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seospicybin · 6 months

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TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART II

Han x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle masterlist

Synopsis: You and Han become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (12,7k words)

Author's note: I had so much fun writing Han's season idk why so I hope you enjoy this one too! x

The party is in full swing.

Everyone is dancing and getting friction off each other, having the time of our lives by forgetting that everyone here is locked in this sexless retreat.

Han has his hand around your waist and you look over your shoulder at him, your eyes meet in an intense gaze. Your eyes drop to his teeth faintly biting his lower lips, getting curious of what it would be like to kiss those lips.

You drop your head against his shoulder and he leans in...

The music abruptly stops and the chime comes in. Everyone knows where to go whenever they hear it and off to the cabana we go.

All the fun and euphoria of the party seem to have evaporated once you are seated on the sofa and waiting for the boss lady to come.

The chime comes in again with her cone body flickering in purple-hued lights.

"I've gathered you all to remind you that this retreat is for finding deeper connections, not just physical ones. This information is not getting through to some guests."

As always, you can sit this one out because you haven't broken any rules yet but Lana sounds so mad and that puts you on edge.

"There has been a breach of the rules."

There's a dark cloud casting over everyone's head and you prepare yourself for what's coming, it's most certainly going to get ugly.

Asher reclines in his seat and glances at Gwen next to her, it's obvious that he did it.

"I don't want to say I lost you guys more money but..." Asher is stalling only to prolong the pain.

"Did you guys kiss or not?" Finn simplifies it for them.

Asher and Gwen exchange a look, then after a minute, Asher finally answers, "Yes."

"I thought we're here for the experience—" Gwen's words get cut off by Finn's loud scoff.

Gwen is only here for a day so it's not a surprise that she still has that mindset, that it's okay to break rules and have fun. She hasn't felt the consequences of her actions like the rest of the group.

"This kiss has cost the group $6,000."

"Mmh... brilliant," Sawyer lowly mutters.

"The prize fund now stands at $149,000," Lana announces the current amount of money in the pot.

"That is not all," Lana is not letting anyone breathe yet.

"What?" Nya gasps.

"Last night, there was another breach of the rules."

Last night, everyone behaved nicely but maybe that's just what it seemed to you. Again, you can't control everyone in here because the only one with that power here is Lana.

Mikaela is looking uncomfortable that she keeps playing with her earrings even though nothing is wrong with them. You dare to ask them, "Rio, Mikaela, did you guys kiss?"

Rio is quick to shake his head to deny it while Mikaela keeps quiet next to him.

"I'd rather speak up," Han lets his suggestion hang in the air for anyone to get the meaning of it.

"I mean..." Mikaela breaks out of her silence.

"It was an accident. We were showering together and I kind of touched," she pauses to avoid continuing her sentence.

Your jaw drops in surprise because that's just a stupid thing to do. They're struggling to take their hands off each other yet they had a shower together, it would be impossible for something to not happen in there.

"We thought it wouldn't be a rule break," Mikaela adds, in what is supposed to be her words of defense.

"It doesn't matter," Finn remarks with an annoyed look on his face.

You doubt that that's the only infraction they did in there and everyone seems to think so. You remind yourself to keep your tone calm to not upset her, "Mikaela, honey, is that it? Is that the only thing?"

Your question sends the tension soaring high but it's either they tell them the truth or face everyone's wrath. You hope they choose the former.

"We uh... we kissed," Mikaela meekly admits.

Indeed, they were aware of what they were doing and the repercussions of their actions.

"Rio and Mikaela, what you did goes against the rules of the retreat," Lana sternly remarks.

You just can't believe that they choose to act selfishly like this but you refrain yourself from talking, afraid that you'd say things you didn't mean.

"These rule breaks have cost the group $10,000."

Even Avery who's been Mikaela's supportive friend is looking just as disappointed as everyone. She has nothing to say to defend her and can only try to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, you guys," Mikaela apologizes with an exasperated sigh.

"The prize fund now stands at $139,000."

YOU: What are they thinking? Really? Lana is not stupid. If she said it's a rule break, it is a rule break.

When you think Lana is going to end this agonizing meeting, Lana continues to speak still not letting everyone catch a breath.

"Rio and Mikaela, you have broken the most rules since arriving at the retreat and have repeatedly broken the trust of your fellow guests."

You lean back on the sofa and reluctantly listen to everything, exhausted from the roller coaster of emotions Lana puts you in.

"You must now prove to them that your connection is more than just physical. You will face the ultimate test of chastity."

"Sorry?" Sawyer asks, afraid that she misheard what Lana just said.

"Rio and Mikaela, you must spend the night alone in the private suite."

Finn sarcastically laughs at that, "We're done. We're done for."

Nya looks at Mikaela and asks, "Are you going to do anything?"

That seems to trigger her that Mikaela starts to ramble, "I feel like getting negative energy, right now. We're being pointed and like... I don't understand."

Well, after what they did, it only makes sense that everyone doubts they'll pass this test.

"Please make your way to the suite," Lana orders.

And Rio couldn't take Mikaela faster to the private suite.

YOU: [shrugs] I think we're finished.

Han can't wait to sleep on it but he senses something as Lana is not letting everyone go even after Rio and Mikaela leave for the private suite.

This is supposed to be a good night for him, he told you about his feelings and it was well-received, then the party was fun.

It was great until he sees Lana's cone-shaped body. He puts his arm around to seek comfort from you and you rest your head on his shoulder right away.

"Forming meaningful relationships with people always starts with trust. My question is how much do you trust Rio and Mikaela?"

That is the hardest yet the easiest question to answer. Hard because Han trusts Rio so much, he's the closest to him amongst everyone else here but it's also easy because of what they did when they're together.

Han trusts Rio but he doesn't trust him when he's with Mikaela.

"Jeez..." Asher hisses.

"All they're doing is losing money," Finn says with a snide smile.

"If you decide to trust them and they pass the test, the $40,000 that has been lost so far will be returned to the prize fund."

Some are gasping and a few others are sighing in pessimism. Sure, $40,000 is a lot but everyone's concern is on whether Rio and Mikaela will pass the test or not.

"But if you decide to trust them and they fail the test, the prize fund will drop by a further $40,000."

"Nah, no way," Asher immediately responds with a head shake.

As much as Han wants to back Rio, he has as little faith as everyone that they'll pass the test. However, it's not just about their friendship, it's about money and the group as a whole.

"They got so much shit tonight, they're not going to do it," Gwen says.

But coming from someone who's only been in the retreat for a day, everyone dismisses her right away.

"They know they'll lose money if they do anything," Finn surprisingly takes Rio's side but Han believes it's because he wants the money back.

"Guys," Avery is taking her turn to speak now, "This is a real test. Watch them actually pass it."

Now that it's coming from Mikaela's close friend, everyone listens to her, and their minds slightly change.

"This is their chance of redemption," Avery concludes.

A moment passes as everyone tries to mull things over, deciding whether to trust that they'll pass the test or not for a chance to get a lot of money back.

In the end, it's being decided by voting.

"If you think that we should trust them, hands up right now!" Finn says.

Hands are rising to the air in favor of trusting Rio and Mikaela to not break any rules in the private suite. Han also raises his hand, going with the majority.

He then turns his head to see that you're not raising your hand along with Sawyer sitting on the other side of him, he respects that.

"Thank you. I have noted your decision. Goodbye," Lana ends the session with a grim closing.

HAN: I trust my boy, Rio so I'll ride with the majority

They're making a big mistake.

Yes, there's a chance to gain some money but they forget that they also risk losing more money for doing it. Anyway, you voted no and if things didn't go as they wanted, you wouldn't be a part of it.

You groan as Han puts his whole body on top of you, propping his hands on each side of your head with his face hovering only inches away from yours.

He flashes you that gummy smile, then leans in to whisper, "I feel like we're getting closer."

You put your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck, pulling him close against your body.

"And we're getting a lot closer now," you playfully say back.

He buries his head in your neck and you can feel his warm breath fanning the sensitive skin, making you tingling inside.

You still feel the slight shock from the sudden confession he told you earlier in the bathroom and you feel the need to ask him if he was just saying it because he feels like it or...

"'I like you,' huh? Where did that come from?" You ask him with your hand on the back of his hair, ruffling it between your fingers.

Han pulls away to hover above you, he props his elbow against the mattress to support his head, "I like the fact that you're a bit silly like me," he says.

You scrunch your nose at that, "You're a whole lot of silly," you disagree with him.

"You're fun to be with, you're not taking things seriously, I... I'm enjoying getting to know you," he answers.

Han then leans in and presses his nose to your cheek, "How about you? How do you feel?"

You look away and pretend to think, "Uhm... you're alright, I guess," you add a shrug to tease him.

He drops his head into your neck as he breaks into laughter and tries to muffle it as everyone else is trying to sleep in the room.

"Well, that's what I like about you, you're so chill..." he compliments.

He looks at you as he continues talking with his hand playing with the strand of hair on the side of your head, "I've been pushing my feelings away but now, I gave in," he sincerely tells you.

You place your hand on his arm and feel his warm skin as you intently listen to him speaking his heart out.

"I admitted to how I feel and honestly, don't regret it," he finishes and brushes your hair away from covering your face.

It's heartwarming to hear everything he said and know that underneath that goofy layer of his, there's a part of him that is so pure and earnest, proving to you that he's not this cool guy he disguised himself him when it comes to someone he likes.

"I don't know what you want to do with it..." You try to articulate your thoughts into words but also avoid giving him the wrong idea.

"I think it would be cool to get to know each other and see what happens, see if something comes out of it," you tell him.

You're not trying to play his game plan back to him but you want to play it cool.

"Okay," he agrees with a sweet smile.

"You blew my mind, really," you tell him how surprised you are by his sudden confession.

"Well, I kind of want to blow you elsewhere but..."

You gently slap him on the arm and pull him, holding him close to wish him goodnight.

"Goodnight," he wishes back with a soft kiss on your cheek.

YOU: I do like Han but also, he did tell me that he liked Avery so... I don't want to get hurt. I can only hope that he's telling the truth.

Lana chimes the second the lights are on.

You groan as you force your eyes to open and squint to see the cone blinking in the middle of the room. You pull the duvet to your chest, waiting to hear what Lana has to say early in the morning.

"Good morning, everyone."

"Mmh... morning," You're slurring your words as you yawn at the end of your sentence.

"Are you feeling optimistic?" Lana asks, reminding everyone of the big gamble they did last night.

"I think we'll get the money back," Avery says, standing firm on her ground.

"Given Rio and Mikaela's history, you might be, as humans say, screwed."

Is Lana hinting that they didn't pass the test? You thought by voting no, you would be excluded from feeling guilty about it but you feel it nonetheless.

"I feel broke already," Asher groans as he tries to sit on the bed.

"I think they've got it," Avery says while twirling her hair in her fingers, looking not convinced by her own words.

You don't want to think about it but here we are, talking about it the moment you woke up and now you can't stop thinking about it.

You turn on the bed and put half of your body to overlap Han's, cuddling him as usual before starting the day. You look at his face and see that his eyes are closed, even with his face is slightly swollen and his hair is disheveled, he looks adorable to you.

You poke the tiny mole he has on his cheek, "Morning, goober."

He takes your hand away to kiss your plan then puts it across his chest, "Let's sleep for another five minutes," he mutters with eyes closed.

Feeling playful, you put your mouth close to his ear and whisper, "Okay."

YOU: But honestly, if Rio and Mikaela cost us any more money, I'll be fuming.

When Lana calls you, you drop everything and go.

You're not done with your makeup yet when she calls everyone to the cabana. You drag yourself to get there with Avery linking her arm with yours.

With the two of you as the last ones to get there, you decide to sit at the end of the sofa.

Everyone is looking nervous as they wait for anyone to come in, either Rio and Mikaela or Lana.

After a while, it turns out to be the former. Rio and Mikaela look happy and you know looking happy doesn't mean they did something but it makes you nervous seeing the smiles on their faces.

Lana chimes not long after, saving them from being drilled with questions by everyone.

"Hello, everyone."

"Hi, Lana," you weakly reply.

"Rio and Mikaela, how was your night at the suite?" Lana asks the most spending couple.

"Oh, yeah? What happened?" Finn asks with faint enthusiasm.

Mikaela looks at Rio before answering, "It was romantic."

"How romantic?" Nya asks.

"Bubble bath, champagne, rose petals... it was beautiful," Mikaela answers with a smile on her face.

You look at the ones who voted to trust them and see if anyone shows regrets.

"Rio and Mikaela's stay in the suite was the ultimate test of restraint to further their connection without surrendering to physical desires."

You half-heartedly listen to Lana as you start to get a bad feeling about everything and prepare yourself for the worst outcome.

"However, this was also a test of trust."

From the looks on their faces, Rio and Mikaela seem to not expect that Lana is brewing something behind them.

"Rio and Mikaela, when you left the suite, I asked the group whether they would put their fate on you as a couple."

Mikaela's jaw drops at the information and her face dims as if someone has turned off the lights.

"If they trusted you not to break the rules, I would reimburse the $40,000 you both lost so far."

Rio rubs his hands together and licks his thick lips, having nothing to say but you can't quite tell if it's a good or a bad quiet.

"However, if you broke any rules in the private suite, an additional $40,000 would be deducted from the prize fund."

"That's how much faith we had in both of you," Avery says and intentionally, makes it sound like a warning to them.

You take another look around and can see that most of everyone regrets their decisions already.

"I can reveal that Rio and Mikaela did break the rules," Lana announces.

YOU: Don't say I didn't warn you.

To say that he's disappointed would be an understatement.

Han can't believe that someone he thinks that's like a brother to him would do such stupid things. He knows that he should not do it, they should take this test as a way to earn everyone's trust but they wasted it away.

Not to mention, wasted some more money too.

"What did you do?" Nya asks.

"We maybe uhm... kissed," Mikaela answers.

"Again?" Asher gasps in shock.

"Did you think for a second that maybe it's not a good idea? That you knew you had to resist it?" Avery says, gritting her teeth as she speaks to Mikaela.

To everyone's surprise, Mikaela doesn't look like she's feeling guilty or shows even the slightest of remorse on her pretty face.

"And because you kissed twice, you have been fined an additional $12,000."

Han thinks that's already the worst of it but Lana doesn't stop there.

"That means your night at the suite has cost the group a total of $52,000."

"I'm sorry I failed you all," Rio finally speaks up for the first time today.

"We-we don't know you bet all of that money on us," Mikaela defends but that's so out of touch.

"But we— You were put to the ultimate test," Avery pressed the focus on the matter and that she shouldn't blame everyone when they're the ones who shit the bed.

"I know," Mikaela says, defeated but still not looking sorry for what she did.

"The prize fund now stands at $87,000. Goodbye."

HAN: $52,000 for two kisses? [Shakes head] It's not even funny anymore.

You walk back to the dressing room to finish getting ready for the day even though you don't feel like doing it anymore after losing more than half of the prize money when it's not even halfway of the retreat.

You take a long sip of water from your tumbler then sit on your usual spot on the vanity table.

Nya, Gwen, and Sawyer are there too, probably can't find anywhere else to vent but here. The room is loud with their rant and frustrated groans.

Unfortunately, Mikaela steps into the dressing room and everyone gets quiet as she takes a seat on the chair. She looks at everyone but none of them is looking at her.

"I feel like I need to come here and talk to everyone," she says.

You pick up your eyebrow pencil and carefully fill in your eyebrows with it while looking into the mirror.

"You guys shouldn't put your trust in us," Mikaela says.

Instead of sincerely apologizing, Mikaela flips it back to everyone and hopes that it'll make everyone feel better. Nya scoffs at that while the others keep on ignoring her.

"I feel guilty. I feel so bad right now," Mikaela says in the hope that's enough to assure everyone that she's sorry.

Sawyer puts down her hairbrush and starts talking, "I don't think you're sorry for doing it."

You look to the side and see that Sawyer is speaking up for everybody here.

"I think you just feel bad at how bad we're reacting," Sawyer points out.

And she's right. Mikaela only feels bad because no one is taking her side and not because she feels bad for what she did.

"I mean, is it like what? Seven times? You're obviously not sorry for what you're doing," Nya also can't help herself from adding to it.

It's clear that everyone is not pleased with Mikaela and her behavior, especially without Avery on her side to help her.

YOU: Mikaela, [holds up hand] please!

"I'm genuinely sorry from the bottom of my heart," Rio begins with a heartfelt apology as the boys gather in the bedroom.

Han is not sure an apology would ail this sense of betrayal he feels but at the same time, he doesn't know what Rio can do to make it go away.

"If you were smart, you should have slept away from each other," Finn rants.

Meanwhile, Asher is sitting still on his bed, scratching at his head with a blank expression on his face.

"I put everything on you, man..." Peyton says with a low sigh.

Han still doesn't know what to say but he guesses that Rio can see the disappointment on his face as he presses his lips together into a thin line.

"I'm genuinely sorry," Rio apologizes again.

He leans forward with his hands clasped in front of him, "Over time, you'll see that," he finishes.

If only his apology brought back the money they'd lost, Han wouldn't be this mad and so would anyone, but well...

HAN: Obviously, they had no idea we risked that much money on them and I do feel sorry but they should have known it's called the ultimate test for a reason.

"Looking like a handsome sausage!"

Han breaks into laughter as you watch him getting ready in the bathroom, then continues combing his dark hair while looking into the mirror.

"We got called to the cabana," you inform, leaning your body against the doorframe of the bathroom.

"Bleugh!" Han reacts with a groan and takes a can of hairspray for his hair.

"I know," you agree with him.

Han is indeed looking good in his red shirt and dark slacks but oftentimes, he wonders why he is impeccably dressed up just to get anxious over a talking cone.

"My belly is turning," you whisper to him.

Unluckily, Han can't give you the comfort you need when he feels the same way. He puts a hand on yours and intertwines it, resting it on your thigh.

The cone chimes and everyone gets tensed at the sound of it.

"From the date I've gathered during your stay in retreat so far," Lana skips the usual greeting and that only means she's angry.

"I must inform you that some of you have not demonstrated the capacity to make deeper, emotional connections."

Is it what Han thinks it is?

"Oh, my days..." Nya weakly gasps.

He holds your hand tighter, afraid that his thought manifested into reality.

"There are two guests that have not committed to the retreat or show signs of progress."

It's becoming real now that his heart is pounding out of his chest. At this point, he can't tell who these two people are because Lana is the only one who can objectively see everyone's progress in this retreat.

"And I must bring their time here to an end."

He can't believe what he heard but as you press your head into his shoulder, he knows he heard it right. Lana is sending two people home, right now.

HAN: I am freaking out. I want to get to know her and see where that might go so... I don't want to go home.

The possibility that this might be his last night in the retreat is there. Han puts his arm around you, pulling you close and putting his head close to you, catching that natural scent of your body as he breathes you in.

"The first person who has to leave the retreat tonight is..."

Everybody is nervous and the tension is rising, everyone is uncomfortable in their seats. Han is stressed, thinking that it would be him.

"Sawyer."

Nya, the one sitting next to her, throws her hands around her while Fabian who sits on the other side, gently squeezes her shoulder.

"Sawyer, you have failed to commit to the process or make any emotional connections. I have calculated that you have the lowest possibility of forming meaningful relationships," Lana lays out the reasons why she's being sent out of the retreat.

Sawyer sadly smiles and looks at everyone, "It's okay, you guys," she says but her eyes are glossy with tears.

Nya rests her head on her shoulder and holds her hand, snuggling up to her as if she's the one who needs the comfort not the other way around.

"The second person leaving the retreat tonight is..."

Han feels like someone is squeezing his heart dry and his throat is closing up, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Peyton."

Han is unconsciously gripping your shoulder and you end up holding him, providing him the comfort he seeks by placing rubs on his back.

"Peyton, you have continued to display behavior from your player past and you have shown no remorse or signs of change."

Peyton puts on a smile and coyly says, "I don't say much but all of you are like family to me."

Avery sniffs with her eyes wet with tears while Nya looks like she knows it's coming for him.

"Sawyer and Peyton, please leave the retreat."

It feels like he's letting them down even though Han is not the one with the decision to cut them off the show. He feels sorry for them as he hugs them and bids them farewell.

"See you again, everyone!" Sawyer says for the last time before leaving the villa.

Everyone is just as gutted as he is, sitting on the sofa waiting for Lana to finish speaking.

"I hope the rest of you take this as a lesson to take this process more seriously."

When bedtime comes, it feels not right to see one bed empty.

He feels bad for them but he's also relieved that it's not him and you, he's not ready to go home yet. Moreover, he is determined to make progress in this retreat.

He dives into your arms and lets you hold him, keeping him in your warm embrace.

As if you know he needs your comfort, you gently rub the back of his neck, "I'm still here," you whisper with a soft laugh.

He smiles hearing that and places a kiss on your cheek, "I know."

HAN: We've just started getting to know each other so I'm glad that we're staying.

It's another day in the retreat and another day of spending hours to get ready for the day.

You understand that you should look presentable because you're in a TV show but doing it for almost two weeks now, you're getting tired of it now.

"You look cute in that bikini, babe," Avery compliments you as you put on a black pair of bikini.

You take a step back to see the whole look in the mirror, "Mmh, yeah, I look good," you agree with her.

One thing you learn in this retreat other than making emotional connections is that you like hanging out with girls.

Instead of rivalry, the girls are very supportive of each other, you can see that from compliments being thrown around the dressing room every five minutes.

The only girl that isn't vibing with you is Lana.

After a very intense day yesterday, you feel like turning the other way instead of going to the cabana. It's like you can't go on with your day without seeing her cone-shaped body.

"Come, baby cake," Han holds his hand out at you.

You take his hand only to let him pull you hard until you topple onto his lap, making you laugh as he puts his hands around you.

"It's kind of suspicious to me that there are presents for us," Asher says.

You wouldn't notice the small boxes on the table if Asher didn't say anything, not sure if it's a present but it looks like it from how the lid is wrapped with a pretty bow.

"Hello, everyone," Lana greets as soon as she comes online.

You get off Han's lap to sit on the sofa since it's not a good time to get cuddly.

"I have a gift for each of you."

Lana confirms your guess but you get nervous instead of excited for it. It's never just a gift, there must be something else in there.

"What it is, Lana?" Finn asks.

"The gifts will serve as a reward for those couples who show me that they're taking the right steps toward deeper connections. They will be given the chance to take those connections further."

Everyone is intently listening, probably wondering if there's a catch behind this sudden gift-giving.

"Can we open it?" Nya asks with eagerness.

With the cue given by the staff, everyone takes one box from the table and discovers a smartwatch inside.

"For free?" Han innocently asks you.

You're cackling as you put the watch around his wrist and let him do the same with yours.

"When I observe two people forming a genuine connection, they will be given a green light like this..."

Lana demonstrates it by turning the watches green along with a melodic chime of hers and everyone is cheering in reaction.

"... where the rules do not apply for a little amount of time."

Han leans in to whisper into your ear to relay Lana's message, "Green light means we can fuck."

You burst into laughter and gently push his head away, stopping him from saying another silly thing. That doesn't stop him from resting his chin on your shoulder.

"I would like to remind you that those who do not receive a green light are not displaying enough progress."

You see that everyone is excited about these watches, well, the idea of getting a pass to rule break is nice but knowing Lana, earning a green light wouldn't be easy.

"Thank you, Lana!" You thank her nonetheless.

YOU: With this [shows watches] I think I'm ready to deepen my connection with Han.

Motivated by the promise of a green light, you pull Han aside, walking to the beach together to get some privacy to talk with him.

You both sit on rocks facing the beach with the surface of the water reflecting the afternoon sun at you. You've been meaning to talk to him about your feelings and you don't like talking about your feelings so it's going to be hard to open up.

However, you know he gave you a lot and you've only given him so little.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about us," you begin.

"Okay," Han says with a nod.

"I know I've been holding myself back a little," you admit to him with a thin smile.

"A little?"

You smile at that and corrected it, "I keep my guard up."

"I think the Avery situation plays on the back of your head, huh?" He correctly guesses.

Well, that's one of the reasons so you nod, "Yeah, it does."

Han gazes into your eyes even though he has to squint under the bright sun to do that, "I barely spoke two words with Avery, I didn’t vibe with her. It was purely physical attraction," he says.

He pulls his legs and puts his hands on his knees, "But spending time with you, getting to know you, it all feels natural, you know?"

You nod in agreement because it does feel natural like you've known him for years instead of days.

"I feel like now... if anyone else came in, I'd still stick with you no matter what," he earnestly says to you.

It feels like discovering a new side of him and this talk feels intimate because it feels like you're talking to his heart from how open and sincere he is with his words.

"It's not just that," you confess.

It's been so long that you haven't been this open to anyone that you forgot how and it scares you so much. You keep retreating even though you keep reminding yourself to lower your guard down even just a little.

"The last time I opened up to someone, I got badly hurt and it makes me scared of commitment," your heart aches as the truth escapes your mouth.

"That's my problem," you say with a nervous laugh.

Somehow, letting those hurt out sets you free from the burdening past and you feel so much lighter and better. As you gaze into his eyes, you feel like you can tell him anything now.

"Yesterday made a massive difference."

"What do you mean?" He asks with an eyebrow raised.

"I didn't want to lose you," you sincerely tell him.

Han leans forward, trying to get as close to you until his knees bump with yours. He takes your hands and holds them while keep looking into your eyes.

"I knew that you were the only one I connected with since day one," you confess and you hope it's enough to tell him how you really feel.

He smiles at you, the silly one that makes you can't help but smile back to him.

"I want to kiss you now," he says to you.

"We can't. Unless this turns green," you remind him while showing him the watch on your wrist.

He then looks at the vast sea behind you and comes up with an absurd idea, "Do you think Lana's rules still applies on international water?"

This is why you like him, he's not only tugging at your heartstrings but he also shakes it, teases it, and twirls it around his little finger.

YOU: To be honest, I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else but him [smiles]

sThe boys are off to do a workshop in the front yard and the girls are hanging out by the beach, talking about, well... boys.

"It's so hard to keep my hands off of him," Gwen shares.

Recently, a few people have been doing bed swaps. Since the night Asher kissed her, Gwen now shares the bed with him while Avery is now sharing the bed with Nya.

"How do you feel about him?" You ask out of curiosity.

Gwen brushes her hair to the side, "I like that he's so fun to be with and not afraid to make a fool out of himself," she answers.

"Do you see any possibility that it could be more than that?" You ask.

The question seems to take her aback that she takes a minute to think, "Yeah, I think so but let's see," she vaguely answers.

"It'd be amazing to have more people in here," Avery says.

Nya turns her head around to look at Avery, "And more of my type," she adds.

"Someone with confidence, masculinity..." Avery lists all of the things she wants from a man.

"And big hands!" Nya continues her sentence which sends everyone into laughter.

"We just need more meat in here!" Nya desperately wishes her heart out and hopes that it's loud enough for Lana to hear.

It's like Lana hears their prayers, someone steps into the villa but unfortunately, it's not one she wishes for.

Avery lets out a shriek and covers her mouth too late to muffle it, "Oh, my God!"

"Is that a new girl?" Mikaela asks, looking suddenly intimidated but doing a great job masking it with excitement.

The new girl waves her hands, looking at everyone with a bright smile on her face, "Hello, hi, babes!"

You hear a British accent and that explains the distinct charms she has. When she introduces herself, she holds strong eye contact with you, "I'm Portia."

You exchange a quick hug and kiss both cheeks, "You're gorgeous," you tell her in admiration.

"No, you're gorgeous," she flips the compliment back at you with a sweet smile that showcases her dimples.

The girls look fine sharing the attention with the new girl but you can see the sheer disappointment drawn on Nya and Avery's faces.

But guess what? Another guest walks into the retreat and finally, it's one they're looking for.

It's a whole lot of meat in one man, Nya will have her desired feast. He's tall, has stunning brown skin, and a charming smile, you spot a few tattoos on his body too.

"I'm Ed," he introduces himself around.

He looks pleased being the only man in the villa at the moment, "You're all so beautiful," he says with a grin.

Avery is smitten already, she can't take her eyes off of Ed. You're afraid that she has to share him with Nya and you notice that his eyes are on you.

"So, what is your type, Ed?" You ask, being the one to start the conversation so the available girls would know which one he's more into.

"I don't really have a type, just someone I vibe with," he coyly answers.

Avery laughs even though there's nothing funny with what he said. On the other hand, Mikaela seems to be worried that the new girl is going to steal Rio away from her when clearly, she hasn't even met him yet.

"What about you? Do you have a type?" Mikaela asks her.

"Tall, gorgeous, nice smile..." Portia answers with a giggle.

You almost choked on air hearing it, "That's Rio," you blurt out.

"Well, Rio and I, we've been together since day one so..." Mikaela indirectly tells the new girl to not touch his man. She may as well piss on Rio to mark her territory.

You exclude yourself from their chat and decide to join the other group of girls talking to the new guy.

"That's some sick tattoos you got there," Ed says as he looks at the tattoos on your arm.

"Thank you. You got some uh... impressive ones," you say, but it's hard looking at them when his toned abs keep distracting you.

He lightly touches your inner arm to show you which one he likes, "This. I like this."

You shudder at the contact like you've been zapped by electricity and at the same time, you see the boys are returning from the workshop.

YOU: New guests mean more rule breaks [laughs] I just hope that they catch up on our progress fast [laughs]

What is happening? Han comes back from the workshop to find that there are two new guests in the villa.

One is a beautiful brunette and the other one is a tattoed guy with tousled hair that makes him look like he's just rolled out of the bed looking attractive like that.

If Lana's plan is trying to intimidate him, no, it's not working. However, if the plan is to try to make him jealous then yes, she's succeeded at it.

The new guy touching your arm in an excuse to see your tattoo and as a player himself, he knows that it's just one of his tricks.

Everyone is going around introducing each other and he can see that Finn and Fabian have their eyes on the new girl, surprisingly, Rio too. He looks over to Mikaela and she has the right to drill a hole on her head with her laser eyes.

"Portia, what do you think about the boys? Do you like what you see?" Asher asks, representing the curious singles in the villa.

"Yeah," she shortly answers.

"I'm excited to have fun and get to know everyone," she says with her eyes daringly glancing in Rio's direction.

"Are you planning on breaking rules or what?" Finn asks straight to the point, still has his priorities right as the sex police.

Portia giggles at that and then lightly shakes her head, "I can't promise anything."

This new girl looks cute, with freckles dusted her cheeks and a dimpled smile but he senses that she's going to stir things up in this retreat.

With the two new guests, the dressing room is a lot more crowded than usual. Han dresses up in a black shirt and jeans, styling his hair with Asher putting his long hair into a bun next to him.

"What do you think?" Asher asks him for his opinion.

He looks at him, up and down to know if the whole look complements each other, "Great, man," he says.

Seeing the new guy able to land his hand on you merely a few minutes after he stepped into the villa, Han feels like he needs reassurance that you're still doing it with him, getting to know each other and making deeper connections.

It's so easy to play cool and confident but you've seen everything in him, he knows that you'll see right through him.

No one ever told him that liking someone makes him more insecure about himself.

While everyone else is hanging around the new guests at the firepit, he pulls you aside to talk on the small sofa where you both squeeze yourselves into.

Han slouches with his head resting against the sofa, looking up at you while you're propping a hand under your head and one leg draping between his legs.

You look so beautiful in that tight black dress, you smell so good and those lips tantalize him more than usual tonight.

With his arm around you, he aimlessly runs his fingers on the small of your back, "What do you think of the new guy?"

You peer down at his face and ask back, "Ed?"

He's only been here for hours and you already addressed him with his name. Again, no one ever told him that liking someone makes him think irrationally.

"Do you think he's good-looking?"

You think for a second then nod, "Yeah."

"Handsome?"

"Mmh," you nod again.

"And I'm not handsome?" He asks with a grin but genuinely curious what you think of him physically.

You crack a laugh and think again for a while, "Yeah."

"'Yeah I'm not handsome' or 'Yeah I'm handsome'?"

You're laughing instead of answering and his hand stops moving on your back, waiting for you to answer.

"Is that why you don't want to kiss me?" He asks, turning serious all of a sudden, then looks away to not let you see how embarrassed he is asking you this.

You stop propping your head with your hand and put your hand on his chest, "First of all, you're not handsome," you tell him.

"I'm super handsome, I know," he entertains himself.

"You're cute," you say with a gentle pinch on his chin, "And I like cute guys.

That makes him look back at you with a smile that blooms on his face, "How cute?"

You lean in close to tease him, leaving only a few inches of space between your lips and his, "Very cute."

Han is already dizzy with your warm, sweet breath brushing his cheek as you speak. His eyes drop to your lips as they tantalize him more and more.

"Kiss me then, I'm cute," he teases back by putting his hand on the nape of your neck, not letting you back away.

"How about Lana? The money, mmh?" You softly rub the tip of your nose against his cheek.

"I don't think they'd mind us breaking a rule," Han reckons since none of you have broken any rules yet it's more likely that everyone will let it pass.

You cup his jaw and softly swipe his lips with your thumb, "You think so?"

From the way you're looking at his lips, he knows that this is also what you want.

"Yeah..." he breathlessly says, his throat getting dry the more he craves your lips.

"Mmh..." you answer with a sultry hum.

Han can't take it anymore. He slowly pulls your head close until your lips collide in an explosive kiss, a kiss that obliterates his senses and stirs chaos inside his head.

His tongue pries open your mouth and you eventually cave in, letting him invade you, tasting more of you. He's so deep in it, drowning himself in it that breathing doesn't feel necessary anymore to him.

Oh, he loves your low moans that slip out against his lips and the hand that lingers on his neck. He also feels your leg slowly rubbing his inner thigh, inviting the other part of him to come and join.

He almost pouts when you pull away from the kiss, and you console him with a quick peck on the lips, "That's enough for tonight," you say.

He doesn't want to stop but he looks at the bright side of things, there's always another night.

"We should wipe that lipstick mark..." you sigh as you clean his lips with your thumb.

His hand flies to your lips, helping you to fix your smudged lipstick so as to not leave any evidence for everyone to see. However, touching your lips only makes him want to kiss you again.

As if you're reading his mind, you immediately retract yourself from him to get a space, you take the chance to fix your hair and then your dress.

He helps by pulling down the hem of your dress to cover your exposed thighs. He leans to your side and whispers, "That was a good kiss."

That doesn't enough for him, he then throws himself at you, putting his arms around you as he pinned you down on the sofa, "Fuck, that was so good," he sighs again into the crook of your neck.

Wrapping your arms around him, you bring your mouth close to his ear and murmur, "Don't get used to it."

HAN: It feels like I kissed a girl for the first time all over again [smiles]

Lana seems to let him go for the night and Han can't tell if he should feel lucky or what.

Eventually, Lana will tell everyone and everyone will know that they kissed, he is very well aware of that.

But God! That kiss was so good and it was worth every penny of that $6,000 he spent on it. He didn't even think of the money because he was kissing you and you're such a good kisser.

It wouldn't be like every other night, it would be hard for him to sleep next to you tonight and not try to kiss you. He licks his lips to get any taste of you that lingers in his and his head is spinning, a little lightheaded thinking of the kiss.

Most of everyone is already on their beds and he's been waiting for you long enough he starts to get antsy. Truthfully, he just can't wait to see you so he walks to the dressing room, he finds you sitting and applying something to your face.

"Baby," he calls you from the doorway.

"Yeah?" You answer without looking away from the mirror.

"When are you coming to bed?" he asks, half whining.

"In a few minutes," you reply, carefully dabbing the skin around your eyes with your finger.

"Come to bed..." he grumbles as he walks up to you only to realize that someone else is there.

The new girl, Portia, is brushing her hair on the other side of the vanity table. Han immediately gets embarrassed for acting like a toddler to you, not knowing there's someone else there.

"You guys are very cute," She shortly comments with a smile.

Han can only wait until Portia leaves the room to start talking with you, even though he's not sure if it's a good idea to be alone with you.

He watches as you dab your lips with lip balm and smack them together, inviting him to touch and feel the softness of your lips.

"Put some on me too," he says.

You hand him the lip balm to put it on himself but he refuses, shaking his head at you. You reluctantly put it on for him, and slowly glides the lip balm on his lips.

"Okay, now we're ready to kiss," he says after smacking his lips together.

You gently push him away and swivel your chair to the other way, "Told you not to get used to it," you say, getting up from the chair.

He puts his arms around you, hugging you from the back while you're putting your things back into your make-up bag. You smell so good that he can't help but plant his nose in your neck, getting himself drunk in your scent.

You start walking in the direction of the door, dragging him to you with your hands on his, "Let's go to bed."

"One more kiss," he whispers with a soft kiss on the sensitive skin behind your ear.

You look at him through the reflection in the mirror with his head buried in your neck, "We can't rule break again," you tell him.

He starts whining like a baby, humming against your skin with his arms tightening around you.

"You're just a baby, mmh?" You gently nudge his chin with your shoulder.

"It's better to get scolded for two kisses than one," he offers his idea to you.

You softly laugh at him and you seem to be more worried about anyone finding the two of you here alone from the way you keep looking at the doorway.

"I know you want it too," he teases you, then playfully bites at your ear shell.

You take his hands away from you but instead of walking away, you push him until he's pinned against the Asher's close on the other side of the dressing room to prevent anyone from walking in on you unnoticed.

"You won't stop until we do it, mmh?" You murmur, putting your body against him and dropping your hands on his shoulders.

He looks into your eyes as they sparkle and he can see that you want it too. But you get ahead of him, crashing your lips against him and knocking the air out of him.

Somehow this kiss is better than the first one and he gets even hungrier for you, opening his mouth to take more of you.

He twirls your tongue with yours and mischievously, you gently tug it between your teeth as he tries to pull away, giggling when you finally let go.

The temperature in the room seems to have raised a few degrees, making him feel hot all over yet he pulls you incredibly closer, leaving not even an inch between your bodies. He has one hand on the arch of your back and the other on the nape of your neck so he can angle your head as he pleases

With your body pressed against him, he can feel it starts to mold to his body and he wants to feel every curve of your body with his hand.

You immediately drag his hand back as he attempts to touch your rear, clicking your tongue at him as you pull away from the kiss.

"That's enough rule breaks!"

You leave him with his mouth hanging open and his lips wet from the kisses, it's cruel that you leave him wanting more.

"We can't enter the bedroom together so..."

You take steps back from him and walk in the direction of the door, "Wait for a few minutes then you can come to the bedroom," you instruct him.

He manages to catch your hand before you walk away, "One more kiss."

"No!" You refuse but with a sly smirk on your face, hinting that you're not completely opposed to the idea.

"I know you like it," he says, standing in the middle of the room, defeated.

You stop by the doorway and look over your shoulder, "I meant it, wait for a few minutes!" You remind him.

You know what? They'll eventually know so he doesn't why you bother to avoid everyone's suspicion.

HAN: I started paying attention to the little things she does. How she purrs in her sleep like a kitten or scrunches her nose before smiling [shyly laughs] everything about her is adorable except the kisses... her kisses are out of this world!

Is this how everyone feels when they know they're about to get exposed by Lana?

Surely, you can't calm down like usual since you blatantly broke the rules twice last night. You didn't even think about the money at that time and the guilt only hit you right now, fast and hard.

Well, it's not like you commit a murder or something, it's just a kiss, well... two kisses and they cost $12,000. You gulp air thinking of the money you spent on those two kisses but in your defense, it was worth every cent of it.

You glance at Han and he flashes a knowing smile at you, there's no way out of this but through.

When the chime comes, your heart drops to your stomach and you inhale air to calm yourself.

"Hello, everyone," Lana starts the session as usual with a lukewarm greeting.

"Hey, Lana," you reply with a weak smile.

Han takes your hand so you can stop playing with the frayed hem of his sleeveless top and takes your other hand, pinning your hands by the wrists on his lap to make you stop fiddling altogether.

"I must now inform you that yesterday, further rulebreaks occurred."

You turn your head at him and he's looking calm, he even winks his eyes at you which you respond with a scoff.

Avery points her finger at Mikaela and Rio, the biggest spender in the villa.

"Not us," Mikaela immediately denies.

You look at Han, giving him the signals to start talking before the tension rises. He gets the cue right away, letting go of your hands to hold it instead.

"It's us," he coyly says.

Rio says something in Portuguese while Asher claps his hands, both impressed at him. You see that the response is not as horrifying as you thought it would be.

"Did you kiss or did anything else?" Finn asks, wanting to know how much you did so he can calculate the damage.

"We kissed. Twice," Han answers.

You get so embarrassed at how proud he is at admitting the rule breaks that you start laughing next to him. You suppress another wave of laughter to apologize.

"We're sorry, guys, everyone," you sincerely tell them.

YOU: Everyone is taking it well and I think it's because they know we have a genuine connection here.

"These rule breaks have cost the group $12,000," Lana informs.

However, you know it's not going to stay this calm when the bills turn up.

"The prize fund now stands at $75,000."

Now everyone's faces dim at the amount of money left in the prize fun and it's not much. You are sorry for breaking the rules but it's not right to put the whole blame on you.

Avery crosses her hands together and warns everyone, "No more rule breaks!"

It's so easy to say for her to say now. It was easy for you to refrain from anything sexual but now that you have a partner and you try to build a connection with him, it's so hard because physical affection helps you to achieve this connection you're having with him now.

"Is that all, Lana?" Finn asks.

"As you know, I encourage genuine romantic connections so I have planned dates for our latest guests," Lana comes with an announcement instead.

That gets the new guests, Portia and Ed excited hearing it. Only Mikaela looks like she's plotting a murder plan in her head.

"Ed, please select someone from the group to take on a date," Lana orders.

Feeling like he needs to show ownership over you, Han puts his arm around you as Ed is looking at the girls to take on a date.

Ed's eyes land at you for a second before it shift to Nya, "Are you up for anything later, Nya?"

Nya smiles so brightly and pretends to not care, "I don't know. I'll have to go check my schedule," she jokingly says.

You look at Avery and she looks a bit disappointed with it. She is pretty and all but maybe Nya fits his vibe more.

"Portia, please select someone from the group to take on a date."

Han leans into your ear and whispers, "I'd be worried if I were you."

You snort at that and you're not saying that there's zero possibility for it, it's just that you know Portia has her eyes on Rio. Not sure if she's gutsy enough to take someone's man on a date.

"Uhm... I would like to try and get to know someone," Portia says and she happens to sit next to Rio.

"I'd like to take..." she stalls with her eyes secretly glancing at Rio.

"Rio on a date," she finally says.

There's no one here that is not surprised by her daring move. Portia may look adorable with her freckles and blonde hair tied into pigtails but damn, she is ballsy.

"Sorry, Mikaela," she says to her but you don't hear any guilt in that apology.

Mikaela only nods and forces herself to smile, "Here we go," she sighs.

This only reminds you that you're indeed in a TV show and you believe the viewers would enjoy this drama so much because you're secretly enjoying it too.

"Thank you very much for the date," Rio says which only takes the drama further and sets Mikaela on fire.

Gosh, you feel incredibly good for not being a part of that drama. You put your hand across Han's chest and are just grateful that what you have with him is genuine.

YOU: If Rio kisses Portia on their date [shakes head] all hell will break loose on this retreat.

Mikaela is pacing around in the dressing room while the girls are getting ready for the night, except the ones that are on their dates.

"You have every right to feel like this. It's so shitty, I know," Avery says, validating her emotion while doing her make-up.

You see that Mikaela is on the verge of crying as she holds the back of her chair and grips at it, "it's been hard for me to build a genuine connection with Rio," she says.

Avery pauses doing her make-up to give her a gentle squeeze on her arm, "I know, I know," she comforts her.

Putting the drama aside, you feel bad for her because as wild as you can be you refrain from stealing someone's man. It's girls code and you're not a fan of anyone that has no respect for that.

"Mikaela, sit down, honey," you tell her because she's looking like she's about to faint.

She obeys you, taking a seat next to Avery and rubbing her temple in distress, "If he goes in and his head turns, just know that he's making poor decisions," she stutters her words trying to hold in her tears.

You're bad at comforting people so the least you can do is listen to her and make sure she feels heard.

"He's entertaining this, he-he's..." Mikaela can't keep it anymore so she bursts into tears.

In a second, Avery comes to her aid, holding her as she's crying. You reach for her shoulder to place tender rubs on it to comfort her.

"It's just that... I haven't been vulnerable to one person in so long," she says with a quivering voice.

You can relate to that more than ever and you'd feel the same way if it happened to you.

YOU: That's just what happens when you get too close to someone, they'll gain the power to control your emotions.

Consider him lucky that Mikaela-Rio-Portia drama diverted everyone's attention away from his $12,000 worth of rule break.

But here's a new problem: Han craves it more than before.

He blames you for having such addictive kisses that he can't wait to have more of it. However, he craves for something more than just kisses now.

Yes, he's aware of how dangerous it sounds but how can he can stop thinking about sexual things when you're always looking so damn sexy.

Just like tonight, you look so gorgeous in that black silk dress with thin straps and it showcases your beautiful neck that he wants to tear it off of you.

You drain your wine before sitting on his lap, "Hi, crawdaddy," you greet him with a giggle.

He sees you licking the drop of wine trying to escape the corner of your mouth and he wishes he could do it for you.

"You look so hot," he praises you with his hands on each side of your waist.

"Mmh?" You squint at him.

"What do the kids say now?" He thinks for a moment before continuing, "Fire!"

You laugh at his choice of compliments and put your hands on his muscular chest.

"You're fire!" He says again with a sly grin.

The night is lovely with the full moon hanging in the sky and the winds blowing so softly, brushing his skin with salty, warm air.

But all he can feel is the touch of your fingertips on his neck as you look into his eyes, "What are you thinking?"

Should he tell you what is inside his head right now? Not sure if it's a good idea though.

Han tucks the strands of hair escaping your ponytail behind your ear and keeps his hand there, holding one side of your head with such love.

"We have so much sexual chemistry going on, don't you think?"

"Mm-mmh," you nod in agreement.

"And I think we can have sex," he says.

Before you get it wrong, he quickly adds, "Only if you want to have sex."

You nod again and scratch the tip of your nose with your knuckle.

He puts your hand away and leans in close, "What do you think?"

You seem to hesitate to answer him, "Hmm..."

He leans in closer and places a soft kiss on your neck, you keep a safe distance with your hand firmly resting against his chest.

"I think we should stick to the rules," you tell him.

Then you put your hand on his neck and look at him as you continue talking, "I just don't want us to have sex and suddenly things change, I don't want things to change between us."

He pulls you close and locks his arms around you, "Things are not going to change between us," he assures you.

"I know," you say, "I'm just scared that it would happen."

He completely understands what you're saying that you're afraid that sex would change things between you and him.

"I know what you mean," he tells you.

To console himself, Han places another soft kiss on your cheek and looks at you as you endearingly brush his hair to the back.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have sex with you," you bluntly say with a sly smirk.

"But..." You don't even get to finish your words as you pull him into a hug but that proves you're just as sexually frustrated as he is.

You pull away to look down at his crotch, patting his thigh as you say, "Down, boy!"

Han laughs, embarrassed that you know he's having a boner when you're only sitting on his lap. He wants you so much but at the same time, he wants to prove that it's just more than physical attraction.

With or without sex, he's a happy man to be with you.

HAN: I've been horny as it is... [sucks air through teeth] Hopefully I can hold out.

Another drama unfolds during bedtime.

You're joining Avery in chatting on Asher's bed, the three of you are chatting when Mikaela suddenly comes. She looks unhappy, duh, you'll be too when your man is on a date with another girl.

"Portia has disrespected me, she said some things on the date so I will be having some conversations with her," she says.

The three of you automatically look at each other and notice that Mikaela is having a meltdown. There's a concerning thing going on in the room so you walk back to your bed and so is Avery.

Mikaela is impatiently waiting for Portia to come into the bedroom while Rio is comfortably snuggling close to her on the bed.

You don't wait to share it with Han once he gets onto the bed, telling him everything he missed while he's away in the dressing room.

"Things can get ugly and I'm worried," you tell him.

Mikaela is an intelligent person, but when it comes to her emotions, she can be intense and almost volatile. You're right to never try to mess with her.

Han offers his arm as your pillow so he can cuddle you as it gets intense in the bedroom, you can see that from how everyone is looking tense on their beds.

The wind sends the door shut and Han gets startled, thinking that it's Portia as his head snaps in the direction of the door.

"What a fucking stress!" He sighs as he snuggles to you while you're lowly chuckling at his reaction.

The drama has to end in an unsatisfying way because Portia doesn't get on the bed yet even after the lights are out.

YOU: Mikaela has this fiery attitude so I... [laughs] I was really afraid that there'd be a fight but thank God for Portia's long bedtime routine.

There's already tension between Mikaela and Portia this morning and you can only hope that the workshop will help to sort things out.

There's an instructor already waiting in the front yard and a small bonfire in the middle, you wonder why they set a fire during the day.

"Hello, I'm Amy, a relationship expert," she introduces herself.

Everyone is sitting in a circle around the small bonfire and intently listening to Amy talking.

"Today's workshop is about letting go of the past so that we can be present. Let's talk about any issues in trust that we have with men."

She looks around as she asks, "Who wants to share first?"

No one seems to want to talk about their feelings, including you. You feel uncomfortable letting yourself bare and be vulnerable, especially in front of everyone.

After a few minutes passed in silence, Gwen decides to be the first to share her emotional baggage, a shocking one about how her friend cheated with her boyfriend.

Everyone starts to share their story and when it comes to your turn, you're shriveling a little but you remind yourself that you're in a safe space.

"My thing is when I fall in love, I tend to throw it all out there and end up getting hurt for it so... I kind of become numb because I don't want to get hurt," you honestly share.

"And do you find someone here you want to open to?" Amy asks.

"Yeah," you shyly answer.

You suddenly feel like a schoolgirl falling in love for the first time all over again but isn't it what love does to people? Making you a bit loopy.

"I found someone here that I like and I'm slowly opening up to him, and I'll continue to share more of me with him," you make a promise to yourself.

"That's good. That's great!" Amy praises you.

When you look back, you feel good knowing that you're slowly changing as a person, you came in as someone who's against relationships and now, you're sharing an emotional journey with someone, together.

The workshop started as a heartfelt talk between the girls until Mikaela's turn. You get the feeling that she'll use this as a chance to confront Portia.

"I met Rio here and he's just a really special guy, I've never met anyone like him."

Mikaela is looking at Amy then as she continues talking, she looks at Portia, "Last night, I had to sit through and watch Portia take Rio on a date, and obviously, I feel uncomfortable with it," she tells her right to her face.

You and the rest are watching Mikaela calmly handle her emotions and talk it out in a mature way with Portia.

"I don't want to feel like it has to be a competition or territorial. I want us girls to be on good terms but I think you break a boundary here," Mikaela concludes, throwing the ball at her court.

Portia gets quiet and she takes it all in really well, she smiles at her before speaking, "I respect you for speaking out and I'm sorry," she sincerely says.

A smile finally rises on Mikaela's face, "Thank you so much, Portia, that means a lot," she responds.

Like a parent, you feel proud watching them solving their issues in such a grown-up way and you hope it continues to stay good like this.

Amy then hands out a piece of paper and pens to everyone and comes with a new instruction, "You're going to write the things that have happened with your life that you're ready to let go of and forgive."

It feels good to be able to share things with everyone but it takes everything in you to write things down without getting emotional.

On your paper, you write, 'Good enough, perfect, comparison.'

Amy wants you to share the reason why you wrote those things down. You take a deep breath before explaining it.

"I never feel good about myself but the girls are..." You pause to look at everyone as they smile at you.

"They're all beautiful and kind, they help me learn my differences and things I love about me."

They're all cooing at you and you know how cringe it is but you don't feel embarrassed about it at all. It feels nice to let them know that.

After everyone shares what they wrote on their papers, Amy instructs everyone to take that paper and ball it up before throwing it into the bonfire.

"Just feel like you're putting it all behind you, right?" Amy says.

She gathers everyone into a circle before ending the workshop with a group hug to let go of all the bad and take the good with you.

These girls may seem superficial but you can feel that you and them are in this together and it's a really nice feeling. Despite that you're all different, you feel this sense of belonging toward each other, a sisterhood.

YOU: I still have some way to go but I know that I'm learning and Lana is starting to knock down my wall [smiles]

Going back to the villa, you go straight to the dressing room to dress up for a party Lana suspiciously throwing tonight.

You put your bad thoughts aside and focus on dressing up for the party as it has a Black and White theme.

Han comes up behind you and playfully bites you on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" You yelp in pain.

You continue fixing your make-up in front of the sink since everyone else is crowding the dressing room, "Why did you do that?"

He puts an arm around your waist, "Because you're edible," he answers with a foolish grin.

You glance back at him and sense that he's chipper than usual. You get it that it's getting hard to stay away from each other with sexual attraction getting more unbearable every day.

Gosh! There's not a day when you don't think of ripping his clothes off and having hot, filthy sex with him.

"That's not how I want you to eat me," you joke back.

He plants a long kiss on your neck, "How do you want me to eat you then?"

You chuckle and look at him, "Want you to eat me well, that is."

He puts his other arm around you and draws you closer, "I can do that."

"Yeah?"

He breathes you in and looks at you through the reflection in the mirror, "I can show you," he says.

Before it gets dangerous, you put an end to this conversation and playfully elbow his stomach.

"Ouch!" He yelps in pain this time.

You pull him into a hug for an apology and kiss his cheek, "Let's go, hubba hubba!"

A party is necessary so everyone can blow some steam off for being locked up in this sexless retreat but it also means that Lana plans to throw everyone off.

That doesn't stop you from enjoying the night and the company you're with. You're dancing to the music with your hands draping around Han's shoulders as he slowly sways your body together to the fast-paced music.

After the workshop, you feel much lighter and better, more importantly, you feel confident about how you feel. You look at Han and you feel like you can share anything with him, you can see a relationship with him.

So you hold on to him, tighter and closer but Lana, being the ultimate cockblock she is, chimes in and stops the party.

YOU: I have no idea what's about to come next but I know it's not going to be good.

It's like the fun has evaporated and been replaced by anxiety once everyone is seated in the cabana waiting for Lana to come online.

"I am very disappointed to report there were several breaches of the rules."

When Lana skips the formality and goes straight to the rule breaks, it means that she's pissed off. You feel good for not breaking the rules with Han after the last time so you don't have anything to worry about. You can freely guess who did it this time.

"We kissed on the date," Ed is kind enough to own up to it fast.

"I think it was okay, yeah," Nya adds to it.

Everyone seems to let them get away with it, maybe because it's one kiss and Ed and Nya are a potential couple. You don't know but you sense that they wouldn't like what they hear next.

"Ed and Nya, your rule break has cost the group $6,000."

Avery is rubbing her temple while Finn seems to have had enough of people selfishly spending the prize money.

"There was another breach of the rules," Lana informs.

Everyone is tense once again, looking around to catch any guilty faces and you bet the biggest spender has anything to do with it.

Han looks over his shoulder at you, covering his eyes he says, "I may have broken the rules in the shower," he meekly says.

Surprised, you spit out, "You did what?"

Han can't be doing another rule break with anyone else, you know that for sure and that leaves with one possibility. You cover your eyes this time as he admits it to everyone.

"I did a little... uh self-gratification," he blurts out at once, aware of how embarrassing it is.

Everyone bursts into laughter at his confession as he hides his head in your neck. You can't do much about it since he didn't tell you about it

"Han, your act of self-gratification has cost the group $4,000."

YOU: I'm actually quite offended. Did he not want my help?

Support my blog by kindly reblog, comment or tip me on my ko-fi!

taglist: @svintsandghosts @abiaswreck @septicrebel @cursed-mars-bars @ppiri-bahng @drhsthl @bluenights1899 @elizalabs3 @avyskai @is2cb97 @simeonswhore @marvelous-llama @linovely @jisungsleftcheek @hanjisbeloved @luvsskzs @knowleeknow @army-stay-noel @bigsobs4skz @toplinehyunjin @channies-luv @foxinnie8 @biribarabiribbaem @dalamjisung @moasworld @sherryblossom @fawnpeaks @lukeys-giggle @obeythemasters @primoppang @devilsmatches @skz-streamer @freckleboilix @idkluvutellme @laylasbunbunny @cutiespaghetti @yourmercibeaucoupsblog @hanjisunginc @shinedreamsmile07 @whyisaah

#stray kids smut #skz smut #han smut #han jisung smut #han x reader #skz x reader #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #skz fics #skz fanfics #kpop smut #kpop fics #kpop fanfics #seospicy smut #too hot to handle series

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robinbuckleysfringe · 2 months

Text

you are in love.

tom blyth social media au

pairings: tom blyth x reader

warnings: accused cheating

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged rachelzegler & tomblyth

liked by joshandresrivera, tomblyth, hunterschafer, rachelzegler and others

yninstagram as promised, here's some more bts pics for tbosas. massive thanks to suzanne collins for letting me be apart of your universe 💚

View comments

rachelzegler not that photo of me 😭

↪️ yninstagram sorry babes 🫶🏻🫶🏻. forgive me?

↪️ rachelzegler always 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️

tomblyth did me dirty with that photo when I know you took hundreds of nicer ones

↪️ yninstagram sorry not sorry, just giving the fans what they want 😘

hunterschafer it was so lovely to finally be in a project together ❤️

↪️ yninstagram here's to hoping there's more 🥂❤️

user is that y/n with tom in the 2nd pic?? they look awfully close

↪️ user back off and leave the cheating rumours alone. y/n confirmed that they were only friends during filming

↪️ user exactly!! leave them alone!! plus, they were probably just going over the script or something. it's not your business dude.

user these photos are everything

user everyone say thank you to y/n for listening to the fans and giving us more bts pics

user y/n stoppp, I can't fall in love with snow again

user can't decide if tom's hotter with blonde hair or brown

↪️ yninstagram I've been asking myself the same thing

↪️ user 😂 she's one of us!!!!

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged robertdowneyjr, sebastianstan, chrisevans, gwynethpaltrow, anthonymackie & marvelstudios

liked by zendaya, tomholland2013, jacobelordi, tomblyth and others

yninstagram happy 10 year anniversary to my marvel debut (and also CATWS). huge thanks to @/robertdowneyjr for being the best onscreen dad, let's be in another project together soon pls ❤️

View comments

rachelzegler omg forgot that you were in the mcu!! iconic behaviour

↪️ yninstagram little me was really living the dream!!

tomblyth can't wait to see what the future of the mcu holds in store for you ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you tom ❤️

↪️ user omg confirmed y/n return to the mcu??

↪️ user I hope so!! missed her character so much!!

zendaya happy 10 years to my favourite marvel character

↪️ tomholland2013 hey, what about me? :((

↪️ zendaya I said what I said 🤷🏻‍♀️

↪️ tomholland2013 no, but for real @/yninstagram, congrats on making it a whole decade in the mcu. it's awesome to be able to share a screen with you xx

↪️ yninstagram aww, thanks guys 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. let's meet up next time I'm in town 💕💕

jacobelordi you used to be so cute. what happened? 😂

↪️ yninstagram shut up (said with love 🫶🏻)

user are you coming back to the mcu??

↪️ yninstagram you'll have to ask the marvel execs, sorry lovely. I wish I knew x

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted to her story*

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged tomblyth

liked by zendaya, florencepugh, tomblyth, joshandresrivera and others

yninstagram award show season was a blast 🥂💜

View comments

tomblyth stunning 😍😘

↪️ yninstagram no, you 😘x

rachelzegler obsessed with you 😍😍😍

↪️ yninstagram I expect nothing less 🫶🏻🫶🏻❤️❤️

joshandresrivera I wanna know what was said to make you pull that face in the 3rd photo

↪️ yninstagram probably someone bringing up that once again I wasn't nominated smh 😤

user mother is mothering 😍😍😍

user you were snubbed. you should've been nominated 😤

↪️ user for real!!!

↪️ user she defo deserves an award, but I don't think any of her projects last year (other than tbosas) was really award worthy. don't get me wrong, they were brilliant. but they weren't on the same level as the stuff that was nominated

↪️ user 100%

user you just know she's so fun to hang out with

↪️ user for real!! she emits such friendly energy

user what's the new project??

↪️ user wdym??

↪️ user she posted a story the other day with the caption "new project pending"

↪️ user it's probably stranger things season 5 tbh

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged greysabc

liked by tomblyth, rachelzegler, camillaluddington, jessicacapshaw, caterinascorsone, taylorswift and others

yninstagram shoutout to the stars (and my schedule) for aligning and allowing me to make my greys anatomy debut. thank you @/shondarhimes for letting me step through the doors of Grey Sloane Memorial hospital 💙

View comments

tomblyth super proud of you ❤️❤️

↪️ yninstagram ❤️❤️

camillaluddington welcome to the family ❤️

↪️ yninstagram thanks for letting me join ❤️

rachelzegler watching you get your dream roles is the best thing in the world 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻. endlessly proud of you bby 💕💕💕

↪️ yninstagram stoppp, you're making me cry 😭💕💕

hunterschafer we better be having a watch party at your house

↪️ yninstagram of course!! ❤️

joshandresrivera iconic

taylorswift big fan of this news!! congrats lovely ❤️

↪️ yninstagram love you!!! ❤️❤️

jacobelordi how the hell did you manage to keep this a secret??

↪️ yninstagram it was a real struggle

zendaya insanely proud of you!! 💕

↪️ yninstagram 😘

user I hope you're in it for at least more than one episode

↪️ user same, tho I doubt she'll become a series regular

user omg!!!

user congrats!!!

user yes yes yes!!!

user ooh, who are you playing??

user this is so cool!!! love greys anatomy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

parts 5 and 6 will probably be the last parts to this social media au, unless there's anything you guys want me to write for this series

#tom blyth #tom blyth x reader #the hunger games #tbosbas #rachel zegler #marvel #tom holland #zendaya #greys anatomy #social media au

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mellkellyismyhero · 1 year

Text

Jonathan Stroud and Kipps

You know, as a kid reading Lockwood and Co., I LOVED Lucy, George, Lockwood, and Holly. They were all my age! Every time a new book came out I’d imagine Lucy was growing up with me.

But that meant that I didn’t have much of a connection with Kipps, who was kind of L&Co.’s punching bag (affectionate). I liked him, but I never loved him the way I loved everyone else.

Now, I’m older than L&Co. Reading the books and watching the show feels like revisiting my younger self. I was expecting to love the L&Co. trio dynamic- and I did! But one thing I really wasn’t expecting was my newfound appreciation for Kipps.

Jonathan Stroud’s decision to focus on Kipps’ transition from brilliant teen agent to terrified, washed-up adult... It didn’t speak to me as a kid because I was too busy identifying with how cool Lucy’s Talent was. But now that I’m in Kipps’ age range, I identify with Kipps a lot more over Lucy. I can’t really put it in words- this is probably going to be the first of many posts of me spewing emotions and love for Jonathan Stroud’s writing skill- but I’m going to try.

Minor Kipps-related spoilers for L&Co. books under the cut.

Kipps, in the show and books, is 20-22 years old. He’s college-aged. And he cannot do the one thing that he has trained his entire life for, and needs to adjust to that. As a kid, I just kind of saw that as the same kind of “kids rule, adults drool” thing that happens in all kids adventure stories. Can’t have the responsible adults ruining the kids’ fun!

But Kipps was unusual in that you get to SEE him go from ‘competent rival agent’ to ‘technically a useless adult’. He’s straddling the line in the way that other series, where kids get to have magic because they’re good and pure or whatever don’t.

The thing is, it would’ve been easy for Kipps to be forgotten. Just let him fade into the background and never be mentioned again after book 2. But he’s there in book 3, and 4, and 5, still doing his best to fight ghosts even if he can’t see them. As a kid, I was just like ‘huh, okay, that’s a choice’ and kind of ignored him. Who cares what Kipps is doing when Lucy and Holly are having an epic argument that’s going to bring a million ghosts down on their heads?

As an adult, I LOVE that Stroud chose to keep Kipps around. I love that Kipps found a new way to keep fighting (the goggles). I love that Kipps kind of became a member of Lockwood and Co. I love that Stroud made the readers and the characters confront the reality that one day our beloved main characters would lose their Talents too, that even Lucy would go deaf one day, instead of just ignoring the generous but very real time limit the characters had hanging over their heads.

(Side note: part of my love for this series might be stemming from my complicated feelings about the Seven Wonders book series, where a kid is told he has less than a year to live and will likely spend months in debilitating pain and then... spends that year fucking around looking for magical artifacts and not actually having any kind of physical consequences for LITERALLY HAVING A DEADLY ILLNESS-)

Anyway.

Kipps is fantastic. The way he represents the inevitable future of Lockwood and Co... the way he represents the thousands of other agents who grew too old to sense ghosts and couldn’t keep fighting even if they wanted to... the way that he tries so hard to keep the kids he’s in charge of alive but can’t because he’s only one person and he’s losing his Talent...

He’s going through such a major transition and doesn’t know what his place in the world is anymore, and honestly, what early-twenties person does? There’s something there about Talents and childhood trauma and taking your first few steps into adulthood without the tools that saved your life as a child because they don’t work anymore...

In conclusion: Kipps was an amazing character, and I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate him sooner.

#quill kipps #lockwood and co #lockwood and co netflix #l&co. netflix #l&co #l&co netflix #l&co.#mine #quill kipps appreciation

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chrollohearttags · 1 year

Text

𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 • 𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑥 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

just some adorable headcanons with armin and his long time academic sweetheart.

cw: black fem!, plus sized reader, both armin and reader are researchers and engaged, major fluff, mentions of med terms, comedy and banter, light nsfw, light angst

you first met armin when the two of you were in high school. He was the top of his class, excelling in all subjects and only rivaled by his fellow scholar, (y/n) (l/n). Your test scores were always neck and neck of course, the highest in the entire class. You guys weren’t exactly rivals but you didn’t talk much either.

that was until he noticed that you would sneak away from the class during lunch period and it wasn’t until he went to return a book did he realize that you were eating in the library by yourself this entire time. And of course, with your nose in a textbook.

“Mind if I join you?” “No..not at all..”

armin couldn’t understand for the life of him why such a sweet and gorgeous girl like you always ate alone. From what he could tell, you had no enemies..or any friends for that matter..even the would be cliche bullies never messed with you. So why? He couldn’t help but to ask.

“No one wants to be around someone with their face in a book and their mind in the clouds all day. Someone who has nothing to talk about except schoolwork. It’s always ‘boys, hanging out, hooking up’….none of that stuff interests me, y’know? So I gave up on trying to fit in. Not like anyone notices me anyway.”

armin most certainly did, he couldn’t help it when he watched you walk by on your way to your desk..smelling of vanilla, gorgeous face surrounded by big curls and round glasses, and of course, dressing so cute. Not to mention..you were brilliant. Matching his own intellect tenfold.

“I noticed..and I’d love to be your friend if you’ll let me.”

from that moment on, the two of you spoke everyday..always greeting you and even inviting you to hang with him and his friends. From there, you guys studied together, picked each other’s brains and you finally felt as if you belonged. But soon, that beautiful friendship, blossomed into a budding crush..on both sides! You fell for Armin after only a few months and it didn’t even take him a few weeks. He always wanted to be by your side, spend as much time with you as possible and even wanted to walk you home.

you guys would often go to the local coffee shop to talk about the new book you were reading or discussed some new discovery that had been made in scientific news..getting so swept in your conversations and each other, you’d be there until the streets lights came on and he’d have you sprinting to get home. You didn’t mind it though because you were happy to be with him.

high school was much more tolerable and a lot more fun. By senior year, you and armin were locked in, super close and practically in love. Voted student council presidents and for the first time, graduated as the only co-valedictorians because your GPA’s were too high and close to call it for one to be salutatorian. You guys attended prom together and looked absolutely darling. Literally everyone’s goals.

he even asked you to go with a sign of the periodic table and the elements spelling out prom and a box of nerds candy.

“Are you kidding? That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

fast forward a few years, and not much changed! You guys were still two big nerds madly obsessed with one another. Eventually going on to a top university, majoring in the same field; pathology, research and development and sitting at the top of the class yet again. You guys done a lot of maturing during that time and grew into proper young adults. Even losing your virginity to one another..crying together on the night that you did so because it was so beautiful and overwhelming.

even thought your academic lives were quite hectic..sitting on this council, apart of this group and that research committee, you guys always made time for one another. Whether on one of your date nights where you’d get all dressed up to go out to a nice dinner and the museum or a play at the local amphitheater, it was always a great time. Or if you guys spent the day lazing around your off campus apartment, curled up in bed, drinking coffee while your two cats scoured the sheets as you binged your favorite movies together. Or even watching Jeopardy and seeing who can solve the most problems.

during college graduation and as your families snapped photos of you two in cap and gowns in front of your alma mater, he’d surprise you with a beautiful proposal by enlisting their help. Practically ruining the makeup you did prior because you were sobbing by the time he finished. And so was he..

“(Y/N), I don’t think—matter of fact, I know there isn’t a soul on this earth that completes me the way you do. Would you do me the absolute honor of spending the rest of our days together?” “Of course I will, ‘Min. I love you so much.”

a year or so passed and as you worked towards being able to afford the wedding you deserved, you guys began your residency at an esteemed research lab, practicing under top doctors and making names for yourselves in the scientific world. You had been featured in several publications, documenting your respective findings and what it could all mean for the world of medicine. You worked extremely hard but your main priorities were always one another!

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writertitan · 4 months

Text

Perennial // Part 3

a/n: i hope everyone's new year has been so lovely! 2024 has got a lil kick to it.

pairing: levi x fem!reader

overall themes: fantasy AU, strangers to lovers, traveling through realms, explicit content

part 3 themes: mental breakdown from reader, hange introduction, some hurt/comfort

read part one here

read part two here

Hange wasted no time in stepping away and kept the door wide open for the two of you to step inside, and you immediately took in your surroundings.

Hange’s house was a disaster. Papers, shoes, empty cartons, and other items were scattered all over the floor. Clothes and quilts were draped over every possible piece of furniture, and candles were everywhere. They’d been lit so many times that pools of hardened wax surrounded the candlesticks, and the wax clung to various things, whatever the candle had been set on, really.

“This place is a mess,” you muttered, and Levi seemed to have the same sentiments.

“Your pigsty is as disgusting as I’ve ever seen it, Four Eyes,” Levi quipped, his monotone voice holding an edge to it. “Don’t you ever clean?”

“I haven’t really had the time. You know I’ve had much bigger fish to fry,” Hange answered, voice bubbly despite Levi’s cutting words.

Then, Hange turned to you, glasses gleaming as they scanned you from head to toe.

“She’s Embla,” Levi said, and Hange’s eyes glittered behind their glasses.

“That’s right,” they breathed, eyes wide like saucers. Then, under their breath, asked, “And how the heck did you get your butt over here?”

“I have no idea how I got here,” you admitted, standing a little straighter under Hange’s scrutiny. “That’s why we’re here. Levi said you might be able to help get me home.”

“Hmm, did he? I don’t know how much help I’ll be. This may be something more up Erwin’s alley,” they said, though they looked completely saddened to have to admit it.

“You’re the goddamned scientist, Hange. Are you really telling me you’re willing to pass this up to Erwin?” Levi said, grey eyes hard as ice. Clearly, there was a lot of complicated history there that was going unspoken between the two of them.

At that, Hange tilted their head, considering. Outside, you could hear the first waves of families coming back to their homes. Young children were laughing, and the adults were chatting animatedly, though you couldn’t make out specifics.

“On second thought, I call dibs! Erwin’s got a brilliant mind, but you won’t have half as much fun with him as you will with me, Embla! It’ll be nice to drop everything and focus on you,” Hange declared.

Levi seemed to loosen up a little, and then he turned to you, arms folded over his chest.

“Any more questions you want to ask, direct them to Hange. Four Eyes is the only person I can think of who asks more questions than you do, and they’ll be happy to be on the receiving end for once.”

You glared at him, not appreciating the little dig, but you did light up a little bit at the thought of someone finally being excited to offer insight into this realm and quell your curiosities.

While Levi went to make some tea, Hange guided you to their study, which was even messier than the living space of their home. Hange merely shoved some stacks of papers and books off a chair for you to sit in, and they immediately grabbed a very big, very old book off a bookshelf behind you, sitting at the desk that sat in the study and opening up to flick through some pages.

“Do you really have the power to send me home? Like, a spell or something?” you asked, hands in your lap.

At that, Hange let out a wild, loud laugh, going as far as slapping their knee.

“Oh, you kill me. I don’t have the power to do anything like that – it’s a wonder you’re even here! You really are our own little Embla. I can certainly try and figure out how to get you back, though. You’ll just have to share your story. Spare me no details, please!”

You were about to, but then you stopped, giving Hange a curious look.

“How come you both refer to me as Embla?” you asked. “I’ve pretty much gotten used to being called that by Levi, but I don’t understand why you both seem to like referring to me as that name so much. I feel like I’m missing out on some inside joke.”

Hange gave a small smile, leaning back in their seat.

“Embla isn’t exactly a name…it’s more of a very old term.”

You suddenly remembered when you’d originally asked Levi, and he’d given that strange response.

It’s what you are.

“What does it mean?” you pressed.

“Despite an entire war happening between humans and Eldians, only a handful of human men ever crossed into our realm. There’s no record of a regular human woman crossing over. That’s what you are. You’re the first woman to step into our realm, the Embla. It’s significant to us, but I promise to tell you more about it some other time, if you’re interested,” Hange explained. “For now, let’s get back to you. Tell me everything. Remember, spare me no details!”

And so you did.

You let it all out, starting with the fact that you were very sad prior to the gas station, and how much your life was changing, and how you’d felt compelled to open that door, and how terrifying it was to suddenly be in a different world and not knowing, and how Levi had helped you and was constantly teetering from being so gentle to entirely made of stone.

It was therapeutic, spilling your guts like this. And Hange was a great listener, despite Levi warning you that they loved asking questions. Not once did they interrupt, and they even seemed completely enraptured in your story.

“Wow,” Hange breathed when you finished. “Quite a journey so far indeed. But I would love for you to go back a little bit. You told me about your friend who was helping you with your move. What was her name again?”

“Oh, Pieck? What about her?” you questioned.

Hange’s eyes flashed, as if recognizing the name.

“How long have you known her?” they asked.

“For a few years now. I met her when I first moved into my apartment. She’s one of my closest friends now,” you answered. “I’m confused on why you’re so curious about her.”

You were starting to feel defensive again, even a little cagey. It was one thing to spill your guts about yourself, it was another thing entirely to speak about someone else, especially a close friend.

Before Hange could even give you an answer, you spoke up again.

“Pieck doesn’t have anything to do with this. I just mentioned her because you said not to spare any details. I don’t want to involve her in this,” you said, trying to keep your voice firm.

“On the contrary, my new friend. She has more to do with this than you think,” Hange said, their tone light despite saying such a controversial thing. “Let’s go meet up with Levi again. I think he needs to hear this, if he hasn’t already. Which I don’t think he has, otherwise he would have brought you over to me a lot sooner.”

Your heart raced in your chest as you followed Hange out of the study and into the living room, where Levi had cleaned up a little bit and was sipping on some tea on a couch you could now see. He looked up from under his lashes when the two of you appeared again, though he didn’t move.

“The Marleyans are good on their word, Levi. Sounds like they made it over to the human realm. Our friend Embla here told me that Pieck Finger is apparently a very good friend,” Hange announced, slumping down into an armchair that had also been cleared of Hange’s mess.

Levi froze then, and you could see that his grip tightened on his mug as he processed the news. His eyes flashed to you, scrutinizing you for a long moment, before he eventually moved to set his mug down on the coffee table in front of the couch, also recently cleaned. Damn, he worked fast. You hadn’t realized he was something of a neat freak.

But Levi’s cleaning abilities weren’t really at the front of your brain.

You were starting to tremble as you struggled to process the possibility of Pieck being involved with Eldians somehow. From the little you managed to gather, it didn’t sound like Levi or Hange were very fond of her.

“Do you know Pieck?” you asked feebly, struggling to keep upright.

Did she really have something to do with your sudden arrival in Eldia? It seemed so impossible. Then again, nothing was impossible anymore.

Instead of Hange answering you, it was Levi.

“She belongs to a faction of Eldians that we call Marleyans,” he said, his eyes trained on you. “About a hundred years ago, some Eldians split off into their own territory, called Marley. They’re a dangerous lot with very dangerous beliefs. I can’t believe they’re actually trying to pull their mission off.”

Mission? What mission? Why were they dangerous? What was so dangerous about your sweet friend Pieck?

You wanted to ask these questions so badly, but they simply wouldn’t come out. You were frozen in place, much like yesterday, but this time without the risk of your very soul ripping itself out of your physical body.

Pieck was Eldian?

You thought back to all your memories with her. She’d never really brought up the myths at all during the time you’d known her. You had to be fair, though; there’d never been an occasion to bring stories of Eldia up. Nowadays, in the human world, Eldia was hardly talked about, save for some podcasts and college essays.

But the most frightening possibility of all was weighing heavy on your heart. Were Hange and Levi insinuating that Pieck had befriended you for a reason? Had your years of friendship been a lie, a farce?

But why? You weren’t Eldian. Why was this happening to you?

“You look a little green,” Hange noted, and you had no response.

Your bottom lip quivered and your knees finally buckled under your weight, sending you to the floor. You curled up into a ball, leaning against a wall for support. Here it was, the mental breakdown you’d been anticipating.

You hid your face in your hands, ashamed at the fact you were acting like this in front of Hange and Levi, but you couldn’t stop even if you tried. A sob escaped and you allowed yourself to let go and let your emotions take over, the sadness unbearable.

Your surroundings disappeared and it was just you in a void, no company other than your fear and misery. It felt like there was no coming back from this. You felt so untethered and couldn’t find it within yourself to cope with all these changes.

All the loss you faced back home had nearly been too much. You’d been hanging by a thread, and nobody was there for you except for Pieck. She’d been the one holding you together.

Those problems had seemed so far away when you’d crossed into the Eldian realm, like a fog had settled in your brain. It had made you focus on the here and now, with only one goal: get back home.

Now, it was like the fog had lifted. You had to deal with your problems in the human realm, as well as your problems in this realm. Maybe they were more enmeshed than you realized.

Pieck wasn’t here to hold you together. Nobody was going to be there for you now. You were alone.

You were all alone.

“Hey.”

You jumped when you heard Levi’s voice and felt a hand on your shoulder, and you were surprised at how quick his actions made the void around you disappear.

You lifted your head and opened your eyes, taking in your surroundings between your ragged breaths.

No vast emptiness or darkness.

Right. You were in Hange’s home, in the living room.

But you were far away from home.

You looked at Levi, expecting to see steely grey eyes and a set jaw, but your heart thudded when you were met with a gentle gaze underneath thin brows that were knit together in concern.

“Just take a deep breath,” he whispered, his hand still on your shoulder. He even gave it a small rub, which admittedly did help loosen you up.

You did as he said, taking a deep but incredibly shaky breath.

“Hold it for a second,” Levi instructed, and you again did as told, holding your breath until Levi eventually instructed to exhale.

The air whooshed out of you, and some of your fears did as well.

“Can you stand?” Levi asked. “Let’s get you to the couch where it’s more comfortable.”

But you were still a trembling mess. You tried to stand but to no avail, eventually dropping back to the ground as another shameful sob left you.

“I can’t,” you choked out, not daring to look at Levi.

“Can’t what? Can’t stand? That’s fine. We’ll just sit here until you can,” Levi said.

True to his word, he got himself situated next to you on the floor, his shoulder bumping against yours.

“Not just about standing,” you eventually said, trying again to express how you felt. “I just…can’t. I can’t deal. I can’t do anything. I think my mind is finally breaking.”

Levi was quiet but stayed where he was, and it meant more to you than you could express to him in your state. You still felt like you were spiraling and there was no one to catch you, but you felt a little better knowing you weren’t totally alone, even if Levi didn’t consider you a friend.

Hange, as you’d come to find out, had gone to the kitchen to make you some supper and some tea, which you ate on the floor with Levi never leaving your side.

“I’ll be in my study,” they said softly, offering a little smile. “I’m going to look through some old texts that may point us in the right direction. I think to figure out how you crossed over to Eldia, we’ll need to figure out how the Marleyans could have crossed over to the human realm. You should rest for the night. You can help me out tomorrow.”

You merely nodded in response and sighed deeply when the door to the study opened and closed, leaving you alone with Levi in the living room. He cleaned up after you were done with supper, the only time he left your side, but he was back in no time.

If you were being honest with yourself, his presence was very calming. Despite him sometimes being a complete dick, he also just felt…safe. And that was something you hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

“Hange has a guest room. It was filthy, but I did my best to clean it up. You can use it and I’ll take the couch,” Levi said. “Think you can stand now that you’ve had some food in you?”

“I think so,” you whispered through the knot in your throat, but your wobbly legs barely worked as you tried to stand on them.

Instead of making a snide remark or getting angry with you, Levi wordlessly took it upon himself to scoop you into his arms, saving you the trouble of having to walk.

The suddenness of it and his gracefulness in lifting you up and carrying you left you breathless. You watched him with wide eyes, lips slightly parted, and you clung to him for dear life.

The window in the guest room was big, silvery moonlight pouring in and illuminating the room. It was a simple room, not much in it but a bed and a wardrobe. As Levi gently set you down on the bed, panic shot through you the moment he tried to pull away.

Your hand shot out to grip his wrist as hard as you could, your eyes pleading as they met Levi’s inquisitive grey ones.

“Please don’t go,” you pleaded with him, voice just above a whisper. “Will you stay?”

“You want me to stay?” he asked, as if not fully comprehending.

“I want you to stay,” you breathed out. To further confirm it, you shifted until there was enough room on the bed for the both of you, an invitation for Levi to lie down with you. It may have been a trick of the moonlight, but you were certain that he looked a little nervous.

“Are you afraid I’m gonna compromise your purity or something?” you joked, offering a weak smile.

Levi gave you a deadpan stare but was more confident as he moved to lie down next to you on the bed.

“Seems like you’re feeling better if you’ve got jokes,” he remarked, his eyes staring pointedly at the ceiling.

But you were looking at him and you didn’t take your eyes off him.

“Thank you for staying,” you whispered. “Thank you for helping me.”

At that, Levi turned to look at you, scanning over your face.

“I’m sorry about Pieck,” he said.

Your heart sank at the thought of her, but you shook your head lightly, pushing her to the back of your mind once more.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” you sighed, tears welling in your eyes. When you felt them sting at your eyes, you turned your head away from Levi, staring at the ceiling like he had been doing before.

“Emb. Look at me.”

You turned your head again to look at him, a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay to cry and to be upset,” Levi reminded you. “Don’t try and hide it from me. Don’t hide it from anyone.”

“I’m weak,” you lamented, but Levi gave you a stern look.

“That isn’t weakness,” he said.

“I bet you never get emotional like this,” you countered, but Levi’s face remained composed.

“Stop comparing yourself. Just let yourself be who you are,” he said.

The words struck a chord in you.

It was true, you were constantly comparing yourself, looking for yourself in other people. Nobody had ever clocked that about you so fast, and what’s more, called you out on it. The urge to cry had left you, tears drying up, and you even felt a little elated.

You couldn’t help yourself. In one quick motion, you were nestled up against Levi’s side, smiling a little at how it had made him tense up. But he didn’t pull away.

That feeling of safety overwhelmed you now. The closer you were to Levi, the safer you felt.

You shifted a bit to get comfortable and some hair fell over your eyes, but you didn’t mind. Fed and exhausted from the day’s events, you felt sleep coming quick.

“Good night, Levi,” you yawned, eyes closing.

The last thing you registered was the sensation of Levi’s fingertips brushing the hair from your eyes.

----------

You awoke the next morning to the sound of people outside, pieces of your dream still flitting through your mind.

With a big yawn and an even bigger stretch of your limbs, you felt a little more awake. Turning to the window, you could see that sunrise was imminent, but only tiny rays of sunlight had begun to peak over the horizon. Crowds of villagers were hurrying along the streets, most likely to get to their temple where they’d be resting for the day.

As you stretched again, it was then that you realized Levi wasn’t around. Strange, the way your heart sank. Part of you really believed he would stay the whole night with you.

You shook those thoughts out of your head and straightened yourself out, making a mental note to ask Hange where you could clean yourself up. As you left the guestroom, the smell of eggs and toasted bread filled the air, and your stomach twisted with hunger.

“Smells good,” you complimented to no one in particular, heading over to the kitchen to see none other than Levi in the kitchen, frying up another batch of eggs.

“Levi?” you asked incredulously.

“Good morning,” he said flatly, his eyes on the pan full of eggs. “Hange’s still asleep. How many eggs do you want?”

“Two. No, three!” you said, excited at the prospect of real food. Your snack stash was getting low, and you hadn’t really been fond of the food Levi had given you in his little mountain hideout.

Levi slid some eggs onto a plate for you, and before you could thank him, you jumped at a loud screech that filled the air. Moments later, Hange was racing into the kitchen, hair a mess and glasses half off their face, like you’d seen yesterday.

“Man, oh man, do I smell eggs?!” they exclaimed.

Levi clicked his tongue in dismay as Hange barreled into him and scooped up most of the eggs to pile onto their plate, only leaving a couple left.

“You’re so disgusting,” Levi sneered, but he didn’t retaliate any further. He took the remaining eggs and some toast, sitting across from you at the table while Hange chose to sit right next to you.

“How’d you sleep?” Hange asked you between bites of their breakfast, and you gave a polite smile, sneaking a glance at Levi.

“Very well, thanks,” you answered, tearing a piece of toast to munch on. “Hange, do you not celebrate the Three Nights?”

“I see Levi’s been telling you about our customs! Very moving,” Hange cackled, fixing their glasses before turning to look at you. “Most Eldians celebrate the Three Nights, it’s true, but us Scouts have too much on our plate right now to be able to take the time to alter our schedules like that.”

Scouts.

Levi had mentioned something about Scouts before, when you’d moved through the verse mirror together.

It can be taxing to move through the verse mirror for even the most experienced Scout.

“Scouts?” you asked, but you caught the way Levi was glaring at Hange as you asked, like they’d divulged too much information.

Why did he want to keep you in the dark so badly?

Hange looked like they wanted to say more, but one look at Levi told them not to.

“We’ll talk about it another time,” they told you dismissively, then strategically changed the subject. “I may as well have been partaking in the celebration last night, though. I hardly got any sleep while I was looking through all my textbooks to figure out how you could have gotten here. My hypothesis of the Marleyan Warriors targeting you specifically in the human realm is getting stronger and stronger the more I research.”

Marleyan Warriors.

Warriors and Scouts. There had to be some correlation.

Was Levi a Scout?

You tried to sneak a glance at him, briefly watching as he took a sip of his tea, and you looked away before he could catch you watching him.

Your thoughts made their way to Pieck, and it made your heart hurt. Was she a Warrior?

And why would she be targeting you?

You were slowly losing your appetite the more you danced around these thoughts. You shook your head slightly, brows furrowed, as if the physical shaking would remove the thoughts from your head.

You could also feel Levi’s eyes on you as you did so, but this time you chose to ignore him and forced yourself to take another bite of food.

Hange didn’t wait for anyone else to speak up and continued talking.

“After breakfast let’s go back to my study, Embla. I want as much background on your history with Pieck as you can give me. I’m almost sure that there’s going to be pieces to the puzzle sprinkled in, things that you, as a human, probably didn’t think twice about.”

The thought of hashing out your past, knowing you’d be bringing up so much of your pain, made you physically ill.

“Okay,” you whispered, eyes cast down at your eggs.

You swallowed thickly, pushing those dark thoughts back, and focused on the now uncomfortable task of finishing your plate.

Again, you felt those piercing grey eyes on you, but you didn’t meet his gaze. As you finished your breakfast and brought your plate to the kitchen sink, you turned to Hange, who was doing the same.

“Do you have a bathroom I could use? I really need to take a bath and get cleaned up,” you said, tugging at your clothes. “And maybe I could get some laundry done so I can wash these clothes?”

“Let me show you to the bathroom!” Hange said, tugging you along.

You walked past the guestroom and study, all the way down the hall until you reached the door to the bathroom, which Hange swung open.

“Go ahead and get cleaned up in there. There are already some charms in place to keep the water hot and whatnot. Set your clothes outside the door and I’ll work on those for you!” they said. “They’ll be spotless by the time you’re done.”

“Oh, Hange, no, you don’t have to wash my clothes—” you started, but Hange let out a cackle, head thrown back as they laughed.

“I forget how hard things can be for humans sometimes. You guys really don’t have a speck of magic left in your realm, huh? Clean clothes are a simple charm, too. Most cleaning can be done that way,” they explained.

From behind Hange, Levi appeared, his brow raised in annoyance.

“Exactly. Which is why it boggles the mind that you choose to live like a pig,” he said to Hange, arms folded over his chest. “Maybe take a bath after Embla is done.”

Hange rolled their eyes and waved their hand in Levi’s face, clearly so used to his moods that they never once looked perturbed at his attitude.

“Have fun in there!” they told you, slamming the door in your face.

You sighed and peeled off your clothes, catching a glance of yourself in the mirror as you did so.

“Boy, I look rough,” you complained quietly, leaning in closer to inspect yourself even more.

Your hair was a mess, almost as messy as Hange’s, and your skin was dull and clearly in need of moisturizing. A whiff under your armpit made you scrunch up your nose, and you hurriedly folded up your clothes and opened the door just enough to slide the pile outside before closing it again and locking it.

The pipes were very old school, but you figured them out soon enough and watched the water fill up the tub, steam rising from the tub and soothing you.

Eventually it was filled enough to get in, and you fiddled with the pipes again until the water stopped spouting from the spigot.

An audible moan escaped you as you lowered yourself into the bath, your body relaxing with the warm water. Hange had a nice collection of soaps and bath salts and oils, and you helped yourself to them, dropping some salts and oils in while you decided which soap you were going to use. You used a small, rolled up towel as a guard between your neck and the edge of the tub so you could get comfortable, and as soon as you got situated, you closed your eyes and let yourself relax. There were no thoughts allowed – you just wanted to let yourself feel the warmth of the bathwater, feel the way the salts moved in the bath, smell the lovely scents of the bath oils, and forego everything else.

You’d put in a few drops of lavender oil, and it calmed you down heavily, nearly lulling you back to sleep. Snippets of the dream you’d had came back, and you allowed yourself to indulge in those false memories, mostly because Levi had been the center character in your dream.

You’d fallen asleep easily last night, comforted by his warmth and firm body next to yours. The scent of him had permeated your dreams, and you’d dreamed of him in a forest of fir trees as it rained down on the two of you. Such a lush, fresh scent. In your dream, he’d looked sad, and he was standing far away from you. And you remembered calling out to him, hand outstretched, unable to touch him. It all felt so familiar.

A knock on the door made you slowly open your eyes, half expecting it to be Levi. The thought made your heart skip a beat and your body heat up despite the already warm bath. Just the image of him coming in and raking his eyes over your bare body was enough to make you squirm a little.

You smiled a little when you heard Hange’s voice on the other side of the door, ignoring the disappointment that overtook your heart.

“Your clothes are clean!” they announced, and that was that.

Charms worked fast and well, it seemed. You remembered yesterday, how much cleaner the house looked after spending just a little bit of time in Hange’s study. You’d surmised that Levi was just a quick and diligent cleaner, but you had failed to remember just how different this realm was compared to yours.

There was magic and sorcery and lush landscapes and strange but delightful people. It surprised you just how wrong the myths were. Eldians looked just like humans. They had their own customs and their own stories and their own lives. Many stories said they were shifters and could shift into Titan form at will, but those same stories made it sound like Eldians were constantly in Titan form, just waiting for the opportunity to catch a lost human and eat them for supper. The entire time you’d been in this world which, granted, hadn’t been that long, you hadn’t felt the immobilizing fear that human myths often talked about. There was nothing sinister here. How ironic. The place where you should have felt cruelty and loss and fear was not at all what it seemed, and the place you should have felt safe and at peace was the place that held all that cruelty and malice. The human world had a lot of work to do.

Maybe it was a mistake to go back.

No.

You couldn’t think like that. There was still so much to do at home. There was still so much grief to process and so many situations to resolve. There was still so much life to live there.

And one thing seemed to ring true. In your world, there was no magic. In this world, magic was rampant. Eldians had surely taken it all and never given any back.

The thought soured your mood a little bit. But hell, it kept your bath warm while you sulked.

-----

By the time you got out, got dressed, and made yourself presentable, it was late morning. Levi was nowhere to be found and Hange was in their study, perusing through books.

“Where’s Levi?” you asked, sitting in the chair you’d sat in last time.

“He took off to get something is what he said,” Hange said distractedly, their eyes never leaving the page they were reading. “He’s always so vague. Getting him to reveal details about anything is like pulling teeth.”

“I thought it was just me,” you grumbled, but felt relief at the thought Levi was like this with everyone.

Hange bookmarked their page and shut their book, which closed with a heavy thud, and then their attention was on you at once.

“I’m sorry to have to ask this of you, but we need to delve into your human life in more detail, especially around Pieck. It sounds like a sore subject, but we can take breaks,” Hange said.

You thought back to yesterday, the way you were spiraling, and the thought of risking it again today was horrific. But Hange was right, it needed to be done. If you wanted to go home, it needed to be done. You couldn’t be scared of things anymore.

“I’ll guide you through it,” Hange promised. “Let’s start with how you met. You mentioned it was a few years back? At your…what did you call it?”

“Apartment,” you clarified, your gaze on the wall, but staring at nothing. In your mind’s eye, you were looking at the drawing of the flower on the top of your door. “I was just barely moving in, and she was thinking about moving into that same building. We became fast friends and she joked that meeting me that day sealed the deal for her. She moved in with…she had – she had a roommate.”

This was where it was going to get really hard.

You swallowed thickly, feeling that knot start to form in your throat.

Would you even be able to get all of this out? It was still so fresh. Even just the thought of having to say it all out loud had your heart sputtering and your mind spinning. Tears stung at your eyes as you tried to think of the best way to say everything.

“We can take a break, Embla…,” Hange offered, their eyes full of concern, but you shook your head firmly, your hands gripping the edge of your seat.

“No,” you breathed out, “I have to admit it eventually. I have to remind myself that it’s real.”

Hange waited patiently, still as a statue as you collected yourself.

“Pieck moved in with a roommate. One of her closest friends she’s known since childhood. His name was Porco, but he went by Pock. I became friends with him, too, and then we started hanging out with one of his best friends…Reiner.”

The knot in your throat was loosening up. Suddenly, it felt like you couldn’t get it out fast enough. You were so terrified that you wouldn’t physically be able to even say the words, but now it was like you had to say it all, and tell someone, anyone, about your anguish.

“Reiner and I started dating,” you revealed. “We were all inseparable. Reiner and I were actually going to move in together. I lived alone, so he was going to move in with me, I should say. We were always all hanging out at my apartment…”

You took in a shaky breath, feeling that void start to form around you again. You tried to push it back.

“He died, Hange. Reiner died.”

You didn’t know if you’d ever actually said it out loud.

Reiner was dead.

Tears were coming in full force now. Squeezing your eyes shut, you struggled to piece together the rest of the story for her.

“I lost everything when he died. I just couldn’t function anymore. I couldn’t go to work anymore, and I had to move out of that apartment because it held too much of him in there. I had to leave. I just moved out of that place, right before I got here. I was going to start fresh, somewhere new. It’s been nearly eight months and I just feel…lost,” you finished, hanging your head.

It was quiet for a few minutes. As much as it had hurt to reveal such a painful recent history, it also felt strangely good.

Finally, you opened your eyes to meet Hange’s gaze. They held a very gentle look in their eyes and gave you a small smile when you looked at them, but there was something beyond that gentleness.

Hange knew you had noticed it and spoke up before you could ask any questions.

“Emb…I know all of them. Pieck, Pock, Reiner…they’re all Marleyans,” they revealed. “They’ve all been missing for over three years now.”

At first, it was hard to process what Hange was saying. It didn’t sound real.

“All of them?” you choked out, your entire body slowly filling with dread.

“Yes. All of them. Even Reiner,” Hange whispered, though it sounded as though they really didn’t want to say it. “And we believe they all hold the Power of the Titan.”

There it was again, that strange phrase. Power of the Titan. Try as you might, you couldn’t recall ever hearing that in your human myths.

But that wasn’t what was concerning you right now.

All you could think about was Reiner.

Reiner had been Eldian. Marleyan. He wasn’t human. He had lied to you, and Pieck and Pock had lied, too. They were liars and they had picked you for whatever reason. They were all a part of something that you hadn’t been privy to. It all felt like some big joke suddenly.

“Why?” you asked, mostly to yourself, but Hange hummed and shook their head.

“I hate to say it, I really do, because I know they’re your friends. But they sought you out for a reason. And we have to get to the bottom of it,” they said.

You knew Hange was right. Logically, it was a solid point of reasoning. Still, those feelings of denial dredged up in you, and you almost wanted to get angry.

Hange was wrong. They had to be wrong. Your friends wouldn’t betray you like this.

You thought back to all your memories together. They had all been there for you in ways nobody else ever had been.

You thought back to Pieck making you spill your wine on your carpet when she hugged you too hard.

And Pock, drawing that stupid flower on your doorframe because he didn’t know how to draw mistletoe and he was hellbent on making you and Reiner finally kiss each other, before you got together.

And Reiner.

Your bottom lip trembled.

Reiner, buying your groceries for you whenever you were too tired.

Reiner, orchestrating your first ever surprise birthday party. Nobody had ever done that for you before.

Reiner, the man who died two weeks before moving in with you.

Reiner, the man who had been lying to you.

“I think I need a break,” you admitted, wiping furiously at your eyes.

“I’ll go make you some smokeroot tea,” Hange offered, but you were out of the study before they could even finish their sentence.

You stalked back to the guestroom, throwing the door open and immediately sinking into the bed. Your entire body was trembling and you feared you were on the verge of another breakdown.

“I’m so weak,” you mumbled to yourself, crossing your arms over your torso, as if hugging yourself.

You hated being like this. It often seemed like you felt all these emotions and there was nowhere to put them. You just had to feel them and juggle them all at once.

You didn’t even notice when the door opened. Only when you heard the footsteps did you tense up, thinking it was Hange with some tea.

But when someone sat at the edge of the bed, you finally lifted your head to take a peek, surprised to see Levi there.

“Hange told me,” was all he said, and you let your tears flow again.

“I don’t want it to be true,” you confessed, peering at Levi through your tear-soaked lashes.

He said nothing, but he kept his gaze on you, a mask of calm over his face.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, and you just shrugged, sitting up a bit.

You remembered how safe you’d felt with him last night, the closer you were to him.

And again, without thinking it through, you pressed yourself into his side, your arms wrapping around him.

You thought it would be strange, allowing yourself to be close to another man after Reiner’s death, even in a non-romantic sense, but that hadn’t really been the case with Levi. He had helped you so much, and you had never felt like you were in danger with him around. Plus, you were just so drawn to him. You had been since the moment you’d met him. You weren’t expecting Levi to offer any sort of comfort, other than letting you cry on him, but you were pleasantly surprised to feel his arm wrap around your shoulders, keeping you close to him.

The tears dried up a little quicker after that, but even after, you stayed like that with Levi. You listened to the steady beat of his heart, basked in his surprising warmth, and let yourself bask in the smell of him, that soothing scent of rainy pines and tea leaves.

Part of you felt it was wrong to be like this with Levi, for many reasons. He wasn’t even human, for starters, he was Eldian. You were still distraught over the death of the man you’d loved. The two of you hardly knew each other. So why did it feel so natural?

But it couldn’t be romantic feelings. That would be insanity.

Yet, the thought of it not being romantic also made you sad.

“I’m a mess,” you muttered under your breath, not really thinking Levi could hear you.

“You’re not,” he murmured back.

In a bout of courage, you reached up to grab his hand that dangled off your shoulder. He didn’t pull away.

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

Hange hadn’t needed any more information from you after you’d spilled your guts about what had been happening to you back in the human world.

After Levi had comforted you, the two of you had left the guestroom to have some tea and let Hange do some digging.

“Where did you go off to today?” you asked Levi, outstretched on Hange’s sofa.

“Had to get something,” was his reply, which made you a little upset. Always so cagey.

“Get what?”

Levi shot you an annoyed look over his mug, and you could tell he was debating whether or not to even answer you.

“Will you ever stop asking questions?” he grumbled.

“Will you ever start answering them?” you shot back.

His mood swings were starting to give you whiplash. He was so caring and helpful, but also a complete dick sometimes.

Levi gave you a hard stare and you met it as best as you can, lifting your chin a little, and he finally grunted and put his mug down.

“I went to grab some things to work a new charm,” he revealed. “And before you ask, I’m not going to tell you what the charm is. Hange’s got their suspicions about something, and so I went and grabbed things I knew we would need.”

You pouted a little but made do with his half-answer, taking another sip of your tea.

“Is it going to take me home?” you asked. “Today?”

Levi couldn’t answer, however. Hange was bounding into the living room before you could really process their quickness, interrupting you and Levi, and you could see a glint in their eyes.

“I think I’m finally getting somewhere!” they exclaimed, hands in the air.

“Care to share?” Levi asked, an eyebrow raised.

Hange took their sweet time, though, choosing to pour themselves a mug of tea and plop down on a chair before answering.

“I believe they’re using a very old conjuring technique,” they said, the steam of their tea fogging up their glasses. “This won’t make much sense to you, Emb, but Levi, follow along. The Marleyans are practicing sigillary.”

Si-what-ary?

You honed in on Levi’s reaction, the way he tensed up, a storm cloud rolling over his eyes.

You were honestly getting frustrated. Here you were, divulging all sorts of information, and you weren’t getting any back. It was very kind of Hange and Levi to be helping you, a strange human in their realm, but you were getting a little fed up with being so in the dark.

“Damn it,” Levi sighed. “I guess we should have guessed that.”

“Can someone please fill me in?” you cut in, nearly slamming your mug down on the coffee table. “I don’t know if you guys are trying to protect me from something or what, but I need to know what this is all about. What exactly did I accidentally get involved in?”

Levi and Hange exchanged glances, but you sighed impatiently, looking between the two of them.

“Please tell me,” you begged, sitting up straight. “I need to know what’s going on.”

“Alright,” Hange conceded. “I guess that’s fair. You’ll need to know as much as you can, just in case.”

You nodded once, indicating that you were ready, all while ignoring the glare Levi shot Hange's way.

“We mentioned that some Eldians created their own sect, the Marleyans. Well, Marley was founded upon a very specific belief, that belief being that Ymir, and especially her daughters, should not have sealed the gates to the human world. This is because they believe that we not only left behind some magic in the human realm, but also that…” Hange took a breath before continuing. “Marleyans believe that Eldians can turn into mortals, and mortals can turn into Eldians. It’s very powerful magic and Eldians believe it is impossible. Really, the only human to have ever become Eldian is Ymir, and that was purely an accident. The reason all of this is important background is because that was also around the last time sigillary was practiced.”

You blinked a few times, trying to absorb what Hange had just said.

Ymir becoming an Eldian, the first Titan, was an accident?

“W-what’s sigillary?” you stammered out. It was better to push through and get as much insight as possible before beginning your real questions.

“Sigillary is what humans used to harness their magic. It’s what turned Ymir into the first Titan and Eldian,” Hange said.

Levi’s eyes were on you, and it felt like they were boring a hole into you.

“Levi mentioned that humans have been…retelling our history,” Hange spoke up after a minute, cocking their head to the side. “I would love to know just how skewed it’s gotten, but that will be for another time. Right now, we need to focus on just how the hell the Warriors were able to find the ancient sigils and master them. I’m really doubting that they have that type of power, even with all of them combined.”

“You forget how many of them stole the Power of the Titan,” Levi reminded them, and you furrowed your brows.

“What do you mean the Marleyans stole the Power of the Titan?” you asked. “And what is the Power of the Titan? You two have said it before, but I don’t understand. I thought that all Eldians were Titans.”

At that, Hange burst into laughter, grabbing their sides as they threw their head back and cackled.

“Sounds like our history is really skewed for the humans!” they snickered. “Oh, Emb. Thanks. I needed that.”

To your surprise, Levi spoke up.

“All Eldians have the…necessary genetics, I suppose, to turn into Titans,” he said. “However, not all Eldians have the Power of the Titan.

“The Power is passed down. Do you remember what I said about the Three Nights, how we celebrate Ymir’s daughters? That’s because they all inherited Ymir’s Titan power, and they inherited it in gruesome ways. You can only inherit Titan abilities in certain ways, and they’re not pretty. In total, there are nine Eldians with inherited Titans. The only way to inherit those powers is for the one possessing the Titan to die and pass it on to their successor. When the Marleyans rebelled, they took six Eldians with the Power of the Titan and they killed them and took the Power for themselves.”

“How do those powers get inherited?” you asked, though you dreaded the answer. From the dark looks in Hange and Levi’s eyes, you knew you would likely regret asking.

“That’s where your stories ring a little true,” Levi said solemnly. “Ymir’s daughters had to eat her. Their mother died right before the height of the war began between humans and Eldians, and Ymir was the only one with the Power of the Titan. They knew that the true advantage would be becoming Titans themselves. The eldest, Maria, went first. She spent the first night with her dead mother. On the second night, it was Rose who took over. Then, on the final night, it was Sina, the youngest, who finished Ymir off.”

You felt sick to your stomach.

“But why?” you choked out, afraid you might gag. “How did they know that eating their own mother was going to let them inherit the Power of the Titan?”

“Because of sigillary,” Levi answered plainly. The story didn’t faze him at all. It was just part of his history. “When Ymir was made into a Titan, it was done by humans who performed a type of magic that would etch sigils into her bones and her blood. By consuming her body, her daughters were able to have those sigils in their bodies. Once you have them in you, you can’t reverse the process. It’s a kind of magic that is so intense, it has spanned millennia.”

“And now people have to eat each other to get those powers?” you breathed out, horrified.

“Thankfully that barbaric practice started and ended with the daughters of Ymir,” Levi said. “We’ll never forget their sacrifice, of course, but we’re not going to grind up bones and drink blood and chew on ligaments.”

Now you were really feeling queasy. Why did he have to be so blunt about it?

“You look green, Embla,” Hange commented. “Not a fan of cannibalism?”

“Is anyone?” you countered, but there was no bite in your tone. You were just trying to keep yourself from throwing up.

You shut your eyes to stop the room from spinning, referencing what Levi and Hange were telling you to compare with what you thought you knew.

“I thought Ymir made a deal with the devil,” you squeaked. “That’s what we’ve always been told. And we were told there were originally 10 Titans.”

“Humans are all imbeciles,” Levi snapped.

“Levi,” Hange chided.

You took deep breaths, the nausea slowly fading, and when you felt better, you opened your eyes again.

The room wasn’t spinning anymore, and both Levi and Hange had their eyes on you. It was then that you saw how Eldian they were. So used to their history, so much older than you. Though they looked young, appearing only a little older than you, you remembered that Levi was at least a couple hundred years old. And now, you could almost see it. You saw it behind his eyes, how he’d seen so much and had been through so much. Now, even with lively Hange, you could see the years in their eyes as well. You wondered briefly if they’d been there when this story had begun.

It was strange, knowing that the myths you’d been told were really just myths, not founded on much truth at all, other than the fact that the Eldian realm existed and some of the characters were right. But Hange was correct in that you couldn’t dwell on that too much right now. It would have to wait.

“I’m guessing sigillary isn’t just used to turn people into Titans. What have you been able to figure out?” you asked.

“For one thing, I’m not sure Eldians even have the resources to master it. Well, I wasn’t sure, until we had our little chat. Sigillary was often used to transform things, or create things, like with Ymir. There is much speculation even in Eldia how the portals between the human realm and the Eldian realm came to be. Maybe it was due to sigils? And many of the texts referencing sigillary suggest that it can only be done in the human realm. Though it’s our realm that has all the magic, the sigillary performed on Ymir happened in the human realm and has lasted for two thousand years here in our world. I’m guessing the fact that these sigils exist within Eldians with inherited Titans, in the Eldian realm, give those sigils even more longevity than, say, the human realm.”

That made some sense. You nodded to show that you were following along.

“Some portals to the human realm still exist, though, right?” you asked, and Hange nodded.

“Yes. In Eldia, there’s really only one portal and it’s heavily guarded and warded. Eldians don’t really visit humans anymore and it’s extremely difficult to get approval to cross into your realm anyway. However, I have a hunch that Marleyans founded Marley where they did because there was a portal there, too,” they said.

There was so much history to wrap your brain around.

“When was Marley founded?” you asked.

“It was over two hundred years ago now,” Hange answered. “They had a rebellion and took six of our Titans, then retreated to some unused land. Marley is heavily guarded and warded as well, it may as well be a separate realm entirely. Not even the Scouts can push through. There’s been a lot of unrest ever since.”

The Scouts.

“Are you a Scout, Hange?” you asked, eyes lighting up as you turned to Levi. “Are you, Levi?”

“We are! The Scout Regiment is one of our military factions. I’m a section commander,” Hange said proudly.

Levi kept quiet, but your curiosity outweighed your slight intimidation.

“Are you a commander, Levi?” you pressed, but he glowered at you.

It would make sense. He held authority, and you felt that he could take control of any situation. Plus, he was kind of scary sometimes.

“He’s a captain,” Hange answered for him.

“Captain Levi,” you said with a grin. You expected him to double down on his glaring but, to your delight, he merely rolled his eyes and looked away.

“He must like you,” Hange continued, a sly grin on their face. “When people get on his nerves, he whacks ‘em.”

As if to show the sincerity of their words, you watched as Levi, quick as a cat, swatted Hange over the head and elicited a yelp from them. You pursed your lips together to hide your laugh, hoping to escape Hange’s fate.

But, as Levi left the room, grumbling to himself, Hange hanging off their armchair and whining, you let out a little snicker.

***

The rest of the day passed you by, with Levi working on something with whatever he’d gotten today, and Hange back in their study.

You were largely left to your own devices, unless Hange had a question for you, but you filled the day looking at some history books that Hange let you borrow.

What you uncovered was gruesome and fascinating.

There had definitely been a time when magic was rampant in the human realm, but it was hard to harness, and most humans didn’t have what it took to handle and control it. However, eventually certain humans were able to learn how to use magic and passed that knowledge down to their descendants. They found that magic had its own language, and thus sigillary was born. Entire lineages were born to be dedicated to witchcraft, mostly using magic to become healers or alchemists, but their all-encompassing term was “witches”.

Eventually, the humans who didn’t have these capabilities grew wary of those who did, and some even sought that power for themselves. One in particular, a King Fritz, eagerly and brutally captured witches, and tried to take their magic from them. Ymir was among one of those witches.

King Fritz wasn’t a name you were familiar with, so it was safe to say that he had been lost to time or that humans had purposely rewritten the stories to exclude the evildoings of a particular human being. Even in Eldian texts, there wasn’t a lot of background on him. There wasn’t much history available on Ymir’s early life anymore either, but it was heavily assumed that she was a “runt” in her family, the weakest of her lineage. Her own family passed her up to King Fritz when he attacked her village. She had been abandoned – betrayed – by everyone she’d ever loved.

That part struck you hard, and you felt a heaviness in your heart as you learned about Ymir’s cruel fate. You had to stop reading for a while, choosing instead to sit with your sympathy. It was strange, feeling bad for a character that had been humanity’s antagonist for so long. But now, knowing her story, about to uncover the whole truth, you had never related to a person more.

Images of Pieck, Pock, and Reiner filled your head, and you clenched your jaw as your heart clenched in your chest. Had they really betrayed you like this? What was it about you that made them target you? That was the biggest mystery of all. You weren’t anything special. You were just some anxiety-ridden girl who spooked too easy and couldn’t even kill a spider on her own.

There was something you were missing, some piece of the puzzle you hadn’t found yet. It felt like it was at the tip of your tongue, right in your peripheral vision, but it was escaping you, always just out of reach. If you could just get to the bottom of the reason they’d found you and latched onto you, part of you just knew that you could get the whole picture.

***

Before the sun started to set, you decided to go for a walk. It wasn’t fun being cooped up in a house all day, and you were starting to get antsy. The idea of taking a little stroll and exploring didn’t seem so scary, not when you knew the village would still be empty and that the likelihood of running into a Titan was apparently slimmer than you had originally been made to believe.

Not wanting to disturb Hange and Levi, you left the house as quietly as you could, walking down the street and making mental notes so you wouldn’t get lost. You also needed to remember to start heading back before nightfall, as to not attract unwanted attention. That seemed like a far off worry, though.

Ragako was small but peaceful and well-structured; much of the architecture reminded you of Germanic influences. The streets were desolate and it was exceedingly quiet, but it wasn’t eerie or lonely at all. Maybe there was some sort of charm over the village, but it felt full of love.

You did a lot of window shopping, peering into bakery shops and clothing boutiques, enthralled by what you saw. The style of clothing was old-fashioned, so different from what you were used to. You looked down at your outfit, noting how plain and modern it was, just jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and you frowned a little bit. Maybe this was why Eldians were able to clock you as a human right away. Maybe Hange and Levi could score you some new clothes, if it came down to it and you’d be here for a while.

You stopped for a moment, mulling over the thought. What if you were here for a while? What if you couldn’t make it back ever? Surprisingly, the idea wasn’t as anxiety-inducing as you would have thought it’d be. It still wasn’t lost on you that you hadn’t gone fully insane upon learning where you were; really, the only time you’d lost your mind was having to think about your painful past, and the fears associated with that. Traveling across realms was apparently easier than dealing with your normal human experiences. And, before all this, you’d been on the cusp of starting fresh back home anyway. Perhaps this was the universe’s funny way of granting you that wish.

Definitely something to think about. But you’d have shove those thoughts back for later and let yourself just be right now.

Looking up to the sky, you admired the deep blue of it, only some wisps of clouds blotting it, then caught how low the sun was. It was going to dip into the horizon soon, which meant you needed to start heading back.

As you turned around, however, you jumped a little when you realized you weren’t alone. Levi was making his way towards you, his eyes hard as steel and his stride purposeful.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he called out to you.

“I just wanted to get out of the house and stretch my legs,” you said, shrinking back. Was it really so bad to do that?

“You should have at least let me know before you snuck out, you little shit. You have Hange freaked out thinking you somehow transported back to your own world. Don’t you ever use your brain?” Levi scolded.

“Nobody’s even in town! I thought it’d be the safest time to go for a walk,” you argued, walking towards him. As the two of you met in the middle, Levi’s hand shot out at you to grab your elbow. He was going to actually drag you back to Hange’s place.

You struggled in his grip, but he was exceptionally strong, and you eventually relented and let him guide you back, both of you clearly angry.

As soon as you crossed the threshold into Hange’s house, you tore away from him and took a breath as Hange rushed to you, eyes wild.

“Emb! I was so scared we’d lost you! Not to be selfish, but I didn’t want you going home without solving this crazy mystery of ours!” they exclaimed.

As angry at Levi as you were, you did feel bad for making Hange worry.

“Sorry, Hange. I just wanted to go outside for a while,” you apologized, then turned to glare at Levi over your shoulder. “I didn’t realize I would be reprimanded for it.”

“Insolent brat,” Levi grunted, his grey eyes hard as metal.

You clenched your hands into fists and turned back to Hange, giving them a nod.

“Excuse me, Hange,” you said hurredly, skirting past them to head to the guestroom.

You slammed the door shut behind you, heart pounding. Angry tears welled up in your eyes as you sat by the window, the world outside blurry as you cried.

Stupid Levi. He didn’t need to be so mean like that and make you feel like some bratty kid. You wiped your eyes, clearing your vision so you could take a look outside and calm yourself.

The sun was setting quickly, that golden glow of sunset drenching the village. The sky that had once been a deep blue was now bleeding with rich hues of orange, scarlet, and rose. It was beautiful, but you could hardly admire it.

Again, you thought of Ymir and related strongly to her, going so far as to equate your situation with being trapped and imprisoned like she had been. It wasn’t nearly the same, you knew that deep down, but you had little to no control over your situation, just like Ymir. You were powerless right now. At least Levi was no King Fritz.

To distract yourself and make yourself calm down, you thought back to the other things you’d learned, especially about King Fritz and Ymir’s transformation.

King Fritz had learned a lot about sigillary from his brutal conquest for magic and believed that he could etch some very powerful sigils into Ymir’s deepest parts, her blood and her bones, and then consume those parts of her. He hadn’t killed every witch that had crossed his path – he had actually enslaved some of them in order to help him understand and practice sigils and ordered them to be the ones to cast this powerful spell on Ymir. It surprised you and disgusted you to think of how far he would go for power, but humans were still like that to this day. The lengths a person would go for even the tiniest possibility of gaining power made you sick.

But you were snapped out of your thoughts when the door to the guestroom opened. You kept your face neutral, expecting to see Hange, but you did a double take when you saw who it really was.

Levi.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fanfiction #levi ackerman fic #levi fanfiction #attack on titan fanfiction #aot fanfiction #snk fanfiction

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blueberrypancakesworld · 2 months

Text

The nightmare under the dress

(Og)Fem!freddy/(Re)Fem!freddy x fem!reader

warning : tiny comfort, flirting if you look deep into it, implied wound, nightmare, no use of Y/n

Summary : Welcome to Springwood Kindergarten the new place for your child a place full of dreams…and two charming ladies who take care of the little ones and your dreams with lots of fun for everyone!

Info : This one-shot is based on the amazing and so brilliant art au (This Post) from the lovely and talented @fresm-ay check out the blog the art is just so good. Again thank you for letting do this and have fun reading everyone else too;)

gif by me

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

The dark car drove towards the kindergarten, the morning still hanging over the small town of Springwood. The sun hid behind the fog the lights of the town, the houses and the lights of the cars on the streets that stretched into the town. The light music from the radio filled the car and the weather report had prompted them both to take an umbrella each.

A large dark one and a small colorful umbrella. ,,Are you ready for your first day?" the woman asked and her gaze went for a few seconds to the little girl who was looking at her mother, beaming with joy.

The two braids that kept the tangled hair under control were interspersed with hair clips. The gap in her teeth from her latest success and another precious memory for her mother. The car continued to drive through the streets, but the two were heading for a very specific destination.

They had only moved to the small town a few weeks ago. They had practically fled the big city to escape the many people, cars and overcrowding that had demanded almost everything from them.

Especially in a time without a husband, useless, lazy, out for her body and not taking care of his daughter, he paid the maintenance to keep the cops off his back, but otherwise he didn't let himself be licked.

No use, she thought, focusing back on the road, having written down the route and seeing that they had arrived at the street.

She waited briefly before turning off and, after a few meters, saw the wire fence at the civic victory to keep the children out of the street and avoid the danger. ,,We're here!" the little girl shouted when she saw the colorful flags and toys outside in the garden area or play area for the others.

A smile full of serenity appeared on her mother's lips as she found a parking space after a few minutes and went to her daughter. ,,We're here and you my little frog have your first day of kindergarten," she said, helping her out of the car before taking her little hand and walking across the crosswalk towards the building.

The colorful backpack and the umbrella harmonized with the little red dress and the orange ribbons embroidered on it.

The grin and the gap in her teeth made her mother smile, but she was also proud and a little wistful that her daughter had grown up so much. Opening the waist-high gate and going inside, she saw a few children already glued to the window pane, watching the newcomer with interest and curiosity.

Just as she was about to open the door, it was yanked open and she came face to face with a blonde woman, her long curly hair tied back in a plait, her slightly vulture-like nose and her piercing yet empty-looking green eyes.

Long, gentle fingers lay against the door frame and a green, gray and beige dress clung to her body. A charming, almost arrogant smile and a shimmer of pink lip gloss could be seen.

A beauty, a dream woman who looked after my house. ,,Good morning, Miss, I wanted to drop off my little one for the first day," the mother caught herself and already felt the warm hand on her shoulder pulling her into the kindergarten, into something she didn't know what was happening to her.

,,Oh come in sweetie, I'm Miss Krueger the teacher and every child's dream" she introduced herself and winked at the little girl who seemed fascinated by the pink lip gloss and was probably wondering where she would get something like that.

,,I run the dream group over here together with my...colleague," she continued, her high heels clicking in the corridor and the mother followed, deeply fascinated.

Maybe the other reason wasn't just the financial situation, the separation from her useless husband, maybe it was that she was listening to her heart and was finally looking for a female partner.

Maybe she would find that happiness. Maybe even here in the city? The three of them went into the dream group where, when the door opened again, a pleasantly large play paradise opened up for the little girl. ,,So big!" She called out and her mother felt her clinging to her and begging for permission, which she let go with one last hug and a kiss on the cheek.

,,The girl with the curly hair is Nancy, the boy with the painting coat is Quentin and the girl by the CD player is Nancy too," the blonde whispered to her, watching her protégés with a look of pleasure before placing her hand, which was reassuring and inviting, on her mother's shoulder to lead her around.

The younger one hung her little one's backpack on her heels, placed the umbrella next to it and with one last look of affection went to her daughter with Miss.Krueger who continued to lead her around.

,,A coffee? I mean, we have time and my colleague will take care of everything else...tell me, where did you get the earrings if you don't mind my question dear" the blonde quacked and giggled a charming smile, a smile full of amusement as she suddenly came closer to the younger girl and put her fingers on her body again.

She could feel the other rich girl's perfume on her legs, a smoky note, she thought, and couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed.

She liked the blonde's amused manner, but there was something in those green eyes that looked at her. ,,A coffee please... and the earrings, well, I made them myself," she confessed and smiled slightly as the blonde made a surprised expression, moved away from her and turned to the coffee machine to pour the hot caffeine drink into two cups.

Without seeing the younger girl's gaze pass over her, she didn't take her eyes off the blonde as if she were being drawn to her again and again. ,,So this is homemade, maybe it's something for us to try together for coffee and cake, isn't it?" the blonde asked, handing her the cup as her fingers deliberately moved over the younger girl's.

The two women smiled at each other, their eyes meeting before they both enjoyed the coffee, knowing that it was a little break before they all had to go to work.

Until the clacking of shoes could be heard again, another attendant was there to chat with the mothers and fathers. Before slowly, rather cautiously, a woman joined them, a slight, almost shy smile on her lips.

The slightly sunken cheeks, the pointed nose and the dark blue eyes harmonized with the dark brown hair that had been put into a plait. The black high-heels at her ankles lay up her bare legs to a brown dress lighter than her hair with a white plaid that gave her a certain authority like a teacher.

Topped off with a beige brown cardigan that looked big and soft to protect her from the cold when she was out with the children. ,,Frensis, how nice wouldn't you have to look after little Quentin, you know how he is with his attention," came coolly from the blonde, but the smile on her lips didn't fade as she walked over to the brown-haired girl and simply tipped her coffee into the sink and joined her colleague.

,,Yes, well, hello Ma'm, I'm the other attendant here, pleased to meet you," she said to the smaller of the two attendants and held out her hand. Despite her gentle smile, her demeanor was somewhat submissive, as if she had already been through a lot.

Something she wouldn't wish on anyone else. ,,Nice to meet you, I have to go but I really appreciate the work you're doing here," the mother replied and squeezed her hand in gratitude, seeing the slight blush on the brown-haired girl's cheeks as she slowly loosened her grip on the blonde so that the two could wave goodbye to their "customer" until the main door closed and would only open again in the afternoon when it was time to pick up the town's children.

She listened to the sounds of her daughter as the little child bubbled over with joy about her new friends Quentin and Nancy, who were also super nice.

It was a joy to see them like that. ,,I'm so proud of you for making it through your first day and I'll give you hundreds of kisses for it," she said softly as she pulled the blanket up to keep out the cold and handed Mr. Bunny to her daughter and gave her a goodnight kiss before walking out of the room, slowly closing the door and letting the radio play the rest.

She spent the evening watching something on the old television, but her mind was also on something else. The two women who seemed so different and yet so alike that it was almost funny.

But after she had watched the movie and made herself a warm soothing tea with melatonin and the sweet soft sleepy feeling on her body did the rest, she went to her bedroom with a yawn, defeated by the day. She snuggled under the covers of her bed and sighed exhaustedly before turning off the light with her weaver and falling asleep.

A dreamless sleep for the beginning it seemed, at least for the time being, until the image formed of the sleep she was unaware of becoming something more real. Slowly, snow and soot formed the image of a kindergarten, the same kindergarten she knew, only different.

Different it wasn't full of warmth at least the place itself was glowing but outside it was cold so cold that she warmed her hands before going into the building to be safe from the snow. She was right about the heat the once colorful building with the children's alchendne voices had fallen silent.

As if someone had gone through hell and back, the place had changed. the place was a patchwork of dilapidated walls, back alleys and old factories with hot steelworks. ,,Hello?" she called out into the place and cringed as she heard a female but not of this wlet rather amused...demonic.

Trying to find a way out, she went back to the front door but it was no longer there and something told her that this could not mean anything good in the dream.

Especially not when the scene went completely awry in the factory and she almost ran into one of the hot pipes, which the unknown voice found amusing even if different. ,,Come here pretty Ma'm...let me look at you" she heard the voice a familiar voice as she felt something cold and sharp on her shoulder move around she saw Frensis stuck in a sweater her face burnt and on her right hand a leather glove with small rings on the fingertips.

A scream of anguish escaped the younger women as she rushed away from the figure, the metal trying to lay on her body and the brown-haired woman seemed amused.

She watched her prey, taking her time to touch the warm real skin it was something special and her victim didn't dare to move in fear and confusion.

A gentle touch on her cheek sent a cold shiver down her body. ,,Let me give you a dream!" she shouted and pulled out her weapon to strike her victim, who raised her hands defensively but was pushed away by something. As if someone else was grabbing her and with the opening of her eyes she was back in this confusion of confused scenes.

,,She's a pretty thing bitch take your own...now I'll show you a real nightmare" said the voice and she saw the shimmer of pink lipgloss before burnt skin wrapped around her waist, the same glove moved along her body and she looked into the burnt face of Miss.Krueger, blue eyes showing the joy of the hunt.

A laugh escaped the barely recognizable lips before the gloves came off. Oh the two dream demons would show their new pretty favorite victim what it meant to have her as "friends". Let the new nightmare begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@rl-nancyholbrook hey dear maybe you can get more invested threw this

@paranormalfool

#a nightmare on elm street 2010 #a nightmare on elm street #freddy krueger #freddy kruger x reader #female freddy krueger #robert englund #jackie earle haley #female x female

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starsstuddedsky · 1 year

Text

Can I Make It Any More Obvious?

reader x vernon

summary: telling everyone you already have a date to prom is a brilliant idea, until the one person you actually want to go with overhears

genre: fluff

warnings: secondhand embarassment i tiny bit i think? maybe none?

wc: 1.6k

a/n: AND WITH THIS I HAVE COMPLETED 13/13!!!! very much a short cute thing that i pounded out in like an hour but it turned out fun and i like it so enjoy <33

It isn’t until you make eye contact with Vernon that you realize the mistake you’ve made. He looks genuinely shocked, eyes wide, mouth hanging open just a tiny bit. He quickly snaps his mouth shut and turns away as soon as you catch him looking, walking down the hall as if he didn’t see a thing. But you know he did.

You’re half tempted to chase him down, tell him what you meant, but you’re immediately swarmed by Mingyu and Jeonghan, who demand to know who you are going to prom with.

It was a fast lie, not one that you really thought through. But, in your defense, you weren’t expecting Mark of all people to ask you. He was a friend, sure, but two years younger, and madly in love with one of your teammates. Even if it wasn’t Mark, and it was someone like Mingyu, who was constantly mistaken for your boyfriend, you still would have said no. There is someone else that you have been daydreaming about slow dancing to terrible music with.

For a moment, you even thought you were smart. If everyone thought you had a date, no one would ask. Somehow you forgot Vernon was included in that everyone.

“It’s a surprise,” you say quickly. “Someone you won’t expect.” Which is true, because even though Mingyu knows about your lifelong crush on Vernon (which is top secret information), he also knows that there is no way you’ll ever do anything about it. So, he won’t expect Vernon (though you’ve crushed any chance of that by telling the entire school that you already have a date), and he definitely won’t expect you to show up alone.

God, this is a nightmare.

Vernon is waiting for you like always. It took you embarrassingly long to realize that he doesn’t sit on his front porch every night just for fun. In your defense, he used to come up with excuses, like taking out the trash, petting his cat (which somehow always disappeared before you got there), or just enjoying the sunset. It got harder for him to explain during the winter, when it was dark by the time you got out of practice and he would jump outside just to say hi to you before you dragged yourself inside to do homework.

Just his presence is enough to put a smile on your face, which should have been your first warning that things were going wrong. But like a fool you’d stop before going inside and chat with him a little, usually updating him on the constant drama on your team. Sometimes the conversations were just a few minutes, but more than a couple times you found yourself sitting beside him for an hour or more. Still, he always seemed to know when you were more tired than usual, pushing you to your own door before you even realized you were about to pass out.

You get out of your car and head straight to him, dropping your backpack at your feet and sitting beside him on the porch swing. He looks different today, leg jittering as bounces it, tapping his fingers rapidly that remind you that he plays keyboard in his three person band.

Vernon isn’t the type to get nervous, which is why it takes you so long to realize that’s why he’s acting the way he is. It’s something you’ve learned over the many years of knowing him, like his pollen allergy (that he hides surprisingly well), and his preference for jean jackets over leather. It’s not every day that you see him struggling to put two words together, eyes dancing around, never staying in one place for too long. They flit to meet yours, then down to your outfit, then abruptly to the side, behind you, to the door, anywhere but at you.

Nervous Vernon is rare, but what makes it even harder to process is the fact that he’s nervous because of you. You, who have known him your whole life (or when he moved in next door when you were three but that’s basically the same thing).

You never thought Vernon would even look at you. He has always been aloof, running away to the music room with Seungkwan and Seokmin to play whatever top secret songs they’d composed. You snuck by once, just to see what they were doing, and ended up spending your entire lunch period sitting in the corner of an empty practice room with your ear pressed against the wall listening to some of the best indie-rock-pop-alternative-funk-jazz(?) music you’ve ever heard.

Vernon didn’t seem like the type to be interested in you. Not when you spent most of your time at school, either at practice or club events, or, now that you’re finally a senior, organizing all of the graduation events. These days you only run into him in the evenings, which you’ve only just started to realize is only because Vernon waits for you.

It was like Sk8ter Boi by Avril Lavigne, which definitely wasn’t one of your top songs because of him. That would make Vernon the punk (except he’s a nerd that plays keyboard) while you did ballet (except you play basketball). It wasn’t your best analogy.

Either way, you didn’t ever expect to see him this nervous, and never because of you. The air begins to cool as the sun sets, making goosebumps appear on your open skin as you shiver.

You try to think logically about it all. Fact 1: Vernon is nervous to talk to you. Fact 2: He overheard you saying that you have a date to prom. Fact 3: Vernon waits for you almost every day.

“I don’t have a date to prom,” you blurt out.

“You don’t?”

“No,” you say, smiling. “I didn’t want to go with Mark and didn’t really want anyone else asking me. Well, there is someone I want to ask me, but until about two minutes ago, I didn’t think he had any interest in me.”

“Wait.” Vernon glances at you. “You’re saying…”

“Yeah, you dummy,” you say. “I want to go with you.”

“But you,” he pauses. “You’re not supposed to go with me. Or someone like me.”

“Why not?” You say. “You’re the one that I like.”

He turns his head slowly, the gentle breeze knocking some of his hair loose around his forehead. “You like me?”

“Yeah,” you say, surprised how easily the words come out. It’s not as scary as you expected, a weight being lifted off your chest that you didn’t know was there. “I like you, a lot.”

“Oh.”

The silence grows longer, and the reality of what you said starts to sink in. You told him how you felt. And he didn’t say anything. You’re going to have to see him every day. Even if you can avoid him at school, you can hardly dodge him when he lives right next door. You stand up, the planks of his front porch creaking at your sudden movement.

“I should probably go do my homework,” you say. Vernon nods, still not looking at you. “I’ll… see you tomorrow.” You do your best not to flat out sprint down the steps.

“Wait!” Vernon says. He stands, crossing the porch to the railing which stands above the grass where you now stand, backpack falling off your shoulder. “I like you, too.” He scratches his head. “I guess I should have said that. I thought it was obvious, but just in case it wasn’t, I like you a lot too.”

You take a step closer to the porch, which puts you a good foot lower than Vernon. You’re convinced you look like a giddy idiot smiling up at him, but when it’s Vernon, you don’t really mind. “Really?”

“The entire school has a crush on you and you’re surprised that I do?”

“You’re not exactly like everyone else,” you say. “Not that that’s a bad thing! Or that you’re ‘not like other girls.’ Obviously, because you’re not a girl, but you get what I mean, and I’m really just trying to say that I just think you’re really cool and you always listen to me even when I ramble, and oh my god, I’m rambling right now and I really need to stop.”

Vernon smiles at you, that stupid familiar that makes your heart flutter yet also makes you feel like everything is going to be okay. “You’re a lot sillier than you pretend to be.”

“You’re trusted with a very secret side of me,” you say. “Very few people know how dumb I actually am.”

“You’re not dumb,” he says immediately.

“I told Mark I couldn’t go to prom with him because I already had a date when it was actually because I wanted to go with you, and you were right there.”

“A dumb decision,” he says, “but that doesn’t make you dumb. Just someone who occasionally makes dumb decisions. Maybe more so when you’re around someone you have a crush on?”

“You don’t have any right to tease me when you almost let me run away thinking you didn’t like me back,” you say.

“Fair point,” he says, “But I was thinking, since everyone already thinks you have a date, and you wanted to go with me anyways, we could go together.”

“Hansol Vernon Chwe, was that seriously your way of asking me to prom?”

“I feel like the answer to that should be ‘no,’” he says. “But I don’t really know what you want.”

You entertain the image of Vernon doing an intricate promposal with roses, and maybe getting the band to help him. It doesn’t last long, because that’s not Vernon (especially with the aforementioned pollen allergy). So what do you want? A sincere confession? You’ve already gotten that.

“I want you to ask me for real,” you say, stepping closer and resting your chin on your hands on the railing.

Vernon leans closer, and it’s your turn to be flustered, your heart pumping hot blood straight to your cheeks where they must be bright red.

“Yn,” he says, “Would you like to go to prom with me?”

You answer without thinking. “Yes.”

#🌟 stars galaxy #seventeen #seventeen x reader #svt reader #svt #seventeen fluff #vernon x reader #chwe hansol #vernon #vernon fluff #I forgot how to do tags and im too lazy to do them rn oops

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ingo-in-places-he-shouldnt-be · 1 year

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Happy 2000-- er... 2400 followers! I suppose this is what I get for overestimating how long it would take me to do two full bodies and 14 busts which I wound up cropping anyway lol.

Bonus commentary under the cut!

Link to the version with no commentary (x)

So first off, this was a considerable challenge for me since I don't normally draw in an anime style, and I think that shows. There were a lot of wonky proportions that I ended up having to go back and sort of fix in post. Irida, Rei, and Akari were especially bad-- my own sister told me that Rei looked like "a cross between a Victorian orphan and a frog". I decided to redraw all three of them, but since I drew them on a smaller canvas, I think it messed with the resolution a little when I shrank them down. I'm not sure anyone would notice if they weren't looking for it, but I've been staring at this for so long that I can't unsee it.

Next was the brilliant decision to put Emmet, Elesa, and Drayden on a light background. They initially faded right in, so I went back over some of the outlines to make them more readable; I had also tried putting the whole Unova set on a darker background, but found that it drew too much attention and unbalanced the piece.

On to the good things!

I adore how Melli and Zisu turned out. I don't know what it was, but my art game was on point that day.

I also had a lot of fun trying out different motifs. I knew from the outset that I wanted to play around with the duality of black/white, the duality of past/future, and the idea of making the whole disk resemble a PokéBall. The center design had me stumped for a while; I had initially used screenshots of the Highlands and Gear Station as placeholders during my planning stage, but around halfway through I decided that would be too busy and changed it to a simple railway track design instead. Then I decided I didn't like that either, and at the last minute I went back to a simplified version of my original concept. I think the stylized Coronet mountain range and subway train work nicely.

Other trivia:

During my planning phase, I used everyone's official art as placeholders-- except for Zisu, who for some reason I couldn't find any for. I used a screenshot for her placeholder, and referenced her TCG card for the final drawing.

Emmet being the only character drawn from a head on angle was deliberate. I wanted to subtly highlight his importance while still being able to place a key Pokémon in the center of both groups.

I drew all of my initial sketches on paper, lined and colored in Clip Studio, and compiled/edited everything in GIMP. I am a chaos gremlin and I will not apologize.

The reason I settled on a Station of Awakening as a follower celebration is threefold: The first is that I was hanging out with some good friends, and we wound up playing Melody of Memory. I forget exactly how it came up, but it was definitely a joke at the time as I do recall saying that it would take me forever... which it did, lol. The second reason is that I later realized that my first post on the blog (after the original "Ingo shouldn't be in old timey Hisui" (x) post) was Kingdom Hearts themed (x). The circle of stupidity is complete! And finally, I'm old enough to remember when making one of these for your blorbo was The Big Fandom Thing ™ that everyone did, and I wanted to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.

#my art #I'll keep this version out of the main tags so I'm not spamming #I'll add links to the other version of either post in a sec

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diagonal-queen · 1 year

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If the BSD boys were my coworkers

♡ characters: Atsushi Nakajima, Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Kunikida Doppo, Ranpo Edogawa, John Steinbeck, Edgar Allan Poe

♡ synopsis: How would these boys be if they were my coworkers?

♡ cw: Swearing, knives, mentions of sexual harassment

note: For clarification I'm a retail assistant at a grocery store. So basically how good are these boys at stocking vegetables and being nice to people? This is extremely self indulgent, which I apologise for. Also apologies for errors and I hope you enjoy x

Atsushi:

Would be so good with helping customers. I'd always be calling after him to get me out of trouble with mean old customers lol

Like me would also be bad with the wrapping machine T-T

Pretty good at his job, not totally brilliant but also not bad. I think it'd be fine if I were left alone with him for a little bit

The kindest coworker I could ask for honestly he'd always be there to help me if I needed his help

Would bring me back a snack or cake from a nearby bakery or cafe from his lunch break <3

Like me, would find it very hard to not just start eating all the fresh fruit while he's stocking it (I kin him a lot guys lmao)

Actually like super duper efficient and we'd be able to get our work done pretty quickly. The last half hour or so of our shifts would be so slow

Would always ask me to be careful if I were using a knife to do something because he's just a sweetie

Dazai:

This dude would be so damn slow when restocking food honestly and it would be infuriating lmao

Wouldn't be very thorough when checking stock so I'd probably be finding a bit of rotten fruit while working :'(

He'd be fun to hang out with in the back though, would definitely flirt on company time and hold the both of us up lol

Would do that thing where you stand behind someone who's trying to reach something in a high shelf and you'd get it for them but also lowkey lean against them. All the time

Would be good at remembering which stock we have and what we don't have though

He would be so good and charismatic with customers, especially old women they'd call him a charming young gentleman and all that stuff

Always forgets to bring his shit (nametag, pen, apron etc.) to work and would probably have to continuously borrow things

The thing with him is that he's legitimately good at all of it but he just chooses to be incompetent just because T-T

Chuuya:

Would be so. fucking. GOOD at this job holy shit.

Super good at wrapping stock and would get the hang of all the machinery and stuff immediately

Would be civil to customers unless they give him shit then he'd give it right back lmaoo

He would definitely also defend me if I was being bullied by Karens or being harassed by male patrons (during the daytime there's my adult male coworkers and then there's me, a small girl who looks like fifteen or some shit. Y'all know I be gettin called 'sweetie' by men four times my age)

Would always be very salty about having to use the step to reach stock on high shelves lol

But he'd also be super good at heaving and lifting heavy stuff like potato sacks which I'd have to get him to do for me because I'm weak

Would look so hot in the work uniform highkey

Like the number one coworker I won't lie

Akutagawa:

Akutagawa has a serious case of resting bitch face, so customers would be too worried to approach him lmao and I'd have to help everyone

He makes up for this by being super duper good at presentation and so I'd never have to go around and organise things because they'd always look pretty lol

Probably uses his ability to help him carry things (but only in the back because that would scare customers)

Despite his fighting talent he would not be able to cut vegetables. He would be so confused with it. Same with the wrapping he wouldn't be able to get it right

Would prefer to wear gloves while working

If Gin ever came in to grab some groceries he'd talk to her for a little (and treat her better than all the other customers T-T)

Actually wouldn't be so bad to talk to while working but he would literally never initiate any conversations or small talk

Focuses so hard while he's working and it's honestly so cute

Kunikida:

He would be both good to work with but also crappy to work with hear me out

He would be great at remembering stock, helping me with customers, and helping me reach stuff on high shelves because at work I'm considered short

But he'd also hound me for being too slow or not stacking stuff correctly

That being said, he would always answer any questions that I'd have and explain things to me in a way that I'd understand :)

Works like a machine. I'd never be able to catch up to him at all (and he would hate that)

Would not want me bringing snacks or drinks to work but like what's he gonna do? Waste perfectly good food? Didn't think so Kunikida >:)

Even if he had a super long shift he'd just never tire and always be buzzing (even if he were tired he'd be great at concealing it)

Let's just be glad that he's not working alongside Dazai

Ranpo:

WOULDN'T GET ANY GODDAMN WORK DONE

I love Ranpo to the moon and back but he'd be the most useless fucking coworker of all time

He wouldn't make lists, he wouldn't grab stock and if I'm LUCKY he'd work out the front of the store. He'd use any excuse to stay in the back and just use the label maker and maybe cut vegetables because of how low effort it is

Would be super fun to hang out with if we have nothing to do though. We would talk so much shit about mean customers we encounter and stuff

He'd also bring sweets to work and let me have some sometimes, but only if I nag him about not doing any work

Would stay in the fridge just to breathe out and see mist come out of his mouth (and would also forget to close the fridge door)

Knows the layout of the whole damn store after walking through it ONE time

In conclusion I'm snitching to Fukuzawa

Steinbeck:

Absolute fucking BEAST. This dude is a farmer so he's able to rotate and complete quality checks at lightning speed

Honestly probably wouldn't need much training if any at all. He'd be the employee of the month on the first day

I feel like I'd have tons of free time at the end of my shifts because he'd just finish all the work so fast

Could use his ability to replenish stock. He could, but he won't. Just because he's a bit of a bitch (and people might not want to eat literal flesh vegetables but y'know)

Hums along to the songs that he knows on the radio while he works

Is good at being civil with customers but if they give him lip he's not gonna be as civil for much longer

Always bantering with our other coworkers and DEFINITELY talking shit about annoying customers in our free time

I mean if I want to not have to do very much work on a certain day I'd hope that I'd be working with John lol

Poe:

Would take a little while to get used to it all, because I feel like he's not the type to memorise a bunch of stuff super fast

Would be overwhelmed by customers and might freeze up on them; I'd have to come in and save him

Otherwise, he might just default to 'I'll go to the back and check for you' so he can escape the situation (same)

Would take pretty long while restocking food because he'd want to make it all look nice lol

He'd be scared of the wrapping machine (it has a hot plate to seal wrapping and he'd be scared of burning himself on it)

Might actually always be miserable because he's not allowed to bring Karl to work and so he'd feel lonely :(

He and I would talk about our niche interests when we're finished and have nothing else to do

I mean he could most definitely be worse. No matter how bad he'd be I'd love him anyway

i will do a girls version of this btw

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd headcanons #bsd fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #bsd atsushi #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #bsd akutagawa #bsd kunikida #bsd ranpo #bsd steinbeck #bsd poe #bsd hcs #headcanons

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asordinaryppl · 7 days

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A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 11: Pause & Pose

Citron: << I don’t see anything wrong with this. >>

Staff: << Understood. Also, there is one more thing– >>

Staff: << As Citronia-sama’s activities become more widely known, the interest in foreign arts and culture increases. >>

Staff: << There have been discussions about proposing the invitation of foreign performances. >>

Citron: << That sounds brilliant. Let’s try discussing it with my father. >>

Staff: << I will create an outline as soon as possible, then. >>

Citron: << I will also keep an eye on promising theater companies and the like. >>

Staff: << I appreciate that. I will create an outline in time for the International Arts Festival, so please wait for a while. >>

Citron: << About that… Please put my attendance confirmation on hold due to scheduling reasons. >>

Staff: << Would you like to have someone else go in your stead? His Majesty said this is a good opportunity to promote Zahra overseas… >>

Citron: << No, if we are going to participate, I am the right person for it. I just have some work piled up. Give me some time. >>

Staff: << Understood. >>

Citron: …

[Keyboard keys clicking]

Tsuzuru: … *exhales*

Masumi: … It’s 12.

Tsuzuru: Are you some kinda time announcer? It’s okay. I’ll take a break soon.

[Phone vibrating]

Masumi: …

Tsuzuru: Answer properly if it’s someone you know.

Masumi: I know.

Masumi: … I’m gonna call them back, so leave the room.

Tsuzuru: Eh? You’re making me leave?

Masumi: Hurry.

Tsuzuru: Okay, okay. I got it.

Tsuzuru: (Could he have just been trying to get me to take a break?)

Tsuzuru: (Guess I’ll eat and then go for a walk…)

Clerk: Welcome. You may sit wherever you like.

Tsuzuru: …

Syu: Oh, if it ain't Minagi-sensei.

Tsuzuru: Eh—

Tsuzuru: (Otomiya-san in a café is kinda… Should I say surprising? Should I call it a mismatch? … I’d understand if we were in a bar.)

Syu: It’s not like I only go out to drink, y’know.

Tsuzuru: (He saw right through me…)

Syu: Are you alone? Hang out with me for a bit.

Tsuzuru: I am. Then, excuse me…

Tsuzuru: (He even acts like we’re in a bar.)

Syu: Man, that Yukio’s really done it now.

Tsuzuru: Eh?

Syu: The Fleur Award.

Syu: This is Yukio we’re talking about, so all he’s thinking is probably things like “Theater is the best” and “It’d be fun if everyone could aim for the Fleur Award ♪”

Syu: He hasn’t stopped to think about the people who got caught up in this and are all confused.

Tsuzuru: Haha…

Tsuzuru: (It’s really starting to feel that way…)

Syu: So, how’s it going? Do you have a winning strategy?

Tsuzuru: Ah, we’re thinking of doing sequels to our debut performances…

Syu: Heeeh. That sounds interesting.

Tsuzuru: It’s just, this is my first time writing a sequel. I’m worried about how to plan it and what people are expecting of me. My pen’s feelin’ heavy, so to speak.

Syu: Isn’t the way you always go about it fine? Isn’t that why you chose to make a sequel of your debut?

Tsuzuru: I mean, I guess that’s true.

Syu: Well, if you need some more help—

Tsuzuru: ?

Syu: … Have you heard of Director Akazaki?

Tsuzuru: Eh, I have. Isn't he pretty famous?

Syu: As a director and a scriptwriter, he holds a scriptwriting camp once every few years to nurture new talents.

Syu: He's holding it again this year, so he asked me if I know any promising young scriptwriters.

Syu: I was thinking of recommending you, but it looks like you’re too busy for it.

Tsuzuru: A scriptwriting camp… Such a thing exists?

Syu: Scriptwriters that participated in the past have won theater awards overseas, and have been selected for major dramas. The record’s good.

Tsuzuru: I’ve never participated in something like that before. I’m really interested.

Tsuzuru: But, considering the results of 1Q will be announced in three months, I think now’s not the time to participate in something like that…

Tsuzuru: (It’s a tempting new challenge, but given the timing, I don’t think I can accept it.)

Tsuzuru: If there’s a next time, I’d definitely want to participate.

Syu: Got it. I’ll let you know when that time comes.

Syu: As I said before, it’s fine if you stay the way you are, Minagi-sensei.

Syu: If you’re going back to the start, you should ask your past self to teach you about your debut script.

Syu: What do you want to write? That’s the kind of thing that’d appear most clearly in your first work.

Syu: Writing what you want to write’s one of the better parts of working for a particular theater. This sequel is something no one other than you can put out.

Syu: If you get the chance to do what you want, you should take it. Before it gets to a point where you can’t do anything at all, that is.

Tsuzuru: — —

Tsuzuru: (That’s true. He can’t read Hakkaku-san’s sequels anymore.)

Tsuzuru: (And if the rules for the Fleur Award hadn’t changed, we might’ve never brought up the talk of sequels.)

Tsuzuru: (That’s how it was with the original RomiJuli. I just blindly clung to the opportunity given to me.)

Tsuzuru: (Thinking this might be my first and last chance, I was willing to do everything I could.)

Tsuzuru: (Then, now too—)

previous episode | masterpost | next episode

NOTES:

(1) the episode title is two words written in the same way (ポーズ) but denoted just slightly differently, i went with pause and pose by ear

#a3!#translation #a3! translation #masumi usui #tsuzuru minagi #citron #syu otomiya

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statementlou · 10 months

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Hi, how was your show!!!??

Thank you for asking! It was great, OBVIOUSLY. I saw Louis play a short set in late 2019, but was not able to go to Walls tour, so this was my first time at a proper tour show (in Berkeley last night) and it was brilliant! I have been trying to figure out what to say besides that though cause tbh there are two posts I want to make. So… both? First for my recap- it was so loud, like the music was just normal concert loud but I had to plug my ears against the screaming between songs cause it was way louder- I just figured it was the in person experience difference but no, Louis confirmed, “you guys have been so fucking loud in here tonight, it's actually been hard for me to hear” so GO US! The chokingly thick haze of weed smoke (“I already feel the energy, I already feel the love, I can already smell the weed,” he was not fucking kidding) to usher in HIC in California (and all the other songs lol) didn’t diminish the energy a bit! Truly, there is nothing like the energy of shared live music, and meeting eyes of other fans (through the trees) and sharing that excitement. And seeing actual physical unmediated Louis, just existing in space being a real live human, yeah. Something.

I was like I'm not gonna bother to take pictures or anything, I just want to dance and hear and look, everyone else's pics will be better anyway but then the TECH, you guys know how much I love the fucking aesthetic of this tour and the screens were SO PRETTY in real life!! So in fact I KEPT getting my phone out for that so like... good one tech crew, you got me. Look for many low quality aesthetic posts of the screens incoming, sorry not sorry. Common People was SO PRETTY, his voice was so clear and lovely and I'm so glad that's been added in. WDBHG went HARD live, holy shit, SO FUN (tho tbh me as Louis thinking I know all the words to that song but it turns out there are a lot? And I do not? At least I was in the best possible company fumbling and mumbling through parts.) Heartbroken I didn’t get Saturdays live (honestly the one song I think might have been my exception to the next thing I’m gonna say) but so thankful for BTM🖤

But part two of this post is to say that watching the livestreams with you all is also brilliant and special and also lets me experience the beauty of Louis’ voice and presence and connection and the feeling of experiencing something together. I wasn’t able to go last year, and I know some of you (many many thousands worldwide!) won’t be able to go this year either or maybe ever, and I know you are seeing the posts telling you there is nothing like being there and you can't really know or appreciate Louis/ Louis’ voice/ the experience unless you are there in person and it feels sad and I want to tell you that I have done the research now and I don’t think that is true. Most people who go to the show won’t have a Y/N moment and be Perceived by Louis or be at barricade, and I don’t think the experience we are having online together is less real or profound than the live experience. His voice sounded fucking gorgeous and soaring and I loved it, but even if you are there it is mediated by all kinds of tech; I imagine getting to be present for an acoustic performance really would be something that couldn’t be replicated but I think a really good live through a clear speaker or a nice quality show video is in fact just fine. Some of the songs did hit me harder in person and get my blood pumping in a different way, yes- but others I actually think I get a fuller experience of in a chiller more focused environment when everything isn’t flying by as quickly. Like I don’t think the megamix would impact the way it does (UGH I LOVE IT SO MUCH) if I just saw it live once and done, for example. Anyway I’m just saying if you can’t make your own (go to the show) store bought is fine (hang with us at stream time! or just whatever online content). While I never intend to watch every stream in fact I am usually right here and love to chat and squee with people, come hang out, or just watch some videos and enjoy the magic.

#obviously overall HECK YES SO HAPPY but I have two complaints in addition to the Saturdays Issue #one is that the Snuts didn’t play Maybe California?? for their first california show?????? why do they hate me?!!!#to be clear it is ON THEIR SETLIST. AND YET.#and the other is something I’ve come up on before with these guys which is that being in the location where your show is always #the day BEFORE the one they are really excited about (LA)… is kind of a bummer🙈it is what it is and it's not a big deal but js #was about to say why can't any of them ever go in the other direction but LMAO NEVER MIND #the question answers itself 😂#anyway I have more thoughts about live vs online experiencing of it all but ...another time #blah blah blah #fitfwt berkeley

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askthekoopsandjr · 1 year

Text

Intro Post!! Please read! :)

Hello and welcome to the Ask the Koopalings and Jr. Blog! Title says it all, with the addition that you can ask additional characters questions as well! Please read the following text before you follow or ask questions!

This is meant to be a fun blog for everyone! That means absolutely no asking inappropriate questions or prompts, and please don't be rude! (Do note that in my story, Koopas age differently from humans and therefore are *not* adults at 18. AKA all the Koopalings (and Suzuka, as the bonus ask character) are minors.) You can ask questions anonymously, and send as many as you like! However, please only be sending legit questions/prompts you want to see be answered, not spam messages like "hi" over and over again. I will block anyone who otherwise breaks these rules, or makes me uncomfortable. Now onto the fun stuff!

The Koopalings and Jr.'s Short Bio:

Ludwig von Koopa: The eldest koopaling at 18 years old. Loves playing his piano, and takes pride in everything he does.

Iggy Koopa: The second oldest at 16. Quixotic, but exceedingly brilliant. Loves to tinker with electronics.

Morton Koopa Jr.: The third oldest at 15. Looks intimidating, but is indeed the sweetest of the bunch. He enjoys cooking, even if he's not so great at it.

Roy Koopa: The fourth oldest at 14. Short tempered, tough, and likes to cause danger. Can be hard-nosed at times, but will always come around to reason.

Wendy O. Koopa: The fifth oldest at 13. Has a realistic and tomboyish personality to compliment her feminine appearance.

Lemmy Koopa: The sixth oldest at 10. Silly and very extroverted, he loves to make anything he can fun, even for his enemies.

Larry Koopa: The youngest koopaling at 9. Has an optimistic and competitive spirit. He loves to hang out with his siblings.

Bowser Jr.: The only son of Bowser, heir to the Koopa throne, age 8. As energized and passionate as roaring flames, he's still learning to be a better future leader to his underlings, and a better friend to his adopted family.

Not seeing information here that you wanted to know about them? ASK! :)

(I will try to answer every question with art, which may be digital or traditional. It may take some time to answer every question, so please be patient! I will answer questions in the order in which they were received. I reserve the right to refuse answering any questions without given notice.)

Additional Characters

If you'd like, you can also ask my OC Suzuka questions or prompts! Same rules apply. Master post of information on him

(Additionally: Do not follow if you interact with or make nsfw of the Mario franchise under any circumstances / Do not follow if you are proship/profic or support problematic things :/ .)

If you have any further questions, or just want to know, my main blog is @izzyfredpony .

#ask blog #ask box open #ask blog rules #koopalings #super mario #bowser jr #ludwig von koopa #roy koopa #morton koopa jr #wendy o koopa #lemmy koopa #larry koopa #iggy koopa #super mario bros #super mario movie #art asks

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talesmaniac89 · 1 year

Text

Charity Heist 3 - aka. Front Row Seats to the Gun Show

A Supernatural Heist AU - Masterlist

Pairing: Hitter!Dean x Thief!Reader

Summary: The Singer & Winchester Retrieval Agency is the best group of con artists in the world. But even though Y/N can crack safes, scale buildings and infiltrate even the most secure locations, she still can't find a way to deal with her all consuming feelings for the group's greek god of a hitter; Dean Winchester. How will she handle their next big heist, when she's forced to get up close and personal with the man of her dreams?

Warnings: Idiots in love, smutty thoughts, a lot of swearing and a ton of bad jokes.

Watch the trailer here

A/N: This story is 50% jokes and 50% dirty thoughts. No deep angst, just fun and action! Inspired by the series Leverage.

Y/N = Your Name | Y/H/C = Your Hair Colour | Y/E/C = Your Eye Colour

Start Here - Last - Next

“Alicia Cooper? Really?”

You raised a teasing eyebrow at Dean as he dropped your cover’s details in your lap where you were lounging on the couch nursing a much needed beer after having to deal with Crowley. The damned Scotsman had nearly insisted on being wined and dined until your group had managed to force him out the door to let you start prepping for the heist.

“Shut up (Y/N), it beats some of your cover name ideas,” Dean scoffed, though you could see a tiny bit of pride in his smile from how you’d managed to guess the chosen cover name was one of the ones he’d put in the system. Though it wasn’t all that hard to guess. Most of his naming ideas came from classic rock or pop culture references.

“I think ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Thief’ was an absolutely brilliant cover name thank-you-very-much,” You threw back with a laugh that only grew brighter as Dean dropped down onto the couch next to you and bumped your shoulder. A beer in his own big hand, and a similar folder hiding his own cover identity resting against one of his big thighs. Though his was… Suspiciously thicker than yours.

The folder, not the thighs… Though he did have some deliciously thick thighs.

“Maybe, if you were supposed to be some sort of actual artist, and not a French art dealer,” He retorted with a boyish grin and a wink. Easily teasing more laughter out of you with memories of your evening spent at the Met gala, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and pretending you knew your oils from your watercolors.

“Alright… So Alicia is passable. Who is she?” You conceded as you flipped open the cover and picked up the fake driver’s license. A small crease in your brow as your eyes went to the details on the paper under it.

Great…

You were a damned Bond girl again. And not one of the kick ass ones either. Just one of the empty, two dimensional characters added for ‘sex appeal’. Standing around in skimpy dresses and batting fake lashes at the hero of the story with no story of their own to tell. Or at least none they were allowed to tell.

Whenever you were dealing with the mob you normally only got to play the secretary, cocktail waitress or the ‘side piece’ to one of the guys. Which was usually Sammy or Castiel, since they’d handle intel while you scouted for infiltration, and Dean was just too much for your little heart to handle. Spending most of your recons hanging off of one of their arms and pretending you couldn’t kick the ass of everyone in the room, in heels.

“Sorry sweetheart, you know how these mafia types are… They can be kinda misogynistic. I promise, next heist you’ll get the kick ass cover and I’ll be the arm candy,” Dean winked, with a grin that looked anything but sorry.

“Alright, so I’m Alicia Cooper, young heiress and unwitting accomplice who’s just out spending daddy’s money… Got a degree in psychology from KU, but haven’t put it to good use yet. Languages: English, barely. Hobbies: Fashion week appearances, festivals and… That’s it?”

You looked up from the mess of IDs with your smiling face on them and pinched the laughably short list of information about your character between two fingers before glaring at Dean’s much more sturdy background history in his lap.

“As I said, sorry (Y/N). The mob shouldn’t go digging too deep in Charlie’s or your background; we need you guys to be invisible. You’re the aces up our sleeve after all,”

The words left him with a smile against the lip of his bottle. And damn it…

When he pulled that smile, lips a little damp from the beer, the damned gorgeous bastard could get away with anything. Even giving you the cover story of a freaking extra. Your fake cover father’s backstory was more detailed than your own for god’s sake.

“Since there's not much to go on, you can build the character traits however you want, within reason. Don’t go making up any more dark pasts of parents shot in an alley and a lifelong promise of hunting down their killer. Alicia Cooper’s family is all alive and she ain’t no Batman,” He added with a raised eyebrow and a crooked smile. Teasing a chuckle out of you, though you were trying your damned hardest to pout.

“Maybe there’s an uncle…”

“She’s also no Spiderman (Y/N),” Dean gave you an exaggerated eye roll and a fake sigh as his eyes crinkled into that smile that always made you melt.

“Alright, I’ll be Alicia. What about you? Will you be the Mr. Nice Guy to my Cooper?”

Turning in your seat you leaned in to sneak a peak at the folder in his lap. Leaning against Dean’s shoulder, you pretended little shots of electricity weren’t going straight through your arm and into your heart from the small touch as you tried to focus on the words. Pretending you hadn’t just taken the chance to get closer to him. The same way you always did. Finding little, innocent moments to just revel in the closeness of your crush.

Whenever Dean was close, you just felt safer, and more real than you’d ever had the chance to feel in your former life on the run. And you’d noticed a few times that he seemed to be doing the same. Like how his clenched fist had brushed up against your arm when Crowley was busy making an ass out of himself. Using touch and human body heat to ground himself. Though for you, only Dean’s touch would do. Anyone else and it just made you skittish…

Jumpy.

“Not exactly a nice guy, no. I’m Mal Young... Jackpot, AC/DC! I’m the School Days to your School’s Out. Former US military turned arms trader. Should be an easy enough sell for me,” Dean said, eyes skimming the information as he lifted the already empty beer bottle to his lips. Frowning when nothing but droplets hit his lips.

“You always get the cool roles,” You mumbled, sinking back in your seat and frowning at the size of information your combat specialist, hitter and all around heist muscle had to go through while you could already basically burn yours, past glancing over your father’s details and family tree.

“Next time sweetheart, pinky promise,” He hummed, putting his folder to one side as he stood up to go fetch himself a new beer. Stretching his arms over his head, his black t-shirt rode up just a tiny bit, teasing a hint of his perfectly toned stomach and that mouth watering v-shape that you’d love to trace with your tongue. Nearly leaving you too breathless to even notice him walking away without offering you a new bottle as well.

“I don’t need your empty promises Dean, just bring me back a beer!” You called out after him, hoping the combat specialist couldn’t hear how your breath stuck in your throat and your pulse rose from just seeing that small teasing flash of his skin.

Damn him.

Damn his cool roles. Damn his adorable cover name style. And, most of all, damn that fucking perfect body. While all you got was….

Alicia.

---

Since you didn’t really need to waste much time trying to learn your laughably weak cover, you’d quickly gotten antsy watching Dean prep for his. Since him concentrating on his role made it very easy for you to get away with watching him. His jaw clenching as he got into character, getting angry at some past wrong in his background story.

After nursing your second beer and casting not-so-hidden glances at him for nearly thirty minutes, your poor body craved some kinda release. And hell, it was the middle of the day, with thin as fuck walls between each of your ragtag group’s private rooms. Meaning any form of more intimate release would have to wait until the cover of night. So, you’d hit the gym instead.

Rushing to your room, you’d changed into your workout gear quickly before practically skipping towards the large, fully customized gym. Larger than most commercial gyms and featuring every little toy a thief could dream of. Though you weren’t planning on using the climbing wall or even hone your skills against the laser system Charlie had designed for you this time.

No, you needed to tire your body out and make your muscles ache. Which meant it had to be reps and weights. Heavy weights that could stop the butterflies in your stomach from making you take off and float away.

Luckily for you, Sam was already in the gym. Weight training was always more fun with a friend. Especially when said friend was normally your spotter on days where you wanted to work on your strength and endurance.

“Samwich! Just the man I was looking for. Hope you don’t mind the company. Need to burn some energy,” Your voice echoed in the windowless room, nearly making Sam slip from where he was doing salmon ladder pull ups on the other side of it. Teasing a loud laugh from you as you bounced on the balls of your feet, ready to train away your dirty mind and refocus your body.

Pre-heist waiting games were hard enough without your filthy daydreams piled on top of it.

“Really? I thought you were having fun acting like a love sick teen… Alicia,” Sam smirked, easily composing himself and dropping back down to the ground with a soft thud. Damn it. Of course he’d caught you gawking at his older brother.

It was just your kinda luck. Which meant no luck at all. Ever.

You were definitely cursed in some way, though you couldn’t for the life of you think of who’d want to curse little ol’ you. You were a freaking angel… Past the thieving, infiltration, ass kicking, identity scams and other slightly illegal things you got up to that was.

Sam was grinning, he enjoyed teasing you a little too much. Which meant you wouldn’t get to work out until you could shut him up. Never an easy task with the tall-as-a-skyscraper man. It wasn’t like you could just slap your hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking. Not without climbing him like some kinda jungle gym.

He was the little brother you never had, even if he towered over you, and you loved annoying him. But sibling love went both ways, and you knew he saw you as his sister too. Which meant he’d take any chance he got to make fun of you, just as readily as you’d take even the slightest opportunity presented to you to annoy him. Unfortunately, he’d had way more practice at being the infuriating younger sibling than you’d ever had at being the troublesome older sister.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Sam,” You huffed, pulling your (Y/H/C) hair out of your face as you walked across the room. Shooting a quick glance towards the door you just walked through. Just in case Dean had somehow materialized out of thin air and caught his brother’s words.

“What? So you weren’t crossing your fingers, hoping Dean would be your… What was it? ‘Mr. Nice Guy’?”

Rolling your eyes at him, you glared in his direction as you got ready to warm up. However, the scowl you threw at him wasn’t exactly very threatening when paired with how you kept glancing towards the door, worried that Dean would walk in.

Especially not when you bent over at the waist to stretch your body and loosen up to be ready for the work out. You’d yet to find someone who could look threathening while warming up pre-workout.

Sam knew exactly how you felt about his brother. And he never let you forget it. Maybe it was the fact that Dean was just a flirty guy, and you always reacted like a damned teenager whenever he turned on the charm, or maybe how you always found some excuse to stay close to your resident hitter when off the clock, joking around and just enjoying his presence. Either way, Sam was just too smart for his own fucking good and had easily picked up on your feelings.

Luckily those same smarts also meant he knew better than to go tattling to the rest of your crew.

Just because your job entailed sneaking around in the shadows, it didn’t mean you couldn’t kick some serious ass when you needed to. Hell, you’d been in the game since childhood, and since you turned 15 you’d been in it alone, while running from the mafia organization who’d raised you. You could kick his ass any day of the week, and Sam knew it.

Not that you’d guess it from seeing how you fidgeted in place, casting nervous glances towards the door between scowls in Sam’s direction and weak attempts at limbering up. He’d clearly found his calling in trying to be your cupid, and you really didn’t want him to be.

You needed a spotter, not a wingman.

“Why don’t you just tell him? Instead of batting those (Y/E/C) doe eyes at him and hoping he’ll get it? Dean can be a bit blind to the obvious,” Sam continued, clearly not ready to drop it, even as he reached a hand out to help you stretch out your back. The teasing glint was still fully visible in his hazel eyes, but you also saw genuine affection there. He really did care, even if he was annoyingly persistent about it.

“I can’t just tell him Sammy, and don’t you dare say a thing either,” You shot back as soon as you straightened back up, eyes once more glancing at the thankfully empty doorway.

“It’s not hard. C’mon, say it with me (Y/N) ‘I love you D...”

Damn him, he really had the irritating brother act down to a pat. And yeah, you loved him like a brother. Which meant half the time you wanted to strangle him with a jump rope. Which the gym had plenty of.

“Shhh! Shut up and spot me. Your brother is right down the hall and I swear, if he hears you…” You grumbled, making sure to shoulder check him as you walked past him towards the weight bench. Though, at your height, you basically just bumped into his lower bicep, which didn’t even move him a tiny bit.

Thankfully, Sam was smart. Which meant he knew when he’d pushed a joke just far enough to annoy, but not so far as to get an elbow to the diaphragm. So instead, he simply laughed, as he followed you over to the weights section of the home gym.

Sliding down on the weight bench, you took a few steadying breaths as he readied your weights for the bench presses. Needing no further indication on what you were there to do, since your weight reps were on a more or less set schedule and endurance focused rather than just straight up strength.

“Hey Sammy, I need a bit extra weight today, either that or more reps. I have too much energy to burn,” You spoke the words to the ceiling, as you listened to the weights falling into place on the bar, stretching your arms above your head and shivering slightly when the cold plastic of the bench hit your bare midriff, since you’d opted for a shorter workout tank top for the day. Given how your body was already uncomfortably hot from just being around Dean.

“More reps then. You’re not tearing up your muscles right before a case (Y/N),” Sam shot back from somewhere to the right of you.

The Winchester brothers shared the responsibility of being the workout coaches for the rest of your team. Well, mainly for you. Since you tended to push your body too far if you were left to your own devices. So, any change to your rep plan was run through them.

“Soooo… 30?” You tried, hoping ¨he’d let you double your normal reps, though you knew the chances of that were slim to none-existent.

“20, and not one more, remember you do three to five rounds of these reps, plus barbell squats, leg curls, dumbbell…”

“Yeah, yeah… I know my routine,” You pouted, rolling your shoulders and sticking your tongue out at him as he came into view behind you once you pushed your head back. Your hands lifted to curl around the cool bar, flexing your fingers to ensure your grip on it was secure.

“Count ‘em,”

Lifting the bar off the rack, you focused on your breathing. Letting your mind drift away with the pleasant burn in your muscles from the repetitive motions. Until the reps all flowed into each other and you put all that useless energy and downright filthy adrenaline to good use.

---

“I’ll take over Sammy,”

You were on your final runthrough of your reps, having decided to finish after four sets. And just in the middle of the fifteenth bench press, when Dean’s voice pulled you out of the zone. Nearly making you lose your grip on the bar. Luckily, Sam was there to help you steady it as you placed it back on the rack and sat up, reaching for your water bottle.

“Damn it Dean, you nearly killed me,” You gasped, trying to even out your breathing and throwing a grateful smile to Sam as he handed you your towel. Your body was spent, and your muscles were screaming. Clearly Sammy had been right to stop you from doubling your rep amount. You doubted you’d even make it through the last one without needing to stop.

“Sorry sweetheart, I’ll knock next time,” Dean grinned, giving his brother an affectionate pat on the shoulder as he tagged himself in and let Sam go wash up.

Luckily you’d already burned most of your energy, but the sight of Dean in his workout wear still somehow got the embers of fire in your veins to act up again as you dropped back down against the bench. Lifting slightly shaky arms up and stretching them to dull the ache that was already starting to build.

“How many have you done?” He asked, wiping down the bar for you as he leaned over it to look down at you. Green eyes bright and focused as he filled your vision with only him, framed against the concrete ceiling.

“I’m on the final interval, only four today. Rep 15 out of 20,” You smiled back, forcing your mind to stay on your workout and not on the way his t-shirt clung to him. Or on how his arms across the steel bar tensed and looked absolutely mouthwatering.

“Twenty? You’re on fifteen reps (Y/N), not twenty,” He frowned, looking not at all pleased with your additional five reps per exercise. Though there was no way in hell you could tell him you needed the additional physical punishment just to deal with the dirty little daydreams of him in your mind.

“Extra energy to burn. You know I get antsy when we’re left playing the waiting game before a new case,”

The white lie slipped easily past your lips as you tried to refocus your attention on a blank spot of ceiling above you. Raising your arms up, you curled your fingers around the bar, just as Dean leaned back and spread those stupidly perfect bow legs to ground himself, getting ready to spot you.

“... Right, final round, then you spot me,” He grumbled, knowing better than to keep arguing and letting your body cool down too much from the workout.

Training with Dean was like a fucking double, if not tripple, workout. It always was. Past the physical strain of your muscles and the endurance needed to push your body to the limit, you were also left trying to control your poor heart. The overexcited muscle getting an aerobics exercise like no other just from the proximity of the damned greek god of a man.

The way he’d brush against you, your hot skin heating up even more from every barely there touch. Big hands and calloused fingers, always lingering against your slightly flush skin. His voice in your ear when he stepped behind you and placed a big palm on your lower back to help correct your form. The direct touch against your bare lower back sending shots of pure unadulterated electricity through you, which only grew in intensity as he pushed his body against yours to further shape and correct your stance.

Damn it, this was not the release you’d hoped for it to be. And by the time you finished the last set, you were just as worked up as you’d been before you even got started. It would have to be yet another cold shower for you. Damn him and his… Shit.

Where was your snarky quick wittedness when you needed it?

“Thirty reps?” You questioned, slightly breathlessly, as you patted the towel against your neck and reached out for your water bottle. Stretching your body and shaking away that pleasant tremble from a good workout while you followed Dean back to the bench. Stopping just a few steps behind him to watch as he bent over to wipe down the bench, giving you a front row seat to a view of that damned perfect ass in his loose workout sweats.

Mentally tongue-tied, cotton mouthed and filthy minded, you nearly missed his cocky grin and raised eyebrow. A clear indication that he’d caught you checking him out. Though you’d of course still pretend you didn’t. You were an innocent sweet summer child; your mind was unicorns and rainbows, not hot skin, teeth and tongue.

“Yeah… Actually, let’s do 35. I think I have some extra energy to burn too,” He finally said as he fell back against the bench. Groaning as he stretched his body and rewarded you with a glimpse of that perfectly toned stomach below his t-shirt.

Walking around the bench, you somehow managed to keep your fingers from brushing over his taut body on the bench. Which, considering your profession was all sticky fingers and an attraction to anything shiny or gorgeous, was a damned miracle.

—

Spotting Dean was always harder than the toughest case to crack. Not because you needed to actually do much. The man was a damned perfect specimen, lifting the weights easily and barely even breaking a sweat. It was, however, yet another hellish workout for your poor frustrated libido and heart. Standing there, ready to spot him, you had the perfect chance to ogle him indiscriminately.

Watching as those perfectly muscular arms strained against the weights, lips slightly parted around sharp breaths and brow furrowed in concentration, showing just the slightest sheen of sweat from the physical exertion. He was damned near too much for you to handle.

Just the sight of those muscles moving like liquid under his shirt, adding extra layers to your dirty daydreams of how that same hard body would feel if you were to run your fingers down his muscular back, with his body towering over yours on the bed. Pupils' wide and sharp breaths replaced by groaned moans…

Yeah, you definitely needed a cold shower.

Fucking arctic; ice cubes instead of water if possible.

Luckily for you, or unluckily, depending on how you viewed it, Dean only got two sets into his workout. Before he was pulled out of it, and you were pulled out of your absolutely downright dirty mind, by Charlie popping her head in through the door.

“Operations room in fifteen!” She called out, barely stopping to raise a knowing eyebrow at your clearly hot and bothered state before she raced off to find the rest of your group. Apparently the plan for the party infiltration had been coming together while you were busy trying to work up a sweat, and not the fun kind.

Throwing a bottle of water towards Dean, you shot him a wink and a shaky smile, before you hurried out of the room. Rushing to hide your breathless, mentally tongue-tied state from the stupidly handsome hitter. For once thankful for the possibility of more manila folders and pre-heist planning.

Still before you got ready to pull off the heist, you’d have to pull off the quickest cold shower ever. Unless you wanted to sit through hours of planning in Charlie’s intelligence HQ all sweaty, hot and bothered. Hopefully your cold shower could at least help with one of those three things. And unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be your filthy mind that followed the water down the drain.

---

Start Here - Last - Next

Charity Heist: @foxyjwls007 @seppys-return-to-madness @stoneyggirl2 @ladysparkles78 @twinkleinadiamondsky @tmb510

Dean Winchester Tags: @ria132love @woodworthti666 @defenderrosetyler @akshi8278 @justanotherwinchester @lyarr24 @torn-and-frayed @all-will-be-well-love @wearesuchstuff1 @thefridgeismybestie @adoptdontshoppets @starsandmidnightblue @screechingartisancashbailiff @septixtrash @punof-agun @deandreamernp @justagirlinafandomworld @sexyvixen7 @justrealizedimmascifygurl @globetrotter28 @siospins2 @iprobablyshipit91 @mrsjenniferwinchester @leigh70 @roseblue373 @djs8891

Forever tags will be added as a reblog

#dean winchester fic #au!spn #dean au #au!dean winchester #tales89writes #hitter!dean #thief!reader #supernatural heist au #supernatural leverage au #spn heist au #dean winchester #supernatural #spn #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural dean #dean winchester heist au #mercenary!dean winchester

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house-of-slayterr · 1 year

Text

Cabin In The Woods:

Tag: @iloveslasher @myers-meadow

Will’s POV:

I was loosing my mind. Losing my god damn mind. This town was suffocating, and everyone’s constants questions were driving me mad. Jack always pulling me along on cases, calling me late hours of the night with a new theory. Hannibal, trying to get in my head. Always leaving out therapy sessions feeling worse than when I went in. I felt like I was going to a snap.

And when none other than Freddie Lounds showed up at my doorstep, looking for a story. I lost it. I slammed the door in her face, not even bothering with pleasantries. And ignored her calls through the door, tuning her out. I reached for my phone, dialling the only number that was worth while. It rang 3 times precisely before getting cut off by a small-

“Bonjour, this is Frances.”

I smiled a little, unfurrowing my brows. Between the dogs and the sound of their voice, my breathing was starting to become a little more stable. Seemingly when I didn’t respond, they checked their caller ID.

“William? What’s wrong?” They said, their tone shifting dramatically.

“I have a red head problem.” I groaned.

A small laugh left their lips. I could imagine it perfectly, the way their nose would scrunch up, and their eyes would sparkle. Their laugh was the one thing they never faked.

“Luckily for you my friend, I happen to be close by. Need me to take care of your little problem?”

Yes please, I thought. But what was Frances doing out near me, they lived halfway across town and it was past midnight. I raised a brow not that they could see.

“Hello, earth to dog boy. You still with me?”

I hated that Nickname. I rolled my eyes.

“If you insist.” I said.

“Brilliant, see you in five.” They hung up.

I slumped back down on the floor. True to their word I heard talking outside a few minuets later. I listened in by the open window.

“Hello Miss Lounds, lovely evening we’re having.” They said.

I had to hold back a laugh as I nearly saw Freddie jump. It was odd how silent Frances could be sometimes. It seemed today was a good day for them, they were without their cane. Or any other assistive devices.

“Ahh, Mx. L/N, what are you doing out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, trespassing isn’t very nice of you Miss Lounds. I do believe Mr. Graham didn’t give you permission to be snooping around his back porch, now did he?”

“I was never here.” Freddie said.

Backing off my property.

“You’ll do well to keep that way.”

After Freddie dispersed into the night, I relaxed a little. Frances was suddenly at the window, smiling as I nearly fell backwards off my couch.

“Move!” They said simply.

I obliged, moving over as they climbed through my window.

“You know front doors exist?” I asked.

They shrugged.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

They settled onto the couch, leaning so their head was hanging off and they’re feet were now against the wall. Some of the dog ran over eagerly to great them. Their giggles filled the room as they playfully attempted to fend off my dogs. It was a light and eerie sound. Echoing around my head and shoving all my darker thoughts to the corner of my mind.

“What were you even doing out here?”

“Couldn’t sleep!”

The slowly fell off the couch, laying flat on the floor as they accepted their fate, getting licked by the dogs. I shook my head, looking down at them.

“Tea?”

“Since when does Will Graham drink tea?”

“Since someone has a habit of stopping by to steal my dogs from me.”

They blushed wildly.

“It’s not my fault they like me better. Look at me, I’m just a loveable little guy!”

They tried to give me puppy dog eyes, but it didn’t fool me. I knew them in a way most people could never understand. The two of us got like two people of a puzzle. If you asked some people, they didn’t even believe in the idea of soulmates. Others thought that title was only for lovers. But friends, friends could be fated too. At least that’s what Hannibal explained to me.

I had explained to him my distress, over feeling things I’d never felt toward anyone before. People never piqued my interest, and rarely made me feel much anymore. But Frances was like a ball of sunshine. I knew the doctor wasn’t stupid, it wasn’t that hard to decipher who I was talking about. They were the only person I talked to beside Jack or Alana. Sometimes Miss Meadow.

“You went through a great ordeal together, it’s normal to form bonds under extreme stress when you have gone through a traumatising situation. But do be careful William, those relationships can become unhealthy and codependent.” He warned.

That possibility be damned. I wouldn’t risk the one thing that made me feel happy in all of this bullshit, just because the relationship might spur in the future. That was a risk I’d just have to take. I must have been lost in thought a while, because a hand touched mine.

“You good? You seem spacey tonight. How about I get us the drinks and you just stay on the couch yeah?” I nodded simply.

I never had anyone take care of me like they do. They were always so gentle. Afraid that they might hurt me. The small touch had managed to make us both uncomfortable. I could feel it, the slight tingle as their skin brushed against mine. They pulled away almost as soon as they caught my attention.

I watched them disappear into my kitchen. A heard a few clangs and debated if I should get up to help. Almost as if they knew what I was thinking they called out.

“Don’t you dare get up. I’m fine, I just tripped.”

I couldn’t help the breath of air that passed my nose. It sounded more like they dragged a cabinet down with them. But of course they would downplay it. A few minutes later they came back with a coffee and their tea. They sat next to me on the couch.

“So what was miss nosey even searching for?”

“I don’t know, she seems to think I know something about the Chesapeake Ripper that nobody else does.”

“And why would she think that?”

It was more of a rhetorical question, and I knew better than to answer.

“Sometimes I wish I could break her nose so she couldn’t go sniffing around in peoples business.”

The first real laugh they pulled out of me that night. It was so weird to see someone so small, so guiltless, express wants for mild violence so casually. I knew they meant it, it wasn’t a simple joke. But they knew better than to lash out physically.

“That’s I’d pay to see. Ex-Ballerina kicks paparazzis ass” I joked.

They put a hand over their chest in mock hurt.

“Just because my company dropped me, doesn’t mean I’m not a Ballerina anymore.”

“I know, I know. Besides it’s their loss. I bet you were the best dancer they had.”

They sighed contently, sipping their tea.

“I wish you could have seen me Will. Before all this. I was in my element when I was on stage. Nothing could stop me, and nobody could get in my way. I remember once, my understudy partner dropped me during a performance, I finished the entire thing only to find out the next making my ankle was in fact broken. I was so excited to show off to the talent scouts in the audience I didn’t even notice.”

I cringed a little. It was odd how uneffected they were by physical pain. I thought back to the day we met, how clam they where when he had literal pipes spiked through our body’s in a grotesque display. I still had nightmares of that night.

“Yeah, I wish I could have seen it too.” I settled for an honest response.

I wasn’t much for thé performing arts, but to see Frances in their prime would have been great.

“I’m glad I can still dance some days though. Before Hannibal cuts me off.”

“He’s just trying to keep you safe.”

They rolled their eyes.

“I know, I know. But sometimes I wish he’d just relax a little, you know. So what if my legs are shaking, I’m having fun. I can rest after. Speaking of rest, you look tired.”

“I’m fine.”

They raised a brow at me. They sprung up from the couch and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around the two of us. They turned on a random Chanel for background noise, and took my coffee mug out of my hand.

“I can see your gears turning Graham. Relax your mind. You’re at your house, you’re safe, your dogs are all here, and you have the worlds bestest friend by your side. Stop thinking so much, let the last go for tonight. And no thinking about work off the clock!”

“Who’s being overprotective now?” I asked.

“Oh hush, this is different-“

They patted their lap, and I slowly laid my head down. They looked straight forward at the tv, and played with my hair. Their fingers on my scalp was highly relaxing. It felt almost as if I was high. I closed my eyes and tried to rest my mind. I could hear them hum absentmindedly as I began to fall asleep.

A few hours later I woke up outside. Shit I slept walked again.

Frances POV:

I woke up when Will stirred, at first I thought he’d woken up, but it was clear he was asleep when he didn’t respond to his name. Of course, I should have known better, but I was worried when he started walking toward the door. I reached for his shoulder out of panic, big mistake.

Will freaked out, thinking I was trying to hurt him. I didn’t have much time before I was slammed against the wall. His hands around my throat. I reached up my hand trying to move his, but even half asleep, he was still stronger than me.

“Will. It’s me. Frances, your friend.” I tried to choke out.

But his grip only got tighter. I panicked a little, my lungs burning, and my head spinning. I figured maybe if I stood still, he’d get bored and leave. I tried to slow my breathing a little. But it seemed it was useless as a few minutes later I woke up on the floor with a killer headache. The door was wide open and as I looked around, a few of the dogs were missing. Shit!

I didn’t even bother to grab shoes, running outside with a flashlight and going to search for them. They couldn’t have gotten too far. I wandered the woods aimlessly for about 20 mins, collecting my furry friends. Once they spotted me, they were quick to follow, thank god. I did not have the energy to carry them back to Wills place. I made sure the door was firmly locked behind me as I set out to search for my best friend.

“Will!” I called.

The dogs must have been out looking for him. I checked back over the areas I’d already been, but I couldn’t find him. I was beginning to get anxious when I heard a voice from behind me.

“Frances?” Will’s voice sounded small.

I spun on my heel, not even giving him enough time to process anything before I threw myself at him. I wrapped him into a tight hug, pulling back to check for any injuries. He seemed to be relatively fine aside from a bloody nose.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” I mumbled, before pulling him back in for a hug.

I grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the house. The dogs where quick to greet him, he didn’t need to know that they made a run for it earlier. It would only stress him out further. I pulled him into the kitchen and sat him down on a stool. I wet a towel and came back over to help clean him up

“What happened?” He asked finally.

It seemed now in the kitchen light he could notice the bruises starting to form on my neck. He reached his hand out, to touch it, his arms shaking slightly.

“Did I- did I do this?” He asked.

I sighed.

“You didn’t mean to Will, it’s fine. We’re ok.” I assured him.

“I choked you.”

“I startled you.”

I started wiping underneath his nose with delicate , light stokes. Almost as if it would hurt him if I pressed to hard. He still seemed fairly dissociated and I tried to ground him by putting my other hand on his cheek and bringing his eyes to mine. The both of us hated eye contact, but at moments like this, it was imperative.

“I don’t want you feeling any guilt ok. I’m fine. Promise.” I said.

His eyes looked slightly glazed over, almost as if he were about to cry. He swallowed thickly.

“Will? Can you talk to me please?” I asked.

Still no answer. I sighed again, dropping the rag and placing it on the counter. When I turned back around, I was greeted by those piercing brown eyes. They just starred back at me, deep in thought.

“Will?” I asked again.

Suddenly he moved closer and his lips captured mine. I froze, stunned. Will pulled back suddenly when I didn’t reciprocate.

“Shit, Frances I’m sorry. I don’t know why I-“

I dropped my hand, pulling away and stumbling back slightly. My breath picked up again. I couldn’t think of anything to say, entirely caught off guard. I stared at him with wide eyes.

“What?” I simply asked. “Why would you? You can’t! What?” I stuttered out a bunch of half baked sentences.

Nobody had ever kissed me before. Not on the lips at least, not like that. Even my boyfriend hadn’t kissed me. My boyfriend! I thought to Hannibal, how he would react. Was this cheating? God, I was fucked! I kept thinking I should have anticipated his reaction, done something, pushed him away. But I just stood there.

“Frances I’m so sorry!” Will tried approaching me again. “I just felt like I couldn’t breathe, and mu head was so loud, and I just wanted it to stop. I really don’t know why I did that.” He tried to explain.

I stumbled back as he took a step forward, falling on my ass. I just pulled my knees into my chest. And began sobbing. I felt gross. You’re not supposed to kiss your best friend. Not like that. I could hear Will shuffling around, trying to give me space. Seemingly, he took out his phone.

“Alana I fucked up!” I heard, from the next room. He’d excused himself to the living room.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation. I don’t know how long I stayed like that on the kitchen floor, but I heard the front door open. I thought for a moment he was just gonna leave, leave me here like this. All alone. But then I heard several foot steps quickly advancing toward the kitchen.

“Frances?” Hannibal’s voice called.

God, he was the last person I wanted to be here right now. I wished I could just disappear, I pulled my knees in tighter.

“Shit. The fuck did you do will?” Meadows voice sounded exasperated.

I’m sure anyone would be annoyed, waking up at this hour and having to come half way across town. Will stayed at the entrance of the kitchen, not coming any closer. Meadow was by my side in a second.

“Hey, hey! Little bug, breath ok?” She asked.

I nodded, letting her pull me into a hug. She ran her hand through my hair and rocked me back and forth. Helping me stim to regulate my emotions. I opened my eyes to see Hannibal and Will talking. Hannibal’s body language looked tense, that wasn’t good. Meadow let her grip loosen when I pulled back.

I smiled a little, she looked pretty in her night dress. It was nice to see her.

“He’s going to be so mad at me.” I said.

“Who? Frances nobody is mad at you.” She tried to calm me.

“But- I- Hannibal is going to be so upset.”

She pulled me back in for another hug. Normally this much touch would over stimulate me, but it seemed my skin was screaming whenever she stopped.

“Darling, Hannibal could never be mad at you. You did nothing wrong. It’s just a little panic attack.”

“No.” I shook my head.

The voices in the living room got louder. Meadow’s attention was also drawn toward the two men.

“Hannibal I’m sorry!” Will said.

The next thing we heard was a fist connecting to bone. If Will’s nose wasn’t broken before, it certainly was now. Meadow’s eyes widened.

“Hannibal! What the hell?” She yelled.

I flinched at the sudden loudness, and she lowered her tone a little, giving me an apologetic look. Hannibal was quick to walk over to me, kneeling down, his hands instantly turning my head to search my neck. It seemed his interest alerted Meadow to them too.

Her face scrunched up in disgust, she looked back at Will than at me. Her eyes narrowing in his direction.

“It’s not what you think.” I started.

I gave her a silent pleading look to go check on him. He was still my best friend, and I don’t think he deserved to be lunched.

“Does it hurt?” Hannibal drew my attention to him.

“No.” He gave me a skeptical look.

“So they crying a because he-“

I nodded.

“Do you hate me?”

His face softened.

“I could never hâte you. But him, I’m furious at!”

Meadow brought Will back into the kitchen, using the rag from earlier to clean up his nose which was bleeding again.

“Did you have to punch him?” I asked.

“He kissed you without you consent.” Hannibal said simply.

Meadow finally understood exactly what was going on. And she looked like she was about to punch the man herself.

“He didn’t mean to” I defended. “It’s my fault, I didn’t realise what was happening and didn’t react quick enough.”

Hannibal sighed. He attempted to get me to get up off the floor, but I wasn’t ready to leave.

“Frances, this was entirely my fault.” Will spoke up.

“You stop talking!” Hannibal warned.

He was quick to shut his mouth.

“No, this is my fault.” Hannibal concluded. “I’m his therapist, I knew he was dangerous, and clearly I’m not doing a good enough job.”

I frowned, I didn’t like the distain in his voice. Sure, I was upset, but I wasn’t mad at Will. I could never be mad at Will. He was confused and disoriented, and I was sending out signals I hadn’t meant to send.

“Hannibal, it’s fine. It didn’t mean anything, right Will?” I asked.

Will just nodded.

“He was disoriented and scared.”

“That doesn’t give him the right to choke you. Or kiss my patenter.”

It seemed Hannibal was more upset at the second thing. I was growing frustrated with the situation. Just wanting to go home. Meadow stood at the edge of the kitchen island, arms crossed and glaring at Will.

“Can we just go home?” I asked softly.

“I’m taking you to the hospital first.” Hannibal decided.

I frowned further.

“No.”

“No?”

“I want to go home. They’re just bruises Hannibal. I can handle it. No hospitals!” I said firmly.

“They’ll only panic more, my love, if you make them go. You know this. Besides not much the hospital will do, unless we’re pressing charges.”

Will hung his head low, disappointed in himself. I crawled across the floor to where Will sat, getting up on my way. My legs seemed weaker than I expected.

“Hey, none of that.” I said softly.

“You should. I assaulted you.”

I cringed out how brutal that made it sound. It was really an honest mistake. Both things were. I shook my head no.

“Then I’ll tell Jack myself. My sleep walking is making me unsafe to be around.”

“Then Hannibal will help you.” I declared.

Hannibal didn’t seem pleased with the idea, still seething with anger.

“Right Han?” I asked, pleading with him.

“We can have a session tomorrow, I’ll clear my schedule.” He grumbled.

“Look, I’ll see you tomorrow ok. Try to get some rest.” I said.

The ride back to the house was awkward. I laid down in the back seat of the car and Hannibal and Meadow both seemed upset.

“You’re not mad at me right?” I asked, trying to reassure myself.

“I’m just confused how you can be so nice to him after that.”

“Because it was genuinely a mistake Hannibal. You’ve made plenty. Just stop alright! You’re mean when you’re jealous!” I said.

Meadow failed to hold back a chortle.

“I’m not jealous, I’m upset- there’s a difference.”

“Don’t pretend you punched him for my sake.” I fired back.

“Ok, maybe there’s a little jealousy. But he still hurt you, both physically and mentally.”

“And he’ll make it up to me. He’s my best friend Hannibal, I’m not gonna lose him over something this stupid. Just help him with his sleep walking problem.”

I don’t remember when I fell asleep during the rest of the ride home. But I felt myself pulled closed to Hannibal’s toned chest. I snuggled further into him as he carried me inside. Perhaps cuddles from the people I loved were exactly what the doctor ordered.

An: and I oop- though seriously, imagine having Will Graham as your first kiss 🥺 jealous

#self insect #friend fic #Hannibal #Hannibal nbc #Hannibal lecter #Hannibal lecter x reader #will Graham x reader #murder family #murder husbands

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