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#for a guy so charming his social skills are actually shit
firebirdsdaughter · 2 years
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Before I go to bed too late…
… On the rerewatch, I wish Sara had had to learn about El being kidnapped. Bc if I’m gonna throw Neal under the ‘should have said something to Peter’ bus, I gotta throw her under as well, no special treatment. This is a massive case of young(er, in Mozzie’s case) people not considering the consequences of their actions. Despite the fact that Keller had Peter kidnapped, apparently no one considers he might target the Burkes again. ‘Ooooo he talked to Sara’ are you forgetting he’s well aware that the Burkes are your parents. Keller won’t try to touch Sara, she’ll beat his ass, but it’s easier to go after a civilian. Like this is literally no one considering the stress and harm they are causing the parents. Mozzie and Neal are being self centred, Sara, I don’t know, gets caught up in the romantics?
A running theme w/ Neal is that he rarely considers how his behaviour will effect those around him, and I feel like it’s esp clear w/ Peter and El. Maybe it’s the little kid in him, but he seems to take them for granted, likely not helped by Peter’s dedication to him and ability to manifest whenever he’s in trouble. Neal doesn’t think about Peter and El getting blow back from his shit and esp doesn’t register the danger he causes them early on—when something happens, he’ll come through, but he just… Doesn’t seem to take them into account sometimes and, like I said, not just on the ‘going after them to get to him’ angle but in the ‘they care about you and you being reckless is stressing them out and making it hard to trust you.’ It’s a lesson El, bless her heart, tries to give him multiple times but I think he… Doesn’t totally understand the implications. It’s not just that they could get hurt, literally or reputation-wise bc of him, it’s when he does reckless, impulsive shit it scares them, whether he’s putting himself in dangerous situations or keeping secrets and acting suspicious. Perhaps a better description would be he doesn’t realise how those effects change as they get closer—it becomes more personal for them. It’s more painful. That’s why I love s3 bc of the oblivious and sometimes intentional guilt slinging. Sure, Neal didn’t ask for this, but he also didn’t walk away, and he didn’t tell Peter the moment he found out. If he had, Peter might’ve kept Mozzie’s name out of it (and yeah, part of this is Mozzie being a bad influence, he’s lucky he’s likeable the rest of the time). It’s like my post about Honour Among Thieves; the reason Peter is suspicious is bc Neal is suspicious. In so many ways Peter throws himself all in on this and Neal just… Doesn’t reciprocate. And the more Peter cares about him, the more harsh the possible/apparent betrayals are. And Neal… Doesn’t seem to entirely clock that. Peter’s clearly out of sorts and overly emotional about the whole thing, and Neal’s initial response is being all shocked Peter ‘turned against him,’ just keeps trying to deflect suspicion. Predominately thinks Peter is going after it just bc he’s Peter, doesn’t seem to realise Peter is so obsessed w/ this bc it’s personal, bc to Peter this is not just a crime but a massive, very personal betrayal. Again, it’s Mozzie and Alex and Adler’s influence, but Neal just… Doesn’t seem to get how badly lying and deceiving can hurt people. It’s not just that he’d do it, Peter acknowledges early it could have been Mozzie or Alex who actually pulled the theft, it’s that Neal would keep it from him, outright hide it from him, and participate in the plan to run at all. It’s that Neal doesn’t tell him things until it’s critical, that’s why he’s so cagey during s4. Bc he loves him. And I don’t think Neal really gets that that’s love? I dunno, I’m rambling now, but while his relationship w/ Ellen was sweet, I think it’s telling of how he turned out that she acts like Peter was in the wrong for arresting Neal, too. Most of the people around Neal enable and/or encourage his reckless and more self centred behaviour, even the ostensible parental figure; Peter and El are the first ones to hold him to a higher standard not based on allowance or conning, as Peter says, trying to help him be the man they think he can be, give him a future where he doesn’t have to run all the time. What started as more a matter of convenience and fondness goes into them being full blown invested in helping this kid change his life. They’re the first ones to care about him and just. Be there, even when he makes being there really hard. They are literally his parents. And maybe partially he’s not used to having parents this invested in him but… Look, I’ve lost my train of thought but it’s like he sees some levels of consequences, but not all and not the right ones. Expects a level of separation that’s no longer there and doesn’t always realise the everyday pain he causes w/ his behaviour, and doesn’t seem to realise how much not knowing hurts, and definitely doesn’t always think about the fact that they’re intense connection to him makes them even bigger targets.
And he really doesn’t get the stress his improvisation and wonton nonsense put Peter through on a regular basis. Like how does Peter even sleep at night having to put up w/ that?? It’s no wonder her wants to put a tracking anklet on the second kid, Neal’s gotta be responsible for every single grey hair on his head and a few counts of high blood pressure. How has this man not had a heart attack yet, I would be dead.
#White Collar#Neal is such a weird study#like he's a fully functioning adult mentally and physically and all that#but on some levels like emotionally I think he kinda stalled out at eighteen from running away#so he's the uncontrolled impulsivity of a badly raised teenager w/ the mind of an adult#he's a big boy who needs to deal w/ the consequences of his choices#and ESP needs to learn about dealing w/ people#for a guy so charming his social skills are actually shit#and he's clearly not used to being really held accountable#people like Mozzie and Alex encourage his more uncontrolled behaviour and antics#they think of him as a good conman but neither of them care for being a 'good person'#neither are monsters but they're selfish and they encourage Neal to be selfish#Adler's just a terrible role model James is also right out#his mother mighta been okay but she wasn't really around#Ellen was there at least but I don't think she was really holding him accountable either#but Peter and El do#they care enough to want him to be better to be the person that's definitely in there somewhere#and when he screws that over there are and should be consequences#and Neal's… both not used to facing consequences and not used to other people facing his consequences#at least not having to witness it#that's why I also love 3x12 bc Peter TALKS about that#how Neal gets away w/ things bc he's 'Neal'#fortunately in this case I think having El kidnapped AND having to watch Peter go through he kidnapping was a good scare#it's horrible but it was a wakeup call#like I mentioned in another tag if anything happened to either of them it's a double whammy#bc not only would he lose one he'd have to watch the OTHER go through it#like Neal cares about all his friends and coworkers even if he's bad at it sometimes#but I think Peter and El become something esp precious and important to him#like see my analysis that what Neal REALLY wants is his parents back#he still has the little kid dream of having a loving family
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popponn · 8 months
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how one looks. [isagi yoichi x f!reader]
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notes: this was born out of love and rage for his anime official arts' clothes because why is my man dressed like t h a t way too many times already... so i will bully him a bit (then feel bad about it. and it shows). other than that: fluff, yoichi got so sappy and so smitten for a hot sec, yoichi's fashion sense slander (and lets be honest. it deserves it. yoichi's plus point, many. negative point, his closet.)
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“You know,” you began and Yoichi instantly felt like he was about to get a ball kicked to his face. “I had been thinking. Why do you look like an unfashionable grandpa sometimes?”
“…huh?” Yoichi responded, not really knowing how to answer to that. What should a guy do when their girlfriend of three years plus a half, who is also probably the love of their life, insinuate something about their appearance? Neither Blue Lock nor his parents prepared him for this.
With your eyes squinting at him, you leaned towards him from your seat in the armchair. One hand perched on the armrest and supported your chin as your face scrunched up from your thoughts. “I mean, I do think you are cute and handsome. Charming too,” you said.
Yoichi tried not to melt. Years passed and he is still weak whenever you praise him out of blue like this. From his parents to his teammates to Noel Noa knew about this—so, in attempt to be normal, Yoichi tried to kept everything under a soft smile directed to you only, “Gosh. You know, you are—”
“Hey, this is about you not me. Shush, shush,” you scolded him lightly with a finger pressed to his lips. This time, Yoichi could only blinked absentmindedly as you continued in a serious manner, “But, you see, if I look at you properly without bias—I wonder why I could think like that.”
It was at this point Yoichi realized you were trying to call him not cute, not handsome, and not charming in a very roundabout way. Again, confused on how to react to things like this, he said, “…uh?”
You were not Rin, Barou, Kaiser or anyone he shared competitive trash talking with hell and back—and even calling him ‘ugly’ really was tame to the shits spitted out straight at his face. You were never like this and Yoichi knows since the four years ‘unclear situationship’ period that his appearance really does not matter to you who would look at him gently even with his face dressed in odd drawings courtesy of Bachira’s oil markers. With that being said, he really didn’t understand what was going on.
“Your hair is honestly generic. Like, I really get why Rin said he called you NPC back then,” you explained and Yoichi tried not to wince. “Oh, but don’t change it! If it changes, especially without me knowing beforehand, I probably won’t recognize you. Though what’s a bit unique about them are probably only your sprout and bangs…kind of?”
In silence and in attempt to be a good boyfriend, Yoichi could only nod.
“And then, your fashion sense…” you continued, pity coloring your face, “…actually, where do I start on that one? I think that one part of you is so hopeless it kind of turn around to cute… in a really naive and stupid way though.”
For a moment, Yoichi remembered how he used to think in Blue Lock some people could be very harsh in commenting. Turns out, listening to your girlfriend obliterating you appearance wise is a whole another level of ego bruising experience. “Now, come on, you know I’m not good at those mix matching thing…” he admitted with pain in his voice. Because at this point what could he do?
“Of course I know,” you said as if he was saying that sky is blue. “I mean, remember how I used to tease you about ‘all point in soccer and social skill, zero in others’?” Yoichi doubted that it was all ‘teasing’. At this moment, it felt like lighthearted bullying. “I’m not exactly a hundred percent kidding, you know.”
At least he saw this one coming.
“Ugh, what brought this on suddenly, seriously?” Yoichi asked with a groan. Did he do something? He didn’t forget an anniversary or something, right?
You hummed, before answering hesitantly, “Hmm…nothing much actually?”
“So you just said all that for no reason?!” he cried out, not actually buying you answer. At that, you stayed silent for a moment.
“…actually, it’s because I saw a photo of you online, not the most recent, I think,” you finally admitted, your eyes slowly drifting away from his face. “…your clothes was so ugly there I felt like burning your closet suddenly.”
“Please don’t,” Yoichi said quickly, before prompting you to continue. “And?”
“…it’s a waste,” you continued. “You are handsome, cute. Your eyes look good when you are focused. You are like a really handsome cat who is really good at soccer. But you dress like an unfashionable grandpa who really loves neon green sometimes, so it’s a waste.”
Listening to your explanation, both fondness and exasperation overcame Yoichi in a wave that felt like a pleasant breeze compared to whatever you just dished out to him seconds ago. “Don’t burn my closet though,” Yoichi said, utterly serious and yet somehow still couldn’t find it in himself to be even be a little stern on you after such honest praises.
Suddenly feeling a bit shy and tired, Yoichi buried his face in his hands. He knew for sure his face was red. And he knew how obviously weak he is for you. From the back of his mind, he could hear some familiar voices poking at him for being like this, but in the end there will always be a part of him that is so in love with you it becomes straight up stupid.
Maybe it indeed is so dumb and selfish, because as long as you are happy and it is a time shared with him, Yoichi probably wouldn’t really mind having to listen to you calling him an ‘unfashionable grandpa’ everyday.
He, more than anyone, understands how the two of you has dreams and life that took the two of you away from each other. And even then, Yoichi knows that that one part of him—one that always gaze at your sleeping figure silently, wondering how he could have this and why someone as wonderful as you is here by his side—is rightfully fearful of a ‘bad ending’. Yoichi knows you love him. Yoichi knows he loves you. Yoichi got called selfish, egoistic, self centered, and self serving many times already in matches, and that is exactly why—he knows himself.
If it’s for you—for every part of life you had given to him, for every part of you that he had fallen in love with—he is ready to be as selfless as he could.
Happily and gladly.
“Hey, you have been silent for a while now.” A pair of hands warped itself around him, meekly, as your head rested on his back. “…sorry. Was I too much? I made you overthink, didn’t I? You know I still love you, right? Even if you suddenly wake up as a wrinkly grandpa with creaking knees tomorrow.”
Yoichi laughed at that, still covering part of his face. “I don’t want to retire yet so that better not happen,” he replied lightly, going along with you.
“…you are not crying, right?” you asked, guilt written all over your tone. Yoichi tried and failed to held back a chuckle. So, accepting his fate as a lovesick asshole, he turned and pushed you to the sofa, laying his face down on your stomach as he settled in an uncomfortable position to hug you.
Yet, without paying any mind to his lower body that remained sitting whilst upper body rested on you, Yoichi said, “I’m not. How could I with you hugging me like this?”
“…really?”
“Really.”
“…should we really stay like this any longer though…?” you asked, eventually. “I’m worried for your hips.”
“I’m fine,” Yoichi said while nuzzling his face slowly to your clothes. “Just think of this as payback for bullying me.”
You scoffed lightly at that, “And you said you were fine.”
“Yeah, I am,” Yoichi said as he felt your fingers combed through his hair. So much for commenting his hairstyle. He made a note to tease you later, but for a bit longer—
“Just, let me stay here, okay?”
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thalassic-p4rk · 7 months
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okay okay so some explanation:
kwazii: self explanatory really. it’s kwazii.
shellington: totally hc him as aroace and so oblivious and i love him sm for it
paani: might accidentally flirt or attempt occasionally, but most of the time is so completely oblivious. he’s got sm autistic rizz.
inkling: okay don’t come for me he has a really really nice voice okay?? i’m working through it still 😭😭
peso: okay unpopular opinion probably bc of this one wild 120k fic i read in one go but i totally think peso isn’t as naive and innocent as everyone thinks he is and he totally uses that to his advantage. like, not even with flirting, but in general like with cursing and stuff. but i feel like he’s not as oblivious as he pretends to be, and when he chooses to flirt holy shit this guy can flirt. 10/10 best twink 4ever <3
barnacles: i have. many thoughts about barnacles. but, all i will say is that he is so completely oblivious to how hot everyone thinks he is and he has sm unintentional rizz. he will accidentally flirt with like random people he helps or comes across and he has no idea why they keep swooning and calls peso over cuz he’s concerned and peso just is like *sigh*. also, i know fictives aren’t their sources but our barnacles is pretty damn close and when he first split me and peso spent weeks simping over him before another headmate forced us to sit down and explain this to him (which was one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life btw, fuck u eddie /lh)
dashi: i am a hardcore tweak/dashi shipper all the way, and while i think dashi is a very professional person (dog?), i think she’s also really good with people and knows how to use her skills to get what she wants. i think she totally worked in like customer service or something pre-octonauts and that she would charm her clients and customers almost instinctively. however, flirting for her, while common, is something she doesn’t really view as flirting flirting? like, it’s just something she does to steer the conversation in a more favorable direction. she very rarely actually means it, or genuinely tries to flirt, so that’s why she’s not where kwazii is. she was struggling with tweak though lol.
tweak: i think tweak is similar to dashi, she’s not naive and she certainly is good at flirting and probably did a lot of flirting and uh sleeping around in the past (who doesn’t love a butch lesbian mechanic), but i also think that she just. doesn’t really care. fhjffjjgdg like she likes having fun and stuff but generally outside of her video games and her inventions she does not give a shit about much lmao. not in like, a bad way or anything. she just never really saw the point of a social life yk? and the octonauts are an exception, that’s family it’s different. but she’s always had more important shit to do than playing social games.
anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i am very eepy.
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ohdudehesflirting · 1 year
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dream & their godly parents
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warnings: blades swords swearing gay shit mentions of kissing and food I think
note: love pjo and nct sooo yeah
마크<3
defo big 3
i think Poseidon is the best match
in chilling in the dream
how he was ok with the cold ass water
ma boi yes.
when he finds out ab being able to control water
(also surprised he can talk w horses)
“whoa dude- what just happened”
“u have powers” “wtf”
also … his spider-sense
very agile in combat
outside the arena……
clumsy somehow??
different story for another day
don't let him near bows and arrows
my guy how did u manage to break 4 bows in the span of 3 minutes
he is clearly as confused as you are
“dude I'm as lost as u”
our Canadian boy<3
런쥔<3
did I make this whole post just to vent ab child-of-athena!renjun
ummm… ofcourse
every sane person would do that right ????
right????
n e gays
very smart
book and street
gives the best advice
very calm…. is……. yeah no one believed that
shouts a lot but outside of libraries
if u disrespect libraries u are done w him
gets lost in thought a lot
lots of spacing out
probably planning his next murder but u didn't hear it from me
very skilled w bow and arrow
with swords….. not so much
very charming in an unexpected way
loves owls bc they remind him of his mom
has read harry potter
avid hater
(has secretly watched the half blood prince 13 times and has a ppt of 40 slides ab why its the best movie)
ace <3
does not care ab sex
제노<3
big 3
100%
he is the one with the most Zeus vibes
or ares maybe
but I don't see him being conflictive
but he is sharp? if that makes sense
(it does not ik)
but yeah
very scary looking
has a reputation for being good at close combat
biggest softie ever
can sometimes control electricity
gets called sparkly fingers by jaem
bc when he's nervous he fidgets w the electricity
gets along w jaemin bc jaemin was very anti-social
and he was a social butterfly with no real friends
they are inseparable now
rumor says they make out sometimes but u didn't hear it from me
bi wife energy but he's the bi wife
동혁<3
an Afrodite kid if I ever saw one
when he arrived to camp
he was the moment
the initial thought was that he was gonna be mean
bc that's how movie logic works
pretty= mean
don't blame me blame Hollywood
but he is an actual ray of sunshine
gets confused a lot w apollo kids
bc ma boi has pipes
gets along w everyone
but is not afraid to stand up for his friends
very extroverted and witty
has a good sense of humor and is street smart
met mark just as they were both discovering their powers
when he is close to a person he can see who they have feelings for
safe to say he saw Jeno and jaem
stuck w mark bc he could relate to him
ended up being soulmates
hyuck is a ray of sunshine
재민<3
hades…
yes
he is powerful and he knows that
likes that he can inspire fear
On the inside he loves romcoms and cries every time he watches the notebook
big softy
tsundere!!
was not close to a lot of people
no one except his brother and sister (irene and yoongi)
they adore each other so much
it's like they have their own language
but he had like o friends so when jeno approached him
he was surprised to say the least
likes being accompanied in silence
haTES small talk
would very much rather talk ab ones purpose on earth
or death too (pun kinda intended
talks ab deep shit w renjun
who he met through jeno
jeno says his coffee order comes from the depths of hell
(funny u say that )
jaem switches their drinks to see the disgusted expression on jeno’s face
(a simps behavior)
천러<3
apollo kid??
yeah
doesn't really fit in w his siblings
bc he has a darker aura
people mistake him for an ares kid
but he loves his siblings and his siblings love him
as an apollo kid he can sing v well
beautiful voice
but kinda shy to sing live
not scared to approach others
but prefers staying in his circle
really likes daggers
and is vv good w them
he trained mark for a bit
and then gave up bc he realized the canadian is helpless w any dagger or bow or anything except swords for a reason
arrived at camp w jisung
been stuck by the hip ever since
I see chenle where is jisung 🤨🤨 oh there he is hi ji
constantly giving each other gifts
fun fact his dagger was a jisung gift when they were finding their preferred weapon
lowkey like each other
they spend time near the auditorium
(word on the street says they make out sometimes but u didn't hear it from me)
i love chenle
지성<3
CHILD OF ARESSSSS
tell me u don't agree🤨
impossible
cute but agile
he is vv shy tho
when he battles completely transforms
extremely talented w swords
when he first picked up one
he felt complete??
idk that's what he told chenle
his sword is made of celestial bronze
takes care of it more than his life
his sword was a gift from his dad
but his dad sent it by chenle
chenle jokes that he is the best gift-giver ever
training and fighting is very therapeutic for him
98% of the time is in the arena when he is not with chenle
trains with the straw dummies when he has a lot on his mind
“training w straw dummies is very mundane so it helps me think”
he is on the younger side out of all the campers
but has more experience than most of them
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dyed-red · 1 year
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Your Dean meta re: Hollywood Babylon is also something that we see when Sam and Dean are in prison. Dean’s happy to integrate and socialize (though there’s no real project in sight except the accumulation of cigarettes lol). Happy (belated) Birthday to our social king, DW! 👑 & Happy Wincest Wednesday to you! My on-theme q is: how and where do you think Dean learned his social skills given that the family was so insular?
so clearly this ask is from january and referencing my tags on this post, sorry i took a million years to get back to it!
for interested parties, the context is that it's a gifset of how much dean seems to be enjoying himself being a film crew PA in the episode Hollywood Babylon, and the tags are all about how he enjoys teamwork and community.
and to your question -- i think it's a function of a few things, but most critically, dean's family wasn't so insular. not at the times he was learning these formative social skills.
dean was raised pretty 'normal' until four and a half or so, and in that early development period, would have probably had play-dates with other toddlers and kids, maybe would have gone to a daycare sometimes or a day home, been babysat with other kids, might have started pre-school.
he also was in the regular school system, not home-schooled, so would have had habitual interaction with kids his age. we also know that he and sam had babysitters and such growing up, probably especially in those early years, and that might have meant being around people his age and probably a whole slew of ages. all of which is conducive to developing decent social skills.
dean also has a strong emotional intelligence and he intuitively understands people. sam does as well, although they use their emotional intelligence in different ways. but the ability to read people's emotions means that dean is able to observe patterns for how they respond to each other and adjust his social approach accordingly through trial and error learning. dean's smart, he's not the type to make the same mistake twice, so he'd figure out quick how to charm people and to get what he wants.
which - he'd have had to learn. cajoling teachers and caretakers and all the rest into a sense of security to protect his family's secrets is something that was pretty important. looking after his little brother was pretty integral. learning to manage his father's moods was unfortunately a critical skill he developed as well.
he also would have learned through the media he consumed, at least implicitly. how the guy gets the girl by being charming and confident, so that he could act it even if he didn't feel it. how the innocent act works. how to look tough when he doesn't feel it. dean loves westerns (and scooby-doo and horrors and plenty more), and there are a lot of social scripts to be gleaned in media.
interestingly i think dean's seeming arrested development in some areas is actually arrested at points of early teen and early adult development, rather than early childhood development. he's got the ability to work with others as a team and get along and charm people and all the rest, he's got the independence from the middle childhood period down pat, but he struggles with the social separation of self from family that tends to happen as we shift our reference groups from family/parents to peers in our preteen and into our teenage years. the way he seeks approval from his father and from father figures and authorities speaks to a youth he doesn't have, never had, but this takes him a long time into adulthood to start moving past.
that is where his social immaturity looms the largest. that and his inability to be vulnerable and authentic but that's a pretty reasonable survival tactic in his life and another lesson he would have missed in the transition into early adulthood. i.e., when he was too busy being a parent to a preteen brother to work on his own shit.
(i resist the parentification of dean to some extent because i feel like people take it too far, but i think it's somewhat fair to assume that when dean hit his preteen and teen years, john probably felt comfortable being gone for longer and longer periods, because there was someone old enough to look after the younger kid. like i don't believe john would ditch the boys for weeks when sam was 4 and dean was 8, but we know he'd ditch them for days if not weeks when sam was 8 and dean was 12, over xmas no less, so i think dean's social development really stalled in his teen years into scripts and patterns and inauthenticity then, because that's all he had the resources to learn and it worked mostly well to very well. )
(and then as he ages we get glimpses of him learning/yearning for that social experience he was denied, like working as part of a crew of peers or fitting in with a larger group. and all people need that to some extent and it's healthy to fulfill our belonging needs, but we see dean especially enjoy it because it was missed, for him, so it's a deeper itch he's scratching. he's awkward about it and resistant because it's uncomfortable, but once there he's in his element and it feels good.)
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What about andre draws you to him/why do you like to write him?
(i tend to really latch onto characters who i strongly relate to in some way, and andre is no exception. i enjoy writing him so much because it's easy for me to get into his head... maybe my interpretation of him is total BS and i'm just hardcore projecting, you tell me LOL. but anyway.
the key thing about andre (imo anyways) is that he is an expert reader of people/social situations - this is what makes him a good head of intelligence, but it also causes him to put up like 50 different fronts at all times in order to 'play the system' that he's so hyper-aware of. everyone likes andre because he knows how to MAKE everyone like him. he is extremely skilled at catering to other people's tastes to be as well-liked as possible and enjoy the benefits of that - and in a spy context, at reading other people in order to manipulate them, lol. andre has cultivated this image of himself as this super cool guy who has all his shit together at work but who also throws fun parties, who's smart and charming and Hot and can do art and play every instrument blah blah... and this is great and all, but a) it's not entirely accurate lol, we know he's kind of a hot mess in both his job and his personal life; and b) if you're always putting on whatever personality you think will most please those around you, then who are YOU really? what does it say about andre that he needs to be (and later on, pretend to be) this perfect person?
not to get all personal, but i relate a lot to this whole vibe of needing to project a 'perfect' self-image to feel in control of others' perceptions of you because you over-rely on others' perceptions of you to define yourself LMFAO. i think andre is genuinely trying his best to do what he thinks is right, but he fucks up - often - because he confuses facades with reality. now, i love to hate on andre for being a hoe and a dumbass who caused his own downfall LOL, but i can't seriously dislike him for his mistakes. while many of his choices/tactics are questionable, by the end, andre literally just wants the war to be over so he can be with peggy, which - despite being a selfish motive that contrasts sharply with the broader visions of liberty that characters like ben have - is more understandable on a personal level. as andre's whole facade crumbles and he starts actually failing at shit, the war stops seeming to him like one long dance or game where his only goal is to perform and 'win.' he's actually starting to understand himself on his own terms and figure out what he actually wants!... but it's too late.
in the turn universe as well as historically, andre is remembered in a flattering light - suggesting that he may actually have achieved the control over his image that he desired at the start. but the 'real him' (the andre who did everything because he was in love, not for the king) is forgotten almost immediately. he didn't plan to become this almost-martyr figure - but he was trying to succeed at an impossible task, and in the struggle between finding and losing himself in it, he pushed too hard.
tl;dr: i promise i DON'T relate to andre because i think i'm super hot and smart and can play an epic tune on the flute lmfao, i relate to him because he's not a perfect person and i just think that's neat lol.)
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icharchivist · 5 months
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Just read Summer Lucio's skill unlock FE and like. Yeah.
If no one else is gonna do it, I'll sexualize this man
Yes, he's the safe choice, but he's a good boy
Also he's hot. I love that little tan on his summer body especially
Don't blame all the people drooling over him at the café
GOOD.
i don't have Summer Lucio and only heard a couple of things about it, but i have base Lucio and i love him.
Also just in general i think Lucio is a really good guy, like sure he lies to us and he overteases Sandalphon (even if i actually kinda understand Lucio's side of things of the fact Sandalphon keeps projecting Lucifer on Lucio and it's not fair), but also 1) jokes on you i'm into that shit, the more dishonest a character the sexier i find them 2) he's actually like, genuinely sweet, and he's also learning a lot about what he should be doing now and it's interesting to see him grow as a character, 3) he's hot and he's the only Lucifaces available who actually is chill with us sexualizing him come ON NOW.
people write him off so easily because neither Lucilius nor Sandalphon like him and they side with them so they don't want to think about Lucio a lot, but i love Lucio. I think he's neat. And he has his own unique themes that are super interesting.
(like idk but breaking away from the loyalty you had to someone since the beginning of existence itself is a baller thing to finally take into his own hands. He isolated himself desperately for God to pay attention to him, so much so he closed his eyes when Shalem was taken away, and after his faith crisis he had to figure out how to finally get his free will back after *a life as long as as the whole world has been old* of devotion blindly to a God who disregarded him. Of course he's not the best at social situation, of course it took him time to understand why people fought the way they do for their free will. If anything his storyline is really similar to someone who finally got his way out from a cult that brainwashed him and isolated him his whole life-- esp after having Shalem's exile being a punishment he knew could befell him if he failed to follow. Cut him some slack yaknow?)
(and he's charming and witty and sweet. What's not to like.)
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winterearlypoison · 1 year
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so pick the poison / and pour yourself a glass
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To find the neon-soaked quartet that is Pick the Poison, just follow the trail of broken hearts, colorful booze, and (good) pop-punk. The boys* can be found causing trouble all over town, and where you find one, the rest probably aren't far. There's a rumor going around that their relationship is a bit more than bromance, but of course, that's only rumors...
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Ezra Martin / 20 / he/him
If Ez had to describe himself, he'd probably tell you that he's the group's voice of reason. In reality, this is only partially true. When Ez's anxiety gets out of control, some of the things that he worries about are pretty damn far from levelheaded. But some of his worries aren't so unfounded, either... He's a bit of a loner, content to let the other three act as the social butterflies of the group, but he's deeply romantic, always on the lookout for his soulmate.
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Brian Velazquez / 20 / he/him
Bry is the life of the party, the center of every room, always making people laugh, pouring (badly mixed) drinks, and generally charming everyone he encounters with what feels like limitless charisma. Bry is always cracking jokes, including at his own expense, but most people don't know that it's an exaggerated front to protect him from vulnerability. Sometimes he wonders, would people still like him if he was earnest and didn't make everything into a joke? But he keeps the persona up. After all, he dreams of musical stardom, and his persona has the potential to take him far.
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Jules Baldwin / 20 / he/she/they
Don't let the good looks and flair for the dramatic fool you, Jules is a well of untapped genuine emotion and ability to channel that emotion into beautiful creativity. While Bry is the face of the group and Ez is the "levelheaded" one, Julie is the heart. Desperate to be loved and to love others in return, he cares deeply for the people around him.
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Raven Ward / 20 / he/him
The most recent addition to the group, Raven came free with a chair that they found on the sidewalk, and they decided to keep him... literally. He's added a key element to their dynamic, with unique skills and unique perspective on the world. He's been through a lot of shit in his life, but he stays positive, to an extent where people often think that he's much more innocent than he actually is, including his own newfound best friends. Raven often takes mysterious excursions, coming back with collectables to add to his stash, and knows a guy for basically anything you could want.
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The four of them recently moved into a modern four bedroom, two bathroom house in Oasis Springs, afforded thanks to a gift from Jules' older brother, Harrison, a gift that Harrison instructed the four of them to keep on the down low...
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bbwithaknife · 2 years
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Lessons in Calligraphy Part One: Dot Your I's ... (Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader)
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First off, hello. I come back from my years-long hiatus of writing due to this quirked-up white boy busting it down sexual style. I wrote this to indulge myself but I hope y’all like it too <3 feedback is definitely welcome but also be nice I am sensitive.
Warnings: Minors DNI. I don’t know if I can even write anymore but other than that a few mildly sexual moments, mentions of alcohol, blood etc. Please note reader goes by she/her, has a v*gina and b*reasts. If I am missing anything please let me know!
Word Count: 3K+
You were just the type of person to write things down and store hard copies. The guessing game of names to faces was something you had no knack for, like your Father before you who every semester had a whole set of new students, everyone for the next month would hereby be known as Bob. So files were a given, containing mugshots, notes, personal information, previous “work history” and whatever else you could deem important.
It wasn’t like you had just left the files out in the open either. Confidentiality is key and you had a whole system; lock the cabinet, lock the door. Granted it was a very simple system and you should have known better. Of course, something would happen since you worked with two of the most violent knuckleheads you’d ever met with bad social skills and impulse control, but maybe you were choosing to be blissfully ignorant. Maybe you wanted the man of your affections to stumble upon it, look you in the eyes and then kiss you like a man starved, returning from war.
So when the door to your office was ajar, you peered inside heart racing. What would you do? What would you say? You combed your fingers through your hair, hoping to get rid of any tangles and look calm and collected. Unfortunately, your heart sank when your eyes revealed to you that it was actually Chris Smith, Evergreen’s very own Peacemaker who broke into your office. The red, white, and blue was splayed across the office couch, file held like a newspaper within his hands. You could see the name written largely in your flowing calligraphy, the black sharpie swirling elegantly. For each I there was, the hovering dot was replaced with a simple heart.
It read “Adrian Chase, Vigilante.” You were fucked.
Shit.
It started almost immediately, that giddiness you got from crushes. It was that silly feeling like you were a girl in high school savouring every “moment” the two of you shared. A simple smile or a laugh from something you said made your heart swell. You’d replay them in your mind just as you would when you were younger, except this time no one would be asking anyone to prom. You thought you could play it off and get over it but one fateful day he placed a hand on your shoulder and you felt those butterflies in your stomach. It was then that you came to terms with your doom. He was charming in his own way. A boyish next-door neighbour type of guy with perfect curls and a delightful smile at first glance. He looked like the guy you wanted to bring home to your parents until he opened his mouth, the words that would follow typically containing comments of murders of the first degree or something that could only be summarized as classic Adrian. Considering the line of work you’ve done and the past you overcame, you were overlooking his “for the greater good” homicidal tendencies.
Before you could even think of the best way to handle the situation with Chris, the words were already slipping from your mouth, speech rushed.
“I dot all my I’s with hearts.”
You could see Chris’ eyebrows furrow. He was just a few seconds faster than you but before you could even reach out to stop him, he had thrown the file to the floor and reached for his own. It was labelled with chunky printing, no hearts over any I’s and no graceful writing to be found anywhere. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Adrian’s file was made with tender loving care while all the others were just that; files. As Chris flipped through the pages his shit-eating grin got bigger and bigger.
“I thought you would have read yours already.” You were kicking yourself for speaking too soon.
Chris continued to read his file, scoffing to himself. “Where did you even get this information, that’s not true at all.”
You couldn’t give a damn about what he was referring to, snatching the file from his hands and giving him a taste of his own medicine. “I got it from Google.”
“Touchy.”
“It’s touché, you meathead.” Insulting the “hero” who currently held what could be considered your most embarrassing secret probably wasn’t the best idea. You grabbed Adrian’s file from the floor and placed it back in the cabinet along with Chris’s.“Look, this needs to stay between us” you began, locking the cabinet. “Please don’t tell Adrian about this-”
“Tell me about what?”
Double shit.
He stood in the doorway with a genuine curiosity on his face. Sans mask, Adrian was still in his Vigilante garb. Now that time and missions have passed it started looking a bit worse for wear. The chest piece had chips and scratches along the front, something you would offer to take a look at and fix if you weren’t overworking the gears in your head to think of something, anything to say.
“Are you having a party or something?”
Sure. That should work. “Yup! A party!”
His demeanour quickly changed and he began to look like a kicked puppy.
“It’s a surprise party for you.” You quickly improvised. “You weren’t supposed to find out about it.”
It was like watching a rubber band snapping back into place. His dorky grin returned and you felt your shoulders relax. You could work with this. A surprise party for Adrian, as a thank you from the 11th Street Kids for voluntarily joining the team to save the country from an alien invasion of overrated moths. In typical Adrian fashion, he began to walk backwards and imitate a VHS rewinding. He reset the scene.
“Hey guys, what’s up? Just chillin’ after killin’? Not talking about any surprise parties for a certain hero that rhymes with-”
“Panty.” Chris added. You elbowed him in the stomach. Hard.
You finally met Adrian’s eyes. His gorgeous, green eyes. “Nope, no parties.” You gave him an awkward wink and he offered finger guns in return as he slowly walked backwards out the door, slightly hitting the frame but trying oh so hard to play it cool on the way out.
The hard smack of Chris’s hand on the top of your back snapped you out of your fog. “Saturday works best for me. I’ll bring my own booze.” before he walks out, he turns. “Actually you should
supply the booze I’m pretty broke right now unless you want to spot me a twenty-”
“Get out Chris!”
____________________________________________________________
There was no going back now, seeing how happy this party made him. You shifted into full party planner mode. Nothing compared to your Mother’s, nothing could shine a candle to that but you tried and that’s what counts. You made sure to avoid buying anything that someone else was allergic to, you brought the booze down from the top shelf, and you dusted the fan in the bathroom.
It was never a dull moment with Adrian leading up to the party. Every time he was in the building he stopped by your little dinky office and knocked on your door. Most of these times it was him stopping by testing to see if you would slip up.
“Hey, do you know if anyone is having any cool parties this weekend?”
“Sorry Vij, none that I’ve been invited to.”
But the night before the party was different. You had thought everyone had gone home by this point considering the beating they all took, so you were taking advantage of the quiet air to write out tonight’s report. What intel was found, what they got wrong, what they got right, etc. so it could be sent out and played back to Waller as soon as possible. You attempted to focus but were worried about the team, of course, you cared for them. But you were really worried about Vigilante. You had briefly caught sight of him when they arrived and saw the small flicks of red that stood out on the white stripe of his suit, no doubt the whole thing soaked in the substance.
From what Murn reported back to you, Adrian had taken home a few face lacerations, a fury of punches to the chest, and a nasty but treatable gash to the side of his abdomen. As Harcourt saw your expression change when you heard this news, she assured you despite the condescending tone that he was fine. You knew logically that he would survive, but that scratchy voice of irrational fear had a way of creeping up.
You looked back to the moment of Adrian grunting and climbing up the stairs with Chris and Economos not far behind him for medical attention. You wondered what would have happened if you had gone up there instead. Peeling off his armour as carefully as you could, facing him head-on as he stripped. His bare chest touching feather-light on your ghosting hands, he would look down to you, whisper a “thank you” right above your lips before tenderly placing the back of his hand on the base of your neck, pulling you forward to meet him. Lips plush, moving at an agonizingly slow pace. Realistically, you knew a moment like that wouldn’t occur, let alone a moment like that with Adrian but a girl could dream.
His trademark knock brought you out of your trance, startling you causing a small jump.
“Christ, you scared the shit out of me!” You held your hand to your chest. Be still, beating heart! He was still in uniform and your eyes met his visor.
“Sorry, I saw the light on. What’re you still doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
The pregnant pause in the room sounded like a blaring train in your ears. He made his way to your desk. You stood up to meet him, legs still clenched due to your trip to la-la land.
“I’m gonna pack up for the night-”
“Can I drive you home?-”
You short-circuited. You’re a grown woman, stop acting like this!
“Um, yeah of course.” Rushing to grab your briefcase and forgetting it was still open, all your notes flew out spewing across the room. “Shit.”
You bent down, frantically trying to grab them and shove them back into the case. You couldn’t care less what order they needed to be in, you could sort that out later. Your mission right now was to make sure Adrian’s gaze didn’t notice those stupid hearts over that stupid vowel. This mission almost failed instantly when his gloved hand touched yours. He handed the page to you so gently and to pay him back for his kindness you ripped it out of his hands.
“Sorry.” You coughed. “It’s confidential.”
The two of you stood up in unison, his frame looming over you. Adrian cleared his throat, taking a step towards you. With nowhere else to go, you backed up into the desk. Ass hitting the edge, your arms lifted in reflex and landed on his shoulders. He grimaced. You opened your mouth to speak, ask him if he was alright but he beat you to it leaving your mouth agape for a short second, a blink in time.
“Can I ask you something?” His voice was hushed but raspy. Almost a certain hunger to it. The space between you was close to caving in.
“Of course, anything.”
“Why are you throwing this party? What are you hiding?” His adam's apple bobbed. “Y’know if you’re actively participating in criminal activity-”
“This whole task force is technically criminal-”
“Criminal activity outside of this task force” He enunciated. “I’d have to kill you.”
You couldn’t fight the smile forming. “I promise I am the most law-abiding citizen outside of this team. Cross my heart.” Actions spoke louder than words and the braver part of you had control of your motor functions. You took his forefinger and brushed it against your chest in an “X” where your beating heart lay, pumping at overtime. You held his hand there for a moment, revelling in the contact before releasing him.
“Well, that’s a relief. You’re one of the last people I would ever want to kill.”
Any sane person hearing this statement would think it was the biggest and boldest red flag of the century and run packing. But this easy you hearing it from Adrian Chase. Coming from him this was the highest of praises. With his slipped confession being some sort of confirmation that he did think about you, you took the leap off the edge. Reaching one hand out to caress his masked cheek, thumb brushing just underneath while the other slid up on the opposite side pulling the fabric up. Eventually, you stopped just above his cupid's bow.
“I’d like to kiss you.” It was a whisper in the wind, your voice. And a gamble. “If you’d let me-”
“Could I kiss you back?”
“Yes, of cou-.”
As foolish as it was, you had thought of this moment many times before. You had thought about sharing the types of kisses with Adrian that the main heroine would with her lover. The kiss that expressed relief knowing each other was safe, or the “in wine there is truth” kiss. A smooch so full of intoxication and lust, once and for all ending the will-they-won’t-they. Maybe even the kiss that was so desperate it pained them not to have their lips meet. But every time you had these thoughts, these wishes, you told yourself that’s just not who he was. But you were grateful to be proven wrong.
This kiss you hadn’t expected was the one you received. It was mid-response when his lips captured yours in what could only be described as the first bite of a warm apple pie made from scratch. The kind of pie with such a buttery crust that melted in your mouth and the glaze of apple comp, brown sugar and cinnamon sticking to your lips.
He was sweet to taste and his lips melded perfectly with yours. His hands found your waist and fingertips gripped your sides to leave grape-like bruises along your skin. He lifted you to sit on your desk so that he stood between your legs. Paperclips and pens dug into your backend but at this point, you were too love drunk to care. You wrapped your arms around him and snaked a hand underneath the back of his mask, fingertips running along with the wisps of hair at the nape of his neck. This action caught him off guard. In an instant, your wrists were in a tight lock.
“I’m sorry I . . . I just wanted to see you.” His lips were cherry red from your back and forth. He paused, your wrists still in his vice. You could barely make out his eyes from behind the mask but you could sense he was thinking. It was the next word you spoke breathlessly that solidified his decision. The hopeless “please” that left your lips sounded so orgasmic to Adrian that he yanked his own mask off and placed it neatly in the desk drawer. Slamming it closed, Adrian’s emerald eyes met yours in almost a coy look of endearment and you melted.
“There he is.” You smiled up to him, your thoughts heavy with affection. He pulled you in to meet his lips and held you flush against him. Either he was happy to see you or was still carrying. Hell, there was a good possibility it was both.
Each break for air felt like a chore. You thought about kissing him forever and wondered if he would let you but the rough touch of a weathered glove brought you somewhat back to earth. Adrian’s hands were slowly making their way up to cop a feel. He was just above his target when he hesitated and pulled away, stretching your shirt in the process.
“Is the party a prank? Like a Punk’d kind of thing?” His expression so genuine you could see he really couldn’t understand the gesture of a party unless it was something that would impact him negatively.
“No, not a prank. It is actually happening,” Your breath hitched on your last word as Adrian peppered a chain of kisses from your jaw to your collarbone. “The plan w-was to pick you up tomorrow night and bring you to my place where everyone would surprise you. So far only Chris has RSVP’d but I just . . . wanted to do something nice for you I guess.”
At this point, Adrian was on his knees. Somewhere down the line, he had placed his glasses atop the crook of his nose. They gave off a small shine when he adjusted them and looked up at you. “Yeah, but why be nice to me?”
You were mentally flipping through various flashcards of different responses trying to find the one that would dig out of this hole that you made yourself. Maybe you’ve finally dug yourself too deep. But had you really? He was here on his knees seemingly for you. Your mouth had gone dry and parting your lips to speak was a struggle for multiple reasons.
“I like you. A lot.” You averted his gaze revealing what you tried so hard to hide. Hiding this is what got you into this mess but it also got you the moment in time that you yearned for. The sound of realization from Adrian is what brought you back to look at him. “That’s why you write my name with hearts!”
A paramedic would deem you unresponsive and dead for at least a minute like one of those miracle cases you would see on Grey’s Anatomy. He knew?
“What?” you chuckled nervously. If life was a cartoon you would be pulling at your collar to let the steam out of your shirt. Adrian stood up from his position and reached into his back pocket. Unlocking his phone, he shoved the bright screen in your face. It was a text chat with Chris. A blurry but readable photo was sent to Adrian just a few days ago. In the photo, blue gloved hands shaped a heart over the file reading Adrian’s name. How did Chris even get that shot?
He was grabbing his mask from the drawer now. You stood there unresponsive. Adrian waved his hands in front of your face searching for a reaction. He called out your name as he handed you your briefcase. You were too stunned to speak. The delay lead to his favour when he asked politely “Could I eat you out?”
“Here?!” Your brain wanted to tap out. Just turn off. You grabbed the briefcase and covered your centre with it.
“No, that’s public indecency! That’s a misdemeanour. You should know me better than that!” He knew his stuff. “I mean after I drive you home. At your place? Or we could go to mine, it’s closer but I kind of have to go boxes everywhere.”
He began to leave your office and make his way to the parking lot. You followed along like a lamb to slaughter.
Locking up the office and turning to face him under the night sky, the lights of the “Vigilante Mobile” flickered twice along with a high-pitched horn. You couldn’t help but wonder what brought this on if he truly had no idea how you felt until minutes ago. In gentlemanly fashion, he opened the side door for you. As you slipped in, you inquired. With a gloved hand he cupped your cheek.
“I’ve been wanting to do this since I met you.”
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darkmulti · 3 years
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-> 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞
-> 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭, 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.
-> 𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭
-> releasing this a bit early because we reached 4K+!! Thank you guys so much! I love you all<3
-> THIS PROFILE CONTAINS DUB-CON AND NON-CON THEMES! PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
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It was a Saturday night — the busiest day of the week. You worked at the strip club, not as an exotic dancer but as a waiter. The money you were making was just enough for you to survive on your own.
Tonight, you wanted to ask your boss if you could start working as a dancer. You packed your new dancewear and everything you might need in case the boss says yes. It was around 4 pm when you arrived. You walked to your boss’s office and gently knocked on the door.
“Come in”
You grab the door handle and push the door open, revealing your boss Taehyung with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
“Hello, little one. What can I help you with?”
You thought the nickname was creepy at first, and when you politely asked him to stop calling you that, he said that he had a nickname for every employee. Over time, you’ve grown used to it. And you’d be lying if you said that it didn’t give you butterflies in your stomach.
“I know this is sudden, but can I start dancing?”
Taehyung squeezed the glass cup tightly, almost shattering it with his bare hand.
“But why? You’re just a little angel. Angels don’t sin, little one.”
“Sir, I really need money. I want to go back to school and get a degree so I can have a permanent job.”
There was a pause of silence before you spoke up again.
“I-I can show you my skills. I’ve been practicing. I even brought my dancewear.”
Taehyung shoots you a glare. It was intense and almost threatening. He sighs as he puts the glass of whiskey on his desk and walks to the couch, where he sat down with his muscular thighs spread apart.
“Go wear your little outfit and come back here.”
You innerly smile and leave to the dressing room to change. Once the door closed, Taehyung let out a chuckle. He’s never going to allow you to be a dancer, he just wants to watch you for his pleasure.
After adjusting your straps and fixing up your hair, you sprayed some perfume around your neck and walk back to his office.
“Sir, I’m ready.”
“Good, now come in and lock the door.”
You did as told then remove your robe. It didn’t take long for Taehyung’s member to harden after seeing your body on full display. Taehyung turned some music on then said “the stage is all yours, little one.”
You’ve been practicing for months, just for this moment. Bending over and whipping your hair back, showing off your beautiful body to him. Taehyung motioned you to come to him, so you can give him a lap dance.
He placed his hands on your hips and made you grind on his bulge. Your face warmed up after feeling his boner that you caused. Taehyung started moving his hips with yours, making you whimper.
His hands moved to your breast and gave it a light squeeze. “Sir, I thought touching is not allowed.”
“I’m the boss. I make the rules. Right now, touching is allowed.” You were too naive to understand that he was manipulating you.
30 minutes pass and you finally stop and take a step back.
“So... what did you think?”
You were expecting a positive response and even a praise but you got the complete opposite.
“I’m sorry, little one. You’re not good enough. I can give you a raise but I’m not letting you become a dancer.”
“But what if I practice more? Could you reconsider?!”
“No is my final answer, little one. I’m a very busy man and I don’t have time to watch you dance just for you to fail.”
Embarrassed. You felt so embarrassed. You genuinely thought Taehyung was enjoying your show. Well, it sure as hell looked like it. A gloomy look took over your face and you walked towards the door to leave.
“Don’t give me that pouty face, little one.”
Taehyung abruptly pulled you on his lap and attached his lips to yours. You didn’t respond until Taehyung’s hand spanked your butt, causing you to moan.
“Grind on me, baby. I know you want it just as much as I do.”
You rubbed your clit harder against his bulge until you released. “Keep moving, little one. Help daddy cum too.” He growled, before grabbing your face and kissing you again. Deep moans left his mouth turning you on even more. His hands all over your body — it felt euphoric.
Taehyung let out one last groan before cumming in his pants. “Fuck! You’re so fucking good.” he kissed your jawline and moved down to your neck.
“How about this, little one. You become my personal dancer and I pay you money. You can stay with me, I’ll buy you everything you need as long as you accompany me and satisfy my sexual needs.”
“Like a sugar daddy?”
“Exactly”
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Rules:
No dating
No lying
No revealing clothes
If something is wrong, tell him
No swearing
Don’t be bratty
Obey him
Never reject his kisses
Don’t leave without his permission
Answer his calls and texts immediately
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How he’s like:
Taehyung’s a charming, gentleman
He treats you like a queen
He never ignores you
You’re his first priority
This man spoils the shit out of you
He buys you luxurious clothes and accessories
For your birthday, he bought you a brand new Porsche convertible
Taehyung’s very possessive, but you honestly don’t mind
You love spending time with him anyways
Anytime another male is too close to you, he wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer to him
If you hug him, his hands will immediately go down to your ass and grab it
He’s very affectionate
Even at important events, Taehyung will always hug you, kiss your lips, cheeks and forehead in front of anyone
Sometimes you forget that you’re his sugar baby because he treats you like his wife
Your opinion matters to him
Whether it’s a big or small decision, he always wants to hear what you think
In the morning, he makes you breakfast
Especially if you had a long night with him (if ykyk)
When he’s doing work, he makes you sit on his lap and do some cock warming
Taehyung loves travelling with you
He’d rent out expensive villas or hotel room
Taehyung loves swimming with you
The man enjoys your company
You’re so lovable, sweet and innocent
It was almost like you were made for him
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Yandere Taehyung:
Taehyung was secretly obsessed with you
After he hired you as a waiter, he wanted to know everything about you
Since the job application required your address, Taehyung knew where you lived
He broke into your apartment and hid tiny cameras in places you’d never see
There were cameras in your kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom
He did this to keep an eye on you and make sure that you’re not seeing another man
When you’re at work, Taehyung stops by your apartment and takes some of your underwear to get off
He hacked into all your social media accounts, unfollowed guys he didn’t like and checked your dm’s regularly to make sure nobody was trying to get with you
If you made plans with your friends, Taehyung would show up (in disguise) and watch you from afar
Whenever you had plans or even a date, Taehyung would call you and say that more waiters are needed and he will pay extra because it’s an emergency
So you end up cancelling on your friends/date which angers them
Soon, your friends stopped inviting you to hang out because you always cancel last minute because of work
Taehyung’s plan was too isolated you from your friends which gives him the perfect opportunity to swoop in and be your one and only companion
And what do you know, his plan worked
Not only that but since you have no friends anymore, you’re always with him
So he never has to worry about you fooling around behind his back
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sex Life:
Taehyung was incredible in bed
He never failed to satisfy your sexual needs
You’ve both tried so many kinky things in bed and it was honestly fun
He was addicted to eating you out
Hickeys all over your body. Between your thighs, on your stomach and chest. All over your neck, collar bone and jawline.
Taehyung loves marking what’s his
Traditional rough sex + doggy
But hey, it gets the job done
Three round minimum, 7 rounds maximum
Taehyung will always cum inside of you
He loves watching himself cum into your little hole
He gets more turned on when watches cum his leaking out of your hole and running down your thigh
Dry humping is something he’s into
The idea of both of your coming without having actual sex drives him crazy
Blowjobs for days
He loves watching you suck him off
Make eye contact with him while you suck and he’ll have an orgasm
You must swallow all of his cum
Don’t spit it out
Before Taehyung got you, he used to use your underwear to masturbate
You eventually started to notice that a bunch of your panties disappeared
Therefore, Taehyung returned most of them (except for his favourites), some washed, some not
Taehyung could literally cum to the thought of you wearing panties covered in his dried-up cum
It made him hard just thinking about it
Over time, you notice Taehyung becoming more aggressive in bed
It would get so bad that you’d have to use the safe word to get him to stop
You noticed he started doing things he’s never discussed with you before
Sometimes, you cry under him because he scares you
He’d pin your hands above your head and fuck as hard as he could
You were not used to it nor were you a big fan of it
He was taking everything out on you
Taehyung would start at 21:30 and finish at 04:00
Unknowingly, Taehyung’s yandere side took over him
Some may know him as V
His cruel and sadistic side who felt no remorse whatsoever
V’s kinks are dark and heavy
He choked you until you couldn’t breathe, tied you up so you couldn’t move, and slapped you when you asked him to stop
V enjoyed watching you cry too
Overstimulation was the worst part
Your core was crying for a break but V couldn’t care less
The man fucked you until you passed out
Minimum 7 rounds, maximum... there’s no maximum
In the morning, he’d still be deep in you and depending on his mood, he may or may not fuck you again
At this point, you didn’t care if it was Taehyung or V, you needed to leave him
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Trying to break off the (3 years) contract:
This is when Taehyung goes fucking insane.
After nights of relentless sex, you finally decide to break the contract. You couldn’t handle the abuse anymore. Sex every night to “remind you of your place” was complete bullshit. You stayed with him for two more months, hoping that the old, sweet Taehyung would come back and save you.
Unfortunately, he never did. After you lost all hope, you wanted to get away from Taehyung as soon as possible. He can keep all the gifts and money he’s given you if that means freedom.
You woke up only to see Taehyung missing from the bed. He must’ve gone to work, you thought. You get ready and pack all of the clothes you brought to his mansion. You write a small message on a notepad, saying that it’s over. You didn’t dare to tell him face to face because you knew exactly where it would’ve lead to.
You left his mansion and took the bus back to your apartment. An hour later, Taehyung was blowing up your phone, spamming you with messages.
“Where the fuck are you?!”
“Answer my calls!”
“Explain the message on the notepad!”
“What do you mean that we’re “done” ?”
“The contract’s not over yet! I still fucking own you.”
“Get your ass over here!”
“You’re making your punishment worse for yourself.”
“How can you say goodbye to me like this?! Do I mean nothing to you?!”
“You’re going to regret this!”
“Come back here, now!”
“Stay where you are, I’m on my way!”
You started to tear up because you were petrified. You drop your phone in fear and ran into your closet. You hid in a basket full of your clothes so no one could see you. Not even a minute passed and Taehyung was banging on your apartment door.
“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR, Y/N.”
You covered your mouth, stopping the sobs from coming out. You needed to find a weapon. You looked around your closet and that’s when you spotted something.
A camera.
A tiny camera is hidden in plain sight. Your heart dropped to your stomach. How long has that been there? Who placed it there? Your mind immediately went to Taehyung. You were trying to connect the dots but how could he have possibly gotten into your apartment?
You stopped questioning when you heard Taehyung break down the door. He came right to your bedroom and opened the closet door. He pulled out the basket you were hiding. “Get up.”
That’s when you knew the camera belonged to him. He knew your exact location. You couldn’t help but wonder how long he’s been watching you.
You take a deep breath in and stand up. Taehyung’s fierce eyes encountered your terrified ones. He grabbed your jaw and pulled your face close to his.
“What the fuck were you thinking?! You nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought one of my enemies kidnapped you but no! You just left me with a shitty ass note.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?!” Taehyung pinched the bridge of his nose. “SORRY?! THAT’S ALL YOU FUCKING GOT?!”
He picked up your glass jewelry box and threw it on the floor. The whole thing shattered, causing you to burst out in tears. “T- Taehyung! Stop! Stop it! You’re scaring me!”
“Good bitch. Seems like I haven’t scared you enough because you still have the nerve to fucking leave me.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Omg, I finally wrote something after months of being an unproductive piece of shit.
This is bad, but I still hope you enjoyed 😊
Oh and I apologize for any mistakes. Like always, I’m half asleep:)
xoxo,
naina❣️
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peanutpmingib · 3 years
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Boyfriend!juyeon headcannons
Tumblr media
Now presenting, Juyeon as ur college boyfie
Watch it : nothing ! It’s all basically fluff, let me know if I need to add anything
Word count : 500+
——-
- Psychology/ethics major, dance minor
- Prolly met u on accident while rushing to get to class, Or just by pure chance
- So he calls u his lucky charm, bc u make every day lucky by being with him aweee
- Honestly most ppl prolly see him as a little intimidating bc he’s the guy in the back end of the lecture hall who’s quiet, maybe a little judgy, but just trying to absorb all the info he can before his caffeine boost runs out
- He’s soft spoken and reserved, a little shy when u first start talking
- Has a habit of chewing on pen caps when he’s nervous
- He thinks ur super cool ! Just doesn’t know how to go about expressing that so he thinks of what he would want someone to do for him
- Ends up getting u coffee when he runs into u in the mornings
- If u don’t like coffee don’t fret, he’ll ask what’s ur fav drink and get that instead
- He’ll go all red, rubbing the back of his neck if you so much as thank him
- When he realizes he actually likes you he loses his mind and convinces himself there’s no way you’d feel the same
- A be a little oblivious so it takes some encouragement from ppl like Eric and Sunwoo that, “dude, they totally like you”
- Asks you out on a date and the rest is history
- Honestly he’s just so sweet and kind and just so :(((
- Prefers to links arms rather then hold hands most of the time
- Soft whispers of compliments
- Warm hugs and steady hands
- Always just a call away if u need anything
- So eager to understand more of who you are
- Prefers to call u like darling, love, sometimes just simply baby
- Says the softest shit
- “Your so pretty my love “
- Likes to be called puppy, handsome, pretty boy :((
- Big baby in the morning
- “Darling please…just, cuddles some more…”
- How can u say no?
- STUDY DATES
- As soon as finals r over he’s in ur bed napping for a week straight to make up for lost time
- Loves seeing you wear his clothes, thinks it’s adorable
- U officially have “scary dog privilege” bc best believe ppl r not coming anywhere near you when they see Juyeon holding your waist close
- Maybe be a little jealous and possessive it’s never weird or overwhelming
- Like if josh from ur chem class is over for a project he doesn’t care, by all means project away
- Butttt if jake from English has been replying to ur stories with pick lines and tries to get u to walk with him on campuses Juyeon will not be thrilled
- Juyeon has critical thinking skills okay
- Random pecks on ur lips
- Introduces u to all his friends !
- Takes u to dance practice sometimes but it makes him rly nervous and shy
- Eric is actually so mean to him about it and makes fun of him alll the time bc he’s so gone for u it’s rly funny
- Doesn’t like to be blasted all over social media, kinda thinks it’s bad luck
- Prefers more candid pics where u can barely make out the two of you so ppl are always asking about what’s up with u two, but u just reply with :)
- All in all, he’s a sweet heart with a heart too big for him to know what to do with at times and loves you with all of it. Patient and understanding, and just so cute omfg. Treat him well ! He’s a keeper
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Text
a kiss from the moon | jjk
pairing(s): jungkook x reader
summary: All these years, all these summers, Jeon Jungkook has loved you. His problem? You have no idea. Mostly because he has always said it far too platonically and thrown up in your lap after saying it. Drunk. Fuck. Oh, yeah, and you're also Park Jimin's best friend since preschool. Shit.
warnings: language; alcohol consumption; pining; JK gets distracted by (your) tits during his quest, typical; non-idol!BTS - purple-haired!Jungkook x sleepy af, noona!reader, ft Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung radiating big soulmate energy; childhood friends-to-lovers
yes, it's JK from the 'Butter' beach photos
--
“I love you!”
You lifted your head out of the mountain of pillows, groggy and hazy, squinting at the moonlight filtering through the floating curtains. The night breeze was warm, drifting in softly with the low hum of cicadas. But what was that other sound? That other sound was familiar, wasn’t it?
You heard your name being shouted, followed by, “Wake up!”
You made a face and stumbled out of the bed, sticking your head out of your bedroom window, your own hair flying back and smacking you in the face.
“Yah! Jeon Jungkook, are you trying to wake up the whole damn neighborhood?!”
“Get down here!”
You put on your best disgruntled expression and peered down at the form on your front lawn, shoving your own hair aside.
“What are you going on about?” you muttered, seeing Jeon Jungkook looking up at you, puffing his cheeks, long wet purple hair fading to gray because of the chlorine from swimming all night at that party Park Jimin had invited you to earlier today, to which you had responded, no thanks, I’m going to sleep all day, I worked three double shifts in a row and I have zero desire to be flung into your family’s swimming pool at this time, but I will acknowledge that your offer is very generous, and then promptly passing out for a good – you glanced at your phone with the pink bunny case Jungkook had given you two summers ago – ten hours and it was still not enough for you to comprehend why your best friend’s best friend was standing on your front lawn yelling at your parents’ house that you were watching for a month while they were in Italy getting drunk on far too expensive wine and eating cheese they probably couldn’t pronounce.
Jungkook was shirtless, clad only in orange swim shorts and sandals like a fucking hooligan. He was clutching a plastic red Solo cup and he threw it at the house, yelling your name again.
“Oh my fucking God, don’t litter, you idiot!” you bellowed back, throwing yourself away from the windowsill and crawling on the floor to your bedroom door like the evolution of mankind, making it from all fours to two legs by the time you got to the stairs – good thing too, you might have broken your neck if you were still disoriented – and you dragged yourself downstairs, yanking your white slip dress straight. Not your choice of pajamas. Your mom’s, who told you to be more ladylike, whatever the fuck that meant, and who also informed you in the same breath that it was your only choice of pajamas since they donated all your clothes from high school.
Awesome.
You go to university and your parents yeet all evidence that they had a child and go vacationing.
Good for them.
You wrenched your front door open and shoved your feet into your dad’s giant brown sandals and clapped your way over to the pink-faced, mildly drunk, shirtless man in swimming trunks on your front lawn.
“It’s two in the morning. Why are you standing here drunk and professing your love like some kind of deranged Romeo?” you sighed, rubbing your eyes. “Why aren’t you at Jimin’s?” You spied the red Solo cup and picked it up, whipping your head back to Jeon Jungkook.
He was staring at you with his mouth open.
Charming.
He didn’t say anything for a good ten seconds.
“Alright, fine, let me call my loser of a best friend and tell him to pick up his loser of a best friend, so I can go back to sleep,” you muttered, about to turn around.
Jungkook seemed to sputter back to life. “Wait, um, noona–”
“He speaks! He’s not dead.”
“A… Ah… Um…”
You squinted at him and reached up to knock the side of his head. “Hello? Anyone in there?”
Jungkook blurted out, “I love you.”
His breath smelled a lot like alcohol.
“Yeah, I got that. You also said that when I got you through your Chemistry and World History exams. Both times. You also say that to like, what, six of your guy friends? Don’t get me started on the amount of times you’ve said it and thrown up in my lap right after. Don’t do that this time,” you added sternly, prodding at his chest. “I’ve got one set of pajamas because my mom forgets that human beings change clothes, so throw up on the grass.”
“Uh… that’s pajamas…?”
“Lady pajamas,” you grumbled sarcastically, lifting the lid and chucking the crumpled Solo cup into your parents’ trash can. “Since I’m not lady enough apparently according to my mom, even though I’m ninety-nine percent sure giant band t-shirts are completely unisex but, whatever, it’s just a dress, not a big deal.”
“Um.”
You looked at Jungkook, who looked back at you, who put your hands up and gestured him to say something, who in response rose his hands and flapped them in confusion, giving you absolutely zero helpful communication. The movement reminded you he had gotten his right arm and hand tattooed in the last couple years, the black ink standing out against tan skin. You hadn’t seen him too many times during your university years, too busy completing research papers and staying late nights in laboratories, only to now end up working on hospital software and sitting on your ass all day. Life, eh? These past three days were spent on working through bugs for the next software update and you had maybe lost all social skills as you attempted to unravel lines of code that you stared at for forty-eight out of the past seventy-two hours.
Fun!
“Do you need a cookie? A shower? The Bible?” you offered, waving your hands. “Maybe tell me why you’re here, yes?”
He was staring and you realized you were slightly bent over in your gesture, your breasts firmly pressed into the cups of the slip dress. You straightened and Jungkook’s wide dark brown eyes went back to your face.
“I… I didn’t realize you had come back, noona.”
You raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I told Jimin last week. He said he was hanging out with you and Taehyung. I figured he’d just tell you guys then.”
Jungkook shook his head quickly, gray-purple hair flying about. He pointed to the left, where Jimin’s house was several blocks over. “He only mentioned it just now, when he was throwing up in the bathroom from doing eight shots in a row because Taehyungie dared him.”
“…. Maybe he needs the Bible…” you muttered, shaking your head.
Then the realization hit you.
“Did you walk here from Jimin’s and straight up abandon the party?”
Jungkook tilted his head and thought about it. “Yeah.”
You looked around to find the camera and see if you were being pranked, but there was no camera because this life wasn’t purely for entertainment, right? Nah, this wasn’t The Matrix.
Mhm.
“Hah, well, what’s wrong? Are you upset I didn’t go to the party or something? I had three double-shifts this week, I wasn’t going to be any fun passed out before actually drinking–”
“Yoongi-hyung was passed out before drinking.”
“In some ways, I swear that guy and I are the same person,” you laughed, shaking your head. “Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t go and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I really banked on Jimin not being an airhead, but once again he is, so maybe I should reconsider him as my best friend…”
“Noona, I…”
You looked up from your mental consideration of Park Jimin’s pros and cons, the first pro being he punched that ex of yours that cheated on you with some Tinder hookup and that was already enough to stop contemplating, so you blinked at Jungkook curiously, looking into wide brown eyes, long strands of ash-purple floating around his handsome face from the night breeze, brushing against his parted lips, highlighting the mole underneath them, placed perfectly in the center like a kiss from the moon itself.
“Can I take a shower and sleep it off here?”
You tilted your head. “Yeah, sure. You can borrow my dad’s clothes. You should call Jimin though. You don’t want him to panic that he lost you.”
“Y… Yeah, okay…”
-
Jeon Jungkook really thought he could say it this time.
Collected all his courage and ran, ran as fast as he could, couldn’t believe Jimin had neglected to say she was coming home over the summer for more than a day, days without her reminding Jungkook that he was a coward for not saying it when he could have, having lost his most important person in the world because he was too afraid of telling Park Jimin that he was in love with his best friend.
He remembered that smile wearing nothing but a large t-shirt, sitting on Jimin’s bedroom floor, crushing all of them at UNO and cackling as Jimin blew up for ending up in last place for the third time in a row, yelling that the game was rigged, and Jungkook remembered thinking, I should tell her tonight.
And he didn’t.
He remembered her saying to Taehyung that she just wasn’t into girly things. They were having this argument over pizza and Taehyung was waving his around saying she should at least try a dress on every once in a while, never know, might actually like it, and her rolling her eyes as she shot back that she didn’t have to do anything just because it was stereotypical for her gender. Taehyung told her to stop using big words and waved his hands, accidentally flinging his pizza slice into her lap, and Jungkook remembered thinking, I should tell her after we clean up.
And he didn’t.
He remembered seeing her prepare to leave for university once again, holding a small package from the internet and handing it to her, a small but practical belated birthday gift, both of them surprised when she opened it, not the matte black phone case he had ordered, but somehow mixed up with a pink bunny phone case that had no business being owned by someone who didn’t like girly things.
“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t order this–”
And she laughed, shaking her head. “That’s okay, I gotta go, thanks anyway, Jungkook!”
The years went by and every year Jungkook told himself, this is the one, and every year he just couldn’t say it.
He thought he could say it now, drunk and furious at Jimin for not preparing him for this moment, but on his way here Jungkook figured that perhaps this was preferred, that maybe it was better that he couldn’t sit around nervously overthinking what to say.
But, of course, the problem was…
He had already said it in a platonic way.
Shit.
He really fucked himself throughout the years.
Jungkook sighed, now wearing borrowed clothes, holding the note of her handwriting as he rubbed his hair with the towel.
I washed your shorts and they’re hang-drying now. You can sleep in the guest room. I left a glass of water and some hangover meds. If you need anything, I’ll be asleep but you can attempt to wake the dead if you want.
He walked down the hall, towel around his shoulders. Her bedroom door was open. He stood outside the entrance, sighing, seeing her sleeping form and her bedside table, her phone sitting on the charger.
His breath caught in his throat as he recognized that pink bunny phone case.
-
“Where’s Jungkook?”
“Probably at her parents’ place, confessing his love,” Kim Taehyung snickered, picking up the beer bottles left behind next to the pool.
“Hah, of course he would leave without cleaning up,” Park Jimin grumbled, pushing the recycling bin along as Taehyung tossed each bottle inside.
“You think he’s gonna tell her?”
“He didn’t even tell me,” Jimin muttered, shoving used napkins into the bag hanging off the side of the recycling bin that he was going to toss into the trash later. “I had to find out from you. I think he’s hopeless. Why does he like her anyway? She’s fun to be around, yeah, she’s good at school, yeah, knows a lot of random facts, yeah, if you get into philosophy with her like Namjoon-hyung does, you begin to question humanity and reality, yeah, but other than that…”
“You hitting on your best friend, dude?”
“I mean, she’s kinda hot, she wouldn’t say no to me.”
Taehyung snorted.
Jimin smacked him in the ass with the recycling bin.
“Anyway, he’s probably just standing in her bedroom creepily watching her sleeping.”
-
Jungkook stared down at her sleeping form.
He looked up, looking out the window into the late, late night. He was tired, and yet he couldn’t sleep, too busy wondering.
I don’t deserve her if I’m not brave enough to say it.
“Jungkook?”
-
You squinted at the large form in your bedroom.
“Why are you just staring moodily out the window?” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. “Is something wrong? Are you hungry? I can make you a snack…”
“Noona, do you know what the worst feeling in the world is?” he asked softly, still looking out into the warm night.
You grunted and scrunched up your face. “Stepping on a Lego?”
You heard Jungkook laugh and you smiled a little despite your groggy state, hearing a little bit of his old self, the younger Jungkook hanging out with you, Jimin, and, later, Taehyung, the four of you getting up to no good. Somehow, in the past few years, he had gotten quieter and quieter, at least around you, but then again you only came home to visit for a day or two before going back to university.
“Have you ever been in love, noona?”
“Yeah, with the red bean popsicles they used to sell at the ice cream trucks, but then they stopped, those assholes, I’ve never been so heartbroken in my life,” you grumbled, remembering the day where the ice cream man told you they were sold out and your young teenage heart shattering.
“I love you, you know.”
Was this a fever dream? Why did he keep repeating himself? You looked over to his back, still looking outside onto the street, the street where you all used to run and laugh every summer, pretending you were surviving in the wild and not in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, sitting around sipping lemonade and complaining about the heat even though you all could have gone inside, lighting sparklers at night and seeing whose would last the longest even though such a thing was only based on chance anyway.
“Is that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?” he added quietly.
“The worst thing I’ve ever heard was accidentally hearing Jimin jacking off. Twice.”
Jungkook finally turned around, giving you a disgusted look. “What?”
You placed a hand on your face and sighed heavily, trying not to remember. “For some reason he thinks the bathroom isn’t echoey or something, like, at least do it in the shower, so the water masks the sound…” You chuckled, shaking your head. “Anyway, I would much rather hear you say you have love for me than listening to Jimin getting off.”
“I don’t have love for you.”
You raised your hand from your face and shifted your gaze to him, half-smile lingering on your lips from remembering Jimin’s carelessness. You made eye contact the second the words left his mouth, those brown eyes shrouded in shadows, but still so clear, a little helpless, a little sad.
“I’m in love with you,” Jungkook whispered softly.
Your eyes widened.
A soft breeze swept through the window, lifting the purple-gray strands from Jungkook’s face, revealing his lost, desolate expression.
The cicadas hummed.
A car alarm honked loudly, screeching through the night.
Both you and Jungkook jerked to face the window. You bolted out of bed and you both threw your hands onto the edge of the window, yanking it shut, wincing at the loud noise.
“Ah, jeez… what the hell…?” you groaned, slumping to the ground.
“What’s with people…?” Jungkook muttered, falling to the floor beside you, yanking the towel off his shoulders.
-
“Fuck, I pressed the wrong button!”
“Taehyung, what the hell, turn it off!”
“I was just trying to put the tangerines your parents gave me in my car!”
“I don’t care what you were doing, turn it off!”
-
“Anyway, sorry, you were saying something important and you got interrupted by some dumbass,” you sighed, nudging Jungkook with your shoulder.
“Uh… well, that was it…”
You blinked at him, tilting your head. “What, that you’re in love with me?”
“Y… Yeah?”
You blinked some more.
“Not the, want to go to the arcade and see who can get the highest score in PAC-MAN or go watch shitty action movies and rate the unrealistic plot lines or dare each other to eat whatever expired delicacy is in Taehyung’s fridge, kind of love?”
Jungkook made a repulsed face. “I regret eating that tofu. Don’t think I can ever look at uncooked tofu without gagging a little now…”
You leaned over and caught his eye.
“Do you mean the… want to date and get married and make babies, kind of love?”
His lips parted and the moonlight lit the small mole placed perfectly underneath his lower lip.
A delicate kiss from the moon itself.
Then you realized he was staring at your tits.
You yanked the neckline up a little and Jungkook started, looking back up at you with wide eyes.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to you in a dress, sorry, I’m being really rude–”
“It assures me that you’re at least interested in the making babies part,” you chuckled.
His ears turned red and he reached up to cover them, trying not to look down. “S… Sorry…”
“So…?”
He chewed on his lip, messing with his earrings with his fingertips. “Um… yeah, that kind of love. The latter kind.”
You lowered your hand. “You’re not messing with me, right? I swear, if this is one of Taehyung’s elaborate ideas to mess with me, I’m going to ki–”
Jungkook shook his head quickly, purple hair flying about. “I’m not joking around. I wanted to tell you for a long, long time, but…” His eyes darted about, panicking a little, before looking back to you helplessly. “You’re Jimin’s best friend, besides Taehyung, and what if… what if you thought I was gross or something and then I don’t think I could hang out with you guys anymore, but then you went to that prestigious university far away and I thought, I’m so stupid, I should have said something, anything, but every time I could even think about it, I didn’t know what to say, nothing seemed right…”
He let out a big sigh and tapped his head against the windowsill, closing his eyes.
“Also, I said it before and threw up in your lap right after, so that kinda fucked me up.”
“Can’t say I was really feeling the romance, yeah.”
He groaned and covered his face with his hands.
“I’d date you though. For real.”
Jungkook removed his hands and blinked at you. “What?”
You chuckled. “Why are you acting so surprised? I’m not going to date Jimin, blergh, I’ve known that guy since I was in preschool. I’m not dating Taehyung, I’m pretty sure he’s on a different brainwave than other human beings.”
You smiled at him and turned around to pick up your phone, holding it up.
“I don’t like girly things or cute things very much, but I kept your gift because it was from you and, funnily enough, I think it made me realize that I was rejecting femininity because society puts such a negative connotation on things young women like and because my friends growing up were primarily male, thus I wanted to seem cool or relatable so I rejected stereotypically feminine concepts…”
“… What?”
Now it was a confused what.
“Uh, never mind,” you laughed awkwardly, putting your phone back on your nightstand. “Anyway, Jungkook, you made me realize things about myself, and I love being around you, but I thought a handsome guy like you would want to date a pretty girl, and I’m not really that.”
Jungkook furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about? You’re the prettiest girl in the world. No one could ever be prettier than you.”
You felt your neck heat. “Yo, don’t inflate my ego when it’s not the truth,” you chuckled sheepishly, waving a hand. “You’ve been drinking anyway. Alcohol makes everyone prettier.”
“It’s the truth.”
Was he drunk or were you drunk? Why was Jeon Jungkook getting closer?
“Would you really date me?”
You stared into those chocolate eyes and smiled.
“Yes, I would.”
And you leaned forward and kissed him.
His eyes widened, staring at you and you closed your eyes, pressing your lips to his, inhaling his scent, memories of hot summers and mirthful laughter filling your head, standing beside Jungkook and kicking Jimin and Taehyung’s ass at table tennis even though Jungkook was doing most of the work, finishing a movie together after Jimin and Taehyung had passed out on the couch on top of each other and talking excitedly about it until you both fall asleep, getting lamb skewers after Jimin and Taehyung went off to eat ramen in a huff, unable to agree on the same meal as a foursome, but it was fine, no, better than fine, perfect even.
Because you were with Jungkook.
You broke the kiss and opened your eyes, smiling at him.
He blinked slowly, looking down at you.
“Noona…”
His hand raised, fingers spreading out longingly. You quickly reached up and pushed it back down.
“Jungkook, I swear, I do want to touch you in a less than holy way, but maybe not when you’re wearing my dad’s clothes, including his underwear, because that’s really fucking weird.”
Jungkook looked down at the brown t-shirt and beige shorts. “Oh. Yeah. Right.”
“You know, come to think of it, I feel like Taehyung has slowly stolen Jimin from me over the years, so maybe this was fated…” you mumbled, remembering at the moments you had shared with Jungkook were because your other two friends had abandoned you.
“I feel you, sometimes I feel like a third wheel…”
-
“I’m so sleepy.”
“I’ll tuck you in first, but I’m going to get us some water so we don’t die tomorrow morning.”
“Ugh, Jimin, bring another pillow please.”
“Hah, fine, but you’re buying breakfast tomorrow…”
--
masterpost
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canary3d-obsessed · 3 years
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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 26 part one
(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)
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Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes! 
I’m Coming Up So You Better Get This Party Started
The Lans arrive just in time to see Cousin Jin Zixun hassling Su She, and they wonder how he has the fucking nerve to come to a party that they are also invited to. 
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Su she was invited by his new best friend Jin Guangyao, who deploys a full-on charm attack, wrapping Su She permanently around his little finger. 
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Smoother than the Lanling weather that’s how he holds himself together Watch out, he’ll charm you 
Jin Guangyao grew up with women who earned their living by being charming, pleasant, and hiding their true thoughts from their clients, and he appears to have mastered this useful skill set. With Su She, he exudes confidence and authority, allowing the lesser man to bask in his attention.
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With Zewu Jun he deploys helplessness and embarrassment, effectively controlling a man with much greater power than his own.
Lan Xichen confronts him about Su She's presence, and Jin Guangyao pretends he didn't know that Su She was ex-Lan. This seems super unlikely, given that JGY is good at collecting information that he can use to fuck with people, and also that he sheltered Lan Xichen from the Wens directly after Su She betrayed him.
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Lan Xichen seems like he doesn't believe what JGY is telling him but then he decides to drop it, passive-aggressively saying that since JGY is uninformed, he's not guilty. Lan Xichen is actually assuming a lot here about his right to tell Jin Guangyao who to invite and who to shun, but JGY doesn't push back. Lying is so much simpler.
(more behind the cut!)
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Su She wins for most unintentionally sarcastic-seeming toasting expression.
Jiang Cheng, Party Animal
Jiang Cheng arrives at the party, bringing his Jiang retinue and his bad temper. He super obviously casts around to try to find Wei Wuxian, who already told him he probably wasn't coming to the party.
Jiang Cheng is that guy who only comes to a party because the girl he likes said she was thinking about going, and then he spends the whole party saying "hey have you seen Mei Lin? She said she was going to be here but I don't see her."
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Jin Guangyao formally congratulates Jiang Cheng on the Jiang clan's success in the hunt, and Jin Guangshan toasts him. As always, Jiang Cheng reacts to praise from authority figures like it's rain in the desert, smiling from ear to ear. He says that the Jiang Clan will donate the prey from the hunt to the other gentry clans. ...what?
Are we seriously saying that when these dudes go night hunting it's not just to remove dangerous bad stuff, it's for profit? 
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Like, do they eat monsters? Wear their fur? Make leather from their skin? Carve jewelry from their claws? Is Jiang Cheng wearing a purple monster's skin right now? (There will be an art prompt at the end of this post)
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Meanwhile, check out the way Nie Huaisang is looking at Jiang Cheng, wow.
Forecast: Hazing
Having gotten the single pleasant part of the banquet over with, it's time for the Jins to pick on the Lans. Cousin Jin Zixun goads Lan Xichen into taking a drink with him, knowing that this is (mostly) against Lan rules. Jin Guangyao tries to stop him by saying, hilariously, that it's bad to drink and fly on a sword, but CJZX waves this away and keeps pushing, saying that if Lan Xichen won't drink, it's an insult to him.
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A random cultivator who is definitely on the Jin payroll backs him up, saying that teetotaling is for losers, and Captain Blowhard boisterously agrees. Loudly agreeing with powerful people is the Yao clan's signature martial arts skill.
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Jin Guangyao looks embarrassed and helpless, which is, as mentioned before, his own signature skill. But he's just playing his own part in this piece of theater; everything happening at this party (so far) is happening for the benefit of the Jin Clan. Cousin Jin Zixun is an ass, but he's not actually a loose cannon, and Jin Guangshan is clearly enjoying the Lans' discomfort.
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Why? This entire party, the hunt, everything he's done since the end of the Sunshot campaign, has been designed to increase and consolidate his power. His main goal is to get the Yin Tiger seal, but reducing the status of the Lans is also a good move for him. The Lans have been the strongest opponents to the use of resentful energy, and worked the hardest to conceal and contain the Yin iron in the past. If he wants to use resentful energy as part of his own cultivation, he needs them to chill. 
So this is a bit of a test; will they comply with the will of the larger group in order to avoid conflict, or will they refuse, which will allow him to label them as iconoclastic weirdos?. 
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Lan Xichen takes a long look at his brother, who is expressing all sorts of emotions while keeping his face very very still. 
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At a guess, he is thinking that this entire party is bullshit, that his brother's willingness to play along with these assholes is bullshit, that being viciously beaten for having a single drink in his life was bullshit, that Wei Wuxian not being here right now is bullshit.
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Lan Xichen picks the "go along, get along" path, having his drink and using his magic skill of anti-intoxication to neutralize it, as he'd done previously when drinking with Wei Wuxian. 
Cousin Jin Zixun picks on Lan Wangji next, and since he cannot magically or even non-magically tolerate alcohol, there is a real risk to his reputation if he drinks. But Lan Wangji breaks rules when he feels like it, not when people tell him to. He pointedly ignores the offered drink while Lan Xichen looks worried. 
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The rest of the party guests have a wide variety of reactions, none of them helpful, to these shenanigans. Jin Guanshan's son and heir watches with calm interest as the power dynamics play out.
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All of this is actually not great strategy for the Jins. The Lans don't play little social games to gain power, because all that time they spend not drinking, not gossiping, and not doing other stuff? Is spent cultivating and practicing sword and musical battle forms. The Lan Bros are overwhelmingly powerful as individuals, and embarrassing them won't change that.
It's moot, ultimately, because Wei Wuxian chooses this moment to arrive.
Darkness Visible
Wei Wuxian actually made a big impressive stair-climbing entrance to Jinlintai a few minutes ago, with camera work echoing Lan Wangji's stair climb at the Wen Indoctrination Bureau from several episodes back. 
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But nobody was around to see that, other than us, and when he appears at the party it's in stealth mode; he steps into the frame from out of nowhere, and drinks Lan Wangji's unwanted drink.
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Lan Wangji responds by looking at him like this for the next several minutes.
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Wei Wuxian doesn't have time for their usual sport of Extreme Gazing, though; he came for a reason, which is to find and rescue Wen Ning. He gets right to it, asking Cousin Jin Zixun where he's keeping him.
Jiang Cheng, who is the king of worrying about the wrong fucking thing, jumps up to try to stop Wei Wuxian from talking. Like, seriously, he's ok with the Jins trying to take his clan's special extreme weapon, but he's not ok with his head disciple being rude in order to fulfill a whopper of a life debt--Jiang Cheng's life debt, in particular--or being rude in order to preserve the clan's independence.
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Jin Guangshan decides this is a good moment to bring up the Yin tiger amulet. Wei Wuxian pushes back, hard, pointing out exactly what Jin Guangshan is doing. He says he's setting himself up to be a new Wen Ruohan. 
Lan Wangji pays close attention to Wei Wuxian's reasoning here, and so does Nie Mingjue, unless he’s just trying to mask his confusion. 
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Jiang Cheng is too busy being horrified to listen, apparently. Or he just doesn’t agree, preferring to be reduced to a secondary authority, rather than defy a primary authority.
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Wei Wuxian is, of course, all about independence; he was literally born to be a rogue cultivator, despite being dubbed “patriarch” himself, not long after this. 
Let’s Go Crazy Let’s Get Nuts
Wei Wuxian gets tired of the scene and decides to lose his temper. He makes a show of being enraged, and he genuinely is angry, but I don't think he's out of control, this time.  
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He acts like he's out of control in order to scare everyone, but he makes his points very clearly, reminding everyone that he has power they don't have, that he's good at killing, that he's not patient, and that his teeth are nicer than everybody else’s. 
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Everybody in the room freaks out to one degree or another--except Jin Guangshan, who is apparently too pissed off to be scared.
It's hilarious that Jin Guangshan thought he was going to get Wei Wuxian to hand the Yin Tiger amulet over by creating a complex system of social pressure against him. Wei Wuxian's favorite way of responding to social pressure is to escalate it into violence, regardless of the consequences; he's been doing that at least since Gusu Summer School and probably a lot longer. Jin Guangshan should know this, given how many beatings his son has taken from Wei Wuxian over the years.
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Wei Wuxian does a fantastically sexy scary, theatrical countdown, and Cousin Jin Zixun caves in and gives him the information he wants. It's worth noticing that even under threat of death, CJZX doesn't comply until he visually checks in with his clan leader. He’s genuinely a bad person, yes, but he’s a loyal soldier, which is what most of these clans value most. 
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As soon as he gets what he wants, Wei Wuxian is perfectly, smugly, in control of himself again. Everyone in the room is still stunned and afraid, so Jin Guangshan has achieved that much, at least; nobody likes Wei Wuxian having the Yin tiger seal now, including Jiang Cheng. 
As he leaves, Wei Wuxian has one of those conversations with Lan Wangji in which everything is said in glances in the course of a couple of seconds. 
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WWX: I love you, I have to leave you; I've got some shit to take care of and I won't be coming back to all of this. 
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LWJ: I love you; I'm probably going to have to fight you; your funeral is going to be so upsetting
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Wei Wuxian turns away from everyone, and you can see the weight settling on his shoulders, as he contemplates the choices he just made and the choices that are still ahead of him. 
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Jin Guangshan, for the first and only time, loses his temper in front of everybody, literally flipping a table because he's so mad about what just happened. 
Art prompt: Jiang Cheng wearing an outfit made of a Chinese mythical creature. Bonus points if it’s a qilin. Bonus bonus points if Zhang Qiling (from DMBJ/Lost Tomb franchise) is standing next to him looking grumpy while Jiang Cheng wears an outfit made from a qilin. 
Soundtrack: Get This Party Started by Pink, Charm Attack by Leona Naess, Let’s Go Crazy by Prince. 
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belle-keys · 3 years
Text
Reflections: She got better after Clace concerning tropes
(NB... this is gonna be my last Reflections because I've got uni and shit to take on in September 😗)
Okay, so we know Cassandra Clare uses age-old tropes in her books: enemies-to-lovers, strangers-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, the evil seductress, the fearless warrior, the secret special snowflake, etc. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, becuse it’s sort of impossible to create written media without using any tropes. It’s how you use the tropes that makes written media interesting, and what I’ve noticed is that Cassie has gotten better at using tropes and paragons since TMI in her books by adding little twists and turns to them to avoid them becoming generic.
Starting off with TMI and Clace for example, we see that Clary is the classic “special teen with hidden powers that discovers a new supernatural world”, falling into that category with Bella Swan, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, etc. Jace is the aloof hottie with a Dark Past, and operates like a modern day Achilles if he made it out of Elysium, lmao. He’s pretty akin to Edward Cullen, Peter Mellarke, Dimitri Belikov, etc. Clace and their character arcs especially in the first TMI trilogy were pretty generic, even at the time they were published. (NB but Jace really is Achilles man like he’s *golden*, has the military-type fighting skills and discipline, powerful daddy issues, best of the Shadowhunters kinda like how Achilles was the best of the Greeks, feared and lauded by everyone, believed he’s destined for tragedy).
But looking at TID, for example, Cassie went with the Love Triangle trope that was especially popular around the time that TID was written, and she was like “oh hell no” and then created the greatest thing in the world known as Herongraystairs *Spongebob rainbow gif*. The late 2000s were kind of a mild time, and the rule of thumb was that the the main girl just had to end up picking one man in the triangle but nawww Cassie decided that Tessa Gray (bless her) would get both of her male counterparts at appropriate times, love them equally AND have it happen without any hostility between them. She completely outdid the Love Triangle trope.
I made a post discussing why Jemma is a great ship and a great spin on the Forbidden Lovers trope already, but I also need to say that Julian is an exceptional character. He, without hesitation, takes on the most traditional of feminine roles in the series yet isn’t feminine at all- he’s a very masculine protagonist. Julian’s more masculine roles (being a leader in a political revolution, being a schemer, being a fighter) are perfectly foiled with the traits which often assigned to female YA protagonists (no sexual experience before Emma, raises his siblings and bakes and shit, isn’t the one who’s snarky and quips or gets violent quickly). In having Julian take on the main parent role in TDA, it allowed Cassie to show a YA male lead who’s secure and doesn’t depend on what others make traditional masculinity out to be in order to dictate his behavior.
Now let’s look at TLH lastly. I’m really partial to this series as you all may know *cough*. The trope here is Secrets and Miscommunication (which I know some of you absolutely hate, but I think some of said miscommunication is actually necessary given the social context of the series but alas, I don’t blame yall for hating TLH because of this at all, lol). See, what works about the whole secrets and miscommunication trope tho is that everyone is not what they seem. Like Matthew’s the Wildean Libertine right, but he’s actually managed to use that branding as a shield from the shame of his guilt (Oscar Wilde’s philosophy laudes beauty and love, yet Matthew himself does not believe himself to be worthy of this coveted love - Matthew’s soul has turned Gothic despite his self-branding as an aesthete). Grace is the Evil Seductress, the Femme Fatale who must be eliminated so the Good Girl can get the guy, but in reality, Grace is inquisitive and inventive and loving when she’s not guarded - the one woman who the world thinks is heartless is actually the one who hurts the most and enjoys hurting the least. Then we have the James who’s the Eligible Bachelor - he’s well read, a leader, good at Shadowhunting, polite, handsome, and desired by the ladies of London. Yet at his core runs Belial’s blood and his inevitable ties to literal Hell. James, who should be the classic charming hero, is running from something very unmistakably rotten within him (even though his heritage is beyond his control). So these societal paragons are all tinged with something unexpected that makes them interesting imo.
So yeah, to conclude: yes, Cassie’s writing uses a lot of generic tropes but I’d argue that her writing has improved to make age-old tropes and epithets interesting and novel as TSC progresses. I think we also could all attribute the creation of the Herondale to Cassie: obnoxiously attractive and poetic young male with a bottomless heart and strong opinions on the proclivities and capabilities of ducks? Yeah, that’s a Herondale.
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just-come-baek · 3 years
Text
body rhythm
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Pairing: Taeyong x reader | mentions of Seulgi x Irene | mentions of Johnny x almost everybody
Themes: smut | fluff | dance!au 
Word count: 14.8k
Summary: Taeyong and Seulgi participate in a nationwide dance competition. However, due to unfortunate scheduling, she has to drop out of it, suggesting you, out of all people, fill in. Taeyong isn't pleased with how things manage to fall out of place, but he is in no position to be whiny about it. For him, it's either learn to work with you or lose yet another time to his arch-enemy.
Warnings: a moderate amount of fluff | Johnny flirting with everybody in plain sight | Johnny stalks people out on social media | cursing | Doyoung being a huge dick | Doyoung flexing his hips | reader has inappropriate thoughts about Taeil | Taeyong being very demanding dance teacher | stressfull situations | drinking | reader is kind of bratty and Taeyong finds it really frustrating | frustrated/angry making out | as per smut | oral!female receiving | unprotected sex (never try it at home or else Imma tell your parents) | they kinda fuck in the open and kinda check our their refection in the mirror |
A/N it's my entry for song association event, I hope you like it, and also don't forget to check out other entries ^^ they must be all out by now lol
“Are you ready?” Johnny inquired as he set his fourth coffee of the day on his desk and plopped onto the swivel chair in a cubicle next to mine. It was a really long day at work, and we both had trouble sitting through the end of it. Heaving a deep sigh, I looked at the pile of documents that required my attention, groaning before I sprawled across my workspace.
“I thought it’s canceled tonight,” I spoke as I looked at my wristwatch, wincing when I realized there was still one more hour until Johnny and I could finally clock out.
A few months ago, our lovely firm, instead of giving us a well-deserved raise, had decided to provide us with a variety of extra activities. Though I’d rather get some monetary benefits, together with Johnny, we chose dance classes. Our company was paying for it, so we might’ve as well attended.
Ever since then, every Thursday, we would go to a dance class to sweat out all of the pent-up frustration. I didn’t have plenty of expectations, still bitter after the company’s decision, but the dance class turned out amazing. Seulgi was our teacher, and although she was a bit demanding, she was patient enough to teach us some sick moves. If that didn’t scream talent™, I had no idea what did.
“Well… last week, she said she might be absent today, but I got a text from school that someone will fill in,” Johnny spoke matter-of-factly. I sighed, checking my phone, reading the same text message from the studio. I really didn’t have energy for dance classes, but there was no way Johnny would let me skip.
“Do you want to grab a drink after? I think I need one, or a few,” I proposed as I sat back in my chair, trying to let my eyes rest from the computer’s screen.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Johnny asked rhetorically, smiling at me as if I just read his mind. It was almost Friday at this point, and we deserved a little treat.
Though it felt like an eternity, the clock finally struck 5 p.m., letting us leave our claustrophobic cubicles. Tomorrow we would come back for another dose of torture, but right now, we were free. Only for a few hours, though.
Quickly, I returned home to get my gym bag. Thankfully, I lived within walking distance from both – my office and the dance studio, so it wasn’t as troublesome to commute as it was for Johnny, who got stuck in traffic almost every day.
A few minutes before the dance class, I was already changed into my gym attire, waiting for Johnny. Though no one was texting me, I stared at my phone, furiously typing away. Moon Taeil, also known as my secret crush, was leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor, and I tried every single trick my mind could come up with not to look desperate.
“At this point, he must think you hate him,” Johnny commented as he conjured in front of me out of nowhere. “You should hit on him instead of trying to bolt every time he approaches you,” he added, and I rolled my eyes at his yet another one shitty advice.
“Can you remind me why I don’t take dating advice from you?”
“Why are you attacking me? I just wanted to help. There’s no need to get so aggressive,” Johnny defended his case, not really answering my question. Johnny was a self-proclaimed love expert, but to me, he was more of a pathological playboy. Either way, he seemed to understand the secrets of flirtation to pick up girls whenever he set his mind to it.
“I am just trying not to be obvious,” I commented, stealing a glance at Taeil. It was a silly crush, and though Johnny encouraged me to go for it, I never decided to act on my feelings. Taeil probably didn’t feel this way about me, so remaining idle actually saved me embarrassment after an inevitable rejection.
“Speaking of which, I figured out why Seulgi is so resistant to my charms,” Johnny announced proudly, and I raised my eyebrow, waiting for the big reveal. Everybody in our group knew that Johnny was attracted to Seulgi, but every time he tried to approach her, she would brush him off.
“By figured out, you mean you stalked her, right?” I commented when Johnny handed me his phone, showing me Seulgi’s profile. According to what Johnny dug out in social media, Seulgi was getting married to Irene – her girlfriend of five years. “Huh,” I mused as I gave him back his phone, trying not to laugh at him. Seulgi was already madly in love with someone else, no wonder she could resist his charm.
“Call it whatever you want,” Johnny started, putting his phone away. “Just don’t hold me down when FBI finally recruits me for my impeccable detective skills,” he argued, and I laughed as I imagined him leaving our lovely company. That would be a shame; I couldn’t imagine anyone else sitting in the cubicle next to mine.
“The room should be open,” someone hollered, mentioning for us to open the doors and get inside. I had seen him a few times around the school, so I deduced he must’ve been our substitute teacher today.
Once everybody took their spot on the dance floor, the man cleared his throat. “Hello everybody, my name is Taeyong. Together with Seulgi, we run this school, and I hope we will have a lot of fun today with new choreography,” he announced politely with a practiced professionalism. Perhaps Taeyong didn’t seem as cool as Seulgi, but we had to give him a chance to prove us wrong.
Taeyong was intimidating. I wouldn’t want to be left alone with him. When he showed us a few moves, he was immensely focused on delivering one hundred percent. It was impressive and admirable, but at the same, Taeyong gave off a scary fierce aura. Though he was a great dancer and teacher, Seulgi was just better.
“I think I have a heart attack,” I panted, gasping for air. The new choreography required lots of jumping, and I didn’t expect so much cardio today. I wasn’t out of shape; however, after dancing to Taeyong’s choreography, I had some doubts.
“We should’ve skipped,” Johnny commented, bending over with his palms on his knees, supporting his huge body. Taeyong’s dance routine was too much for us, and we weren’t the only people struggling to breathe. Thankfully, next week Seulgi would be back.
***
“You’re not gonna believe this,” Johnny announced, craning his neck to look inside my cubicle. Heaving a sigh, I put my pen down, giving him my full attention.
This better be good.
“What is it? Who are you stalking this time?” I inquired, giving him the attitude. Johnny was spending too much time on his phone during working hours, but I couldn’t really frown upon it because I often caught myself doing the same thing.
“First of all, I thought we agreed to call it researching, not stalking,” Johnny clarified, and I rolled my eyes. “And second of all, it’s Seulgi. She and the other guy from the dance studio qualified for some dance competition. Check this out,” Johnny explained, handing me his phone.
Seulgi and Taeyong rocked the stage. Though I had nothing to compare their performance to, they just oozed charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. Without any shred of doubt, they would make it to the grand finale.
“Wow,” I mused, not sure how to appropriately respond. I was happy for their success; after all, their performance was broadcasted during prime time on national television. At this point, Seulgi and Taeyong were celebrities.
“I can’t wait for today’s class,” Johnny added in excitement, hiding his phone away inside the pocket of his jacket. “I have to congratulate her.”
“Them. You have to congratulate them,” I corrected Johnny as he seemed to forget about Seulgi’s dance partner. It wasn’t a solo competition, so both Seulgi and Taeyong deserved praise. “And as if you’ve forgotten, Seulgi is not and will never be interested in you. You gotta let this one go, man,” I added, hoping Johnny would stop his relentless flirting with Seulgi. Though it was funny at the beginning, it was evident Seulgi would appreciate it if he stopped.
“I am all over her. Trust me,” Johnny reassured me, and I let out a shallow sigh, wanting to believe him. “Do you know Wendy from the HR department? I think I’m gonna ask her out. I am all over Seulgi,” he added, and it actually convinced me. Although Johnny didn’t seek anything serious at this point in his life, and when something didn’t go according to his plan, he would shake it off and forget all about it.
“Ok, I believe you,” I said, giving him a genuine smile. “Oh, and I was thinking… how about some beer and chicken after dance classes today? I’ve been craving them the whole day,” I offered, and Johnny enthusiastically nodded. It did sound like a solid plan.
Thankfully, this week Seulgi was back, and everybody appreciated it. Taeyong was a great teacher, but we were a group of beginners, and it was difficult for us to follow his routine. We just weren’t ready for such complex choreography.
Everybody had so much fun today. At first, we practiced some old routines, working on synchronization. Later on, Seulgi taught us a few new moves, which I recognized from her television performance. Admittedly, they weren’t as difficult as they looked. Maybe it was a little bold of me, but I was thinking I was doing a pretty good job today.
At the very end of the class, Johnny delivered a dramatic congratulatory speech, making people laugh out of utter cringe. It was a nice gesture, and Seulgi’s embarrassment was adorable. She would cover her blushed cheeks and turn around, hoping the ground could swallow her up. In all honesty, it seemed to be the only way to shut up Johnny.
Just when we were about to be dismissed, I heard someone calling my name. Surprisingly, it was Seulgi. She must’ve wanted to discuss something with me. Damn it, was she going to scold me for not improving? Or was it because I sat half of the song out? I just needed a short break; I had no idea it would get me in trouble.
“I am sorry,” I apologized even though I wasn’t sure what for yet. Seulgi would enlighten me in a second, so I cleared my throat to apologize to her once again. However, when she giggled instead of yelling at me, I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
“I’ll wait for you outside,” Johnny hollered before he strolled out of the practice room.
“Am I in trouble?” I asked, and Seulgi smiled, shaking her head.
Great, it was a relief.
“Actually, I may sound crazy to you,” she started, fidgeting a little. It was strange, Seulgi was a strong and confident woman, but right now, she seemed rather bashful. “Would you like to participate in a dance competition?”
Her question took me aback.
“What?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the topic.
“Let me explain,” she offered, and I reluctantly nodded.
By the look on her face, I could tell it wasn’t going to be a quick chit-chat. Seulgi had a lot of things to explain, so we decided to sit on the floor before she began her speech.
Patiently, I listened to everything she wanted to tell me.
Seulgi and Taeyong wanted to participate in a dance competition ever since they had decided to open up a dance school together. Last week they really thought they were going to achieve their dream. Unfortunately, as soon as they qualified and received the schedule, complications started to follow.
Maybe it was a little bit overconfident of them to think they’d make it to the finals, but it still made them anxious. Regardless of their talent, they wouldn’t be able to perform in the grand finale. Apparently, on the very same day, Seulgi was getting married.
At first, I wanted to interject that they could reschedule, but Seulgi beat me to it.
“It would be the third time we reschedule it, and I just can’t let that happen. I don’t want Irene to think I prioritize dancing over her. She means the world to me, and I’d quit a thousand times to get married to her,” Seulgi confessed, and I tried my best to contain my feels. There was something raw and pure about Seulgi’s love, and it moved me.
Seulgi’s proposition was genius in its simplicity. Together with Taeyong, she would perform, climbing up the rankings. And if by any chance, they would make it to the final round; she wanted me to fill in. Given I had been dancing at their studio for about four months I couldn’t comprehend why she chose me.
I was a rookie, for crying out loud!
Finding a substitute dancer made a lot of sense, actually. Instead of dropping out, they could find a replacement. This way, Taeyong could still make his dream come true. And next year, together with Seulgi, they could try to defend the title.
However, once again, Seulgi read my mind and answered my question before I voiced my doubts. She must’ve really thought this through before approaching me. It seemed she had rehearsed all possible inquires and came up with perfect answers.
“All of our dancer friends either compete against us or failed during qualifications,” she declared, and I hummed in response. “Unfortunately, people who already attempted joining can’t fill in for other dancers.”
“That sucks,” I commented, and Seulgi dryly chuckled.
“I think you would be a perfect fit,” she started, and I held my breath, wanting to hear what made her think I’d be able to rise to the challenge. “Everybody can memorize moves, but you have a natural passion for dancing. I can see it in class. Maybe you can’t see it yet because dancing is a hobby to you more than anything else, but I can tell you have the it™ factor.”
I was speechless. Seulgi, the dance prodigy, was praising my dancing skills. I couldn’t believe my ears. What kind of self-indulgent dream was it? Why couldn’t I dream like a normal person? I had tendency to toot my own horn sometimes, but it was just too much.
“I bet with proper training, you and Taeyong could win.”
“Let me think about it, okay?”
“Sure, of course! No pressure!” Seulgi replied enthusiastically, giving me enough space to clear my mind and think about it.
“See you next week.” I waved at her, exiting the dance room. Absentmindedly, I changed out of the gym clothes and walked out of the building, almost walking past Johnny.
“Hey, what did Seulgi want?” Johnny asked, grabbing my wrist, pulling me out of trance.
“She wants me to dance in her place if she and Taeyong ever make it to the finals.”
“What?!”
 ***
At first, I was hesitant about this whole thing. I wasn’t a professional dancer, and I really didn’t want to contribute to them losing the competition. However, Seulgi really made a point that they would have to drop out anyway, so in some twisted way, my participation gave them a slimmer of hope for victory.
Once I explained everything to Johnny, he really insisted I should help them out, spitting nonsense about fame and recognition and how I couldn’t doubt myself and just go with the flow. Opportunities like this rarely occurred, and I ought to welcome them with excitement.
So I did.
Every Saturday and Sunday, I dropped by the dance studio for practice. Taeyong still intimidated me, but I could deal with it. Seulgi was always around me to nag him whenever he demanded too much from me. They balanced each other very well, and it was fun working with them. Even though each practice left me with sore muscled, I was still excited. It was tangible proof I was improving.
Seulgi and Taeyong smoothly went through the contest, winning each battle with ease, slowly climbing in the ranking. There was still plenty of work until the grand finale, but everything looked they were to make it to the very top.
Unfortunately, the closer to the D-day, the less time Seulgi had to help us during practice. With her wedding coming up, she had a lot of preparations to deal with. As a result, Taeyong and I had to practice the dance routine on our own.
“No, you’re doing it all wrong,” Taeyong yelled in irritation when for the nth time, I turned to my right instead of my left. “Do it again; five, six, seven, eight,” he added, playing the song from the very beginning.
To say I was frustrated was an understatement of the century. I was aware that Taeyong really wanted to win the competition, but he didn’t have to be a dick about it. With no Seulgi to supervise him, he was unbearable.
“I think I need a break,” I declared once I turned to the wrong side again before Taeyong managed to scold me for it. Even though he shouted something again, I ignored it. With a deep sigh, I walked over to my gym bag to get my water bottle.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Taeyong asked, staring down at me with his arms folded across his chest, his demeanor dominant. His eyes were drilling holes in my head, his jaw was tightened – it was evident I was driving him up the wall. It was just a matter of seconds before Taeyong would snap, lashing out at me.
“I am taking a break,” I answered quickly, ignoring his angry stare. I was at my limit. If Taeyong didn’t back off, it would be the end of the practice for today. One more mean word and I’d storm out of the studio. I was here voluntarily. I was doing him a favor, and I didn’t deserve this type of treatment.
“Is it a joke to you?” Taeyong carried on, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, it wasn’t a joke to me. But at the same time, I was sick and tired of his shenanigans. I wanted him to win, but not when my mental health was on the line. He was pissing me off, and I wouldn’t let him walk all over me. “I thought you decided to help us out, but you’re not trying at all.”
He did not just say that.
“What?” I rhetorically asked, standing up, poking his chest with my forefinger. “I am trying my best here. You’re the one who makes it impossible to have fun dancing. You’re making it a chore, sucking all the fun out it.”
“Then tell me what I should do for you to finally make some progress? We’ve been stuck at this part for two weeks, and you still haven’t learned how to turn right!”
“Then go ahead and find someone else who can put up with your shit. I’m out,” I spoke, bending down to pick up my stuff, ready to leave the studio. Unfortunately, before I managed to exit the practice room, the doors opened, and Seulgi walked in with a confused expression on her face.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” She asked in worry, trying to put two and two together. It wouldn’t be the first time Taeyong and I argued, but it seemed to be the most intense one so far. It didn’t sit right with her. “Please don’t tell me you fought again.”
Briefly, I summarized what happened, and Seulgi looked down at Taeyong disapprovingly. I was glad Seulgi took my side; after all, she knew Taeyong could be too demanding.
“I am a dancer, but why does it feel I am a couple counselor? You two really have to learn how to work together when I’m not around,” she scolded us, making her point. If this whole arrangement was to work out, we both needed to establish some ground rules and learn how to put our differences aside. “I have an idea.”
Oh, no.
There was something mischievous in her tone, and I didn’t particularly like it.
“Let’s finish for today,” she proposed, and I smiled, thinking it was a great idea. Taeyong and I needed some time to chill, and calling it a day seemed like an appropriate way to do it. “Let’s go out clubbing instead!” Seulgi added cheerfully, clapping her hands in excitement.
“What?” Taeyong and I asked in unison, a bit surprised by Seulgi’s statement.
“That’s my prescription for the two of you,” she started, and I rolled my eyes. Taeyong and I didn’t get along as well as she wished for us to, but it wasn’t that bad. We didn’t need to bond over a few drinks in a crowded club. We would do just fine if Taeyong learned to go easy on me. “I believe we all can benefit from clubbing.”
“How come?”
“First of all, it will remind Taeyong that dancing is about fun, not overworking oneself,” Seulgi spoke, and I hummed, agreeing with her. “Second of all, it’ll give you a chance to loosen up. Your moves are still a bit stiff during intimate parts of the choreography,” she added, and Taeyong nodded in agreement. “And I really need something to drink because wedding planning is stressful as fuck.”
Not even thirty minutes later, we were inside the club.
“It’s a very sensual song. And you two really have to work hard to convey emotions through your dance,” Seulgi started as she sipped her tropical cocktail. “You must feel comfortable around each other and just ooze longing and sexual attraction,” she added, and I almost choked on my drink.
Performing with Taeyong was going to be more difficult than I had anticipated. When Seulgi and Taeyong showed me the choreography, I was amazed. Absolutely blown away. The way their bodies moved in synchronization left me speechless, but at the same time, I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t see myself living up to their level.
I wouldn’t consider myself particularly sexy. It made me feel awkward when I thought how seductive the dance routine actually was. I wasn’t sure I could pull this off, but Taeyong still had a lot of time to teach me.
“Take her to the dance floor,” Seulgi elbowed Taeyong, almost spilling his drink. Unenthusiastically, Taeyong looked at me before standing up and extending his arm.
Drunken people were jumping around us to the rhythm, and I awkwardly swayed from side to side, staring at Taeyong. With godlike precision, he moved, getting lost in the music. One could tell straight away Taeyong was a professional dancer.
Upon noticing how stiff I was, Taeyong shook his head, yanking me against his lean body. “How about you take a five-minute break to get that stick out of your ass? You look like you have no joints,” he yelled into my ear, his breath tickling my sensitive skin.
“I’ve had too little alcohol,” I replied, but Taeyong wasn’t having it.
“When we perform on the stage, will you need alcohol to let loose too?” Taeyong challenged with a playful smirk, and I rolled my eyes, too prideful to admit he was right. I couldn’t participate in that competition drunk. We wouldn’t win if I wasn’t able to come out of my shell and show everybody I had a sensual bone in my body.
“No,” I yelled into Taeyong’s ear. “How do I let loose?” I asked, hoping to hear some words of wisdom from him.
“Mirror what I’m doing,” Taeyong guided, and I nodded, focused on my new task. I could do that. I had been mirroring Seulgi’s movements during our classes, and I was pretty good at doing it. I could copy Taeyong’s moves.
At first, Taeyong danced a few classic moves we usually did during our warm-up routine. It was easy, and I think I nailed it. Later, he wiggled his upper body, feeling the rhythm. With envy, I observed how his body executed every single move, owning it. I wish I was half as good as Taeyong. Next to him, I probably looked like a crippled kid.
Upon noticing my struggle, Taeyong began jumping around, throwing his hands in the air. He looked ridiculous, but I remained focused on my task, dancing as if I was his shadow. Our bizarre moves earned some attention from other people, but our eyes were trained on each other, slowly getting lost in our own bubble.
I was sober, and I was on my way to owning the dance floor. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Maybe Taeyong’s charisma overshadowed my poor attempts of showcasing mine; however, I was sure I made a big step in the right direction. Slowly, I was improving.
“How about we spice it up a little bit?” Taeyong shouted into my ear, and I cocked up my eyebrow, thinking what he meant by that. “Don’t be shy,” he added, yanking me against his body. Taeyong was so close I could feel his legs rub against mine. “Come on, sweetheart. Touch me, tease me, feel me up,” Taeyong snickered, getting on my nerves. Not only Taeyong was smug for no reason, but he also quoted the song, which I was slowly growing to hate.
Taeyong must’ve assumed I’d back out. Surely, he didn’t expect me to follow his instructions and actually run my hands across his chest, shoulders, and back while simultaneously swaying my hips, earning approving stares from impressed men on the dance floor. At first, he was surprised he talked me into it, but a second later, he smirked, resting his palms on my sides, slowly exploring the valley of my butt.
I had no idea I had it in me, but Taeyong helped me discover it. We were basically grinding against each other, and it somehow didn’t feel awkward at all. We were just two people having fun.
“I’m sorry I was so harsh on you,” Taeyong apologized, shouting in my ear. “I’m just stressful all the time, and I think I may sometimes take it out on you,” he added, and I looked at his face, which was dangerously close to mine.
“It’s understandable,” I replied as I wrapped my arms around Taeyong’s neck, finding it much more comfortable. Now with our bodies pressed together, it was easier to have a conversation. “I know how much you want to win this competition. I’ll try harder,” I promised, and Taeyong released a relieved chuckle.
Who would’ve thought an adult conversation would work better than shouting at each other?
“Thank you,” Taeyong spoke genuinely, and I pulled away, staring at his face. His eyes were trained on mine. No matter how many hours we had spent at the dance studio, his gaze still intimidated me sometimes.
“Ekhm, I need a break,” I said in a desperate need to break eye contact with him. The dance floor was crowded, and it was making me dizzy. I was getting dangerously hot, and it seemed like heaven to get back to our booth and finish our drinks.
“Of course, you need a break,” Taeyong teased, sending me a lopsided smirk. “It’s okay, though. We still have plenty of time to work on your stamina,” he added as he grabbed my hand, leading me out of the crowd. Carefully, we zigzagged around drunken people, trying to make it safely to Seulgi.
Unfortunately, by the bar counter, someone walked into Taeyong, almost knocking him down.
“I’m very sorry,” a man shouted, but I could sense the words weren’t genuine.
“Doyoung,” Taeyong spoke, gritting his teeth, staring at the other man. Taeyong’s grip tightened around my hand. I figured he didn’t particularly like Doyoung.
“Taeyong,” Doyoung sighed, checking Taeyong out from head to toe before his gaze shifted to me. There was something spiteful about his lingering eyes, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. For sure, there was some bad blood between two men, and I suddenly felt an urge to know more. Inquisitiveness got the best of me.
Taeyong and Doyoung kept glaring at each other almost as if it was a competition. The tension was so intense one could cut it with a knife. I cleared my throat in a poor attempt to break their stare contest, but they didn’t even acknowledge my presence.
“I saw your last performance,” Doyoung finally spoke, scoffing. “You’re getting out of it, and here I expected to kick your ass in the finale. I wouldn’t be surprised if you and your partner got eliminated next week.”
I thought I had seen Taeyong furious, but right now, I was proven wrong. The way he looked at me whenever I was a handful during our practice was nothing compared to the way he glared at Doyoung. Taeyong was scary, and I decided to not get on his wrong side ever again.
“I’d gladly kick your ass here, but I’d rather wait for the finale. You know what people say about prolonged gratification,” Taeyong talked back, and I gasped, trying to comprehend what I just heard. Taeyong was getting cocky, and it made me nervous. I was already stressed about the possibility of performing, and he just added more pressure on my shoulders.
“We’ll see about that,” Doyoung replied, focusing his scrutinizing gaze on me. “But I have to say I kinda look forward to seeing you cry again. The way I beat you the last time was spectacular.”
“Let’s go, Taeyong. Don’t waste your breath on him. He’s not worth it,” I exclaimed, pulling Taeyong’s hand, reminding him I was there the whole time. I couldn’t listen to Doyoung talk trash about Taeyong. If Taeyong wasn’t going to walk away by himself, I had to intervene and pull him aside. Doyoung was provoking him.
“And who is that?” Doyoung asked in a mocking tone, displeased by the way I looked at him. Though I didn’t know the back story, I took Taeyong’s side. At least, Taeyong didn’t try to humiliate his rival, while Doyoung had already tried a few tricks to tick Taeyong off.
“You’re right,” Taeyong said, looking at me. It was evident he was holding himself back, trying his best not to take the bait. “Let’s go,” he added, pulling me away from Doyoung.
“Who was that?” I asked as we approached our booth. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my response. Upon arrival, we noticed that Seulgi was sprawled on the table, giggling to herself.
“Is she always like this?” I inquired, concerned about how drunk Seulgi got in such a short amount of time. We were gone for thirty minutes tops, and she was barely conscious after drinking her and our drinks.
“Aww… there you are… my dear friends,” she cooed cutely, trying to attack Taeyong with cuddles. She was adorable, but it was kind of irresponsible to drink by herself when we were on the dance floor. Thankfully, nothing happened. We returned just in time to collect her and escort her home.
“I can’t believe my plan worked,” Seulgi grinned, pointing her finger at Taeyong. “You no longer have a stick up your ass,” she exclaimed at Taeyong, too drunk to realize she should be talking to me. “And look at you! You were having fun!” Seulgi yelled, extending her arms to hug me. “I am so proud of you!”
“I should take her home,” Taeyong reasoned, considering it the safest option. He could call an Uber for Seulgi or just phone her fiancée to pick her up but bringing her home himself seemed to be the most rational solution. “Will you be alright by yourself?” He inquired, and I nodded right away. It was sweet of him to look after me too. Thankfully, I barely touched my cocktail; I could get home safely on my own.
“Don’t worry about me,” I replied casually, sending him a reassuring smile. “Just make sure Seulgi makes it home safe,” I added, warming up at the way Taeyong hauled up Seulgi, carefully leading her out of the club. It made me wonder if Johnny did the same to me. Probably. He wouldn’t be that gentle, though. If anything, he’d throw me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. Or just drag me out like a corpse.
“Give me a call once you get back home,” Taeyong demanded before we parted ways.
 ***
“You went clubbing without me?” Johnny dramatically asked after I told him everything that happened on the weekend. Despite my detailed narration, it seemed as if that was the only thing he caught on to. “How could you?”
“Relax, dude,” I rolled my eyes, shuffling around my desk, getting ready for work. It was Monday morning – it was about time we start our gossip routine.
“And I was wondering… would you mind helping me researching this shady dude? There’s some conflict between him and Taeyong. And I need to know what happened,” I started, wondering if Johnny would cooperate with me and put his stalking abilities to good use.
I was too embarrassed to ask Taeyong about Doyoung. Besides, I had a hunch he would either brush me off or scold me.
“Do you know anything about this dude besides his name?” Johnny pulled out his phone, no questions asked. “Please, don’t tell me that’s the only thing you know.”
“I mean… he’s probably a dancer,” I added with a sheepish smile, making Johnny heave a deep sigh. “He must be a big deal, though. Apparently, Taeyong lost a competition to him.”
“I’ll try to find some dirt, but it may be difficult given how little info you gave me,” Johnny declared as he began his thorough research.
It took Johnny five minutes to find the correct Doyoung. It was remarkable. If it wasn’t enough for the FBI to hire him, I’d gladly present them a recommendation letter. Quickly, I opened Doyoung’s profile on my phone, scrolling through his feed.
At first glance, Doyoung seemed to be a regular bratty internet star with an overgrown ego. His follower count was impressive. Studying his profile, I learned a lot about him. Unfortunately, it had no value. There was nothing specific about his conflict with Taeyong.
“How was your date with Wendy?” I asked Johnny as I gave up on my research. Whatever was the root of their bad blood would have to remain a mystery.
“It was fine,” Johnny started, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely honest. His disappointed tone betrayed him. “She left before the waiter brought the dessert. Apparently, she didn’t particularly like when I kept calling her Wanda.”
“Ouch.”
“No hard feelings, though,” Johnny shrugged it off, trying to focus on the positive aspect of their terrible date. “At least, I’ve had two slices of cheesecake. Besides, I’m kind of into Sooyoung from the creative team now. I think she is the one.”
“Every girl you’re into is the one,” I interjected, rolling my eyes, done with his antics.
“Oh, by the way, I’ve forgotten,” Johnny chimed in, staring at me in excitement. “Taeil asked me about you,” he revealed, and I almost spat out my morning coffee.
“What?”
“Are you still into him, though?” Johnny inquired, rubbing his temple in deep thought. “I haven’t heard you gush about him these days,” he pinpointed, and I wondered if my crush on Taeil was still as intense as it was a few months ago.
Taeil was insanely hot. I kept drooling whenever I saw him operate the printer. It was inappropriate to check him out whenever he bent down to change the ink, but I couldn’t help myself. Or whenever we met by the vending machine.
Good old times.
Right now, though, I rarely caught myself thinking about him. At first, I thought it was due to a hectic schedule. I was either at work or at the dance studio or getting shit-faced with Johnny on another wild adventure with him and his friends.
It was difficult to comprehend how easily my crush faded into thin air. Taeil was still sexy as fuck, but while I appreciate his looks, I wasn’t daydreaming how to get into his pants. At this point, I was just admiring his attributes in the most nonsexual way imaginable.
Apparently, the lack of response on my part was everything Johnny needed to confirm his suspicion.
“So what? Are you into Taeyong now?” Johnny asked boldly, and now, I actually choked on my coffee, thinking I heard him wrong. How did he jump to that conclusion?
“What?”
“Don’t get me wrong, but it kinda looks like you’re into him,” Johnny commented, playing with a pen. “You talk about him all the time with lots of passion. I think there’s something going on between you two. Is he single?”
“I talk about him all the time because I live to complain, and recently he’s the sole reason why I gotta vent,” I defended, but Johnny didn’t seem convinced. “And I don’t know if he’s single. I don’t really care,” quickly, I rejected all accusations, but in all honesty, his words got me wondering.
Was I attracted to Taeyong?
Surely, Taeyong was ridiculously attractive. He danced well, too. Unfortunately, we didn’t click much. There was passion between us, but it wasn’t romantically stemmed. We just kept annoying each other. I wouldn’t consider it sexual. We were just getting on each other’s nerves often, unable to properly solve our differences.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, honey,” Johnny teased, and I fought the urge to throw the stapler at him. “I bet fifty bucks you’ve imagined him naked, fucking you dumb.”
What the fuck, John???
I did not imagine Taeyong naked!
Not until now, at least.
“I seriously hate you right now,” I complained, deciding it’s about time I focus on work.
 ***
After Johnny had planted naughty thoughts in my mind, each dance practice was unbearable. My mind was running wild, coming up with different scenarios involving Taeyong and me in intimate situations. It was wrong on so many levels, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop.
After months of practicing the dance routine, we decided it would be best to make some changes to the choreography. Though it was still sensual as hell, with our hands roaming each other’s bodies, we found it crucial to accentuate Taeyong’s talents.
It was a strategic plan. While typically male dancers helped the female dancers shine, we put a little twist to it. Though our performance was still pretty balanced, Taeyong had a few crucial parts of choreography, in which he would snatch everybody’s hearts.
Seulgi didn’t object to our strategy. Well… she was never there, to begin with. Seulgi was a ghost, never present during our practice, always busy doing some last-minute wedding prep.
“Let’s take a five,” Taeyong hollered as he turned off the music, sending us off to a short break. It sounded weird when it came out of his mouth, but I didn’t complain. We’ve been practicing nonstop for the past hour. At this point, I was panting.
Lying down onto the floor, I rested my head on my towel, reaching for my phone. Quickly, I unlocked it to see a series of notifications from Johnny. He had sent me a link to a video, telling me in all caps to watch it.
Having left the earphones in the locker room, I played the video quietly through my phone’s speaker. It was a short film with Doyoung. It must’ve been his performance from last year’s competition. Jamming to the music, I studied his moves.
Doyoung was really good. I mean… it wasn’t professional expertise, but I could tell he had talent. His body control was impeccable, his hip thrusts must’ve impregnated plenty of women in the audience, but his shoulder rolls were just otherworldly. Along with the female dancer, they showcased quite the performance. From the beginning to the very end, I couldn’t look away, failing to notice Taeyong approach me.
“What the hell are you doing?” Taeyong shouted, tearing my phone from my hand, double-checking what I was watching. “Why are you watching this?” He angrily asked, locking the device, wishing for it to stop playing music.
It was difficult to explain.
I couldn’t exactly tell Taeyong that I asked my best friend to do research on Doyoung in hopes of finding out what was the root of their conflict. Though we had never found anything substantial, Johnny would send me more footage to check out. However, regardless of how much stuff Johnny had provided me with, I was still clueless.
“Why are you shouting at me?” I spoke, biting on my bottom lip. I was in big trouble, so it was only logical to play dumb.
Taeyong stared down at me, demanding a genuine answer. His jaw was tensed, his knuckles around my phone turned white. It was just a meaningless clip, but it got him fuming at me. Regardless of what I’d tell him, he wouldn’t like the answer. I figured this much.
“Why were you watching that?” Taeyong yelled, raising his hand, almost smashing my phone against the floor. Thankfully, he held back and gently put it on my bag.
It was incredible how much the video affected Taeyong. The movie worked on Taeyong like a red rag to a bull. One moment he seemed fine, but once he figured out what I was watching, he snapped.
“You really want to know?” I challenged as I rose to my feet, staring at him. It was my turn to raise my voice. If he kept shouting at me, I was going to give him the same treatment. “Ever since that night at the club, I was curious. You were basically throwing daggers at each other, and I really wanted to know what happened between you two. You never bothered to explain it, and I didn’t want to push you.”
“Do you have your answers now?” Taeyong exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes, agitating him even more with my fed-up behavior. He was scary right now, but I refused to let him intimidate me. “Or do you want to read my diary too?!”
I resisted the temptation of saying yes to his offering. Taeyong wasn’t the type of person to write a dairy. He was exaggerating, but I didn’t want to provoke him further. At any mention of Doyoung’s name, wrath took control over Taeyong, turning him into his destructive self.
“If it makes you feel any better, I know shit about him,” I confessed, throwing my hands in the air. “I wanted to know what he did to you, but I came up with nothing. And believe it or not, the way he treated you that night made me worry. You’re my dance partner, and I care about you a lot, and it really hurt me seeing you in distress,” I spat, not thinking about consequences. I was talking without filter, probably spilling too much information.
My verbal diarrhea confused Taeyong. His huge eyes were staring at me in astonishment. He was studying my expression, wondering if everything I said was true. Oh, no! My reckless words made him uncomfortable. He must’ve grown to hate now.
In embarrassment, I looked down at my shoes. I felt terrible, and I needed to come up with something clever to say to save my dignity and ease the tension. However, before I managed to voice my sincere apology, I felt Taeyong’s hands cup my cheeks as he surged forward and kissed my breath away. It was sudden, but I reciprocated the kiss in an instant.
Stress, anxiety, anger, sexual frustration, and probably many other factors led us to this very moment. I had been daydreaming about Taeyong’s mouth on mine for a while now. And when it finally happened, I eagerly swept my tongue across his lips, deepening the kiss. Though I had tried my best to withstand the tension between us, I wasn’t oblivious to it.
Taeyong already knew almost every inch of my body, so his hands naturally began roaming across my skin. Moaning into the kiss, he held me closer, keeping me pressed against him.
“Taeyong,” I breathed out as I pulled away, only for Taeyong to smash his lips against mine again, successfully shushing me. This time around, the kiss was even more passionate, making my knees weak. In a rush, Taeyong pushed me against the wall, pushing his thigh between my legs. “We shouldn’t,” I spoke, but my tone wasn’t convincing at all. I wasn’t even sure who I was trying to convince that it was a bad idea.
“Shut up,” Taeyong demanded as he tilted his face, sucking on my bottom lip. His hands were on my butt, kneading my flesh, trying to make me moan into his mouth. In all honesty, it worked. Maybe, I whimpered incoherent sounds, but it’s was just a poor attempt to encourage him to keep kissing me.
Regardless of how much he was to gift me, I needed more. I wasn’t going to stop until I’d take everything Taeyong was willing to give.
I craned my neck to the side, and Taeyong quickly caught on, leaving a wet trail down my neck. His lips were delicate, careful not to leave a mark, while his hips were grinding against me, letting me feel how stiff he already was.
“Legs,” Taeyong ordered, gently slapping my thigh. Obediently, I spread my legs apart, letting his hand cup my sex. It was ridiculous how horny he was making me. Once his raspy voice echoed in my ears, I fulfilled his wish, waiting for another command in excitement.
“Please,” I begged, needing more of him. Whatever he planned on doing to me, I needed it now. Whether he was to tease me with his beautiful fingers or fuck me raw with his cock, he better do it now.
“Patience, sweetheart,” he whispered against my skin, pressing feather-like kisses along my collarbone. His touch was driving me insane. His hands were everywhere but where I wanted them the most. This type of teasing should be illegal.
It was more than I could take, so I took matters into my own hands. I could play this game, too. With a mischievous smirk upon my face, I hooked my forefinger under the band of his tracksuit bottoms. Unfortunately, Taeyong quickly swept my hand away.
“You’re such a bad girl,” Taeyong commented before he captured my lips again, sliding his tongue into my mouth, knowing I’d talk back to him. “You have to do everything your way. Would it kill you if you listened to me at least once?” Taeyong muttered, staring into my eyes.
Yes, I was a brat. Taeyong wanted me to submit to him, and I would do it eventually, but not before I’d tease him first. What was fun in that?
“Don’t answer that,” he added, and I rolled my eyes. Though we barely hung out outside the dance studio, Taeyong learned a lot about me. Having an answer to everything was one of those things he had the pleasure of discovering.
“Just fuck me, please,” I said nicely, staring into his eyes, hoping it would be enough to make him cave. “I can’t take it any longer,” I added, rubbing my loins against his restrained cock, making him let out a guttural moan.
My plan was working. Slowly, Taeyong was giving in, probably taking his time to think about the consequences of letting me experience instant gratification. Orgasm would’ve been sweeter if he made me wait a bit more, but it was difficult for him to control his urges.
Without any doubt, Taeyong wanted to bury his cock inside of me as much as I wanted him to fuck me dumb. We withstood so many practices without jumping at each other – I should consider it foreplay.
“Fine, but I’m gonna eat you out first,” Taeyong spoke, and I almost lost it by just imagining his jaw going between my thighs. Swiftly, he knelt in front of me, pulling my leggings down to my ankles in one fluid motion. Having kicked off my gym shoes, I wiggled the fabric off my feet, sending it flying across the dance studio.
Taeyong ran his fingers across my panties, inspecting how soaked they already were. With a smirk upon Taeyong’s face, he pressed a chaste kiss against my skin above the waistband before he yanked the undergarment down.
“Beautiful,” he said under his breath before he surged his face, taking my clit between his gorgeous lips, making me tilt my head in pleasure. Frustration got me sensitive. Even the slightest touch got me purring in delight.
Taeyong licked and nipped at my entrance, and I run my hands through his hair, encouraging him to keep going. He flicked his tongue, and I buckled my hips, wanting more.
“I need your fingers,” I pleaded, looking down at him. Taeyong looked breathtaking, with my juices were dripping down his sharp jaw, with his lips turned into a satisfied smirk. He was proud of how he was making me feel. His glistening skin was the very evidence of his skillful moves. “Taeyong, please, I am so close.”
Though I didn’t expect him to, Taeyong listened to my humble request. His middle finger slid right it, making me purr in satisfaction. I could finally feel him inside of me, and it was heavenly. His palm moved quickly, working me up.
The first orgasm was building up. Taeyong was fucking me now with two fingers while his mouth was fiddling with my clit. If it wasn’t for Taeyong’s palm, holding me still, I’d buckle right into his face for more friction.
“I’m about to come,” I declared, shutting my eyes close. As tempting as it was to peek at the mirror on the other wall and check out the view of Taeyong eating me out, it was more than I could take. My instinct to squeeze my eyes shut and welcome the orgasm was too much.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
Before tiny tingles of electricity could unite and explode, shooting through me like a lightning strike, Taeyong pulled away, denying me of my orgasm. It physically hurt when instead of a blissful peak, I felt nothing.
“What the fuck?” I barked angrily, ready to pull him by his hair against my sex and press him against me, so he could finish the job.
“We’re coming together, or we’re not coming at all,” Taeyong sternly replied, standing up. His lips were swollen from all the work he was doing, and they looked even more kissable.
“I’ve never pegged you for such a teaser,” I stated matter-of-factly, still a little bit butt-hurt over the way how smug he was about not letting me come first. Maybe I was a handful most of the time, but I didn’t do anything wrong to deserve such treatment.
“I’m not,” Taeyong chimed in, biting down on his lip. “There’s just something about you that makes me want to punish for your misbehavior,” he explained, and I got it where it came from. I wasn’t the best student he could work with. “Isn’t it the sweetest torture?” Taeyong challenged before he surged forward, smashing his lips against mine again, raising my thigh and giving it a gentle rub.
“Please, Taeyong, I need you inside of me,” I begged as I ground my sex against his rock-hard cock. I couldn’t comprehend how self-disciplined and patient he was; his budge was throbbing underneath his pants. It must’ve been painful for him, and he did all of that to teach me a lesson. “Fuck me, already.”
“Relax, sweetheart. I got you,” he softly spoke as he hoisted me up, pressing me tightly against the wall. “To be honest, I expected you to lose it sooner,” Taeyong added, and I hoped he was talking about my sanity. I endured more than enough; his teasing was too much.
“How should I fuck you?” Taeyong asked, looking around the practice room, seeking a perfect spot to stuff his cock inside of me. We didn’t have a lot of options, but I didn’t care. He could fuck me in the middle of the room, and I’d eagerly spread my legs for him. “Screw it,” he cursed, gently lowering me down onto the floor. “Do you mind?” Taeyong inquired, and I shook my head as I wrapped my legs around his hips, pressing him against me.
“Strip,” I ordered, and Taeyong smirked before he pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing his lean physique. My eyes marveled at his beautiful shoulders and toned muscles. I had touched him more than I could count, but I never saw him bare, and when I finally did, I gawked.
“What about you, sweetheart? Come on, I am waiting,” Taeyong teased, and I took off my T-shirt. I was only in my sports bra, and Taeyong bit his lip, staring down at me, admiring my simple beauty. With no further comment, Taeyong leaned in, attacking my collarbone. It was hot how attentive he was, but right now, all I needed was his cock buried deep down my cunt.
Desperately, I reached to his sweatpants, palming his erection through the fabric. As soon as I touched him, Taeyong released a needy growl, rolling his hips into my hand, finally giving in to the pleasure. He lost his self-restraint, and now, he seriously needed to fill me up with his throbbing length.
“Take them off,” I breathed out, pulling by the hem of his pants. With a lowered head, Taeyong tsked before he yanked them down to his knees, wriggling out of them. Just as I expected, his cock urgently entailed my attention.
Though the thought of blowing him crossed my mind, I eventually decided not to entertain this idea too much. It was apparent Taeyong wanted to him inside of my pussy. I’d suck him dry on a different occasion. Hopefully, it would happen soon.
“Fuck me, Taeyong,” I moaned as I trembled when the tip of his cock brushed against my folds. I was embarrassingly sensitive after his ministrations, and he dared to tease me again. “Please,” I begged as I gave his length a few gentle strokes, aligning it with my entrance.
“Aaahh…” Taeyong growled, slowly pushing his dick inside of me. Inch by inch, he filled me up, stretching my walls. A lot of different sinful noises came out of his mouth as he began steadily thrusting his hips.
Taeyong’s stamina was no joke. It was hard to believe how long he could snap his hips without messing up his rhythm. His low voice mixed with my desperate moans echoed inside the room, creating a wicked symphony along with the sound of our sweaty bodies smashing against each other.
He was fucking me hard, and I was in seventh heaven. Taeyong was filling me up so good; I could come undone on his cock anytime.
“Taeyong,” I moaned his name as I watched him fuck me. Though it was hot to look at his cock disappear in my pussy, it was even sweeter to stare in the mirror. With my head turned to the side, I studied the whole picture how Taeyong was fucking me.
“I am coming,” I screamed as I felt the bliss approach. Taeyong was panting, struggling to maintain his tempo with the way my walls tightened around his sensitive cock. Once he hit my sweet spot, I was a goner. After a few thrusts, I came, digging my nails in his back.
“Fuck,” Taeyong cursed, shouting my name as he shot his load inside of me, collapsing on top of me. We were a breathless mess, our bodies sticking together, but neither of us minded. At this point, we were too spent to care. “You were incredible,” Taeyong whispered as he pulled out, rolling to the side.
“You weren’t that bad yourself,” I panted, giggling, still recovering from the mind-blowing orgasm. Thankfully, Taeyong didn’t pay much attention to my playful jab. “I meant it what I said,” I added, turning around to look at him.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Taeyong started, staring into my eyes, showing me his sincerity. “I just can’t help myself but get angry when I see him or hear about him,” he continued, and I nodded my head, letting him know I was willing to listen.
I didn’t expect that Taeyong would agree to vent to me, but when he did, I patiently heard him out. After all, I was pretty sure we were at least friends now.
“It all happened about a year ago. We were competing in the same contest, and he made my dance partner quit. Doyoung seduced her, toyed with her, and once the trophy was his, he dumped her. Because of him, I was disqualified, and she quit dance altogether.”
Listen to his story made me both sad and angry. Doyoung had been a dick to interfere like that – he must’ve known he hadn’t stood a chance against them in a fair fight. My blood was boiling in my veins as I put all the pieces together.
Sadness took over next. The way Doyoung had manipulated Taeyong’s dance partner was upsetting. The wound had been cut so deep, she couldn’t have forced herself to keep going. Doyoung had wrecked two lives, and it made my blood boil, too.
“We’re gonna beat him. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we do,” I spoke, reassuring him. It was impossible to tend the wounds, but the least I could do is help Taeyong win. For what he had done, Doyoung deserved punishment. If I were Taeyong, I’d not hesitate to beat him up.
“I hope so,” Taeyong muttered, reaching for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s still fine if we don’t. I’m pretty sure karma will get to him eventually,” he added with a sigh.
“I’ll work harder,” I declared, feeling an extra wave of determination wash through me. “I’ll try my best,” I said, and Taeyong smiled fondly, content to hear me say it.
“Thanks. It means a lot to me.”
For a while, we were staring at each other. It felt nice and somehow more intimate than all the fucking we had done. If we were in bed, I could do it all night. Unfortunately, we were still lying on the uncomfortable floor.
“Let’s get washed up before we get too sappy,” I added, trying to ease the tension. I really enjoyed it, but it was getting a little too much.
“I hope you don’t mind sharing the shower with me. You know… water bills are a bitch,” Taeyong spoke, and I giggled at his bullshit excuse, finding it incredibly cute, considering what we had been doing a few minutes ago.
“Of course they are,” I deadpanned, chuckling. Though his excuse was lame, I liked Taeyong enough to go with it. “Come on. Let’s go. I don’t want anyone to catch me naked.”
 ***
After that one time at the dance studio, Taeyong and I made it a regular thing. However, we kept it civilized. We wouldn’t jump each other’s bones in the open like animals like we had done the first time. Usually, we would go on small kind-of-dates, which consisted of picking up food, going to my or his place, and then rolling in the sheets.
We were having lots of fun. It was a perfect way to de-stress. After all, the finale was this Saturday, and we were nervous as hell. In all honesty, I was still scared, but these orgasms were numbing my anxiety.
“I think that’s it,” Taeyong spoke, and I smiled brightly, unable to contain my joy. It was the first time Taeyong ever approved of our performance. Most of the time, he was nitpicking, complaining about the slightest mistake, but finally, he was satisfied with it.
I was ecstatic; I never expected to live up to Taeyong’s approval. Through hard work and persistence, I managed to earn his eulogy.
“What should we do now? How about we order some food?” I asked, feeling in a celebratory mood. Maybe it was a little bit too early to drink to this small success, but it’s still worth a shot.
“We should do it again. We should dance it flawlessly at least a couple of hundred consecutive times before celebrating,” Taeyong seriously replied, and I rolled my eyes. Despite his painstaking nature, a couple of hundred times, it was a bit too much. Even for him. “Don’t give me that look. Let’s start again; five, six, seven, eight.”
Though usually, I’d complain and try to force him into a five-minute break, right now, I was oddly energized. We were dancing for the past two hours, and I was panting out of exhaustion. Nevertheless, the thoughts of finally mastering the choreography kept me going.
“I’m pretty good at this,” I confidently commented while roaming my hands across Taeyong’s shoulders before he twirled me around to the rhythm. I could tell that Taeyong was just waiting for an excuse to pause the music and scold me for making a mistake. However, much to his dismay, I executed every move impeccably. “I had a pretty good teacher,” I added, stroking his ego. The D-day was approaching, and Taeyong obviously needed an extra boost of confidence.
“I must admit you were a piece of work. I have no idea what kind of sorcery is this,” Taeyong teased, staring into my eyes. We had practiced the routine plenty of times; we could probably perform it in blindfolds and not make a single mistake. “I must be a magician or something.”
“Don’t push it,” I warned him in a very non-threatening tone, making him smirk. “But it’s only partially your success. Seulgi told me I have the it™ factor,” I proudly said, cracking Taeyong up, messing the choreography. “Is it a student-has-become-the-master kind of moment?” I asked, laughing at Taeyong. For the dance prodigy, he was getting distracted way too easily. It was suspicious.
With a broad smile upon his face, Taeyong grabbed my wrists, making me look at him.
“How about we finish up for today? I have a surprise for you,” Taeyong said, and I cocked my eyebrows, biting my bottom lip. “Not that kind of surprise,” he added, rolling his eyes at me. “We might get it on later, though.”
“What kind of surprise then?”
“Wait a second,” Taeyong spoke, quickly jogging out of the practice room. In a minute, he was back with a garment bag in his hands. “Here, that’s for you. Seulgi came in the morning to drop it off for you,” he explained, and I pulled down the zipper. It was going to be my costume for the contest, and I was curious how it looked.
I was speechless. At first, I thought it was a joke. I wouldn’t be able to perform in that. However, the more I looked at it, the more sense it made. It was a simple white suit shirt, but when mixed with a leather body harness, high-waisted shorts, and boots, it fitted the concept beautifully.
“Do you like it? I thought it was too revealing, but Seulgi insisted you would look amazing in it. I mean… it fits the mood, but if you’re not comfortable with it, we still have some time to find something else,” Taeyong blabbered, and my heart swelled. It was very sweet of him to consider my comfort above anything else.
“It’s skimpy, but it’s fine. I like it,” I replied, having no idea where my confidence was coming from. A few months ago, I’d be anxious to even try it on in the confines of my bedroom. However, now I was planning on showing a lot of skin on national television during prime hours on the weekend. I must’ve gone insane.
“Do you want to try it on?” Taeyong challenged, pulling the hangers out of the bag.
“You mean… here?!”
“Come on, it wouldn’t be the first time you took off your clothes in the middle of the practice room,” Taeyong concluded, smiling at me mischievously.
“Pass,” I firmly rejected his dare, even though it felt tempting. “It’s not fun when I’m doing it alone,” I added, and Taeyong grabbed the hem of his T-shirt, more than ready to discard his clothes in a blink of an eye. “Don’t fool around,” I warned him, placing my hand over his before he managed to take his T-shirt off.
“You’re right. Let’s go to my place first,” Taeyong agreed, zipping the bag before he grabbed my hand, leading me out of the practice room.
 ***
 On the day of the performance, I woke up with a terrible stomach ache. No matter how much fantastic sex Taeyong and I had, I was not mentally prepared to perform in front of the whole nation. I felt sick, almost as if my body was telling me to quit before I’d embarrass myself on national television. Stress was eating me from the inside.
“What are you doing up so early? Let’s go back to bed,” Taeyong purred in his raspy morning voice as he sneaked his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “You need to be rested before the performance. Trust me, you don’t want a camera to catch you yawning,” he added, nuzzling his nose in the crook of my neck, breathing hot air against my skin.
“Thanks for giving me one more thing to stress about,” I deadpanned, heaving a deep sigh, staring at the ceiling. It was a mistake. I should have never agreed to Seulgi’s proposition in the first place. What the hell was I thinking? “I think it’s a bad idea. We should quit.”
Taeyong wasn’t in the mood for my nagging so early in the morning; he was having none of it. “You’re being ridiculous. We’ve practiced so much. We’re gonna win it with ease,” he declared, pressing a featherlike kiss against my jaw. “But for real,” he added, climbing on top of me, trapping me between his thighs, “we’re going to win. And even if we don’t, it’s fine. Really, if somehow we lose to Doyoung and his partner, I’ll just punch him backstage.”
“How can you say that?” I said with a sigh, running my hands across his thighs, finding it rather calming. “I know you said we should rest, but how about…” I trailed, and Taeyong smiled before eagerly capturing my lips, reading me like an open book.
“Say no more,” Taeyong whispered before his hands traveled under my shirt.
Unfortunately, Taeyong’s phone started buzzing on the nightstand before he managed to pull my panties down. With a groan, he extended his arm, staring at the screen.
“It’s Seulgi.”
“What are you waiting for? It’s her wedding day. Pick it up,” I yelled at him as I fell on the pillow, admiring his handsome face when he was talking to Seulgi.
“Please, not you, too,” he barked, rubbing his face in annoyance. Though I barely could make out what she was saying, I figured this much Seulgi and I were suffering from the same stress-fuelled illness. It was her wedding day, after all. Even if it was obvious she loved Irene with a burning passion, she wasn’t immune to pre-wedding anxiety.
Seulgi was talking her stress away, and Taeyong just hummed and nodded his head, registering her words. For some reason, the pressure didn’t seem to bother Taeyong at all. It was weird, but at least he was the voice of reason, which could help me and Seulgi cope.
“Breath in, breath out,” Taeyong spoke when Seulgi made a pause long enough for him to interject. “I know it’s a big deal, but there’s nothing to worry about. You’re getting married to Irene. You love her so much,” Taeyong reminded her, winking at me, expecting Seulgi to end the call soon. “Everybody’s a little nervous; it’s completely normal.”
It was beautiful how close Taeyong and Seulgi were. They had each other’s backs in all types of situations.
About ten minutes later, Seulgi finally calmed down. Taeyong’s reassuring words swept the anxiety away, and she was more than ready to get married to the love of her life.
Once Seulgi hung up, Taeyong threw his phone on the bed and secured my legs around his hips before he leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss. “Seulgi says hi, by the way,” he added, sneaking his hand under the hem of my panties.
“What?”
“What do you mean what?” Taeyong looked down at me, creasing his eyebrows in confusion.
“She knows?” I yelled, unable to comprehend how, on Earth, Seulgi figured out I was in Taeyong’s bed. She couldn’t know. She wasn’t even there when our romance bloomed. “How?”
“Yeah, is it a bad thing, though? You didn’t want to fuck me in secret, did you?” Taeyong challenged, not really answering my inquiry. Did Seulgi figure it out on her own? Or did Taeyong told her about us? And, the biggest question mark was: what were we to begin with? “Seulgi must have some sort of sixth sense. She was bothering me about the sexual tension between us since day one of your training.”
“I wouldn’t call it sexual tension per se, but there was something going on,” I replied, reminiscing how rocky our beginning was. “But I think we were interrupted…” I reminded him, and Taeyong with a playful smirk on his face dived right between my thighs.
 ***
 The streaming should begin at 8 p.m., but we had to arrive before 5 p.m., so the make-up artists and stylists could prepare us for the performance. Sitting in that chair and waiting for all pampering to be over with was stressful as fuck. I tried to preoccupy myself with an idea of Taeyong, but whenever someone threw a question in my direction, I was being pulled out of my train of happy thoughts.
I wanted to get on the stage and be done with it. Unfortunately, whoever funded that contest didn’t think of the mental health of its participants when making today’s schedule.
Punctually, the show began its transmission at 8 o’clock. However, at the very beginning, the MC had to introduce all sponsors. Going through them took him about twenty minutes. Then, they interviewed some of the eliminated dancers, asking them questions either about their experience in the competition or simply who they thought would win.
Later, they decided to rewind the contestants’ moments in the show. At first, they showed Doyoung and his partner, and a few experts analyzed their performance, wondering what the odds of them winning were.
When the host announced the rewind of Taeyong’s and Seulgi’s stages, the jury only talked about the sudden switch up, confirming it was the first time it ever happened in the grand finale. It startled a lot of people why would Seulgi drop out, but Taeyong explained it in a brief interview.
“It was a crazy coincidence, but Seulgi couldn’t participate today because she is getting married today,” Taeyong revealed, and the audience cooed loudly, obviously supporting her choice. “I was stressed at first, but Seulgi found an amazing dancer to take her spot. She really chose well,” he added, and I looked at him, trying not to cry in front of everyone.
It was almost impossible to fish out a compliment from Taeyong during practice, but right now, he did it on his own accord, melting my heart with his words.
“Everybody is dying to know more about your partner,” the MC started, shifting his attention to me. I didn’t particularly like to be put in the spotlight, but before I managed to spit some nonsense, Taeyong butt in, rescuing the day.
“Although she doesn’t have much experience in dance competitions, I think she’s a great dancer. To think of it, she is my secret weapon,” Taeyong added, and I almost ran into his arms, feeling too overwhelmed by his speech.
“Alright then, let’s see what you got after a short commercial break,” the MC cheerfully announced before I bolted out of the stage as I felt the stress crept into my head.
“Calm down,” Taeyong softly spoke as he approached me, holding my hand, drawing circles with his thumb. “You’ve got this. Just focus on me,” he added, flashing me a reassuring smile before kissing my knuckles.
“Awww… isn’t it adorable?” Someone snickered, and I didn’t need to turn my head around to know it was Doyoung. He was like a venomous snake, trying to sneak into our subconscious and make us even more anxious. It couldn’t be fair play.
“Buzz off,” I barked as I didn’t want to let him tick Taeyong off. Taeyong was my safety pin, and I didn’t want him to go full rage on Doyoung. Their backstage battle would make it to the news, but I’d rather prevent it from happening.
“With Seulgi on your arm, I was giving you a five percent chance of winning,” Doyoung started, ignoring my warning. “Now, when she’s gone, I won’t even have fun beating you on the stage,” he added, and I almost surged forward to punch him. If it wasn’t for Taeyong, who held me in my place, I’d definitely rearranged Doyoung’s face.
“Don’t let him get into your head,” Taeyong whispered into my ear, and I nodded my head, sighing. Then, it struck me. Doyoung’s motive wasn’t to mess with Taeyong but with me. He knew I was the weakest link, and he wanted to guarantee his victory by making me doubt myself. His words rung in my head, but one look at Taeyong helped me relax. We had practiced it a thousand times; there was not a chance I would make a mistake.
“Come on. Let’s go. They’re calling us out,” Taeyong mused, pulling me towards the stage.
The silence filled the auditorium when we got on the stage, taking our respective places. I stole a glance at Taeyong – he was mouthing words of encouragement seconds before the MC announced our performance.
I can hear it callin'
Loving the way you wanna talk
Touch me, tease me, feel me up
Callin', something in the way you wanna talk
On two sides of the stage, we moved to the rhythm, telling the story of two strangers lusting over each other from afar. With hunger in our eyes, we tried to seduce each other with sharp movements, showcasing our attributes.
You got me sayin', you got me sayin'
How you doing? Tell me what's your name (Ey, tell me what's your name?)
What's your sign? Feeling like you are into me
Taeyong ran up to me like a man enchanted by the siren’s voice, rolling his body against mine. It was his moment to shine; everybody’s eyes were on him as he owned the stage with his overflowing charisma.
Baby, we're two distant strangers
I know you don't speak my language
But I love the way she's talking to me (Talking to me)
I can hear it callin' from where you are
Loving the way you wanna talk
Touch me, tease me, feel me up
Touch me, tease me, feel me up
It was a classic game of cat and mouse. Though our bodies were so close to each other, we moved in perfect synchronization, careful not to brush against each other. The chemistry between us was undeniable, and the feeling of yearning was visible from the very last row.
Max, max, max, we can have it all (To the max)
If you back, back, back, back, back it up (Back it, back it)I'll take you where you wanna, got the gas in the tank (Wow)
If you really wanna make it last (Git, git, git)
Finally, as the song slowly progressed to the end, we were showing intense frustration. We were portraying two individuals, yearning for intimate contact, who were hastily losing their minds over uncontrollable passion.
I can hear it callin' from where you are (Callin', woo)
Loving the way you wanna talk (Love the way you talk)
Touch me, tease me, feel me up (Yeah, yeah)
Touch me, tease me, feel me up
The song was to end soon. The last chorus rolled in – it was our cue. After all teasing, we finally made the connection, ready to combust out of raw craze. After three minutes of painful longing, we were to reach completion.
I can hear it callin' from where you are (Callin', woo)
Loving the way you wanna talk (Love the way you talk)
Touch me, tease me, feel me up (Yeah, yeah)
Touch me, tease me, feel me up
It was all or nothing. We were finally together, touching each other with fervor.  The audience was eating our performance up – particularly when Taeyong showcased his flexibility and body control.
Tell me how you like it babe (How you)
I don't even know your name (How you, ey)
I love the way you're talking to me
It was finally time to finish our performance with a bang; we needed to show something spectacular, something Doyoung wouldn’t ever think about. As the singer began the last verse, it was my cue to run into Taeyong’s embrace. The second the last syllable rolled of the singer’s tongue, Taeyong caught me in his arms, and the lights went out to add a dramatic twist to our performance.
For a while, the audience was silent. However, a few seconds later, they roared in excitement, clapping loudly, showing how much they enjoyed our stage.
The MC was congratulating us, but I was too thrilled to register his words. I still couldn’t believe I performed on national television and didn’t trip and smash my face.
I had no idea how I found myself backstage, but there was a high chance Taeyong led me off the stage. I was too overwhelmed to do it on my own.
I even forgot that Johnny, together with Yeri – the love of his week, had backstage passes. I only remembered that when he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug, congratulating me.
“You gotta quit that office job and start dancing professionally,” Johnny ordered, and I smiled, glad that he enjoyed my performance. “We both gotta quit. You’ll be dancing, and I’ll be a badass FBI agent.”
“You two were great,” Yeri politely said when Johnny let me go. “Thank you so much for letting me backstage.”
“No problem,” Taeyong replied as he grabbed my shaking hands. “Are you okay?” He asked, cupping my face, making me look at him. “You rocked the stage,” he added before he leaned forward to peck my lips.
Ignoring Johnny’s perplexed expression, I wrapped my arms around Taeyong in a comfortable hug. I hadn’t suitably introduced Johnny to the concept of me dating Taeyong, but hopefully, our interaction got the message across.
Emotions were slowly fading away, but I still needed Taeyong’s support. I was a rookie, and I had no experience with this type of stress. Something was calming about Taeyong’s aura; I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but I wasn’t going to question it.
“Anticipation is killing me,” I muttered against his skin. “Can he already go on that fucking stage?” I yelled, wondering why Doyoung’s performance didn’t start yet. I knew the MC was building up tension, but it was too much for me to handle.
“We could always skip,” Taeyong casually spoke, and I pulled away to look at him. What the hell was he talking about? I hadn’t agreed to help him out, so we didn’t wait until the end. “If we lose, we lose. If we win, your friend can accept the prize, can’t he?”
“Are you insane?”
“Maybe a little bit,” he answered with a bright smile, brushing stray hair off my forehead. “I just want to know the result already so we can go to Seulgi’s wedding and congratulate them,” he added, and I nodded my head. Though we couldn’t participate during the ceremony, the least we could do was to show up ridiculously late to the reception.
“Can they hurry the fuck up now?” I craned my neck, trying to find Doyoung and his partner. They were arguing about something right behind the curtain. Everything seemed they weren’t in the right headspace.
“I don’t think I want to see their performance,” Taeyong whispered, tightening his grasp on my waist. “How about a quickie in the dressing room? What do you say?” He proposed, and I smacked him, telling him to behave. It was tempting, but we really shouldn’t. I wouldn’t walk up that stage with messed-up post-sex hair.
“Get a grip,” I added, gently elbowing him. “Let’s just hit the snack table. I am hungry,” I spoke, pulling him away when the MC invited Doyoung and his dance partner onto the stage.
While munching on snacks, we stared at each other fondly. In some weird way, we were helping each other cope with anticipation and stress. Though it was tempting to check out their performance, we decided it was for the better if we didn’t.
They performed to “Hips Don’t Lie,” and it was almost impossible to turn my head around to check out Doyoung’s sick moves. Having considered all the videos I had seen of him, I was sure he looked gorgeous.
“What about a little peek?” Taeyong questioned, unable to control his urge to see his rival’s performance. “I thought I could endure it, but I can’t,” he added, and I nodded, giving in. Instantly, we ran to the nearest screen to watch their stage.
It was everything I imagined. Their moves were executed with precision and grace, but entertainment-wise, I was bored. They had the skills, but something about the general concept didn’t fulfill my expectations.
No matter how great of a dancer Doyoung was, he just could not pull this song off as the original artist did. Regardless of how hard he swayed his hips, it just didn’t live up to its potential. Though I wasn’t educated enough to give an honest review, it felt meh.
The audience in the studio whistled and shouted once they finished their performance, giving them a round of applause. With genuine smiles, Doyoung and his partner bowed before they ran off the stage.
Now, only thirty minutes of aggressive advertising, and we would know the winner.
“Is it too late to agree to that quickie?”
“You should’ve said so earlier,” Taeyong answered with an innocent smile as he reached to hold my hand. “The best I can do is cuddles,” he added, leading me to the couch, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. “It feels nice.”
“It does, but it doesn’t take my mind off things like a quickie would.”
“Don’t even try. I am not going on that stage with a boner in my pants,” Taeyong warned, peeling my hand off his thigh, pressing a delicate kiss against my knuckles.
Though it wasn’t as preoccupying as sex, it was still nice. And most importantly, it took our minds off the unbearable anticipation. A staff member actually needed to gently shake Taeyong’s shoulder to remind us that the MC was calling us to the stage.
Taeyong’s hand didn’t leave mine once we were waiting for the big reveal. It was fine if we lost. Next year, Seulgi and Taeyong would definitely make it to the top.
When the MC announced the winner, a few confetti bombs exploded. The audience roared in excitement, but I had no clue what was going on. Uncertainty was over – one of us won.
Stress, anticipation, and anxiety slowed down my reactions. However, I figured it would be weird if Taeyong picked me up and spun me around in his arms if we lost. It could only mean one thing – we did it.
We won.
Taeyong’s acceptance speech was short and simple. He thanked everyone who succored him discover his passion for dancing, who supported him throughout his dream, who directly helped him get this far, and me.
When I was handed the microphone for the first time that evening, I basically rephrased Taeyong words. Maybe it wasn’t my dream, but it felt damn good to assist Taeyong in achieving his. It was a bumpy road, but overall, it was all worth it.
The MC handed me a statue after shaking my hand, congratulating me once more. Taeyong, on the other hand, was gifted a huge check for 20 thousand dollars.
“Let’s go,” Taeyong whispered to me, running off the stage with me.
 ***
It was shortly before midnight when the Uber parked in front of the hotel where Seulgi’s and Irene’s reception took place. It was beautifully decorated with lights and flowers, making it look like a magical castle.
Though the security didn’t want to grant entrance, one of Seulgi’s aunts recognized Taeyong and told the man to let us in. She was nice enough to help us out, but she still found some time to glance disapprovingly at my stage costume. I wouldn’t be surprised if she gossiped to her entire family I was a prostitute.
As soon as we walked into the ballroom, Seulgi noticed us. She was sitting by the table, eating the wedding cake with Irene. In an instant, she rose from her chair and ran up to us, throwing herself on Taeyong’s neck.
“You won! I knew it!” She shouted as she gave Taeyong a bone-crushing hug. “Irene and I sneaked out for a while to watch your performance. You smashed them,” Seulgi added before she turned to me, congratulating me too.
“You were amazing,” Irene approached us, sending a polite smile. Unlike Seulgi, Irene was much calmer and collected.
“You are finally married,” Taeyong spoke, beaming. “You better have everything recorded. I gotta know every embarrassing thing that I missed,” he added in a teasing manner, earning a playful jab from Seulgi. “I bet you cried during your vows.”
“Congratulations,” I chimed in, breaking their friendly banter before it properly started. It was Seulgi’s wedding day, after all.
After we caught up, Seulgi and Irene walked off to the dance floor, leaving us by the table alone. For a while, we admired them. They looked absolutely stunning in their white suits, dancing, basking in happiness.
“Do you know where the gifts are held?” I inquired suddenly, looking around.
“Why? Did you have time to get them anything?” Taeyong asked before he stuffed his mouth with a chocolate glazed strawberry. “Or are you thinking of stealing some?”
“I just want to give them my part of the prize,” I started, making Taeyong choke on the fruit. “Seulgi’s the rightful winner, and I think it’s only right.”
“Are you sure? It’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah, I know, but I really want to do that,” I replied, fiddling with my fingers. “I don’t need this money, so I want to give it to her.”
“You’re so hot right now,” Taeyong said, making me turn my head in embarrassment. “If that’s what you really want to do, do it. But remember, you earned it.”
“I am sure.”
“Then let me spoil you with my prize,” Taeyong offered, staring into my eyes. At first, I thought he was joking, but when his gaze didn’t even falter, I understood how serious he was. “Well… look at that. What are the odds?” Taeyong spoke as a familiar melody echoed within the walls of the grand ballroom. “It’s our song. Shall we dance?”
Having glanced at Seulgi, who whispered something to the DJ, I smiled at Taeyong. Though I was sick and tired of Love Talk already, it was kind of our song. We had been listening to this song too much, and regardless of how good it was, the prospect of it being our anthem terrified me.
“One last time,” I gave in, accepting Taeyong’s invitation, letting him lead me to the dance floor. Despite having mastered the choreography to it, I just wrapped my arms around his neck, slowly waltzing to it.
“That’s nothing like we practiced,” Taeyong pinpointed, and I chuckled, shaking my head. “I don’t mind, though. It’s comfy,” he added as his hands found purchase on my hips.
“Seulgi doesn’t look pleased. She didn’t expect us to perform, did she?” I whispered into Taeyong’s ear, hugging him closer. “Also, it can’t be our song. We have to change it; the sooner, the better,” I complained, but Taeyong just chuckled into my ear, humming softly.
Instead of giving me an actual answer, Taeyong decided to sing it.
“I love the way you're talking to me.”
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cinnamonest · 3 years
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I touched on this very briefly wayyyyy back in February but. You know what would drive Childe up the wall, what he would absolutely despise? A stealth, smooth-talker fem darling that doesn't.... beat him per se, but slips through his fingers.
Consider. In some alternate universe, Morax really was dead, and the gnosis really was inside that corpse. Well, the Fatui aren't the only ones who want it, of course. Whoever's in charge of you has also sent you on a mission to obtain it, you, who are a similar sort of person to a harbinger, essentially some personal agent or spy of some greater organization. You're not some tall muscly guy like he is, nor are you skilled in combat, your specialties lie in a few key areas: namely, stealth and charisma. Think a skyrim sneak-thief build. Archery, lockpicking, sneaking, pickpocketing, sneaking up from behind and stabbing and other stealth kills -- never entering direct combat, but managing to always remain hidden, making use of elements (a cryo user, in this case), do everything indirectly, and when actual combat arises, you flee. You know... like a coward. Except really, you'd be stupid not to, it's not like you could ever actually go to combat and win, especially not some of the huge muscly giants of men who guard the places you break into.
When you can't sneak, lockpick, or archer-snipe your way into the places you need to break into, you opt for the second skill - charm. Making people like you. Each type of person has a type of person they'll open up to, luckily for you in your line of work, the people you interact with mostly consists of gross old men who are easily seduced or sweet-talked into spilling their secrets, or young gullible hormonal boys guarding this or that who will gladly forget their protocol and let you get close enough to kick them in the balls, grab their shit and run because you smile and giggle at them.
And when he's said too much he knows he slipped up. From the moment you look in each other's direction you're both well aware of who you each work for. It's a social game like so many things, you both smile and talk and pretend you're not well aware, like you're not analyzing the other's every word and expression, predicting their next moves. It makes him mad at himself, when he accidentally slips up a bit, says one thing he shouldn't have because he wasn't watching his words well enough because you... Took advantage of him. It irritates him. You irritate him. He's mad at himself for letting you make him weak and he's mad at you for doing it. How dare you use his weaknesses against him, use the unfair advantage given to you by... Well, nature. He can see you pull the edges of your clothes a bit as you talk to show more skin and fuck, it makes him so fucking mad that his eyes instinctively dart downward to look without even meaning to, that his attention shifts, that his brain gets hazy, that he slips up and says something he shouldn't, that he does exactly what you wanted him to do.
You did that on purpose. And he fell for it. It makes him so mad it keeps him awake that night, seething, stomach twisting and fists clenching and revenge fantasies running through his brain, grinding his teeth and thinking of all the unspeakable things he'd do to you to make you pay for the humiliation of a moment of weakness.
But it doesn't really matter, in the end you'd never be smart enough to figure out the whole deal, you'd never end up at the Golden House and you'd never find out where the gnosis is. He's certain -- he walks right in and takes the thing.
In reality, you knew it would be here, you just hadn't figured out how to extract it from the body, but you knew he would know. And that's why you staked it out, hiding behind a pillar, waiting for him. Cryo vision active, arrow strung, and a ready stone to throw or the like for a distraction. When he whips out the water swords instinctively when he hears a noise, all it takes is one well-aimed shot and his feet are now frozen to the floor. A second and his hand is frozen in place too. And you? You snatch the gnosis right out of his hand before he can free himself and run.
Yeah, that pisses him off like nothing else. In his mind, it's an illegitimate win. You didn't beat him, you haven't won, you haven't earned it. If someone were to fight him fairly, head to head, and beat him, his ego would be battered, but he can admit a defeat. This, though, this is different. It's an insult to the art of combat itself, it's dishonorable, it's cowardly. You know you could never take him. You could really never take anyone. He knows, you know, you both know each other knows. Weakness is one thing, weakness can be fixed, the weak can become strong. But cowardice? That's quite different -- he despises it. It makes him so, so angry, so much he can feel his entire body growing cold, twitching, shivering in fury watching you run out the doors.
Nonetheless, you did underestimate something or another -- perhaps his strength, perhaps overestimated the duration of your vision. He snaps free from the ice a lot faster than you were expecting. Not that you would dare turn around and look, but your heart rate spikes when you hear the shattering, the yelling, rapid footsteps sprinting across the ground. You run as quickly as your body allows and try to convince yourself the footsteps don't sound like they're getting closer.
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