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pinkanonwrites · 1 year

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Coffee Break

I wasn’t joking about getting really into Hi-Fi Rush, especially Chai. <3 I haven’t found any Chai/Reader fics yet, so I wanna thank y’all for joining me as I wander into this brave new frontier! And as I said in my friend’s Hi-Fi Rush stream, “the world gave me two silly failboys with a robot arm at once and im gonna dual wield them like samurai swords”

1,800+ Words

GN! Reader, Barista Reader, puns, pining Chai (I totally see him as the type to be so pathetic with a crush, but as soon as he knows you like him back he goes back to full cockiness)

"Alright, mission report. Just picking up a coffee, no big deal. Order something simple, yet masculine. Something that screams 'confidence.' Make some small talk, throw in a wink, end with something open to meeting again, nothing too final. 'See you next time?' No, no, way too forward. 'Catch ya later?' Ooh, now we're talking. Just the right mix of laid-back and friendly. You got this, big man. You totally got this!"

"Chai, what the hell are you doing?"

If Chai let out a very uncool yelp at Peppermint getting the jump on him like that, at least she had the decency to do it before he was within earshot of you. He wheeled around, stumbling into her and shoving her back around the building corner he was peeking around as he watched you work.

"Peppermint! Heyyy… What are, uh, what are you doin' here?"

She cocked a single, dark eyebrow in his direction. "Uhh, getting a coffee? That's what the cafe is for, isn't it?"

"Pshh, yeah, totally. Totally… Coffee."

Truth be told Chai wasn't even that big of a coffee fan. If you slapped a hot coffee and a tall can of a chilled energy drink on the table in front of him he'd definitely choose the sugary-sweet brainrush over the bitter bean water. But he wasn't lurking awkwardly around the courtyard outside the Vandelay campus cafe for coffee. He was doing it for you.

Roxanne Vandelay had always enjoyed the comfort and connections of human staff, something Kale was quick to phase out in his hostile takeover. When she stepped back into the director’s seat one of her first orders involved repopulating the island with human and robot staff alike, making sure even the smallest and most insignificant stations on Vandelay Island had everyone and everything they needed to run smoothly. Apparently, the on-campus cafe was included among those stations. Once the program that nuked the coffee machines to only run decaf was cracked the cafe once again became a hotspot for curious droids and exhausted techies chasing their much-needed fix. Chai, on the other hand, really had no need to stop by other than for an occasional morning donut. Which is when he first saw you.

He was just leaving the cafe when you all but ran into him, hair a mess and an apron slung over your arm. When he nearly fumbled his donut you reached out and snatched the tissue-wrapped treat from its inevitable demise, shoving it back into his hand.

“Ah! I’m so sorry! Please have a good day!” You gave him a smile and a slight bow before dipping under his arm and into the breezeway, leaving him reeling in your wake. He felt… electrified. His fingertips where they brushed yours and the shoulder that you bumped as you scooted past tingled like he’d just touched a live wire, just struck a perfect chord. He couldn’t even string a sentence together before you were out of earshot, and you left him stumbling blearily back to Peppermint’s new office with what was certainly a wonderstruck grin upon his face.

That was the first and only time Chai ever ran into you. Every time he tried to approach the cafe from that point on he locked up like he was at his middle school talent show, sweaty, hands trembling. It drove him crazy; he could batter giant murder robots with nothing but a piecemeal guitar and a rhythm in his chest, but he couldn’t even bring himself to talk to one barista?

But today was the day. Or, it would have been the day, if Peppermint hadn’t thrown him off of his rhythm like that.

“Then why are you hanging around the corner like a freak?” She countered.

“No reason! Just… enjoying the weather! You know how it is; I’m a free spirit, Peppermint! Gotta go where the wind takes me.”

“Riiiiight. Well, not all of us can be free spirits, Chai. Some of us need to get back to work. So if you’d excuse me…”

“Waitwaitwaitwaitwait hold on a moment! Not yet!” Chai scrambled to grab Peppermint but she was already stepping around the corner, only to get the perfect view of you as you played rock-paper-scissors with the other droid behind the counter, (probably to figure out who got to go on break first.) She looked at you, then back at Chai, then back at you, then Chai again, her confused expression twisting into a mirthful smirk with each back and forth glance.

“Ohh, so that’s how it is. I get it. Never really took you for the ‘secret admirer’ type, Chai.” She gave him the smuggest grin, one extremely reminiscent of the one he gave her when he first learned about Peppermint’s little thing for Korsica.

“This isn’t how anything is, so don’t try getting all smug with me!” He waggled an accusatory finger at her from behind the corner, pink starting to creep across his cheeks. “And it’s not a ‘secret admirer thing.’ I’m just, y’know, picking my moment! Biding my time. Like a tiger.”

“Do you want to eat them or date them?...Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t wanna gag.”

“I wasn’t even gonna say anything!”

“You didn’t have to, I could see it on your face. Now c’mon, rockstar.” With a determined expression and a fistful of Chai’s signature scarf, Peppermint began hauling him towards the doors of the cafe. “It’s your lucky day, you got your own personal wingwoman to keep you from making a fool of yourself.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute! C’mon, you don’t-Peppermint!”

Before he could even protest, much less fight back, she had already dragged him around the corner and through the glass doorway and to the counter of the cafe. Only then did she relinquish his scarf, whispering over her shoulder just loud enough for only Chai to hear.

“By the way, if you run away now I’m never gonna let you live it down.”

Shit.

You hadn’t been looking at the door when Peppermint dragged him in by the scruff, thank god, but you were certainly looking now. As you glanced up to the counter and caught her gaze your bored expression morphed into a friendly, familiar smile. “Hey Peppermint! Same as usual?”

“You got it. And something for wonderboy back here, on me.” She snuck a hand behind Chai and shoved him towards the counter, nearly making him fall flat on his face. As soon as your eyes met his Chai could feel his brain fire into panic mode, opening his mouth but no sound able to come out. He snapped it shut again, hoping he wasn’t as visibly red as he felt.

You blinked once, twice, before your eyes widened and flooded with recognition. “Oh my god, donut boy!”

“Uhh… what?” Peppermint asked. Only then did you seem to realize you’d actually said that aloud, hands flying to clap over your mouth as your expression twisted in horror.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry. That’s just what I call you. I mean, to my coworkers.” You rambled between your fingers, no longer able to meet Chai’s gaze in your embarrassment. “I almost ran you over that one time and I haven’t seen you here since, so I was really worried I freaked you out or something. I’m really sorry! I was in a hurry, and I didn’t even really apologize or anything, I just... What do you want to drink? It’s on me. Really.”

Chai swallowed hard, opened his mouth, and spit out the first four words that came to mind.

“What do you like?”

You looked relieved, anxiety practically melting from your stance as you smiled at him in a way that made him feel like his legs were made of jelly. “I’ve got a few favorites! What’s your name? I’ll call when it’s done.”

“It’s-It’s, uh… Chai. It’s Chai.”

“Alright! Gimme just a few minutes, okay, I’ll get everything ready for you.”

“Cool.”

As he and Peppermint stepped off to the side of the counter, she leaned over and murmured to him.

“Coulda been worse. And your voice didn’t crack or anything. Good job rockstar.”

“I think my heart is gonna explode.” He hissed back.

“This is scarier than almost getting mauled to death by a robot werewolf?”

“Way scarier.”

Peppermint hummed, a small smile on her face. “They remembered you, though.”

You remembered him. Not only did you remember him, you wanted him to come back so you could apologize, then felt bad when you couldn’t.

“God, get that look off your face. I can practically hear the wedding bells in your head.” Peppermint elbowed him hard in the upper side, blowing away his fantasies of brushing fingertips and cupping warm drinks like dust onto the wind.

“Killjoy. I thought you were supposed to be helping me?”

“I did, and look how easy it was! You owe me big time.”

“For shoving me into a counter?”

“Drinks for Peppermint and Chai!” You interrupted their bickering with a wave and a smile, beckoning them over to the counter. “Tall Café Americano for Peppermint, and for Chai…” You pressed a tall, frothy drink dusted with cinnamon into his hand with a shy grin. “Chai Spiced Latte. Hope you like it.”

Chai couldn’t decide if he wanted to climb over the counter and propose to you there, or just keel over and instantly perish on the cafe’s stained carpet, so instead he nodded and gave you a strained “Thanks!”

“Oh! I threw in something extra too, on the house. You like donuts, so I hope you’ve got a sweet tooth.” Into his other hand you placed a little brown paper bag, the kind used for to-go treats like scones and muffins.

“Oh yeah he does. We’ll see you around, alright?” Peppermint gave you a nod and jerked a free thumb in Chai’s direction. “I’ll drag this one along next time too.”

“Looking forward to it.” You smiled, leaning over the counter to rest your chin on your hands. Peppermint almost groaned, but was able to keep the vaguely disgusted noise inside. Great, now she had two pining idiots to look after. Birds of a feather, she supposed. “I’ll see you guys around, then.”

“Yeah…” Chai drawled in a dreamy tone. “I mean, yeah! Catch ya later… alligator…?” Both he and Peppermint visibly winced but you just giggled, and if Chai could get the sound of it tattooed into his eardrums he absolutely would.

“In a while… Crocodile.~”

“...You two are disgusting.” Peppermint groaned as soon as the cafe door swung shut behind her. “Aren’t you glad you had me around to get your ass moving?... Chai? Hellooooo? Earth to Chai?”

But Chai was far beyond the call of Earth. Inside the little bag you’d handed him was a single cake pop, frosted red and decorated with a little black music note. Scrawled across the napkin tucked around it was a name and a phone number, along with a little doodle of a kitty face tucked into the corner. No, Chai was most certainly in heaven.

“We’re gonna have a spring wedding.” He sighed. “Do you think they like rock music?”

Peppermint groaned, taking a long, slow swig of her coffee. “What have I gotten myself into…?”

#hi fi rush #chai #chai hi fi rush #chai x reader #chai hfr #hi fi rush x reader #my writing #short fic #pink chat

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bliss-wily · 2 months

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More hcs from my silly little head - seems to be the direction this is going in and I’m going to run with it. Using this as my space to let me thoughts run wild as I deal with lovely headaches~

This time? Frieza and maybe his family! Read below to find out~

Note: In my mind Cooler and Kuriza are canon. I know they aren’t but this is my version so meh.

•Smooth yet scaly skin.

•Don’t talk to him until he’s had his grape juice.

•And yes, grape juice.

•No wine for the space lizard - his father wants all the wine for himself.

•King Cold is a wine mom. And maybe a soccer mom, Freezy Pop is his little boy.

•”MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS”

•”JUST WAIT UNTIL MY FATHER HEARS ABOUT THIS”

•Also, definitely still calls King Cold ‘daddy’.

•A daddy’s boy.

•Frieza had Kuriza simply to have an heir.

•Ends up loving the little brat but won’t admit it.

•Zarbon is designated babysitter.

•King Cold definitely had Zarb babysitting his two boys as well.

•And yes, every elite is older than Frieza~

•My proof? Broly! I took plenty of screenshots of one part of that movie because…Frieza Force! Can’t find the rest of my screenshots but just some cans several of the elites are present.

(Also for some reason Jeice’s arm is not covered in his spandex? Oh well, think it’s an error as he is covered in other parts of his cameo. Also Zarb has white shoes instead of brown. Ah excuse my rambling!)

•Anywayyy…Berryblue was basically the nanny for the two boys (Frieza and Cooler).

•Also, Freezy Pop is very insecure of his height - hence why his aides are shorter than him.

•Zarbon and Dodoria are his right hand men, they are allowed to be taller.

•Despite being expendable, I think Zarbon was Frieza’s closest confidant.

•And by god - no one insults his two right hand men. Sorbet got an earful for comparing Tagoma to them after all, only he gets to speak bad about them!

•If you’re good to him, he will be good to you. Unless you become a threat and stand in his way of course! Can’t have that!

•Heavily relies on Zarbon and Berryblue respectively. I think Zarbon is tasked with anything and everything, whether that’s changing the emperor’s bed or helping him with his sense of style.

•The two are friendly BUT IT IS VERY CONDITIONAL.

•Keeps Zarbon close as I feel the two would agree on certain things: skincare, presentation, aesthetics…plus both nepo babies in my opinion. They’d have plenty to talk about.

•Dodoria can be Karen, it’s like space Mean Girls.

•Future Warrior from Xenoverse can be Cady.

Now I’m getting off track…I’m sorry these are always rambly, I’m very unprofessional.

•Frieza still acts like a child and the universe to him is his toy box.

•His favourite toys are closest to him though.

•Blinded by his obsession to beat Goku.

•And due to this blindness I think Cooler has the potential to be stronger.

•Cooler I imagine is the more mature and less sadistic of the two.

•Cooler is more well rounded; better to his men, and despite the fact he would and could kill Frieza - anyone else touches his little brother? Oh there’s hell to pay! Only he’s allowed.

•Highly unbothered that Frieza is the favourite - if anything, to Cooler, that just means more freedom to an extent.

•Actually takes his role seriously.

•Salza is his Zarbon in this scenario - he doesn’t need a Berryblue though as Cooler is mature enough to lack a babysitter.

•I think Cooler would be a good uncle to Kuriza, I don’t think he would hold a grudge towards the little one.

•Speaking of Kuriza…this boy I imagine to be a ray of sunshine!

•Just to totally go against Frieza’s personality - Kuriza loves sports, art, games, playing with toys, etc.

•Just a sweet kid but has combat prowess.

•And his cuteness means the members of the Force let the little Lord get his way.

•Zarbon especially, he wouldn’t let anything happen to that boy.

•Nor would Ginyu, I think he would be the honorary sixth member.

•Although I think Zarbon, Frieza, and Bonyu would discourage the posing aspect.

•Kuriza will be the only ‘sane’ member of the family.

•Loves his daddy, uncle and gramps - and his other uncles and aunties in the form of the elite force members.

•Well mannered and behaved.

•I will assume much like the Namekians, Frieza’s race/Icejins/Frost Demons reproduce asexually. Sure Cold and his two sons are highly attractive but I doubt they have the time.

•Now for Cold! Wine mom as I said. Loves wine, loves retirement.

•Calls Cooler by his name, Frieza gets all the nicknames from ‘Princess’, ‘Freezy Pop’, ‘Prince’, ‘Free’, ‘Freezy Baby’, etc. super embarrassing dad vibes.

•At all royal/political/whatever events the PTO are involved in just know this man is coming with all the most embarrassing pictures of his two boys. Frieza especially.

•A very proud daddy, doubt he ever let Frieza out of his sight when the tyrant was young.

•Also, raising Kuriza most of the time. I don’t think he wants to see his grandson getting hurt.

•Rarely sober, always at least a little tipsy.

•Very refined, expensive taste, probably had Zarbie as his favourite minion as well.

•His private residence is family photos, definitely had to bribe Frieza into behaving.

•Also…loaded but in an old money sense.

•Could be stronger than his two boys, but who’s got time for that? Or need? Nah…wine, luxuries; and his boys. That’s what matters most.

•Wine snob - whole family are. Well apart from Frieza and Kuriza - expensive grape juice!

•Sees Cooler as an adult, sees Frieza as his precious little baby.

It’s like nearly 3am here; these are all over the place and I should probably sleep, but that’s my contribution for this early morning~

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cookie-anon-and-co · 11 months

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Character List and Blog Rules

Even though I haven't finished all the refs yet I'm gonna write this out and just edit n add them later. This post will be updated either every time I add a new character, make a change to the rules, or something else that warrants changing.

That being said! More under cut :o>

Blog Rules

First, some basic rules to make sure we can all have fun and so the weirdos will stay away

1. I want this blog to stay as SFW as possible. While some posts of the past may still have some heavier topics on them, overall, the revamp is very goofy for the most part. Anything that may be heavier I will try and tag accordingly, but you’re always free to tell me to tag something if I forget. Please keep in mind that I have a bit of a hard time telling at what point warnings are appropriate, especially when it comes to things such as blood. To be safe, I’ll be tagging everything best I can

2. This also applies to sexual topics, but I will generally never do anything explicit as I don’t even really like it either. I may make the occasional sex joke when its funny, but I’ll be sure to tag that. Other than that, nothing sexual on this.

3. This blog is an LGBT friendly space. If you have any issues with that, you are free to leave right away. I mean look at these characters, do they LOOK straight to you?/silly (Also proshippers can leave too that has no space in this community)

4. These characters belong to no specific fandom, and I’m generally very universal when it comes to who can interact. Hell, they’re Anons, they can interact with anyone out of principle!

5. Don’t hate just because you’re bored. You can be a bit mean to my characters, I live for angst, but don’t go too crazy that it feels personal. I will generally not respond to obvious hate, so don’t waste your time.

Can’t think very much, I’ll likely update these rules soon in the future

Character List

This is a multi-muse RP blog, hence please make the effort to specify if you talk to someone specific. If there’s no name given, I’ll likely respond with someone random I think the ask would be fit for.

These characters will all receive proper references, and for now I’ll simply use their sprites only. For now I will also only add characters who already appeared in the revamp.

🍪 Cookie Anon (CA)

“A sweet woman with a passion for all things baking and cooking, and sharing said baking around where she can. For the longest time, she struggled to interact with others, though she has been slowly building up her confidence more over time. She tries to be on friendly terms with anyone, rarely holding grudges. Though she doesn’t have many issues speaking to others as much as she had in the past, she still prefers to sometimes simply leave a gift box of cookies in someones ask box, only adding her initials - C.A.”

🔪 Knife Anon (KA)

“With blades as sharp as the very determination to bring down anyone in his way, Knife definitely knows his way around weapons and killing. Infamous for finding a hobby in ‘lightly annoying’ others by stabbing them through his inbox (in a way that would not kill them of course), he made a bit of a name and even more hatred for himself, and somehow, even fans. Over his time in the past, he went through quite a lot of change, both emotionally and physically, but one thing always stayed the same - his will to both cheat and bring death. And when he’s not doing that, he would be out either tending to his collection of knives, attempting to learn the violin, and heavily annoying the one Anon he hates the most.... affectionately!”

🤡 Clown Anon (:o)A)

“Apparently once a normal face-less Anon, this kid saw attached itself right to the art of causing as many shenanigans as she possibly can. Where she got the idea from was something to ponder, but those who knew definitely knew how. Nevertheless, she appears to be mostly harmless and can be pleased by simply giving her fruits to smash with her mace. Somehow, she seems to have taken a liking to Knife, following him around constantly while pursuing her clown shenanigans. Maybe she’ll grow out of it one day.”

🎶 Popstar Anon (PSA) & 🎧 DJ Anon (DJA)

“A pair of siblings almost never seen apart, both on stage and outside their musical endeavors. While the two often than enough have a little classic sibling arguing going on, they always tend to be quick to make up and have each other both in good and bad times. With Poppy’s shining bright and energetic self, and DJ’s chilled out yet passionate self, these two are sure to brighten other’s days - sometimes without the need to sing even!”

💫 Shooting Star Anon (SSA)

“The smallest and youngest of the bunch, but somehow most confusing one. Star’s heritage was always one other Anons pondered, as she one day merely fell from the sky and crashed onto the ground. Seemingly not harmed in any way by this, the small child was simply taken in for now, currently in the care of one of the others. She has an odd connection to the night sky and the stars, and often stares out the window at night when she can.”

#Anonymous RP #blog rules #character list #Cookie Anon #knife anon #DJ Anon #popstar anon #clown anon #shooting star anon

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sunoorintarou · 3 years

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𝐃𝐚𝐲 1: 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 3𝐬: 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚 02𝐳

Warnings: Vampires, blood, slight stalking ig, implied kidnapping, nothing too detailed and serious, just 02z being,,, normal vampires?

Since your childhood, you've been told time and time again by your grandmother that troubles comes in threes. You had always assumed she meant you and your two siblings or even her daughter, your mother, and her two siblings who also had three children each but now you're at an age where you're starting to believe that she was, perhaps, right. Especially considering the 3 vampires, yes, as in the undead eternally living creatures said to suck the blood of the living, that stood in front of you and seemed like nothing but absolute trouble.

You may be wondering how you got into this situation, well, it wasn't a silly dare to visit some abandoned place or some sketchy transfer student love story where you decided to befriend them regardless of all the red lights, followed by blue lights, then followed by a loud wee woo wee woo sound that was almost impossible to ignore. In fact, you considered yourself quite a smart, rational person.

When the boys had moved in next door to you, you swore yourself off interacting with them simply because of the horrible feeling in your chest whenever you were near them. There was something, off, about these boys. Other than the fact they seemed to be the typical partying play boys you despised. You had assumed, incorrectly, that it would be easy to avoid them considering you rarely left your house, your friends often coming to visit you instead knowing your house bound nature. But one Saturday morning you had walked down the stairs to greet your parents (your siblings were still asleep) and lo and behold there at the table sat with them were the very boys you had been avoiding like the plague. Despite your panicked glances and vigorous head - shaking, you mother seemed oblivious to your obvious attempt at escaping and instead sat you down before making you introduce yourself.

The intimidating one with the short black hair that specialized in sweet talking which your mother seemed to have fallen for hook, line and sinker was Jay, the overly friendly one with the longer black hair and calm demeanour who reminded you of your grandmother's golden retriever was Jake, and the tall cocky one who seemed confident, too confident actually, with the oddly sharp teeth that kept staring at you was Sunghoon. A match made down below you'd say.

You were constantly on edge during what you'd name as the worst breakfast of your life trying to eat as quickly as possible while avoiding conversation. Your mother apologized for your behavior before explaining, "She's always like that." to which you received a chorus of understanding words and "comforting smiles."

Maybe you were being irrational or rude, but you've watched enough horror movies to realise that once you think of, "giving them a chance, you might have them all wrong," you'd be a goner. Your gut has never lied to you to this day so you therefore had no reason to doubt it.

After that day however, it seemed as though they were everywhere you went. When you walked outside to fetch the newspaper, Jake just so happened to be in their yard playing with his dog and trying to make conversation which you skillfully dodged. When you had got home from school, you almost had a heart attack seeing Jay in the kitchen helping your mother fix dinner while she praised his cooking skills and kindness, not seeing the glint in his eyes that gave you chills. When you had gone to the library to study, Sunghoon just so happened to be there too, sitting next to you and greeting you before stealing constant glances at you as you attempted to study. And of course the one time you decided to go out to a cafe with your friends, Minju had mentioned that a group of boys sitting at the back of the cafe were staring at you and asked if you knew them. And of course it was your neighbours you were quite frankly sick of seeing. Where were their parents? Shouldn't they be more concerned about their not so little monsters running around and wreaking havoc!

And now that leads to today. Your friend's older brother, Jaemin, had insisted he drop you off at home after staying late at their house to study. You weren't going to deny a ride over walking home in the dark and agreed happily, making light conversation until you arrived home. Jaemin had always been a sweetheart so you didn't mind spending time with him.

However, when you got home, the lights were off and you immediately paused, even though you knew your family wasn't home, they'd still always leave the lights on for you. You immediately walked to the door, scared to see it already unlocked and fumbled for your phone, calling your sister Yeji.

"Y/n? Are you OK? Did Hyunjin eat all the sweets I left for you-"

"D- did you guys leave the door unlocked?"

"Why would the door be unlocked- Oh! Hyunjin was supposed to lock up and meet us here, but he's with his girlfriend and hasn't come here yet, knowing him, he probably forgot because he was too occupied with her."

"Oh, yeah OK, OK."

"Why? Is something the matter? If there's a problem, I can call him and tell him to pick you up?"

"No- actually, yes, yes please, I have a bad feeling about this."

"OK, I'll phone him, I promise it will only take a second, then I'll phone you back, please stay safe."

You nodded, feet planted on your doorstep as you rushed to call Minju, knowing your best bet was to stay on the phone with someone at all times in case anything happened. In a split second however, your phone was gone and you felt a presence behind you. Your heart rammed against your rib cage as though it were trying to escape the confines of your chest before you whirled around, coming face to face with the trio that had been terrorizing you.

Sunghoon held your phone in his hand, he, Jay and Jake watching as your kept your face nonchalant, eyes barely wider than usual.

But what did make your eyes widen was the mysterious red stains on their clothes and skin as you scanned their forms. Your mind raced at a thousand miles an hour, wondering if you had been living next to a group of serial killers this entire time, until you noticed their irises turn a scarlet red and Sunghoon's fangs glint in the moonlight. You had always been a believer of the supernatural, so your natural assumption was-

"Vampires. You're all vampires."

The trio seemed impressed by your answer, Jake letting out a chuckle before patting your head lightly. You couldn't move, the sheer shock and adrenaline coursing through your veins as your body made the fatal decision to neither fight nor flight but to freeze.

"She actually got it right, I'm impressed." He grinned, the other two nodding in agreement.

"She seemed to be on the smarter side, at least a little smarter than the others." Sunghoon chimed.

The sound of Hyunjin's car driving up the street became louder and louder. You hoped and prayed he'd be able to get here before anything happened, but unfortunately for you, the trio had other plans.

"Oh, looks like we might get interrupted. But what's the rush, let's take our time and explain things to her. But for now, goodnight princess."

You were confused, ready to object to Jay's words but before you could do anything, everything turned dark and your mind doubted you'd ever see the light of day anytime soon.

#vampire!enhypen #vampire!jay x reader #vampire!jake x reader #vampire!sunghoon x reader #02z x Reader #Enhypen 02z x reader #I probably should have told you guys #I was planning on making this #But anyways-#I'll tag everything for this special as:#spooktober special

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wakaoujisenhime · 3 years

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Ah!~ I fall in love with your Takao headcanons! Can I ask headcanons about Takao from best friends to lovers?

A/N: But OF COURSE, you can, the more Takao you guys want, the better for me! ٩( ᐛ )و

So this will be a continuation from his best friends headcanons I made a while back and for those who’d like to see a spicier version of the more or less same troupe, I linked a similar request I got below! Hope you’ll enjoy this! ❤️

Tags: Takao x reader ✅ fluff ✅ friends to lovers ✅ slight angst ✅

☞ 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝟙 ☞ 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕧𝕖𝕣.

━━━━☆ ━━━━☆ ━━━━☆

living with your best friend didn’t change your relationship as much as you thought it would

the two of you were still clinging to each other like leeches, supporting the other during hard times and in general providing a shoulder to cry and lean on when needed

now that you were roommates and not only neighbors you saw Takao every single day and that came with many advantages

you both shared the housework and came up with cooking/cleaning/laundry schedules that made your joint life so much easier

Takao had decided to start working after graduation while you continued your studies (and occasionally worked at a part-time job close to your apartment)

it heavily depended on your individual schedule, but in general, the two of you had agreed that the first one home should be the one to prepare dinner and help the other one out a little

usually, Takao would be the first one home and every time you came back he greeted you like some kind of butler, helping you out of your jacket, taking your bag, leading you to the kitchen where he showed you that evening’s dinner, and lastly he’d conclude his small tour at the bathroom where he had run a bath for you

both of you were so close that all of your neighbors (especially the older ones) continuously teased you, saying what kind of cute couple the two of you were and some even went as far as to ask when you’re wedding was going to be

in the beginning, your and Takao’s cheeks would flush ever so slightly but the longer you lived there the more used to it you got, and in the end, it even reached a stage where you’d counter their remarks with your own witty and comical ones

comments such as theirs didn’t bother you that much, or at least that’s what you thought ...

a couple of months after moving in you invited some members of Shuutoku’s basketball team over for a friendly get-together and a warm dinner

it had been a lot of fun

people were teased, embarrassing situations were denounced as hilarious, compliments fell left and right, and what not

at some point though Miyaji - the club’s former captain - raised the question of whether Takao and you had finally started a romantic relationship

it was just a well-meant question and perhaps a subtle hint and yet your best friend began to deny that so strongly that you couldn’t help but feel aggrieved from his over-exaggerated reaction

the evening was kinda ruined for you and some of them noticed it and felt bad for you

in the end, Miyaji actually came up to you and apologized, saying just how much he’d regretted asking you something that was seemingly a taboo-topic

since then the relationship between your best friend and yourself was quite shaky, you began avoiding too much body contact with him, tuned down your clinginess, and even started avoiding him at times

some people think that Takao isn’t the brightest and assume that he’s quite dense, but you knew better

it didn’t take him even a week to notice that something was wrong with you and before you knew it he waited for you to come back home and asked you to take a seat across from him on the couch

“(Y/N)-chan...I’m aware that something’s been bothering you for the past few days and I know that some topics are better left unsaid, but I really hate seeing you suffer because of maybe something I did.”

his words stabbed your heart like hundred knives and even if you’d planned to keep your hurt pride to yourself, you knew that communication was key in any kind of relationship so with a bitter smile you told him about everything, how his reaction had hurt you more than his captain’s harmless question and how these new and yet unknown thoughts had begun to cloud your mind with masses of doubts

there was a brief break during which Takao’s expression grew unbelievably sad, he had expected anything but this

and then finally after what felt like hours he whispered out your name, got up from his chair, and slowly walked towards you, kneeling in front of your seated figure

“I’m truly sorry...I-I wasn’t aware of how much this actually bothered you,” he paused as he took your hands into his own and continued, “all I wanted was to make Miyagi drop that theme fast since he’s the type to talk about one topic for hours and I really didn’t want to make you uncomfortable since that evening was meant for recollecting and updating each other about our daily lives and not a relationship counseling...”

with a sigh you shook your head and couldn’t help but laugh at just how ridiculous this situation was, Takao joined you not long after

after that small misunderstanding, you two needed a bit until your relationship had normalized, but you’d be lying if you said that everything was back to how it used to be

once the imagination of Takao as your boyfriend had entered your mind you began to realize just how close the two of you truly were

him tending to your needs every time you came back home late, resembled that of a worried father-to-be whose wife was to go into labor soon

the way he always jokingly offered himself as your dinner was a cliché joke and sometimes an invitation one would often see in romance series that once again fell between lovers

and the worst for your heart was how the word ‘personal space’ wasn’t even present in his vocabulary, he’d hug you whenever he could, lean himself on your back and leave his chin in the crack of your neck at every given opportunity, and let’s not mention whenever he had trouble falling asleep (which was basically almost every day)

all those small and seemingly irrelevant gestures which didn’t usually affect you were now the trigger for a deep-red blush along your cheeks and an increased heart rate

and it didn’t help that Takao would constantly tease you whenever he noticed your flushed face

as time went by though you noticed that something between you two had indeed changed

now his mere presence was enough to make your heart thump wildly against your chest

the only comfort you found was that he himself had started blushing more often as well

you thought that nothing of deeper meaning was behind it and just blamed it on your behavior, but what you didn’t know was that Takao was experiencing the same thing as you

for him, it was as if every single touch - no matter how featherlight it was - set his skin on fire

every ever so small and gentle smile or grin you directed his way, immediately brightened up his mood

and let’s not even talk about the small things you do for him, like cooking, preparing some late-night snacks for whenever he has to work on a project until very late in the evening, folding his laundry, ironing his shirts, and so on...

both of you were slowly starting to acknowledge the other as an essential part of your respective lives

on top of that, innocent and sweet thoughts such as kissing each other on the lips, taking a bath together, or just doing silly things such as hiding from the people outside so that you can feel each other’s lips began dominating your minds

and what choice did the two of you have but to bottle these feelings up and hide them from each other just because you didn’t want to ruin your friendship

it was painful of course, but you continued to put yourself through with it, determined to keep this a secret for as long as necessary

unfortunately, Takao wasn’t made out of the same cloth and was slowly but surely feeling how everything was about to explode pretty soon

and then finally one day when the two of you went out shopping together some of your elderly neighbors stopped you yet again and began interrogating you guys as usual

“Have you two dears finally admitted your feelings for each other?”

there it was, their favorite question, that was strangely accurate this time

you were ready to debunk it yet again, but Takao suddenly took a hold of your hand, squeezed it slightly, and announced: “Not yet, but I’m about to!”

three pairs of wide eyes were fixated on the slightly blushing young man who stood beside you and while you were still trying to decipher whether you’d heard him right he faced you and even took a gentle hold of your second hand

“(Y/N)...I feel like this should’ve happened sooner, but my fear of losing you as my constant pillar of support was too big. Your presence was always something extremely helpful and soothing, but as of late I started to truly notice just how much more it was for me and my life. The sheer imagination of me being without you hurt me more than any game my team lost, any missed promotion chance or anything negative for that matter,” he paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “what I’m trying to say is that...(Y/N), I’d like you to become my lover.”

silent gasps could be heard, but you were too overwhelmed to pay any attention to it

the fact that he’d felt the same way and was stuck in the same situation as you were truly unbelievable, but now that you knew it all those small things you’d denounced as an effect of your own unusual behavior made sense

you looked up into the slate blue eyes of the man you’d fallen for and slowly removed your hands from his tight grip, only to then wrap your arms around his neck and bring him closer to you

Takao immediately seized the opportunity to do the same, he was anxious about what you were about to say so he at least wanted to savor what might be his very last embrace from you

“Took us long enough now didn’t it?” was all you said before you confidently took a hold of his cheeks and brought his face closer to your lips until they touched

while you two kissed ever so passionately and drowned in the liberating feeling of mutual love, the two older women next to you smiled while commenting on how they’d always known and how bad you two were hiding it

after you’d finally separated from each other you gave him your obvious answer to which he simply giggled and out of happiness began cuddling and kissing your face all over

this was truly a wonderful moment, it might not affect your relationship all too much but it was nonetheless a step towards a new and yet unknown experience that the two of you would live through while constantly supporting each other ...

#knb headcanons #knb imagines #knb fluff #knb angst #knb takao #takao x reader #━𝙺𝙽𝙱 #━𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙴𝙲𝙷𝙾

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ohheyitsokay · 3 years

Text

concessions

part 2 of the ‘hey batter batter’ series

pairing: Francesco Morales (Frankie, Catfish) x reader

wordcount: 2.4k

warnings: none (yet)

summary: it’s a Triple Frontier baseball AU - trust me, you don’t need to know anything about baseball.

In this chapter, you run into the guys outside of the stadium and they promptly decide you’re going to be friends with them.

Your friend was twelve minutes late. Not overly long but you could already tell what was going to happen.

It had been a long shot, anyway, an old classmate with little lasting connection. You had been trying to push yourself outside of your comfort zone anyway, why not? When she had originally reached out you’d been full of hope, enough to foolishly order your favorite appetizer as a ice breaker but the effort was in vain.

Fingernails gently clicking against the table, you caved and allowed yourself to look at your phone. It brought instant comfort, to escape the exposure of sitting alone in a restaurant, but you couldn’t stay. The air was cold as you sucked it through your teeth, weighing your options. The confidence it took to eat alone after being stood up was facing a strong competitor: your general policy not to waste good food and good money.

Shifting, you tried to settle, tried to pose yourself like you were in control, looking around the room as nonchalantly as you could. It was silly, your urge to keep moving, your feet on the ground, your hands on the table, your eyes on the other patrons, but you couldn’t help it. It was a nice place, nothing fancy, just a hole in the wall restaurant, filled only with a few locals.

Until your appetizer came around the corner, followed by a much more handsome man than you were prepared for.

His already smiling eyes met yours, and you looked away, startled, maybe blushing a little. He was familiar, too familiar. You tried to focus on the young lady waiting on you, and the steam coming from the plate in her hands.

Just focus on the food, you scolded yourself silently, thanking her and not ordering anything else. He was not your friend, he didn’t even know you, really. There was no need to make him feel uncomfortable.

Except, he wasn’t really worried about that, because he was sliding into the seat across from you.

“Hi,” he was grinning, confident and friendly, and your instincts raised no alarms other than confusion.

“Hello,” you replied, wondering honestly if you were dreaming. This was one of the men you’d met before, in that chaotic, over decorated room in the baseball stadium. He had been in front of you maybe fifteen total seconds, talking to James, before melting back into the sea of uniforms and caps. There was no reason he should remember you much less… be doing whatever was happening now.

The man mistook your expression for panicked forgetfulness and reintroduced himself.

“I’m Ben, Ben Miller? We met a a week or two ago,” he was searching your face for recognition, which of course was not the problem at all. It was sweet, how bashful he was when he pointed to the picture of the team’s logo on the poster by your table, and mouthed “the shortstop?”.

It seemed like he wasn’t trying to draw extra attention to himself, which was almost comical. Even with his casual tshirt and jeans he was easily the most noticeable person in the room – that’s how good he looked, and a testament to the visible confidence of men like him. He was all limber muscles and strong jaw and kind eyes and it wasn’t easy to just tuck that away.

“I – yeah,” this was awkward. “I’m sorry for staring at you, I just don’t normally see … non-locals here.” You smiled, weakly.

There was something in his voice and a glint in his eyes as his blue eyes glanced behind you.

“Would you believe it if I said we were locals?”

All of a sudden his looks were commonplace, because there was another man next to him who was a little broader and a little rougher around the edges- but surprisingly similar in casual masculinity. The “we" clicked into place.

“What’s this?” the first-baseman said, his expression more or less mirroring your own.

A handful of other men followed him and you wanted to melt into the chair. It was too much, too weird. They were all peering at you, dark eyebrows and cool toned cloth stretched over broad chests and it was the most bizarre thing. You weren’t really shy, per se, but stuff like this didn’t happen to you. Fidgeting you stared back at them, feeling helpless.

Ben came to your rescue again, guilty, but far too friendly to stop, like runaway dog at a park.

“I was just telling her that Will and I are from town! And we love it here,” he grinned, winningly, still failing to explain why he was seated with you.

Their hellos were amused and charismatic, for the most part, save the man in the back. It was… Francisco. Or rather, Mr. Morales.

Your heart thumped the same thump that you’d been feeling whenever you thought of him.

His voice was quieter, eyes reaching into yours like he had questions to ask, before he fixed them on the surroundings instead. They were crowding the area, all tall and much to large to fit in between tables. It would have been annoying if this were a busier place.

“You guys go on, I’ll be right there,” the shortstop across from you ushered them away, out of politeness or something else you weren’t sure. It was sad, to see him go again but the absence of attention made you breathe again. You waved, sure you looked ridiculous, and wondering if other women would be dying to be in your stead.

“Sorry, I just wanted to say hi,” Ben seemed earnest again, and you couldn’t help but relax. It was charming, the way his eyebrows dipped and he fidgeted, just a little. “You looked… lonely,” he added, hesitating before standing up with a gentle slap to the table. “Come join us if they don’t show, I’m sure the guys wont mind!”

You nodded, still more or less in shock, and he walked off, strides long and easy, like there was hardly anything weighing on his shoulders.

If they hadn’t been but 20 paces away, you would have shoved the plate aside and replaced its spot on the table with your face, and groaned aloud. You barely registered your food as you ate, wondering at the whole thing in awe as you took out your phone again to text James.

Frankie tried not to watch you. He really did. He loved his friends and they seldom got a chance, just the five of them to eat somewhere so homey and casual, without the whole crew, or fans and cameras, or other things to attend to. They’d been close for a long time, happy they enjoyed one another and trusted one another more than the rest of the team. It was what made them so good in the starting lineup – their communication and comradery off field translated into their game.

For awhile he was doing well. He wasn’t watching as you finished your food, hardly noticed the way your hands ran through your hair, barely registered when you stood up, brushing crumbs off your legs, and walked towards the front to pay.

But he did notice when you slid over to their table and… he couldn’t tear his eyes away as your hand touched Benny's shoulder. The movement was smooth and gentle and there was a sharp feeling in his gut.

“Thanks for before,” your voice was quite, more composed than before, now that your feet were under you properly. It wasn’t meant for him, wasn’t his to hear, but he listened anyway. The group was seated at one of those round corner booths, and really, there was no escaping it – they were on the ends.

Benny was saying no problem and Frankie took a long sip of his drink trying to cool down before he was choking on it as his friend invited you to join.

The idea of you sitting here was… a double edged sword. On one side, the chance to talk to you, be around you even in the low lights of the restaurant neons – was too good to be true. His daydreams of you hadn’t slowed down nearly as much as he had hoped after you were gone. And on the other… of all the men here, he didn’t stand much of a chance. The flicker of warmth your little wave had given him began to fade and he tried too late to get in control of his facial expressions as you considered the offer.

When Redfly reached across Ben, though, shoving the younger man to grab your hand, suppressing the growl in his throat was more important than the glare. Next to him, Pope eyes were sharp, catching everything unsaid. His friend was as tense as he was, feeling the charged energy fill the booth.

Some ridiculous part of Frankie was wanting to pull you away, tuck you under his arm, and keep you all to himself. But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t. He didn’t even know your name.

Then Will was pulling Tom back with laughter that didn't reach his eyes and Santi was apologizing, saying smooth words and coaxing you to reintrodunce yourself and pull up a chair and hang out.

Frankie would never know how Pope was so good at these things, how his passion made other people relent and reconsider and made them feel safe, but he was grateful for it. He tucked your name away, sure he wouldn’t forget it again. Especially because you pulled your chair up by him, and his heart swelled with something akin to pride as you leaned towards him, more than even Ben.

It could have been politeness, making room for the waitress, it could have been a coincidence, or that you wanted to be further from Tom, but he could quite bring himself to care. Having you close felt good, so much better than it should’ve, given the circumstances.

Even more than normal athletes, the Miller boys ate like they were hollow, and had ordered enough food for a week. There was plenty of talk and teasing and tossing of rolls, and it took you no time at all to settle in.

You found out you had some mutual acquaintances with Will, which helped, as you launched into comparisons of the town and laughed over shared observations. It made you feel at home, with him and Ben, and you understood how the brothers made everyone feel like family. Apparently there was girl Benny liked, who worked with the team’s athletic trainers. None of the boys had wheeled it out of him, but it took you less than fifteen minutes, your smile brighter as you sorted through his intentions.

Santi had a quick tongue, and you matched it. There was respect in his eyes as you leveled with Redfly, efficiently and effectively putting him back in his place. The older man head leaned back, nonchalantly, with raised eyebrows and low whistle, but Pope knew when Tom was embarrassed. There was an almost indiscernible bite onto the inside of the outfielder’s lower lip, a child’s tell.

He watched everyone, really, especially Frankie. They’d been playing together the longest and saw the best and worst of each other. It was fun, for him to watch his friend watch you. When you puckered your lips to suck a bead of water off your finger, Frankie’s jaw twitched. Like he was thinking of tilting his cheek towards you as you leaned in to kiss it – and Santi grinned, the gears in his mind turning.

For being as confused and awkward as you were before, it was crazy how well you fit.

Frankie liked your laugh, easy and pure, and the glint in your eyes when someone said something clever. He liked how friendly you were, even to Tom, and how you treated them like people. You never once stepped into the role of flirtatiously asking about the sport – or about being professional athletes all, and it was a breath of fresh air. Most outsiders would have their fingers tracing the curves of the muscles on Pope's arm as they asked him about pitching or would be tugging down the necklines of their shirts as they tried to be subtle about salaries. He liked how you talked about the food, asked them what they were up to that day, and actually listened when they answered. It was graceful, more that even Ironhead’s throw, how you managed to give each one of them attention, without controlling the conversation.

What Frankie liked best of all, though, was when yours eyes would meet his. They were narrow with laughter, and it was almost as if he were an hour away from know exactly what you were thinking. You’d lean towards him, just a hair, and under the thrum of conversations you would tell him little things, jokes or confessions like you were the best of friends.

When you murmured, “I actually don’t know anything about baseball,” he choked on his drink again, mind filled with unreachable moments. The boys were laughing at him, but he ignored it because they hadn’t heard you and... he could almost feel it – you against his chest as he showed how to swing a bat, your hand in his as he leaned in close, explaining, and him spinning you around in a victory hug.

All too soon the plates were being cleared and everyone was arguing over who should be paying. It made them smile, how earnestly you were offering, but there was no way in hell.

You thanked them all verbally, but when Santi ended up paying, he got a quick peck on the cheek and that sharp feeling in Frankie’s gut returned with force.

As you left, before they could walk you out, you cherished the experience like a drop of honey on your tongue, confident this was a once in a life time thing, and excited to tell James about it. Of course you had texted him – he was the one who told you if you didn’t sit with them he’d never forgive you.

Then men behind you continued to talk, each silently thinking of their own reasons for being sure they’d see you again soon.

And when you walked past the window by the corner on the way to your car, a pair of deep brown eyes found yours through the glass. You waved, goodbye, and this time, the ache in your heart was aligned with the ache in his.

Thank goodness that old classmate never showed up.

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms

hey batter batter taglist:

@icanbeyourjedi

#francisco morales #francisco morales x reader #francisco morales x you #frankie x you #frankie x reader #catfish x you #triple frontier #triple frontier baseball au #baseball au #maybe i don't know people

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liloelsagranger · 3 years

Text

Night shift - finally a new Rocketshipping-fanfiction

My dear friends,

it’s been a while since I last posted an entry. Let me tell you why and what, besides Covid-19, made me pause from publishing fanfictions over the last couple of months. Of course, Switzerland was very affected by the pandemic and still is today. We had numerous lock-downs or as Swiss people call it “slow downs”. My mother got very sick last year, I almost lost her. The doctors said she would only live two or three more days, but my mom is a fighter. She had to stay at the hospital for months, she endured countless medical examinations, had to take meds and slowly learned to live again. I’m so proud of my mother that she was strong and determined to get better. When she turned back home, I started to take care of her and I hate to leave her on her own, even if we’re talking about half an hour or less. Right now, she’s doing quite good, actually, we’re on vacation and she makes a great effort to participate in life in Italy. She’s my role-model! She will never be the same as before, but she won’t give up, she wakes up every morning to make progress. I prayed for her and her well-being, I prayed every single night she might get another chance and now we’re here at the beach and dining in fancy restaurants. It’s been a horrible year for everyone, a year full of sorrow, tears and desperation, a year where I was constantly afraid, the hospital would call me with some bad news, but she did it! She survived and she fights for her life! So proud! Good news is: I passed my doctoral exams and I’m officially allowed to call myself Dr. phil. des. Melanie C. but that won’t ever stop me from loving Team Rocket so here it is - a brand new Rocketshipping-fanfiction for you guys. LOVE YOU! Night shift

Chapter 1:

It was past ten o’clock when that miserable looking guy entered the diner. He inconspicuously sat down in the farthest corner of the café and immediately hid his face behind the menu card. Nevertheless, Jessie the waitress could make out the pathetic expression on his face, how he was cowering like a whipped dog. She had seen quite a bit in this diner. Drunks, thugs, addicts and other needy people who asked for a sympathetic ear, compassion and understanding, but that guy was different. He suffered terribly, but did not dare to communicate, instead he hid from the world so as not to attract attention and quietly endure his fate. Jessie had to do something about it. Of course, she didn’t want to play the Good Samaritan. She knew the tricks of the men who entered this diner. Most of the time, they told the waitress tall tales, hoping to be comforted, whatever they meant by that. But this young man did not make a shady impressionHe was well dressed, looked well-groomed, and Jessie was especially struck by his bright emerald green eyes, the only thing in his face that had not yet been veiled by grief and sorrow. She decided to do something about his displeasure.

“Did you have a rough day?” she asked while disinfecting the table.

He looked briefly into her eyes and nodded. “That’s one way to put it,” he answered, the gaze immediately lowered again.

This would be a taciturn conversation, but Jessie didn’t give up easily, she was a natural at making even rocks talk.

“Listen! No matter what happened, I’ve seen or heard some things. If I can help you in any way, my name is Jessie and I’m in charge of this table today. Let me just get the gum out from under your seat and get you a cold drink. What would you like?” She pulled a spatula from her apron and rubbed away the remains of the spoiled brats that marred her diner.

‘Wow,’ the young man thought to himself. ‘A strong, self-confident woman who lends a hand herself and who’s not above cleaning up dirt.’ Their eyes met briefly, and he forced a wry smile.

“You know, kid. You can’t rely on anyone. If you want to get everything done, do it yourself and don’t trust anyone. This world doesn’t give you anything for granted!” She briefly wiped the back of his chair before disappearing behind the counter and pouring the young man an ice-cold Coke.

“I have rarely seen you so concerned about a customer. Normally you show yourself aloof and only take the order, so as not to get involved in embarrassing conversations. Must be a really great pike, this pathetic creature in the far corner. Could it be that you’ve got a tiny crush on this guy?” For Eddy, teasing his best friend was the greatest pleasure. He didn’t know her like that. Jessie usually resisted any kind of small talk. This was due to her dark past, when she had repeatedly fallen for advances from men who were never looking for a steady relationship, but for a quick fix. Eddy had witnessed this bad time of his friend, how her heart was broken, how she was badly played with, and how she was simply dropped like a hot potato. Jack was the worst example of them all. While Jessie was already hearing the wedding bells ringing, he was making love to the women of the Strip and deceiving Jessie night after night with other broads. Jessie was devastated when she found out Jack was cheating on her. She was furious, not even at her lying boyfriend, but at herself for having been so stupid as to trust a man.

Jessie gave Eddy a light pat on the head. “Don’t be silly! That time is over. I can take care of myself, I don’t need male support for that. I’m a big girl, I make my own dough, and I keep my head above water pretty well. No, not a chance, I’ve sworn off flirting.” Nevertheless, she caught herself as her gaze wandered to the young man in the corner. “Oh yes, this time is definitely over,” Eddy smirked.

“Jessie, could you bring us a side of fries, please?” Misty’s order echoed throughout the hall. The twenty-year old waved her hands. She was used to speaking loudly, almost shouting, to attract guests to her daily water Pokémon show. Sometimes she walked up and down the streets of the Strip all day in the blazing hot sun, trying to win people for her underwater attraction. As an excellent student, she could have taught at any college, but she had decided early on to get into show business and make her living doing what she really loved, joined by Dewgong and Starmie. Her parents had not agreed with this decision at all, it was wasted talent, they had claimed, and had summarily turned Misty out the door. Since then, she had been struggling through life on her own, but could always count on Jess, the diner and her two best friends, Ash and Brock, young people who were also not favoured by fate.

“Temper your voice, twerp!” Jessie couldn’t help but grin. She spread the ketchup bottles around the table, hoping Ash wouldn’t spill on himself and the diner again. His constant companion Pikachu immediately hopped on his shoulder, grabbed a fry and popped it in his mouth. Ash and his Pokémon were carnies. He had trained his friend well and attracted many spectators with his performance. Most of them felt sorry for the guy and tipped generously. That’s why Ash was able to invite his friends to the diner every night, a place that gave them hope where they could experience security. They were convinced that nothing would ever disturb this idyll and that fate, for better or worse, had taken its course.

“Who’s that guy over there?” Brock wanted to know. He had barely sold chocolate and roses tonight. The others held back, but they were certain that their friend was just too pushy with women and that’s why he only collected rejections instead of green bills.

“I’ve never seen him here before. Must be from another area. I can’t tell you for the life of me why he’s wearing a suit at theses temperatures, he looks pretty pathetic to me anyways,” Jessie replied.

“Maybe his car has stalled,” Ash suggested, “and now he was forced to wander through the desert until the tasty aromas from your diner brought him back from his delirium.”

“Or,” Brock interfered, “he had to flee his own wedding because his wife is a real pain in the ass, unlike our sweet Misty,” Brock oohed at his friend. “Forget it, Brock! You and me, this will never happen!” She gave him a gentle poke.

“Enough now with your naïve speculations! Just let him enjoy his drink. We’re closing soon, so get going,” Jessie dismissed their absurd ideas with a wave of her hand, but at this point no one knew how right Brock was.

Dark thoughts hunted the young man. He knew what he would face at home if he was late. Beatings, torture, rebuke, harassment, were just a few words to describe his failed relationship. Unconsciously, he stroked his scarred arms.

“Can I get you something to eat?” Jessie pulled him out of the maelstrom of bad thoughts, of course she had noticed the wounds, but maybe he had gotten those injuries at work. The young man rummaged some coins out of his pants and let them jingle on the table. “Is that enough for a cheese sandwich?” Jessie hated small change, but she would make an exception for him. A friendly smile, a quick nod, and she passed on the order.

“Something’s wrong with this guy,” she whispered to Eddy. “He’s scarred, bruised and pays with penny coins. Possibly a vagrant.” Eddy couldn’t help but grin. “That guy’s been keeping you busy all night, Jess. What’s the matter with you? Are you getting weak?”

The young man could not overhear the conversation between the waiters, but he was sure they were talking about him. He sure made a rather frightening impression, but that was a private matter and not something you shared with a waitress in a diner.

His gaze drifted to the daily paper, which had two faces emblazoned on it: Butch and Cassidy. He had never heard of this odd couple, but according to the news, theses two were causing quite a stir and were terrifying the Strip.

“Oh, so you’ve already spotted them, those two knuckleheads! They keep the Strip in suspense, and heads roll when the taxes don’t add up,” Jessie served him the cheese sandwich and gave him a slight smile.

“Can I get you anything else?” He thanked her and took a hearty bite of his dinner.

The last half hour flew by and the remaining guests left the diner to spend the night on the Strip, as very few had a roof over their heads. Jessie set about cleaning up and Eddy checked the register.

The young man stood up and made his way towards the door. But before he left the diner, he glanced back at Jessie for a moment. A sigh escaped him. What if…?

Jessie returned his gaze and watched him go until the young man disappeared. She walked right up to his table and found a little note on the receipt.

“Thanks for treating me like a human being, James.”

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gureishi · 3 years

Note

hey there! a really silly ask, but do you think after Saeyoungs AE and secret ends when he finally embraces and stops hiding his identity, he goes up to that friend Tom of his and they just vibe? like everyone forgets my baby boi Tom 😭😭 do you think Saeyoung remains friends with him after his route and possibly allows him to meet his MC? I feel like everyone forgets everyone in the RFA has a life and knows people OUTSIDE of the RFA, and it's just really interesting to think how those people's relationships with our babies are affected after their own respective routes.

OHHH. TOM. OH DEAR TOM.

I would love to know more about your thoughts on Tom, sweet anon. He's a real mystery.

Because he is Saeyoung's "neighborhood friend," but Saeyoung doesn't have neighbors—and Saeyoung says Tom is his best friend, but he can't possibly know much about Saeyoung's life.

My personal theory—and I can certainly be persuaded otherwise—is that Tom lives in whatever town is closest to the bunker (which is in a very remote location), making him Saeyoung's "closest neighbor." I don't think they've actually spent a lot of time together—but for Saeyoung, who has never had friends, even a single pleasant interaction feels momentous. And Tom is sweet, and honest, and genuine; they eat snacks together (and it is so rare that Saeyoung gets to have a meal outside of his home, and with anyone other than Vanderwood. And they do have a certain kind of love for each other, Saeyoung and Vanderwood—but because of the nature of their work, they wouldn't dare call each other friends. Not yet).

And of course Tom is drawn to Saeyoung. He is impossibly charming, when he wants to be. He's got a lot to say—and if you listen, you can hear the depth behind the chaos. He's positively vibrating because he's found someone to talk to—he's brimming with excitement simply to be out of the house.

After the events of the Secret Ends, I don't think Tom hears from Saeyoung for a while. For so many weeks—months, even—he is cooped up in the bunker with Saeran, terrified to leave his brother's side. SE Saeran's healing process is long and arduous; everything else feels small in comparison.

But time passes, and the day comes when Saeyoung feels confident that he can leave the house without anything terrible happening. I do believe he finds Tom again—and poor, dear Tom is absolutely overjoyed. He's been wondering what happened to his lovely, strange friend; he was worried, and had no way to find him.

Saeyoung tells Tom who he is. It's all he wants to do, nowadays—he wants to scream it from the rooftops. He wants everyone to know his name.

Of course Tom wants to meet you. I think he's an intuitive guy: he knew—without Saeyoung ever having to say a word—that his friend was lonely. Maybe the three of you go out to eat together; Saeyoung talks a mile a minute and Tom laughs and asks you lots of questions.

And you clasp his hand and you thank him. For so long, the man you love had no one—and even then, Tom cared about him. He was his friend even though his life was an enigma—he laughed at his jokes even if he didn't always understand.

Tom was just his: a secret from the agency; separate from the RFA. The first relationship he formed all on his own.

I'm grateful for you, you tell Tom. You don't elaborate, and he doesn't ask you to—but you think he understands.

It is incredibly painful to be alone. A single friendly face can make all the difference in the world.

#mystic messenger #headcanons #saeyoung choi #707 #tom #asks #anon

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gryffindors-weasley · 3 years

Text

Finding A Light // Part Two

Ron Weasley x Fem!Reader

Summary: A simple afternoon in Hogsmeade leads to the start of a tradition.

Warnings: fluff, mild angst

Part one

Ron found himself struggling to keep his focus on his portion of teaching throughout the week, and it was beginning to become apparent that his mind was elsewhere.

“Mr. Weasley?” A student had asked for what would be the third time now, and she had started to wave her hand in front of his face.

Startled, he looked up from the parchment he scribbled on with his quill that had long since run out of ink. He offered a smile to the confused girl, cheeks burning as Lupin laughed next to him. He sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat. “My apologies, Alice. Can I—can I help you with something?”

She looks at the blushing redhead quizzically before offering a polite smile. “Will there be extra credit available?”

The question made him smile, the eager young student always looking for ways to better her grade even though it doesn’t seem like it could get any higher than a perfect score. Such a quality had reminded him very much of Hermione.

“I suppose I’ll have to think of something,” he says, though there couldn’t possibly be anything new to think of without spoiling future lessons.

She accepts his answer with a nod, though her shoulders do slump in a bit of disappointment as she walks back to her seat. Lupin is still grinning knowingly at him when he looks over, a sigh leaving his lips.

“You wouldn’t happen to be so distracted over this girl you’ve met, would you?” He asks, and though Ron hasn’t said anything yet, the pale crimson that colors his cheeks almost immediately in response is enough to know he’d hit the nail on the head.

“Who told you that?” Ron asks, plucking at the quill in his hand as he raises his brow. He still tries to play it off even though he knows his cover has been blown.

“I do have a keen sense of hearing, you know,” he laughs, “I heard you at dinner last week. You’re not very discreet with your emotions, Weasley.”

He nods down at his hands, sighing as he bites back his growing smile. “I’m convinced you and McGonagall love to torment me.”

He laughed again, nodding at Ron’s words. “It’s only our job. And it’s one you make very easy for us.”

“It’s absolutely not,” Ron says, trying to remain stoic but he couldn’t find it in him to stifle his own laughter. “I swear you two are making up for my family’s lack of teasing.”

—

Ron found himself wandering the familiar stone pathway to the very shop he’d spent the better part of a week thinking about, though the whole time he’d wondered if this was ridiculous. Had you really hoped to see him again? Or was he blowing it out of proportion by mistaking a friendly gesture for that of an invitation to return. He wasn’t really sure of himself the more he ran that humiliating scenario through his head.

His feet seemed to have given him no choice in the matter as he continued to navigate the familiar village, brushing by clusters of students who argued about where to go next. It wasn’t that big of a deal, he thought. If you didn’t recognize him then he could just leave and put it all behind him. But if you did, he could just say he was buying chocolates to send home, if only to not make it completely obvious that the reasons for his visit entirely were to see you.

When the dark wood trim and pink sign came into view he wasn’t sure if his arrival came too soon or not soon enough as he shook out his hands. He felt ridiculous with the way his heart beat out of his chest, or the nerves swirling around in his stomach. First impressions had already been made, no matter how foolish and flustered, so there was no reason to be so nervous. But his heart and his brain were not quite on the same page.

The sweet air of the small shop hit him in a wave the moment he opened the door, a handful of third years rushing past him which inevitably caused him to stumble back a step. The excitement seems to have not worn off just yet. His eyes immediately went to the front counter where you’d said your goodbyes the week before, but he was rather disappointed when it wasn’t you who was there. He didn’t let it deter him, though, instead stepping further into the shop to have a look at the candies.

Despite such a small stretch of time having gone by since he was last there, it seemed as though their inventory was completely different. They still had their best sellers on brilliant and eye catching displays, still had large glass jars filled to the brim with colorful candy, but there were far more new things than he had remembered there being. Even with that being said, he was still more focused on the fact that he hadn’t seen you yet and it’d been a whole ten minutes of wandering around aimlessly, surely looking a bit out of place.

Three aisles in and he still hadn’t seen you. He was fighting the urge to ask where you were, feeling as though that’d be a ridiculous thing to do. Because what was he to say if asked for a reason? Surely he couldn’t give them the real one, that would be utterly humiliating. He was beginning to think he misread your words as he weaved between students, regret forming in the pit of his stomach. Maybe he’d have better luck another time, though he didn’t like the idea of waiting for when that would be.

Upon passing the counter again, his brain scrambled for a reason not to, fighting between his own curiosity and the side of him telling himself not to do it and just leave. But he’s quickly made up his mind.

“Excuse me,” he says, clearing his throat when his words came out rather timidly. He takes a step closer when he captures the cashiers attention. “Would you happen to know where Y/n is?”

Any trace of hopefulness had left when he heard the mans response. “I’m afraid not, her shift ended sometime within the last hour. Would you like me to leave her a message?”

Ron was quick to shake his head, masking the clear disappointment he felt with a smile. “No…no that’s okay. Thank you.”

He left the shop empty handed and stuffed them in his pockets, releasing the sigh he’d been holding. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal, really, he’d only met you once. On a busy day at that. But it was something about the way your brief interaction had stopped time for lack of better wording. He knew it was rather silly to feel that way, but it’s what made him come back.

As his mother had always said, if it was meant to happen it would have. With that in mind he tried to brush it off and focus on other matters, like the stack of assignments that needed grading once he returned. It wasn’t something he looked forward to, trying to stall and walk as leisurely as he could through the busy village.

He couldn’t imagine reading dozens of those things being any more fun than it was to write them, and if he gave it any more thought he would completely ruin his mood. He certainly wasn’t as happy as the students around him though he knows he’s probably being a bit dramatic. But this very place wasn’t feeling quite so magical, for lack of a better, less ironic word. Everything seemed to bother him in that moment; the way the wind blew his hair in his eyes, the fact that he kept tripping on the uneven stone streets, the way that—

“Ron?”

He looked up from his gaze at his feet, turning in the direction the voice had come from. His heart skipped a beat upon seeing it belonged to you, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when you joined him and he quickly forgot those things annoying him.

“Hey,” he nearly beams, and suddenly the thought of his mother’s wise words didn’t make him feel quite so bad anymore.

“I’m sorry to have left you hanging, I finished my shift half an hour ago and decided to stick around here in case maybe you did turn up,” you shrug, nonchalant in your explanation as you walk up to him.

His smile widened as he raised a curious brow at you, his nerves beginning to disappear and be replaced with some confidence. “So you waited for me?”

You flushed a soft pink at his words, looking up at him with a laugh. “Perhaps. Only because you decided to come back.”

It was his turn to blush a shade of crimson at your witty remark, smiling down at his feet as you accentuated your teasing with a nudge of your elbow to his arm. It was true, and though he’d never admit it aloud, it seems as though he didn’t have to.

“Would you like to join me for tea? I always stop by Madam Puddifoot’s after my weekend shifts. She’s quite fond of me so I bet I can get you a free pastry if you’d like.” Your words were followed by the warmest of smiles, and he found himself unable to resist such an offer.

“Yeah…yeah that’d be nice,” he says with a soft laugh, a bit stunned and more so when you grabbed his wrist and tugged him towards the shop.

As a testament to your words, you were greeted warmly by the older woman who recited what he assumed was your order. When she turned to him he was at a loss for words, cheeks reddening once more before you asked for another of what you’d gotten.

“Thanks,” he smiles, taking a seat across from you at a nearby table. “I’ve never been here before, my friend told me it was a bit…sappy.”

“Oh it very much is, but she can make a very good cup of tea.”

He nods with a laugh, any worry that he may have said something too bold about this place you seemed to love now dissipating.

It wasn’t long before you found yourself immersed in conversation, finding it rather easy to talk to him about anything and everything. Any pause in conversation had been very brief and quickly filled with something else, a dull moment never finding its way between the two of you. Tea cups had long since been empty and several students had filtered in and out of the shop while the two of you remained at the same table, blissfully unaware of the fact that you were quickly becoming the only two residing in the place. It didn’t seem to matter all that much, nor did that stack of essays collecting dust on his desk. Those could wait another day.

4 Months Later

Spending every Saturday afternoon at Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop was quickly adopted as a tradition between the two of you should your schedules allow it. Over that expanse of time you learned about Ron’s wonderfully large family, and unfortunately the loss of a beloved member of it. You’ve learned he has an affinity for quidditch, well, maybe more than an affinity because he spent a very lengthy amount of time talking about it until he shut himself up. And perhaps your favorite part was experiencing firsthand his ever growing hatred for spiders. It was a memory you never let him forget, the way his voice adopted a higher pitch as he put a good ten feet between himself and the small spider until you had taken care of the problem. You’d made a promise to yourself to never let him live it down.

But in spite of the humor, you found yourself thinking that your time spent with him was quite possibly the most fun you’ve ever had. Not that Ron Weasley had been one to walk on the wild side, but everything that seemed mundane before became much more interesting when he was involved.

Over the course of that time, Ron had learned your hobbies and just as easily the things you don’t like. He learned you can fill up your cup of tea as if it’d never been drank with just a simple motion of your hand which is something you inevitably taught him to do. It lead to him overflowing his mug and spilling his tea on his lap, something you also aim to never let him forget. And he doesn’t know how, but you can change the color of just about anything you please, though you tried it on his hair and it hadn’t quite worked out so well. He felt like Tonks as he stood in the middle of your apartment with purple hair as you laughed hysterically.

However, to get sentimental, he quickly found you to be the one thing to bring out a smile when he finds himself falling back to the memories of his losses. It didn’t take much effort on your end, your presence would always suffice. And above all the countless things he’s learned about you, perhaps this next one was the most prominent. Ron Weasley accepted the fact that he was falling in love with his best friend. It wasn’t unexpected, he felt as though maybe he’d always had some form of feelings since day one. But he found it much more intense than those days, though he’d never admit it, not for a long while.

Currently, you found yourselves tucked away in the cozy little building as the rain poured outside, decorated floor to ceiling in Valentine’s Day related things. Even though it was just about a month before the actual day, there was no stopping Madam Puddifoot from indulging in her favorite holiday. Walls were decorated in enchanted red Cupid’s that shot glitter and confetti from their arrows, frilly heart covered tablecloths and lacy napkins, and even pink and red frosted pastries. Ron was beginning to understand why Harry hadn’t liked this place so much.

But it was weekly tradition, and nothing could deter him from coming here with you, not even the heart shaped cookies or the pink confetti stuck annoyingly in his hair.

“What can I get you today?” Madam asked, her notepad in hand though she really hadn’t used it very much. Not for the two of you at least.

“Peppermint tea with two sugars,” Ron says without hesitation. When he’s met with silence he lifts his head from the dessert menu, finding two sets of eyes on him.

It wasn’t until then that he realized he blurted your order, having known it like the back of his hand by this point. It wasn’t until then that he realized her question was directed at you first. His cheeks redden to what felt like the same shade as the table cloth, and he found himself wishing he could rewind and not have done that very embarrassing thing.

“Sorry,” He says, laughing awkwardly as he gulps. Though he’s only met with your sweet smile and a soft laugh from Madam who shook her head fondly at the two of you.

“And what can I get you, Mr. Weasley?”

“I’ll have a Yorkshire tea with extra sugar, please,” He says, much more timid, “and can I have a slice of cake if you’ve got any left?”

“Of course, my dear,” she smiles warmly. There would always be a slice waiting for him because she always made extra in preparation for the ginger boy’s weekly visit.

“Are you blushing?” You jest, chin in your hand as you squint at him from across the wobbly table when she rushes off.

“It’s just, you know…cold outside,” he defends, doing a terrible job of being convincing.

“We’ve been in here for nearly half an hour, Ronald. I’d hate to say it, but I know you’re lying,” you laugh and he looks to his side with a scoff, biting the inside of his cheek as if to will away any more color attempting to flood his cheeks just at the mere mention of it.

“You’re a pain sometimes, you know that?” He says though he smiles rather fondly at you.

“It happens to be my specialty,” you say, eyes skimming over the various holiday themed drink names on the lavishly printed menu. He steals another glance through his light ginger lashes, not missing the way a soft smile had been gracing your lips at the banter.

He shakes his head, laughing quietly to himself as he picks at his napkin. Was it really that evident how much of a mess you made him? He really hoped not.

Not much was said after that, yet the silence was comfortable. He watched as the rain poured outside, thick droplets trickling down the window panes and puddles forming in the uneven walkway. As much as he didn’t enjoy this kind of weather, it really had added to the ambience of this place. It made it all the more welcoming.

“I think we’ve got to apparate home if it doesn’t slow down out there,” he suggests, turning to you.

A frown immediately worked its way on your face at the thought. You hated apparating and he knew that, you could never quite get used to it’s side effects.

“That might just be your worst idea, Ron,” you say, huffing out at the thought. He laughs though, bringing a smile to your face.

The moment is quickly interrupted when two teas are brought to the table and given to their rightful owners, Ron’s highly anticipated cake set along with his. Triple chocolate cake.

“Will I be using the couples discount for you two?” The jovial woman asks with a smile, tucking her pink pencil behind her ear as she settles her hands on her hips.

“Oh! It’s not a date, well, not like that,” Ron says, cheeks burning as he laughed softly, clearly flustered the more he spoke, “we’re just friends.”

Madam Puddifoot apologizes for her blunder, though she still gives you both the discount regardless because she’s seen the way he looks at you. Over the many weeks she’s served the seemingly inseparable pair, she knew friends don’t look at friends quite the way you two do. It was almost fairytale-like. But neither of you seemed to be privy to the others lingering gazes and she wasn’t one to pry, not too much anyway.

Once she left you turned to him with slightly narrowed eyes and a bit of a frown you tried to conceal, finding yourself feeling the smallest bit of hurt, or something, simmering in your stomach. You didn’t know why it had struck a nerve and you didn’t like it.

“What?” He asks softly.

“I don’t think you could have said that any faster, Ron,” you say, stirring your spoon around in your tea a bit too vigorously, the hot liquid spilling over the meticulously painted edge of the cup and onto the small matching saucer it had been resting on.

He furrows his brows, confused at your change in attitude momentarily before a soft smile began to pull at the corner of his mouth. “You seem a bit upset about that, Y/n.”

He tilts his head in amused curiosity, watching as you rolled your eyes before he took a sip of his drink.

“I don’t believe I seem like anything.”

Your tone was playful as you spoke the words very matter-of-factly, though he didn’t miss the bite lacing around them. He only nods as he laughs quietly down at his own tea, not in mocking but in slight amusement.

Your soft smile shortly returned though Ron wondered if your sudden edge, no matter how subtle, was simply nothing or if it was indicative of something more. Perhaps it really did bother you, more than you let on. But he knows that if he lets his mind go down the road of those possibilities, he will only either get his hopes up or hurt his own feelings with scenarios that haven’t even happened. So, for the time being, he pushes it to the back of his mind and hoped it wouldn’t resurface.

“Have you uh, have you checked if that book store in town is open today? You said you wanted to go,” he says, trying desperately to find his way back to comfortable conversation.

“They’re closed,” you say, and he almost winced at the change in your tone whether you had meant to or not. No smile of yours could’ve hid that. He ignored the fact that you had mentioned earlier that they indeed were open, he knew if he paid it any more mind then he’d ruin his own day with assumptions.

He just nods, internally scolding himself as he regrets what he said moments ago.

Gaps in conversation weren’t easily filled after that, and he found he was the one starting the most of them. They really couldn’t be considered conversations at that point, more so observations and statements that you responded to before he moved on to the next one. You hadn’t particularly been ignoring him, you never would, but he knew your mood had soured even if you wouldn’t admit it.

You still teased him about the chocolate icing on the corners of his mouth because you’d never pass that opportunity up, or the way he dropped some in his lap because he’d been too focused staring, but you hadn’t stolen a bite like you usually had and you politely turned down his offer of some.

Your stay at the shop wasn’t nearly as extensive as it usually was either, your tea barely finished but you were rather joyous as you bid a goodbye to Madam Puddifoot. Of course you did still put up a fuss about apparating as you hooked your arm with Ron’s, and you did still hug him goodbye at your doorstep. It just wasn’t as tight as it usually was.

He wanted to bring it up, and he wanted to tell you he hadn’t meant it because the fact that you weren’t being your usual self was driving him crazy. But if he brought it up he’d have to tell you why exactly he hadn’t meant what he said, and he wasn’t ready for that conversation. He feels he might never be. So he decides against it as he stands just outside your door.

“See you next week?” He asks meekly when you pull away from him, scratching the back of his neck nervously. He was hoping you wouldn’t decide to ditch him after that.

You pretended to ponder the question for a moment, just to get a rise out of him. Maybe you took a few extra seconds because you were still bothered. You still couldn’t pinpoint why it had gotten under your skin so much. “I’ll see you next week, Weasley.”

Despite the bit of relief he had felt from that moment you still weren’t so cheery with him, and he tried to convince himself that maybe you’d just had a headache, you get like that sometimes when you do. Or maybe you just had a bad day to begin with and didn’t feel like hiding it anymore. He was grasping at straws to figure out a proper explanation for it but everything came circling back to his words.

He took your answer with a nod before apparating back to Hogwarts, unsure of how to perceive your tone this time. It left him to stew in his own regret that night and days to come until he saw you again.

—

Tags: @writeroutoftime

#ron weasley #ron weasley one shot #ron weasley fanfiction #ron weasley fluff #ron weasley x you #ron weasley x reader #ron weasley fic #harry potter fic

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jjk-biased · 4 years

Text

park jimin x reader

genre: angst, lil' fluff if you squint hard enough lmfao

word count: 2k words of big sad bros

synopsis: befriending the ever-shy boy park jimin had its ups and downs but you were there for him through everything.

masterlist

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

It was supposed to end on a somewhat lighter note. Laughter should’ve rang through the room by now from your remark, or at least a chuckle should’ve been heard from his lips as he denies your claim. He should’ve continued eating his pastries or at least change the topic to the song currently playing in Belle Vie.

There shouldn’t be silence. You shouldn’t hear the pitter patter of the rain outside from the cafe you’re in.

Anything but this.

You could still remember meeting his eyes. There he was, meekly hiding himself from the corner of the room to shield himself from the noise of your classmates. He was alone and it was as if he wanted it to stay that way.

You weren’t sure what was captivating about him. Was it the way his eyes told a different story? Was it how adorable he was as he avoided your stare when you approached him? Was it the small, unsure smile he returned when you looked at him?

You’d never know. But you were happy to be the first one to approach him.

“Hi! I’m Y/N.”

“O-oh… uhm… h-hello,” He trailed off, once again looking at anything but you.

You unintentionally chuckled, somehow frightening this shy boy more, and continued, “Can I ask for your name?”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m Park Jimin.”

“Say Park Jimin… interested in going to the small cafe down the street?”

That was the start of an unlikely friendship between the ever-friendly Y/N and the resident cutie Jimin.

From a few meetings to being stuck by the hip, you two sure became a great duo. But Jimin still had reservations about himself, a nobody, and you, the ever-cheerful person who’d befriend anyone. You would remember Jimin always asking you why you hung out with him. He would list reasons why you were better off without him trailing behind you like a puppy.

“Because I like being friends with you silly!”

And you could see the storm in his eyes fade away just from that remark.

“Wanna go to the Hope Dance Studio oday?”

“I’ll just watch you dance, Jimin, and you owe me tea from Belle Vie.”

You two spent most of your days together and would often bond on your love for music. You discovered a new Jimin through dancing—a Jimin who forgot his stage fright and shyness everytime a beat plays. You loved this side of Jimin. It’s who he is. A dancer, born to perform on stage, yet held back by the timid persona he always went by.

Admittedly, you were secretly glad he was confident enough to show it to you. Only you.

Aside from the dance studio, you two were more than often seen in the small cafe by the school named Belle Vie. It was a cozy cafe that hosted a few stressed students or passerbys who wanted to stop for pastries. It was where you two always hung out after every school day.

As your highschool years went by, you began to lie low from the “popular” people. The famous Y/N who befriended anyone was still friendly, but you decided it was time to stick to those who will be there for you.

That was Jimin. You stuck by him as you went through countless breakdowns, stresses, and heartbreaks.

“You should forget that dork, Y/N! He was a player from the start. If you want, we’ll go egg his house soon because he deserves that shit,” Jimin’s eye twitched as he gripped the macaron in his hand rather harshly.

The two of you were once again in Belle Vie, though this time you were down in the dumps because your asshole of a boyfriend cheated on you with one of your friends.

You snorted as you stole one of the sweet delights from his plate, “The slytherin in you jumped out.”

He preened, mockingly laughing the way rich people do, “I try my best.”

“Thank you, Jimin.”

“Anything for you."

None of your relationships seemed to work. Maybe it was because you never seemed to find any sort of connection with them. Maybe it was because they never had any sort of genuinity to commitment.

Maybe it was because they weren’t Jimin.

It dawned on you on one of those quiet days where you ponder quietly as you gaze at the ceiling. Looking back, it really was Jimin who stuck with you through it all. He made you laugh every time he did his pranks (he was never caught), he made you smile every time he danced like a dork, he made you feel at home.

Squealing lightly, you fell off the bed at your epiphany.

“Holy shit… I like my best friend.”

As soon as those words left your mouth, your eyes widened. There are a lot more negative disadvantages to liking your only best friend. What if he didn’t like you? What if he thinks you’re creepy? What if you don’t become friends anymore?

That last question haunted you more than you liked to admit.

Jimin was your anchor, the one you found solace in when times are rough. Not being with him anymore just because your feelings got in the way.

You’d rather keep it in.

So you did. You kept that little crush to yourself and told not a soul. It kind of hurts to act that way, but it was for the best.

Jimin on the other hand began to grow out of his shell. Because you encouraged him, even in his bad days, you were able to help him be more out in the open. Soon, Jimin became one of the popular kids and you were more than happy to see him in his true element.

You once introduced him to your acquaintance and captain of the dance team, Jung Hoseok. He happened to be the son of the owner of the dance studio you two often went to as well. Jimin was soon recruited.

It was as if everything felt right when he accepted Hoseok’s offer. He was more than ecstatic. You were very much just as happy as he is.

“Congrats, shorty! Treat me to Belle Vie today?”

“You can’t call me that if you’re shorter… And shouldn’t I be the one treated today?”

That was the start of his way up to the big leagues.

You were left at the bottom. Probably forgotten, left alone at square one.

You didn’t notice it immediately. Your daily trip to Belle vie turned into every other day, then it became twice a week, once a week, until there was none at all. You couldn’t blame your sweet Jimin though. He became much busier after he joined the dance team.

At the back of your mind, it was hard to admit that he became too busy for you.

It was hard, really, to ask Jimin to hang out for at least just a day and be turned down time and time again.

“Hey! Can we go to Belle Vie today?”

You already knew the answer when his face contorted into an uneasy grin, the way he averted his eyes and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“I… uhm… have practi—”

“Oh! ‘S alright, we can just go out on a later date,” you cut him off to save yourself an ounce of dignity and scurried away before he could make it more painful than it is.

The unlikely duo weren’t seen together anymore anywhere.

You still went on with your day though. You wanted to support your sweet best friend through every competition he had, every breakdown he cried for, every problem he harbored.

It was different this time, you two couldn’t deny it. From strangers to best friends, then back to strangers.

The feelings you long since had have grown into something you couldn’t ignore. Despite every embarrassing moment you experienced from being turned down, the way his smile grew bigger every time their team won had your heart swooning. This Jimin, admittedly now one of the most popular heartthrobs of your school, brought your tummy butterflies that won’t die down.

On your fifth friendship anniversary, you decided it was time you get Jimin for just a day. Heck, just an hour with him would suffice. It’s been long since you two were together and why not hang out on the day that started it all?

“Chim, let’s eat at Belle Vie today. I’m not taking no for an answer,” You huffed in faux confidence, momentarily ignoring that little voice in your head who taunted at you.

“Ah… what’s the occasion?”

Are you kidding me?!

“June 13th! It’s our friendship anniversary dummy,” You grinned hesitantly as your voice wavered.

You never thought you’d have to remind him of this date. It was the other way around! He would surprise you and treat you to Belle Vie because you two were friends!

“Alright… I’ll meet you there.”

There wasn’t as much enthusiasm in his voice as he had last year. It was now blatantly obvious he wanted nothing to do with you.

You figured it was time for your last resort, confessing to everything you’ve felt. Maybe this time… Maybe this time he’ll have a change of heart.

Rain poured down when afternoon came. The clouds were weeping at the loss of friendship. Or maybe it was long gone and you just realized it now and the clouds were sad for another reason…

The two of you were sitting in the same booth you first did, the one nearest to the window. You both ended up getting the same food you always bought. You found yourselves in the same predicament you first met— awkward, silent, and nervousness.

Everything was the same yet everything was different.

The Jimin in front of you now, for example, was strikingly different from the Jimin you met. But you were still the same ol’ Y/N he first met.

You were finally fed up with everything he had thrown your way. Every rejection he made you face, every embarrassing moment you had to endure, every ounce of pain you had to feel.

“What happened to us?” You whispered, looking at anything but this stranger in front of you.

He raised an eyebrow, “Us? What do you mean? Don’t get carried away, Y/N.”

“You were never like this to me, Jimin… You always went to me for everything… Now we don’t even t-talk,” You cried out weakly, too hurt to prevent anything from not being said.

“I’m not gonna be there at your every beck and call, Y/N! I’m not gonna be with you forever! You’re not even my girlfriend! God, how clingy can you get!?” Jimin harshly let out.

Your eyes widened as his remarks flowed into your head and repeatedly taunted you. Tears welled up in your eyes, unable to believe that this is the person you called your best friend.

“I… I can’t believe I like you,” Your face visibly cringed when you said that word. That specific word that wasn’t even enough to describe the immense love you had for this boy who had chosen to hurt you with his words.

It was out. The secret you had for so long is finally out.

Instead of anything welcoming, however, Jimin only mumbled a “what?” out of disbelief. Maybe he wasn’t hearing himself correctly.

This expression of his told you more than you needed to know. Despite the tears now flowing freely, you asked him softly.

“H-hey… Do you know what Belle Vie means?”

You were met with silence. He stared at you as you tried to salvage this piss-poor conversation.

“It means Beautiful Life… and I’m glad to have experienced that with you, Jimin…”

He didn’t say anything back, just a weak, “Goodbye.”

And there was nothing.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

There shouldn’t be silence. You shouldn’t hear the pitter patter of the rain outside from the cafe you’re in.

But it did.

Your longtime crush and now ex-friend walked out of the door, and with him left the five-year friendship you two built.

What a beautiful life, indeed.

permanent taglist: @luvinseokjinnie @97faerie @amoreguk

#bts x reader #bts #bts imagine #bts angst #bts fluff #park jimin #park jimin x reader #jimin x reader #jimin imagine #jimin x fem! reader #jimin angst #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #sad hours bros #belle vie

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marshmallowprotection · 3 years

Text

Reverse AU

She didn’t know what it felt like to take a break.

Well, perhaps there was one point in her life where she knew what they felt like but honestly, she wasn’t going to let herself stop. Her goal was the obliteration of everyone that had ever spurred her to rot in Hell. Her blood boiled every time that she thought of all of the ways that she’d been hurt.

And?

It made her want to destroy everything that hurt her to prove that she was stronger, no, that she was better than the rest of them. She would survive and prove that she was always meant to be on top in the end. It was her promised destiny, the will of paradise, the very scorch of the earth that she’d been given a new chance on, and she wouldn’t lose this chance.

Her head ached, but there could have been a few reasons for that. She figured off the top of her head that it was the need for another bottle of elixir, and her second guess was the fact that she hadn’t had any rest since her target had been chosen. He was meant to go to the apartment and trick those damn fools.

He was meant to make them bend and break with his sincere smile and—

Her fingers paused against the keys, staring deeper at the CCTV camera of her target as he continued about his day. He had such a lovely face. He sought to find an identity outside of his twin brother, and his attention brought him to dress like such a prince. It made her heart flutter every time she thought of his handsome features.

He was perfect.

He was going to make everything work.

And yet, she clicked her tongue distastefully. She didn’t want to share him. She didn’t want to send him into the lion’s den with those fools. Whenever she envisioned him with any of them, it made her blood boil even hotter in a room that was meant to be chilled to keep her from falling asleep. He was better than those liars… than that bastard.

She didn’t want to share.

She…

She thought of her Savior, what he would think if he knew what she was thinking, and yet, at that moment, she felt drawn to do something that would get her into trouble. However, if she played her cards right, she could keep the cute prince and manipulate his brother to go into the apartment instead since he wouldn’t be the wiser.

It might be enough to spurn them to give up in the future if they got close enough to his brother, and then she could manipulate them all one by one until they crumbled beneath the Savior’s feet once and for all.

That way, paradise could be… united, in the future.

“Yes, that’s it, that’s what I’ll do, it could work,” she cocked her head as she watched him check his phone, not knowing what was going to happen to him very soon. “I’ll destroy them… I won’t have to share you to do it… haha… haha… hahahahaha! I can get you to help me another way from my side… Savior will understand. He always does.”

He had saved her when she was so scared and lost, and she now hoped to do the same for someone that she saw herself in. Paradise was welcoming to all, and even if it meant more work for her, she wouldn’t care. As long as she had him, as long as she had paradise, as long as she had her goals, then it would be alright.

She had to act now when her prince was alone… and she had to do it without informing her Savior, but she was far too excited to stop now that the thought occurred to her. She was the strongest, she was the most trusted member of paradise. She wouldn’t face punishment for furthering their goals, she would be praised.

Praised as she deserved…

The thought of those mint eyes looking upon her with pride was all that she wanted.

“Wait for me, my darling… our paradise awaits.”

—

“Hey, what’s with that face? You don’t think I’m going to do something horrible to you, do you? I swear I’m not some creep,” the look in her eyes didn’t make that nervous smile on her lips. “I swear, I promise.”

It was almost unnatural how her eyes glimmered with a mint glow to them, but it drew Saeran in for some reason. She beckoned him forward with that friendly smile of hers and he felt compelled to listen.

It wasn’t like him.

Well, that is to say, it wasn’t like him to go out on a limb for someone he didn’t know well. Sure, he was kind, and many people would say that he was too selfless of a person but that was why he had answered this girl’s text message after he had found a lost phone.

Her brown-locks were curly and a bit fringed in front of her eyes, it seemed a little messy but it was a windy day. She was foreign but she had a good grasp of the language. A jacket hung loosely from one shoulder, and a pink cropped tea covered most of her top with just her abdomen showing before it edged into her jeans.

What stood out about her the most was the almost unnatural glow of her eyes. If he hadn’t had the confidence to meet her gaze, he would have missed the almost cat-like quality of the emerald green in her forest eyes. He wondered if it was because of contacts. He wore some sometimes to make his outfit more cohesive.

She was starkly contrasted against him, with the pink vest he was wearing and the long bell sleeves of his top. She didn’t seem to think he was out of place nor did he think that of her. It would be brazen of him to call her style strange when they both pushed against society. They were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Those that rebelled against the common culture with something that made them feel good. For some people that meant that they wore as much leather and shredded jeans as they could, and for others, it meant that they wore enough frills to counter the universe with a smile on their face. She was a punk and he was more princely.

He wasn’t one to judge others.

“No,” Saeran said, simply. “But, you know how it is with strangers these days. Everyone is always very wary of others.”

Though, he didn’t budge from his spot. It wasn’t like she posed a threat to him, she was barely five feet tall. He was nearly a head taller than her and even if she tried something, he doubted she’d get very far if she was a threat to him. She was too small, too lithe, and too sincere over the phone to seem like she may try something.

She flashed her lashes at him and held out her hand to him with injured fingers. There were braces on her joints and carefully wrapped fingers as if she’d worked too hard.

Something in her eyes lit up again as she giggled. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess it was pretty silly to get so worried about finding my friend’s phone like that. It was nice of you to offer to return it to me. Thank you so much for bringing it back to me, you’re such a prince. I appreciate it.”

“It was no problem! I was on my way to meet someone anyway, so it wasn’t out of my way,” he said. Against that unease, though, he could feel his heart speed up at the way that she had complimented him. It wasn’t often that someone spoke to him in a way like this or looked at him with intrigue and interest.

He pulled the phone from his pocket and looked down at it once more. It did strike him as odd that the device was… barren. There was not a thing on it except for a messenger app of all things. He wasn’t going to question what sorts of things people were doing these days but it did kind of bug him to think that it could have been something weird.

Instead of grasping the phone, her fingers pressed tightly against his own over the device. Her hands were ice cold, almost as she had been locked in a deep freeze for a few hours. She was impossibly close now, peering up at him like a very curious kitten.

A part of him wanted to shrug her hand away from his but her eyes had him haunted.

“You know, you have much prettier eyes in person,” she cooed as his body went stiff. In-person? Did that mean she had seen him before? “I love them… they’re golden. They remind me of the honeysuckle that I’d grow around my home when I was a little girl. Or, wait, the deep glaze of honey from the bees fresh from the hive. It’s you... it’s you, you’re the perfect assistant.”

Saeran was very concerned now because she was speaking about him as if she had seen him before. He wanted to wrench his hand away from her but she was a lot stronger than she looked, believe it or not. Or, maybe he was just a lot weaker than he thought. What was she talking about? What was she trying to imply?

“Excuse me?” he asked, his voice light and unsure. “What are you saying?”

The caramel sweet that had once been her laughter had now had the taste of a pan filled with burned sugar. It was so sweet that it seemed wrong. She cocked her head, “Oh, right. I forgot, prince-y is so too naïve for his own good but that’s my favorite thing about you. You see, I was going to make you play a little game for me but… I just decided I don’t want to share you with them… with him.”

What?

Saeran shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not—”

“Did you think you had a choice, prince? Oh, that’s so cute!” She countered, her eyes narrowing to a slit, and her hand simply pulling him harder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be taking you to paradise. Doesn’t that sound sweet? It’s much better than what you’ve been subjected to out here… ignored… neglected, and treated like a doormat by everyone around you. I want to give you the world.”

Saeran shook his head, but there was no arguing with someone that was hiding a weapon stashed in their coat pocket. He could see it, and she knew that he’d seen it. She was armed and there was no way in Hell that he was going to fight that. “What makes you think that you’ll get away with that sort of thing? There are cameras all over the place.”

It doesn’t matter if he’s bigger than she is.

That took away the middle man.

Her smiled widened. “Not much point in cameras if you can hack their feeds to loop the same five minutes over and over again, prince. So, what do you say, are you going to come with me to paradise? Or are you going to make this more difficult for the two of us? Trust me, I don’t mind being cruel with what’s mine but… I don’t want to have to hurt that porcelain face of yours. It’s too precious for my goals.”

Saeran looked around at the street as it was emptied.

Nobody was around and nobody could do a thing about this. Those cameras… she’d… hacked them? There was no way she had been able to do that, but here she was. What was this even? Had this all been planned from the start? His mind wandered with thoughts that they shouldn’t as he knew that he was trapped like cornered prey.

“You know that I could just run right now, don’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you have already tried if that was the case?”

“...”

“Poor little prince, don’t worry about it. I’m just trying to help you. I know all about you, I know all about how you feel miserably abandoned by your brother… desperately trying to gain attention from the world that ignores you. You’ve been lost for so long… haven’t you? Trying to get by with your smile and faith but it’s exhausting…”

“You don’t— You don’t know anything about me.”

How could she?

Hackers could learn anything and everything about your life if they wanted, right? Was she trying to bluff to get inside of his head? He stiffened at the mention of his brother, not wanting to fixate on the thought.

He was in the middle of a dangerous situation, this wasn’t the time to focus on Saeyoung or that problem! He could worry about that later when he had the time, this girl wanted something dangerous from him.

She took his silence as a good sign. “I don’t? What a shame, then I suppose I’ll have to get to know you from this moment forward, won’t I? That’s right. You’re lost but I found you… so, just let go, give up, and let me take you to paradise. I’ll take good care of you.”

“...”

The dejected look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. That sickly sweet laugh of hers echoed in his mind as he gave up, and her backup arrived.

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starrynite7114 · 4 years

Text

everything is you: six

A/N: Good afternoon! Sorry for taking so long to update, have not been in a good mindset and still not, but I want to post this just to give you guys something. It’s been hard and my confidence in my writing has been shit. It’s not something I like sharing, but just wanted to be honest with you all. I just want to thank you all for giving me such nice messages regarding my finals, it was awful, but definitely glad to have it over with.

Currently, Snapshots and Misconstrued is almost done, just trying to work some things out with it. Two Weeks part two should be coming up soon as well along with three requests. I’m updating the request list later, if you do not see your request, feel free to message me.

Also, got a Rio/Reader/Angel story on the horizon.

Thank you all for your patience and support. Hope you all enjoy this update! Love you all!

I would also like to thank @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat & @justahopelessssromantic <3

Also, happy birthday @losolvidad0s <3

everything is you

one : two : three : four : five

Word count: 8088

Warnings: Angst

Masterlist tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic : @ifoundmyhappythought : @carlaangel86 : @woahitslucyylu : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @whyisgmora : @briana-mishell24 : @bribri-82 : @briannab1234 : @chibsytelford : @agirllovespasta : @twistnet : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @trulysuccubus : @jadert15 : @sammskellington : @cind-in-real-life : @claytoncardenasbabymama : @sadeyesgf : @thickemadame : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass : @gemini0410 : @elcococruz : @samcrobae : @sesamepancakes : @iambabyharry : @blackmissfrizzle : @soamayansfangirl : @1-800-imagines : @phoenixhalliwell : @lady-pswrld : @dazzledamazon : @getyourcrayoncas : @fvckthisbxtchup : @lukealvxz : @scuzmunkie : @lilac-tea-time : @danie1432 : @cocotheclown : @soaronmywings : @my-rosegold-soul : @buttercup812 : @itskiranbitch : @angelreyesgirl : @sheeshgivemeabreak : @vicmackeybullshxt : @bigcreatorwombatdreamer : @khyharah : @strawberrywritings : @cherry-icetea : @fuzzy-jellyfish : @losolvidad0s : @brownsugarcoffy : @courtrae89 : @prdsdjarin : @blessedboo : @marvelmaree : @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat : @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead : @thesandbeneathmytoes

As always, if you want to be added to the tag list or do not see your name, please let me know!

Alena laughed as Victor told her about his younger brother Richard and all the mischief they used to partake in when they were younger. She’s met Richard a few times and he was quite a charming guy, but he definitely was not as charming as Victor.

He was the oldest of the two and their parents passed away when they were younger. The only family they had, the only family they cared for was Eddie Johnson, Alena’s boss. Victor was Eddie’s nephew, his self-proclaimed favorite nephew, though Richard states the same phrase as well. Alena liked being around them since she reminded them of her own little family.

“Are you going with Mr. Johnson next week to Bali?”

“No, I passed this time around since you respectfully declined yet again.” Victor wasn’t sure what it was about Alena. She was a cute girl, but she was hardly his type. But he gravitated towards her. His Uncle Eddie always raved about her and he had to get to know her. Much like her, he had a shared love for art and was actually a gallerist for a few well known painters and sculptors. Victor didn’t do it much since he found himself working at his uncle’s much more often, mostly due to Alena.

For years, they’ve become closer and closer and he learned more and more about her. And due to that, he fell harder and harder. At times he felt like an idiot for doing so, she was married, no matter what the status of her relationship with Angel was, he knew Angel had a hold over her. He wasn’t sure if it was gratitude, his son or what, but whenever she spoke about Angel, her whole face would brighten up. But he also had the greatest control over her emotions. He doesn’t think Angel purposely yo-yo’s his feelings for Alena, but it frustrated him.

Alena should move on and be with someone who would proudly tell people that they were in love with her. Not someone who kept her at limbo and had sex with her more frequently than Alena would like to admit to him. He was honestly surprised Alena wasn’t pregnant.

“I would rather spend some time away from Mr. Johnson, he’s amazing, but I need a break. He might make me work while we’re there.” Alena took a bite of her pasta, letting out a small moan at how good the sauce was. “Absolutely insane how good that is.”

Victor couldn’t help it. Hearing her moan, it made his dick twitch. But he would never push Alena and he was pretty sure this was a friendly dinner and not a date.

“My grandmother had the best recipes. If you marry me, I can totally share the family recipes.” He winked at her, making Alena blushed. “Speaking of marriage, how is your husband dearest?”

“He’s fine, I’m really sorry about the way he answered the phone the other night. He’s just protective and you know, territorial cause he thinks I won’t be committed to Cruz anymore.” She took a sip of the wine that she bought for their dinner. “I can assure you, there is nothing going on besides coparenting.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Alena placed some salad on her plate.

“Come on Alena, we’ve been friends for almost seven years now. You’ve always had a complicated relationship with Angel and now, he tells you he has feelings for you. It’s a rollercoaster ride with him and you deserve someone who is more stable.” He was talking of himself of course, but it was true. Alena didn’t need to be taken on this ride. She deserved more than that.

“Angel is just projecting or something, he just thinks he’s losing me because I’m interested in you.” Alena looked up at Victor before looking back down at her food.

He smirked at her admission and lightly chuckled. “You’re interested in me, carina?” It was his nickname for her, cute in Italian. Alena always hoped that Victor would never call her that in front of Angel and she was determined to keep it that way. She knew Angel’s nicknames held special meaning and she didn’t want him thinking that Victor had numerous nicknames for her. It was just one and if she was being honest, it was incredibly adorable.

“Maybe, I don’t know.” Alena sighed, biting her bottom lip, which Victor hated cause all he wanted to do was kiss her.

“Alena, I would never push you. If you want to give it a shot, that’s fine, but I know the guilt is eating you up cause you’re technically married and you respect the sanctity of marriage.” Victor placed a hand on top of hers.

Alena couldn’t help but think how much bigger Victor’s hands were compared to hers. She looked up at him and he had that warm smile he always gave her. Victor was always there for her, he was so sweet and always let her do her own pace. He never pushed her or anything.

Once she and Angel’s divorced was finalized, she would give him a chance.

“I have a gallery I’m setting up for next week, did you want to come and see how it’s done?” Victor knew of Alena’s passion for art. She was an amazing painter and he really wanted to slightly push her on sharing her work with the world. Hell, he wanted her to go back to school and pursue art so he could get her to do a few gallerist work, maybe even become an art handler. She couldn’t be Uncle Eddie’s assistant forever.

“Sure! I would love that, when is it again?” Alena excitedly replied. She’s never seen an art gallery be put together before and she would love to experience that.

“Next Tuesday, it’s at the art gallery a few blocks from our apartment.”

“Sounds good, I’m excited to see the master at work.”

Victor held Alena’s hand as he walked her down to her door, their night was full of laughter, random topics of conversations and just an overall good night. Alena forgot how it was to go on a date with someone and she was glad it was Victor that she went out with.

“I had a great time.” Alena told him when they stopped in front of her door.

“Same here on our lovely friendly date.” He teased her. “I’m serious about this Alena, I really want for us to give it a shot when you’re ready.”

Alena was slightly annoyed at the fact that she let herself be blinded by her relationship with Angel, well her non-relationship. He was always so hot and cold. She knew enough about relationships to know it wasn’t worth it. Their relationship was solely for Cruz and she was finally understanding that better and better.

“I know. Thank you again.”

Victor nodded his head, his eyes drifting to Alena’s lips. Maybe a little push wouldn’t hurt her. He leaned down, waiting for Alena to back away or anything, but she didn’t. When their lips connected, Alena froze, but eventually relaxed. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Alena couldn’t help but compare Angel and Victor. Angel’s lips were moist, warm, and so sinfully delicious. And to her surprised, so was Victor’s. The butterflies in her stomach were going wild as Victor’s tongue slipped inside her mouth.

He eventually pulled away, leaning his forehead against hers. He gave her one more kiss before pulling away.

“I’m gonna go before this goes any further.” Victor chuckled. “Good night Alena.”

“Good night Victor.” She unlocked her door and leaned against it once it was locked.

God, she was in such trouble.

============

Carla sat down on Alena’s couch, nursing the wine glass in her hands, completely enjoying her day. They went to the spa like Angel had suggested and it was the best idea ever. Carla watched as Alena smiled as she was texting on her phone. It seemed that her date with Victor went well since she had been texting him nonstop this whole day.

“Dude, put your phone down, you need a break from Victor.” Carla teased her.

“I’m not talking to Victor,” Alena laughed. “Angel is being silly and sending me pictures of him and Cruz.”

Carla had to smile at that. From what EZ told her, Angel finally realized his feelings for Alena, but was just taking his sweet ass time to tell her. The way she saw it, Angel was losing precious time because Alena seemed to be entertaining the idea of starting a relationship with Victor.

“Ah, the husband. How are things with you and Angel?” Carla placed her wine glass on the coffee table.

“Good, the sex ban went out the door.” Alena had her phone on her lap.

Carla had to applaud Alena for the valiant effort. She knew that she could just deny Angel for so long. She couldn’t blame her, even though she was with EZ, she could appreciate that Angel was a good looking guy. And she knew of Alena’s attraction to Angel, her love for Angel. It was sad at times knowing how much Alena gave up for Angel, how much she loved him to the point that she became the mother of his child.

“Told you you couldn’t resist him.”

“He literally woke me up to have sex.” Alena blushed remembering how amazing that night was.

“Has Angel ever not enticed you?” Carla teased.

“Yes, there was like six months where we didn’t do anything because I really didn’t want to do anything with him. He didn’t initiate anything until I was fully comfortable with sleeping with him.” Then she remembered Angel’s words. “Cruz asked Angel for a sibling.”

“Oh, did he?” Carla was more than amused. She’s heard that before. Cruz had been asking Angel for a sibling and it was always the same response, ‘we’ll ask mommy’. Carla was secretly rooting for Angel. She watched them do this dance for so long and always wanted Alena to be happy, she knew that it would be with Angel no matter how much of an idiot he was. As much of an idiot Angel was, Carla always saw how much Angel cared for Alena. He always protected her, was there for her and she was almost sure that Angel almost killed Dante, well deserved.

“Yeah,” Alena shrugged. “But I mean we’re getting divorced in a few months, so maybe his next girlfriend.” She laughed, but Carla knew there was no humor.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Put yourself down or even believe Angel would let you go.” Carla knew Angel had no plans on signing the divorce papers. “Your Cruz’s mom, do you think that after you get divorced if it even happens, that you would become a stranger?” Carla wasn’t sure if Alena knew what would happen once they got divorced, but it wasn’t what she thought that was for sure. Hell, she didn’t even actually believe that they would get divorced. Angel finally realized he’s in love with her. If there was one thing she knew for certain about Angel, she knew he wasn’t a quitter. Alena has loved Angel for so long, she was certain her friend would never believe it once he confesses. “I love you Alena, but you can be so naive. Angel would never let you go, Cruz would never let you go. I know you somehow believe that you two will get divorced and have shared custody of Cruz, but we both know you don’t want that and Angel doesn’t either.”

“Angel just likes me because of convenience. Otherwise, he would take any other women.” Ailee slightly smiled, looking down at her lap. “He said it himself that he had no feelings for me, and that’s okay.”

“You can’t possibly believe that, Angel is losing his shit because of Victor.”

“Angel is just territorial. I’ve been the one constant in his life and he’s being unreasonable, once he finds someone else to occupy his time, wouldn’t even be an issue.”

“Stop doing that, come on Alena, give Angel more credit than that.” Carla should help Angel, especially how much of a dick she was when it came to Victor. Besides, all she wanted was for Angel to realize what he had before he lost it. The Reyes brothers could be so dense at times. “Do you,” she paused, not sure if she should even put the idea in Alena’s head cause Angel would have her head. “Do you want to pursue something with Victor?”

Alena looked at her best friend, slightly laughing. She wasn’t sure. Victor has always been there for her, he was a kind man who protected her. He was smart, Cruz liked him, and he wasn’t bad on the eye. But at the same time, Angel, she’s loved Angel for eight years now. She prayed that maybe it would fade, that she would settle with being friends with him, the old cliche, she’d rather have him than not at all.

Then Cruz happened.

Then they got married.

And now, she was anticipating for them to divorce.

God, she felt like a fool.

She gave up so much for Angel. She didn’t expect him to do the same and she was an adult who made her choice. She never regretted it. But she wished she found someone for herself as well.

And she felt now that she did.

She found it in Victor.

“Yes, once Angel and I are divorce, I want to pursue something with Victor.”

Carla felt her stomach drop and she kind of regretted asking Alena. She knew once she told EZ, it wouldn’t be long before Angel found out. Angel would raise hell knowing him and his temper. Carla wasn’t obtuse to Angel’s feelings for Alena before his own realization. The way he protected her, the way he hung onto her every word, the way he followed her around like a fucking lost puppy, it was endearing and annoying how Alena never realized Angel was in love with her.

“Don’t use Victor as a rebound, he deserves more than that.”

“I’m not,” Alena weakly defended. “I wouldn’t pursue anything with Victor till I’m fully over Angel.”

“Alena, you’re never going to be over Angel.”

“I can do it, just need some motivation, which is this divorce. Once the papers are filed, I have to keep my distance and just interact with him for Cruz. I can do this.”

“It’s not that I doubt you can do it, I’m sure you could if you truly pushed yourself, but what I’m trying to get through your stubborn ass head is that Angel wouldn’t let you go. Do you not know Angel? He would kill a man for you if you requested for him to do so.”

“That doesn’t constitute to love Carla. I would do anything for Angel too. I would do anything for you.”

“Alena, that’s literally not my point.”

“Carla, please, don’t do that. This is the reason that the hope has never faded. I want to remain friends with Angel and co-parent for Cruz’s sake. I thought you wanted me to move on, to find my way away from Angel.”

“Things change.” Carla didn’t want to tell Alena that Angel was in love with her, that wasn’t her place. But she can dissuade her from thinking of Victor than anything more than as a friend.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s been five years. Nothing has happened and it’s time to move on.”

Alena was done.

It was time to move on from Angel.

============

“Mama, can we go to the park today?” Cruz questioned as he finished his plate of pancakes.

“Of course baby.” Alena nodded her head, taking another bite from the breakfast sandwich she made for herself.

“May I be excused?”

“You good little man.” Angel let Cruz go. He wasn’t saying he didn’t have manners, but all of Cruz’s mannerism was definitely all Alena.

Cruz jumped down from his seat, going to the couch to watch some cartoons, something he has done right after breakfast while Alena usually cleaned up. At times he wouldn’t help her, but Alena excused him, since she wanted to talk to Angel. He was finishing up breakfast, chuckling as Cruz enjoyed his PJ Mask.

“Did you get all of your errands done?” Angel questioned. He was relieved when he woke up and Alena was bringing her stuff in this morning. He didn’t want to bug her and seemed needy, but a few times, he was itching to ask her to come home.

“Yes, I did,” she smiled, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“You know you’re due for your annual eye appointment.” Angel reminded her before he took a bite out of his breakfast sandwich and shoving hash browns right after.

Angel loved having breakfast with Cruz and Alena. They were a real family and it always had him starting his day on a good foot. Just being able to be with his two favorite people was the best thing in the world.

It always marveled Alena how good Angel was with appointments for her and Cruz. Like routine work, doctor’s office appointments, dental visits and annual eye exams was something Angel kept track of. Her and Cruz’s inhaler and nebulizer refills? Angel was always on it.

It was quite impressive and she was touched.

“Am I? How are you so good at this, but forget to put the toilet seat down.” She teased him. She poured more mango juice in her cup, pouring some in Angel’s as well.

Angel chuckled. “I have to make sure you’re well taken care of cause you suck at taking care of yourself.”

“Thanks Angel,” she blushed, which didn’t go unnoticed by Angel. He did it to purposely see her blushing.

It was so fucking cute.

“Do you want me to make the appointment?” Angel knew that Alena absolutely loathed talking on the phone. She would become anxious, planning the conversation ahead. So from time to time, he helped her out.

“No, it’s fine, I can do it.” She appreciated the offer. Angel really took care of her. “You can’t always make my phone calls for me.”

“That is true, but I would do anything for you cielo.” He kissed the back of her hand making Alena blush again. He chuckled. “Eres tan linda.(You’re so cute).”

They continued to eat, Angel updating Alena of the recent club happenings. She was hesitant to bring up Victor, but if she wanted a chance on normalcy, she would have to start somewhere.

“So, Victor and I went out and it was nice, we went to a museum then we had dinner at his place.” Alena paused, if they were ever going to become normal or whatever the fuck they were before Cruz, she had to talk to Angel like he was her friend, not tip toe around him. “And he kissed me.”

Angel choked on the mango juice he was drinking, looking at Alena like she grew another head. “Excuse me, what?”

“Yeah, we kissed at the end of our date. It was nice, he was very sweet. Potential, once we get divorced.”

Angel was fucking losing it. Did he fucking enter the twilight zone that Alena was nonchalantly talking to him about going on a date with Victor and kissing him.

And divorce?

Maybe she’ll change her mind when he tells her how he loves her and how he wants to be with her. That he was an idiot for not moving quicker and just letting everything hang in the air. Communication hasn’t been his greatest asset, but he was going to try for her.

He would never force Alena to stay with him, but he knew her actions were a consequence of his own doing.

“Alena, what are you doing?”

She looked at him oddly as she took Cruz’s plate, placing it on top of hers.

“Nothing, I’m telling you about my date.”

“You’re telling your husband about a date you went on?” Angel tried to say it in a way so she could see how insane she sounded. He knew what she was doing, trying to normalize this insane notion of her and Victor being together, to try and become just friends. She has never been just a friend to Angel.

“Yes, we’re friends right? And we know what this is. The divorce papers should be ready in the next few weeks and once it’s signed, we’re both free to,” she thought for a moment, “publicly do what we want.”

Yep, Alena had him fucked up.

“Divorce papers? Who agreed to a divorce?” Angel didn’t like this at all. He fucked up. He should have told Alena so that they could be talking about having more kids not fucking dates and divorce papers.

“We did, a few years back remember?” Alena wasn’t sure where this surge of confidence was coming from, but this was to protect herself. She’s loved Angel for so long and he was always so hot and cold, he didn’t know where to place her so she’ll do it for him.

“Alena, I don’t have any plans on ever signing those papers, you want to file them, go ahead, but we both know you don’t want for us to get divorced.” Angel shook his head in disbelief. This was partly his own doing, but he knew what Alena was trying to do. She was taking initiative since he’s been so back and forth with her. But he was taking initiative too. Alena was his wife, and they’ll remain that way. “You kissed him?"

"Yes,” Alena noticed then that Angel was stoic, keeping his emotions at bay which he did when he was trying his best to control himself. “I'm sorry, I don't know how it happened." She wasn’t certain why she apologized, but she felt that she had to do so. They were married.

"You said you had errands." Angel reminded her of her lie. Since when did Alena lie to him?

"I did and Victor wanted to go to dinner and a museum. I just, it just happened."

“Did you sleep with him?” Angel stood up.

“No, of course not.”

“Yes because just kissing him is so much better.” Alena watched as Angel placed a kiss on Cruz head as he was sitting on the couch, watching television. He looked up at him confused. "I got shit to handle at the club, I'll be back late, don't wait up." Angel grabbed his kutte.

"Angel, please, I'm sorry." Alena wasn't even sure why she was apologizing. Angel had told her that he didn’t have anything to do today except be with them. “We’re just friends.”

“I don’t like Victor, you’ve never lied to me before and since this whole thing started you started lying to me.” Angel frowned. “If there was nothing to worry about you wouldn’t hide it and you wouldn’t excitedly tell me about a kiss you two shared.” Angel turned to face her as his hand gripped the doorknob. “Do you love Victor?”

"What?" That was ridiculous, she didn’t love Victor.

"Do you love Victor?"

"No." And she didn’t.

"Do you want to be with him?"

"I don’t know.” And she didn’t know.

"Don’t know?” Angel let out a chuckle. “Sure doesn't seem like it."

============

Alena sat down at the park bench, Cruz in perfect line of sight for her. He was in the sandbox playing with a few other kids. She took out the book EZ had recommended for her a few weeks ago and opened it to the latest page she was on. Every once in a while, she would look up to check on Cruz. It made her anxious when they went to the park since she read so many horror stories of kids just disappearing. She wouldn’t know what she would do if Cruz disappeared while he was with her.

She’s been trying to text Angel all day, but he hasn’t responded to her. In hindsight, she could understand why he hadn't responded to her, but she was hoping he would at least let her know he was okay. Maybe she approached it wrong and could have done it in a better way, but she didn’t know how else to do so. She was trying to go back to normal with Angel, whatever normal was for them two. They were friends once and were able to talk about anything, but it was different now.

Though maybe it was disrespectful to speak about a date to her supposed husband.

“That’s a good book.” She heard someone comment beside her. “Don Quixote.”

She looked up and smiled at the person, thanking her. She noticed the tattoo on her neck, which was actually beautiful. The young woman before her was beautiful as well. Her pale skin was in contrast to her dark green jacket. She wasn’t sure why she was wearing a jacket since it was scorching hot in Santo Padre right now. But she definitely looked cute.

“You’re Angel’s wife.”

Common knowledge in Santo Padre, not odd whatsoever.

“Yes, I am.” Alena hoped this wasn’t one of those psycho’s who was hoping for her death so they could sweep Angel off his feet. Can they just sweep him off his feet without wishing for her death? Alena no longer wanted to be a part of this conversation, focusing her attention back on the book before her. Being Angel’s wife was quite a pain. Besides the fact he slept with almost fucking everyone in Santo Padre, all these women began to lust after him again after he got a ring around his finger and Cruz by his side. Cruz was a cute kid and it was hard to resist that aspect of Angel’s life, but she wished they would stop confronting her as if it would do something if they did.

“I’m not here to start any trouble, I just wanted to meet the woman who has Angel’s heart.” Alena looked over at her again and she had a smile on her face, it wasn’t menacing, it was genuine. Woman who had Angel’s heart? Right, cause they’re married. “He speaks of you and your son often.”

“Do I know you?”

“My name is Adelita.”

Alena almost gasped when the name registered. She was the rebel leader, the one she was convincing Angel to date. God, she was beautiful.

“Oh,” Alena closed her book then. “Angel speaks of you often as well.” Alena lightly laughed. “I’m quite surprised to see you on this side.”

“Plans have changed and I wanted to meet you. You have a beautiful son.” Alena and Adelita both looked over at Cruz who waved at his mother. “You’ve sacrificed a great deal for Angel.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“No, he didn’t. Any woman who has chosen to raise a child who is not hers is admirable, though I’m sure it came with great sacrifices.”

“It did, but I don’t regret it. They’re my family.” Alena wasn’t even sure why she was entertaining this conversation, but she had always wanted to meet the woman that Angel admired. “I have to correct your statement though, I don’t have Angel’s heart. I’m sure you know of our circumstances. In a few month’s time, we’ll be divorced so I’m sure you two can pursue whatever relationship you would like to do so then.”

Adelita laughed, shaking her head. “Angel did tell me you were planning to get a divorce.” It was comical for her since Alena and Angel were telling the stories differently. On one hand for Alena, their agreement has come to an end and it was time for the divorce. For Angel, she overheard him mentioning the divorce EZ as they drove her to her destination a week earlier and how he had no plans of divorcing her.

Alena smiled, nodding her head. “Yes we are, will you be staying on this side of the border from now on? To be closer to Angel?”

“I think you misunderstood Alena, Angel and I only have a purely business relationship. He is quite an attractive man, but his attention is solely on you.” Adelita stood up then, Alena standing up as well. She stuck her hand out, which Alena took. ��You are quite remarkable Alena Reyes, you have made a good man out of Angel.”

Adelita walked away then, leaving Alena speechless. She wondered why she even came to see her. She felt a pull on her skirt and looked down at Cruz.

“Mama, who was that?”

“Just one of daddy’s friends.” She ran her fingers through Cruz’s hair. “Did you want your juice?”

Cruz nodded his head. Alena took the juice out of the little cooler she had for Cruz’s snacks and drinks. Handing it to Cruz, she wiped the sweat on his face and back, making sure he was hydrated.

“Mama, can I have a little brother or sister?”

Alena wanted to laugh at Cruz’s request. It’s not like she thought Angel was lying, but Cruz has never asked her about having a sibling.

“You want a sibling?” Alena sat him on her lap, pressing her cheek against his head. “How many do you want?”

“Um, five.”

“Did you tell Daddy that?”

Cruz nodded his head as he drank his juice. “Daddy says he wants, um,” Cruz thought for a moment. “He said he wanted 8.”

Alena let out a baffled laugh. 8 kids? Was Angel going to carry them all? What was up with her boys and wanting a handful of children running around.

“And when you ask Daddy, what does he tell you?”

“He says we have to ask you because you’re the boss.”

Alena shook her head. Her boys were too much at times.

“How about a puppy first?”

============

Alena yawned as she exited the bathroom. She almost screamed when she found Angel sitting at the edge of their bed, fidgeting with the keys he had.

“Angel?” She called out questioningly. No answer. He continued to fiddle with the keys. “Babe?”

Angel looked up, his watery eyes immediately got Alena. She quickly walked over to him and cupped his face.

“You okay? What’s wrong?” She frowned as the tears fell from his eyes. The scratches on his face worried her. She moved away to grab the first aid kit, but Angel grabbed her elbow and pulled her against him.

He had his head on her chest, arms tightly around her. “Please don’t leave me cielo, you’re the only person I have.”

“I would never leave you Angel.” She ran her fingers through his hair. She knew he was crying, the way his shoulders were shaking.

“You and Cruz are my family, I can’t lose you. I would go insane.”

“Angel, you’re not going to lose me.” She pulled away, cupping his face as she wiped the tears. Angel rarely cried and when he did, she was the one who caught him and provided relief. “I’ll always be here for you.” She kissed him, knowing Angel needed some type of reassurance and it was the first thing that came to her head.

Angel pulled her to his lap, Alena straddling him. He wrapped his arms around. One of Alena’s hands cradling his face, while the other arm wrapped around his neck. She pulled away, leaning her forehead against his. God, that kiss was definitely different when compared to Victor. When she kissed Angel, she felt that if she wasn’t sitting on Angel’s lap, her knees would go weak, her body going limp. All the worries they both had were wiped out since they were the only two people in this world, everything else blurred out.

“What’s wrong?” Alena asked.

“Ezekiel betrayed me.” Angel plopped down the bed, Alena still on his lap.

She frowned, getting off his lap and moving to sit beside the top half of his body. “What happened?” She intertwined their hands, waiting for Angel to talk.

And when he did, he told her everything.

At the end of the story, Angel had his head on Alena’s chest, her fingers running through his hair. His arms were wrapped around her middle as Angel listened to her heart. Alena was in shock that this all occurred. She always thought it was too good to be true for EZ to get out, but she believed that the cop may have been corrupt or whatever excuse they had given. She worried the most for Angel, his relationship with Felipe was starting to mend due to Cruz and now, she knew Angel’s trust was shattered.

“What can I do to make it better?” Alena broke the silence that befell them after he finished his story.

“Just don’t leave me.”

“Other than that, you already know I won’t leave you.” Alena kissed the top of his head.

“Can we have a baby?”

“If you carry it, absolutely.”

Alena and Angel both laughed. She playfully smacked him upside the head, causing Angel to flinch. He loved laying his head on her chest, just listening to her heart beating. At times, it even lulled him to sleep, but he knew sleep wouldn’t be coming soon.

“He’s your brother Angel, I know you’re hurting, but hear him out.”

“No,” Angel’s tone was firm and left no room for argument. “You’re my family now, you, Cruz and your family are mine. I was always the outsider, but not anymore. I have a family of my own and none of our kids will ever feel second best to any of their siblings.”

“Okay babe.”

Angel knew this was the perfect time to tell her he loves her, to show her how much he loves her, but he wanted to settle this whole thing with Ezekiel. Once it was done, he would tell Alena everything and from them on, as it’s always been, it would be the two of them against the world.

“I met Adelita.”

Angel froze, his eyes widening. He sat up, looking down at Alena who propped herself using her forearms. “What?”

“Yeah, she came up to me while we were at the park.” Alena noticed how uncomfortable Angel became and sat up as well, placing her hand on his. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s not weird at all. She’s beautiful and I think you two would make a good couple.”

Angel gave Alena an incredulous look and shook his head. “Did she do anything? Say anything?”

“No, she just said she wanted to meet me and she thought I was remarkable, which was kind of odd if you think about it. I’m not the leader of some rebellious group that is giving the cartel a run for their money.” Alena went under the covers then, just so she could hide when Angel broke the news to her about him and Adelita. “You okay?” She noticed how tense Angel was.

He was livid. How dare Adelita approach Alena. He told her, his family was off limits. No Alena. No Cruz. No Felipe. He played her game and helped her as much as he could, she should have at least respected his wishes.

“What did she tell you?”

“That she wanted to meet the woman who had your heart.” Alena turned to Angel, resting her head against her propped hand. “Did she meet her?”

Angel wanted to laugh at the irony and slowness of Alena. “Cielo, it’s you.”

“Look, I think we should clear the air.” Alena was surprised by her own words. She was never to be the one to clear the air and after what happened with Ezekiel, this may not be the right time, but they were here now. “I know you said you haven’t slept with anyone since we got married, which I believe you, but I just want you to know that you don’t have to try and salvage things here. We’ve always known what it was and that’s fine. Maybe we shouldn’t have sex anymore so it doesn’t,” Alena looked up at Angel when she noticed she was looking at his ringed fingers that had dried blood on it. “We should clean the blood off.”

“So it doesn’t what?”

“It doesn’t confuse us further.” She got out of bed and grabbed a wet cloth. She sat in front of Angel wiping off the dried blood from his knuckles.

“I would never force you to be intimate with me Alena, we both know I can respect your boundaries.” Angel watched as Alena cleaned his wounds.

“I know, which is why I’m putting up my boundaries again. I want us to be able to be friends after all of this.”

“Alena, do you honestly think that’s going to make things better? I already told you, I have feelings for you and that’s not going to go away because you decide we’re not going to have sex. We’ve done it before, remember? Six months, no sex, which is fine, I would never force you. The most I did was kiss your neck.” Angel remembered that. Alena had asked him to back off, which he did, she eventually came to him on his birthday and after that, they’ve been intimate ever since. “It didn’t do anything for how I felt about you Alena, it just made me feel like you didn’t want me.”

“You’re so hot and cold Angel, I don’t even think you know what you want.” Alena sighed. “I don’t want to fight, you had such a long day and it’s almost six in the morning.”

Angel stood up. “I’m gonna go see pops.”

“Angel, I, I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me Alena. I know I’ve been an asshole, I’m hot and cold, but I truly have feelings for you. Just give me time to fix all this shit with EZ and once it’s done, we can figure us out.” Angel walked over to her and kissed her. “I’ll see you later.”

Alena sat on their bed and sighed. The butterflies in her stomach were still running rampant after Angel’s words. She believed him, she really did, but he would most likely change his mind tomorrow.

She didn’t want to be with Victor, that was for sure.

At least not right now. Not when she was still irrevocably in love with Angel.

============

Angel sat beside Coco on the couch as he finished his session with the tattoo artist. It’s been a whirlwind of a day and as much as he wanted to go home, he needed space from Alena. With everything going on, he didn’t know where they could go. Of course, confessing to Alena was still in the plan, but after Adelita came to see her, Angel just felt shaken. He never wanted to involve Alena in this, but he told her everything. She was like his journal, non judging and took everything in. The most important thing for her was him and Cruz, how it would affect them.

It would kill him if something happened to Alena and Cruz.

“Alena texted me, have you spoken to her?” Coco questioned as he sat down next to his brother, letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth.

“I told her we were here and that I would be staying the night. Why?” His eyes drifted over to his brother who was currently getting the tattoo.

“You know Adelita came to see her?”

“She told me, why, what’s going on?” Did Adelita go to see her again? Did someone else? He took his phone out and there were no messages from Alena.

“I don’t know, I just don’t feel comfortable with her visiting Lenny.” Coco shrugged.

“You think I fucking do?” Angel sighed. “She isn’t going to harm Alena.”

“I don’t think she is, but I’m sure Alena’s mind is running wild.” Coco knew how deeply Alena felt for Angel. During times that Angel had a run that would take him away from Alena and Cruz for longer than he wanted which was basically a day, so Coco would stay with Alena.

And when he did, he let her let loose and have a few drinks with him.

============

Alena giggled as she took another shot. Korean Vodka, Soju, was Alena’s favorite, specifically the apple flavor. Coco had come to take a liking of it as well and they were three bottles deep. Alena’s cheeks were red, a clear sign of her intoxication. She also had no filter, which Coco enjoyed thoroughly.

“You know I feel stupid for taking on a role I always wanted, but not under this circumstances.” Alena rested her cheek on her palm, giving Coco a small smile. “I love Cruz so much though, I feel like he is my kid.”

“Alena, Cruz is your kid. He’s so attached to you.” Coco was surprised that Cruz didn’t throw a bigger fuss whenever Alena went back to San Diego. Though, it was a hit or miss. When he threw a big fuss, Alena would take him to San Diego, Angel following behind after a few days. Their dynamic was fucking odd, but who likes normal anyway?

“Sometimes I wish he really was, that Valeria wasn’t his mom.” Coco watched as Alena’s face scrunched up. “I was going to confess to him when he told me Valeria had his kid. I was going to tell him that I was in love with him, that I was going to Paris and if he didn’t feel the same, it was okay.” She began to cry then, letting her tears fall. “I love Angel so much, it hurts at times. But I’m happy where we are no matter how fake our relationship is. Being here for him, to raise Cruz with him, it’s more than I can ask for.”

Coco frowned at Alena’s words. He and Gilly always spoke about Alena’s love for Angel, how idiotic she could be, but at the same time, they admired her greatly. She had the purest kind of love for Angel. She didn’t become angry when he was with another person. She doesn’t hold grudges against him or anyone for that matter. She didn’t become angry when she felt rejected. She loved him unconditionally without any expectations and Coco was envious of that. They were all a bunch of misfits who did not have the best relationships with their families, they found a family in one another. Then they have Alena, someone they definitely don’t fucking deserve, who loves them as well, as an extension of her love for Angel.

When he first met her, he couldn’t believe this young woman was fucking hanging around Angel. He was closed off, but she always went out of her way to make sure he was taken care of along with Angel. And from then on, they became closer and closer. Seeing her hurting like this, it hurt him, his younger sister was suffering cause his brother was a fucking idiot.

He was certain Angel felt greatly for her too, with Cruz around, it just wasn’t the main priority.

“Alena, you know you deserve better. You should have gone to Paris.” Coco was the one who encouraged Alena to go to Paris. Was it a dick move? Maybe, but Angel didn’t know what he had, perhaps it would have woken him up. She refused to tell him though. And he knew why. Angel would have begged her to stay and she couldn’t say no to him.

“Yeah, I should have. But when I met Cruz, I couldn’t. He looked so much like Angel. He deserved a chance to be a father. I wasn’t going to let Valeria take that away from him.” Alena wiped her tears, laughing at her silliness. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying. I like it when you come and stay with me, I miss spending time with you and the others.”

“Yeah, Angel fucking locked you down here or something ever since you two got married.” Coco teased. They held no hard feelings towards Angel. He was always protective of Alena, but that increased tenfold when they got married. “But we get it, Cruz is your priority.”

“He is.”

“Alena, it’s okay for you to cry. I know how frustrating it is for you. It’s rare for you to show any frustration, but don’t you just want to scream at times?”

“For what?”

“I’m sure this situation isn’t ideal for you. I know that you always wanted to marry Angel, but not like this.”

Alena smiled. “No, but it’s fine. Angel needs me, Cruz needs me. I’m like the glorified nanny.”

“Stop that shit Lenny, you know you’re not a fucking nanny. You’re Cruz’s mother.” Coco hated hearing Alena put herself down. She was far from a fucking nanny.

“I know, do you think Angel could ever love me?”

“Alena, it’s hard not to fall in love with you.”

“He didn’t though.”

Coco watched as Alena took another shot. But Angel was in love with her, he was just too fucking stupid to make a move.

============

“Running wild?” Angel wasn’t sure what Coco meant. Did Alena express to Coco that she was worried about Adelita or disclosed information she didn’t tell him about? If he was honest, he was glad Alena was close to the members, but at times, he felt that she withheld information from him and heard it from Coco instead.

“I’m sure she thinks Adelita and you are getting together.” Coco regretted telling Alena how much Angel admired Adelita. She just gave him that smile of hers and he knew it got to her. Yet again, she was on the losing end with Angel. His brother really did a number on her.

“Is she fucking insane? I haven’t even touched another woman since we got married.” Angel knew it was easy to assume that he slept around, but he didn’t. He was devoted to Alena and that was that.

But he also knew why Adelita came to see Alena. She’s overheard Angel speak about Alena so much, anyone would be curious.

They were across the border, bringing some supplies to Los Olvidados when Alena had messaged Angel.

============

Angel chuckled, shaking his head and replying to Alena. He knew there was some international charges, but he didn’t give a fuck. He always kept his phone on in case there was an emergency.

“What Lenny send you?” Coco questioned, trying to peak at Angel’s phone.

Angel moved it closer to his chest, shaking his head. “Nothing man, just Cruz finally jumping in the pool at her apartment building.”

“I still can’t believe you’re okay with her living in San Diego.” Coco chuckled. “You aren’t worried she’s dating people while you’re not there?”

“Careful bro, we don’t need Angel locking her down more than he already has.” Gilly teased Angel, adding to Coco’s statement.

“Alena doesn’t need anyone, she has me.” Angel scoffed at their suggestion that his precious Cielo would even stray from him.

“Right, does she know that?” Coco was not a fan of Angel’s methods when it came to Alena. For him, he didn’t need to tell her they were it for one another, even though

“You have a girlfriend?” Adelita surprised the three men. She was attracted to Angel and she honestly thought he was attracted to her, but she’s heard them mention the name Alena plenty of times. She thought she was just the mother of his child.

“No, Alena’s my wife.” Angel showed his left hand.

Adelita smiled, nodding her head. “She’s a lucky woman. How long have you two been together?”

“Four years.”

“She must be one hell of a woman to have tamed you.”

Coco chuckled. “You have no idea.”

============

“I literally told Alena, it’s me and her. Always has been since we got married.” Angel extinguished his cigarette, shoving it down on the ashtray.

“Hermano, you know why she’s like that. Talk to her. Communication is key.” Coco smirked. “And from what you told us, it’s not you and her anymore. She went on a date with Victor.”

“Victor is nothing. He’s a fucking pretentious asshole.”

"You would like Victor if he wasn't making moves on your girl. Told you, a girl like her would just stay single for so long. Her kindness was always beyond you, and someone finally noticed her. It's the day you always feared hermano, what are you going to do about it?"

"It's too fucking late for the church of Coco."

#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fic #angel reyes fanfic #mayans mc fic #mayans mc fanfic #eiy

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onbanksofadragonriver · 3 years

Text

Varric x Merrill thoughts

This is a rarepair ship I’ve believed in ever since I saw this fabulous art a few years ago, and the fic “Perfume Shop” (in Russian) has been a major inspiration too. And then recently, @hollyand-writes got me to air my headcanons and to actually get down to writing for this ship, so here we are.

I’ll go by points, but it’s not my goal to somehow attempt to prove that this ship is or should be canon. They’re my headcanons: Don’t like, don’t ship. Also, I haven’t played DA2 in a few years, and have never played any of the DLCs, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt. All dialogue with no specifically indicated source is from the wiki.

Buckle in, this is long!

@geekalogian, @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold ♥

>> Amazing banter

All the companions get frustrated by Merrill’s silly questions, though I believe half of them are actually only asked as a joke. They try to explain it or avoid the question, or sigh about Merrill’s naivete. Fenris is downright hostile to her, and Anders tends to get preachy. Aveline treats her like a child sometimes. Isabela is protective and friendly, but sometimes she sounds a bit condescending and impatient with Merrill’s innocence.

But Varric, he gets her. He gets her silly jokes and just rolls with it, and their dialogues are a pleasure to listen to. It’s with Varric that her somewhat straight-faced, silly humour really shines, because he’s the only one to play along: about frolicking in the woods, and his resemblance to Hahren Paivel, and Bianca having a pretty name, or how his family is like fleas, or Darktown rats following the mage/templar mess, etc. He never brings up her naivete or makes her feel inadequate or as if she’s missed some context. And they’re both so relaxed around each other it’s like Varric has unlocked a whole new dimension to Merrill.

>> Protecting her freedom. The ball of twine and taking care of the gangs.

I’ve seen meta on how Varric paying off the thugs is him infantilizing Merrill, but he does this for Anders too. It’s his way of caring about people. And also, if you see Merrill’s reaction in case Hawke doesn’t let her have the arulin’holm, you’ll see that she’s perfectly capable of realising when people are coddling her, and letting them know — in no uncertain terms — when that kind of meddling is unwelcome. (see also: Varric and his product deliveries below)

I also like to think that half of the reason “nothing ever happens” when she wanders around at night is because Merrill is a badass mage perfectly capable of taking care of herself. One of her default starting spells is rock armour, and when Hawke meets her, she admits to having fought before, and having done so alone. She’s certainly capable or recognising the stupidity and danger Sister Petrice is walking in as she wanders around Lowtown, and that’s in broad daylight.

Also, I’m thinking Varric must have put that protection in place after news of some incidents reached his ears, because it’s not something he does by default to other party members who’re new to Kirkwall. So perhaps it is, or was necessary at some point. On the other hand, perhaps Merrill is totally taking care of herself, and the thugs are not even trying to attack her, they’re just enjoying ripping off Varric :P

I like to think that the Viscount’s gardens were an honest mistake and Merrill did cut down on wandering there after Varric’s comment.

The ball of twine is interesting. Her closest friends in the gang seem to be Hawke, Isabela and Varric, but only Varric actually gives her a tool enabling her to find her way around the confusing human city. I don’t know what others did. Did they expect Merrill to just stay in the Alienage if there was nobody to accompany her around the city? Or did they expect her to find her own way through trial and error? Varric gives her a weird, but apparently functional tool for navigating the city until she learns her own way.

And the common motif between ensuring safe streets, an access to gardens and the ball of twine, is how Varric is safeguarding Merrill’s freedom. She’s Dalish, used to living under open sky, travelling from place to place. She’s used to green, growing things and wandering about as she pleases. And she’s used to doing magic freely and in ways that she herself believes appropriate. Now she’s stuck in a barely hospitable alienage of a city with a strong templar and slaver presence, and Varric doesn’t have the heart to scold her and limit her freedom even more.

Considering Varric is part of the ascendant group in Merchant Guild, who believe in leaving behind Orzammar’s strict caste system and traditions and embracing surface life instead, looks like Merrill’s freedom speaks to something deep in Varric’s own beliefs and values, nonchalant as he seems.

>> Trying to take care of her. Delivering produce.

This gives me feels. First, Varric noticed that something was off. Maybe he missed her showing up at the Hanged Man, maybe he went to visit her. Either way, he noticed that she wasn’t going out, not even to the market. It’s funny to imagine Varric standing in the market scratching his head about what actually goes into food preparation, but more probably he initially just threw some money at the problem, sending someone shopping for her. And then he checked up and saw she’s still not going out. And then he tries to talk her into going for a walk, to get fresh air.

And again this is something I’ve read as coddling and infantilizing, but — when Merrill is clearly not in a mood for teasing, she rebukes him politely: “I’m not a plant, Varric.” She’s not harsh as in case with Hawke and arulin’holm. When Varric leaves, she admits: “Varric is... very sweet. Frequently infuriating and a terrible busybody, but sweet.”

Which at first read as... Merrill not reciprocating Varric’s feelings for her? But on a second thought: what if Merrill is the oblivious one? Not only to Varric’s caring but about her own feelings for him? What if she never considered Varric romantically because she always thought she’d end up with a Dalish partner, and then she becomes friends with Hawke and starts opening up to the idea that what if she takes a human lover? And falling in love with a dwarf has not even crossed her mind yet? (Look lower, queen.)

Because when Merrill cares, she helps people: waters their plants or repairs ancient artifacts. Part of her potentially falling in love with Hawke is due to how they help her, how they have her back. Varric and Merrill have the same love language. I choose to think of it as a mystery, why Merrill is not canonically head over heels for Varric. Maybe she’s so used to his confident, handsome self boasting about all the female attention he gets that she thinks she’s out of his league and has friendzoned herself :P

Additionally, I believe “sweet” and “infuriating” is something that the gang could equally attribute to Merrill herself. Pot calling kettle black? :D

>> Opinions on magic

Varric largely doesn’t have an opinion on Merrill being a mage, a blood mage, or whatever. He’s not afraid, because he has other, more pressing concerns, like Merchant’s Guild breathing down his neck and sending assassins, and when he does mention Merrill’s blood magic being “evil” it sounds like a rehearsed thing that might cause him headache due to other people getting their knickers in a twist over it.

He does acknowledge he’s distrustful of letting “dangerous people run amok” if Hawke sides with the mages in the end of DA2, but apparently he trusts Merrill enough that she knows what she’s doing and leaves it at that. He’s just sick of the whole mage/templar drama.

>> Mutual interest in what they do.

Merrill is interested in what he does for a living, while he tries to keep her out of trouble that would come from her knowing too much. And Varric is pondering why Eluvian is a mirror, and not some other piece of furniture. Not judging each other, just — curious. Showing they are in each other’s thoughts. And I won’t go into details here, because @hollyand-writes has, like, ALL the receipts where Varric thinks about Merrill in DAI, but he does — a lot :) He knows her interest in history and lore, knows that news of ancient elves keeping slaves would upset her, knows she would have liked to see the Dales. He seems to be missing her a lot...

>> Priority.

LOOK at the sequence he mentions his friends in, Merrill is No.1, while Hawke is almost an afterthought :D

Merrill: How do you do it, living in the city without picking a side? Doesn't it matter to you? Varric: Of course it does. That's why I don't take sides. Merrill: That doesn't make any sense. Varric: I've got you and Aveline, Fenris and Anders. Hawke. Isabela. I've got friends in the Circle and drinking buddies in the templars. All of them matter.

And who’s the first person that comes to Merrill’s mind when Hawke calls her pretty? Varric! :D [X]

>> Comfort in storytelling.

Yeah, Merrill says somewhere later that she wouldn’t have made a good Keeper because she’s not good with people, but she did receive all the requisite education. She studied lore and elven legends and history, as much as is left of it anyway, and I believe that storytelling, thriving on stories, is something that she and Varric both have in common.

Maybe she’s too shy to tell her own stories, but she’s definitely enjoying Varric’s and looking for consolation in his stories when things get rough.

Merrill: Varric, how does the story end? Varric: Which story, Daisy? Merrill: The big one. With us and Hawke, the mages and templars. Everything. Varric: You want to know before it happens? You're not worried about spoiling the surprise? Merrill: I might not see it end. Varric: You have to stick with us if you want to find out how it turns out, Daisy.

Merrill: Tell me a story, Varric. Varric: Right now? I don't think we have time, Daisy. Merrill: Maybe a very short story, then? Please? Varric: Fine. "When the cards turned, he lost." Merrill: Oh. Did it have to be so sad?

Merrill: (passing the Hanged Man): "Do you think there's time for Varric to tell us a story while we're here?"

Merrill: I hope we win. Varric will make it a good story, I'm sure.

>> Conclusions & Future

The thing that gets me the most is how good and kind they are to each other. It’s in their teasing, their jokes, the way Varric takes care of Merrill. I love Merrill’s confidence in Varric’s storytelling talent, and I like to think Varric finds Merrill’s confident tinkering with the mirror at least a little bit hot, even if he doesn’t understand magic (Bianca is/was a brilliant engineer, and I think Varric has a bit of a competence kink :D)

I also enjoy thinking of them both as slightly out of touch with emotions: Varric ignoring his own, and Merrill oblivious to his. I like to think of what happens when Merrill realises Varric loves her: because she’s open and honest in her affections, and it would be awesome to see Varric taken by that storm. To see him openly fall for someone so different, at a first glance, but also familiar: a knowledgeable storyteller, confident in her abilities, believing in free will and freedom.

I see them moving on together: Merrill learning to let go of the disappointment that is the unfinished eluvian, and Varric learning to let go of his lingering feelings for Bianca. Yes, the past is important for Merrill, while Varric wants to live in the moment, but the point of knowing the past, for Merrill, is to be able to move forward, and Varric certainly knows his family’s past, so I don’t see any disagreements there. If anything, Varric’s resources and connections can help Merrill get her hands on more artefacts and ancient tomes, letting her continue on her path in some other way.

It’s interesting to imagine their life together. After DAI, Varric pours his own funds into various infrastructure projects until he ends up the Viscount of Kirkwall, and Merrill is in Kirkwall too, helping the city elves. Somehow, it feels logical that at least some of those projects would be new elf housing and improvements to the alienage.

Would they get married? Probably, because I think it would be important to Merrill, and also probably because it might be a better way to protect her, a rumoured/known blood mage, from the Chantry than if she was just the Viscount’s mistress. On the other hand, knowing Varric and his cousin Elmand, and his spy network, and his tendency to successfully evade the Merchant Guild messengers [X], it’s equally possible he’d whip up a completely fake story about how his beloved Merrill is a hatter, and leave it at that. Probably he couldn’t even be found in the Keep, instead preferring to hide out in the Hanged Man or in his wife’s house in the alienage :D

Because, in the end, I think they both enjoy doing their respective Things very much, whether it’s helping elves or writing books, and they let each other do it selflessly, even if maybe it means they can’t live together. (Because can you imagine a Viscomtesse Merrill having to host a ball? Dealing with Hightown nobles? No, I don’t think Varric would ever ask such a sacrifice of her.) But they live close, and help and support each other, and, in short, I think they’d be awesome :)

#dragon age #dragon age meta #varric x merrill #merrill #varric #this is my tiny OTP #feel free to add your own headcanons #ship and let ship!

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retroateez · 3 years

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Prophecy - Chapter Fifteen

remember when i said chapter 14 would be the last of the year? i lied ;) think of this as an end of year gift from me to you, as a thank you for all the support and love you’ve all been giving my silly little story. - hades x

words; 3827

prophecy masterlist

tag list; @hewwo-from-the-other-side

"You want me to teach you magic?" Yunho splutters over the counter, his jaw dropped as he stares at you in disbelief.

You nod.

"Well, little lady, I'm afraid I cannot help you."

Your confident demeanor falls, your posture slouching and curved mouth pointing into a frown.

"What?" you demand. "Why not?"

Yunho sighs and after a moment of hesitation, leaves the counter and steps through a doorway that leads to the back of the shop, motioning you with a scar-littered hand to follow him.

You heave up the wooden slab that allows you access behind the counter and follow Yunho's quick pace. The blonde apothecary leads you down a set of worn, stone stairs, and you find yourself in a dingy, cold basement.

The basement is scarcely lit, with a couple of iron brackets mounted on the wall, each baring a lit torch that radiates a flickering, orange light throughout the room. Yunho's giant shadow dances on the wall, and suddenly he becomes the opposite of the bubbly apothecary you knew before.

A workbench is pressed up against the left wall, bundles of chamomile flowers and small piles of marshmallow root thrown chaotically across the surface. The wooden chair is shoved carelessly to the side, and you can see on the chair legs how worn and damaged they are from scraping across the cobblestone floor. On the opposite wall, are tall, oak shelves similar to the ones upstairs in the shop. Packages of twine and string and burlap sacks and rolls of parchments are scattered messily upon each shelf, almost as if Yunho had unpacked his things in a rush.

You stop walking abruptly, as Yunho bends down and fumbles underneath the workbench. You watch as he slides his slender fingers on the underside of the wooden table, squinting his eyes and poking his tongue out as he searches what he's looking for.

"There we go." He mumbles lowly, just as you hear a click and he stands up straight.

You almost jump out of your skin, at the sound of loud rattling, clanking, and finally the ear-splitting screech of wood raking against stone. It's only when the cacophany of noises stop that you realise that the shelf, is not a shelf at all.

The entire back panel of the shelf is gone, as are the contents that lay upon it.

Instead, there are more steps, which lead down into an impossibly darker room.

"Go on." Yunho points to the new entrance, indicating for you to go down the steps.

"Are you perhaps short of a marble?" You scoff. "Go down there and let you kill me? I don't think so."

"If I wanted to kill you, I would've done it a long time ago." A darkness clouds over his eyes and you swallow thickly. "Now go."

This time you decide to listen to him, and you take a hesitant step downwards.

The walls are damp, with trails of moss coating the steps and buried inside the cracks of the stone. You take it slow, not wanting to slip and let your guard down in case Yunho changes his mind and does decide to kill you.

"What are you waiting for?" His impatient voice comes from behind you. "Do you really think I would hurt you?" There's a twinge of pain as he speaks, and you feel slightly guilty for even thinking sweet, innocent, doctor Yunho would be capable of something like that.

Once you're down the stairs, you squint to try and make out the shapes in the unlit room. You spot something circular on the floor, but you can't make out what it is. It's too dark to see, but the smell of dust and ancient damp invades your nostrils. Yunho hasn't been down here in a very long time.

There's a snapping sound from behind you, and the torches in the room suddenly light themselves.

Despite the light, the room is still eerily dark. You can barely make out the furniture in the room. There's what appears to be a desk, covered in cobwebs but still much tidier and more organised than the one in the basement. There's a (real) shelf too, full to the brim with thick, leather-bound books which, if you squint hard enough, you notice have holes chewed out of the spine. Lastly, upon the ground and painted sloppily in white, is a five pointed star within a circle.

"Yunho?" You whisper. "What is all this?"

He ignores you and paces over to the table. With his sleeve, he sweeps away the dust, and picks up a worn, tattered notebook. Yunho hands you the book, and you read the cover, confused.

"Laredia Academy of Magic?" you read. "You're a mage?"

"I was a mage." he corrects you.

"How do you just stop being a mage? Just unlearn all the magic?" you joke.

"No." Yunho's face is deadly serious, and your smile falters and your blood runs cold. "I was cast out, and my mage rites were revoked."

You stand awkwardly in silence, biting your lip and finding sudden interest at the dirt scuffs on the tips of Yunho's black boots.

"Yeosang and I went to the same magic academy," He explains. "In Laredia, just north of the Seventeen kingdom. He was in the class above me, because he's older, but every single student knew about Yeosang."

Yunho grabs a chair from the darkest corner of the room and sits down on it, pointing behind you at another chair you hadn't noticed. Once you sit down, he continues.

"I always wanted to be a mage. It was my absolute dream, and I knew that basically anybody can do the most basic spell, so I trained hard every single day before I was even old enough to apply to an academy. Hundreds upon thousands of wishful mages and sorceresses are turned away from academies because they lack true magical talent. Luckily, I passed the entrance exam and the initiation tests, and I got in.

"The professors said I was a natural, that I had magical skills they hadn't witnessed in centuries. I was only four months into my first year at Laredia before they moved me up a class. And that was where I met Yeosang.

"We butted heads at first," Yunho chuckles fondly, remembering all the fights he and his elder got into all those years ago. Reminising the scars and spell marks scattered across his body. "We were both exceptionally good at magic, I would argue Yeosang was better than I. I would never have admitted that in my youth, but he was much more controlled, sensible with his talent than I was.

"Everything was a competition between 'Sang and I. Theory exams, practical classes, potions and herbology. Anything you could study there, we always strived to be the best. Eventually we became both good friends and rivals... It was fun and games for a few years, you know? I think at one point we were almost as close as brothers..."

Yunho begins to trail off, a sad look filling his walnut eyes as they glitter in the flickering light.

"Did something happen?" you whisper softly. He nods slowly.

"I...I pushed it too far in our last year. That was the year the academy would prepare you for mage work, I was to be sent out to the kingdom of Streyden in the east, and become King Chan's magical advisor. Yeosang was on track to be a professor at Laredia himself, and he was, for quite a while.

"Yeosang possessed so much more than I did when it was time to graduate. He was better at spell-casting, he was absolutely phenomenal at herb identifying - ironic now given I run an apothecary actually- but there was nothing Yeosang could be bested at, and it drove me utterly insane. It evolved into more than a friendly rivalry, more than just healthy competition. It became an obsession, nd so I went out searching for what my heart yearned for the most; more power.

"I found it quickly, too. I was directed to an elven clan that resided deep in the southern forest, under the impression they were gifted in regular magic, and they could teach me any spell I desired. So of course, I went. I was young, stupid and incredibly naive to believe it would've worked. And foolish to think that I could've gotten away with it."

Yunho sighs deeply, leaning his elbows on his knees and hanging his head between his legs. He rubs his hands over his face roughly, and your gut tells you Yunho's story isn't about to get any better. You watch him, and you try to take in everything he just told you. You knew that Yeosang and Yunho had been friends for a long time, but you had no idea they went back this far.

"The elves were agents of the arcane arts alright," Yunho spits bitterly out of the blue, causing you to jump in your seat a little. "Their dark magic consumed me entirely, contaminated my soul and tainted every fibre of my being. I knew I was ruined the moment I agreed to train under them. I was... so aware that everything they were teaching me was so wrong. Yet it was everything I had dreamed of, and more than anything I knew it would allow me to beat Yeosang.

"This elf clan had roots in the fire elementals, so they all were wickedly powerful pyromancers. They taught me almost everything they knew, and I couldn't believe how tame the magic at the academy was. I trained in dark magic with the elves for months, until our final practical exam came around.

"We had to duel with another member of our class, I can't remember the name of the boy who had the misfortune of being paired with me, seung- or seong- or something like that. I was absolutely positive I would win, but he was fast. Too fast. I wouldn't be surprised if the idiot had sought out the same thing I had."

Yunho pauses somberly, his broad, built shoulders drooping where he sat, and his face moulding into a sad, distant frown.

"Everytime I close my eyes, all I see are flashes of fire." Yunho whispers, staring at the floor. "I remember the feeling, but not much else. I- I can recall quite literally exploding into flames... It's like a bubbling cauldron, and it just keeps boiling and boiling until it gets so hot it bursts. And It felt like burning lava was pouring out of every single pore and hair follicle in my body."

The apothecary nibbles his bottom lip, shaking his head bitterly at the ground beneath his feet.

"It was so painful. I've broken countless bones, been on the recieving end of spells cast by the most powerful of mages, and yet I have never experienced pain like it.

"I can't believe I even have the gall to say it hurt." Yunho scoffs. "I can't even begin to imagine how much pain my duel partner was in.

"The academy realised straight away that it was dark magic. I hadn't fooled anyone in the slightest. The explosion had set the entire courtyard alight, all the trees, the furniture outside, even a couple of the students themselves, everything within a short radius of me. It was a tornado of flames, swirling round and round and I could easily have killed everybody that was there. The professors were on high alert though, they had to be during student duels. They rounded up the other students, and teleported themselves to safety in seconds.

"Everyone except for me, of course. They must have decided that my punishment for dabbling in the dark arts was death, and so they left me there to burn alive. Students weren't taught how to teleport at that point either, so I could do nothing except sit and watch the flames eating away at my skin."

"You're still alive... obviously." You chime in. "How'd you get out?"

"Yeosang." He replies simply.

He tells you how Yeosang fought and argued with the professors of the academy to forgive Yunho and let him live, almost getting himself expelled and his teaching job revoked. He explains how the professors refused to help Yunho, and how Yeosang risked his own life to save him.

"He spent weeks healing my burns, keeping me hidden away in his dorm room." Yunho breathes. "He nearly got kicked out too, but the academy knew he was too good of an asset to let go. I told him he was a fool to help me while risking so much in the process, but he's a good man. Despite all the competitions and tension between us, he's always been a good friend."

You nod solemnly in agreement. Even from the first moment you had met the platinum haired mage, you knew he possessed a generous soul. From saving you after the storm, housing, clothing and feeding you, teaching you to help heal people and allowing you to earn real, official qualifications, getting caught up in the prophecy mess you had caused and not complaining about it once. Yeosang had done so much for you, and yet here you are, repaying him by sneaking around and doing the one thing he refused to help you with.

Guilt squirms around in your stomach and latches on to your flesh with it's poisonous claws, puncturing your organs and pumping your insides full of toxins. It meanders its way through your body until it infects your bloodstream, flowing through every limb and vein until it hits your brain and starts to fog your senses and stain your conscience.

You have to keep telling yourself it's for a good reason; learning magic will help you in the long run, you just know it. It's just a shame that Yeosang doesn't understand that.

"You said Yeosang was a teacher at the academy, right?" You blurt.

Yunho nods. "Yes, for a few years."

"Then why does he refuse to teach me if he's literally qualified to do so?"

"He hasn't told you about what happened while he was a teacher, has he?"

You shake your head.

"It's not my place to tell you, Iris. Yeosang would kill me if I did." Yunho stands up with a grunt, brushing his knees off with the palms of his hands. "He'd also kill me if I taught you any magic behind his back, and I owe my life to him. So, I will not be teaching you any magic either."

"What?! Hold on!" You jump up in protest, glaring angrily at the giant man before you. "That's not fair! What was all that about then? If you were just going to say no?!"

Yunho grabs you by the shoulders, abruptly stopping your rage fueled ranting.

"Because I wanted you to know how thirst for power, particularly magic, can be incredibly dangerous."

"Well, I'm not as foolish as you." You snap aggressively, not noticing the twinge of hurt written on Yunho's face.

"You may well be right. But I still won't be helping you."

"Fine." You shrug, giving up. "Fine. Thanks for your time anyway, Yunho."

He bows politely to you, lifting up an arm and motioning to the steps for you to leave. Wrapping your arms tightly around you, you hurry up the stairs of both the secret room and the basement, until you're at the front door of the shop.

Yunho resumes his signature position of elbows on the counter, leaning forward, cheeky grin and puppy dog eyes shining brightly.

"Just... be wary, Iris. You can't trust everyone in this world."

You smile shortly, offering only a curt nod before you grab the handle of the door.

"Thanks, Yunho. See you around."

"Farewell, little lady."

The bell tinkles above you when you gently pull the door open, and chimes again as it closes after you slip your way out. You walk back to the castle at a brisk pace, keeping to yourself and keeping your gaze fixed on the ground.

Only when you feel safe enough, do you untangle your arms from around your torso, glancing down at the thick, leather-bound book you smuggled underneath your sleeves. Wiping the remaining dust off the cover, you read the bold, imprinted words;

LAREDIA ACADEMY OF MAGIC.

"Once a thief, always a thief" You grin proudly.

-----

You figured the best place to hide your stolen goods was in plain sight, which is why you are skimming the library shelves for the smartest hiding spot. You find a pile of books hidden away in the corner which didn't look too dusty, thinking that if there were to be completely dust-free books in the neglected library, it would look too suspicious. You slide Yunho's book at the bottom of the pile, making a mental note to come back later and properly skim through it.

"Where have you been?" Yeosang demands when you casually stroll into his workspace.

Hongjoong had given Yeosang and Wooyoung a study to work in, after his own had become a mess and entirely overwhelmed with parchments and hand-drawn diagrams. You throw yourself comfortably onto the bench opposite his desk.

"Just in the gardens," you reply coolly. "Hanging out."

"Is that so? How come I couldn't find you there then?" Wooyoung's voice comes sharply from the doorway, where he stands with his arms folded, leaning against the door frame as he looks at you with a deep frown.

"Maybe you just didn't look hard enough." You shrug.

The elf says nothing, but you can feel his gaze burning into the back of your head.

Yeosang ignores you both, too absorbed in studying the papers before him to listen to you and Wooyoung squabble.

"Still no monster?" you ask.

Yeosang shakes his head. "I was certain we would find one," he sighs. "But there's been no sighting of any sea monsters or creatures in decades."

"The ball is in two days," Yeosang continues. "Hongjoong expects something significant from us before then but we have nothing to offer him. He had patrols out investigating anybody remotely suspicious, I heard the guards interrupted a group of drunk dwarves playing cards... they were not impressed. But there hasn't been anyone new in the city or any of the villages in the kingdom. Nothing."

"If it's destiny, then maybe us looking for them is the problem. What if we just wait for them to come to us?" You suggest.

"Then what if destiny says we have to chase them down?" Yeosang counters with a stressed hand through his hair. "Either way, we're stuck."

Wooyoung crosses the room to peer over the diagrams for what must be the thousandth time in the last two weeks. He and Yeosang mutter lowly to each other as they read, pointing and drawings and shuffling through papers. You can only sit with your head hung low, staring miserably at the floor as the feeling of uselessness settles in your bones.

You're so tired of offering nothing. Of being no help to anyone. All people do is look after you while you wander around getting in people's way.

Suddenly, you're on your feet, and you're striding through the hallways to the library you've become so familiar with. You heave the doors open and hurry over to Yunho's book that you hid only mere hours ago, stuffing it under your shirt and creeping out of the library, and down the steps.

You refuse to rely on others. You refuse to have other people look after you. You refuse to be a liability. It's time to start fending for yourself, starting from now.

You locate the somewhat hidden door you took out of the castle earlier, and instead of turning out the door, you carry on down the hallway.

Eventually, the hallway leads to a large, empty room made entirely of cobblestone. Perfect for practicing magic. You found the torch you had used before, and lit it with a match you had forgotten about in your pocket. Once lit, you set the torch in a wall bracket and kneel down on the floor underneath it.

Rustling underneath your shirt, Yunho's book falls onto the ground with a dull thump, which bounces loudly off the walls. You hold your breath, panicked, but luckily nobody comes. Opening the first few pages, you read over Yunho's messy scrawl, taking in the drawings of hand positions and words in a language you don't understand.

You flick through more and more faded pages until you come across one that catches your eye. You look at Yunho's drawing, trying to match your own hand to the one on the page. You stick your right hand out flat, fingers together, and palm facing upwards. Then, you pull your four fingers back so the fingertips are pressed against your palm. Keeping your fingers in place, you rotate your hand so the back of your hand is now facing upwards, and rapidly flick your fingers out in front of you, presumably where the receiving end of the spell would be.

You repeat the motion over and over again, gradually building speed so after a while, your actions are fluid and less clunky. Next, is the hard part; learning the spell.

"Feainn ichaer?" You whisper, reading from the page. "What on earth does that mean? What language is that?"

Maybe exploring the library for some language books would be a good idea, you think.

But for now, you say the phrase aloud over and over again, not even knowing if you're doing it right but acting as if you're fluent in whichever language this is.

Once you feel like you've got it more or less right, you decide it's time to pair the speech and hand movements together.

Nervousness takes you by surprise then, and you have to readjust your kneeling position on the ground three times before you're ready. Taking a deep breath, you stretch your hand out like before, and you can feel the words on your tongue.

You feel it then; a rushing sensation in your stomach, burrowing past your organs and hurling itself up towards your lungs. It burns slightly as it travels, almost in the same way that hot milk burns as you swallow it, except instead of going down, this is coming up, flying past your lungs and sliding up your throat and crawling through the gaps between your teeth.

"Feainn," you pull your fingers back, and turn your hand over, the burning feeling spreading down to the tips of your toes and the tips of your ears, and you're convinced you can smell smoke. You close your eyes to focus on the spell, ignoring the sting of the fire licking at your veins and the boiling of your blood inside your veins, ignoring the loud thumping ricocheting around your eardrums, and ignoring the way your entire body begins to vibrate and ignoring the way it feels like you're about to explode at any moment. "Icha-"

"What are you doing?"

Your eyes snap open.

i just wanted to note that the language used here is elder speech from the witcher 3: wild hunt. i did not make it up myself, and it does not belong to me! just a note to cover my own back lmao.. thanks for reading!

#hongjoong #ateez #medieval!ateez #seonghwa #yeosang #san #mingi #jongho #wooyoung #yunho #yunho im so sorry #i got carried away #kpop #ateez x reader

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carrottuan93 · 3 years

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Haven’t met you yet | Mark

Masterlist (3/4) | part1 - part2 - part4

Starring: MK x You

Tags: Mark Tuan, Fluff, Destiny, Waiting, Christmas, Bookworm, Nerd, Love, Fate

Total WC: 2194

You nearly puked your guts out to the sight of Jackson sticking to Eunhee and hugging her like forever has been robbed from them. You failed to confide to your best friend about what happened to you in the last 24 hours. So as not to spoil their couple time together, you chose to not disturb them and just mingle with all the kids in the sweet treats section. You love kids so much you play Santa and distributed macarons to each one of them. As expected, most of your close friends and guests brought their own boyfriends, if not, their own husbands and it was a nice show to witness, with sarcasm aside. Thanks to Jackson’s little cousins, they keep you entertained with their bubbly personality.

“One with the kids, sure you’re missing the party in the adult section, no?” The sight of a guy clad in a formal white dress shirt, tucked in a black denim pants partnered with a classic chuck taylor, and a gray winter coat, welcomed your eyes. Guys who dress fashionably is such a head turner for you.

“Actually, they keep me company so I’m having fun to be honest.” You replied, feeling all the weird sensation cascading across your spine. You feel a bit nauseous whenever guys approach you. You don’t know if you even want to be with a guy right now, after your embarrassing experience last night.

“My cousins here are a bunch of nuisance, you’ll get tired of them soon.” He picked one matcha macaron from the aisle and took a bite of it. You observed his expression. A smile crept up to his face and you caught sight of Eunhee in a distant, gossiping to Jackson that you’re having a moment with his cousin. You certainly know that they’re mentally pairing you up already and you are growing nervous about the plans that they are possibly plotting behind your back.

“You like it? I bought them all the way from a café near my workplace that sells classic macarons just like the original ones from Paris.” He nodded in approval as you watch him took another piece, this time it’s strawberry. That’s your favorite flavor among the rest and you can really tell that the sweet tooth runs on Jackson’s bloodline by how his cousins, from the little chubby ones and the grown up beside you, munch on your favorite treat.

“I never really eat macarons, but you introduced me into it. You deserve a recognition, uhm?” He lifted his hand for a handshake. He doesn’t know your name yet so you took his hand and introduced yourself right away.

“It’s Y/n, Eunhee’s best friend. Thank you for the recognition by the way. Well, you come here with a date?” You’re mentally tiptoeing above the thin ice. It’s better to assume that this cute guy over here is already taken, I mean with his looks, he's totally a charmer, you thought to yourself.

“I didn’t bring anyone with me, so I assume you also come along on your own, no?” Green light. Okay, you need to calm down. This isn’t like any of your past blind dates but first meetups are usually nerve wracking and scary so you played the innocent heroine that you are and chose to just go with the flow seeing how Eunhee and Jackson are staring at you maliciously from Mark’s back, you know they were able to receive the death notes you are sending them via telepathy.

“That explains it.” It’s not that you had a thing with cute guys, but maybe you just discovered it right now. You can tell he’s a decent one, a cool and random Asian-American import from the west and maybe if you’re an ice cream, you already turned into liquid by the way he stares at you.

“I don’t know anything about you yet, but would you trust a complete stranger to celebrate your Christmas eve with? If you’re up for it, we’ll leave this party right away because I can tell that you’re going to get sick from all these couples outnumbering us.” Have you been a good girl this year? You didn’t include this guy on your Christmas list but Santa rewarded you without even asking for it.

“I’m putting my trust on you knowing that Jackson is a good guy so does his cousin. I'll sue him and he’ll answer for the damages and fines in case you failed to bring me back in good shape.” You both let out a hefty chuckle earning glares from your best friend and her boyfriend. You’ve decided to pursue your spontaneous trip with Mark and the next thing you know you’re already closing the front door upon your exit even before the two of them could react to your great and grand escape.

----

He took you on a ride away from the busy and bustling streets of Seoul. You're thrilled to find out that he actually brought you to Namsan Tower, the highest peak in the city. You're awed expression cannot suffice the picturesque panoramic scenery of Seoul unfolding in front of your very eyes when you entered the observatory on the top most floor. You were unable to talk all of a sudden and your heart is brimming with unexplained strings of emotion as you kept on taking pictures and videos of the breathtaking place that sent your eyes into a food coma.

"I only went to N tower once, or maybe twice but that was during the day and I have no idea that this is how it looks at night. It's a miss, nobody will be able to witness this scene on a Christmas eve the way we're seeing it right now." You forgot about your shameful episodes of last night's happenings and your worries disappeared in just an instant.

"I kind of paid for tonight's reservation when I arrived here in Korea a week ago, with the hopes of spending Christmas only to myself. Consider yourself lucky, you've managed to join me on this one-time event. Heck, the price I paid for is totally worth it. Come here and try this." He urged you to look on the telescope, and to your surprise, you're taking in every aspect of the city in a bird's eye perspective. Everything you look at is really stunning. Like you never really imagined that perfection exists for real until tonight and you're experiencing it with a random guy whom you've only met an hour ago. Your eyes met his and you wished you aren't redder than a rotten tomato for looking like a lost deer caught on a headlight.

"The view here is really pretty.” He gave you a smile, too charming for your own consumption.

“It really is.” He’s even prettier than the view. You can only sense your guy-o-meter raising for Mark. Good lord, is this a sign? Your mind is now ready to tick the ideal guy boxes on your list.

“We shouldn't keep this New York style pizza from waiting while it is hot.” He chuckled, like the cute kid that he is. There is something with his unique laugh that you really don’t mind hearing at all. Is he older than me? Please, I don’t want to date someone younger than me.

“Okay, sure kid.” You followed him as he sat on the ground in a dimly lit room radiating a romantic atmosphere under the starry and chilly skies of Seoul. This is not a date, but a friendly escape out of boredom planned by two single hearts on a Christmas eve. As if you’re two partners in crime, sitting on one of the highest skyscrapers in town, while sharing a box of pizza. It’s just that you aren’t Bonnie and neither he is your Clyde but you're loving the idea of him as someone whom you can rely on.

“I’m older than you, silly.” The sight of a wine bottle behind him caught your attention and wondered where it came from. He noticed you eyeing the prize so he did the honor and poured you a glass of wine while you’re devouring your slice of pizza. You never imagined that eating pizza is too romantic and one for the books.

“Any proof that you’re actually above 25? Cause you really look young. With that face, you can qualify for a student discount on public transports and still save money for your commute.” You want to make sure that he’s at least 5 years older than you. You prefer dating someone older than you because they always say that a guy's maturity is a year delayed for his age.

“Trust me, I just know. I’m old enough to buy a house and enter into casinos, I guess.” He gave you a wink and you felt a gush of strong wind blew your senses away. He’s totally a Romeo and you took a swig of wine while observing him secretly.

“So you’re a gambler? I might have been spending my time with some kind of a mafia leader and still have no clue about it.” He’s laughing at it again. I might have a talent with making cute guys laugh and that’s an asset I only discovered right now.

“What, no! But my dad is a big spender in casinos. My duty is to look out for him and take him home before he could even bet our fortune with his leisure. I could always hear him say ‘It has gotta be all or nothing’. He’s born for taking risks and maybe I got that gene from him that’s why.” He stretched his legs and sat like he’s on a photoshoot. He’s not a model but he can beat the professional ones even without the need for screening.

“What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your life so far?” You folded your legs as you watch him wonder with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He poured a glass for himself and you noticed that he used the same glass that you drink on.

“I believe we’re taking risks everyday in our lives. The only difference is the distance of our leap towards taking or not taking chances at all. Like when you’re playing a game, everything starts with equal opportunities. It’s a race to the witch mountain. The first one to gamble takes it all. You gotta be the predator of every tournament and you gotta be the last one standing in a survival of the fittest. If you’re brave enough to take the earliest start, you can use that advantage to ace your end game. It’s all about timing and investing. Win or lose streak. There is no such thing as a grey area when it comes to taking risks. You don’t get to tie with anybody. Either you’ll win or lose. You just have to trust your instincts and roll your dice like everyday is your last day on earth. If I go for something, I go all in. No half-baked decisions. Because my father taught me that risks equates to rewards and I’m all up for the extremes of both worlds. That’s the one thing I’m best at. I know how to play the game nice and fair because I know how to measure the corners of a square and even the distance around the circle which is not visible to the naked eye. After all, he considers me as his lucky charm. That explains my presence to his endless casino nights. And he hardly ever loses if I’m with him. Sure, Pops are probably waiting for me at our doorstep in LA right now. Too bad, his son is on the other side of the world, taking his own risk of a lifetime.” You left with no words to say. He’s too deep, a food for the soul. Guys like him are the ones that can be displayed in museums. He’s a delicate art and nobody should be allowed to touch him but the curator. And you’d want to take that role.

“What if you lose? If you go all in and you lose everything all at once? Have you experienced it already?” you asked, admiring the tiny mole sitting under his left eye. You decided to take your second glass of wine.

“The best thing about losing is that you’ve tried. I don’t take failures as an excuse for not trying again and taking another risk the next day. If I lose, so what? That only means you’re brave because you grow stronger with every fall that you take. Like a bamboo tree, it only bends but it doesn’t break. Life is all about swimming against the current of uncertainties and finding yourself floating on top of your insecurities.” As if he’s summarizing all the lessons in life, you’d always want to go for the front seat. He’s a walking self-help book, and maybe Mark Manson’s book of ‘the subtle art of not giving a fuck’ would have to sit longer in my shelf for the meantime. I got a risk-taker author Mark, right here and I got nothing to worry about.

#marktuan #got7 #ahgase #mark #mark tuan #got7 mark #got7 marktuan #got7 fanfic #got7 fluff #got7 imagines #fluff #kpop #kpop fluff #fanfic #boyfriend #got7 jackson #jackson #got7jackson

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