kook,” you start to emphasize, sulking. “I want someone that I can imagine in my life that kisses me awake and stuff. You have so many girls doting over you, I want to feel like that for someone, you know?” You whine, “That’s just never gonna be me with anyone so I’m just-” He cuts you off by squeezing you again, pressing his forehead against yours.

“You need to hush sometimes, you know?” Jungkook sighs softly, his heart about to burst from what he’s about to say. “I know you won’t give love another chance, but I want to be the one to show you how love can be reciprocated.” His cheeks dust a light pink and you didn’t know how to react. “I promise I won’t break your heart intentionally, I love you too much for that to happen.”

You were in complete disbelief over his confession, because that confession was something that you thought would never happen to you. You would’ve thought that eventually, Jungkook would’ve gotten a girlfriend (that wasn’t you) and would have to quit the bakery and leave you alone once more. For a split second, you thought Jungkook was lying before you realized he was a man of his word. Even with the smallest promises, Jungkook would always be able to live up to the promises.

“It’s always been you, mon petit chou.” He smiles softly, wiping the last of the tears that were on your face. That was the last thing you heard before you pulled him in, a sweet kiss that tasted like the earl grey vanilla tea. He gladly returned the sweet little kiss, pulling away from you.

“I kinda… wanna bake with you for like a long time. Maybe forever.” You blush, covering your eyes at your stupid confession. You didn’t know how else to phrase it, and the way you said it made Jungkook chuckle.

“Is that so, mon petit chou? Well I’m glad you feel the same way.” He cooed, pulling you into another kiss.

The rest of the night was a blur, nothing further than a few kisses here and there, but nonetheless, a night that turned bad events into things that made you smile instead.

“You know how I call you mon petit chou?” Jungkook was currently hunched over the worktable, carefully peeling away the chocolate decorations from the parchment paper. Since it was the holiday season, you two had gotten a sudden influx of requests for yule log roll cakes (“that’s not all we make, but they always ask us to make it!”). Jungkook’s friend, Jung Hoseok had also requested for one, but specifically requested for you to make it, despite Jungkook’s protests that he made roll cakes much better than you.

You perked up at his voice, setting down the whipping cream that you were weighing out for the filling of the roll. “Yeah, I thought you just wanted to call me a little cabbage because of how short I was.” You chuckled, shaking your head at the absurd term of endearment. You heard Jungkook’s soft laugh as you poured the whipping cream into the stand mixer.

“No no, not chou as in cabbage, babe. Mon petit chou means my little cream puff. Your favorite dessert are cream puffs, aren’t they?” He hummed, rearranging the chocolate he had just peeled away on the log he was finishing up. “Plus, you’re sweet. I thought it was fitting, and when I was in France, my host mom said I should only use that name with someone I love. And I love, well, you!” He grinned, a light dust of pink on his face.

You couldn’t help but smile at the way he explained the nickname, covering your mouth from smiling too much.

“Jeon, you better get back to work before I kick your derrière.”

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