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ahiijny · 1 year

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glass onion spoilers

ok this movie was fun, but it fell a bit short of expectations 😅 y'all hyped this up a bit too much (note: i did not watch the other knives out movie yet so maybe im missing out on some context)

I thought this was going to be this awesome keikaku murder mystery with this likeable queer and fruity detective guy where everyone rips down the curtain of lies set up by this tech billionaire and it is revealed mr. miles rich guy actually has no idea what he's doing and all of his accomplishments were stolen from other people

I guess we kinda get that in a sense, but I guess reality just outdid fiction this time if you know what I mean... so it wasnt nearly as satisfying

I guess that's kind of the point of this movie, as benoit himself points out: it looks complicated, but it's actually not. (and thats why he had so much trouble solving the mystery, bc hes not good at solving dumb puzzles, only clever ones lol) but that still doesnt make it satisfying.

anyway, my thoughts about the movie!

the masking and covid callbacks remember those ah memoriesssss (man)

ok but if this entire movie were about this scientist guy trying to do science engineering work while pushing back against unrealistic expectations from overzealous entrepreneurs/business ppl i would watch that...

i liked the part where the lady was like "you've got to stay off the twitter" to the other lady, this is relatable and realistic and a good message

puzzles are fun. i liked the peoples working together to solve the puzzles. if this entire movie were about a diverse group of friends solving puzzles in a collaborative way i would watch that...

shoutout to manosphere guy's mom she dont give af but she's hella clever, she's solving these puzzles and she doesn't even care lol

(also dude be more respectful to your mom. doesnt matter if ur streaming, ppl will understand if u have to take a brief interruption to answer to something. if they dont understand, u do not want them watching ur stream)

benoit amogus (this is probably pandering but i am the target audience so i will accept the pandering. if this entire movie were just benoit and his friends/colleagues playing among us i would watch that...)

the way the ppl all have their different attitudes towards masking strictness and runs the full gamut, that's just really interesting to analyze. i saw the tumblr post about this and i thought benoit was actually going to narrate these observations and it wouldve been really impressive 😅 I guess it's actually more subtle than that...

ok but what IS that spray. how does it work. i know u dont have to explain EVERYTHING in a story but the nerd in me wants to know pls pls pls (does it even work lol)

"piece of shit" hehehehe

benoit very charming and there was some awkward tension in the air bc everyone else is tightly knit and he's a newcomer but he talks through it easily enough so my feelings of social anxiety werent too bad in these scenes lol

everyone talking and socializing (ergh) and dropping various bits of information and im like 'i dont even remember their NAMES im definitely not gonna remember all these little factoids which are sure to be relevant later lol' (help)

the part where benoit is sneaking around and spying on ppl, i feel like maybe they could have leaned even more into the comedy here if they wanted to. like. they have manosphere guy spying on miles rich guy and other lady doing the sussy and he clenches his fists in anger but later it's revealed actualyl she is trying to persuade miles rich guy to put manosphere guy on his news thingy or something but miels was refusing so actually manosphere guy was clenching his fist in anger because of that and benoit was behind the bushes watching the whole thing but also helen was behind both of them watching the whole thing as well

i know it probably makes cinematic sense for them to do this, but i wish helen and benoit had been a bit quieter/vague about their discussions bc i was in constant fear that they would be overheard and someone would be like "hey why is your accent different" bc as the previous scenes have shown, eavesdropping people and recording devices are EVERYWHERE (god)

and as modern technology and even death note potato chips scene have taught me. why would you ever NOT assume that your rooms are not bugged. like. recording devices are cheap and tiny. and you're in a rich guy's mansion that he had built for himself and he has a huge ego and doesnt care about other peoples agency. I would be paranoid that there would be hidden cameras and microphones everywhere (dsfosdfjsoijfds)

the part where benoit explained away the entire mystery that miles had someone else write up for him was fun, if the entire movie were just ppl chucking mystery puzzles at the guy and him just explaining everything i would watch that...

tho eq-wise this was a bit like if you're the best tetris player in the world and you enter the lobby of some very casual player and their friends and no one is playing faster than 0.5pps and then you demolish everyone at 5pps with ms2 dpc loop and then the streamer is like "well I guess this isnt our stream anymore it's theirs" that's a bit bm... (we actually kinda do have this problem in the tetrio community and someone even made a video about it)

social anxiety DID HE JUST COMMIT A FAUX-PAS BY BEING TOO OP i do appreciate that he commented on doing it intentionally afterwards (ok so he's aware) bc he was concerned someone would try to actually kill miles

when the pretty dress lady was spinning around and was like "look at me!" i was like 'ok this is obviously a distraction and somehting sneaky is going to happen' but it was too flashy and distracting so i didnt notice anything lol ^_^;;

my first thought was that someone tried to poison miles and poisoned manosphere guy by accident, so when ppl went to their initial conclusions i was like ok that makes sense

okokokookok the flashback

initially i was sus of helen's story. i thought she was andi, but pretending to be a nonexistant twin sister for some reason. her story seemed a bit too clean. like. maybe she fabricated this murder mystery to pique the interest of the best detective in the world to help her with her task, since maybe he wouldn't be interested otherwise. and then benoit would poke some holes in her story and then she would reveal that actually the story was a fabrication but she was desperate and benoit would have some sympathy and would help her out regardless

the movie went on for a while before i was like. 'oh ok, the other shoe isn't dropping... she really is who she says she is??'

(you have to understand my experience in these kind of genres involve ppl like L and Naomi Misora and Junko Enoshima and Celeste Ludenberg its RARE for characters to actually just have been telling the truth the entire time so you have to understand why i was doubtful >_<;;)

i was expecting one of the others to have reset the box and sent it to benoit and then he solved the puzzles and went to the island but no the box benoit received was the one helen smashed to bits lmaoooooo. benoit is so smooth i completely fell for that.

i like all the parts where benoit was like "elementary child puzzles" or something and it made miles look kinda annoyed hehe

ok the false memory thing DOES happen, it's true! when he said it, everyone remembered differently. memory is notoriously unreliable. this is true

ok i know barely anything about business or law but i feel like theres so much more andi couldve done to protect her ownership of the company. like. documentation/photographs of the napkin? patents? on the other hand, as recent events have shown, it is also notoriously easy for a charming guy with money to completely sway public opinion with a strong enough propaganda machine so i guess fair enough...

also i feel like that conversation kinda escalated a bit too quickly. "hey i have new idea KLEAN will energy the world poggers" "no it too dangerous it will blow up the world" "no c'mon" "i will BISECT THIS COMPANY"

like. hindsight is 2020 but. give toddler something to play with rather than taking it away altogether. right?...

also i feel like my watching of medical jdramas has skewed my view of what is realistic, but. i feel like everyone gave up a bit TOO easily after manosphere guy stopped breathing. no one even attempted CPR? does no one have like. epipens or something (idk how pineapple allergies work)

also that little hint at the beginning slipped by me. i thought he just didnt like the taste of pineapples lol (relatable), didnt know that he was actually allergic

the dietary restrictions thing in the invite was actually kinda considerate of miles rich guy tho. i mean, u know, aside from the fact that he exploited this very thing to murder his dear friend

also do the police not have. helicopters

whys it gotta be boats

continued bc apparently 4096 character limit per text block

maybe they shouldve added like a thunderstorm or something. or a cut to the police station where they're like "it's that guy again (ugh), let's deal with this in the morning..."

i am happy helen survived tho. guns scary... especially when they are pointed at you lol

NOT THE HOT SAUCE IN THE NOSE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO this legit was one of the most stressful scenes in the movie lol

i get so stressed anytime there's clearly an actor playing a dead body in a movie bc then im imagining the actor having to lie still without moving or breathing at all and that just makes me anxious lol

ok but why did andi even NEED this dude, she shouldve just made alpha or whatever on her own. unless it's maybe just the. stereotypical white, charismatic figurehead to appease the investors maybe. idk

benoit getting mad at miles rich guy for stealing his murder mystery ideas is the funniest thing

but also i know this is a movie but girl why would you bring out the napkin. just hide it, get off the island, and show it! or at least make a few decoys! take pictuers at least?? whyd u let yourself get outwitted by miles rich guy this is so sad

the smashing glass thing is cathartic but i was also cringing bc all that flying sharp glass in the air and floor does NOT look safe. and also who's gonna clean it up afterwards you're making more work for the poor staff of this resort place :c

also. do u have a death wish. why would you throw that in there when you are THERE in the room. headlines: MILES BRON AND OTHERS DIE IN EXPLOSION ON PRIVATE ISLAND RESORT (ONLY SURVIVORS ARE WORLD'S GREATEST DETECTIVE AND SOME GUY) idk

while the mona lisa burning is funny and LONG expected since the protection barrier thing was introduced and IS probably not the real one since something about wood panel vs. canvas. i just. do not like destroying art man. tho i probably dont care as much bc it is something coveted by rich people. but still.

also imo this isn't the slam dunk they think it is bc if miles rich guy WERE smart, there's a billion ways he could spin this to his favour

it's pretty much his word against theirs but if he uses his money wisely he can easily drum up propaganda support for this, even if his former friends turned against him

e.g. "ex-Alpha founder who never contributed anything and was actually a leech (true story) throw a tantrum on island resort and used bottle rockets/dynamite/whatever other flammable things there are that DEFINITELY arent Klean to destroy PRICELESS work of art'

wait he killed andi, that wont work

'twin sister of ex-Alpha founder who in an irrational, bereaved fit of rage, destroys PRICELESS work of at'

there we go (miles huffs proudly as if he thought of this idea himself and definitely not as if one of the propaganda firms he hired thought it up for him)

ok but who is that other guy. what is his story. why is he on the island

also, helen girlboss destroying his stuff is satisfying but imo not nearly as satisfying as miles rich guy just destroying his OWN stuff just from sheer incompetence

right now he can escape into the mental copespace of "that woman destroyed my (yes definitely my) lifes work, i will have my revenge". i am worried, bc as recent events have shown, it IS possible, even if you are confirmed guilty, to just skedaddle on out of prison, because of technicalities or whatever

and he will probably still have his diehard fans on his side

the future worries me

sdifgos jsgiojf gdoisdgjdiogj

so in the end, i guess. not really satisfying in the sense of a keikaku whodunnit, and I didnt really vibe with many of the characters either, except for benoit, and manosphere guy's mom, and benoit's... husband? (idk who he is but he seems chill), and helen is neat too but i feel like her characterization was a bit too infodump/exposition heavy

i guess if i look at it more in the lens of a social commentary comedy rather than a murder mystery itd be more up to expectations. but still. not really my cup of tea i guess

7.4/10

#glass onion #ahi's ramblings #my subjective opinion #unhinged 4am thoughts

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unluckyhoneybee · 2 years

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Two nights in the bush (Daniel Ricciardo)

Daniel needs to disconnect and you have the solution. Fluff+smut Notes: REQUESTED. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking for inspo because this idea is lovely and I needed to illustrate it (links at the end). I add a couple of links to songs purely for 🏵vibes🏵Obviously, the gif is not from the bush or anything named in this fic, but it has ✨holidays with Dan✨ vibes. This is long af (be ready) and basically a bunch of domestic road trip scenarios with Daniel. Warning: +18. Very soft sex. Very soft Dan. Touching here and there, a bit of oral sex, and p in v.

"Do you have everything?"

"Everything you let me bring with me? Yes"

"Danny, honey. The van is small. We can't fit all those things you wanted. Plus. It's only three days, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Two nights."

"Okay, get in."

"Hey, how are you?" I said hugging him.

When Michael had called to tell me that Daniel and he were back for a couple of weeks, I didn't doubt to go and visit them. My favourite boys were back in town.

"Good, good. A bit tired" Daniel answered. I could see in his eyes how drained he was. I had talked to him about this a thousand times. He loved the attention, racing and being famous, but sometimes it was too much. He had been away from home for too long and he missed this. "I think I need to stop being famous for a couple of days"

He said it as a joke, but I could see that he really needed it.

"Hey, let's do something"

"Something like what?"

"You, my van and I. Two nights in the bush. Three days exploring the country."

His eyes lighted and he shot Mike a quick glance. I saw Mike nodding and smiling.

"You can also come if you want to"

"I think we need some time away from the other, right Dan?"

Daniel nodded and laughed.

I understood, they practically lived together. They were flesh and bone.

"Okay then. What do you think, Dan?"

Daniel looked at me and smiled. "I'm in"

When he got in the van, he instantly connected his phone to the old radio.

"I'm going to be the DJ for the trip and you have nothing to say against it"

"Okay, okay..." I said laughing and pulling the van on the road. "Let's do this. You'll see how you feel better."

"Look at that!" We were driving by the coast, having left Perth a couple of hours ago. Daniel was excited, he seemed relaxed and had a smile on his face the whole time.

I looked at the ocean for a second. A huge long and golden beach had appeared right behind some dunes.

"That must be Lancelin, right?"

He took the map.

"Yep"

"Do you want to go for a swim?" I said with a smile.

"Of course I want"

Soon, we were both running on the sand. Jumping over the waves and laughing like a kid, Daniel launched himself to the sea. The water rapidly swallowed him and made him disappear. He was only a shade in the turquoise water.

I walked in his direction, letting the waves slowly swallow me and my body get used to the water.

When he came to the surface, he was smiling. His curls fell on his forehead and tiny drops of water decorated his tan skin. He looked godly like this. His eyes were already slightly red because of the salt when he looked at me.

He had a different glow today. Since we had left Perth, he hadn't stopped smiling. Not his usual smile. He smiled at random moments, looked down at his hands and blushed, not knowing that I was there observing. He was happy and relaxed.

"This is like heaven..." I heard him say. "Come closer, what are you scared of?"

"The water is cold, Dan. I need time" I said smiling.

"Oh, c'mon. I thought you liked adventures!"

"And I do, but one step at a time."

"What a pity that I hate taking things slow?" And like that, he splashed water on me.

"Ricciardo!" I shouted as the cold water hit my skin.

"It's not that cold!" He repeated it.

"Oh no!"

Laughing like two kids, we fought for long minutes, running around the shore and splashing water.

"Don't run! Coward!"

I was chasing him trying to get my revenge, I felt light and happy. There was no one around us, only a man and his dog meters away. The sun was warming my skin in contrast with the cold water on my legs.

"I'm not a coward!"

"Why are you running then?!"

He was laughing hard, looking back at me and jumping over the waves. Maybe it was the sand, a hole or his own foot, but he tripped and fell on the shore. It was too late for me to stop or to even react, so I fell too.

We laughed hard, rolling on the sand and trying to avoid the water to get into our eyes.

Danny tried to grab me, but I was fast enough to get up and ran into the water until it reached my shoulders.

I turned around and saw him. He was sitting in the sand looking at me with a smile and fidgeting with his hands. I could see a glimpse of those tattoos on his thigh.

I felt my heart quickening when he smiled at me, getting a warm feeling in my chest.

"Are you too tired, old man?!"

He laughed and got up.

"You'll see tired!"

Soon I was wrapped on his back, hands around his shoulders and legs on his waist, having jumped over him trying to stop him from slashing water.

"You little bitch!" He said trying to pull me down.

I kissed his cheek and saw him smiling.

"Like the old times"

"The good old times" He said finally calming down from laughing and playing around. His hands came to rest on my arms around his neck as he sank down until only our heads were out of it. He let his head back and rest on my shoulder. It felt too good to be real.

A beautiful place, Daniel, the sun, the sea...

I gently played with his hair and he smiled. He was beautiful. There was some sand on his nose and cheek, probably from rolling on the shore like two kids.

He smiled with closed eyes when I cleaned it.

"I don't want a single grain of sand in my van" I whispered to his ear.

"I can't promise anything" He said laughing nervously.

"You know what I love?" He asked with a thin voice.

"Racing?"

I heard him chuckle and looked at him. His eyes were closed and his head was resting on the seat. He looked peaceful and angelic.

"Apart from that"

"Tell me" I patted his thigh. He laughed a bit and pinched the back of my hand.

"How sleepy a day on the beach makes you"

I smiled.

"Well, lucky you. I still have at least an hour and a half driving till the camping zone"

He turned his face to me. I looked for a second and his soft gaze took my breath away and warmed my cheeks.

"We could switch for a bit if you are tired"

"I won't let you drive when you are that sleepy. You can't even keep your eyes open, Ricciardo!" I said laughing.

He laughed too.

"Rest a bit, Danny. I will wake you up if something cool happens. I promise"

"You win..."

Soon, his eyes were closed again and his breath was slow and steady.

Coastline by Hollow Coves was on the radio.

"I'm moving far away To a sunny place Where it's just you and me Feels like we're in a dream You know what I mean"

I sang the lyrics and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel feeling goosebumps over my skin. I looked at him, peacefully sleeping on the passenger seat and felt as if everything was how it was supposed to be. As if finally things came to a place. But then the song finished and I remembered this would only last three days.

"And the snakes?"

"Well, if you see a snake just pretend it's not there. Don't make a big deal of it and they will go away. Another thing is the spiders. Be careful with your shoes."

"Is it too late to go back?"

"Well, you can start walking now and you will reach the closest village before 1 am"

He barked a laugh and walked toward me enveloping me in his arms and kissing my forehead.

Daniel smelled like the sea and his skin was slightly pinkier on his shoulders.

"Thank you for bringing me here" He said with a shaky voice. As if he was nervous.

"This has just started, Dan" I said pulling back and looking at him. "We have a lot of things to do before the sun goes away. We want to have dinner ready by then"

"Let's go then"

Setting the camp around the van was fun. Daniel was clumsy but he was pretty good with it.

"And where am I sleeping?" He said looking at the bed inside the van and then at me.

"On the bed with me. I will let you spoon me."

He looked at me as if he had seen a ghost. He was petrified and his mouth was agape. It made me laugh.

"I'm joking. You can take the comfy bed or the hanging hammock and live the whole Outcast experience."

Daniel let a sigh out, but then he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"I have slept outside before and I can tell you that it's not dangerourous. Also, I'm leaving the door open, you can die inside the van with this temperature"

He bit his lip at me.

"Where is that hammock?"

I laughed and showed him the bag.

Soon he was laying on the hammock and swinging from side to side. He sighed.

"What do you think? Comfy bed or exposed to the wilderness hammock"

"I'm going to choose to risk my life" He said giving me a funny look.

"So dramatic. I'm going to be right next to you. Don't worry about wild animals. I will protect you from koalas"

"This is truly beautiful, YN"

"Is it?"

He looked around. The camp was almost empty and the sounds of nature were louder than those from the people camping a few meters away.

"It is. Look at that!"

"Daniel!" I whispered-shouted grabbing his strong arm. "You don't shout in the wild. We don't want to bother the animals."

"Oh shit. There are kangaroos"

I looked, a group of them were jumping away from the camp, probably disturbed by the noise. I smiled seeing how happy he was.

"Oh man. Imagine living out here"

"You have your farm. The only difference is that instead of a tiny van, you have a huge house and an Olympic pool"

He told me no with the head.

"Right now I think I would drop everything and stay here with you"

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and breathed through my nose. I would gladly ask him to drop everything if that meant that he would stay with me.

"You still have some years ahead of you." I said walking to him and running my hand up and down his back. "You may get overwhelmed sometimes, I do too. But you love it, right? You love what you do and it makes you happy. All of this will still be here when you decide it has been enough."

"Will you and your van still be here?" He asked in a whisper.

I sighed and shrugged.

"I hope so"

Daniel smiled and his hand grabbed mine. I let my cheek fall against his shoulder as we watch the kangaroos disappear far on the horizon. The air moved the plants and trees and the bird sang loudly. His body was warm and I swear I could fall asleep right there.

I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them again, he was looking at me. Gently, he pressed his lips on my forehead.

"Let's cook before it gets dark, I'm pretty hungry"

"Yeah, me too. Considering I did all the hard work today I suppose you are cooking, right?"

A couple of hours later when the sky was all dark and we were having a cup of tea and enjoying the night, his feet touched mine. He was gently swinging himself on the hammock and I was sitting on the edge of the bed. We had been in silence for a long time.

"Hey. Why did you decide to buy the van?"

I stopped to think.

"There were a lot of things. The lost job, everyone settling down, the impossibility of getting a partner..." I said laughing at the last one. "I didn't want the life all of them had. I wanted something different. I sold the flat, got my family angry at me, and bought a smaller apartment near the beach and an old van. I wanted this quiet life, to disappear whenever I feel like it."

He looked at the sky.

"We are so different..."

"We are, yes."

"But I could get used to this. I could buy a van too and travel with you"

I smiled.

"That would be nice. You are welcome to do it"

He laughed.

"I will think about it. And I'm really serious"

"Me too"

He yawned.

"How often do you disappear?"

"When I need to do it. Sometimes is every single weekend of the month, some others are once each three or four weeks. Others are just an afternoon..."

"And you never tell anyone?"

"I always tell someone. Give them my location too. I'm a woman, it's dangerous to travel alone."

He nodded.

"Did you tell anyone this time?"

"Mike. And all the people you told."

"Only Mike and my parents. I wanted to disappear for a while too. Everywhere I go in Perth, there are people there ready to talk to me"

"You are like a local hero, Dan..." I pushed him a bit with my feet. "Also, I wouldn't leave the farm if I was you"

"I think I can let you park your van and camp in there. You know, near the lake"

"I can't believe you have a lake at home"

He laughed.

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow you are going to pick a place on the map and drive me there."

"Me?"

"Mhm. You. So better get some sleep. Wake me up if you can sleep in the hammock, we can switch"

"I will don't worry"

He fell asleep before, leaving me alone and thinking about how much I would miss this with him. Even if we had just been travelling for 12 hours. He always had that special place in my heart. He always was my particular person. The one to who my mind would wander to.

"Tss. Hey, YN. Tssss"

I felt something touching my face and went directly to slap it.

"Oh shit." And then I heard Daniel laughing hard.

I opened my eyes and looked at him confused.

"What the fuck are you doing? I thought it was a spider, idiot"

"Sorry, sorry. I wanted to wake you" He showed me a stick. He was still on the hammock and I could only see his face and hand.

"Why?"

"Because of that" He pointed somewhere outside the van and I poked my head out.

"Oh wow." I smiled watching the beautiful colours of the sky.

"Y-You always liked to see the sunset when we were teens"

"This is the sunrise, Dan" I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know, silly. It's the same but upside down."

"What?" I laughed. "Sunrise is sunset but upside down?"

"It is. Think about it"

I smiled and got comfortable on the bed, changing my position so I could have the perfect view of the sky.

"I don't know how, but you are right."

"Because I'm brilliant"

"Of course, Ric"

"I'm right"

"Mhm"

We stayed in silence. The birds were starting to wake up and their noises were filling the air now. There was no noise coming from the other vans parked near us. That people probably didn't have a hyperactive grown-up man with sleep problems.

"How long have you been awake for?" I knew he had some insomnia problems and had a difficult time sleeping sometimes.

"Hmm. Not much. I was just thinking and then the sky turned pink and it reminded me of you, so... Good morning, YN"

I felt my heart quickening. He was too pure. After everything that happened in his life, he still had that good heart.

"Thank you for doing it. It truly is beautiful."

"It's nothing. I just needed this branch. I didn't want to move. It's too comfortable in here"

"Really? You liked the hammock?"

"Mhm. I may buy a couple."

"For your balcony in Monaco and the pool on the farm?"

"Oh yes"

I laughed softly. We were speaking in whispers, not wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere in the camp.

"Do you know where are you taking me today?"

"I had a couple of ideas. Need a map, though"

"It's on my bag."

I saw him clumsily getting up from the hammock and stretching his muscles like a cat before yawning and looking around. Then he took the map from the bag and climbed on the bed from the side door of the van.

"Hey, who gave you permission?"

"I'm Daniel Ricciardo, I don't need it"

I laughed and pushed him a bit, almost making him fall.

"Shit, YN."

I was laughing and covering my mouth and he was looking at me with a huge smile.

"Let's see."

He used my abdomen as his desk, opening the map and covering me with it as if it was a blanket.

"I want a river. Where the fuck are we?"

"This place is called Mystic Camp. Try to look for it in the upper left corner. There must be a river going north wets"

"A genius" He said patting my leg. "Here we are" He marked a cross. "And yes, there is a river a couple of centimetres to the northwest."

"A couple of centimetres in the map are more or less a hundred kilometres."

"Really?"

"Mhm"

"We better leave soon"

I laughed and ran my hand through his hair. He took a deep breath and moved his eyes away from mine. As if looking at me was too much.

"We better do, yes" I whispered wondering if this trip was having the same effects on him.

"Get up then, lets have breakfast"

I pouted and covered half my face with the blanket (not the map). I was so warm and comfortable...

"Can you cook something?" I said only uncovering my eyes.

Daniel looked at me for a few seconds and smiled.

"Okay" He leaned and gave me the softest kiss on my forehead, leaving me on the bed with flushed cheeks and a funny feeling on my stomach.

I saw him smiling and biting his lips, not looking at me, while he cooked something in the tiny gas kitchen.

Somehow, on our way to that river he wanted to go, my feet had ended up on his lap. I didn't want to think about anything else. It was just us, the sun, the wind and soft music. The road was beautiful and peaceful, having only crossed a couple of cars. His finger drew circles on my skin and I felt my eyes getting closed.

I could hear Daniel softly singing along with the lyrics. The silence was comfortable and I was glad to be able to spend some time like this with someone. No need for stupid conversations. Just us.

"I love this song" He said when the first chords of Automobile by Kaleo sounded.

I smiled. It suited him well. I smiled and opened my eyes to watch him happily singing along and gesturing.

"I guess I could make room for one, a bottle of rum You and me together riding into the sun Live without care, with the wind in my hair I'm driving through the desert, yeah I'll go anywhere"

I smiled and blushed when he signalled me in you and me together part because there was nothing I wanted more right now. I wanted this to last forever.

"I don't have rum, but I have a couple of beers" I said softly and giving myself the privilege to run my hands through his hair. He smiled and bit his lip. That moved a thousand things inside of me. Taking Danny on a road trip with me had been the best idea I've ever had.

"I'd gladly have those beers later." He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Check the map for me, babe. Tell me where is the next exit."

I froze a second after hearing the nickname and he seemed to do too. It had slipped, that's what his face said when he briefly looked at me and cleared his throat. His knuckles got white because of the pressure.

"Mmm, yes" With shaking hands, I took the map. He had found a river close to a camping area and had marked it as Paradise not even knowing how the place would look.

"It's probably the next one"

"Probably"

"I have been half sleeping for a while, Dan. There is a farm on the right and then the exit"

He looked at me and smiled. "I believe you"

Soon he had us both walking through some paths and hicking hills looking for that river.

"You are lucky that I have experience in this..." I said giving him a hand so he could climb the rock as I had just done.

"I knew you would bring me to the river"

"It must be near"

Once he was up the rock next to me, he didn't let my hand go. He intertwined our fingers and made me walk next to him.

I tried to keep my nerves low and breathe properly. My whole body felt burning but I didn't know if it was him or the Australian summer heat.

We walked for a few more minutes until we heard the water running.

"Oh..." He was so happy and excited. The place was beautiful and quiet. It was kind of dreamy. "Look at this YN, it's so so beautiful"

I smiled and hugged his waist. He grabbed my shoulder with his big hand and looked down at me.

"Let's get down there and tell me why you wanted a river"

When we got to the river bank, he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Always wanted to go skinny dipping"

"What? Swimming? Naked?"

"Well, you don't have to. But I'm definitely gonna do it"

"Dan!" I turned around when he pulled his trousers down without a warning. He laughed hard.

"It's not like if you hadn't seen a naked man before"

I rolled my eyes. Not you, Danny.

"C'mon. I won't look"

I took a deep breath. What could happen?

"If a crocodile eats me it's your fault"

"I will protect you from them." He said flexing his arms.

I heard the water moving and a hiss.

"It's cold as fuck"

"Would be nice to get my revenge for yesterday"

"You need to get into the water first"

"You could have told me you wanted to swim and I would have brought my bikini with me"

"I wanted to swim naked"

I laughed a bit and slowly took my shirt off, my back still turning to him.

"Keep your underwear on if you want" He spoke in a low voice as if he was embarrassed.

I smiled a bit. He was really sweet. I decided to go for it. It was just him. I was sure we had been naked in the same space at some point in our teenage years.

The water was indeed cold. I felt goosebumps on my skin as I slowly sank into it and swam closer to his body.

When I touched his back he turned around covering his eyes with his hand. But there was a huge smile on his lips.

"It's really cold, Ricciardo." I took his hand and pulled it from his eyes. The water was covering my chest but I was sure that he could still see something. When he looked down and blushed, I got it confirmed.

"You are brave"

"Well, just don't peak" I winked at him and he smiled.

"Late"

"Daniel!" I splashed water at him and he coughed mixed with laughing.

"I deserve that. I was joking!" He showed his hands in surrender.

"I hope you were"

I didn't feel embarrassed, I felt comfortable around him.

"How do you feel it? Skinny dipping." I asked curiously.

Daniel smiled and swam backwards, getting away from me.

"It feels good, I'm not gonna lie. Pretty free down there"

"Oh, Daniel" He would never change.

I also swam in the opposite direction until I could reach the bottom with my feet. The pebbles moved.

I knelt and the water ran down my shoulders. He still couldn't see anything, but something on his gaze told me he was dying for it.

"Had you ever come here?"

"Nop. I didn't knew this existed"

"Well, you are welcome."

I laughed a bit and move the water around me.

"We could make this a tradition. Come back here once in a while. Make this our place. Paradise river"

Our place.

"Do you want to have a place with me?"

He smiled and swam closer.

"Why not? I have already enjoyed these 24 hours so much. I want to have a place to come back when I want to feel like this"

"L-like what?"

"This free. Like when we were teens and spent the whole day on the beach. I like this, having no one around, being able to swim naked, sleep under the stars, just being Danny and not Daniel Ricciardo. I'm happy here. I understand why you like to disappear. It makes sense."

I nodded slowly.

"Thank you for showing me this."

I smiled at him.

"I'm glad you are enjoying the trip"

"I travel a lot, but this..."

"It's different, Danny. You travel for work. This is a trip to run away from the job. From everything. To just have fun and see beautiful things."

He came even closer and I tensed. He was naked after all. I curled my knees to my chest and hugged them. Covering himself too, he sat next to me.

"So what do you say? Let's make a tradition of this."

I nodded and smiled.

"Every time you visit Australia for more than a week we take my van and disappear."

He lifted his pinky and tangled it with mine.

"Promise."

"Promise"

I let my head fall on his shoulder and he let his on mine.

"Thank you for taking me here"

I kissed his shoulder, that spaceman tattoo I liked so much.

I had feelings for Daniel before, but this trip had taken them to the surface.

"I want to do something"

"What?"

"Jump from that rock"

And soon he had climbed into the rock, making me cover my eyes.

"Be careful"

"You can look now"

I laughed. He was covering himself with his hands, but I could see his whole boy, his tattooed leg, strong abs,... He was truly beautiful.

"Ready?"

"Be careful, I can't carry you if your hurt yourself!"

And he jumped. I laughed watching him coming back to the surface seconds later, laughing too and extremely happy.

"That beer you told me about this morning..." He said coming closer to the van. He had gone to the bush to "do private things" while I got dinner ready.

"On the mini fridge."

"I still don't know how you fit that in the van."

"I was good with Tetrix, remember?"

"The best, actually"

Daniel took 2 beers and sat next to me.

"I'm exhausted"

"We have walked a lot"

"What's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Go back home" I said with a knot in my throat. It was coming to an end.

"Can we stop on the beach again?"

"Of course"

He drank from his bottle and a drop of beer fell through the corner of his mouth. I looked away. Why the fuck was he so good looking?

We had dinner with a light conversation between us. We talked about nothing and everything.

"Can I ask you something?"

I looked at him.

"You can. I don't know if I'll be able to answer, though"

"Why are you single? You always get some guy and then nothing."

I looked away and my face warmed.

"You said you were unable to get a partner or something like that. It sounded like you wanted one."

"I do. Sometimes."

"Then?"

"They were not good enough." I looked at him and he nodded. He was playing with his beer bottle.

"What do you need in life?"

"And you?"

"I need someone to keep me on the earth. To remind me I am a normal person after all. I asked first, though."

"I don't really know. It's hard. I'd like someone to have fun with."

"And someone to disappear with?"

Our eyes met and it was as if electricity had run over me.

"Yeah, that too"

"I wish I could give you that" He said in a whisper.

I gasped and my body turned to his.

"Why do you say that?"

He looked at his hands, picking the paper on the beer bottle. He stayed silent for a while, frowning and pressing his lips together.

"Remember the last year of high school? When Mike invited you to that party?"

I nodded. I had a knot in my stomach.

"You had no one to go. You were sad because that guy you liked had asked Molly." He took a deep and shaky breath. "I wanted to take you. I liked you a lot. And when I say a lot is... a lot, YN. I was in love with you"

I felt tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"It broke my heart to see you that sad because of that prick. I wanted to take you. But I would leave a few days later. I would leave to try and become what I am now. And I couldn't do that. I couldn't take you to that party, get a glimpse of what would it be to be with you and then move to the other side of the planet." He looked at me. Daniel was opened then, cut in a half and raw. He was vulnerable. He was confessing something so big and deep to me and I couldn't breathe. "I asked Michael to go with you so you wouldn't go alone because he would stay, he would go to uni and become an engineer. And if someone was good for you was him."

The first tear fell and travelled down his cheek. I was fast to dry it, cupping his cheek with my hand. I didn't know what to say or how to feel. I fell in love with him too, later but I did. Now all of that was back.

"I wanted to leave, to follow my dreams, but leaving you here... I wish I could have given you the life you deserve. I wish I had been here with you. And I wish I could now."

Daniel wanted me. He wanted a life with me. After so many years.

I moved closer to him and turned his face so he was completely facing me now. Softly, I pressed my lips to his. I was finally doing it. I was kissing Daniel Ricciardo. My childhood friend and neighbour, not the driver.

He kissed me back with passion, moving his lips over mine and grabbing my leg.

I moved my hands to the back of his neck and climbed on his lap. He circled my waist with his arms and pulled me closer.

I deepened the kiss and he groaned before pushing me a bit.

"Why are you doing this?" He whispered.

"You are the fucking reason why anyone is enough for me, Daniel. I could be perfectly happy with you. I just know it"

He let a shaky breath out and kissed me again, making me moan. Thant seemed to ignite something in him, because he lift me and let me fall on the bed, the whole van squeaking with the sudden movement. His body pressed mine into the mattress and I felt a rush of pleasure running over me. His lips tasted like beer and his kisses were consuming; his big hands felt like heaven on my body and he smelled like cologne and nature.

Bringing Daniel here was definitely the best idea I ever had.

He started travelling down my neck, with slow and wet kisses, leaving a path of saliva as he undressed me at a torturous pace. He was taking his sweet time with me, not speaking, eyes closed and tender touches all over my skin. He was savouring each kiss on my skin, his lips lingering longer than necessary and his tongue tasting each centimetre he explored. I was in heaven, the fresh air crossing the van and giving me goosebumps, the natural sounds surrounding everything. I had never been so conscious about what surrounded me. My senses were 100% active.

"Danny..." I whimpered feeling the urge to kiss him. He looked at me and let me pull him to my kiss. I was already completely bare and he was fully dressed.

He trapped my lips with his and slid his tongue into my mouth. I loved Daniel's kisses and I couldn't believe I had waited this long.

It was my time to take his clothes off. He paid attention to every movement I made.

"I can't believe I finally have you like this" He said touching my chest and dragging a finger down my sternum. He leaned and left a kiss there before returning to my mouth, kissing me deeply while I pushed his trousers down.

Finally, I got him naked, in his full glory, laying next to me. We had spent the whole morning like this, but I was able to touch and kiss him now.

I ran my finger down his nose and lips, letting him suck into it for a second before dragging it down his strong neck and chest. Drawing little figures on his skin.

Daniel brushed his nose against mine and gave me a kiss before pulling back and separating my legs. He dipped between them, making me arch my back and moan at the contact with his mouth. Expert movements drove me crazy. I was shaking and grabbing the sheets under me. He brought me close enough to come but didn't let me. And then he kissed me and let me taste myself in his mouth.

He looked at me and caressed my cheek.

"You are beautiful"

"So are you"

He smiled and kissed my forehead before turning to grab his bag. He pulled a box from it and I smiled.

"Did you bring condoms?"

"I was going to spend two days alone with you"

I blushed. He was so sure of it. He was so confident.

"I'm glad Michael didn't came"

As soon as he was ready, he climbed over me and kissed me.

"I'm glad too"

We kissed for long minutes before I felt him sliding in, slowly, deep and carefully. As I said, I felt in heaven. It was like a dream.

Any of us was able to make a sound, only soft gasps and pants. I had never felt such a connection with someone. Both of us laying on our sides, him slowly thrusting into me, his face hidden on my neck and my cheek pressed against his, my hands roaming through his hair and back, his grabbing onto my shoulder and ass. We were impossibly close, we were literally one. It was easy for both of us to reach an orgasm. It was intense, my skin burned against his and my breath was heavy. His deep groans and moans in my ears told me he felt the same. And as we came down our highs, I didn't let him go, I kept him close, half laying over me with his forehead against mine. Years of waiting had been worth it.

And when he finally opened his eyes and looked at me, I felt as if everything in life had come to its place. I ran my fingers over his lips, nose, cheeks, his soft curls and decided that this was the face I wanted to see when I woke up.

"I love you" I whispered.

Daniel closed his eyes again and pressed his lips to mine.

"I love you too" He said out of breath.

That night we fell asleep naked and curled into each other. I could hear his heart beating relaxed while he draw shapes on my skin.

And the next day, as we drove back home, him on the wheel and me comfortably sitting against the door, Vagabond by Caamp on the speakers, he looked at me.

"I will ask you to marry me one day."

In the night while my body slept in my bed My mind was running through the woods instead One hundred miles an hour in the fast lane One hundred miles an hour in my head

Vagabond dreamin' takes me through the night Sippin' whiskey by the river living out of sight One hundred miles an hour in the fast lane One hundred miles an hour toward the light

See the curve in that river's bend I look at you and I see my friend One hundred miles an hour in the fast lane One hundred miles an hour till the end

My heart does beat like a Cherokee drum And in the morning when that sun does come One hundred miles an hour in the fast lane One hundred miles an hour in the fast lane One hundred miles an hour 'till I'm dead

Pic links in order of appearance [X] [X] [X] [X] Got a bit carried away with this one, not gonna lie. Thank you to the anon who send the request, this is one of my favourite fics 🌺🌺

#daniel ricciardo #dr #fic #f1 fic #smut #fluff

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madame-wilsonn · 3 years

Text

Roses

Summary: Henry, you and the kids spend an afternoon at the botanic garden. You end up talking about names for your future baby

Request: idk if you remember, there was an idea once about Henry taking his family to the botanical garden 🥰🥺 would you write something like this? bonus points if his wife was pregnant, but you don't have to do it! love youuu

A/N: okay I don’t think it’s my best work but I’ve had a very long day (I spent the day moving in my new apartment) and it’s quite late and I’m exhausted but I haven’t been very active and Lily, I loved your request, I loved writing it and I hope you love it too! (All of you lol) 💗✨

Warnings: none except there might be some errors, I didn’t proof read it and english isn’t my first language

The gentle May sun was caressing your skin as you strolled in the garden, one hand holding Alice’s as she walked next you and the other, holding Henry’s arm as he guided you through the place.

Charlotte and James, who were now 8 and 6, walked in front of you, playing some game of « who can guess the name of the plant? ». Thanks to their father, they were almost as passionate about botanic than he was. But you weren’t complaining, quite the opposite, it was the most adorable thing to watch Henry spend hours in the garden with them, teaching them or reading them books about all kind of plants.

He had also begun showing Alice the wonderful universe of botanic and for some reason, he kept chatting with your unborn child about it too because yes, Henry and you were expecting a little Wilson to complete your beautiful family.

The news had, at first been a real shock to your husband. The scars he kept from Dunkirk were still fresh and he doubted himself a lot on his ability to be a good father to something as delicate and fragile as a baby. However, as months passed and with a lot of reassure from your part, Henry had started to feel more confident and ready to welcome this new life.

You had absolutely no doubt he would be a wonderful father, he already was to you three other children as well as being a wonderful husband and a wonderful man. You couldn’t be happier to have him by your side during this great journey.

« Is everything alright, love? »

You turned your head towards Henry and nod, smiling.

« Everything is fine I was just thinking about how happy I am »

His lips stretched into a smile and he kissed your temple.

« I want a kiss too, daddy »

Alice’s high-pitched voice interrupted you and you both stared at her, laughing. Henry passed by you, grabbed his little girl and gave her the biggest kiss on her cheek. She kept giggling at the gesture and you smiled fondly. She had grown up to be the most adorable three years old girl you had ever seen and she was definitely her daddy’s girl. You could always find her perched on his knees or asking him to say more about creepers plants, or as she called them « creeperers plants ». And although you felt a bit jealous of your husband, you couldn’t help your heart melting every time you saw him genuinely laugh along with her.

You walked past the small river in the garden and Henry got to show to the kids waterlilies, you also met a mama duck with her flock of ducklings and a couple of old swans. Further in the garden, you discovered very colorful hydrangeas, some blue, some purple, some white, some with a bit of everything and your encyclopedia of a husband explained that if a same bush of hydrangeas had flowers of very different colors, it all had to do with the acidity of the soil.

« Does that mean I can have light purple one and bright pink one? » asked a very excited Charlotte followed by an equally excited James « Could I have yellow one? »

Henry chuckled and gave them a positive answer which resulted in them negotiating in every way to bring some home.

You continued your walk through the park, finally arriving at Henry’s favorite place of all: the rose garden. It had a very sentimental value to him, that’s where he took you for your third date after you told you found his passion for plants « endearing », that’s where he asked for your hand and you always looked like a walking piece of art in the middle of those roses.

You loved the rose garden as well, the smell of roses was sweetly intoxicating the air around you, each kind of rose looked more beautiful than the previous one and also for the same sentimental reasons as Henry.

It was a habit for you to spend time there every time you would go to the botanical garden. There were spaces were you could sit and enjoy a picnic in the middle of the roses, it was big enough to let the children play around you and it held a sense of peace, a tranquil atmosphere the whole family enjoyed.

After settling down on the blanket you brought, Charlotte insisted to go see the greenhouses and James decided he wanted to follow her. They managed to obtain what they wanted at the only condition of being careful and staying together. Alice was currently trying to catch a small butterfly (poor thing, your daughter had the reputation of being a very perseverant and stubborn child) which left you with Henry and future mini Wilson.

You sat next to Henry, one hand caressing your round belly and the other around him. He had an arm around your shoulders as the other rested on the ground.

« You know, we still haven’t thought about a name yet? » you asked suddenly

« Well…do you have any ideas? »

« I was thinking about Margaret… »

Henry frowned, looking at you.

« Why are you so sure it’s a girl? »

You shrugged.

« Mrs. Connor says so…and she had told me Alice would be a girl »

« Right well either way, I won’t name my child Margaret! »

You pushed yourself away from him.

« Why not? It’s a beautiful name! »

He shook his head in disagreement.

« What about…what about Anne? »

It was now your time to scoff and refuse.

« It’s just not suited…we can’t name her Anne! It reminds me too much of that cousin I can’t stand! »

Henry sighed, about to propose to think about the baby’s name at another moment when Alice came back, running excitedly towards you.

« Mummy, daddy, look! »

She showed you her small hands and inside, a small blush pink rose.

« Alice, you can’t pick up flowers like this! » you scolded

« But…but it was already on the ground… »

You sighed, reassuring her it was alright and she smiled, sitting between you and her father. She stayed still for a moment before catching sight of the butterfly she was chasing earlier and before you could even remind her to be careful, she was already far gone.

Henry and you remained silent, enjoying the warm weather and the sweet scent around you. He put his hand over your belly, trying to see if the baby would kick as he told them about the rose their sister found and how it looked like a bourbon rose when you blurted out:

« What about Rose? »

Your husband gazed at you, confusion painted all over his features and you explained: « For the baby, if it’s a girl, what do you think if we named her Rose? »

He kept staring at you and for a moment you wondered if he understood what you were saying but before you could speak again, his hands embraced your cheeks and his lips found their place on yours. It was a sweet, loving kiss he would usually give you at home but you certainly didn’t mind. You felt your legs turn into jelly, your heart swoon and butterflies, alike the one Alice was chasing, seemed to be stuck in your stomach.

When Henry leaned backwards, he joined his forehead to yours and mumbled against your lips « I think it’s a wonderful idea »

You smiled, happy he finally agreed with you when you felt a soft kick in your belly. Your hand instinctively touched the place where your baby had hit and the smiles on your faces brightened.

« I think she likes that idea too »

#henry wilson #henry wilson x reader #shivering soldier #dunkirk #retromafia #request #anna’s fics

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0097linersb · 3 years

Text

Pink Lemonade

CHAPTER 1

Pairings: Jaemin x Renjun x Haechan x Jeno x Mark x Reader

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Humor (I guess), Slow burn af

Summary: The dreamies decide to spend some weeks at an Inn in the middle of the nature to relax and enjoy some outdoor adventures, far away from their crazy idol life. What they didn’t expect was the nice girl running said Inn.

Word count: 3k

You should read the intro first so this story makes sense <3

☼ previous / next ☼

A/N: Honestly guys this fic will probably be long and detaild af ‘cause I’m using it as a distraction from real life lol guess who just finished their engagement. If u would like it to be more straightforward and go right to the fun parts let me know, I’d really like some opinions! Also, it’s like 2 AM so I’ll proofread it tomorrow

As you woke up the next day, you were not shocked to find that the boys were not up yet. Last night you were surprised to come downstairs to an already fully cleaned kitchen and as much as it made you embarrassed, it also made you immensely grateful. You thanked them and told them to stop being so nice and doing your job for you, to which Mark only responded that seven guys could be really messy sometimes.

You had given them the folders that informed all the activities the Inn (well, you) offered and the ones they could book in the city a few minutes away, it made you smile at how excited they got reading the paper and planning their days. Haechan was already asking if they could go stargazing that same night but the rest of them groaned saying they were way too tired to move after the long trip (and you felt bad once again for having them clean the kitchen).

Everyone eventually agreed on a time for breakfast and you were just sure they wouldn’t wake up that early by the dark circles under their eyes and, turns out you were right. They did go to sleep pretty early the other night, showering after the meal you had and just going straight to bed.

You lazily stretched as you left your room with Koda and Kenai tracing after you, to find a very much awake Jaemin sitting on the living room’s couch holding a cup.

“Good morning, did you make coffee?” You yawned at the boy, scolding Koda so he would get off the couch.

“Good morning. Yeah, sorry for taking the liberty, I really needed to wake up,” He smiled at you, petting your disobedient dog with his free hand so he could get distracted from the way your shirt had ridden up. Damn morning horniness.

“It’s ok, smells good. Are the rest of the boys awake?”

“Nop, and probably won’t be for a while. I know we agreed on going to the lake at 8 but everyone’s dead, I can wake them up if-“

“No, it’s ok,” You laughed. “I imagined this would happen, not a fan of waking up early myself.”

“Oh, you can go back to sleep if you want, I can knock when everyone starts waking up.”

“Don’t worry. You just really made me want some coffee.”

“I left it downstairs, I can go get you a cup.”

“Jaemin, we’re playing opposites here, don’t make me feel useless,” You joked, already making your way to the stairs, missing how the man stared at your legs in your little pajama shorts. “Plus, I need to take the boys on a walk before they become too fidgety.”

“Can I come with?”

“Of course.”

Jaemin was quick to stand up and follow you downstairs, where you quickly poured yourself a cup of coffee and opened the door, the dogs running past you excitedly. You silently lead the way out of your property and into the unpaved road, warming your hands with the coffee mug – The days were hot but the nights and early mornings could be quite chilly, especially with all the trees surrounding you and blocking the sunshine from reaching you.

“Do they sleep with you?” Jaemin asked, pointing at the dogs who were sniffing around the bushes on the side of the road, like they didn’t do this same route every day.

“Sometimes, they often prefer to stay outside, lots of animals to chase when I’m not there to scream at them.”

“They don’t wear leashes?”

“No need to, there’s barely people here and they are really well-behaved. I trained them well, Koda just gets a little bold when we have new guests over,” You smiled, remembering not even 5 minutes ago said dog was trying to get on Jaemin’s lap on the couch. “Do you like tangerines?”

The boy looked at you confused but nodded.

“Wait a second,” You asked before leaving him, walking off the road and into the trees. After a minute or so, you were back, throwing one of the orange fruits at Jaemin. “I steal them from the neighbors sometimes.”

“Will we get in trouble?” He asked but was already peeling the tangerine with his hands.

“Nah, they are never here. These would just rot.”

“Seems only fair then.”

You walked for another few minutes in silence, eating happily as you appreciated the sound of your feet crushing the small rocks on the floor.

“Ok, tangerines do not go well with coffee,” You make a face after eating half of your fruit, only now stopping to pay attention to the actual taste in your mouth.

Jaemin laughs at you before putting his last slice into his mouth, “Cute.”

“There’s nothing cute about this flavor.”

“Didn’t bother me,” He shrugged, smiling down at you.

Damn that boy was too attractive for his own good. You meant, all of them were.

It was just unfair, really.

The two of you talked a bit more until you hit the end of the road and then made your way back, it was a light-hearted comfortable conversation and you liked the way it made you feel warm inside. You learnt that Jaemin likes to photograph stuff and you asked him to take lots of pictures during their stay so you could use them on the Inn’s social media, telling him you shared that hobby with him. You then started a discussion about digital vs. film photography, in which you two clearly didn’t agree on, but it kept you entertained for a long time.

“Listen, technology evolved to this point to make life comfortable and easier for a reason!” Jaemin whined as you two were entering your property once again. “Is there something worse than developing your pictures only to find out your film was ruined?”

“That’s the thrill of it!” You exasperated.

“I call that heartbreak.”

“It’s a raw form of art for the strong hearted,” You sigh dramatically, opening the door for the man.

After your half an hour walk, as you got back home, only Renjun was up, pouring himself some coffee and looking super sleepy.

“Good morning, slept well?” You asked as Jaemin made his way to sit down on the table after getting Renjun to pour him some more coffee.

“Yeah, this is the first time I dreamt in months,” He smiled at you but his eyes were still half closed. Like you, Renjun was still in his pajamas, light sweatpants and a wrinkled white t-shirt.

“Do you guys want to eat something before breakfast?” You asked, not knowing how long they would have to wait for the others.

“It’s ok,” Jaemin answered.

“If you change your mind just let me know,” You smiled, wondering on what to do now, since you had already prepared the food for today last night and didn’t have any other chores until everyone was up so you could make their beds.

You figured the boys would drink their coffees and go talk or lay down in the hammocks, maybe even try to nap a bit but you were proven wrong when Renjun pointed at the end of the table suddenly excited, “Are those cards?”

“Yeah.”

“Can we play?”

“Of course.”

The man was quick to pick up the little box and sit down across the table from Jaemin, who tapped the place next to him before you had the chance to leave. You happily took on the offer, content with finally spending some fun time with people your age. No, scratch that: Attractive men your age.

“Let’s play Rummy!” Renjun suggested, the sleepiness leaving his body at the simple thought.

“I have no idea how to play that,” You informed.

“It’s ok, I’ll teach you. Come closer,” Jaemin smiled at you and you obeyed, heart beating fast at your thighs suddenly touching. What were you? 12?

The game was way too complicated for your morning brain to understand so you basically just watched the boys play, giving your input here and there.

“Jaemin, here!” You excitedly pointed at one of the cards he was holding.

“Oh, I had missed that, smart girl,” He smiled at you, patting your thigh as a thank you or maybe a praise, making your heart almost leave your body through your mouth.

Freaking pet names dude.

After an hour or so playing, Jeno and Haechan appeared already fully clothed and awake. The second boy gave you and Jaemin a weird look, noticing how the boy’s right hand was just casually resting on your thigh. At some point it just happened and it felt comfortable (if you ignored your blood pumping through your body twice the normal speed, of course), it had been months since you had flirted with someone and you were enjoying the touch fully, thoughts of being professional nowhere to be found.

You greeted the boys and they sat down too, informing Mark and Chenle would be down in a second and Jisung would just skip breakfast to sleep. You decided then to get up and leave them to chat as you went into the pantry to organize the food you had prepared yesterday, into the baskets.

“Dude,” Haechan whispered to Jaemin.

Just by looking at the boy, Jaemin already knew what he wanted to comment on so he just, “Don’t.”

“Game on, bro.”

“What? This is not a game, we were just-“

“I said game on, bro.”

Jaemin sighed and gave up, knowing Haechan was just joking and being annoying as usual.

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

After all the men (minus Jisung) were downstairs and ready to go, you guided them down to the lake, setting up one of those cliché plaid towels for everyone to sit on. As you and Mark organized the foods around, you smiled at the others running around the grass and taking pictures, impressed at the view. The lake really was pretty and your property had a privileged clearing to sit down and enjoy it.

“I would love to say they are normally not this energetic,” Mark smiled at you, placing the bowl with the grapes and strawberries down. “But I’d be lying.”

“It’s refreshing, I rarely deal with people my age around here. We didn’t add bingo to the activities’ folder for no reason.”

“There are no clubs or bars around here?”

“The biggest city around has barely 2.000 habitants so I’ll say no to that. Although this region is becoming really famous for the ecotourism these days, they opened a nice pub for the tourists like last month but there’s only ever people during the weekends.”

“Well, if you ever go to Seoul, let me take you out,” Mark offered before realizing what he had said and stiffening, cheeks going red like the watermelon juice in your hands. “I mean, like, to show you the places and-“

“That sounds fun,” You smiled at him, deciding to end his misery right from the start. He was cute. “Boys, the food is ready.”

Jeno excitedly dropped Haechan down (who he was holding for a picture) and ran over, leaving a very whiny boy on the floor. Jaemin took a picture of that and soon enough, everyone was sitting down on the picnic clot.

“Wow, it looks like we’re in a movie,” Renjun awed, looking around.

It really did, that’s why you liked bringing the guests to this spot on their first day. After everything was set, the scenery resembled a Renaissance painting and you loved it. It was a bit hotter than normally since it was a few hours later then the time the guests usually have breakfast, but the gentle breeze of the wind was enough to not make it unbearable.

The meal was fun, the boys made you feel so comfortable that it felt like you have known each other for a longer time than the actual truth. You all chatted, joked around and posed for pictures with the food. You had brought your analog camera just to tease Jaemin, asking him to take a picture with it for you.

“How do you want it?” The boy groaned, pretending to be annoyed.

“Here, I have an idea,” Haechan shared, excitedly, holding up one of the strawberries from the bowl in front of your face. “Bite it on the side.”

You accepted the advice confused, not understanding where he was trying to go with it but excited, you loved a good old-fashioned improvised picture. Jaemin pointed the camera at you and counted to three, and you smiled around the strawberry when on the count of one, Haechan bit on the other side of the strawberry and looked at you cross-eyed. After you saw the flash of the camera going off, you decided to take a big bite of the strawberry to play around with Haechan but apparently the boy had the same idea and your lips ended up touching, slightly. Since when has your life become a cliché teenage movie?

You quickly took the stem of the fruit from between your mouths, pulling away from the boy to tease him, “Damn. Didn’t even buy me dinner first.”

The others joined in on teasing Haechan but the man simply winked at you, “Would be my pleasure.”

You didn’t even have time to giggle before the other men pretended to puke and Renjun legit slapped Haechan.

_____________________________________________

The boys decided to not do any activities that day because Jisung would simply not wake up and after a while waiting, Chenle decided to join him on the hibernation. It made you feel sad for them, that their days were so busy and tiring that at the first sight of some time off, they would sleep for hours and hours to make up for it.

The rest of you decided to play some volleyball in the parking lot (which was not the best idea considering it was noon). As expected by the almost 40 degrees climate, one by one, every single boy started taking off their shirts, body dripping and glistening with sweat and you just felt in heaven. This could just not be real, you even looked around for cameras, scenes like that just didn’t happen in real life. One hot shirtless guy was the acceptable quota for normality.

But also, you didn’t miss the way they looked at you in your little shorts and top (equal rights after all). It made you feel powerful even though you knew it was just their hormones talking, yours were screaming too after all. If it was already like that on their second day here, you couldn’t imagine how you would survive for the next few weeks, you just wanted to cry every time Jeno (who was on your team) approached you to celebrate when either of you scored, high-fiving you with his huge arms (you would die a happy woman if you were choked by them).

After the game was over, the boys decided to go swim on the lake to cool off and you figured it would be a good time to shower and organize their beds, which you quickly did before starting to make some lunch for everyone. The youngest ones of the group didn’t even wake up to eat so you decided to leave them some food in the microwave in case they got hungry in the afternoon.

Unfortunately the Wi-Fi was being annoying as usual and refused to work, so you couldn’t even google about the boys yet, the curiosity was almost killing you. Maybe it was better like that, right now you were just seeing them as 7 young men living their normal lives and you liked it, it kept you from being nervous at the fact they were probably some big stars that had the world at their feet – They all just seemed so chill sprawled around the living room floor playing the bingo you had joked about earlier, it was hard to believe they probably had hoards of screaming girls around them daily.

They thanked you for cleaning their rooms and told you that you didn’t have to, which technically you did, considering it was literally your job and the whole reason you were there.

You could be wrong, considering you have known them for barely 2 days, but you quickly noticed some little things about them: Like how Jaemin liked to touch you, even if it was just a light brush of his hand on your arm (in his defense, he was touchy with everyone, but when he touched you, it just lingered for a bit longer), or how Haechan liked to playfully flirt with you, that boy just had no shame and you admired him for that. You saw how Renjun often stared at you but when you looked at him, he looked away (which could mean either he was shy or he just didn’t like you very much), but at least he was more subtle about it, as opposite to Mark, who became a blushing mess every time you caught his eyes (and you just wanted to squeeze him). You realized Jeno was a manlier guy, you hadn’t gotten what his deal was yet but you loved the way his eyes disappeared when he smiled and that was enough for you.

It was funny, really, how everyone decided to ignore the tension in the air and go on with the day normally – You did only meet the day before after all.

After getting bored with bingo, the boys told you they planned on going water skiing tomorrow and you agreed happily, telling them you could have a little barbecue party in the camping next to the docks where your parents kept the Inn’s water sports gears, which got them even more excited.

“Can we go camping too?” Jeno asked, receiving a groan from Haechan. Classic city boy.

“Like at night?” You asked and Jeno nodded. “Yeah, actually the stars here are crazy pretty since there’s no light pollution.”

“See?” The boy told Haechan excitedly, who only sighed, accepting his fate.

Barbecue, bonfire, alcohol and a beautiful sky: You were a city girl too but you were also a sucker for a good camping night.

taglist: @eggbutnotyolk @lauraneuuh @geeisaclown @jenotation @riemm @junguwuuu @prettychaeng @satanssugaraddiction @luvlyjaemin @sweetjaemss @oofimdumb @junglekooks @unknown5tar @rosedchae@

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bangteamhyuk · 3 years

Text

Seesaw (II)

Genre: Mature/Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Neighbors with benefits/Fuck buddies, Producer! Min Yoongi, Fuck girl! OC Y/N, Neighbors AU (a Spin-Off to “Moving On”)

Warning: (NSFW! 18+) Car fingering while Yoongi drives, handjob, blowjob, cum licking/ spitting, Producer! Min Yoongi practicing SAFE SEX and ya’ll kids should do it too, mentions of bullying, suggestive abuse of power/ office boss being a d*ck, alcohol drinking and getting hammered, mention of sexist remarks, Seokjin being damn handsome AF just by walking in OC Y/N’s life like it’s okay because clearly it isn’t (I’m Jimin bias btw, I know you aren’t asking but I’m serving still) OC Y/N basically being unapologetically herself (living life in debauchery) and Yoongi knowing exactly what he needs in his damn life and he isn’t taking no for an answer.

Word count: 10,977k

SYNOPSIS: For months, you’ve been trying to hide your little crush on your neighbor who lives on the 18th floor. Until one night, you saw him drunk on the elevator with an empty bottle of Scotch, you asked if he maybe wants to have more of those in your place. And he did more than just agreeing.

Also thank you to these wonderful people: @flowerblu00 @milkyshoooky @sugaaddiction

“Of course, I’d love to….” you spoke low while taking a glass of water to drink. From the rims of the glass, you swore you could see Yoongi trying his best not to smile, playing it cool by pretending to struggle in picking the cooked meat from the grill. You bit the chopsticks to fight a smile, you must admit, that was pretty cute.

But Rush Hour. Of all the days you two choose to get laid was on Friday evening—a time where, unfortunately by default, everyone collectively decides to get laid as well. Thus, getting stuck in a sea of red lights. Needless to say, you two were bummed.

The traffic was so terrible, that it sucked you dry… literally. It’s as if a Dementor went around Yoongi’s car, found its way in, and unfashionably sucking you from underneath your seat. (Which by the way doesn’t look sexy at all. Seriously, who gets turned-on from that idea? Clearly not you) You were damn fine damp a minute ago, and now it felt uneventfully dry.

“You know what? This is ridiculous. I can see a motel nearby, why don’t we go there in the meantime?” you dramatically lamented from your seat. Yoongi, who was drinking iced coffee, almost choked to hear you declare your frustration so casually.

“Well, um…” he peered through the windshield “I can see the cars are moving in the next lane…”

“The motel is right over there” you pointed, emphasizing the short distance between the car and the building to his left.

He gulped “I uh-- I don’t like to take you to some sleazy motel. Besides, we have our own place” he starts counting by the finger “One, we don’t have to lie down on dirty sheets. Two, won’t clearly hear people moaning next door, and lastly no one’s gonna charge us by the hour…” facing you and concern

“Tell that to your friend who’s waning by the minute…” you pursed your lip pointing in his nether region. He instinctively closed his legs at your retort and chuckled “It’s fine, we’ll be fine… thanks for the genuine concern. Oh look, the light turned green! See, we’re moving? I think the next lane is pretty lax...”

You can only huff as your dry reply.

As much as he wanted to leave with you right away and get to the nearest subway station the very moment you agreed, he couldn’t. Because of all the days he decided to feel horny, he chose to go out with his car. He shut his eyes and dropped his head on the steering wheel to express his blowing resentment towards the cars, gradually becoming stationary on the said next lane. Thus, extinguishing any glimpse of hope that you two would arrive at his place, at an earlier time.

With an aching face, he wished that he could turn back the time and just to leave his damn car at the apartment building. Just so he could save his own balls from turning blue by the minute.

It was obvious that he was frustrated too, like you. Who wouldn’t? Being jammed in almost half an hour already? Still on the city street, barely moving? You had to deal with it.

Then it hit you: Yeah, why not deal with it?

However, you quickly realized that this may be a hit or miss. Not all people share the same interest or kink, but you were dying to have your back scratched, and so is he. So fuck it, you’re doing it.

You began to move your legs, slowly brushing it against Yoongi’s hand which was resting on the gear. He reacted, naturally. In fact, when the traffic light changed colors from red to green, he accidentally stepped on the gas pretty abruptly which partly shoved you down from your seat “Sorry…” furrowing his eyebrow apologetically, deep enough to find your pardon.

“It’s okay” fixing your hair from the center, and tucking it securely on your ears. Thankfully, you didn’t forget to put on a seatbelt, or else the plan you had in mind would have backfired. He sighed in relief, grateful that you accepted his apology.

Uncontented, you then pressed your hand on top of his. His hands suddenly turned cold as he tightened his grip on the gear, right before your touch. While you were certain that most men reacted positively to it, being open to a semi-public tryst, your expectations were not met. Instead, he cleared his throat and held your hands... held your damn hands.

He gently hit the brake as he approached another mob of halted cars on the next lane. Obviously flustered, he quickly moved his head to the side taking glimpses of whatever there was on his side mirror while withholding his smile. He momentarily pulled his hands away from you to shift his gear to neutral, then held your hands back. He even pushed his own finger in between its gaps and locked it. Locked your damn hands.

Slowly you closed your eyes and took one deep breath, not because your heart started to flutter, but because of your utmost disappointment at his response. This is clearly different from what you wanted to happen.

You took a mental note of the events and Yoongi’s actions, concluding that he was clearly a man who disliked beating around the bush. So, for the sake of being clear on your intention, you aggressively pulled his hand, opened his palms and let it slowly brush the skin hiding underneath your skirt.

He froze. Now you got his attention.

Nervously, he coughed on impulse. While his one hand remained clutched on the steering wheel and his eyes still focused on the road, the other hand was busy grazing your inner thigh. Surprisingly, he didn’t budge. He lets you take control, directing him where you want him to be while touching you gently. You then took his wrist, and guided his fingertips towards where you wanted it from the very beginning.

“Y/N, I just think it’s better if we wai---” for a moment, he had forgotten what he wanted to say to you next, because suddenly he felt his finger move to a place where he is afraid you'll lead it to-- your wet slit.

He swallowed, his mouth left ajar and brows lifted in absolute surprise. “Oh shit” was the only thing he could say.

Whining softly from your seat, he reluctantly moved his head to watch you introduce his fingers to the pleasure of your flesh. You then extended your arms, cautiously reaching for his legs and caressed it intently. His eyes blinked rapidly, as he turned his head back to face the road, refusing to look back. His mouth is still hanging from the air, as his head floats in uncertainty mixed with pure ecstacy.

No one asked but, really, this is what you meant by taking matters into your own hand.

It took him a minute to process what was happening, and as such, he began to return the favor. Now free from your control, he started pressing his finger on your sensitive bud and stroked it gently. He bit his lip right after he heard you moaned, “...Yoongi”

“Fuck” he suddenly saw the traffic light turn red to green. He slowly stepped on the gas pedal, careful enough to prevent you being thrown from your seat again. He was now steering the wheel with one hand as he flicked your clit with the other at a steady pace. As acknowledgement on being gratified, you opened your legs wider.

He was game.

Yoongi briefly pulled his hands away from you to maneuver the car smoothly on the highway. He grunted at the view of another sight of flooded red lights. He wanted to get home so bad. All he could think of was to get on the bed with you with his cock finally warmed. But the highway had led this poor man’s dreams down in an instant.

Though, you refused to concede to the situation. You are willing to put up a fight against the status quo, ready to deny the world from preventing yours and Yoongi’s happiness from dying each second. Thus, like a good employee of this capitalistic world, you turn this deplorable event from liability to an asset: making this a great opportunity for you and Yoongi to bond closer. (Albeit, a different kind of bonding, that is)

As soon as he stepped on the brakes, you pulled out your seatbelt and moved towards his direction “Your car is heavily tinted right?” you asked while probing the cars around you from your window.

“Yeah, why?” He asked while putting back his hands to your slit, continuing to flick your bud, now significantly fast. You decided to turn it up a notch as you reached for the button of his pants. Slowly, unbuttoning it and pulling his zipper down. He started to pant, nervous to hear you reply.

“Safety first…” You then helped him shift the gear to neutral, and began pulling his pants and boxer roughly half way.

He groaned as he watched you grasp his stiff length, stroking it slow. “Is this what you meant when you asked if my car is tinted?” he quickly jerked his head up to check if the vicinity is safe, then briefly saw you nod your head to a ‘Yes’.

He choked when he sensed his tip poke on to your lips. It didn’t take a while for you to hear him moan when he felt his tip finally pressed the entrance of your mouth, gradually moving down on your tongue and on to your inner cheek. The warmth and wetness you’re giving him puts him in immediate joy.

He hissed at the sight of you taking him whole, and helped you fix your hair by putting it to the side, letting you breathe easy while you bob your head “Nngh… Y/N”

“Like that?” you part a bit and kissed his tip.

“Why do you keep asking the obvious?” he faintly chuckled as he tossed his head from his seat, right when he felt your tongue move from the bottom shaft and up to its head. Then quickly downed on him entirely again. His eyebrow creased automatically, as if contemplating today’s wisdom from the universe that all ‘good things come to those who wait’. He concentrated on that note like a mantra, as he shut his eyes tight.

Even when you were giving him a head, he was still kind enough to help you keep your hair away from your face. Holding it fairly light, trying not to pull. If this isn’t a gentleman thing to do, then I do not know what is.

“Y/N” He began sliding his two fingers in, which left you half giggling and panting at the immediate contact.

“Mm, you are doing me good hm?” you asked while stroking him slowly and watching his eyes closed, barely breathing as he mentally called to thank the universe for being blessed by you “You can add another finger if you want…”

“Damn, you are so hot…” His eyes then lit up, biting his lip and grinning with pride, thus displaying his perfect gummy smile that takes you to greater heights every time he does. “Yeah… I really appreciate your honesty, thank you for telling me you are horny” he replied as he prods his fingers in, progressively fast. Candidly making you clench and moan his name at the same time.

And like a good co-worker, you went back to hustle. Starting from the bottom to his top.

The tightness of your mouth in his shaft, the smell of your sweet perfume, the sound of his fingers squelching inside your very core, and the sight of you taking him whole, like a prized lollipop. Oh, and the fact that he pulled his (now) three fingers out from you to have a little taste…Yes, he nodded to himself. Licking every side of his fingers as if eating at KFC. Indeed, ‘it is finger licking good’.

It became apparent that all his senses were being satisfied when you finally felt him start to shiver. Everything was met, everything was good, everything became so overwhelming for Yoongi that even with his lids close, he can still see the light shine from heaven.

He gasped, leaving him marveled at your greatness by giving him a very good head. In fact, he found it so admirable that you start to feel him throb. Evidently, he is coming.

You were so good, that he barely withholds himself from coming. Along with the fact that he became unaware that his elbow accidentally hit the switch to dwindle down the window. “Fuck!” he writhed, thrusting his hip up spurting hard in your mouth.

“Yo, Casanova! Your windows are down!” The driver on the other side shouted.

His eyes widened, still sporadically shuddering from his high. “Shit!” He quickly pushed the button to raise his windows while his other hand pulled his pants and boxers up (at the least he managed to put his boxers up while in hurry, now 80% covering his ass) only it was too late.

Resisting to swallow his cum, you began to pull yourself up from your seat and look for a tissue stashed somewhere inside your bag. Upon seeing your head pop from below though, it didn’t take long for the other driver to discern what just happened.

“Nasty” was the last thing Yoongi heard from the grinning stranger before he finally put his window back up. Now completely shielded from his embarrassment.

Just then the traffic light turned red to green. Yoongi quickly hit the gas. Staying in this traffic was definitely the last thing he wanted to be in. He then thoughtfully swore to be mindful of his surroundings next time when another opportunity like this came, or maybe he would never (It’s too soon to decide)

But one thing is for sure, he swore he can never drive and see this road the same way ever again. Thanks to you.

A lilac lacy bra resting on his lampshade, matched silken panty hanging on the side of his headboard, black pants stuck in the middle of his bedroom door, an empty packet of condom on the edge of the bed, and his brief dangling, which managed somehow to reach on top his his TV.

Sitting with his legs crossed, his back resting on a pile of pillows with his hands supporting your weight. He happily watched you grind on him with great effort for a full whole blown minute. “Y/N” humming your name, in between his grunt.

“Yoongi” you recited his name in return like litany, hands gripping on his bare shoulders as you tossed your head back in trance.

“Fuck…” he began to propel his hips against you, meeting your every movement. One of his hands sneaked its way to your breasts cupping each and kneading it gently.

“Yoongi” you repeated, calling his name, spreading your legs wider to find your balance and continuing to roll your hips in synchrony with his. For a moment, the sound of slapping skin was all you could hear until it syncopated by his heavy breathing. He pushed himself close to you, hands now reaching towards your clit. Stroking and flicking it concurrently in full earnest.

His head suddenly fell on to your shoulder, his gasp becoming audibly clear sending you into utter frenzy. In response, you pulled yourself back and began nibbling his ear, light and soft. He moaned. Yes, the kind that reverberates, delivering you to the edge. Thus reaching your high.

He snickered after hearing you whimper “For someone who initiated everything, I honestly thought you could last. I didn’t know just the sound of me moaning can send you to peak?”

With your mouth still open, you grimaced at his snide remark “Lie down, why don’t you? Let’s see if I can take you with me?”

“No need to, I’ll come any time soon” he tilts his head to the side and kisses you, simultaneously thrusting in haste. His sudden reflex jolts you in another course of delirium. As his movements became erratic, you held on tight to his shoulders taking it as a cue to give each other one final push to reach both your climax.

“Y/N…” He gagged as he squinted his eyes hard. Together, you both curse at the sensation, and deeply sighing together after hitting the zenith. You both lie down at the same time, panting. For a while it was silent, as if both of you were taking time to ponder on life in general like a hermit sage.

“…. Is this going to be a regular thing?” he suddenly asked, shifting on his bed to face the ceiling. Finally, he was asking the important question.

“Sure. You mean no strings attached right?” moving your body to face him.

He then pursed his lip to say something but quickly retracted. He figured he needed to ask it, so he just let it roll. A necessary query, he thought. “Is this going to be exclusive or….”

“Let’s not kid ourselves and make things easier for us, so no. Exclusive is quite foreign territory for me. Although I can still be monogamous, that is if you want it to… but don’t push okay? I can only go for a short period” you stretched your arm and rolled to the edge, taking the liberty to take his bottled water from the bedside table and drink.

“No, no, it’s okay. As long as we keep using protection, I guess that’s fine. We can see other people on the side, while we keep in touch? I think it’s a pretty fair deal…”

“It’s a good deal” you pointed out as he nodded in agreement.

“But what if one of us isn’t up for it any longer? Do we tell or do we not tell? Because honestly I’ll hope you’d pick the forme-- ”

“Latter” you quickly replied before he finished the word ‘Former’

He chuckled, and shook his head in disbelief with your reply.

“Fine, I can adjust. I totally understand that this isn’t just about me, so in all fairness, I’ll agree to your demands. But you have to agree with mine”

“That is?” He sat back up and pulled out his soiled condom, knotted it first before throwing it in the trash bin.

“Give me your number” you opened your palm to his direction

“Well, I thought you’d never ask” he picked up his cellphone he left from the edge of his bed, while you combed down on the floor to find yours. You two then exchange phones and enter each other’s number, and return it back. “That was easy” he raised one eyebrow smirking at you.

“With that, we can um… reach each other wherever, whenever” you pressed your lips together and gave him a smile.

He nodded “Sure, but only if you wanted”

“Only if you wanted it too” you replied, cordially mimicking his head.

“Everything sound’s good to me” he shrugged “So, Deal?” he stuck his hand out to you and you took it. “Deal” you both shook it, sealing the agreement.

Seesaw. It is one of your favorite playground activities. You enjoy the momentary high and the unpredictability of being dropped down. Although more than anything, you adore the power play. You get the euphoria from being intrigued, guessing each time who gets to take the upper hand.

You love taking predictions, you love calculating, but above all you love to wager. You wanted a brief scare from losing, only to shift the leverage to your favor. For you, Seesaw is a game of dominance. And in the game of dominance, of course you like to be the one in control.

Even when you were little you were so engrossed at that thought, obsessing to declare yourself to be the winner. You were so competitive, that it made you fall on a sandbox one time, when you were playing with your next-door neighbor, Hee-joon.

Seeing from afar, your father quickly ran to you and held you close for comfort. Although when he was dressing your bruises, you remember vividly how he warns you not to cry in front of boys, because little boys always relish seeing a weak girl cry. You always have to emerge as the victor at all times. Hence, you never did. Even now as an adult. You fight back, you always do.

That’s why Hee-joon grew up hating you, because the last time you two played Seesaw again, you managed to put him up above and watched him revel in the air. Until he realized you refused to put him back down, not until he cried. You watched him weep and plead above you. Only then you decided to put him down when his mother came. To say the least, your mother was upset with your action, but your father felt proud.

Seesaw is the game that taught you how to take the highs and lows, but more than anything, it taught you how to be the one in supreme.

Every time you deal with men, you remember every word your father told you. As such, when you reached the epiphany that love is nothing but just an illusion, you decided to take things to the sheets instead. You’d rather be engulfed with pleasure rather than unnecessary emotions under the guise of romance.

And yet, somehow deep within you, you were too scared to admit the rationale why you vehemently refuse to lose. Because at the time when you fell and your father ran to you, you saw it in his eyes. He was looking at you, fearful to see someone he loves dearly be in so much pain. He was terrified to let you know how far the depths of a wound can go, until you can no longer feel… and you’re afraid to know it too.

It is the precise reason why, right now, you are watching Yoongi cover his face on a Sunday morning. Leading him to his high, watching him revel in absolute bliss, under him… literally. Yoongi pleaded for you to stop giving him another god-tier head, and let him breathe easy, before you could deliver him any further to his overdrive. While you indeed followed his plea by halting, you decided to tease him a little by pulling yourself up from the covers and went on top of him. You took his wrist and pressed his palms against your bare chest.

“Wait” he paused as he sat up and furtively looked for a condom in his drawer. “Thank God, we still have one last…” he pulled out the shiny foil packet. You took it from his hand and helped him put the rubber on.

And just like that, Yoongi again was on a roll. For the past few weeks, neither of you resisted sex. Monday night? On your couch. Wednesday? On his kitchen counter. Friday after work? Inside his car on a dark alleyway. Saturday night? Inside his shower. Now Sunday, back on his bed.

Sex with Yoongi is great, but you already expect that.

But just like a play of Seesaw, you know that this kind of arrangement will definitely have some highs and lows. You know that one day, you and Yoongi’s sex drive will decline, frequent calls will become rare, until it’s gone. So, keep them coming right? Not that you are worried, but really what is there to lose? Especially if the sex is good and you two are on an equilibrium, like that in the game.

Well, not until Friday.

---

“Hey, good work!” someone tapped your shoulder lightly after closing the meeting room, you turned around to see who it was.

“Oh, Hoseok. Thanks!” you grinned, happy to see one of your best friends attend your team’s presentation for a Cereal Company. You’ve known Hoseok since college, and even worked with him on your first job. Even if both of you left and went to a different company now, you two still find time to catch up. It just so happens that you two are now working on the same project.

Dipping your head a little low, you whispered to his direction “I was genuinely surprised to know you work for this company, I thought you hated their cereals?”

“Unfortunately, beggars can’t choose” he replied softly as you nodded in agreement, while walking with him on the office hallway towards the elevator lobby “Great to know they promoted you as the Event’s Manager huh?”

“As long as they pay me well, I can manage whatever shit the world throws at me,” you said, twitching your lip to the side and shrugging, making Hoseok hysterical.

“Cheers to being a slave for money”

“Cheers” you both tossed an imaginary goblet from each of your hands when suddenly, you heard your phone buzzing, so did his. Both of you stopped from the elevator lobby to read the message. You rolled your eyes “Seems your boss and my boss are going to announce their engagement?”

He chuckled, “I’m pretty sure they’re straight, Y/N. But I can’t come to this ‘Night After-Work Drink’…” he put his phone back in his pocket after reading it.

“Aw, C’mon it’s going to be the weekend tomorrow! Plus, I’m going to introduce you to my colleagues, we’ll have fun! Just come, let’s go Hoseok! Don’t leave me alone, please?” you whined before him, trying your hardest to convince one of your closest friends to come by using your pleading charm.

Hoseok just stared at you and breathed.

“Why? Have you not forgiven me for that time I accidentally left my hairbrush on your car and your ex thought you were cheating on her? Hence, leaving me now on my own to suffer?”

You stepped forward to face Hoseok before he could enter the elevator with you.

He rolls his eyes “Still dramatic as always. I told you, that’s been long forgotten. Besides, I am dating someone new”

“Oh” you said inaudibly, finding Hoseok slightly displeased with your overly critical reaction.

“Hey, I know that face!” he narrowed his eyes while expressing his distaste to see your silent retort “And no, I have no plans in introducing you to her… Yet! Not until we’ve established whatever we are” he continued while pressing the elevator to the ground floor.

“Hm, still sounds trouble to me”

“We’ve only known each other for a week, Y/N. Give her some slack.”

“Then why are you cancelling extra working hours? When can you drink to your heart's content, hm? Beer will taste good, especially if you’re not the one paying” you bobbed your brows and smug “Just admit it Hoseok, she got you wrapped around her fingers. I told you, you can’t do this on a regular. Women like a little chase…”

“First of all, we’re not paid to kiss ass. Second, you also hated the idea of having to go there too and third, she’s not like you…”

You opened your mouth, clearly taken aback to hear his remark. Hoseok quickly clarified “I meant to say, you’re frighteningly the almost perfect girl…but she’s not the fooling type.”

“That’s what we all say, that’s what we all want you to believe Hoseok...” You retort incredulously “it’s better be uncompromising forthright than give you false hope. Go choose!”

Hoseok sighed deeply “Look, one day you are going to meet someone who will probably prove to you that not all men are shit.” he said while crossing his arms and stared at you, admonishingly.

“I already did. I have you” you pouted. The elevator stopped as Hoseok waited for you to step out first then followed.

“Besides me” leading you now to his car in the parking lot. His eyes flickered as he remembered something… or someone “Know what? there’s Seokjin-hyung”

“Oh, you mean Seokjin the half-god from the Film Department, in our Uni? Seokjin is infinitely out of question. Have you seen his latest drama on TV? Park Bo-gum even sent a coffee truck to congratulate him” You sighed resentfully.

“How’d you know?”

“Instagram. Okay don’t judge”

Hoseok chuckled, stopping at his car to turn it open with his car keys “I clearly am doing it right now”

“Technically, he is untouchable. You’ve seen how the girls reacted then when they saw me and him together on a couch? When we were literally just talking about Chinese Philosophy class during that frat party. And like some teen-romcom movie, rumors started to fly the next day and they multiplied by the hour” You opened the door to his passenger seat and secured yourself with a seatbelt.

“Easy A. It’s Easy A.” He stressed as he entered and adjusted the side mirror’s on the driver’s seat .

“The difference between you and Seokjin are that we’re friends… and he and I just happened to be in one class”

He starts the engine of his car, offering to drive you all the way to the bar where your team is having this week’s celebration “My point is… theoretically speaking, that there are men who are as nice, like he is. Plus, he knows those nasty rumors weren’t true. Won’t you forgive those girls?”

“They’re basically my creators? Shouldn’t this present slut thank them instead?”

“You and I both know you were once a college prude, and you never slept with any of those rumored men… Seokjin-hyung knows the truth. Even if he was conscripted to the list, unlike other men who took advantage of that, he fervently denied”

“Because that’s the truth. We never slept, Hoseok. Above every one, you know I didn’t have the guts. Wow, I am still not sure whether to feel offended or happy about it. Am I not worth it?”

“Y/N, seriously? Seokjin’s a true gentleman, that’s it. That’s the tea. I can even swear he was into you that time, until her groupies held an emergency meeting to evilly conspire against you… I’m actually glad they’ve been dealt with. This is why we can’t have nice things”

“Hoseok, okay, granted that he and I ended up dating each other back then… It is still going to fail because lov-- ”

He started to turn on the radio, loudly “What? I can’t hear you! Know what? Have a talk with your pessimism when you get to the bar. Here, I’ll even give you extra money so you could offer it a few more drinks” he pulled a few coins from his pocket and handed it over to you.

You chuckled, batting your eyes to his direction “Aw, ever the romantic Hoseok. Well, keep them I’ll collect it soon enough”

“She is going to be great, Y/N. Don’t jinx it!”

“Fuck capitalism!” your boss shouted.

“Fuck capitalism!” you all repeated and shouted it while drinking another shot all together.

“Y/N! Lara! Do that soju bomb thing together!” Your boss suddenly made his way to sourpuss the night by ordering you two to do a party trick which is gravely against your will.

Lara gave you a look and you just shrugged, telepathically and ironically accepting defeat from capitalism itself, by giving in at your boss’s request. You two were compelled to act normal as if nothing happened. Honestly, no one really needs to know about you, her, and canker Joe. As a matter of fact, you don’t want anyone to know that you tried to sleep with canker Joe from your office. Besides, didn’t Lara hide the fact that he was seeing Joe too? Maybe she was too embarrassed about him as well. Regardless, he is definitely a thing in the past and should be kept inside a box, six-feet underground for good.

“Hey!” Lara plastered a smile and handed you the glasses, as usual, to prepare both your famous tricks.

“Hey, hey!” you faked cheered as well as you helped her open more beers to spray on each glass, half filling the glass. Lara then filled each shot glass with a fair amount of soju, while you meticulously placed them strategically close so by the time you shove one, the other shot glass would follow like dominoes (dropping to beer glass like a bomb).

This never fails to amaze your boss for some reason, to see you two do it each time, much to you and Lara’s chagrin. Truthfully, if you’re being asked, you two would wish you weren’t forced to entertain anyone outside office just to have a favorable treatment by the day.

“Y/N” your boss called as he pulled out a newly opened bottle of soju to your direction, handing out your glass politely to him as a reflex. “You really did a great job with your presentation; I really like it! Don’t be too shy alright? You deserve to celebrate!”

“Thank you, sir,” you turned away from his direction and downed the alcohol in one go, respectfully showing everyone on the table that you’ve accepted the harsh reality of the need to kiss ass so you could get cash.

“Too bad, Hoseok’s not here. He’ll probably have fun” Hoseok’s boss, who joined your team, commented while watching you have another at your boss’s behest. You nodded to his direction, to feign agreement. Considering the amount of alcohol he could bear in a single night, of course not, he definitely would not have fun.

“Y/N” someone murmured on the table, after your boss moved his attention to the recently hired employees. You turned around and saw Lara staring at you “Y/N” she repeated.

“Yeah?” you raised an eyebrow clearly befuddled to hear her and have your attention.

“I know you can’t handle alcohol well, just gently decline next time he offers. He has more people to oppress now” she lowered herself so you could hear her clearer and puck her lips subtly to point at the poor new recruits.

“Oh, I thought you said you didn’t want to be friends with a slut like me? Are we also going to pretend I didn’t hear that too?” you whispered back

“Whatever, just don’t come hurling at everybody and then throw up”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you”

She was right. She’s always right. By the time you downed an nth shot of soju or whatever it is they gave you (and add that fancy cocktail you wanted to try on their menu) your surroundings gradually revolve and appeared hazy. Somehow, you decided to take drunken shots of the bar and record random moments for you to post something on your social media account. Nothing too wild or nasty, just enough to flash for your friends online that you were having a great time on another Friday night.

“Y/N, is it okay if you come with me to the restroom and help with something?” Lara asked distinctly from her seat, loud enough to hear your superiors to cut you lose from drinking.

You nodded submissively, plopping down from the stool and followed Lara. By the time you two arrived at the girl’s restroom you quickly went into the nearest cubicle and threw yourself against the toilet and vomited.

“I told you so, even Hannah Montana can’t get the best of both worlds. Y/N, stop acting tough.” She crouched down and held your hair up while patting your back.

“I’m feeling fantastic Lara!” you deadpan reply while wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.

“Okay, you are welcome” she rolled her eyes while burrowing something from your bag, then you heard something thud. Suddenly everything went blank.

The smell of musk, leather and a little bit of smoke. The feeling of the heat of a skin nudging on your nose. Your hands pressed against someone else’s chest, and the air breezing under the soles of your feet, as if you were levitating. You blinked your eyes twice and opened it wide from your stupor… finding yourself in the middle of the busy street of Itaewon.

You shook your head a little and realized you were resting on someone’s back. “Don’t move too much, you are starting to get heavy?” said someone in a timbre filled with objection.

You knew that voice, and you knew that scent too well too “Yoongi?” you asked weakly.

“Are you gonna throw up? Just tell me…”

“Yoongi, why are you…” you shook your head, that wasn’t the right question “Why are we here?”

“You butt-dialled me, it’s been so long since you called so I thought you’d invite me over but I only heard random noises then it ended… Until you began sending me weird pictures in the dark. So, I was kind of worried and called… But it was your officemate who answered and just told me to come pick you up”

“My what?” you asked, trying to process everything you heard.

“Know what? You’re too drunk to have this conversation and so I’m just going to take you home. Don’t move too much, you are slipping” he paused for a moment while he jerked to keep him adjusted to the weight that he is carrying. “Cutie from the 18th floor huh?” you heard him snickered as he asked.

“You saw my phone?”

“No, your officemate told me. Actually she asked me if I was ‘Cutie from the 18th floor?’ She apologized instantly because she didn’t know how to address me when I came to the bar to pick you up”

“Okay, that’s it. Put me down!” you tried to shimmy your body away from him

“Are you sure about that? She took your shoes from you; said she’ll leave it on your desk tomorrow”

“God…Must be Lara…”

“Is she the best friend you told me about before?”

“Yeah…”

“She’s worried about you”

“Mmm. Right.” You shut your eyes from the blinding neon lights passing from your sight.

“…Hold on to me tight” he reminded, as you reluctantly wrapped your arms around him while he trudged with you on his back.

In clear disorientation, right in the midst of the crowd, you wonder—why above all things, he is carrying you home without any question. Slowly, you closed your eyes and sighed while clutching on his chest a little bit tighter. You rest your head again on his shoulder, burrowing your nose on the fabric of his shirt. (Not to be weird, but if someone demanded what you’re doing at a gun point you wouldn’t think twice confessing that he genuinely smells so good, and that’s the whole reason) Somehow, whatever this was, it made you feel at ease.

And he wasn’t complaining.

“Y/N…Y/N” Yoongi rouse you from your mini-slumber “We’re here, we’re at your front door” He gently put you down on the floor and help you stand upright, waiting for you to enter your apartment so he could drop you home with his conscience at peace.

You crouched down and narrowed your eyes while pressing on the numbers on your door lock, offering it with great effort.

‘Access Denied’ it buzzed.

“Shit!” cursing on your poor concentration to get it right.

Yoongi sighed “Whisper me the number code, and I’ll do it for you”

“What? And enter any time while I’m sleeping?” you replied while unnecessarily glaring at him.

“Okay, that’s it… I can leave you here or you can stay at my place…” he put his waist on each side of his waist, like an old lady giving you an ultimatum.

“Fine... it’s wait…” You pointed a finger to Yoongi and pulled out your phone, pressing down the number sequence on the screen but in full labor. Yoongi, who was losing the endmost ounce of his patience, finally pulled you up to drag you back to the elevator lobby of your floor.

“Okay, okay, it’s 5991!” you spoke harshly, demanding him to put you down. Yoongi quickly turned around, to see if anyone heard. Fortunately, no one was around your hallway to hear you blurt your code so casually. He then swiftly pressed the numbers and opened your door and pulled you in.

“Oh! I forgot my RFID is on my wallet” you raised your hand belatedly after being dragged by Yoongi inside your apartment “Wait, what? You could’ve told me this earlier!” he groaned in utmost frustration, while helping pull your blazer off and beginning to question his choices in life.

“Yoongi” you grin at him with your eyes barely open “it’s been a while yeah? I miss your cock! Let’s have sex!” you squeaked quite happily. He then dropped you pretty harshly on the bed, not that you mind since you were too inebriated to care. “Mmm. Are you into rough play tonight Mr. Hit-song Producer, sir?” You reached for him, tracing your fingers against his shirt.

“I’m not…” he replied directly, rejecting your advances while he turned away from you busily searching for something. “… unfortunately for you miss, I don’t get turned on with drunken girls on the bed. Scurry over and try to seat on your back on the head board”

Obediently, you followed his demands despite not making sense, or at least because you are too drunk to comprehend anything. You shut your eyes waiting for him to do something to you until you felt something damp on your face “Yoongi?” you slowly opened your eyes.

“I am taking the liberty…Close your eyes” he asked sternly. It was beginning to make sense now.

“Are you helping me clean up?” you asked, feeling him gently brush your eyes with a damp facial cotton. “How’d you know which one is a makeup remover?”

“I’m not dumb, Y/N. I can read” he adjusted himself to mildly take your mascara off you. Flustered, you begin to turn your head slightly away from him. As if in a snap, the effect of alcohol was beginning to wane. Just because of the thought that Yoongi was doing things for you that you never expected. “Y/N, look I’m trying!” he clicked his tongue by pressing his thumb and index finger on your chin, securing you steadily “I heard, it’s not good to sleep with a makeup on… there’s a good chance you’ll turn blind from bacteria build-up if this is left unclean for hours”

“Says, who?” trying to dissipate the towering feeling of being embarrassed. “Your ex?”

“No, the idols I get to work with who came in late. They were trying to justify their tardiness because of their face after a night of drinking. Honestly, who cares? They have a lot of fans who love them”

“It’s a girl thing, you’ll never understand”

Smoothing another batch of damp cotton on your cheeks, he finished the conversation by telling you “Well, I do. You are pretty even without it…” he said while dabbing one last time on the side of your lips until you felt his thumb pressed on the edge of your lips.

Yoongi froze, did he just? He started to wonder. You slowly opened your eyes to see his face close to yours, just a few inches away from each other's lips. He cleared his throat and immediately shifted himself away from you again, keeping distance. “Good night, Y/N”

You watched him turn his back and dimmed the lights off your room, leaving only with a soft glimmer from your bedside lamp. Feeling stunned at the chain of events, you cowered down to see your clothes still on and your chest beating heavily. You jerked and shook your head reminding yourself that ‘No, we refuse to be your victim, Yoongi’. Then you felt it, clearly your body is still jaded, realizing on its own that you still had too much alcohol in your system. So, you tried to hurry over to your bathroom, only to find your face falling flat on the floor.

Gratefully, Yoongi hasn’t completely left you yet. When he heard, he abruptly went to check on you in your room. “Just how many have you had?” he helped you up and hiked you over to the toilet. You immediately hurled yourself to it and threw whatever you had in you. He groaned mournfully, while patting your back. He knew the answer to his queries, he’s going to need to stay by your place for the night.

And he did, but on your couch. He thought, it would be awkward to be placing himself beside you on your bed if you two are not having sex. Thankfully, your couch had enough space for him to lie down, yet he couldn’t seem to find his sleep. Not when he began questioning himself as to why you had him worried for the night, he shifts to the side staring blankly on your ceiling deeply sighing at the thought. He wished he knew.

The sound of fizzle, the touch of your dried lips, and the scent of butter, emanating from the kitchen towards your room. All of those, woke your senses. You looked at your phone and find it’s 7am on Saturday. Normally, Hoseok would gladly walk into your apartment to send you over hung-over foods, but guessing at the fact that he’d be with a lady friend you assumed he’d be unavailable for you in a time of need…. And cooking? Hoseok cooking? For the longest time you two had been together as friends, he never once attempted to put himself in the kitchen. So what changes?

You took your satin robe and swiftly wrapped it around to see who it was in your kitchen. You ran out of your room with a pillow on your hand and shrieked at the familiar figure. It was Yoongi cooking in your kitchen

He pulled out his airpods and asked “What, were you calling me?”

“No, I just… I didn’t expect you’d still... be here…Are you cooking?”

“Um, yeah, why are you always asking the obvious?” he knitted his brows, eyes darting from left to right, perplexed to even answer your query. “Look, why don’t you sit down and let Chef Min do the cooking for today”

You silently sat on your island stool and watched him prepare food. “Is this what you do to everyone you sleep with?”

He stifled a smile and pursed his lips to think. “I wish I did. Unfortunately, no. Just you, for now”

You folded your arm and poked your tongue from the inside of your cheek “Well you can’t do this…”

“Huh?” He asked with his back to you, busily chopping more onions and garlic then mixing it to the cooking pan.

“Rules.”

“Rules? What part of the agreement is cooking prohibited? If my memory serves me right, you failed to mention it, so I guess this is pretty legal”

“Okay, fair point. Then why are you doing this? On my apartment, on my kitchen, on my food? Is it all for me?”

Yoongi was taken aback, but he needed to answer promptly “What, you think I’m starting to like you more than a neighbor… with benefits?” he scoffed “Such confidence, woman” he turned around to snicker, playfully flailing his arm with a cooking chopstick on hand.

“I’m sorry but I can’t help it” you merrily bemoan in retrospect and shrugged. “Didn’t you say you’ve always fancied me?”

“Naked, I fancied you naked” he corrected.

“I don’t know, sounds the same to me” You watched him perfectly toss the food while cooking, like a pro. “Hmm, impressive. Are you trying to make me weak on my knees?”

“Well, are you?” he asked stoically, as he turned the stove off and finally served you a hung-over breakfast he made out from the ingredients available in your refrigerator.

“Almost, but not quite” you playfully bite your lip, fretfully eating your smile.

“You’re welcome for the breakfast Y/N” he winked, putting his share on a plate and sat on a stool right in front of you.

“Thank you, Chef Min Yoongi” you ducked your head, to tamper down whatever you were feeling in the morning. You weren’t a prayerful person but today you decided to whisper one from your seat. You needed it, a whole of it, before chowing down your freshly cooked food made by the Chef himself in front of you. Testing you by the minute.

He watched you while you shut your eyes and chant something inaudibly, and without you knowing-- he smiled.

“Min PD nim?” one of the staff knocked on his door. Yoongi, as usual, was busy listening to the tracks he made from last week now that it is back to being Monday again.

“Han Young-woo-ssi said he wanted to talk to you sir…”

“Oh, what about?” He abruptly stopped and turned to face her.

“It sounded like it’s a personal matter sir… so I didn’t ask him any further. He is waiting outside your office sir, would you like me to tell him to come back after lunch?”

He shook his head “No-no, it’s fine. I am a little bit stressed too, I was just looking for the right lyrics to the melody but maybe talking to him might help” he went out from his seat and decided to see his visitor from the same company but in the Accounting department. Was it about his demands against the company for paying for his daily coffee needs? Or was it about denying his request to fund him for another set stereos?

“Yoongi! My friend!” Young-woo delightedly extends his arm to give him a quick hug and pat on his back.

“Hey Han!” he sat on the couch and Young-woo followed, sitting on a chair adjacent to Yoongi.

“What brings you here?”

“Well, I saw you last Saturday night in the streets of Itaewon”

He chuckled “Yeah, I decided to do some carrying as part of my daily workout routine”

Young-woo nods solemnly “I know the person you were carrying. She’s bad news…”

He furrowed his eyebrows, pausing for a moment to comprehend the sudden change of his tone.

“I knew her from college, she’s been sleeping with a lot of men... maybe until now. Just avoid her if you can. She might give you STDs or something… Just stop Yoongi. I don’t know if it’s because she slept with Seokjin? Which probably made her impertinently bold and decides to slut around”

Yoongi thwarted him from finishing his sentence. “Seokjin? You mean Kim Seokjin?”

“Yes, your high school best friend and my frat brother, Seokjin. Did he never tell you about her?”

“He mentioned a few girls, but I don’t remember her being mentioned at all.”

“Well, I guess it’s because she’s not worth mentioning”

Yoongi pressed his fingers on his temple “Do you really see girls that way, Young-woo?”

Young-woo was left fazed at his question “I-Uh…”

“Cut to the chase Young-woo, I have a lot of things on my table. It’s not my cup of tea to entertain sexist conversation especially during working hours…”

“I’m just warning you. As friend, that’s it”

“Well, if that’s all there is” He stood up and tilted his head, locking his gaze against Young-woo fervently “I’m an adult who knows exactly what I’m doing. It’s none of your business who I want to deal with day and night, unless it’s about work. I appreciate you being worried and all, but clearly at the end of the day I’ll be responsible with who and when I’ll be fucked and who gets to fuck me over.”

Young-woo conceded and sighs from his seat “I love your tenacity, my friend. But she is different from the girls you used to date, especially your ex” he stood up and walked towards the hallway

Yoongi just nodded. “Okay, but that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Past remains in the past. Live in the present brother, worry about your future... not mine. Well there goes the exit door, if that’s really all you have to say to me. I don’t like entertaining sexism as a visitor” he points him through the exit door as he watches Young-woo leave.

He rolled his eyes, regretting the fact that he gave Young-woo his precious time so conveniently, just to listen to a back story he was clearly uninterested in. What’s the point really? If everyone is living now in the present, what’s there to huddle over in the past? One thing’s for sure, he’s going to spend a few more minutes at the receiving area to look at his phone and find some inspiration over his social media.

Randomly scrolling, he ended up in Seokjin’s profile, entertaining himself with his random pictures with witty captions, illustrations of cute alpacas and his daily dad jokes on his Instagram stories. His eyes suddenly widened when he shifted it to the next photograph and saw a familiar face from Seokjin’s story.

“Was it true?” he breathed.

“Yeah, that sounds about right, I assure you Madame Song. Tomorrow is going to be epic” you nodded.

“I’m looking forward to it Ms. Y/N” she giggled, standing up from her seat, ready to leave.

You did the same and bowed before your client, displaying your gratitude and respect. You took a quick glance from the window beside the seat and saw the sun glaring hard on the pavement “Are you sure, is it really okay if you leave right now? Didn’t you say you just had your facial? The sun is pretty hard. Do you at least have an umbrella?”

“Oh, do you? Sorry I forgot mine, can I borrow? I promise to return it to you tomorrow” she asked a bit warily. Of course, they never do.

“Sure” you pulled out your foldable umbrella from your bag and handed it to her.

“Thanks dear. Oh, if you must, bring your plus one” she winked.

You dropped your head and chuckled “C’mon Madame Song, you know I don’t do plus one. I’ll ask Lara to cover that for me instead”

She paused. Her attention was momentarily stolen by something, or someone in front of the cafe window “Well, why don’t you go ask him?” she puckered her lips and pointed out towards the man entering inside the café from its door way.

“What?” you chuckled in disbelief “I can’t just go ask a random stranger and tell-- ” you turned around to see who she was referring to, until you stopped mid-sentence choking on your words.

A man in black shirt, black leather jacket, and a black baseball cap? It must be….

“Seokjin?”

He turned around to see who was calling him “Y/N?” He raised both his brows in genuine surprise.

“Mm...Seems, everything’s pretty planned out now don’t you think?” Madame Song whispered to you close before leaving you on your own. Grinning from ear to ear, knowing she made a lucky guess to find you a prospect date, who isn’t after all a stranger.

“Hey, it’s been so long! It’s nice to see you here!”

“Must be cupid’s work, huh?” Madame Song winked at you both as she left the cafe with your umbrella. You shook your head a little, embarrassed to hear her tease. Then faced the half-god handsome man before you.

You sat back on your chair and offered Seokjin the vacant seat on the front.

“Hm, I honestly don’t know what to say to that, are you working? Was she a client?” he watched you write something down on your planner for a moment.

“Yeah, and we just finished” you clicked the pen and threw your arms up to stretch “and now I can relax. What’s up Kim?”

“Ikseon-dong is where I usually take my walk for coffee and look for inspiration.I like it here, it’s traditional and yet still a very relevant place” he turned around to look at the menu board, attached above on the counter.

“Ah, I see you’re working too…” you nodded. “You know their dirty chai latte is pretty good.” You pointed it out. “So, how’s your agency treating you? I’ve seen you in TDN channel the other night, and got to the scene where you were crying after being left by Park Shin Hye… that was pretty moving”

He laughed with his eyes wrinkling, charming as always. “It was hard convincing myself to cry over a fictional argument revolving over me leaving a Peanut Butter open for long...”

“In her defense, she thought you were cheating on her over Yoon Eun Hye. But before replying to that, tell me who you will end up with, is it her or Yoon Eun Hye? Because if you asked me Yoon Eun Hye might be evil, but I totally understand where she's coming from. So yeah, I’m Team Yoon Eun Hye all the way!” You lowered yourself on the table and leaned towards him.

He squints his eyes and went forward “Not if you watch until the last episode, or you could bribe me with the most expensive thing on the menu”

You shot at him and sighed “Fine, you leave me no choice Mister Celebrity, sir. One Eggs Benedict and House Coffee, on me” he chuckled, knowing fully that those were the cheapest on the menu.

“It’s nice to know you didn’t change at all, Y/N” he gulped and smiled at you.

“Oh yeah? Don’t be disappointed if you found it to be untrue.” You stood up and ordered something for your old flame, well almost… or so you would like to think, if it wasn’t for his groupies who extinguished before it even began.

You two tried to catch on a lot of things, while taking a few photos together. Seokjin has an insane amount of following, compared to the number he had back in college (but was still considerably huge). Yet he wasn’t bothered at all, he still posted whatever he pleased.

Although he was now hyper-aware of everything online, especially the fact that some things might get him in trouble or even getting others into trouble. He made sure to explain things about what was happening in his caption before posting anything. Just to spare them from unnecessary and unfounded hate from his fans.

“Fancy bumping to a college friend *insert smiley emoji*” he said out loud while mindlessly typing it as he hit the post button.

“Why didn’t you put a sticker on my face?”

“Why should I? I already spare you from being tagged. That way, you can still keep your identity hidden, but this face?” He pouts “Too pretty to be kept away”

You blushed, abruptly shaking your head ready to say something as your defense retorted “Is this your way to get in my pants, now that you’re some big shot?”

He folds his arms and twitches his lips to the corner “You thought so lowly of me, I could’ve dated you. Should’ve asked you out 11 years ago, but I didn’t because I was afraid you’d get in to trouble because of me… yet, still you did”

You paused for a moment. “Seokjin. I—”

He batted his eyes and smiled “That night at the frat party, I was about to ask you... but chickened out last minute. I should be the one saying sorry, Y/N. I wish I was there for you; I could only imagine what your college life might have been. How are you holding it?”

You croaked, left momentarily speechless at the sudden revelation that was gradually unfolding before you “I—I’m fine. Thanks to Hoseok, my life from there became bearable. I’m sure he’s the one who shut all the people who were spreading rumors, he just wouldn’t tell”

He nods. “What if he truly wasn’t? Like maybe, somebody other than Hoseok did it for you?”

“You?” you opened your mouth in disbelief.

“It’s the least I could do. Besides, I’m partly to blame '' His phone suddenly buzzed as he pointed a finger to excuse himself for a moment to receive it. “Hey baby, yeah. I’m just here in Ikseon-dong? I’m in “Flower Yard Cafe” Meet? Where?... Okay. I love you, see you in a bit”

You lump on your lips, suppressing a chuckle. For a moment you thought you had a chance with Mr. WorldWide Handsome himself, but man you were eons late. Certainly, there are many times you want to hurl yourself over him regardless if he actually wants you too.

You were then so close to not giving any more damn to the ladies who would build a fort to push any of his prospects away. Yet maybe that’s how the world works, maybe you don’t deserve all the nice things because that’s how you were designed to live your life… or maybe it’s how the world chastises you for choosing to live a life in debauchery. Either way, You and Seokjin will never happen. That’s pretty much engraved in your destiny, if that’s not obvious enough.

“I’m sorry I got to go, my girlfriend’s having a fit”

“Hm, maybe you should delete your post about us?”

“Girl, you think I’m doing this for you? I want to annoy the girls who shit on my chance with you…”

You laughed. “Hm. Openly flirting with me still? You are playing on dangerous water, sir… How about we try next life Kim, yeah?”

“Ofcourse, just don’t get swoon with my face alone when that happens.”

You nodded in between chuckles as you bid goodbye and watched him leave the cafe. You began fixing your things and putting everything on your handbag when suddenly you heard the sound of drizzle.

“Ugh, should’ve known! That blaring sun definitely looks like it’s gonna invite rain soon... I gave my umbrella to Mrs. Song!” you complained to no one, whining softly from your seat.

Not wanting to spend another hour inside, especially when you needed to send a few paperwork to your boss for a report, you decided to just throw yourselves over the harsh rain “Know what? Fuck it, let’s just run and get wet again” you pushed the door away from you, ready to run while holding on to your handbag that was barely covering your head.

As the door swiveled far, you began to notice that the rain that was supposed to be falling over your head wasn’t just…there. You turned around and found Yoongi. His arms extended to you, holding an umbrella for you. You watched him smile despite slightly getting showered.

“Yoongi?”

“Why are you always asking the obvious? Hey Y/N” He scooted over inside the umbrella, arms pressing and pulling you close to him. His free hand held on to the handle slightly tilted, making sure you remained dry than he is. You stood there, completely frozen. Too stunned to see him at a time when you needed someone.

“You certainly like to get wet often, huh?” he snickered, trying to diffuse the momentary silence.

“It depends on the situation… I-uh… what are you doing here?”

“I was just having a walk. The weather looks good” he subtly gulped, eating his lie. After seeing you on Seokjin’s instagram, he immediately called and asked where he was. Seokjin, knowing Yoongi fully for years, did not bother to ask any more questions as he simply answered where he is currently located.

“Oh yeah?” you tilt your head to look at the dark sky.

“Well, it was, until it suddenly started to rain. Where are you headed?”

“Back in my office, just a few blocks from here. You?”

“What a coincidence, I am too”

“You also work there?” you chuckled

He rolled his eyes and sighed “Okay you got me, just let me take you there unscathed. I’ll go back to strolling around the city looking for inspiration for the song I am working on. But until then, I have to see you get there, so that I could put myself at ease knowing you went to your work completely dry.”

“Aw, that is so gentleman of you. You better credit me when you find that inspiration you were saying” you playfully teased, knowing fully well you’ll give zero contribution to his work.

He chuckled. Making you suck an air to see another gummy smile from him, which he is very frugal of him to do.

“Perhaps I will,” he shrugged, smiling weakly as he faced the street. You swiftly turn to face him, bewildered to see his sincere intent. Will he really? Thoughts were starting to run around your head.

Clearly, when was the last time you’ve been held by a man? Was it yesterday during sex with Jinyoung a fellow regular from the cafe next to your office? Or was it during a dodgeball game during 8th grade where Taecyeon, your crush pulled you away from getting hit by a ball? Or perhaps the time when your father took you in his arms when you got bruised? You could no longer remember, because right in the middle of the rain, underneath the transparent umbrella, you watched the rain fall while Yoongi was there holding you in his arms…and that was all you could think.

For the very first time, you felt safe and secured. It was warm and seemed full of ardent affection. You failed to put words into what you were feeling, because evidently you had nothing on it from your catalog for inner feelings. Yoongi remains to hold onto you close, while continuing to walk on the streets under the heavy rain... And you yielded unto him.

The feeling was so foreign and novel that you were starting to feel scared. You are so afraid of the feeling of this unfamiliarity, and perhaps the thought of it that it might one day become … too familiar.

Suddenly it dawned on you, in this seemingly game of feelings like seesaw, he was now taking the leverage because you were starting to get your high.

And for the first time in years, you were unsure how this would turn out.

A/N: Ahhhh THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING TIME! I can finally share my song inspo for this chapter. I know the lyrics isn’t appropriate to the story, but I was just vibing to this while I was watching this video when I was doing my cardio on a machine. I quickly thought of THAT scene and I was all too UwU the whole time. Anyway, hope you all have a great day! THANKING MY BETA READER FOR GIVING HER PRECIOUS TIME FOR THIS 🙃 love you! you know who you are 😉

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jaysbestie · 3 years

Note

ahshshdhsh this is my first time using the ask function in this app and i might as well take this as an opportunity. can you please write about jakey being a hopeless romantic (kinda like f2l thing) wherein they're also classmates and y/n is oblivious af? it would be very much appreciated, thank you~

hi this is a vERY late, I don't know if this is similarto what you wanted, I'm so sorry, but I hope you like it!!

Hoops and Love Letters

pairing ; f2l! basketball player! jake x gn reader

genre ; fluff

warnings ; food

summary ; jake, your best friend since you were children has started making your heart beat fast, little do you know, his is beating just as fast...

"yo jake!"

you were sitting on one of the park's benches with your best friend while eating strawberry flavored ice cream he got for you, when you heard someone call your best friend's name.

"jake!"

it was louder this time, meaning the person calling him was coming closer. Suddenly one of jake's friends, sunghoon, came into view trying to catch his breath while he sat down on the bench between you.

well now that was awkward.

he looked between you two, clueless to the situation you were in and asked,

"did I interrupt anything?"

he asked and to that question, your cheeks reddened as you turned to look at jake, noticing how his cheeks were also light crimson as he opened his mouth to answer his friend's question

"n-no you sure didn't" jake stammered. but jake never stammers?? and you just stood there, a little sad that jake answered sunghoon's question negatively and you just stood there, taken aback by jake's answer and by his stammering.

"it doesn't seem like it tho, anyways, heesung needs you in practice, jay was late and he almost got yelled at" sunghoon started talking without getting a breath, almost as if he was rapping.

you searched jake's face for a reaction and he didn't even look surprised by ths situation going on at the school's gym.

"well, y/n, I'll have to go, sadly, however, ill try to return you your book on saturday on our picnic!" he told you while he got his school bag, from the bench you sat on every day after school, and started walking behind sunghoon to the gym.

"I'll be waiting for my book!" you yelled and screamed, happy that he remembered the poetry book he borrowed from you, two weeks ago. you see, your and jake's bond was something unbreakable, being friends and classmates from a very young age and being lucky enough to be able to continue this friendship till now. you started packing your bag and put the cup from the ice cream in the park's trashcan while going to your house. there really wasn't anyone at home however you prepared your table fully and made yourself lunch. you sat down trying to find a boring enough movie so that you'll be motivated to stop watching it and study or catch a nap.

————————♡timeskip♡———————

it was now 7pm on a friday afternoon and you were currently doing your homework so that you didn't have to do them during the weekend, when your computer started alarming you that there was an incoming skype call by jake. it made you instantly smile and you answered his call watching his face brighten once he saw you had picked up.

"hey"

"hi"

"are you doing homework on a friday night?" he asked, while he looked at me as if I was a weird creature.

"yeah, I don't understand your opposition on me doing my homework on a friday night" you said, the fake offended look on your face made jake laugh and that moment it was like you heard an angel laugh.

"have you prepared anything for our picnic tomorrow?"

oh shIT

you panicked

"I swear to god, y/n y/l/n, did you forget about one of the most important days of the month?" it was his turn to act offended now taking a dramatic pose acting as if he was crying.

you were about to start crying because, hoW. COULD. YOU. FORGET. YOUR PICNIC?!?!

"oH HELL NOH, how could I forget our picnic?!" you stated nervously hoping that he didn't notice the panic on your face when he mentioned the picnic.

"great, I was hoping you remembered about it because, well,,, tomorrow's picnic will be extra special, than just a day on the calendar" he said, he seemed nervous and by his sentence you became nervous too, hoping that something joyful will be behind this "extra special picnic"

"YO Y/N YOU THERE?" he yelled and then proceeded to slap his laptop's screen, just to make sure his computer wasn't the problematical one.

"yeah sorry, my laptop started glitching, see you tomorrow at the park!" you yelled at him and ended the call in a hurry.

you sat up from your desk's chair and walked in front of your mirror

"I now have to go down and prepare for tomorrow's picnic" you said to try and convince yourself to go down and prepare however your plan was interrupted when your phone rang, the name of your other best friend lighting up the screen.

"YANG JUNGWON YOU LITTLE MONSTER" you screamed as you picked up the phone.

" yo y/n what is your proBLEM?!"

"YOU OBVIOUSLY"

"what did I do this time bestie, explain to me please"

"well I was about to go prepare for my monthly picnic with jake but you decided that it was a good idea to call me".

"oooh, jake, the guy that likes you but doesn't know how to tell you"

"plEASE, he doesn't like me, we've been friends for a couple years and he sees me as a good friend"

"ok but like, since yOU like him, why don't you speak to him about it?"

at this point you are heading to the kitchen in order to get ready for tomorrow, since hanging up on jungwon wouldn't happen soon.

"if I tell him I might ruin our friendship, won"

"he likes you too tho, even sunghoon noticed!"

"since when do you hang out with sunghoon?"

"since you were too busy going on dates with jake"

"please, we had study meetings"

"yeah call it whatever you want love"

you tried to respond to jungwon but nothing came out of your mouth so jungwon continued,

"anyways, I'm hanging up so you can prepare for your picnic, by the way, wear those brown corduroy pants I got you for your birthday!!"

"yeah fine, I'll make sure to fill you in on what happened won, good night!"

"night y/n!"

with that you went to prepare some quick snacks for tomorrow and also got some of your favorite jellies from a seven eleven nearby, all because they were also jake's favorite jellies.

———————♡timeskip #2♡———————

you woke up by the sudden sound of your alarm, you didn't even remember setting an alarm but you find have time to worry about stuff like this as you wanted to get up and get ready quickly for the picnic.

your phone rang and jake's number lit up your phone's screen.

"yo jake, bro, homie, fella, how you doin" that was the weirdest thing you've ever, like eVER, said in your life.

"Y/N Y/L/N ARE YOU DRUNK THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING?!"

"of course no jakey, it's 11:29 am, the picnic is in two hours "

" uh uh uh- special picnic" jake emphasized special once again.

" oh well, guess I'll take more time to get ready since its spEcial" you said, mimicking the way he said special.

" I swear to our friendship, y/n, if you're not ready by the time I come to pick you up, consider yourself not my friend" he said sarcastically, adding a laugh at the middle of his sentence.

"oh well, it's your lucky day because I have just started getting ready!" you lied, you walked to your dresser and started searching for that one pair of brown corduroy pants jungwon suggested you wear.

"I'm hanging up jake, gotta go get ready, see you at 1 outside my house!" you hung up without giving him a chance to reply.

bingo

you finally found the pants, searching for a shirt now. you found a white blouse you had got last Halloween for a pirate costume but never wore it. It didn't look like a costume shirt anyway, you shrugged and got into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready afterwards.

You were done with your shower now, the time was 12 pm and you had an hour left before jake got to your place to pick you up.

You put on your clothes and matched a pearl necklace (which was, indeed, a gift by jake) with your outfit, you opted for some classic black converse high tops as for the shoe choice, and with that, your outfit was complete.

You headed downstairs to prepare your basket, full with snacks and fizzy drinks, also getting a light blanket with you, just in case.

You heard a car honk from outside and checked the time, it was 12 : 40, twenty minutes before jake should be here to pick you up. The same honking sound was heard again and you headed to the door to see if it was jake by any chance. It was jake indeed, you got your basket, your keys, sprayed some perfume on and left the house, not forgetting to lock the door behind you.

"well hello there, y/n"

you were ready to tell general kenobi literally at his face, the pun must've been intended as you had a star wars movie marathon some days ago.

"hello to you too, jakey"

You both got in the car and jake turned the music up, a song unknown to you playing on the radio. Jake seemed different today, he seemed nervous, something unusual to him.

"is everything okay jake?"

"yeah why?" he responded while he let out a small laugh.

"oh, nothing!"

The drive went by quickly, however jake had taken you to a place you thought you'd never see again, it was the place where you and jake had first met. A park filled with bushes and sunflowers, huge trees and benches along with wooden tables. You were on the verge of tears, left speechless, you opened the car's door, taking your basket and started running around the park laughing loudly. You were feeling truly happy.

Jake was watching from inside the car, deciding to open his door too, taking his own basket, locking the car and started running towards you.

After running around for some good minutes, you sat on bench and left your baskets on a wooden table, starting to set your food in order for your picnic to start.

You had started eating your second sandwich when jake interrupted you, making you put your sandwich down and turning your attention to him.

"yo y/n, do you remember those love letters you kept on receiving last year?"

"of course I do! I've been searching till this day! but what does that have to with our special picnic?"

"well, I'm the one who sent those letters" jake said, lowering his head and starting to fiddle with his hands.

"well, that was a good one!" you started laughing. Noticing the situation jake was in right now, it only meant one thing, "WAit, you're not joking?"

"not really" he said giggling sadly, lifting his stare and watching into your eyes. You extended your arms and reached out to hug him.

"why didn't you tell me?"

"wait, you really didn't know I liked you? The boys kept on telling that my crush on you was too obvious!" he said, looking annoyed by his friends that moment.

"I mean, you did throw a basket ball at me once that had, "let me take you out" all over it but I didn't think you meant thAT TAKING OUT" you said, laughing at the old memory you had remembered.

well, y/n, would you officially allow me to take you out?" he asked, a glowing happy slice on his face when he noticed your emotionless face, "on A DATE, I mean, not with a basket ball!" he added. With that, you burst into laughter and looked at him, showing him your brightest smile.

"of course I'll let you take me out, on a date, jake"

#bye this took so long to write sorry #enhypen #enhypen fluff #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen drabbles #enhypen x reader #jake sim #enhypen jake x reader #hope you like this even if its taken me to long to post it!

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depressedacadamia · 3 years

Text

Sore Losers

A/N: This was meant to be a simple one shot but I couldn’t help myself and now it’s a twoshot because I’m extra af. I hope you enjoy it and please comment!

Summary: Percy and Annabeth are both the most competitve people to ever exist by far. So when they both lead teams in a match of Capture the Flag Paintball edition, a very fun game ends up becoming a battle. Annabeth and Percy also happen to be the biggest pair of sore losers out there.

Word count: 3.8K

Tagging: @showtunesandsolangelo

Chapter I

Let it be known that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were both the biggest pair of sore losers on this side of the Atlantic. You’d think that a large group of teenagers at a paintballing park would cause a lot of trouble. Yes, yes they would indeed. But not nearly as much trouble a group of traumatised teenage demigods could cause.

They had 1 rule- don't use any powers.

However, the demigods were never really much good at following rules.

Percy promised Annabeth that his team would win and Annabeth, unable to help herself, boasted back how amazing her team were going to be. It was quite obvious how their fatal flaws- hubris and loyalty- were going to be their downfall in a game of paintball.

“Oi! You two stop flirting and get on the damned bus, would you!” Piper shouted from the window seat with Hazel to her. The yellow bus was warm due to the sunny weather outside and it smelt like teenagers.

“We aren’t flirting!” Annbeth protested violently as she threw her sports bag over her shoulder while climbing the steps. Percy, being the gentleman he was, took the bag off her shoulder and carried it for her- not that it was truly hard.

“Even I can tell that you’re flirting,” Leo called out from the back where his fingers idly fiddled with some copper wire, a battery and a nail- it seemed like he was making an electromagnet.

“Can you blame me if Percy thinks his team is going to win Pipes?” Annabeth turned around in her seat.

“That’s because we are going to win,” Will commented with a hint of sarcasm from the side of the bus where Percy’s team sat. Nico, who sat next to Reyna and was on Annabeth’s team, was more invested in fidgeting with his rings until Will spoke up.

“Says you, traitor,” He snorted.

“Death boy, it’s a game. You chose Annabeth's team- it would be unfair if we were on the same team. Besides, If anything, I should be upset. You chose Annabeth's team after I chose Percy’s!”

Nico refused to answer, his arm clinging to Reyna who barely took notice and smirked at the boy’s ego’s.

“How sad must it be that you genuinely believe that you will win?” Reyna was about to sheath her spear when Hazel put her hand on hers.

“Reyna! We aren’t allowed to bring weapons. We need to prove we can beat them without weapons!” Hazel argued.

“Having second thoughts over there?” Frank called out from beside Jason. Hazel stuck her tongue out at him- he pulled a funny face in return. While these two were considered the most mature, when they were talking to each other, they were no better than 5 year olds.

The venue was huge. It was like an abandoned forest with upside down vehicles, camo everywhere and at least 3 places to get perfectly shot in the head- not that it was allowed. There was a specific reason behind the demigods choosing to go paintballing- they were never trained to use guns. It was something that none of them were familiar in, thus they were all at a completely fair level. Had they been sword fighting, they would have all destroyed each other. They had to pull on protection suits- which were also camouflage.

“Okay, this is to capture the flag but in paintball. You’re all familiar with capturing the flag- the only difference here is instead of our regular weapons, today we have these peculiar things…” Calypso trailed off slightly.

“Guns,” Hazel and Nico finished off together. The entire squad gave an alarmed look at them saying Why in the name of Hades do you know that? In sync, they both replied.

“World War 1,” Hazel sighed.

“Hitler,” Nico grunted, kicking at the floor. A couple of scattered snorts came from the group who could not picture them in the 1900s.

“Enough enemy mingling! Comrades, let us unite to beat the Owls!” Percy commanded his group comedically. Nico raised his eyebrow at the communist joke while everyone laughed slightly.

“I see you’ve learnt something in History- let’s find out if your seaweed brain can figure out how to surrender shall we?” Annabeth challenged as she took steps towards Percy, her hands resting on her hips confidently- Her hubris was showing. She half expected Percy to slip his hand around her waist or try and show off like she did but instead, he turned to his team and began frantically whispering.

The game was so on.

“Okay, this is it. We go in, storm the boys and capture their flag,” Annabeth decided.

“And don't forget to shoot as many of them as you can!” Piper added and the group happily agreed.

“Okay Comrades, Mission ‘infiltrate’ the owls is about to end- when we meet at what I like to call No man's land, we shall take their flag while they attempt to take ours. Will, guard our flag- the rest of you, position ourselves in the formation we discussed earlier. Jason and Leo, you’re my backup soldiers if I’m down,” Percy announced. The boys nodded and prepared for the plan.

Annabeth was crouching, gun in hand with Hazel behind her. Annabeth's blonde hair made her stand out a bit whereas Hazel had a greater advantage- from a vantage point, one wouldn’t even be able to see her. As Annabeth approached through the clearing she froze. Up ahead was a dangerous place. No bushes, no trees, no cars- she’d be totally exposed to whatever Percy was plotting. She did not doubt that he had some person watching this area, ready to release fire on any enemies. Annabeth was going to wait, she crouched by the bush before the clearing and kept her gun pointed and her eyes on the lookout.

She was about to move when paint balls began exploding all around her. The sound ricocheted in her ears and the droplets of paint remained floating about in the air. The boys had planned an ambush! Annabeth knew she had 2 options- retreat and play defensive or attack and play offensive.

“Hazel, you’re in charge. Nico, you’re coming with me. Make sure Reyna is still guarding the flag!” She whisper- shouted as she began running across No Mans Land with Nico trailing close behind her. He may or may not have been using his powers to bring shards of earth encased in shadows to protect himself and Annabeth from the shower of paintballs heading towards them. Nobody really needed to know- besides, he was forbidden from using death powers, not earthly ones.

“Nico, I hear something,” Annabeth warned. The sound of crackling and rushing water surrounded them.

“It’s coming from the creak…,” Nico mumbled.

They both made eye contact, agreeing on a time to run. 3 ,2 ,1- Now! They began sprinting, dodging the rocks and the flames which were scattered across the field. The other team were really going all out and being ruthless. Leo had set half of their frontier on fire that was only being controlled by the fact that Percy had a lot of water coming in from the creak preventing the fire from spreading too far. Flashes of light came striking down on the trees, causing crackles in the trees. There were echoes of thunder rumbling throughout their section and the smell of carbon monoxide slowly rising into the air.

The tree that had been struck by lightning was causing an awful mount of crackling, a bit too much for comfort. It wasn’t until the distinct sound of a tree snapping did Annabeth and Nico realise that the tree in front of them was falling.

Directly. Onto. them.

Back at Annabeth's side of the frontier, Hazel had decided to play dirty and get powers involved. It was only fair, was it not? Piper, Reyna and Calypso were all very happy to oblige to this. They had restructured their battle plan with Piper guarding the flag and using her charmspeak if necessary. Hazel, Calypso and Reyna were at the front, using their powers to their advantage. Reyna had not decided to use her empowerment- it wasn’t necessary and it was never comforting knowing she had made her friends feel brave; she felt like she was manipulating them whenever she did use it.

“So Hazel, what were you saying about not using weapons?” Reyna raised an eyebrow as she impressively pulled out her spear of imperial gold, glimmering in the sunlight. Hazel who sheathed her Spatha simply shrugged.

“Calypso are you ready?” Hazel asked, slightly concerned- she didn't want to overwork her so quickly after she had only just started to get her magic back.

“You think I’m going to let Leo win?” She scoffed slightly as she raised her hands slightly, the magical aura around them visible.

“We have a battle to win,” Reyna announced.

Nico grabbed onto Annabeth and closed his eyes. She felt herself slip into the darkness with Nico- the moment was awful. Dark, cold and creepy whisperings surrounded her. She did not want to know how Nico was able to do that. As he pulled them out the shadows, Nico dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath. His eyes looked significantly tired post- shadow travelling.

“Don’t tell Will, he’ll go crazy if he found out that I shadow travelled,” he said weakly, his hand clutching his ribs. Annabeth slowly helped him up to his feet, only one gun still with the both of them- Nico had dropped his when he had to shadow travel them.

“Nico, I’ve got another plan if you’re up for it,” Annabeth offered. She leaned over and whispered her strategy. The corners of Nico’s lips twisted upwards into a cruel smile- cold and menacing. Was this plan extremely dangerous if one part went wrong? Probably. But Nico decided he liked the idea of winning too much to really care.

He dug his feet into the ground again, pushing every ounce of energy into controlling the shadows. He needed to keep this accurate- too much and Hazel’s side of the field goes dark, too little and Percy’s team will be able to see what's coming.

Slowly, shadows covered every inch of Percy’s field. Nico and Annabeth were grasping onto each other, Nico was holding onto her for strength while Annabeth was staying with the only person who could control what was happening. The only light that was visible were the fires ignited by Leo but by now, they were weak. All they had to do was wait for a figure to light up their hands- all the members would flock to the light, except whoever was protecting the flag.

“What just happened?” Percy yelled as he followed the stream of water that led to the fires.

“Someone’s using their powers… probably Nico, I can hear whisperings and these shadows are really cold!” Leo responded, lifting his hands up to signal his location to his teammates- though that may have not been a good idea. A giant flash of light came striking down to the ground again and the loud rumble of thunder came soon after, only adding to the creepiness of the game.

“It’s definitely Nico using powers which means he’s somehow gotten through our borders,” Jason gritted out. They all looked at each other agreeing to search for the son of Hades.

“Nico, you can summon the skeletons now, right?” Annabeth asked as she supported Nico on her shoulder. Feebly, Nico nodded while trying to summon some of his own strength. His skin which had almost returned to it’s olive hue was now close to a deathly pale. Annabeth could feel his cold fingers and slightly shivered- it was like holding a corpse. The ground started cracking, the earth splitting open as a skeletal arm reached out, climbing into the real world. Within a minute, Nico had summoned enough skeletons for the plan to work.

Annabeth knew what had to happen next- she would either run after the flag or go drive the remainder of Percy’s team far back enough so that her team could attack them from behind. She cherished the idea of getting the flag, a truly victorious moment, but she knew that if she went after the flag, she’d be sending Nico who seemed as fragile as glass right now to go fight 4 of the most powerful demigods. She decided to take her chances- hopefully whoever was guarding the flag wasn’t too hard for Nico.

“Nico, here take the gun and go after the flag. I will push back the other team.”

“I don’t need that- you’re going to be 4 against one, take it.” He batted his hand, refusing to allow Annabeth to hand over her gun to him.

“Nic-”

“-If you want to actually win this, you need your gun. You don’t stand a chance fighting 4 of them alone. Take the gun,” He managed to snap. Annabeth actually smiled at this. If Nico could give her snappy comebacks, then he still had a bit of strength in him. She kept her gun as she ran into the shadows, the skeleton army close behind.

“Does the other side look kinda funny?” Hazel asked, tilting her head to the side with her spatha in hand.

“It’s...it’s dark. I can't see anything there,” Calypso responded, slightly shocked.

What in the name of the gods was going on over there?

It seemed that the answer hit Reyna and Hazel at the same time- Nico! Not that they were about to admit it, but they were a tad concerned- you know, if you saw pure shadows just floating about, you would also be slightly concerned.

“We should move ourselves further up the frontier into No Mans Land. Annabeth must have planned something with Nico.” Calypso announced. They all agreed and moved further downwards, cautious for any ambushes.

“Oh Annabeth, aren’t you meant to be the smart one? You know, daughter of Athena?” Percy mockingly asked as she approached them, the shadows encasing most of her but not enough to go unnoticed. The skeletons however, were hiding perfectly in the dark.

“And where is the little shit?” Jason looked around Annabeth, trying to see if Nico had hid himself among the shadows- something that wouldn’t be too hard for him.

“Technically this is cheating,” Leo pointed out. Annabeth snapped her head towards him, still wondering where the skeletons were.

“We weren’t the ones who started it- if I remember correctly, you literally almost crushed us under a tree.”

“That was an accident,” Jason sheepishly rubbed his head.

“Don't think you can walk in here without being defeated, Wise girl.”

“If all 4 of you are going to fight me, I think all guns should be prohibited- does that sound fair Jackson?”

“3. All 3 of us. Frank has been… patrolling.” Leo rubbed his hands mysteriously. Annabeth wanted to gasp, they had been cheating from the beginning, using Frank as surveillance on them.

“Well since you were cheating from the very beginning, you definitely cannot use your guns,” Annabeth protested, enforcing her plan. The boy shrugged and threw their guns to the floor- Annabeth did the same but the gun was still close enough for… a change of heart. Fire raged from Leo’s hands, Percy had Riptide in hand and Jason had his Gladius, the charge of lighting running through it. Annabeth had to try to not visibly gulp- Where on earth were the skeletons? Here getting toasted was not part of the plan. She could only start to take them one when the distraction was set.

Nico forcibly pushed his foot one in front of another, searching for the flag. The entire half of the arena was covered like a blanket. The only light source being Leo’s fire and the occasional fires that Nico let loose through the ground to help him see. Up head, Nico could see another light source- did he just walk himself into a circle? He couldn’t see Leo or any fires. In fact all he really saw was light.

Light?

He trudged forwards, keeping to the shadows. As he got closer, he realised the light source was Will- his skin was the lightsource, literally. It was like he was watching a firefly for the first time- Will was glowing! No, focus Nico. The game, the flag. Capture it and reign victorious with Annabeth.

“Frank, dude, get off my shoulder,” Jason said. As the hand remained on his shoulder, Jason grew slightly agitated and turned around before jumping back and letting out a scream of surprise. Catching the attention of Percy and Leo, the skeletons began to close in on them. Now was Annabeth's chance. While the skeletons pushed them back, hopefully Hazel would have the team ready for an ambush on all sides.

“You’re very shiny today,” Nico commented.

“Well if you didn’t plunge us into semi- eternal darkness, I wouldn’t be a night light,” Will retorted crossing his arms.

“I’ve always wanted my own personal nightlight. Also now, I have an actual justification to call you sunshine- you’re literally glowing.”

“Quit laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you… I’m just stealing,” Nico shrugged as he made a dash for the flag. Will scrambled for his gun but it was too late, Nico had pulled the flag into the shadows- the paintballs from Will’s gun had only hit the tree that Nico had once stood in front of. As Nico emerged from his travelling, the shadows that once covered the entire field started fading.

With their guns strapped to their backs, Hazel and the team made their way across No Mans Land- trying to avoid the shower of paintballs from the other side.

“You made a machine gun out of this?” Hazel asked in dismay as she dodged the fireball coming from Leo.

“I am Admiral Leo, of course I made a machine gun, Hazel.”

“Hazel, on your left!”

Hazel swiftly ducked a paintball coming her left which proceeded to hit Leo square in the chest. He groaned as he felt the bruise start to form across his chest. Saddened by getting hit, he fell to the ground dramatically.

“Oh I’m wounded! Tell Calypso I might not make it!”

“Tell her yourself,” a voice snorted. Jason and Reyna were both fighting- Jason’s gladius would come down harshly onto Reyna’s spear, who continuously tried to disarm him. When Jason came down again with his sword, Reyna twisted her spear towards the hilt and pushed the butt of her spear upwards successfully disarming the sword with a clatter from his hands. She placed her foot on the sword and kicked it backwards, away from Jason before she dropped her spear.

“Hand to hand?” Jason asked. Reyna did not reply and instead charged towards him.

Calypso was trying to not get set on fire- while Leo had been shot, he was not about to let her win so easily. Her magic could only do so much and it annoyed her that Leo was setting everything on fire.

“Calypso, don’t you have telekinesis?” Annabeth shouted nodding towards Leo as she dodged another slash from Percy. Calypso got the memo and closed her eyes, harvesting as much power as she could. Being an ex-titaness came with it’s privileges from time to time. She opened her eyes and flung her hands towards Leo. Easily, she threw him into the creek where he landed with an ‘oomph’ and a very loud curse word that will not be repeated.

Piper hated being the guard. Everyone was probably having a blast and here she was, away from the action. There was a buzzing noise that was annoying her and she really did not want to deal with it. She had one of her daggers clutched in her hand while the gun was slung over her shoulder. She had gotten so bored that she had resorted to talking to the crow opposite her who had just sat there. It would tilt its head every once in a while when she said anything that could be deemed controversial.

Suddenly, the crow flew towards her, as to rest on her shoulder but instead, went towards the flag. Nothing wrong there, just a crow going towards a flag. Afterall it wasn’t as if it was trying to pull it out of the ground. Just as Piper turned around to see what the crow was really doing, she caught Frank with his hand wrapped around the flag, smiling and saluting towards her as he turned around and ran, flag in hand. Piper swore she had run as fast she ever had in her entire life, trying to get her charmspeak to work. The panting did not help her.

Annabeth slashed her knife in Percy’s direction, missing him by a millimeter as he stepped back to avoid it. Riptide came back at her, instead of it going for a blow to the chest as she expected, Percy aimed for her feet. As he wanted, she tripped and fell but her knife was still in hand. Just as she was about to use it, Riptide was held under her chin- she could feel the cool metal of it as Percy smirked and lightly teased her neck with it.

“You know Miss Brainiac, you really have yourself in a bad position, giving up would be easy, wouldn't it?”

“Jackson, you are enjoying this too much. I think you’ve forgotten the point.” Annabeth grabbed Riptide and twisted it before roling backwards slightly and throwing herself forwards. The sword clattered to the ground making Percy pout slightly but he wasn’t disheartened. Annabeth backslashed towards Percy who grabbed her arm, rendering the weapon in hand useless.

Annabeth had one last plan.

She leaned forwards and pressed her lips against Percy. It was quick and daring and Percy certainly did not expect it. Their lips met gently- it was comforting, warm and soft. Their lips brushed and when she pulled away lightly, he could taste her chapstick.

“Ouch!” Percy yelped as he jumped away from Annabeth and let go of her wrist. She held the knife under his chin and winked at Nico who held the gun with the flag under his arm. There was a giant yellow splatter on his back.

“That's not fair!” Percy sputtered. “ You seduced me!”

“All's fair in love and war.” Annabeth winked.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the flag!” Frank gasped slightly- mainly due to being out of breath. He looked at Jason who was on the ground, Leo who was soaking, Percy who had a massive paintball splatter on his back and then at Nico who was holding the flag.

“We planned this. To make you win. We were taking it easy on you guys,” Frank decided. All the boys nodded in agreement only making Annabeth's teams chuckle.

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biffhofosho · 2 years

Note

Hiiiiii,

I am equally afraid and excited of this new chapter, I want to know that Kai has on his sleeve and I am sure he won’t be playing fair

Chapter 23 Let’s goooooooooooooo

“Oh, I’m not moving in” said she, like a liar. I mean she has nothing else. She burnt her last bridge by quitting. I am amazed she still hopes to return to a semi-normal kinda life? I mean I can’t blame her for that, but at this point it’s just wishful thinking

Oh, so we start making out so early in the fic? Allrighty, then

Oh, no. we’re getting into the mood and there’s something wrong?

SO NEW CHARACTER, HUH? I knew that I didn’t recognize the other person in the thumbnails

OH WE KNEW HER!!!!! I mean I dislike her already, lol

HIS GRACE, I AM…

CHALICE??? Dear god so many things, my head is spinning

THEY BETTER COME AND RESCUE HER!!!!! I am offender, but it would have been very stupid to fight Aisha, and more without his brothers. you know at least I thought she would get to go IN to the house. lol

Aisha is insufferable!!!! But Amber knows just how to deal with that. They just think they are so superior, of course she’s gonna tell something she shouldn't

Of course they still have the girls, at least they are alive

Shit! Where are they?

Man, I dislike her more every time, now she has to talk about Delphine, argh

See you at reckoning? OK???? That doesn’t sound foreboding

I mean logically there is nothing that can be done at the moment, they need to find a strategy and they definitely can’t challenge Kai directly. And he has too much leverage with the girls and the people she cares about

SHE’S DREAMING ABOUT THEM!!!!! PLEASEEEEEE HELP HER

HE IS TOO POWERFUL I AM SCREAMING!

THEY HAVE TO COVER THE BITES AND BRUISES!!! Such fun. Oh yes, the previous victim, dolled up and pretty, probably in the same basement

The dress, gold like the chalice she is. And the way you describe this dress, amazing

“I take it you won’t be seeing him then,” buuuuuuuuuuuuurn

Can’t believe they took all that effort to make her look perfect to then make her take a car ride and a treacherous walk… vampires really forget how to be human.

It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” BOI SPARE ME!!!!! Like she went there voluntarily. I am screaming! This was such a good chapter ! and now if you excuse me I have to go lay down and stare into space before going to work.

Okay, this time I am answering this and scheduling it to post so I don't forget lol.

LET'S DO THIS.

TBH, the "I'm not moving in" thing feels more like Amber managing expectations for herself. Since her life has been constantly upended, it feels like a more honest reaction than her going balls-in when she hasn't even said those three dangerous words in return.

That said, in opening up, it feels like a huge step foward for them, and I think she just wants to revel in that glow, so yeah, we had to start with a little moment of connection before, well... you saw. :(

Oh, hey there, Aisha. Didn't see you lurking in the fucking bushes! Ah, yes, our beautiful little, resentful af ferry. We've added another thread to Kai's web, which begs many more questions than even the ones you asked. Methinks some answers are right around the corner...

As to Amber going in the house, I played with the idea, but it is just NOT her. She wouldn't even stay in the car, and she already told Hyungwon she does not want them getting hurt over this because she thinks it's pointless. If he could have made it in with her, it might have been different, but they've been found out, and as Aisha lays it out, it wouldn't end well, especially since Amber has such a protective personality.

OOH, GIRL, YOU DONE PICKED UP ON MY COLOR PLAY WITH THE GOLD. ILU.

I actually really loved writing Aisha and Amber together. The disdain Aisha has for her has an undercurrent that I really enjoyed as a writer, even if I wanted to punch her in the boob. Between her and the other servants, it's a good window into Kai's world and what we can expect of those who follow him.

Ahahaha, yes, Kai would have no intention of having their first meeting in such an impersonal, dirty place, so car ride and walk it is. I think of him in some ways like the owner of a multimillion-dollar company--he's aware of how things run but he probably doesn't want to actually see how the sausage is made, ya know? And honestly, it's not as far as it seems, but when you're doing something you really don't want to, doesn't it always feel that way? I'm sure it's true, too, that he, like many vampires, have lost touch with the limitations of humanity. Maybe someone should remind him! He has many designs, as we will see. In his mind, I imagine it all makes a lot of sense. We'll see how many of those hold water.

We will finally get to meet the puppeteer next chapter and figure out who exactly he is--or thinks he is.

I am VERY excited about these last three chapters. It's gonna be a ride. I'm glad you're not quite ready to get off.

#new bestie!#succumbing to sybaris #gee thanks #shit went off the rails #where do we go from here?

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fandom-blackhole · 3 years

Note

A pansexual horndog , an infp turbuletnt mediator. I use she/her pronouns. I don't know how to describe my character because I feel like my existence makes no sense. I'm shy and anxious, literally struggling with GAD and agoraphobia, yet I love being a center of attention, I can be a show off lmao

I'm sure I'm going to hell because of my dark, edgy humor.

I know it's not really a good think but I think I have something of a 'pick me girl' in me, like I prefer hanging out with the boys™ playing games and stuff. I'm hot-headed and live for drama, always shading people and spilling the tea, but only about ppl that wronged me (we don't stan bullying in this household). However, I believe I can be an actual sweetheart, almost like a mom friend for my closest besties.

My fav colors are black and pink. My fashion style is hard to describe, idk man. Like it's either a sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt kinda situation or a cute lil' skirt with knee-high socks. I always put makeup on tho and I always wear my hair down.

My thoughts tend to be rather grim and dark but at the same time my bedroom is literally princess themed and I collect all things hello kitty.

I don't have any talents or passions. I'm an English language major with minor in business. I am fluent in several languages and currently studying more. I'd like to become a sworn translator or interpreter in the future. I love traveling, been to maaany countries already so I really want to be able to work and travel at the same time.

Sorry babe, I'm really bad at this. I'd love to get matched with one of the Buckets and a Clone boi. I know I omitted the appearance, because, uhhh, me ugly, but you know it lmao.

I ship you with Leia!

I know you are probably disappointed but, please, here me out.

I just picture you and Leia being those cool af gay aunties. You are really beautiful so the Princess would fall for you pretty easily.

She's fiesty and protective and so are you. I'll never stop being thankful for you defending me against nasty anons.

Leia is the biggest social justice warrior just like her momma. I can see you both trying to figure out how to help those in need.

You'd never take any bullshit from no man.

GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRLBOSS

bonus: visiting her mom's homeplanet, just you and her, somewhere near a remote lake. Just two baddies being softies, holding each other in their arms.

Sorry for all the typos and errors but I'm having a high fever as I'm writing this. I'm not sure if it's even real or I just started seeing things lool. Also sorry for keeping the ship thingy short, I'd love to write a drabble for you in the future if you like my choice for you.

First off, don’t apologize for typos because I guarantee I will have at least one in my answer for you bb. And second of all THANK YOU for being here and bringing life to my blog and dms with all your thots, I love them all!

Now for your ships, first off of course, I ship you with me lmao buuuuuut,

For the bucket bois I ship you with Paz Vizsla!

First off I wanna say that Paz is going to wake up every morning and just shower you in love and affection, telling you how perfect and beautiful you are and how much he absolutely loves and adores you. Paz will constantly reassure you and if your anxiety starts getting the better of you he will pull you away from everyone and whisper reassuring, comforting things to you and do whatever he can to help you feel better. Now Paz also has a darker sense a humor and I personally think that comes with being a mandalorian, so he will always chuckle at your jokes and will return it with one of his own because he strives to see you smile and laugh as much as he can make possible. Paz would find it cute that you are always chasing drama and loves to sit and listen to you recite all the drama to him and spill the tea lol. You say you don't have any talents, but Paz is always blown away at how many languages you can speak and how you continue to want to learn more. He also loves that that gives him an excuse to take you with him when he travels so that he can have his cute little translator with him at all times. Not to mention that he loves cuddling up with you in the tiny bed that he has on his ship, as well as other things.

For your clone ship, I am going to ship you with Commander Fox!

Ok so I wanna say that the two of you some how meet and start a regular meet up at some random shady bar where the two of you will sit for hours passing back rumors and just drama that you have witnessed since the two of you talked last. This goes on for a while before one morning you wake up early to Fox slowly and carefully trying not to wake you up as he untangles himself from you and your bed. After that the two of you start meeting more regularly and usually at your home. Once the two of you really get close and even start a relationship Fox finally relaxes around you. Fox absolutely loves your dark jokes because it is something he doesn't get to hear often with protecting senators and the chancellor almost everyday. Fox has also always loved the way you dressed, whether it be in comfy clothes or your cute skirts, he doesn't care he just likes the idea of wearing something different everyday rather than just blacks and his armor. Fox also likes to play with your hair at any given chance, and he appreciates that you always have it down because it just means that he has easier access too in, especially in certain situations *wink wink*. Fox would be one to stand up for you in any situation, and he may be pretty emotionally stunted and can't quite get the words out most of the time but the second he knows he loves you he will bluntly tell you because he is a blunt man and will not beat around the bush when it comes to you.

How in the world could I ever be disappointed in being shipped with the best princess and general in the Star Wars galaxy?!?!

Now, everything you wrote? Fucking beautiful I am obsessed and I want to steal Leia away from Han and just hype her up and help her take over and rule the galaxy like she deserves

(And if you wrote more than enough for my ship, but if you wrote me a little drabble with Leia I would die of happiness bb)

(14/20)

#500 followers #ships #paz vizsla x reader #paz x reader #commander fox x reader #fox x reader

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zahneundklauen-retired · 4 years

Text

Phases|| Ariana and Alcher

TIMING: Sometime before Ariana lost her name PARTIES: @letsbenditlikebennett and @zahneundklauen SUMMARY: Two wolves meet in the woods and walk side by side. A bond is forged.

With everything happening with Ace, Ariana welcomed the thought of actually being able to protect someone on a hike in the woods. Maybe she was in over her head when it came to Ace. What the hell did she know about fae anyway? She was a werewolf, it wasn’t like it was her job to protect humans or anything, but she cared about him. He was kind and he’d provided so much comfort to her during her own difficult times. It felt wrong to let him just be… whatever the hell he was to Lydia. Maybe she couldn’t do anything there, but she could keep a new human in town from becoming spinach or giant lobster food. A hike and meeting someone new would be a great way to get this whole thing off her mind for the moment anyway. She leaned against one of the wooden posts near the trailhead that she and Alcher agreed to wait at. She kept her ears and nose in tune with her surroundings feeling a little more on edge as of late. The smell of another wolf reached her nose before she heard the crunch of leaves under footsteps. It wasn’t a wolf she knew. She wondered if they were sniffing her out as they got closer and then she recognized Ada’s face from her profile. “Hey,” she greeted, a questioning eyebrow cocked, “Are you a-- Ada? Sorry, Ada, right?”

This town, though strange, had been more than welcoming. Alcher had explored a bit of the human downtown, enjoying picking out easy prey and memorizing their scents. Though the new moon was soon, it was never a bad idea to scout your targets early. She would be quite hungry after its passing. Going three days without feeding was difficult, but she was practiced in it by now and was comfortable knowing there was no lack of food here. Even the wildlife was abundant. And though it never tasted quite as good, it left much less of a body trail. But in order to hunt properly, getting to know the woods was at the top of her list. That was how Alcher found herself crawling from her shack that afternoon and shouldering a backpack. A just in case bag. She never knew what she would encounter or what might happen during, it was best to always come prepared. Though the town mostly reeked of human, there were other scents thrown in. Wood and metal and dust, all coming from human looking forms. But she had not sniffed out any other wolves yet. Either they weren’t here like she’d heard, or they were better at hiding than most. In a town like this, she supposed that was fair. But if she could rid this place of its hunter infestation, then they could run free again.

She was miles from their meetup spot when she smelled her. A young one. Barely a young adult. As Alcher climbed the path to where she was meeting Ariana, the scent became clear-- it was the child waiting for her. “You are a wolf,” Alcher said, passing up the greeting. She knew Ariana knew as well. It was impossible not to know. “I’ve been looking for you. Are there others?”

Immediately, Ariana liked Ada. She was straightforward and to the point. No beating around the bush about what they both knew. They were wolves and it was an important connection to share. It was nicer to just have all that out in the open. She laughed lightly and nodded. “Yes, I’m a wolf. I try to be a little more… tactful about that kinda stuff.” Mostly because Ulfric advised her to. Even if she only half listened and still sniffed out others like her anyway, she could at least try to be graceful about it. This was preferred though. It felt better. Her face was a bit puzzled momentarily before she had a light bulb moment. “Looking for me? Oh,” she started, “You mean wolves in general got ya. Is that why you came to White Crest?” A million questions started running through her own mind as she gestured toward the trail so they could walk and talk. It was cool to meet an older wolf who was a woman. She wondered if she was a total badass. She kind of seemed like it, but they’d get to know each other. She answered the other wolf’s question carefully, “Quite a few others, at least that I know. I live with two. Sort of a long story there, but I’d be happy to introduce you to them. Ulfric is the wolf who took me in af-- We’re building a cabin so that’s pretty cool. He’s from Norway actually! He owns Ink Inc. if you ever feel like getting a cool wolfy tattoo.” She gestured to her leg to show off her wolf tattoo that Ulfric had done back when they first met. She hadn’t meant to get rambly, but she decidedly didn’t want to get into the fact her hunter sister died with a wolf she just met.

Alcher smiled. This little wolf was eager and enthusiastic-- not all wolves shared that mindset and it often concerned her. She followed in step with the little wolf, wondering if she would notice her sussing her out. She wanted her to notice, wanted to know how sharp she was. A keen eye was what kept you alive. “I have never found truth in tact, but I understand needing to protect yourself,” she said after a moment, “but there is no need to worry. I would never hurt another wolf.” As they walked, Alcher memorized the scent of the forest around them and of the little one. She smelled almost just like the forest and Alcher could not help but think of home. “It is why I came here. I heard rumor of a pack in town and came to see for myself. I’d love to meet them, if they’re willing.” Because she understood that some wolves were hostile and territorial. They would bow to her eventually, but she would give them space for now if that’s what they wanted. “Ulfirc? I spoke to an Ulfric online. I understand our kinship, now,” she said softly. “And he takes good care of you? Is he teaching you how to be a proper wolf?”

Ariana gave Alcher a quizzical look. It seemed the other wolf was really studying her and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Her brow raised up in a way that seemed to ask the question ‘you good?’ It was hard to imagine another wolf would actually hurt her. If she could get two beast hunters to find her too adorable to kill, she was sure she was pretty fucking set in the wolf category. She couldn’t help but laugh at Ada’s statement. “You’re not wrong. Tact isn’t my strong suit, but I’m trying to be better about that. I sometimes like to listen to Ulf’s advice,” she said with a playful look. Ariana led Ada down one of her favorite trails in the woods. She went running down it often and brought Luna more often than not these days. There was something about the way the trees canopied and the always lingering scent of different prey that made it particularly appealing to her. Plus, it was rugged and really increased her strength and endurance. “You’re definitely not wrong. I’m sure most of them would be. I wanted to have some sort of end of summer barbecue. Well, barbecue plus a few vegan options for my best friend. I know… vegan werewolf is wild. Like girl, I literally always want meat.” It made her happy to know that Ada and Ulf seemed to share some sort of kinship as she put it. Since she’d known him, Ulf had gone out of his way to take care of her and keep her safe. He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty and she had no idea what she’d do without him. With a small chuckle, she answered, “Yeah, that’s him. I’m surprised the name wasn’t a dead giveaway. He takes good care of me, though. He’s done a lot for me and the other wolves. I’m not sure what I’d-- Ulf’s a good guy. He’s taught me a lot about wolf things. I was born a wolf, but I didn’t get to grow up with other wolves. So still cool to learn more, you know?”

The quick exchanged look told Alcher all she needed to know. Ariana was acute and aware, and that would make her a good wolf. And being young meant there was still time yet to shape her into an even better wolf. Her brows folded together for a moment at the mention of a wolf that did not eat meat, but she would not comment. Not until she knew more details. Perhaps this wolf was just new, uncared for, uneducated. It was not right, though, for a wolf to deny such a part of themselves. Alcher would help fix that. “I am sorry you were denied the chance to grow up with other wolves,” she said with a pitch of sorrow. Alcher couldn’t even imagine a life growing up without other wolves. How lonely and desolate it must have been. A pang ran through her chest. “I grew up in a large family, all of us born,” she explained quietly, “I can not imagine the loneliness you must have felt.” She kept in even stride with the younger girl, even as her joints groaned in slight protest, reminding her that the new moon had just passed. Should I have talked to mom more? The quick thought, foreign to her head, echoed. A quick glance to the sky before her eyes fell back to the trail, taking in its scents, memorizing its winding path. Ignoring the interruption as best she could. “But you are not alone now, I’m sure that is nice. And you like it here? You like the others?”

While growing up, part of Ariana had always longed to be around other wolves, she still wouldn’t trade the memories she and Celeste had made growing up for anything. Especially not now when she’d give just about anything to be given the chance to make more. Maybe she didn’t have others like her when she was young, but Celeste had never made her suppress who and what she was. It was hard to not long for those days again. Still, she shrugged and responded, “It wasn’t bad or anything. Ce- My guardian was really great.” Maybe the other wolves in town hadn’t been the family she grew up with, but she considered them all family just the same. They were there for each other like family was supposed to be. Still, Alcher’s family sounded pretty great. “That must have been a lot of fun. I like having lots of wolves around now,” she said with a small smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t say it was lonely. I mean, I did always wish I had other wolves, but-- I don’t know, I can look back on most of my childhood memories fondly.” Maybe not entirely truthful, the memories still brought a certain sadness. She hadn’t quite learned how to live without Celeste just yet, but she was trying. Ari kept leading the way down the path, noting the subtle changes that came about day to day in nature. The smells were mostly familiar and everything seemed to be as it was supposed to. “I’m not. It is nice though. I’ve gotten close with the wolves I’ve met here. White Crest is a little…” She wasn’t quite sure how to explain. Not that long ago, she loved everything about this place, but now everything seemed to be spinning out of control around her. “Let’s just say we’re one of the more normal parts of town here. Can get a little dicey, but I like it anyway. Mostly because of said wolves and a few others. You liking it so far?”

Ariana was quite the talker. Alcher had never found words to be her forte, but it certainly wasn’t a bad quality to have. It suited the young wolf well, in fact. She gave a gentle smile when Ariana turned to her. “There is more than one kind of loneliness, you know,” she pointed out quietly, before moving along to the other subjects. It did not seem like Ariana wished to dwell on that part of her past, and Alcher would give her that for now. They were just getting acquainted, after all. Alcher, however, did not miss the hidden sorrow in her voice as she spoke. It would be noted for later. “I have heard of the strange events that go on in this town. And that they are growing...ever curiouser. It’s admittedly part of the reason I came here and not somewhere else. I am enjoying my stay so far, yes. I am relieved that that carnival is no longer in town, though. That awful music was keeping me up at night.” She couldn’t help but give a chuckle-- of all the things to be distraught about, carnival music did not top her list, usually. This place was already making new strides for her. “You said your guardian was great. Were you not raised by your parents, then?” Had Ariana’s parents been killed by hunters, too? If she was born, it meant they were weres as well. Alcher’s curiosity roamed in her eyes as she looked at the younger wolf, searching. Wondering if maybe she’d found a kin so soon.

While the older wolf seemed kind of serious, Ariana found her presence to be comforting. Her senses were still tuned into the sounds and smells of the forest surrounding them, but not having the added layer of potentially trying to protect a human added to that was a weight off her shoulders which had felt all too heavy as of late. “Yeah, that’s true. I guess I did always want to know other wolves when I was younger,” she agreed. Ada made a fair point. Even now as Ariana had more wolves and friends in her life than ever, there was still a loneliness that was hard to explain between constantly missing Celeste and worrying she was too close to losing Ace forever, too. She did her best to push those thoughts away and took a moment to breathe in the fresh forest air. A familiar mix of salt, wood, and small animals filled her nose. If she was spot on in her instincts, there were some rabbits not too far ahead. It made her feel grounded again, enough so that she could let out a small life. “I see the town’s reputation precedes it. It’s admittedly why we came here.” Not that it did them much good in terms of staying under the Aquilla’s radar. “I like most of the weird. I could live without ever having another mime twin that turns into a striped, silent howling werewolf though. That was just rude. The carnival was fun though. Heard some people had a sketchy time with it though. You living nearby it? I could see the music totally getting annoying.” At the mention of growing up without her parents, she had to really push to keep her feet moving. She hadn’t quite meant to bring that up, but it wasn’t a secret. “Oh, yeah. I was really young when they died. My guardian actually died recently, too. It’s like a whole thing.”

“It was a comfort to have them around,” Alcher said quietly. She missed her brothers greatly, and though it’d been many years, the pain in her chest had remained steady. A constant reminder of what the world-- and the hunters-- had taken from her. A reminder of why she did what she did. She listened to Ariana’s story and felt that familiar heartache. Had she gone through something similar? Had hunters taken her parents away, too? There was almost a yearning behind the ache, but Alcher steadied herself. She could not get too attached, she never could. Her way of life made it that way for, and she’d been fine with that decision her entire life. She’d know what path she was walking when she left the wolves in Poland. “I lost my family when I was young as well,” she said in a gentle tone. She was not sharing to garner pity or sorrow, but to show Ariana that she was not alone in her suffering. “To hunters. I was fortunate, however, that we had a sister pack in Poland who agreed to raise me. Still, the ache my family left behind is always there,” she explained, lifting her head to the sky, taking in the sights and sounds and scents. “I’ve heard this town is where a lot of people like us come to start over,” a shrug, bringing her gaze back down to Ariana’s level. “I’m sorry you lost someone so recently, as well. You have people who can help you through it, though, yes?”

Ariana could pick up on something almost longing in Ada’s voice. Though she was sure they had vastly different childhoods, she understood wishing back to those seemingly simpler times. More often than not, as everything in life kept piling up, she missed those days more and more. Somehow Celeste had always been able to fix things. There’s not much she wouldn’t give for that sense of love and guidance again. It wasn’t long before the wistfulness in Ada’s tone made sense. She’d lost her family, too. Somehow, it seemed easy enough to fill in the blanks. As much as she wanted a world where everyone could just stop killing each other, she knew most hunters weren’t like Celeste or even Rio. Before she could even ask, Ada explained it was hunters who killed her family. She looked down briefly as they forged ahead, “Mine too. The hunter thing that is.” She hadn’t initially planned on being so forthcoming, but Ada seemed to be blunt and would most likely appreciate honesty. “Even my guardian. She wasn’t a wolf, but she was protecting me.” She kept taking even steps ahead and tried to ignore the sadness that threatened to bubble over. Surely Ada could pick up on the pain in her voice, but as much was expected with loss. “I know no one can replace your family, but I’m glad you still had a pack looking out for you. Now that I’ve finally found other wolves, I couldn’t imagine going through life without them.” They came to a fork in the trail and Ariana pointed to the left. “The view’s better out this way, but yeah, seems to be the trend here. Theoretically a little easier to stay under the radar when you have murderous mimes and giant squid monsters inhabiting the town.” As much could not be true when she had developed a shoplifting problem, but Alcher didn’t need to know that. “I am, yeah. My guardian and I had been staying with Ulf even before she passed away. There was a bounty on me… for like no reason other than existing. It was like a whole thing. There’s not a-- those hunters are dead.” It was hard to feel bad for what happened to the Aquillas. Not when they had taken so much from her. Plus, she hardly doubted another wolf would fault her for killing the hunter who killed her parents and sister. “I know when we talked online, you said you’ve travelled a lot. Do you like seek out other wolves or something like that?”

The sound of Ariana’s voice was a familiar tone. It was sorrow. Recent sorrow. Pain that was dug deep into her bones and blood. Alcher understood this pain, she held it close to her own heart, and it pained her to know that someone this young felt it, too. Then again, she supposed she had been younger when her loss had come about. And of course it was hunters. Of course they had taken life from another wolf simply because of what they were, what they are. “Whoever your guardian was, she was a good woman,” she replied with a somber tone. She followed Ariana down the left path, letting her gaze fall to the brush and bramble around them for a moment, enjoying the silence and the sounds of nature. The words bounty pulled an anger in her chest and her gaze sharpened. “Did you kill them?” she asked her bluntly. The answer was important, but the intent behind it was much more important, the unasked question-- did you want to kill them? She let out a soft breath, regaining herself. “I do, yes. I lost my way for so long...when I finally found it, I realized my purpose in this life was to make sure no other wolf fell to what I did. I seek out packs to help them. To help them heal if they’ve lost, move on if they’re stuck, or come together, if they’ve parted. We all need to stick together, after all. There’s too much in this world that already tries to work against us.”

Maybe not enough time had passed, but Ariana doubted this feeling would fade anytime soon. It was hard to think she’d ever feel like part of herself wasn’t missing anymore. There was no doubt in her that Ada knew the feeling well, but she found purpose all the same. Sometimes the only thing to do was push forward and hold those lost along the way near and dear. Even through the constant ache that ran deep, they could both still forge ahead. She nodded in agreement, “She was the best person I’ve ever known.” They moved through the forest and Ariana took time to let Ada really get to know the trail. It was one of her favorites. The way the canopy of leaves seemed to encompass the trail around them. She’d heard they were a lush shade of green, but she could never really tell. Even in a muted brown, they held a certain ethereal quality about them and the sound of them rustling was comforting and familiar. It always felt more home than any cityscape ever could. Walls and concrete felt restricting more often than not. She stopped in her tracks at the question. Admitting to murder upon first meeting someone didn’t scream smart idea, but she trusted as another wolf, Ada understood. “I did,” she answered, unsure if she should elaborate. It wasn’t something she regretted, but talking about murder as a positive thing still felt strange. “I don’t regret it. I had just never killed anyone like that before.” She began moving ahead again, listening as Ada explained what it was she did. “That’s pretty fucking cool. Traveling and helping wolves. Leaving has to be hard though, doesn’t it?”

Trust was something that needed to be earned. Alcher understood this with a sharp clarity. Sometimes it would take months for new wolves to trust her, despite the inherent connection they all had. Trust was something given, not forced. It was precious and fragile and tentative, but when gained, it was powerful. Alcher wanted Ariana to trust her. To be able to look at her like the pack back in Canada had, like how Alcher had looked at her sister pack in Poland. Someone to rely upon, someone to protect, someone to value. And while she knew it would take time, for all of that, the first step could be taken now. “Good,” she answered finally, the coolness of the breeze through the valley brushing her skin, “you shouldn’t regret it. You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.” She gave a nod and a gentle, encouraging smile, though her eyes remained sharp for the seriousness of the situation and the words. “Leaving is meant to be hard. But those packs needed to learn to stand on their own. It’s the nature of what I’ve chosen to do, and I’ve accepted this pain. I bare this burden so no one else has to.” And White Crest, she already felt, was going to be different. It was in her bones.

There was something about their kindred nature that left Ariana feeling a little more at ease as they made it deeper into the wood. Ada was blunt and forthcoming while still having an almost soothing presence. There was no judgment for what she had done. In fact, she was met with approval. She expected most wolves would understand, but she could vaguely remember the feel of Lucas tugging at her shoulder as she mauled the hunter. If she really thought about it too hard, it made her mad, but at the end of the day, she got to be the one who made sure Adrian Aquilla drew his final breaths. He’d taken so much from her. Her parents. Likely other family members in their pack. Celeste. It only seemed right that if it couldn’t have been Celeste, it was her. “I don’t. The only thing I’d do differently is get to him before he got to Celeste. But thanks,” she responded slowly as she continued to take in her surroundings. The summer breeze caused the occasional rustle of leaves, but by all indications, they were alone. She listened and could understand what Ada meant, but it still seemed kind of sad in its way. “I guess, yeah. I don’t know, I’ve been so eager to find other wolves my whole life, I couldn’t imagine leaving now, even if life in this town just proves to be more and more difficult. What you’re doing though-- it’s good. Helping other wolves. I know the rest of the wolves in White Crest would be lucky to get to know you. How long have you been doing this?”

“I understand that feeling, wishing you could have done something differently. But don’t let it take over your mind too much, because what’s done is done. And all we can do now is live with it,” Alcher said softly, giving Ariana a stern, knowing look. She could still remember the years, the decades, she spent obsessing over if onlys. If only she’d been able to save her family, if only she’d seen it coming, if only she’d listened to her gut instinct. If only she’d been able to do anything but run. Cramped in the fireplace flue, waiting for her chance to run. If only she hadn’t been a coward and faced the hunters. But they had done nothing but make her feel sick and weak and unworthy. And none of that was true. Her family legacy would live on through her and, now that she was reaching an age where her limbs grew stiff with the weather, someone else she could help guide. “Like I said, it’s not a life everyone can live. And that’s okay. You’ve found your place in the world, and that’s good. I hope to one day settle somewhere, I suppose I just haven’t found my true home yet.” Every place she came to, she wondered if this would be it-- but she’d never found a true home. Not after hers was taken from her so forcibly. “Ariana,” she said suddenly, stopping, “I want to thank you for meeting me and showing me around. And there’s something I want you to know, but you must also understand why I don’t tell people right away.” She paused, waited. “My real name is Alcher Krieg. Because of what happened in my past, I must hide, so I ask that around others, you use Ada. But I do not want to lie to you. I hope you can understand why I was not truthful at first and not hold it against me.”

“I’m trying not to. Things have just been a little crazy lately and it makes me miss her more, but I’m still doing the whole life thing and trying to move forward every day. I’m sure you know what I mean,” Ariana explained quietly, knowing Alcher would be able to hear and relate to what she was going through. It didn’t seem fair that wolves all seemed to have to go through this crippling feeling of loss. Especially when you lost those you loved so violently, it seemed so easy to get lost in a cycle of thoughts of all the little things that could have been done differently. Had she just stayed with the crowd at prom. Had she skipped out on it all together. Had she just heard the Aquillas approaching. None of that could be changed now, but at least they could never hurt anyone else. “You’re right, but it’s good to know the wolves of the world have someone out there trying to help. The more I get to know other wolves, the more I realize the world’s not exactly kind to us. I do hope you find somewhere that feels like home,” she said earnestly. When Ada suddenly stopped, Ariana looked to her with a look of concern. It seemed she was ready to share something about herself that she normally didn’t and she appreciated the older wolf could trust her. “Alcher Krieg. I like that name, it suits you, but I won’t tell it to anyone else. As far as anyone else is concerned you’re Ada. I get the name change thing and I prefer you to be safe and all.”

Alcher smiled. It was a gentle, sad smile. One that was full of an entire life of mourning and loss. But also strength and confidence. Pain, her father had told her, made you stronger. It gave you power. It gave you courage. To know pain is to know life. And knowledge is power. She reached out and put a guiding hand on Ariana’s shoulder. “I hope one day soon we can get to know each other better,” she said firmly, “you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders, Ariana.” She took a small step back and gestured around them. “How about we finish our walk with nature now? We can always talk again later. Sometimes it’s better to just...listen,” she said. The wind through the trees seemed to agree with her, and the two turned to finish their walk down the trail in silence. But between two wolves, two souls so similar, silence was never a true thing.

#chatzy #wickedswriting #chatzy: ariana #phases #ariana

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three-drink-amy · 5 years

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All the Shine of a Thousand Spotlights

Thanks so much for the support of this fic! It made me happy to know so many of you wanted it to continue. I hope you enjoy what’s to come!

masterlist - AO3

Chapter Three - Take a Chance, Take a Chance, Chance

I knew what I needed to do, I was just dragging my feet. The only person who could probably convince Jamie to take this role was me. But I was also a bit worried that I was the last person he wanted to see. The last time we’d spoken, he seemed angry that I was trying to talk to him. I could understand the position he was in, and likely why he was about to turn down the role. But he couldn’t do that. I couldn’t let him.

I had to act quickly. It wasn’t like we had forever. Production would need to begin eventually and we needed to have our lead. Marilyn and John were going through the list of other actors who had auditioned, but we all knew we didn’t want them. We wanted Jamie. I wanted Jamie. John was never wrong with his instincts, but I hoped that when I talked to Jamie alone, he’d tell me that he was taking the part.

Swallowing harshly, I looked up at the building in front of me. Taking all the courage I had, I ran forward to catch the door as a delivery man left. I followed the familiar path to his door. It was painfully obvious to me how different my situation was now than it was the last time I was here. Shaking my head, I tried to dispel the images of him pushing me against the wall and kissing me senseless in the very stairwell I was climbing. Before I got too caught up in memories, I made myself keep walking. There was a reason I was here, after all, and it wasn’t to vividly remember night we’d spent together. I did that enough on my own.

I must have stood in front of his door for a full minute before I finally knocked. My heart hammered away in my chest as I waited for him to answer. One of his neighbors walked past me. I bounced on the balls of my feet, willing him to be home. The sound of footsteps on the other side of the door almost made me lean closer to make sure I wasn’t imagining it.

The door swung open and he stood before me. I flashed him a strained smile. His eyes widened in shock as he stared back at me. “Claire,” he said, “what the hell are ye doing here?”

“I needed to talk to you.”

He schooled his face, not letting his emotions show anymore. “What about?”

“You can’t turn down this role, Jamie,” I told him, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Jamie sighed, running a hand down his face. “Seriously? That’s why ye came by here?”

“Yes! Look, we saw plenty of men for this role and I promise you that you are the only man we wanted,” I told him. I was being more open than I ever had been with an actor before. “Jamie, you are perfect for this role. And not just because you were the only person who actually sounded Scottish. You have to take it!”

“No, I dinna have to do anything.”

I groaned. “You auditioned for it. Why do you suddenly want to turn it down?”

“Because of you,” he answered in no uncertain terms.

I recoiled a bit, taking a step back. My arms crossed in front of me defensively. “Because of me?” I could hear how small my voice sounded and I hated it. This wasn’t me. I never groveled or begged people to do anything. He was bringing out a terrible side of me.

He at least had the decency to look a bit guilty for what he said. “Aye. I’m sorry, but I canna take it. I didn’t want to turn it down immediately. I suppose I wanted to be able to change my mind, but I canna. I canna take the role.”

“Can you tell me why?” I asked. “Other than because of me.”

Jamie’s face fell. “Ye have to know how much I actually want the role -”

“Then, take it!” I cried.

“I canna. I’ll no’ let anyone accuse me of sleeping my way to a role.” And there it was. My mouth fell open at his statement. “I may no’ have much of a career, but I do have dignity.”

“It’s not like anyone even knows,” I reminded him. “Besides, you didn’t even know who I was. You weren’t doing that.”

“No, I wasna. But if anyone knew the truth, all they’d be able to see is that I slept wi’ ye one night, auditioned for yer play the next day, and then was given the role,” Jamie pointed out. “I want the role, but no’ that badly.”

“No one knows,” I repeated. I was getting desperate.

“I’ll no’ risk it,” he maintained. His eyes dropped from mine. “I appreciate that ye thought I was good enough. But I can’t.”

“Please think about it,” I urged. “This could be the role of a lifetime.”

“Well, then congratulations to yer second choice,” Jamie said, effectively taking the argument out of me. “Goodbye, Claire.”

I sputtered, trying to get one last word in, but the door shut in my face. My hands laid over my face as I tried to fight off my anger and disappointment. The worst part about it all was that he didn’t mince words. It was clearer than ever that his reason to not take it was me. Even more than wanting to have the perfect cast, I wanted to defend myself and tell him all the reasons he was wrong.

Except that, ultimately, I respected his decision. As I descended the stairs, feeling low, I understood why he stood his ground. I’d known a good amount of actors in my life, and I’m not sure that any of them would have the integrity to actually turn it down. And that’s not even addressing the ones that would have truly slept with the director to get the part.

I wanted a win, but I wasn’t getting it. More than that, I wanted to change the way he looked at me. I’d seen plenty of different gazes from him the night we’d spent together. But now, it was nothing but a cold shadow in comparison.

My office was dark, save a low lamp in the corner. I was wallowing in the misery of my failed attempt. John and Marilyn hadn’t the faintest idea that I was even going to try to sway him. That was probably for the best, since I’d failed. Elbows propped on the desk, my head was in my hands as I tried to figure out my next step. John walked in without knocking. He sat down on the couch in my office. Both of us looked a bit off.

“What’s up with you?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Nothing. We’re just getting close to production.”

“I’m aware.”

“I got a few more confirmations today,” he told me.

“But not the one you’re wanting.”

“It’s the lead role,” John sighed. “If we fuck that up, our play is dead on opening night.”

“I know.”

“And the thing that makes me the maddest is that we didn’t do anything wrong!” John continued.

That you know of, I thought to myself.

“What do you think we can do?” he asked. “We all agreed that he’s the best. Surely the three of us can figure out a way to convince him. We’re all experienced.”

I nodded, trying to think of some comfort to offer John. I was coming up dry. “Look, we’re casting minor roles next week. By the end of next week, we have to have our cast list set. We’ll give him til then and hopefully he’ll come around.”

John laid his head back against the couch. “Okay. I guess that’s all we can do. But after that, we’ll have to act fast.”

“We will, if necessary,” I promised him.

But as John walked from my office, I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary. I was in full brainstorming mode the rest of the day and my entire evening at home. It was a lot harder to come up with ideas when I knew what the problem actually was. How could I solve it, short of traveling back in time and not sleeping with him? But then again, I wasn’t sure I would really want to do that, even for the sake of the show.

For the next few days, I sat through auditions, trying to be as present as possible. This show was supposed to be my passion project but I was failing. Somehow, my thoughts were only ever on Jamie. What did he think of me? Would I ever see him again? What were the chances he’d change his mind and accept? Had he actually liked me before my true identity had been revealed? Could something more have happened if he’d never auditioned for my show?

The ridiculous amount of “what ifs” and “how comes” kept me incredibly distracted at a time when I needed to be focused. I’d gone out the night I met him because I’d needed a break. But now, I needed one again for a very different reason. I knew first hand how much dedication the role of director took. And that was how I knew I was blowing it spectacularly.

All I wanted to be able to do was figure out a way to convince Jamie to take the role. Perhaps that would put a smile on my face. I figured it would definitely put a smile on John’s face. I was at a loss, though.

It took me two more days of spending all my time up in my head before I finally realized that the answer was in front of me all along.

I poured myself a stiff glass of whisky and sat down on my couch. Glancing over at the clock, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too late. I took a sip to give myself some courage, and then I dialed his number.

The line rang twice before he answered. “Hello?” he answered.

“Jamie, it’s Claire.”

He was silent for a long moment. “How did ye get this number? I dinna recall giving it to ye. Or ye asking me for it, for that matter.” For the first time, I wondered if he was bitter about more than the situation with the play. It had been a mere accident that I’d run out without giving him my number or getting his. As I’d left his apartment that morning, I was more than open to seeing him again. I wondered if he’d ever believe that with everything else that had happened.

“It might not be the most ethical thing, but I pulled it off your audition form,” I informed him. “We need to talk.”

Jamie sighed. “No, we dinna.”

“Yes, we do. Jamie, this role is yours. You are perfect for it and I meant what I said when I told you it could be the role of a lifetime.”

“I already told ye no once.”

“You haven’t turned it down though,” I retorted. “Why is that?”

He took a deep breath. “Because I ken exactly how big a role this is and it’s killing me to turn it down.”

“Then don’t.”

“Claire —”

“I have a new offer for you.” I talked over him.

“Oh?”

I took another sip, needing more liquid courage. “If you take the role…” I trailed off, afraid to actually make my offer. “If you take the role, I will step down as director.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ll step down if you take the role. That way, no one will be able to accuse you of sleeping with the director, because you wouldn’t have.” I tilted my head, thinking. “Well, theoretically. I don’t know your whole history.”

Jamie was silent again. It was frying my nerves. “Why would ye do this?” His voice was softer than all our interactions since the truth came out. It gave me hope.

“I remembered what you told me the night we met,” I said, my voice growing softer, too. “You said you often led your family to believe that you were more successful than you were. Jamie, this could truly be your big break and you deserve to have it. You have more bloody dignity and self-preservation than most people I know. It’s time for the world to see how great you are. But that can’t happen if you turn down the role.” I stopped to take a breath. “I heard you loud and clear. Your problem wasn’t with the role, but with me. So, if I’m out of the picture, it’s perfect. And this show needs you.”

“What about ye?”

“Not to sound too much like a braggart, but if I step down as director, I’m fairly certain I could find another show rather quickly,” I told him.

I could hear him breathing on the other end. “Claire, this is —”

“Just think it over,” I advised. “You have until Friday to make a decision. We have to have our cast list finalized by then.”

“Alright,” he agreed.

“Okay. Well, one way or the other, I’ll talk to you soon.” I said goodbye and ended the call. The idea of calling him and making such an offer had seemed like the hardest part. But I was wrong.

Waiting was going to be the hardest part.

Next chapter

#Outlander #outlander fanfiction #outlander fanfic #my writing #all the shine of a thousand spotlights

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headoverhiddles · 4 years

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Matrimony - Pope x Reader (Let Me Make You A Martyr) [Part III]

Synopsis: It’s time to do what you came out here to do with Pope. No, not that. The other thing, with guns.

Notes: Last part! It’s been really fun writing for Pope. Everyone, contribute as much as you can to the Pope tag cause he’s hot af and deserves more fics!

Tagging: @peachynun @elrosew @livelifewondering

PART I

PART II

"Morning," you say, avoiding his eye contact. Pope gives you a curious look at the sudden shyness.

"Hey."

Ever the man of few words, he gets to cooking breakfast. You watch him, wondering how you're going to keep it together tonight. Surely, this is when Pope would take the opportunity to kill Pierce. But it was a matter of keeping your cool until then...

You'll be fine. You were the one who saved face yesterday. Pope is gonna end this guy, and you'll be back to your own lives, never to work alongside one another again. This evening would be terrifying and exciting, and you find yourself fantasizing what it’ll feel like when Pierce is finally dead. Just keep picturing that. Not Pope, from your dream last night.

Still. You shouldn’t make things weird.

“Sleep well?” you ask.

“No. No surprise there.”

You nod slowly, then finally get the courage to quit beating around the bush. “What did you mean last night? When you said we were both pretending to be something we’re not?”

He wipes his hands on a towel, and tosses it in the sink. “What did you think I meant?”

“Come on,” you sigh, “This isn’t a game.” He looks back at you over those glasses.

“Isn’t it?”

---

Around late afternoon, you're in the bedroom, going over some things for tonight. You've got two guns, which you intend to load both of, just in case Pope needs backup. You get up, and check your appearance in the mirror. Just unsuspecting enough to be a housewife, with enough room under your hoodie to hide your mini arsenal.

You pick up one of the guns from the bed, and walk to his room. He's not there-- probably downstairs.

"Hey. Do you have any more bullets?"

No answer.

You walk down the steps, tucking one of the guns into your back pocket. You head outside. Maybe he's skinning some dead animal or something weird like that. The man likes blood far too much.

"Hey! Pope!" you call out, but still no answer. “I know I should’ve brought my ammo, but... I don’t fucking know where it is.” Then it dawns on you. The bastard left to do the job without you!

Infuriating! Asshole! Shithead!

You storm through the woods, the idea of pulling your gun on Pope on sight very present in your mind, and finally make it to the house. Still no sign of anyone.

"Swear to god, you'd better not be--" you mutter, and rush in. The two men are sitting, facing each other. You walk in, and Pierce lifts his chin.

"Thought you said the girl was sick."

"I got better," you growl.

"Did you?" Pope asks, voice low and warning. "Mm, I don't know. I think you'd better get home, get back into bed, sweetheart. Don’t want you to deteriorate... or worse." He gives you a pointed look.

"And pass up an evening like this? Honey. You know me better than that." You put on a big smile, and sit down beside him.

"Yeah. Well, let's get on with the sale." Pierce sighs. "See, I... I came out here to take a break. Y'know, sit back, enjoy the money. Get away for a while, lay low." You feel your blood rising. Guys like Pierce shouldn't get to enjoy their money, the money they've stolen from good, clean dealers.

"You were in trouble with the cops," you say, "Your operation was gonna fold if you didn't let things cool off." Pope swats you inconspicuously.

"What did you say?" Pierce mutters.

"Well, we've been in the same boat for possession!" you quickly cover. "We know how it is. We came out here to... to do the same."

"You two fuckin' dealers?" He narrows his eyes.

"No." Pope calmly diffuses the tension in the room. "We're just a married couple, come to enjoy life in the off the grid for a while." He lies through his teeth. "With some of your shit."

You smile, taking Pope's arm. "Wake and bake."

"Right," Pierce says. "I just... I've normally got my boys with me, when I handle transactions."

"We understand that," Pope says, nodding slowly, "And we respect that. If you don't want to sell..."

"Nah, nah. It just rubs me the wrong way."

"What does?" Pope's tone is amused. He knows how in control of the situation he really is. You on the other hand, are wary of Pierce’s suspicion. He’s as sharp as the two of you, and you know it.

"Two of you, moving in right when I do. Snooping through my motherfucking house. I don't know."

"Neighbors can be nosy," you smile.

"Mhm," Pope nods.

“I just wanna ask you a few questions before I feel comfortable enough selling to you.”

“That’s fine,” Pope opens his hands, leaning back. “We got the time.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a carpenter.”

“He’s a singer,” you say at the same time. Pope looks at you, jaw visibly clenching. You clear your throat. “I mean... he decided carpentry wasn’t fulfilling enough for him. Pursued music instead.”

“And what does that make you, then?” Pierce chuckles.

“His manager,” you say.

“Groupie,” Pope speaks at the same time. He gives a little self satisfied smile, and you have to fight not to pinch him. You just smile sweetly at the dealer across from you.

“Depends on who you ask, really.”

“Where you two from?”

“We just moved into the other cabin,” you say, “We told you that.”

“I mean, where you originally from?”

“Does that matter?” you huff.

“Does to me.”

“Ohio,” Pope steps in with a clean backstory, “We met and got married there.”

“How’d you two meet, huh?”

“We got to talking. Didn’t wanna stop talking.”

“Fuckin’ cute,” Pierce mutters, “Fine, that checks out. What about you? You ain’t said much, little lady.”

“Well, after we got married, we... sort of came to the conclusion that we wanted something away from people. This place was perfect.” Your eyes drift to Pope, and you feel something click into place inside you. “Perfect for both of us.”

“Mm. Perfect,” Pierce nods. “You sound like a couple who knows what they want. I’m very much the same way. In fact...” he takes out a stack of a few Polaroids, and hands them to you. “When I don’t get my way... my boys don’t carry something out properly, or someone cheats me... you could say things get a little messy.” You look down at the photos as he keeps talking, heart rate picking up. Each Polaroid is a close up of a fresh corpse, face smashed in, bullet holes leaving nothing behind. The pictures are gruesome; you have to hide your disgust. "Look. Mr. and Mrs. Warner. You seem like nice people.” Your eyes move down as you notice his hand reaching underneath the couch cushion. “The kinda shitty nice people I don't sell to, cause I know they ain't looking for no god damn dope."

It all happens too fast. You see him reach, so you take out the gun from your back pocket, aim it at his forehead, and pull the trigger. It clicks. Pope watches, scrutinizing your every move, and you wonder why he's not stepping in.

"H-he--" you stutter, but Pope just lifts his chin, folds his fingers, and watches. Pierce goes for his weapon hidden in the couch, and you lurch forward, smashing the butt of the gun into the man's face to hinder him. Pope nods slightly, but you don't notice, as you get on top of him and keep beating him with the pistol.

"Kill him."

"You fucking kill him!" you scream, digging your nails into the guy's neck.

"Kill him, now."

"Po--"

"Do it."

You look down, but Pierce takes your moment of distraction to throw you off him. A sharp pain spreads through your rib cage, but you don't have time to check it. Pierce is blinded now by the blood leaking into and out of his eyes, but he's crawling for where he knows the cabinet of guns is. Pope stands up, and aims. He shoots Pierce in both legs, blood exploding onto you and the walls, and finally, he tosses the gun. Without thinking, you catch it, aim it, and blow the dealer's head to pieces.

You drop the gun, and stare down at him. You should be shaking. You should be ready to throw up, with all the carnage around you. Pope watches you. You look up at him. "That felt good." He nods again, and you suddenly feel all your rage come back. "You asshole! Why didn't you shoot him when you realized my gun wasn't loaded?! He was a clear shot. You just sat there! I thought you were supposed to be some expert hitman!" Pierce's cell rings on the table, and without looking back, Pope shoots it to pieces. You stop, stunned, and he advances on you. "Now wait just a minute. You came over h--"

He takes you by the shoulders. "If I wanted to kill the man myself, I would have pulled the trigger the minute I walked through the fuckin’ door."

He's too close to be considered friendly (or friendly rivalry) and you look down to his chest.

“Then... why didn’t you?” you breathe.

He squeezes your shoulders, and in a burst of either fury or passion, kisses you rough. He pulls away, almost in surprise, then his eyes darken again as you initiate another kiss. You fall back, slipping on the bloody hardwood, and Pope falls on top of you. In seconds his fingers are in your clothes, ripping fabric here and popping buttons where they won't cooperate. Blood continues to slip between you as he reaches down to pull your shorts off, then your panties.

"Yeah," you groan, and he bites your stomach, moving downward. You moan even louder when his lips graze your heat, and his tongue sweeps out, and inside.

"This is what you want?" he asks, ripping your panties.

You can't do anything but moan in reply, desperate to feel him inside of you. He moves up, and undoes his pants. The both of you roll over so that you're on top, and he brings your face down to his to kiss you again. Through the kiss, you take over his pursuit in opening up his pants, and get him out. He groans into your mouth as you sink down on top of him, and you rest your forehead against his, sighing softly.

Pope nips your bottom lip, and rolls you both over again so that he's on top.

"Fuck me," you beg, and he hushes you, taking your wrists and pinning them above your head. He grunts as he pushes in, his weight over top of you turning you on even more. You breathe his name, feeling his cock bury deep inside of you, working to satisfy the ache you'd had for him for the past three days. You hadn't realized you had it this bad until the arousal hit you, eradicating every effort not to give in to the hitman.

He clasps your hands tight, and his warm breath sends shivers through you. It's as if the two of you know one another in every sense but corporeal, and are just learning that too.

"I'm close," you gasp, grinding your hips down as you very nearly cry out your pleasure. He keeps your body restrained, never relenting his thrusting. He goes faster, kissing down your neck as he fucks you. He moves his hands from his wrist to grab your hair, pulling it back. Your head hits the floorboards and you moan, craving more as your orgasm builds, igniting in your lower body and threatening to spread. He tugs harder, fucking you deep, and you cry out, screaming his name as you coat his cock. You see stars as pieces of your vision black out-- you'd never felt so lightheaded.

"That’s it, sweetheart," he growls, “That’s it right there.” You feel him finish too, filling you up. You wrap your legs, which had been braced on either side of him, around his back as he lets himself relax over top of you. He lifts his head, blood streaks down his face. You blink up at him, eyes as hooded as his as he speaks in a low, fucked out rasp. “Thought you’d be a lot louder in bed."

You smile hazily up at him, comebacks swimming around in your head, then you pass out. Pope frowns, gets off of you, and checks your body for wounds.

You'd been stabbed.

---

Your eyes open on a dusty car window, forehead pressed to it as grassy scenery blurs by. You lean away from it, rubbing your head. Pope is driving, down the road you came out to the cabin on.

“We gonna pretend that didn’t happen?” you finally ask, voice weak.

“Oh, it happened.”

"Pierce?" you manage out. Pope doesn't take his eyes off the road.

"Burned the house down with him in it."

"So. A forest fire."

"Made sure it didn't catch before we left. Can't have cops crawling all over the place."

"How long have I been out?" He doesn't answer. You sigh. "What about the dope?"

"Also burning with him."

You huff a laugh, wincing at the pain in your side. "Worth a try. Ah..."

"How's your wound, kid?" he asks. His voice is a lot softer than when you two had been driving out this way.

"Hurts like a... ow, like a bitch."

"That's what you get."

"What?"

"For deviating from the plan.”

“Fuck your plan. Mine was better.”

“Quiet.” He just turns back to the road. “Let the drive rock you to sleep." He turns up the country blues, and you thunk your head against the window again, smiling.

---

"You did it. You really did it, son of a bitch, I can't believe it."

You watch Lane pace around the small room, wincing at the pain from your rib cage. "You sent me on this job expecting me to bite it, didn’t you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Lane just smiles. He looks down at your bound wound. "Oh, I just didn't think you'd get to Pierce, didn’t expect you to die or anything. But he's dead." He looks at some photographs he’d had a contact drop off to him from the coroner’s. "Very dead. And now... well, I know you’re gonna be fine wherever you go next."

You don’t think you’ve heard him right. "You're firing me from the business I started?" you mutter. "You're... you're actually firing me, after I took out our competition?! And almost DIED?!"

Lane seems confused. "Did he not tell you?"

"Did who not tell me what?!" you demand.

Lane swears under his breath. "Damn cryptic bastard. Just, go get some rest. Come back tomorrow for some cash from a few deals, and we'll figure this whole thing out." You stare up at him defiantly, until he insists. “Go!”

You stuff your hands in your pockets, and leave the tiny office. You walk home through the dark, and when you get there, you check behind you as you always do before entering your low-cost apartment. Stepping over a couple of things, you toss your keys on the table, and take off your jacket.

"Hey." You whip around, clutching your chest. Pope is sitting on your couch. You don't even question how he got in. He lifts his chin. "I wanted to congratulate you."

"On what?" you huff, "Surviving?" You tilt your head, heading to your kitchen to start making dinner. "At that, I am very talented."

"You have lotsa other talents too," he says, and purses his lips, considering this. "And I don't just mean between your legs, though that was an experience in itself."

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" you ask, gesturing to him with a spatula. Your face softens as you consider what he’d done for you-- driving you back and all, making sure you got to a good safe doctor. Still. He didn’t make that job very easy. Pope tilts his head.

"I want you to work with me."

You nearly drop the utensil. Setting your cooking things down, you wipe your hands, and walk out to face him in your dark living room. He looks up at you in proposition, hands folded in his lap with that completely tranquil expression.

"Was this hit a training job?"

He doesn’t bat an eyelash in answering. "Do I look like a fucking mentor?"

"I don’t know, you tell me!"

He shakes his head. "I spent nearly the whole time refusing the whole idea. When you killed the man, it got me thinking. Then we had sex."

"Interrupted the thought process, did I?"

"I can’t say that I mind."

You scoff. "Pope. You work alone."

"Yeah. So do you.” He sighs, looking out your window for a time. Then his eyes roll back to you. “The last 24 hours were the hardest of my life, trying to figure out where the hell I go from here. And that’s sayin’ a lot-- I’ve been through some shit. After thinking for a while, I thought of something my grandfather told me.” You sit down opposite him on your floor, crossing your legs. He sits forward. “He told me about a man who only lived off what he needed. The only thing that made him happy was the pleasure he derived from what he did, nothing else. He never wanted anything. But that’s a good thing, I said. Only needing what you need, never wanting anything more. But then he told me that when the man died, Death told him he could bring one thing along. Just one. He asked the man: “What do you want?” The man couldn’t think of anything. See... he never let himself want anything, so he never really lived for anything.” He pushes up his glasses. “(y/n). I don't need you. I want you."

You’re speechless. He sits forward, and watches you for a long time. "What are you gonna do staying here? Let's face it, you're a fiend, kid. As honest as your work is, you still gotta live under the radar like me. Use your skill set. Get better. Just don't die doing it, cause I do funerals by fire, I ain't sentimental."

“Says the man who just bared his soul to me in a fable your fucking grandfather supposedly told you.”

His mouth quirks up. “It was merely a conclusion I came to after sitting on my porch, spinning... what was it? Solitary Man, with some whiskey, and scraping my boots.”

You laugh, thinking back to that. You run a hand through your hair in thought, wincing again at the pain in your side. You've always gone with your gut... so you nod. "Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." You nod, shaking his hand in partnership. He gets up, and kisses you on the forehead, handing you one of your blankets from a pile beside him.

"Get out of the kitchen," he murmurs, "I don’t wanna die of food poisoning after everything."

"If you cook pasta half as good as you kill..." you sigh, then pause. "Y'know... I've never actually seen you kill anyone."

"What?'

"Like, myself. I've never witnessed it myself, only heard the stories."

"The stories are enough, (y/n)."

"I'm not convinced."

You hear the spatula whack the pan a little harder than it should. "Don't start."

You smile, sitting down on your couch. Just outside on the balcony, you can see the stars, and you think of all the shapeshifters you didn't get to see out there in the woods this week. Maybe now, in an oxymoronic partnership of working independently together, the two of you could pretend a little less... and find something you didn’t know you’d been looking for.