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#how do you hug someone when there's an ice spear sticking out of your chest? very badly i imagine

copper-skulls · 9 months

Text

Grillby reached forward, the entire movement sluggish and shaking, and wrapped whatever was left of himself around Gaster in a hug. It was going to be gross and messy. He was going to get dust everywhere and Gaster was going to end up living through the nightmare that Grillby had when he’d had to wash Amathea’s dust off his clothes. But he didn’t care. He’d wanted this for so long. This was all he wanted now. This was all he had left. This was the last thing Gaster would remember of him.

*clutches heart* casting rain.....

bit sharper lines, in case I ever decide to take this for a spin digitally or. something.:

#casting rain #fic fanart #normally I'd color something like this digitally but my head and screens don't like each other very much rn. so it's just me and my 24 #slightly strangely colored progressos #grillby #gaster #traditional art #fanart #undertale #this is the fault (positive) of me staring at hen's massive cr piece ever since they've posted it ok. ok. had to draw the guys at least #as well as I currently can. i care them #how do you hug someone when there's an ice spear sticking out of your chest? very badly i imagine

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has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong · 2 years

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How do ya think masters parents would react to master bring home Mori to introduce him to them?

Hello anon, thank you for the request. This one is pretty interesting! I'm going to give the Master a pair of nice parents for this request XD

Mori Meeting Master's Parents (For the FIRST TIME!!)

- It was time. Hearts unanimously beating in your chests (for different reasons), the two of you rock up to your parents' estate- hand in hand. - Though you were anxious to see how your parents would respond to your new partner (Despite Mori being a rather decent guy, he definitely did come with some behaviours that modern-day humans could possibly struggle to understand); you had faith. No matter how they'd regard him, you'd stick wholeheartedly to your decision of choosing him until the very end. - As for Mori...well, this guy was prepared on an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT level of prepared. Donned in his finest suit of armor plated over a pristine, sparkling clean hakama (which you couldn't help but find kind of hot), his spear; and a massive assortment of teas poised by his side- this side of him looked entirely different to the blood-drenched Mori that you had grown so accustomed to seeing upon the battlefield. - "E-er, Mori...You've really gone all-out..." Worried that anxiety is what propelled him to dress so formally for the event, you attempt to reassure him; only to be responded to with a grin unlike any other; him beaming from ear-to-ear with blissful joy. - He's extremely excited to meet your parents. In fact, the reason why he has decided to go the extra mile for the visit was as a way of paying respect to your family. To Mori, you were an esteemed Lord; resulting in him wishing to regard your family with as much honor as he possibly can! - Such words put you at ease, as you prowl towards your parents' den with a regained sense of pride within your heart. - Once your parents finally open the door with anticipation; they almost leap out of their skin at the sight of Mori Nagayoshi! With his colossal height, traditional clothing and weaponry; he comes as a bit of a fright to your parents at first. - Of all the people you'd bring home...they never expected that they'd be like this! Both parents are almost in awe at how dynamic Mori looks. But then again, it was just like you to attract such interesting people. - "Kid...happen to know who that samurai hanging behind you is? I almost mistook him for a statue from the museum!!" Whilst one parent starts to banter with you both, the other one struggles to compose themselves; eyes as wide as a flailing fish. - They're even more surprised when Mori hands them the assorted teas as a gift, mouths hanging with shock at the sheer quality and range of tea; as well as the delicate wrapping paper. This instantly gives Mori some 'Parental Brownie Points'. - Finally, as you all sit down; you introduce Mori to your parents, confessing how much you care for him and how you'd like him to become a part of the family from now on. As your parents listen with rapt attention, Mori is awed by your courageous words. - You really cared for him, to the extent that you'd even face your fears to introduce him to your family...this means a great deal to Mori. Heart rushing with emotion, it literally takes all of his willpower to stop himself from hugging you right then and there! -Vowing to repay your belief in him, Mori gets a little carried away with his self introduction to your parents; even going as far as declaring, "From now on, your enemies are as good as my own! If you've got someone to kill, I'm your guy." Placing his weapon down, he bows gracefully before your parents; putting his all into his greeting! - Wide-eyed, your parents turn to you briefly in shock. Did Mori just threaten to kill people on their behalf?!! Desperate to soothe the awkward atmosphere, you simply say, "That's just his way of saying he cares!" - That's all it takes to break the ice, your parents clapping with enthusiasm at Mori's introduction; as he blushes slightly at their warm-heartedness. Sure, Mori seemed a little bit different to what they were used to; and said some pretty wild things at times, but...he was the partner you chose. And for your parents, that was enough!

END

#asks #fate series #fgo #fate grand order #mori nagayoshi #fgo headcanons #gilgablog #gilgawriting #MORI MEETS DA FAMILY!!!!

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jeongi · 5 years

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more than us (m) | kth

↣ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | taehyung x reader

↣ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 | 11.3k

↣ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 | college au. roommate au. fluff. smut.

↣ 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱 | explicit language and sexual content. unprotected sex (pls use condoms), oral sex (f receiving), light choking, mild dirty talk, some hair pulling, spanking, taehyung’s magnum badonk.

↣ 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 | Taehyung had always been the common thread in the capsule of your memories, your best friend until the very end. But the thoughts had always lingered; could the two of you ever be more than this?

↣ 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

This was a request and if you’d like to see your own come to life, please shoot me an ask, here. They’re always welcome and greatly appreciated! :)

You’re painfully aware of Irene's gawking, uncomfortable stare as Taehyung nonchalantly plants his plump lips against your temple. If it wasn’t eight in the morning, you might have even protested, but the warmth of Taehyung’s arms around your body has you in a lull, a sort of zombified state of mind. He tucks a stray piece of your loose bun behind your ear, taking you into his fullest capabilities as he pulls you in again. You can almost trace the very prominent vein that runs along his full right arm. You wonder how you’ve not noticed he’s been working out lately. The sun barely peeks through the drawn curtains leaving the living room space warm, in a shade of amber that turns his brown locks, gold. It doesn’t help move you away from that early morning haze, your thoughts almost abandoning the very prominent acknowledgement of Irene’s appalled presence. If Taehyung notices your classmate merely inches away with her mouth hanging open and arms crossed, he doesn’t say anything about it. He simply retracts from your hug, your arms automatically wrapping around yourself in hopes of preserving any shred of loss from his warmth. Your head follows Taehyung as he stops towards the kitchen counter to pick up the bagged lunch you’ve prepared for him, and you can’t help stifle a laugh when you catch Irene doing the same. Even though classes for him start much later in the day, his leaving this early is a fairly common occurrence for the young photographer; he had always seemed to have found something new to gaze at in his viewfinder with morning hikes. As he pivots towards the door, the chiselled expanse that is Taehyung’s right shoulder unintentionally brushes against the pointed corner of Irene’s baby blue blazer and the scoff she lets out signals that she is more than vexed. He places his hand on the doorknob before turning around, his gaze settling on the far distance between the door to you.

“So I'll see you in photography, then?” he asks. You plop yourself on the chocolate suede couch and nod slowly, noticing the difficulty trying to comprehend what has transpired. “Great,” he says as he flashes you a boxy grin. “I'll see you then,” he pauses, reluctantly twisting his head to view the jet-black haired gremlin stood no more than a few feet away from him.

Five-foot squat and filled to the brim with scathing ice, Irene is plenty to look at, but her reputation for becoming a social usurper precedes her. Taehyung was well aware of her numerous exploits and found himself wishing for a swift exit from any potential involvement in any of her future schemes.

“And good morning to you, Irene,” he adds quickly, the grin he beamed just moments ago vanishing under a tight-lipped smile and a short nod. Irene returns his greeting with a disingenuous, silent smile, raising up her perfectly manicured fingers in a dismissive wave. As Taehyung disappears behind the door with a click, the soft thud of the heavy door clatters to a close— leaving you and your ball of bedlam in complete solitude.

The foyer is filled with a thick silence following his departure and you rest an elbow on the armrest of the couch, your chin coming to land on the palm of your hand as you await the inevitable. Irene opens her mouth to say something, but anticipating a response from her, you’re quick to interject.

“I know what you're going to say. Just… don't say it,” you start off low, your fingers tapping against the skin of your cheek.

“Oh, is that an admission of guilt?” Irene shoots back, her arms crossing over her blouse-clad chest as her hip sticks out, accusingly. You’d almost laugh at her childish antics if it weren’t for the exhaustion that now ran throughout your body.

“I didn't realize you had the capability for jealousy,” you reply somewhat more coolly than intended. Proud of yourself for the swift retort, you muster enough courage to continue. “I do have other friends beyond you, you know.” You arch a brow at her as your chin abandons your palm, letting the morning chirps of robins and tits fill between the stiff air that seems to have encompassed following Taehyung’s exit.

“I'm only human,” the degree of Irene’s eye roll has you wanting to rub your own eyes because surely, that hurt. Her heels clack against the hardwood floors as she makes her way towards you. You submit to your willingness to forgive her for wearing shoes in your house if it meant she’d usher the two of you out soon. “Excuse me for finding that a little…weird,” she briskly glances towards the front door once more before turning back to you. “I don't exactly make a habit of smacking my lips on my roommate,” she hisses. Your earlier remarks seem to slide off of whatever conversational armour she donned.

“Irene,” you sigh and relent, kicking off your house slippers. Her icy gaze isn't exactly something you want to deal with right now; it's simply too goddamn early for this, and you haven't even had your coffee yet. Unfortunately for you, all you can do is fully sprawl yourself flat against the sofa and take whatever Irene dishes to you. You muse that you’d rather get scolded in comfort.

“Don’t ‘Irene’ me! I’m serious— when will you admit that you guys are fucking?” Irene persists mercilessly, and if you had water in your mouth, you would have most definitely delivered a hefty spit take. But instead, all you have the energy to do is simply roll your eyes.

Though you and Taehyung aren't fucking, you do realize there isn't an absence of common-law comforts. Come to think of it, you remember those stolen glances between you and him, numerous as they were.

You remember his hand brushing yours, on some occasions even gently grasping for your fingers, and surprisingly enough to you, allowing it to happen. There was no denying the powerful, silent comfort that enveloped you both, and the implications of that comfort were as reassuring as they were inconsolably confusing— maybe even terrifying.

“Hello?” Irene’s voice abruptly snaps you back from your reverie. Her head hangs over yours as a poof of cool air brushes against your face as her hand waves over your vision.

“No,” you groan at her insistence, batting her arm away. “We’re not fucking.”

“Well you're certainly not platonic,” Irene says, the same hand reaching towards your own to help you back up to your feet. You accept the help, regardless of her nagging. “You're acting as if there isn't anything happening, but it’s obvious that something’s going on.”

“Irene,” you start. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being comfortable with someone.” The pair of you begin for the doorway before you’re forced to come to a halt as she barks a humourless laugh.

“Oh for the love of god, _____, I'm not an idiot. Whatever the hell that was, seems to be more than comfortable— it just seems flat out dangerous.” Irene taps her fingers, irritated. You run through the thousands of things you could shoot back at her, ultimately deciding against it. It’s just not worth the energy— at least not now.

“Are you done? I’d like to get this day started without your incessant... griping,” you ask, now decidedly less than friendly. Irene doesn't answer, but huffs in annoyance and heads out of the foyer, into the cool morning light. The front door closes, and you sigh heavily, forcing yourself away from the all too inviting comfort of the bed that laid perfectly open for you to rest in upstairs. Sliding on your shoes and hefting your bookbag over your shoulder, you follow her lead as the early spring sun hits your face. “It’s eight in the goddamn morning, how the hell do you look so put together?” you ask incredulously as Irene digs through her purse for her car keys.

“Practice, my dear,” she replies, quite matter-of-factly. “Years, actually. Literal years.” You look down at your own outfit and immediately frown. Somehow, next to her impeccable style, your all-black attire of a hoodie and sweatpants make you feel more like her gay lover than a classmate.

“I always look like a dude next to you.” You kick a rock as you wait for the click of her car to unlock.

“A cute dude,” she sends you a wink. “Don’t worry about it. If anyone’s going be looking at us, it’s going to be me,” she says dramatically, throwing up a hand and briefly striking a pose. “Besides, don’t look so glum. It makes your eyes sag, and you’ll get premature wrinkles.”

You can’t help but grin at her rebuke, all trademark Irene; a spear dripping in sugar.

A week passes seamlessly, except, that’s what you tell yourself. Irene’s words sit at the back of your mind, a spin cycle of what ifs and what could be. You find yourself thinking about her words every moment of every day. Shit. Could it be possible Irene was right? The way you had become with Taehyung wasn’t normal, was it? You think to just last night, how Taehyung had brought home flowers for you- not a gift for a special occasion but simply because they reminded him of you. A year ago, this gesture wouldn’t even hesitate a thought of doubt that something more could be lingering between the forbidden space you two refused to talk about. Not to mention the underlying fizzle of sexual tension that’s filled you two to the brim of existence. The other day, you had caught him right after the shower- looking like he was carved out of stone by Michaelangelo himself. Taut, honey-toned and bare. Nothing but a towel acting as a barrier between your pupils and his pen—”

“Was breakfast okay this morning?” Taehyung whispers to you, eyes filled with anticipation. His query catches you very off guard; it’s not like you were paying attention to Professor Jinhwan at the front of the room anyway. The projector whirs and the voice drones on and on about the importance of the rule of thirds. Your mind is elsewhere yet from the beat of his low voice, Taehyung manages to captivate your attention right away.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure was,” you stutter quietly as your gaze meets his— wondering if maybe he caught your lie. As his shoulder presses against yours, you note that he’s wearing that Mont Blanc cologne you like so much. And you once again question if that’s even a regular thing to note. The scent pushes you to lean in closer until you’ve rested your temple on the edge of Taehyung’s grey, wool knit sweater. It’s almost natural for him to shift until you’ve comfortably fit even deeper into his side, the back of your head hitting his chest as his arm circles around your shoulders. It wasn’t always like this. You could recall a distant point in time when you and Taehyung were as thick as thieves, a powerful equilibrium of quiet affection. This affection had rarely proceeded beyond the odd hug, or perhaps a gaze held a moment too long but had seemingly ramped up recently the past little while. The cause of it was beyond you, but the implications were clear enough; something was now definitively brewing between the pair of you. For a second, Irene’s voice chants in your ears, ‘you're acting as if there isn't anything happening, but it’s obvious that something’s going on.’ but as quickly as the notion arises, it fades when Taehyung’s voice picks you out your forced repression. You’ll deal with these thoughts later, is what you always say.

“That’s a relief,” he heaves a sigh. “You know how much I suck at cooking.” That was an understatement. The fact of the matter is that breakfast was nothing short of gummy sludge. The apple and cinnamon oatmeal- rather the attempt at oatmeal- had a dash too much of cinnamon and he had somehow overcooked the apples to the point of it resembling apple sauce. The worst of it all was the fact that it was instant oatmeal. It wasn't the first time Taehyung had tried to cook a meal for you, but it had been a while since his burnt salad incident. It’s half the reason you’re inclined to pack him a lunch almost every day— convincing yourself it would save both of your lives to not let Taehyung near a stove ever again. It was nice at times though, to have him accompany you in the kitchen when you would prepare meals.

The screen blinks off, and the lights above flare to life again as the presentation ends. You shake yourself back to the present as you and Taehyung partner up for another assignment.

“So, portraits?” He turns over the assignment sheet in his hands before stuffing it into his bag. “I’m sure we can have this wrapped up in no time— do you have plans tonight?”

Packing up your own things, you begin to open your mouth, but before anything can come out, your phone buzzes in your hand. Momentarily distracted, you take your eyes away from Taehyung’s and glance at the screen.

There’s a text from Irene, a multimedia message. Perplexed, you open it and much to your shock, you’re greeted with a handsome looking selfie of a boy you know only the name of. Lee Minhyuk. The photo had been unceremoniously stolen from his Instagram, no doubt. Your heart freezes, purely out of surprise as you read the long string of heart eye emojis that accompany the attachment.

Irene [1:32pm]: Cancel your plans,, tonight ur going on a date!!! :))

Your lips press into a firm line as your eyes nervously glance between your phone screen and Taehyung. This isn't the first time Irene had pulled something like this; there had been many instances in which she had set you up on blind dates with complete strangers, insisting that your loneliness had come to an end. What Irene didn't know was the abysmal success rate of her spontaneous rendezvous, typically leaving you either bored, completely uninterested, or with a deep desire to leave the date and be home to tell Taehyung how horrible it went. But after every date, every dinner, every disappointment, Irene would still not get the point. It had always caused a small tension between the two of you but had never left any irreversible damage. And you could feel the patience Taehyung had after every date slowly dissipating as he told you after the ninth bad one to stop agreeing to go. You’d try to explain that Irene's insistence was little less than force, and something about her always left you somewhat guilty for not giving her dates a chance. Though you gathered that he never fully understood your dilemma, your appreciation for his ongoing consolation always remained steady.

“I- uh… y-yes, I… think so?” you stutter, your fingers weaving together to encompass your phone from anyone’s view.

It doesn’t go unnoticed how Taehyung’s shoulders sag at the news, his head cocking to the side as he questions your sudden floundered vocabulary. The benefit of knowing you since middle school meant he could catch a secret within the first few sputters of words you could spew.

He usually never asks, yet he’s curious what it is on your phone that has you so flustered, and you are his best friend after all. “Did someone send you a dick pic again?” he asks.

“No!” You bark, shrinking into yourself as the eyes of stray classmates littering around the lecture hall seer towards the pair of you. “No,” you repeat, calmer. “I just…” Your words trail as your gaze focuses past Taehyung’s shoulder to the side of Minhyuk’s head as he chats happily away with a classmate. Your eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. You don’t know why you duck as if a baseball had come flying towards you, but you do. With that, your arms quickly grab ahold of Taehyung’s sleeves as you jerk him in front of you, shielding your face from any potential of Minhyuk seeing you.

“What the hell are you doing?” Taehyung is both tentative and concerned because clearly, you’re not alright and your sudden outburst has him wanting to look over his shoulder to see what you’re trying to hide from. However, when he tries, your fingers roughly grab at his jaw, forcing his eyes to remain on you.

“Has Minhyuk always been in this class?” You try to whisper, but of course, Taehyung and his naïve, boyish charm, does not take the hint of obvious secrecy.

“Minhyuk?” he repeats too loudly and you shriek as you slap a hand over your forehead, peering just past the expanse of his arm to see if the familiar head of hair has turned towards you from the sound of his name. You release a breath of relief when you see that he hasn’t. In fact, the seat he occupied moments ago is now completely void.

“Taehyung! How vapid can a human being be? Do you not know an emergency code of silence when necessary?” You release his chin.

Taehyung scoffs. “Vapid? You’re the one acting like there’s an assassin in the room ready to kill you— and honestly, if that’s the case, how dare you use me as a human shield?”

You groan. “You’re so useless sometimes.” You huff as you slide the strap of your bag over your shoulder and make your way towards the exit.

Taehyung can’t help but release another scoff, eyebrow cocked as he follows you out the lecture hall. “Women.” He mutters under his breath.

“Taehyung, your breath seriously stinks,” you scrunch your nose in disgust, swiping his arm away from trying to wrap around your torso. His already wide grin grows tenfold and you squeak when he grasps ahold of you, bringing you close to blow a wet raspberry into your ear. “You’re repulsive!”`

You push him away, lips down turning to a frown as you use the sleeve of your sweater to wipe his cold saliva from the shell of your ear. You don’t expect his hand to grab ahold of your wrist and twist it behind your back as he breathes a humid miasma of onion directly in your face.

It’s beyond disgusting, and you gag. Fully. He’s crazy. “Taehyung!”

“You’re the one who dared me to take a bite of the spoiled onion— and now thanks to you, I’ll get food poisoning!” His hands shoot upwards in surrender. You think back to five minutes ago when you challenged him to eat the onion the pair of you had neglected the disposal of for four months now. You didn’t actually think he’d go through with it, but seconds later you had heard a crunch and saw him chewing a piece of the onion, little white hairs and all. You found yourself being the one reacting far more sickened than he was as he continued chewing the putrid vegetable with a straight face. And in true Taehyung fashion, he made your own practical joke backfire on you. Reaching behind you, his fingers wrap around the onion in a futile attempt to shove it in your face. Anticipating this, you throw yourself onto him, the pair of you tumbling to the living room floor.

“I think,” you grunt as you try pinning his arms to his sides. “That my patience with you is beginning to run out…”

Of course, Taehyung lets you pin them above his head, it’s a weakness he would never admit because when it came to the furrow of your eyebrows and that demure pout of yours, he was putty between your fingers.

“Really? I thought you ran out of patience with me years ago,” he beams you a full set of pearly white teeth as he flips you on your back without warning. The yelp you let out is expected when he pins your arms against the curve of your sides in success— his lips tantalizing close to your own. There’s a beat of a pause that lingers between you, the gleam in the coffee of his eyes sparkling with something akin to desire, yet it quickly fades to that of mischief as he plants a violent, impactful raspberry to your neck— playing against your inability to do anything against it. You lay there, helpless, shrieking lightly in equal parts laughter and confusion over the sudden tingle in your chest.

Taehyung pins your arms above your head relentlessly with one arm, the other one gripping your side, tickling the weak points that lay there.

“Taehyung!” you scream in protest. “I have to go get ready! Meaning, you better remove your stinky, grubby self from me before I break your twig arms in two.”

“Twig arms?” his voice raises an octave higher as he drops your hands, his face metamorphosing into a scowl. “What do you mean, twig arms?”

You cackle in triumph, a finger stretching out to press against his chest, relishing in the victory so long as it lasted.

“If I can’t physically break you, I can always break your spirit,” you hiss teasingly, feeling sufficiently content that the tables have finally been turned against him. However, he seems to take legitimate offence to this, but his vulnerability shows but for a moment, and his icy exterior soon freezes over his pale face once again. He releases you, a smile crossing his face for a faint moment, and he sticks out his hand in reconciliation to help you from the floor. Without a moment’s hesitation, you take his hand, and his arms lift you from the floorboards a little too easily.

“So, when is Min-hulk coming to pick you up, anyway?” he asks, almost accusingly, and you note a subtle hostility detected in his typically timid tone.

“Didn’t you say you partnered with him for that food photography assignment? And suddenly you’ve forgotten his name?” Your eyes roll for the hundredth time that evening before they widen in horror as you glance at your watch; you’ve got exactly 32 minutes before your date. “Ah, shit!” Your shoulder involuntarily shoves against Taehyung as you scramble towards the stairs that lead to your bedroom. How had time slipped by you so quickly? Flinging your bedroom door open, you march towards your dresser as a very present brown-haired pursuant saunters behind you relentlessly.

“You know, you could be a little less rude about it.” It’s an unwanted suggestion and you’re getting seemingly more irritated as he continues trailing after your every move. Just as you shove past him once again, the back of his knees knock against the edge of your bed, forcing him to have a seat. He raises a questioning eyebrow, wearing a pout as he observes your route of panic between your closet and your dresser.

“I haven’t even showered yet!” you exclaim as you rush into your attached washroom.

“But I like your day-old hair…” he calls from the bedroom, the echo of his voice doesn’t make it very far before it’s abruptly cut from the sharp snap of your bathroom door shutting. You’re disrobed in record time, almost a nude blur as you take the fastest shower you think you’ve ever taken; the water wasn’t even warm. Your towel barely clings around the curves of your body as you step out the washroom, a shriek leaving you upon seeing Taehyung exactly where you left him. “Sorry,” he says as he closes his eyes and holds up his hands in a mock attempt to blind himself. A genuine attempt at subterfuge, but it did not hold, for you noticed the ever so slight spread of his fingers allowing a quick glance at your figure and the not so subtle tongue that pokes out to dab at his bottom lip.

However, you find his subtle scrutiny… arousing. You can’t help but notice in that moment his gawky self, incorruptibly charming as always, radiating a youthful brilliance that so easily filled your heart with joy. You bite your lip and a brief moment passes before shaking yourself out of it. Not only were you under a dry spell, but your mind was also now resorting to Taehyung of all people to fantasize over. Inwardly, you force a gag.

The gag that might have happened if he put his—

“What is it?” Taehyung asks, his voice glazed with a hint of concern.

“What?” you’ve been staring at his damn dick the whole time. “N-nothing— I’m naked, get out!” Truthfully, you didn’t mind if he stayed. Your mind strays briefly to the thought that he’s never seen you in the nude before, despite knowing you well over ten years. Your memories fade to the awkward, prepubescent pile of limbs that was Taehyung— that atrocious bowl he called a haircut, the almost-too-long arms and legs. You had joked that he’d never be able to find a girlfriend looking like that, but now it was almost impossible to miss the droves of fawning women over his devilish looks and childish buffoonery. Granted, the wonderment of puberty hit Taehyung with great fortune- unlike yourself- though, he’d reprimand you for even thinking that. Come to think of it, he had always built you up, hadn’t he?

Taehyung offers immediate surrender, sulking slowly out of your room. He doesn’t make it two feet out of your door before turning back for a split second.

“But you are planning on wearing more than that towel, right?”

He just barely dodges the article of clothing that flies towards him, chuckling to himself as you shout through gritted teeth. “Out!”

As Taehyung watches you step down the staircase dripping in a crimson bodice jumpsuit, hair perfectly curled and pushed to one side, lips full and encased in rose gloss; he feels his mouth physically part in awe. To him, it feels like those moments you would see on television where the main love interest watches as his muse descends down the stairwell like a classic Lainey Boggs trope. However, you are not the result of a dramatic makeover montage- no, to him, you are already Galadriel. You are already pure perfection and much to his misfortune, in this tale he is merely the best friend. In this tale, you are not his muse, you are someone else’s— even if it’s just for tonight. The bubble of bitterness that overtakes him is too overwhelming. Why tonight was any different from the other inevitable failed dates you have gone on is beyond him. Perhaps it’s because he knows your date would not take notice in the way you cover your mouth when you laugh, or, know that said laughter usually comes from nerves because if you were in true hysterics, you don’t care who’s looking your way. And that’s what makes you perfect.

“Well?” You ask, high heels hanging from the fingers of your right hand. He knows you won’t last the night in them.

“Hm?” Taehyung replies, hand running through the lush of his brown locks. The black shirt he adorns stretches around his torso as he brushes his fingers through his hair. The slight rise in his shirt allows you to see the faint trace of his abs. So he has been working out.

If only for a moment, you feel something so inescapable and powerful it suddenly draws you towards him— as if you had crossed an event horizon. Briefly, you consider cancelling the date and simply staying home with him tonight. “How do I look?”

“Like a bargain bin Jessica Alba.” And just as suddenly as it had come, the feeling evaporates. So much for thinking he had always built you up. What was up his ass suddenly?

You scoff, digging your phone out of the purse hanging from your shoulder to check how much time you have remaining. “Whatever.”

Taehyung feels the slightest pang of guilt because the truth is he wants nothing more than to be the one you’ve dressed up so nicely for. But of course, he’d never admit that.

As your foot leaves the last step of the stairwell, you move towards the kitchen counter. “Pizza’s in the oven-—, please for the sake of our beautiful home, remember to turn it off after taking the pizza out?” You turn towards him, leaning against the granite counter as you raise a concerning eyebrow accompanied with a quick flash of a loving grin.

Taehyung follows after you, arms crossed as he observes you once more. You’re wearing the necklace he gave you, how disrespectful? “I’m not an idiot.” He spits out. The furrow in your eyebrows reveal your brief confusion as you open your mouth to speak.

“Oh really? Should I bring up the burnt salad?” Smart girl, he thinks. How was he supposed to know people ate lettuce raw just out of the fridge like that?

Just as he’s about to retort, the doorbell rings and Taehyung is once again filled with venom. He wishes under his breath that you have the worst time and that you come home quick. He knows he’s being selfish, that he shouldn’t be feeling this way. He knows he has no right directing this anger towards you either but the soft scent of his favourite perfume radiating from your skin drives him to a bloodlust.

You look at him, pointing a finger in his direction as you walk backwards towards the door. “This house better be intact by the time I get home.” He’s even more sour that you don’t kiss his cheek goodnight like usual.

Taehyung doesn’t look when you open the door. He pushes himself off the kitchen counter and walks towards the living room where he can eavesdrop on the small (and dry, might he add) conversation at the door. His eyes roll as he hears something along the lines of “you look beautiful,” from Minhyuk’s mouth. He closes his eyes, wanting this torturously boring conversation to end already as his head leans on the backrest. Crossing his arms over his chest, he listens to your voice that’s grown three octaves higher as you express your gratitude.

“Bye, Tae!” You shout from the door and Taehyung replies with something of a grunt. He hears you pause, waiting expectantly for something a little bit more but when you don’t receive anything further, he hears the sigh you let out followed by the sound of the door slowly closing.

When you return home a few hours later, the house is completely dark-— the only light being from the plethora of text messages you’ve received from Irene. You simply don’t have the heart to tell her this one was going nowhere either and that maybe just maybe she was right about Taehyung. You try to be as quiet as you can while you kick off the heels, your feet screaming in immediate relief as they finally get to conform to their natural state. You exhale the softest of groans as your feet pad along the hardwood floor, each step relieving the pent up ache. Your date went well. In fact, you would say it was uncharacteristically stellar, bottom to top. Nothing you’ve ever had before it could compare, and you solely doubted that anything would ever come close to it.

It was the magnum opus of nights out. The man had outdone himself; it wasn’t exactly a wonder before why so many wished for him, but now you had a taste of why it was so.

There had passed the rising action, the climax, and now, approximately three wonderful hours later, the time had come to the denouement. However, you realized you couldn’t help but be distracted the entire night. Something had been sitting at the back of your mind. Truth be told, it had been picking at you all day. Minhyuk was wonderful but you definitely weren’t ready for whatever he was willing to give you. The wow factor was there but the spark was almost completely non-existent. Besides, Taehyung seemed to occupy your mind more frequently, in ways you hadn’t imagined before. Through forceful conversations and smiles that didn’t quite surface your eyes, your mind continuously wandered back to your best friend. How was it that even the light brush of his skin against your own now fill you with a sense of excitement? Maybe even in some ways, you’d be too shy to admit to.

You would be lying to yourself if you didn’t admit that you’d thought about it; how those full lips would feel against yours, his taut arms wrapped around you holding you in fervour and lust. You’d seen the ghost of his girth through his boxers once or twice, chalking it up to your imagination how well he’d fit inside you. You want to slap yourself, feeling dirty for even thinking that way. As you ascend up the stairs, you can see the sliver of light that emits through the bottom crack of Taehyung’s bedroom door. God, he’s awake. You’re not sure if you’re relieved or anxious. How were you supposed to break it to him that this was another dead end of a date? That is if he asks but by the looks of it, he’s not phased by your arrival. You’re not sure if that hurts or alleviates the constant thoughts of him that litter your mind.

On the other side of the oak barrier, Taehyung is laying on his bed, flipping through an old comic he’s read over five times. He doesn’t want to know how your date went, instead, finding solace within the confinements of his room. He can hear the clattering outside his door, the water running to surely remove your makeup, the shlaaack of your dresser drawers opening. He’s never noticed how thin the walls were. He gives it 20 minutes before his door handle twists and your head pokes into his room. Your gaze filters through the room, starting at the desk against the right wall which turns out empty. Upon seeing this, you shift your eyes towards the bed where you see Taehyung laying in bed, donning boxers and a navy blue t-shirt. If it were anyone else, he’d be seething to have someone barge in like this. But it’s not just anyone; it’s you.

“I’m back.” You widen the door as you step in. Taehyung looks up from the pages of his comic that he wasn’t very focused on anyway and swipes his bottom lip with his tongue when his eyes fixate on you. How were you even more beautiful wearing his t-shirt than you were dressed up for the date? Your hair is in a bun, your face freshly washed and glowing. You’re awkwardly playing with the hem of your (his) shirt that falls just below your baby pink pyjama shorts. For a moment, Taehyung thinks to himself that he’s the luckiest man in the world to see you like this; you’re even more beautiful to him than anything else in this state; Min-yuck didn’t know what he was missing. He pulls back the duvet next to him and nods towards the empty space. It’s a silent offering for you to join him and you swear, if you squint hard enough, you could almost see a trace of your imprint etched into the mattress from how many times you’ve done this. Some nights you’d stay until morning, falling asleep with your limbs tangled in knots around one another. Other times you’d talk about everything and nothing all at once until you’d have to finally give into the desert in your mouth and sandbags in the inner ducts of your eyes. Tonight seemed to be one of those nights.

You shriek as your toes promptly dash across the chilled hardwood floor. “Cold, cold, cold!” you chant until you’ve sprung yourself onto his mattress; the bed flopping in such an aggression that it sends Taehyung’s comic flying out of his fingers.

“Easy there, She-Hulk— you’re going to break the bed before either of us get to go green,” he says as he thrusts his hips mockingly in the air, his tongue spilling out of his face and his eyes crossing. You roll your eyes at his juvenile remarks, still all classic Taehyung.

“You know, comments like that can make you extremely repulsive.” He turns over in bed to face you, unfazed by your comment and a giant boxed grin stretched across his face. He’s heard it all before, after all, ceaseless jabs at his immaturity. None of it had actually managed to make it through his seemingly impenetrable shield of humour, but even if it did he wouldn’t show it.

And this was definitely not one of those cases.

Something was different. There wasn’t the usual spark of jaunty humour he sprinkled in his voice; no, this was something far more intense, something far more carnal than you were used to.

You let out a groan in protest as his arms stretch to wrap around you, pulling you into his side. But you can’t resist for too long. You’re immediately met with warmth as you let your head fall against Taehyung’s chest, his arm stretching around your shoulders to fit you more comfortably against his body.

There’s an ambient silence that follows your arrival, you’re focused on the stretch of his shirt against his pecks and he’s playing with the strand of hair that seemed to have escaped the hold of your hair tie. Come to think of it, the pillow that is his chest seems to have become more firm, taut against your cheek as time has passed. The arm wrapped around you flexes with every readjusting and you can’t help but titter admiringly as you stretch your neck to face him.

“So, did you have a good time?” He asks. In his head, Taehyung figures it’s the most delicate way to ask you how the date went.

“I did yeah… The shoes killed me though,” you say as you point to your poor, beaten feet and wriggle your toes. The action itself draws a hiss from between your teeth and Taehyung finds himself immediately letting his hold around you go as he tends to your feet.

Your giggles morph into a breathless sigh, relief flooding into your veins from the sheer pleasure of Taehyung’s hands kneading at the heels of your feet. The noises that escape you are too sinful to his ears. For a moment, he thinks you’re doing this on purpose. You on the other hand, are watching him carefully. The balm of your left heel in the palm of his hand as he wrings and squeezes your toes causes the muscles in his biceps to shift with every movement. Suddenly his shirt seems to be barely fitting around his barrel chest, the fabric stretching against what you could only see as the outline of his nipples. Your lips purse and you contemplate if you should openly admit that you’re merely staring because he seems to have gotten that much more handsome as the years have passed. “Have you been working out?” You blurt.

He didn’t think he’d been gaining anything, working out was just something his friend Jungkook got him into to relieve some steam. “Have you been checking me out?” It makes a signature boxy grin form on his face as he looks up from the foot he’s been deliciously massaging. You scrunch your nose in distaste and kick his hands away. The giggle that bubbles from him leave your cheeks painted a shade of red. You had been checking him out lately. You turn your head to finally look his way, and grin back when you see he’s focused nowhere but on you.

“It’s a good look.” You mumble, bringing the duvet up to your face as you let the words hit him. When it does, he’s lurching towards you to rip the fabric barrier away from you. Another perfectly rectangular smile adorning the stretch of his lips as he snuggles next to you again. The only light in the room coming from his bed lamp allows the brush of your lashes to be shadowed onto the perfectly sculpted apples of your cheeks. It drives Taehyung to kiss it- an action that is not unusual between the two of you. You’re not sure when the kissing started but neither of you ever protested since it began. He kisses your other cheek, it’s light and sweet but it leaves a subtle scorch as he pulls away. The sweet form of endearment riles an effect that you hadn’t experienced before whenever Taehyung kisses you which is why it takes you by surprise when he moves down to kiss the edge of your jaw. That kiss suddenly burns an inferno into your chest, imprinting your so deepest desires to the edge of your mind.

“I’m glad you think so,” the warmth of his breath fans across the heat of your skin and suddenly you feel that familiar, yet foreign fizzle in the middle of your chest. When he catches your gaze with your own, the pupils of his eyes are dilated, a reflection of pure mirth hidden in the caramel of his eyes. Through the million times you’ve cuddled up to him, this is the first you’ve felt this bare in front of him. Suddenly you’re aware of the very prominent slick that’s clinging to the inside of your panties. You don’t know where this feeling has suddenly arisen from but you do know that you want nothing more than him, in this moment.

“T-taehyung?” Your voice is hushed, quivering at the slightest when the expanse of his hand brushes along the exposed skin of your stomach. He doesn’t apologize like he usually would, instead bravely pushing the fabric of your shirt a little higher as he circles his thumb along your skin. Every stroke of his thumb sends your cunt into an ocean of hot slick, your brain fogging with nothing but carnal want for that thumb to be circling your tingling clit.

“Hm?” He replies, too nonchalantly. It riddles you with disgrace for even being aroused in this moment. Did he not feel this as well? The breath you release is shaky and unsure as you try to think of anything else to keep your thoughts away from the callused stroke of his thumb that’s made it towards your hip bone. You note that he’s moved lower, and the sudden kiss he plants on the base of your neck is the one that sends you over the edge. Now, the thrum in your veins is too powerful, too overwhelming to ignore. You push his hand away a little more forcefully than you would have liked. It takes both of you by surprise. But before he’s able to apologize, you’ve pushed yourself off your back and practically tossed yourself onto him. Straddling his hips, your lips find his. The kiss is slow, tentative and you sigh in relief when you feel him reciprocate. You think that you’d deal with the consequences later but the heat you’re feeling surging through the depths of your bones sends you into a rapacious drive to achieve what you most desire. And in this moment, it’s him.

Taehyung tastes like mouthwash and the twizzlers he must have been munching on prior to your arrival. It’s sweet and you’re already addicted to the way his lips seem to form perfectly against your own. You can barely catch a break as your lips smack in even greater fervour, his hands coming down to the expanse of your ass. “Fuck.” He mumbles against your mouth as he kneads the meat of your ass underneath the palm of his fingers. Your hands clamour against his shirt, gnawing at the fabric in an indication that you want it off right away. Taehyung obliges, unlatching your lips briefly so he can pull the fabric over his head before tossing it somewhere on the floor. He cups your face with both hands and brings your mouth to his once again. You sink into him, letting his hands fall down to your hips as he guides them repeatedly over his growing bulge. You can practically feel your sex dripping through not only your panties but your shorts too as Taehyung growls against you before tugging on your bottom lip. “These, off. Now.” He pulls at the layer of barrier that’s keeping him from finger fucking your cunt. He wants to leave you a screaming mess by the end of this, he wants his name to chant off your tongue only for him. This drive alone sends Taehyung to flip you over to your back so you’re now underneath him. He plants hasty kisses along your neck before bunching the shirt you have on above your breasts so he can lick at the bud of your nipple. The wanton whimper you let out has him nearly come right then and there. Never would he have ever imagined you like this, underneath him looking like such a salacious beauty-— it almost makes him emotional. He tugs at your pyjama shorts and panties all in one, not wasting time to strip off the two fabrics individually. He’s waited too long for this moment and he needs to make you feel good, right now. “Fuck, _____.” You’ve noticed his already baritone voice has lowered in bass as he watches the honey drip from between your legs. “Is this how badly you want me to fuck that pretty cunt?” He uses his pointer finger to stroke a line over your slit, collecting your arousal in one swipe. You shiver at the single touch, gladly taking his finger into your mouth as he offers you to suck it clean. “You like tasting yourself, don’t you baby?” You nod in response, a mewl leaving you as he retracts his fingers from your mouth and teases the opening of your slit with it.

“Nnng!” You cry out when he plunges his finger into you, your walls immediately inviting the digit as they squeeze around him.

“Holy fuck,” You’re tight, and it leaves Taehyung’s aching erection twitching underneath the restraints of his boxers. The merciless curl of his fingers send you into muffled moaning and whining as you squirm against his touch. He can’t help but stare in awe at the carnal beauty laid underneath him like this, speared to his finger as you desperately try to reach the high you lust for. “Just like that, baby, come for me-— fuck.” He feels the lining of your cunt squeeze around his digit in such demand, he’s afraid if this was his dick, you’d deliciously suffocate it. As he fucks you with his finger, your eyes are rolled back. You just look so beautiful, he can’t help himself. He dives in between your thighs and licks a fat stroke up your slit. Your body freezes, the sensation of his wet muscle against your sensitive clit so euphoric, you could cry. He starts in figure eights, slow, deliberate and with a nudge of your fingers lacing through the brown lush of his, he gains speed. His tongue flicks over your clit, it’s merciless and sloppy. The sensation of his tongue sucking, flicking, smoothly running across your nub has your back arching off the mattress. The room is filled with your cries of elation. With each pump of his fingers and each stroke of his tongue, eventually, you give in. Your orgasm ripples over you as you convulse underneath him, desperately milking his finger as the aftershock of the electricity surging through your entire body fizzles until your head pulses with an overloaded amount of dopamine. Chest heaving, you’re stunned at the hunger that remains within you, You’re not done yet, you just want more. Pushing yourself off the mattress, you hook your right arm around Taehyung’s neck as you hungrily plant your lips against his. It’s strange, tasting yourself like this but the notion of it all is even more arousing to you. Your left arm finds its way to the very visible bulge of his erection, getting a feel for his cock as you palm it against the cloth of his black boxers. You’re ready to give back the favour. Taehyung hisses against your mouth, releasing your lips before he speaks. “You can do that some other time, but you and I both know I’m taking you now.” He kisses you once again and firmly guides you back onto the mattress. He’s quick to discard his boxers, your eyes nearly leaving the sockets of your skull as you gaze at his cock. It’s thick and long, tanner than the already honey-kissed tone of his skin, and the head is a dusted pink that looks all too inviting to shove down your throat. In all truth, it might be the biggest you’ve ever seen. The biggest you could ever think of. The magnum opus of cocks you’ve ever feasted on.

Holy shit…

It has your mouth salivating as you watch him pump himself a few times before urging your legs apart. You don’t think it’s possible for your cunt to soak even more, feeling the dribble of your arousal stream down your outer lips. You give into his command, allowing him to line himself up for your eager sex.

“Mm…” You moan as the velvet tip circles around your clit, the feeling sending bolts of sparks through your abdomen. The deep rumble that falls past Taehyung’s lips as he pushes his head into your cunt makes you immediately clench around his thick shaft. He places two hands on either side of your head as he slowly pushes into you. You feel the short stinging pinches as the initial resistance of his too large of a cock pushes into you. He kisses the tip of your nose, eyes focused on yours as he whispers dirty profanities. “You’re doing so well baby, taking my cock so fucking well.” Every inch you take draws the neediest of moans past the plump of your lips. It’s when he sinks deeper into you until your pelvic bones are touching, that you feel the tears of pure rapture sting at the inner corners of your eyes. Your lips ghost around each other as you both moan at the sensation. The stretch is so deliciously painful, you want nothing more than to have this moment for a lifetime. This feeling, this sinful lust of two human bodies connecting in the most vulnerable of ways makes you sink your teeth onto your bottom lip as Taehyung rolls his hips out before inching them back in. He hisses, your walls desperately clinging to the ridges of his cock as he begins a slow pace.

“God, you feel so fucking good. So tight.” He pushes his hips forward once more and your cunt eagerly invites him in, clenching, squeezing around him like the perfect fucking angel you are. Once the initial sting of his cock is coated from your insatiable wetness, you’re desperate for more. Moving away from your mouth, Taehyung spreads your legs further apart, grabbing a hold of your shirt around his fist as he begins rocking into you. Your fingers scramble for his torso, digging your nails into his sides as he picks up the pace. “You’re doing so fucking well baby-— so fucking good- fuck.” Your moans grow louder, followed by the sound of skin slapping on skin as Taehyung unapologetically fucks you into his mattress. With each thrust, you suck him in deeper than the last. You want him deeper, harder, fucked out until you’re seeing white.

“M-more,” you whimper and he happily follows your command, raising your ankles until they sit perfectly on either side of his shoulders, so he can just hit the area you both need to be sent to heaven and back. Your mixed guttural moans fill the ambience of his room as he fucks into you so feverishly, you can’t warn him when you’re about to come all of over his cock. “Oh my g-god,” he’s close, so goddamn close-

Beep. beep. beep.

A methodical, near musical but consistent tone. It’s something familiar… Something that makes a distant call to your anxieties, some survival procedure set in place.

Shit... The fire alarm.

It’s the fucking fire alarm.

“Taehyung…” you begin, gasping between deep breaths. “Is… is that the fire alarm?”

Taehyung stops, a full stop as the tone continues. A moment passes, heavy and laden with pure panic as he throws you off in a single motion and dashes toward the kitchen, all buck naked and pure spin cycle. You chuck the duvet off of you as you hastily follow after him. As you reach the last steps of the stairs, you hear Taehyung cursing from the kitchen. At the moment, it’s indiscernible, but within a minute you’re met with a blast of burning smoke coiling your lungs as you’re forced to inhale the scent of burnt pizza. All the windows are opened, followed by the silence of a disabled kitchen smoke alarm. You don’t know whether to laugh or yell at the prominent figure of Taehyung’s plump ass shifting underneath his panicked arms as he swings across the fire alarm with a dish towel. Arms crossed, you shift your eyes towards the charcoaled remains of the veggie pizza you had made him prior to your date.

“Well… You’re going to hate me when I tell you this,” Taehyung starts, placing the rag onto the counter. You tilt your head expectantly as you tap a forefinger against your crossed arm.

“Do enlighten me,” you reply, amused.

“I forgot to turn the oven off,” he finishes.

With these words, you step forward and to him, you look even more exquisite underneath the golden kitchen lights. “You absolute idiot.” you unravel your arms. “Taehyung, how could you? I specifically reminded y-”

Your sentence stops, mid-word. Somehow, without you noticing, he’s crossed the threshold that barred him from you in a flash, his powerful hand now finding itself placed firmly on your neck. He’s squeezing. It’s not hard, but it’s definitely enough to remind you where the balance of power between the two of you now stands.

“Now, was that attitude you’ve just given me?” he asks, almost mockingly.

You had always given him attitude, time and time again. It’s definitive that something is quite certainly different in this occasion. It’s impossible to think otherwise when someone has their hand around your neck.

Even more so when you find yourself dripping in spite of the situation; and not just from your most recent endeavours. Somehow, it’s the sudden authority that now secreted from his whole being; one hand on your neck, the other sliding the fabric of your shirt up your hip. “Don’t think I’m done with you yet.” You find yourself paralyzed. You’d never seen this side of Taehyung before. He releases your throat, and you gasp gratefully; air fills your lungs, and when you exhale you hear nothing but a moan, sprinkled with a shudder of ecstasy that gives away just how incredibly fucking riled up you are. Like it or not, you find yourself completely given to him, and the only thing that floods your cock riddled mind is the thought of him splitting you open and making you gush. Without another word, he spins you until your back hits flat against his chest. You whimper against him as he rides your shirt up your sides and clutches the material in his hand before forcing it above your head. You give in, a fresh wave of arousal clinging to you when you feel his teeth scrape against the shell of your ear. The small action makes you shudder and with a singular persuasive push, you’re leaned onto the counter, chest weighing down onto the cool granite slab. Taehyung leans forward, placing a hand on your back as he pushes your chest further into the countertop, your ass being presented as a meal to feast on. “Should be taught a lesson.” He mumbles, the calloused expanse of his hand sliding up your smooth ass. You wait anxiously, excitement bubbling inside you as you feel him rub the skin before yelping when his palm comes into contact with your right cheek. Using his second and third digit, he uses the tips to paint a tantalizing stripe up your glistening slit. Oh, how badly he wanted to dig in, have you unravel underneath his tongue like this. He spanks you again, hard and your ass quickly flushes to a shade of crimson as he soothes over his mark. He forces your legs apart even farther, your sex now even more exposed to his throbbing member. You’ve never felt this susceptible to someone’s gaze or touch and it fills you with nothing but with further want for him.

You stick out your ass further, inviting another spank before the sting is alleviated with a single kiss. Taehyung grasps the base of his cock in one hand and grinds it against your sticky slit, teasing it. The other hand slides up the divot in your back as he reaches to grab a fistful of your hair. He pulls with tranquil and your head is forced up. The blunt head of his dick nudges your entrance before it’s sinking in. With a ghost of a gasp, he slides in, and for a moment you’re silent, feeling nothing but his hot member as it penetrates the depths of pure pleasure you never knew you had.

You take him, miraculously enough, to the hilt, silently. He presses against your cervix, his hips grinding against yours as you feel his thumb rub against your clit. You desperately grip onto the edge of the counter, your knuckles pale as you cling from the new sensation of this position. Taehyung slaps your ass again, churning a whimper from you as you’re forced to stare towards the ceiling with your hair encircled around his wrist. He slides out of you until only the edge of his head remains before snapping his hips forward. You both moan, eyes fluttering to a close as he does it once more. His cock fills you so deliciously, you don’t want this feeling to end.

“Tae…” you gasp when he pulls out of you again and releases your hair. Your legs shake against the side of the counter as you twist your head to just see his arms reach for the dish towel sat beside the burnt pizza. It takes you by surprise when you feel the rough fabric of the dish towel slide across your neck. Your head tilts back as he tugs, lining his cock against your sex before rolling his hips back into you.

“You look so beautiful like this,” he grunts with a whisper, one hand on the dish towel around your neck and the other kneading at your ass. The grasp on the towel tightens around the base of your neck before Taehyung is moving his hips again. This time it’s merciless. His hips rock in and out of you with an even greater need than in the bedroom. The towel around your neck limits your airway in the slightest, blood rushing to your head as the mixed moans of you two fill the kitchen. You don’t even care that the windows are wide open, the idea that people could hear the two of you like this exciting your fuel even further. Each rock of his hips sends you closer over the edge, the tip of his girth hitting just the cushion of your cervix. Everything is so carnal, so divinely licentious that within a matter of minutes, you’re coming with a towel around your neck and your best friend’s dick speared to you. Your legs are shaking, cries of his name falling from your lips as he fucks you through your rippling orgasm. He lets go of the towel around your neck, using both his hands to steadily grasp your hips as he pounds into you. It’s doesn’t take long for Taehyung to find his own high, not when you’re quivering underneath him, your cunt clenching so tightly around his cock, it almost hurts in the best way possible. “Fuck.” He groans as he feels his chest tighten before he spills into you. You feel the warm liquid soak into your cunt, profanities chanting out of him as he chases after his own orgasm. He stills, closing his eyes as he plants a wet kiss along your spine. You’re gasping for air, chest rising and falling against the counter as you feel his cock soften inside you. Taehyung releases a breath and pulls out, a string of your mixed arousal dripping out of your fold and down your leg. The sight of that alone makes his cock twitch immediately. All he can think is that you’re delectable and he wants you like this for eternity. You lift yourself off the counter and huff out a breath as you turn around. Taehyung looks down at you, watching the way your face is flushed, the film of sweat filtering over your forehead and the edges of your baby hairs clinging to your neck. The sight is ravishing.

“That was…” you begin, brushing your messy hair away from your face.

“Yeah,” he breathes out. “It was.” Suddenly you’re aware of just how bare you are in front of him, in front of each other. Your eyes rake his torso, down to his now softened length. His honey skin glimmers underneath the kitchen lights, the shadows carving his muscles perfectly. You wish you could’ve taken him in your mouth. “So you have been checking me out.” he beams a grin towards you and you don’t think your cheeks could be any more flushed, surely painted cherry red by now.

You mumble a “maybe,” taking his offering hand as you two make your way back upstairs. Your fingers find themselves naturally intertwining. Even though you had held hands in the past just as friends, this time felt different; it left you with a deep rumble of butterflies in your belly. Now what? What did this mean for you now? Did he feel the same way? Would it merely become a convenient way for you to fuck? Being his roommate and his best friend- maybe Taehyung would use it to his advantage now that he knew you were okay with it. The idea of that pangs you with dejection, not wanting to have this with him purely for the sex. Maybe you do want more, maybe you don’t. You don’t know and frankly, the pounding in your head from the amount you’ve just orgasmed mixed with the dull ache between your thighs doesn’t help the thought process slip by at all. You’re instantly panicked, worried that you’ve ruined a lifelong friendship simply because you were horny and confused about feelings. Feelings. Over your best friend- this was not meant to happen. Taehyung could feel your grip on his hand tighten as you reach his bedroom and it’s as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking. Perhaps knowing you over ten years has something to do with that ability. He leans into you, kissing your cheek in hopes of reassurance. He doesn’t want to bring it up right now in his doorway, not like this.

“Shh, just rest for now.” He whispers and you’re not sure you’ll be able to. You’re met with the cool duvet as you lay down. You’re not chilled for long when Taehyung’s bare and toasty body fills the vacant space next to you. He always loved how well you fit into him- a thought that occurs as you hesitantly curl beside him. “You know I love you, right?” Oh god, you think. Questions like that never ended with anything good. He looks at you expectantly and you’re forced to swallow your worries and reply with a small nod. “Then you should know I plan to love you until you’re forced to stop loving me.”

“What does that even mean?” You yawn as you question him, resting your head on his chest. He licks his lip and releases a shaky breath. You’re prepared for the ultimate worst news. That’s a lie; you’re the farthest from prepared. You take comfort on his chest, relishing that this could quite possibly be the last you get to have your best friend like this. He’s too comfortable, the warmth, the thump of his heartbeat against your ear and the way that damn thumb is circling around the point of your shoulder again has you lulled. A sudden blow of slumber overtakes you and you’re barely able to concentrate on his words as you begin nodding off to the sound of his voice.

“It means that I want this in more ways than I could have ever imagined- always have...I,” he sighs and tightens his arm around you. “I want you in more ways than I could have ever imagined.” He pauses. “I was jealous tonight, I’m jealous every date and I can’t help but be relieved every time you tell me it’s failed,”

“Actually, remember your first kiss with Jimin under that stupid Narnia looking lampost in eighth grade? Don’t get mad- I was just a kid but I beat him up after and told him to stay away from you. And then you got a boyfriend freshmen year of high school- what was his name again? Hoesake...Hosoke...Hoseok? Remember how you cried in my arms the night he broke up with you? I remember every second of it. And then—” Taehyung stops and look down at your silence.

You’ve soundly drifted off with a smile on your face.

“What the hell is this?” You groan at the voice that sounds too much like Irene. Surely that’s not her. It couldn’t be. You’re in the comfort of your bed- Taehyung’s bed to be exact. You’re still dreaming, limbs entangled with Taehyung as his arm rests over the hills of your chest. “If I see that boy’s winkle pop from under those covers, I will resort to drinking.” The comment is followed by an unfamiliar sounding snort. You’re probably having a nightmare. You’ve heard of situations like this, lucid dreaming was it? It really sounds as if she’s right there- wait. Your eyes spring open as your body shoots up from the mattress. It brings along Taehyung’s arm and he grumbles, stirring in his sleep yet unphased that Irene is literally stood at the foot of his bed. Her arms are crossed, lips pursed and foot tapping repeatedly against the floor.

“I-Irene?!” You shriek, scrambling to bring the sheets to your chest as your pupils widen further when you’re met with not only her perfectly primp figure but Jungkook’s next to her. A random addition to an already confusing situation. “Jungkook?” He waves like the idiot he is, a smug grin stretched across his face before he pokes a tongue on the inside of his cheek. It’s as if he had been waiting to catch you like this since he was given birth to. It’s too early to have already spoken more than three words, and you can’t believe Taehyung is still sleeping. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in here?”

Irene scoffs as if those were the most absurd questions you could have ever asked. “I think what matters is that you felt the need to lie to me about rubbing genitals with him!” She huffs a breath and her face softens. “You didn’t answer your phone last night so I got worried and,” she turns to face Jungkook. “He was the only person who had a spare key to this house.” Of course Taehyung had given a spare key to Jungkook, no wonder your stock of cup ramen had gone thin recently.

“M’what’s going on?” Taehyung grogs huskily next to you. All gazes snap towards him. His face is puffy with sleep as he peeks through one creaked open eye. When he sees you not directly laid next to him, he adorns a frown. “Are you alright, baby?”

“Baby?” Irene shrills and it pierces both of your ears. Taehyung rubs his eyes and pushes his torso off the mattress, as he views the cause of the commotion. Irene and Jungkook, a pair you wouldn’t have imagined together yet here they were in your house- uninvited nonetheless.

“If you guys wanted to join in on the fun that badly, you could’ve rang. Can’t even get a peaceful morning with my girlfriend.” He grumbles, laying back down into his pillow as he stuffs his face into it.

“Girlfriend?” You and Irene question in unison. Your head snaps towards him and you’re only met with the back of his head.

You rub your face in hopes that maybe just maybe, you’re still dreaming and this is all a part of that lucid dreaming phenomenon. You point towards your ball of bedlam and the hoodie-clad figure stood next to her. “Wha-... how do you two even-”

“They’ve been fucking for months,” Taehyung mumbles from his pillow, answering your unfinished question. As if this morning couldn’t have gotten any weirder. Irene looks appalled and she opens her mouth to say something but shuts it before anything can escape her. You’re at a loss for words and you’re not sure whether to be seething or laughing in hysterics at how ridiculous this whole situation is.

“Irene, what?” You start. Jungkook is silent and Irene is at a loss for words it seems.

“I-I...it’s only been one month,” she stutters, struggling to hold her posture. “Jungkook, you promised not to tell!” She seethes and just as quickly as they arrived, they’re marching out of the room, echoes of their raised voices trailing after their bickering. You’re speechless but the first set of words you speak to Taehyung since your sexual exploits and his rambled confessions are that of inquiry.

“So, girlfriend huh?” Your gaze finds his as he lifts his head off the pillow and cranes his neck towards you. He beams a full-blown toothy boxed grin that you’ve known since you were 11 years old.

“Yeah,” he nods. “Girlfriend.”

a/n: and just like that, we’ve come to an end! i hope you’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading this as much as i loved writing it! please give me as much feedback as possible!! i love interacting with you guys and hearing what you have to say :))

thank you to @sorryimacrapwriter for this wonderful request, i really hope i did it justice for you x

and ultimate thank you to my love, my joy, my afflatus, @meant-for-dreaming for keeping me sane and motivated to get this published. i love u.

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heungtanbts · 5 years

Text

Quarter Life Crisis

pairing: jungkook x reader

genre/warning: slow burn friends to lovers!au, friend zoning, being dense AF, swearing & sarcastic bantering, a smidge of angst, explicit implications of smut

word count: 25k

A/N: guys. i’ve never written something this long and in depth before and i honestly don’t know how to feel about it. but i do know i have a newfound respect for fic writers. i poured so much time and effort into this, and can only imagine what other writers go through so please remember to show your fave writers love for all their hard work!

In the movies, the recently graduated, mid-twenties protagonist sets off on the journey of life and seems to immediately land a fantastic job, find a stellar unit in an even more luxurious apartment complex, gets a fancy car with a name that’s impossible to pronounce, is in a long term relationship from college and is going to receive a proposal within the next few months (but doesn’t know it yet), and basically, has life all figured out. If movies are going to portray young adult life like that, then that’s ideally what your twenties should be like, right? Being young, educated, ready to take on the world, further discovering yourself and finding true love.

This, however, is not what you imagined your mid-twenties to be like.

Sitting in a comfy pair of capri leggings and an oversized college t-shirt, you sink into your sofa and suck in a labored breath. You really shouldn’t have finished that last bit of Shanghai fried noodles. T’was a mistake, a horrible mistake. Rolling down the waistband of your leggings, your belly pops out, set free, and you finally feel like you can breathe again.

“Wow, you’re really packin’ heat there, huh Pillsbury?” A low voice calls mockingly from across the room.

“Shut up, I’m proud of my life achievements okay.” You immediately retaliate, not even bothering to look at the other potato potato-ing at the opposite end of the sofa.

You hear him snort incredulously. “Ah yes, because ‘he who achieves the pudge, achieves in life.’ Definitely heard Yoda say that one somewhere.”

Letting your head lull to the side, you can’t stop yourself from snickering at the sight of Jungkook sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce, hands held up in OK signs, eyes shut and head bobbing from side to side ridiculously in what you deem to be an extremely inaccurate impersonation of Yoda. Why you continue to hang out with this dweeb and allow him to put his nasty feet up on your coffee table right after hitting the gym for two hours is beyond you. Must be because it’s Friday night, affectionately known as Fat Friday, and he’s always the one who brings take out, like it’s a peace offering of some sort. That’s why.

At this age you would’ve never imagined that life would consist of a weekly Fat Friday “take out and a movie” routine with your best friend from college. As a young adult, you know you’re fortunate to have a stable 8-5 job that you don’t hate, a clean and cozy apartment unit in the city (with in unit laundry machines, bless up) and a small group of friends that stand by you through thick and thin. But after spending so many days and years like this, you can’t help but question it all.

According to those damn rom-coms, you should be out going on adventures, mingling with new people, sipping on over-priced drinks, showing up to the club with your posse and, maybe if you’re lucky, waltzing out with a newly acquired friend for the night. But here you are instead, having a chopsticks war with Jungkook over the last crab rangoon Kung-fu Panda style, even though you’re so full, the delicious fried appetizer might just have to sit in your throat for a while until your digestive system can make room for it. Living in your twenties is wild, just absolutely wild.

“God, please don’t tell me you do this when you go on dates.” Jungkook looks at you in both disgust and awe as you pop the last crab rangoon in your mouth, chewing noisily on purpose to rub it in his face while simultaneously enjoying the crunch.

“What, eat?” A speck of crab escapes and lands on your chin. Now Jungkook definitely looks more grossed out than amazed as he reaches out to thumb at your chin, removing the bit of artificial seafood and making a face as he wipes it on a nearby napkin.

“No, this isn’t eating. This is straight up a clip from the Discovery Channel about predators swallowing their prey.” He deadpans. “It’s like you’re training to be a food fighter, or something.”

You suddenly look up, eyes beaming with enlightenment, “That’s it, a food fighter, of course! That’s what I should be pursuing in life! Jeon, for once, you and your one brain cell have managed to come up with a brilliant idea.”

Jungkook doesn’t even seem phased by your insult and just moves to make himself comfortable, kicking his feet up on the coffee table as per usual. “You know, I actually think you could do it. With the way you eat- no, inhale food, you could show the world your one and only talent – gluttony.” He grins victoriously only to have to whip his neck from side to side in order to avoid the used chopsticks you spear at him, the wooden sticks clattering onto the linoleum floor. You scowl openly from having missed, settling back onto the sofa with your arms crossed over your chest.

“I could start my own muk-bang stream.” You think aloud, seriously considering the occupation for a moment. “Look cute, eat ten packets of ramen, answer questions about my life from the millions of die-hard fans watching – I could totally live that life.”

Jungkook chuckles at the mental imagery he gets, “Yeah, and then majestically throw up for your two whole precious fans to witness. Real cute.” His lip quirks upwards, “Those two poor fans, scarred for life, never able to heal from the trauma.”

You glare at him. “Just wait until my boyfriend hears of this, he won’t stand for this kind of abuse you give me. Is this even friendship? Where’s the love? The support?” You clutch at your chest dramatically, “Where’s the camaraderie, best friend? Where’s the-” You’re so rudely cut off by a pillow to the face, thrown by none other than your so-called best friend.

“Puh-lease, Park SeoJoon is way out of your league. I said it. Sniff sniff, cry cry, get over it, babe.”

You frown, shaking a closed fist at him. “One day, Jeon, you’ll see. One day.” With a defeated sigh, you flop onto your back and throw your feet up onto Jungkook’s lap, ignoring the “ugh your feet smell” comment he makes and instead, focusing on the dreary white ceiling of your unit.

The both of you know it’s just harmless joking when you refer to Park SeoJoon as your boyfriend and whenever Jungkook makes fun of your eating habits and pudgy food babies. To strangers, the way you two interact may seem a bit harsh and pretty immature, but for the two of you, the playful insults and level of savagery are just right. It’s a relief that you can bicker and banter with him and know there are no hard feelings, that you two know each other well enough to know where the lines that should not be crossed are. But it hasn’t always been this way.

When you first met Jungkook freshman year of college, he was ridiculously shy, probably one of the most soft spoken and just plain awkward people you’d ever met. So much so that, being the decent, civilized human being you were, you felt completely obligated to be nice back, mostly because you were afraid he might cry if you accidentally looked him in the eye or something. He seemed so delicate, perpetually wide eyed and fearful, and for that reason, you felt a little more distant from him and closer with the other guys. You were able to freely throw around insults and make all the snarky jabs you wanted around them. Jungkook was just too quiet, and thus you were too nice to him. That is, until one day, your mutual friend Taehyung proposed the idea of having a Mario Kart tournament out of boredom, and somehow it ended up being just you and Jungkook in the final race. Spoiler alert – you beat Jungkook. Blue shelled him right at the finish line and cackled like a disney villain as you cut right in front and took first place. You’ll never forget that moment – it was the first time he ever swore at you. Actually, that was the first time you ever heard Jungkook swear period – ears red at the tips, cheating accusations and demands for a rematch flying around chaotically. But ever since then, that weird wall between you two came crashing down, and that is how your beautiful meme of a friendship came to be.

In the comfortable silence, some random Marvel movie on in the background, you glance over at your best friend, lips involuntarily curling up into a smile. You’re more than glad that those walls came down that day, that you were able to spend majority of your college days attached at the hip, that now, as annoying as he may be, Jungkook is still by your side to this day, eating greasy take-out with you and spending what should be a lively night out, at home instead, vegging out and pigging out. A very nice Friday evening in, with a blubbery food baby. And Park SeoJoon as your imaginary boyfriend. You suddenly groan at the thought and shove your face into the pillow Jungkook just threw at you. It’s been approximately three years since your last relationship, but for some reason it feels like it’s been so much longer than that. That relationship with your then college boyfriend ended shortly after graduation and you can’t believe that was truly the last time you dated someone. You remember spending two weeks ruining Jungkook’s shirts one by one with your snot and tears while hugging tubs of melting ice cream to your chest. Three. Whole. Years. Ago.

You let out another groan and it’s louder this time, even with the pillow muffling your mouth. You’re unable to control your train of thought as it travels to a more stressful place, ruining your once zen state of mind on this lovely Fat Friday evening. What are you even doing with your life? Or to put more accurately, what are you doing wrong with your life? Are you doing something wrong? It just feels like at this point, you should you be doing something more, chasing after your goals and dreams, or at least have some more adult characteristics to your life. While it’s very true that you already have so much to be thankful for, for some reason it just feels like you’re doing something wrong – or something’s just missing. Everyone else seems to have it all together, so why do you still feel like you’re ten steps behind?

You must’ve groaned a couple times more without even realizing it because moments later, the pillow is abruptly snatched away from your face, revealing a very puzzled Jungkook.

“What are you moaning and groaning about?” He asks, raising a brow before giving you a look of utter disbelief. “Is it because of what I said about Park SeoJoon? Woman, for the last time, you just gotta accept the fact that it’s not gonna happen and move on with your li-”

“Jungkook,” You interject, voice quieter than normal. “Am- am I just doing this all wrong?”

Jungkook abruptly comes to a halt, his mouth still hanging open silently from when you cut him off. A slew of jokes and insults remains lodged in his throat as his chocolate eyes closely study your face. You can tell he’s internally debating on how seriously he should be taking your words. Like is this a “reply with another joke” kind of situation, or a “sit down, tell me what’s wrong” kind of conversation that’s about to happen? It feels like this is always how conversations are between the two of you, they can switch from childish insults to pondering the meaning of life in the blink of an eye. Luckily, Jungkook’s used to it by now – having sudden and unexpectedly deep conversations with you doesn’t terrify him anymore like it used to in the past.

“What do you mean by that?” Jungkook inquires, deciding it’d be best to tread carefully. He uncrosses his legs and places his feet on the floor, elbows resting on his knees in a much more serious posture.

Over time, he’s gotten so good at feeling you out and directing the conversation as needed, even though he used to have internal melt downs every time you would open up to him. He’s gotten so much better at having conversations period – he handles them like champ now.

“What are we doing Jeon?” The words come out as a deflated sigh, an accurate description of how you feel at the moment. “It’s Friday night and while people our age are spending way too much money getting drunk and having fun taking over the city, we’re upholding a Friday tradition that consists of eating pure oil and poking at our food babies.” Jungkook immediately glances down at his own stomach before meeting your eyes again.

“Uh, I don’t have a food baby so you’re kind of alone on that one.” Jungkook corrects you, rubbing his hand up and down against his flat stomach. You shoot him the deadliest glare you can conjure up. It’s not your fault your body was made to cling to blubber in order to have babies and produce life in this world.

“What, you wanna just go out then?” Jungkook suggests, ignoring the daggers you send his way. “We always have the option to go out and get drunk, you know. If that’s what you wanna do, let’s just call some people up and go then.” Giving the glare a rest, you shake your head, arms and legs splayed out like a starfish as you stare up at nothing, another sigh heavy on your chest.

“That’s not it, Jeon. I just- ugh, I don’t know.” You twist around and smack your fists and feet against the sofa cushion, like a child throwing a mini tantrum. “All I know is that I’m young, I’m single, with all the time in the world and yet here I am, living life like a retired grandma.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with being a retired grandma? That’s like the ultimate goal in life.” Jungkook tuts, leaning forward to grab his bazillionth fried egg roll of the night. That boy is an intergalactic blackhole when it comes to food, yet he never has a food baby, damn damn damn.

“When I was 18, I remember wanting to hurry up and grow up and be in my twenties already.” You reminisce, still focusing on the popcorn pattern decorating the ceiling, “I figured by the time I was 26, I’d have discovered my true passions while exploring my twenties, that I’d be married, settled down after having fully lived out my younger years, maybe on the way with a little one or two, I don’t know.” You bemoan. “I guess adulthood just isn’t what I expected it to be.”

“So what you’re saying is you want to get pregnant.” Jungkook’s smiles mischievously as he leans towards you, flashing you a wink, “That can be easily arranged.”

“Pervert,” You jokingly shove him away, and he just chuckles. “You know that’s not what I meant. Plus I’m not ready to have kids, could you even imagine it?” Your eyes widen comically in horror, “I can barely take care of myself – God knows if I’d be able to keep a tiny, fragile human being alive.”

“True, those succulents you got for your birthday last year barely lasted two weeks,” Jungkook raises his cup to his lips, coughing under his breath before taking a sip, “even though they’re like the easiest plants to raise.”

“Please, rub more salt on my wound Jeon, I insist!”

Jungkook gives you a satisfied smirk before his demeanor morphs into something more serious, fingers rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong,” He muses, eyes flicking upwards to meet yours as he gives you one of his gentle, heartwarming smiles – the rare kind that comes out when he’s done joking and ready to comfort you.

“Think about it, you’ve pretty much met majority of the societal standards there are for being a young adult in this day and age. You’re educated, you have a job with a steady pay, got your own place, and you lead a pretty stable lifestyle.” He absentmindedly plays with the cup in his hands. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with still not knowing exactly what it is you want to do, or what next steps you want to take. Like so what if you’re single, lots of people are.” Jungkook shrugs. “Who even says that has to be the next step you take? I think it’s still okay that you are,” he looks down at his hands, expression soft, “that we are, still trying to figure things out, one day at a time, you know?”

You hum in agreement, Jungkook’s words bringing immediate comfort to your restless mind. He’s right. It’s not like you’ve made any grave mistakes or have some monumental life-or death issue to face. It’s not a sin to just do your own thing and not follow the “standard” steps of life people usually take. It’s just that the concept of it all, the topic itself, makes you feel like a baby – a very lost, disappointed, overgrown cry-baby because you don’t really feel put together or like you know what you’re doing. But like Jungkook said, that’s okay. It’s alright that you’re still trying to figure it all out, at your own pace – you’re slowly creating your own path.

“Since when did you get so wise, huh Jeon?” You smile, spirits lifted and already feeling a lot better than just a few minutes ago. Jungkook just always seems to know what to say to make you feel better.

He just shrugs with a jokingly cocky pout of his lips, “I’m the quarter life crisis guru, come to me with all your first world problems and you shall find enlightenment.” His words automatically make you punch him in the arm lightly and all you can afford is a weak insult muttered under your breath with a small smile on your lips.

If you were to have this conversation with anyone else besides Jungkook, you would probably die before admitting such embarrassingly trivial, quarter-life-crisis complaints. It hurts your pride, being an adult and having to admit you don’t really know what you’re doing with life. But because this is Jungkook, the insecurities of your heart come out so easily. No matter how much you joke around or annoy each other, he’s your closest and most trusted confidant. He’s actually a great listener – so honest yet gentle with his words (when he’s being serious, of course), and with him, figuring out life’s problems isn’t as daunting of a task. With him, conversations flow, anxiety is immediately blanketed over with a comforting peace, solutions are developed more smoothly, plans get put into action more proactively. He may still be salty every time he sees a blue shell and still gives you hell for it to this day, but if he was really that annoyed by you, he wouldn’t be sitting on your couch, listening to you complain and trying to help you figure out your life. That’s Jungkook for you – good old reliable Jungkook.

“Did someone say quarter life crisis?” You both whip your heads toward the door at the familiar voice that suddenly calls out of nowhere. “If it’s ___ we’re talking about, then she just needs to get laid. Problem solved.” That same voice lets out a yelp when a bunny slipper comes flying at his head.

“We have intruders.” You mutter as you look down at your one bare foot, the moment completely ruined. “I knew I shouldn’t have given you guys a spare key.”

“But you did, and it comes in handy in times like these.” Another voice, lighter and higher pitched than the first, pipes up. You allow your eyes to close, as if trying to take in the last bits of comfort from your conversation with Jungkook as jackets and bags are rustled around, the sound of footsteps growing louder and closer to you.

“How long have you guys been standing there?” Jungkook questions the newly arrived guests.

“Long enough to know that ___ needs to get some.” The first voice replies teasingly. Eyes still closed, the couch quickly sinks down next you, and an arm is thrown around your shoulders, “So, the well’s a bit dry this season, huh?”

“Oh my god shut up, Tae.”

“It’s drought season and the crops are in need of a good ol’ watering, ayy?”

“I’m seriously going to punch your face in.”

“Moses parted the Red Sea and then just left it parted, huh? Tsk tsk, the cruel man.”

Back in college, once those barriers between you and Jungkook came down, they seemed to come down with everyone else as well. As you and the others really started to get to know Jungkook, you quickly learned that he was the complete opposite of how he initially presented himself. He wasn’t shy at all, or timid in the least – the boy loved to joke around and once he was comfortable, would shoot playful insults left and right and make all the sassy comments just as much as you did, if not more. Because of that, he could be a real pain, since he seemed to thrive off of messing with you and seeing your reactions. But if you thought Jungkook was a pain in the ass, then Taehyung proved himself to be a real thirty-six-foot flagpole up your ass. No one ever guessed that timid little Jungkook would click so well with Taehyung and that together as a team of evil, they would cause you so much misery. It was to the point that everyone knew better than to leave the three of you alone together for longer than five minutes – for the sake of world peace. Though after growing up a little and leaving college, Taehyung stopped mucking around as much, and he seemed to calm down even more once he and Hari got together. But the little shit-head spirit still lives on inside of him to this day – it’s a light that no one can snuff out. Bless Hari’s heart for continuing to keep tight reins on him and love his sorry ass.

Before you can show him the fullness of your wrath, Taehyung gives you a shit-eating grin and quickly bounces over to the other section of the couch where his girlfriend, aka your closest gal pal and college roommate Hari has taken a seat, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“She’s being awfully scary today, what’d you do Kook?”

Jungkook lets out an offended huff, and he’s right back to his normal, sarcastic self. “The hell did I do, I brought her highness take out on my way back from the gym and we’re watching her favorite Iron Man again for the umpteenth time.” He crosses his arms over his chest, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“You love Iron Man as much as I do, bitch. Don’t even try me with that shit.”

“See? Major case of the grumps.”

Hari peels Taehyung’s arms off and gives him a scolding look when he whines before making her way to your side. She places a comforting hand on your back, peering down at your distraught face. “You alright, ___? What’s up?”

“Ugh, it’s nothing, really.” You hide your face in your hands, “It’s literally not a big deal, I’m just a little irked, I guess.” Though it hurts your pride, you decide to be a little more honest, since they’ve already heard bits of your conversation with Jungkook. “Just debating whether I’m living my 26-year-old life right or not, that’s all.”

Hari raises her eyebrows, as if she can’t believe what her ears are hearing. “You’ve got a grown ass man who brings you take out all the time and willingly gives you free reign over his Netflix account. Looks to me you’re living the life, bub.”

“I think that was supposed to make me feel appreciated, but it just made me sound whipped as hell.”

Hari waves a hand dismissively at Jungkook, who scowls and starts reconsidering his life choices. “So what, you wanna go out and do something then? Something to make you feel better? Or in general, how can we,” She gestures to the three of them in a circular motion, “help convince you that you’re doing life just fine?”

“I’m telling ya, she just needs to get boned.” Taehyung mumbles while happily chewing on a fortune cookie. “See, even my fortune cookie agrees with me – thou must get the D in order to succeed.” You abruptly stand to your feet, turning to him with poisonous daggers shooting from your eyes.

“That’s it, get your punk ass over here, you little-“

“A boyfriend!” Hari suddenly clasps her hands together, an imaginary light bulb flickering over her head, “___ needs more than just a one-night stand, babe – we need to get her a mans.” You halt in your forward lunge towards Taehyung, who’s curled up in fetal position with his hands covering his head, and turn to her, your eyebrows knitting together in disbelief.

“You really think getting a boyfriend’s going to make me feel better?”

She nods eagerly, looking utterly convinced. “Let’s consider the facts for a moment, shall we? You’ve been out of school and working for a couple of years now, you’ve got this pad in the city all to yourself and nothing to do but eat junk and re-watch old superhero movies,” Your mouth falls open to protest, but Hari puts a finger to your lips, shushing you effectively. “And you’re having all these quarter-life-crisis symptoms. Maybe the issue is that it’s time for you to move on to the next chapter of your life, which in this case could be—”

“—finding a bae.” Taehyung finishes for her, his eyes wide as saucers as he uncurls from his fetal position to sit up on the couch. “Makes sense to me! HyukJae was what, three years ago? And you’ve been single ever since. Now that you’re an established, independent woman, there’s nothing holding you back from finding someone to do life with.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you.

There’s a beat of silence, but you wonder if the others can hear the gears turning in your head as you contemplate this proposal. It literally goes against everything Jungkook just said, finding a boyfriend just because it’s the proper “next step” you should be taking. Plus it’s not like you need a man to make your life complete – you’re already happily successful in sustaining yourself and your relationships with what you’ve got right now. But, you have to admit, a special someone could help spice things up a little, make life a little more fun and a little less drab. Maybe this person could help push you out of your comfort zone to go explore the city, find some new hobbies, get out of the apartment and try something new period. Maybe this significant other could help pave this new path for you and your life, because if lazy people were an army, then you would be the head chief in command, so God knows you need the help. So maybe, maybe you just need a little outside push to get you going.

The more you think about it, the more convinced you are that it’s at least worth a shot, and the determination slowly begins to grow inside of you. You know what Jungkook said but you figure taking this step is better than doing nothing at all. You suddenly stand up and pump your fist in the air like it’s a declaration of war, and you end up startling the others with your abrupt actions.

“Okay, let’s do it.” You announce, finding a new sense of motivation within you. “Let’s go and find me a mans! HUZZAH!”

Hari jumps up and squeals, immediately grabbing your phone off the coffee table and gushing about helping you make a dating profile and about which apps would be best for you to use. In the midst of all the commotion, Jungkook remains silent, his eyes trained on the floor, expression hard to read. But the excitement is too dizzying for you to notice. You just can’t help but have a good feeling about this next step in your life.

- - - - -

“Okay, bread, check. Rice… check. Veggies, strawberries, bananas, check check check.”

“Don’t forget my Lucky Charms.”

Looking up from your phone, you cock your head at the man with the messy wavy hair casually leaning on the shopping cart rail, a look of disbelief painted on your face. “I still don’t get why I have to include your favorite cereal on my grocery list, Jeon.” Jungkook makes a funny face at you, one that makes him look dramatically offended, the cart coming to an abrupt stop.

“Um, first of all, Lucky Charms should be everyone’s favorite cereal, including yours. And second, I need to keep a box at your place for when we do delivery ‘cause I need something to eat right after working out or else I feel like I’m gonna die – literally.”

You roll your eyes and ignore the way Jungkook shoots a grin your way as he continues to push the cart. “You’re a grown ass man who makes his own money, get your own sugary cereal.”

“Do you want your best friend to starve to death? Is that the kind of love we’ve got here?”

“And you call me dramatic.”

Pausing at the cereal section, you internally groan after seeing that some jerk just had to put all the boxes of Lucky Charms up on the top shelf. You need to have a word with the grocery store manager about discriminating so openly against short people like this.

“So speaking of bananas, how’s the dating app thing going?” Jungkook asks casually, whistling along to the song they’re playing at the store. This time you groan externally, lowering your head down to rest it on the other available half of the shopping cart handle.

“You did not just use bananas as a segway into this conversation.”

Jungkook hums in indifference, pushing the cart along and smiling to himself when you continue to walk with him, still face down and leaning on the shopping cart. He suddenly comes to a stop which results in you hitting your head against the metal bars where infants are supposed to sit, and you mutter a curse at him, rubbing the sore spot as you meet his eyes with a glare. He just arches a brow innocently and points up at the shelf, looking all too smug for your liking. “Found the Lucky Charms.”

You let out a huff before nudging Jungkook out of the way. “I mean, it’s only been three days, but it’s going alright, I guess.” You inform him, making your way towards the shelves. “I’ve only talked to like two guys so far, but honestly it’s just, kinda weird? I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel natural at all, so that’s been rough.”

It’s only been a few days since your little eureka moment about seizing the day and giving your adult life a re-vamping. It’s been strange, having small talk conversation with potential dates with only having a few pictures and some witty captions and quotes on their “About Me” pages to go off of. Technology has certainly reinvented the way people date nowadays, but you can’t help but miss meeting people naturally through mutual friends or at a social event or something. Nevertheless, Hari’s been harping on you every day about any new matches you’ve made and keeping close tabs on your conversations with your matches, but it surprises you that Jungkook’s suddenly taking interest in this whole spiel. He’s seemed so uninterested in this from the start, which was a bit disappointing if you’re being honest. You had hoped you’d be able to talk to him more about it and get his opinions on your matches and who seemed good and who seemed like a left-swipe, only to get less than enthusiastic input from him. So for him to suddenly bring it up on his own volition is certainly an unexpected surprise.

“Mmm, I see.” You don’t even notice the way Jungkook’s voice dumbs down a notch from behind, too busy staring up at the colorful rainbow box above your head as determination settles in your stomach. If you just believe in yourself, you can do it – you will reach that goddamn box of cereal for your goddamned best friend and his childish taste palate, even if it kills you. This isn’t for Jungkook – this is for all the other shorties in the world.

You make your first attempt to reach the cereal. You’re up on your toes and then come straight back down, your fingers not even coming close to reaching the stupid box when Jungkook finally speaks up again. “What- what do you even look for in a guy, anyways?”

You pause for a moment, stopping yourself from jumping up for your second attempt to turn and face Jungkook. Even though the two of you are best friends, you realize you don’t really talk about this kind of stuff with him. Hari is always your go-to friend for these types of conversations, and it dawns on you that not only does Jungkook not know what your ideal type is, but you also have no idea what his is either. You’re surprised to discover something you don’t know about your best friend.

“Well, for starters, I’d appreciate it if he wasn’t a serial killer.” You muse, tapping your index finger on your chin thoughtfully. “I also feel like I like guys who are tall, have nice hair, who keep themselves fit and know how to dress well. You know, a guy who knows how to be a basic human being.”

“Oh, so basically me.” Jungkook quips, “I’m flattered, babe, really. Didn’t know you were so into this.” He sticks his tongue out when you smack his arm in response.

“Someone who wears anything besides hoodies and basketball shorts.” You emphasize jokingly, sticking your tongue out right back at him.

Jungkook raises his brows. “So wearing nothing? I could dig the nudist life, sounds chill.”

You snort, “Please, Jeon, spare us all.” Turning back to the shelves, you continue to think aloud. “I don’t know, I just want someone who’s easy to talk to, like a friend, someone who likes to joke around, but can be serious when needed. Someone who’s passionate about his ambitions in life and is a real go-getter, unlike myself. Someone who will be romantic and loyal – not like all the cheese you see in the movies, but in his own special way. You know,” you shrug, coming up onto your toes as you take another unsuccessful swipe at the box of cereal, your fingertips grazing the edge of it, “someone who will just love me right, I guess.” With a little hop, you accidentally push the cereal box an inch backwards and it pulls a frustrated noise out of you. But you are determined to stay here all night if it means you’ll be able to get this cereal box down yourself. Fucking Jungkook and his cereal needs.

“What about you, Jeon?” You grunt out, this time reaching up with your other arm, as if it’ll make a difference. “What’s your type?” A rush of excitement comes over you when you manage to sneak the box back to its original spot, and now you can almost get two fingers around it.

“I…don’t really know.” You hear Jungkook say softly behind you, but you’re too zoned in on those damn Lucky Charms to notice the change in his demeanor. “I agree with a lot of the traits you named off, I guess.”

“What, you want someone tall, athletic, and well-dressed too?” You can most definitely hear Jungkook roll his eyes at that comment, and it makes you smile, even as you continue to struggle to make contact with the flimsy cardboard box, muttering incoherent complaints under your breath.

“I mean if he isn’t Park SeoJoon, then I’m not interested.”

Still facing the shelves, you can’t help but laugh at his mocking tone, even though you know he’s mimicking you. “Okay seriously though, I just realized I don’t know really this stuff about you. And come to think of it, I haven’t seen you date someone in like years.”

There’s a short pause in the conversation when suddenly you feel something warm press up against your back, and it startles you. You crane your neck upwards at a diagonal to see what it is and nearly let out a yelp. Jungkook’s face is merely inches away from yours, his eyes fixed on the box of Lucky Charms above. The scent of light soap and clean laundry detergent mixed with something slightly musky overwhelms your senses as he leans forward and presses himself against your back even more, the sensation causing a breath to become lodged in your throat. Without even having to rise onto his toes, he easily grabs the dumb box of Lucky Charms, finally ending your misery in more ways than just one, and before your body can even experience a full-on proper reaction, he’s already moving, a sudden chill replacing the warmth on your back as he moves to toss the cereal into the cart.

“Yeah, last time I dated was Ji Soo my sophomore year. Damn, that was a long time ago.” Jungkook recalls, leaning on the cart and continuing to push it down the aisle, not having any clue what he just did. He has no clue that your heart is suddenly thumping wildly in your chest, and that a heat is starting to spread across your cheeks, and you have to physically pinch yourself to snap out of it before Jungkook can notice something’s off.

Whenever Jungkook is physical with you, it’s almost always tied in with a joke or is just a part of the platonic comfort you two share with one another. Ruffling your hair, having his head or feet in your lap, pinching his cheeks – none of that is out of the ordinary. But feeling his back against you, his body so close and radiating heat onto your skin, breath puffing over your cheeks – this is all uncharted territory for you. And as his best friend, you’re not quite sure how to process the physiological effects you’re experiencing from it. You’re still in a bit of a daze, and you end up trailing a few steps behind him, close enough to keep up with the conversation but far enough to allow your body calm down. It’s sad how worked up you got just from your male best friend pressing himself up against you so suddenly. Maybe Taehyung is right and you’re just in desperate need for some physical intimacy or something.

“Ground ginger’s next on the list.” You mumble timidly, following Jungkook as he rounds the corner and into the next aisle. “B-but yeah, Ji Soo – feels like that whole month-long shebang happened eons ago.” You almost curse out loud when you see rows on rows of all kinds of spices littering the bottom shelves, and the one spice you need up on the damn top shelf once again. Starting next week, you will wear heels to the grocery store. Or stilts – whatever it takes.

“Yeah,” Jungkook chuckles to himself, “I still can’t believe she liked me so much that I just decided to go with it. Young dumb Jungkook definitely learned early on that that’s not how relationships work.”

“Cocky bastard.” You scoff, shaking your head. But he just shrugs, as if to say “it is what it is.”

“So how come you haven’t dated anyone since then?” You inquire, hoping Jungkook hasn’t noticed where the ground ginger is located because this time, you are hell bent on just snatching it up and calling it good already. You’ve had enough strange, foreign bodily reactions for the day.

“I…I don’t know.” Jungkook admits as you sneakily side step towards the shelf, standing up on your tiptoes while he’s busy staring off into the distance. His expression is reflective, and almost a little solemn as well. He really seems to be contemplating and taking this whole conversation quite seriously, even though it wasn’t intended to be that way. Maybe he still misses Ji Soo or something, the poor boy.

“I guess… I’ve just been waiting for the right person to come along.” Jungkook finally states after another few moments of silence, which you unceremoniously break after landing on your feet too loudly in a sad attempt to quietly jump and grab the bottle of ginger, which obviously didn’t happen quietly or at all, period.

A long list of all the expletives you know in multiple languages runs through your mind as you feel the warm plane of Jungkook’s chest press against your shoulder blades again. This time his fingers brush against yours along the way, and it almost feels like he lingers there for a second, but it’s probably just your imagination because before you know it, he’s already backing away and tossing the ground ginger into the cart, just like before. You really must be on something today – your raging hormones and galloping heart need to get their shit together and calm down already.

“I-I’m sure you’ll find her soon, one day.” You manage to stutter out, an awkward smile on your lips, “Someone who will accept you, even though you have the taste buds of a five-year-old.” You joke in hopes of lightening the mood that has somehow changed drastically in the last few minutes. Whether it’s because of how pensive Jungkook’s suddenly become or because of your inability to control your bodily functions at the moment, the air definitely feels different compared to five minutes ago, and it’s not very comfortable – at all. Fortunately, the joke seems to do the trick because a smile slowly spreads across Jungkook’s face, and all the seriousness and weird angst seems to vanish almost immediately.

“Least I don’t still dip my oreos in my milk when I eat them. Heck, I don’t even eat oreos anymore.” Jungkook scoffs teasingly, eyeing the blue package of cookies in the cart, “Seriously what are you, a child?”

“See? You’ve got such shit taste buds, Jeon.” You shake your head pitifully at him. “Just watch, you’re gonna end up dating a huge foodie or a professional food blogger who will properly roast you for having such awful taste, and I’d pay just to watch it all go down.” The imagery itself makes you laugh, and you take advantage of the newly livened mood to snag the cart from Jungkook and head towards the cash registers. “Let me know if you’re ever interested and I’ll help you hunt one down, yeah?”

You pause to flash a cheeky grin towards Jungkook, and the way he chuckles in disbelief is satisfying enough of a reaction for you to turn back around and make your way towards the self-check out area. But you miss the way Jungkook’s laughter quickly dwindles, transitioning into a soft sigh as he watches your figure walk farther and farther away.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely let you know, someday.”

- - - - -

“Welp, that’s number six in the books. Check. Done-zo. Fin. Es todo. Hip hop’s dead, y’all – it’s dead!”

“Uh, I take it the date went well?” Jungkook peeks his head out from the kitchen, a spoon hanging from his mouth and a jar of peanut butter in his hand (the super smooth, liquidy kind, like the weirdo he is. Who eats anything but chunky?) as you trudge your way inside his shared apartment with Yoongi and Namjoon, your old college friends who are also part of the same producer team as Jungkook, and throw yourself onto the sofa face first. You grumble something inaudibly into the cushion, but Jungkook doesn’t need to ask to know you’re probably saying some not so positive words under your breath. He holds his snack to his chest and walks over to lift your feet up, placing them on his lap and making himself comfortable.

“So, what went wrong this time?”

“He wath jmmf brrrurng.”

“Sorry, I don’t speak cave man.”

You lift your head up from the sofa and crane your neck back to glare at Jungkook, long messy curls covering half of your face and killing your intimidating factor. “I said, he was just boring.”

Jungkook makes a noise of understanding, unscrewing the lid and digging his spoon into the jar. He brings the rich cream to his mouth, smacking his lips with an obnoxious pop. “I mean, at least he wasn’t a creepy 58-year-old who lied about everything in his dating profile. Compared to that, ‘boring’ doesn’t sound half as bad.”

Giving up, you re-smush your face back into the couch cushion, mumbling some more incoherent words and phrases your parents would be shocked to hear you say.

It’s been about a month since you embarked on this journey of exploring the world of dating apps. Hari said so herself that she personally knew of four happy couples that met through dating apps and insisted that it’d be a breeze for you to find someone. So maybe it’s just you, maybe you have rotten luck, or maybe you’re just not a dating app kind of person, because Date #1 could not stop talking about himself – the only question he asked was if you were going to finish the rest of your dinner or not. Date #2 ended up being a sugar daddy type of deal, and although the figures were tempting, it just wasn’t what you were looking for. You nearly filed a restraining order against Date #3 for being way too inappropriately touchy and creepy throughout the entire date. You even had to text Jungkook to come rescue you from that whole mess and he nearly knocked that creep’s lights out for being such a sleaze bag. Date #4 was the 58-year-old who lied about his dating profile and said he was 28 when in reality, he had a daughter your age. YOUR. AGE. Date #5 was such a turn off with how rudely he treated the waiters and pretty much all the other restaurant staff – an automatic swipe left. And now Date #6.

You roll over onto your back, curls fanning out around your head. You probably look like Medusa’s ugly sister right now. “He just didn’t... talk. He was the total opposite of Date #1 who couldn’t shut up long enough to let me excuse myself to the restroom. This guy barely said anything and honestly, I don’t know what’s worse.” You mutter a quick apology to Jungkook who squeaks after you accidentally dig your heel into his thigh while ranting, hitting a spot that’s a wee bit too close to a very sensitive area for him. “I kept asking questions to try to get to know the guy, only to get one-word answers from him every time.” You indignantly point at the clock on the wall. “That’s why I’m back so early, it took like forty-five minutes tops for me to run out of patience and questions to ask.”

“Mmm, sucks.” Jungkook mumbles half-heartedly, seemingly more interested in licking the spoon completely clean. “So you basically ate tacos and talked to a wall for forty-five minutes.”

“Exactly! And the tacos weren’t even that good!” You sit up, waving around exaggerated gestures before falling back onto the couch, draping an arm over your face. “You know what, that’s it. It’s obvious these are all signs that I’m supposed to be a nun. This must be my fate, my inevitable future, and I see now that I can no longer avoid the path that has been so clearly paved for me.”

“My god woman, you are dramatic. Has anyone ever told you that?” Jungkook pokes you in the stomach with the heel of his spoon, and you to flinch from the ticklish sensation.

You peek out from under your arm, “Should’ve gone into acting, huh? Seriously, damn all my life choices, damn them all!”

Jungkook chuckles, clearly amused by your theatrics. “Maybe you should take a break from the dating apps, give the potential dating pool some time to refresh and replenish a bit or something. Or, you could actually take my advice for once and stop putting so much pressure on yourself to find a boyfriend and just roll with the punches as they come.” The look he gives you is jokingly stern, though there’s some seriousness in his tone, and it makes you sigh. Maybe Jungkook’s actually onto something, as proven by your current not-so-hot track record. The past month has been more draining than fun, and so far it’s all been for nothing. Maybe you just need to give it all a break, and give yourself a break, really. Or seriously start considering entering the convent – either one, really.

As you continue to contemplate your life choices, you watch as Jungkook brings another spoonful of PB to his lips, only to dribble a straight line of it down his precious white t-shirt. He mutters an expletive under his breath and sets the jar and spoon down on the coffee table, rubbing away at the stain with his fingers. His efforts prove to be futile when the ugly brown smudge remains and without warning, he stands up and pulls the shirt off over his head, revealing the perfectly chiseled muscles of his back and shoulders. You involuntarily gulp at the sight of his sunkissed skin and the way his muscles ripple as he moves to throw the shirt into the laundry bin.

“Yeah, maybe...you’re right…” Your breath comes out in a quiet whoosh.

It’s not like you haven’t seen Jungkook shirtless before. There was that one time you went hot tubbing on the ski trip you and your friends took in college, or the few times you had to barge into his dorm room and drag his half-naked ass out of bed so he wouldn’t be late to lecture. But Jungkook’s always been a lot more conservative than not, and he didn’t exactly have the greatest confidence back then either. He used to be absolutely mortified in those moments and would hurriedly grab at anything nearby to cover up his body. Even though so many people agreed he was one of the most handsome and sought after guys on campus, he was still so self-conscious of himself. But as he went through college, he started to become interested in exercising and eventually made the commitment to hit the gym to change not only his body, but his confidence and perception of himself as well. The Jungkook now, with his sculpted physique, lean muscles, and much larger, more dominating stature, is totally different from the skinny, insecure boy you knew back in college. With the way he built himself up over the last few years physically, mentally, and emotionally, he just oozes confidence with now, which is great, but also not so great – for you, at least.

You chastise yourself every single time, but you can’t help but ogle openly during these rare moments his sweet glory is revealed to you. It’s so wrong to look at your best friend like this, you know it is – he’s just very comfortable around you and knows it’s no big deal to walk around like the half-naked god he is because it’s just you. But it’s kind of impossible to not gawk, not when his body is practically screaming to be worshipped (and is 100% worthy of it). It’s times like these that you’re reminded he is not just the jokester and bunny boy you call your best friend – he’s a fully grown man, and just so happens to be a very physically attractive one. And with the way the sight of his mouth-watering build makes your lower stomach feel, you realize once again that you’re a grown ass woman as well – a woman who has needs.

“Hey, eyes up here, perv.” He says with his back still turned to you as he grabs a hoodie hanging on one of the kitchen chairs. “And you might wanna wipe off the drool while you’re at it.” That snaps you out of your reverie as you quickly avert your eyes and sit up clumsily on the couch, making sure to scoff loud enough for him to hear.

“For your information, the world doesn’t revolve around you and your penchant for indecency, you cocky bastard. And jokes on you, there isn’t anything worth looking at, son!” Out of the corner of your eye you see him pull on the hoodie and turn back towards you, a knowing smirk tugging on his lips.

“That’s pretty much what you say every time I catch you staring. But hey, I don’t mind having an audience.” He squeezes himself next to you, draping an arm over the back of the couch and his eyes are twinkling. “But you should either fess up that you think I’m hot or come up with some new excuses, ‘cause yours are starting to get real old, babe.”

You wrinkle your nose, ignoring the way the pet name weirdly makes your heart stutter for a second. “Don’t call me babe, you baby.”

“Baby?” He leans in, his nose just a couple of dangerous inches away from yours. “I’m only like eight months younger than you, babe.”

“Whatever, you’re still a baby to me.” You grunt, folding your arms in an attempt to maintain the very little space left between your bodies. His gaze is dark and challenging, and it alone makes the heat pooling in your lower abdomen grow. “Don’t make me bring out pictures from college, Jeon. Sit down, be humble.”

“But I’m already sitting, babe.” Jungkook remarks, his tone sarcastic.

“You know, I bet Soobin wouldn’t be happy to hear her boyfriend calls other women a name that should be reserved solely for her.” You click your tongue in disapproval, secretly relieved with being able to change the subject as you quickly brush away the lustful thoughts in your head. “How are you guys even doing, by the way? Will I ever get to meet this mystery woman? Like, she’s really not just some imaginary girlfriend you made up?”

Something flashes across Jungkook’s eyes, but it’s gone before you can determine what is, and you forget all about it when he makes a face and pushes your forehead back with his index finger, “No, I’m not you, Miss ‘I’m Park SeoJoon’s wife.’ And it’s only been like less than a month, okay, chill. I just want to make sure she fully prepared to meet the freak-shows I call my friends.”

Jungkook must’ve been inspired by your new mission to find a boyfriend or something because once you started going on dates, the man apparently decided to make his own dating profile as well, surprising pretty much everyone by his sudden jump into the game. No one even knew he was interested, and he didn’t tell anyone, not even you, that he was on the apps. But that’s how he found Soobin, this mystery girl he’s apparently been seeing for the past few weeks. She’s actually a total mystery though because he hasn’t said a peep about her and how it’s been going. He’s oddly secretive about it all, which is strange because normally he tells you everything. But not this time, even though you pry and pry and pry. For some reason he just won’t budge.

“Jeon, if she can’t handle us right now, she won’t be able to handle us period, so you might as well introduce her already.” You shrug nonchalantly. “We gotta deem her worthy or weed her out.” As his best friend, you feel the need to meet this girl and see what she’s like for yourself to make sure she’s good enough for Jungkook. It’s not your fault that you want to meet her so bad – you’re just looking out for your best friend’s well-being.

There’s a brief moment of silence as you catch Jungkook chewing on his lower lip – a habit of his when he’s feeling nervous or unsure about something – and you immediately begin to feel concerned. Maybe you pushed too much. Seeing him like that makes you feel a little guilty for prying so much without even considering that maybe something is up.

“Hang on, is something the matter?” Worry laces your voice, a hand coming to rest on his knee, “Is there a reason why you’re not saying anything?” You search his eyes for answers, but he just shakes his head vigorously, lips tightly pursed together. “Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Yeah seriously, none of us even know what this chick looks like. Why’re you keeping her such a secret from all of us?”

You hang your head backwards over the back of the couch and see Namjoon padding into the living, carrying what you assume to be an empty coffee mug in his hand. Namjoon’s always been someone Jungkook has greatly admired. He was the one who really encouraged the younger to pursue music and follow his dreams, rather than go into business like his parents wanted him to. If there’s anyone he’ll listen to, it’s Namjoon, though you continuously pray Jungkook won’t ever adopt the older man’s horrible sleeping habits. The dark shadows under his eyes and hoarseness of his voice indicate just how tired and in need of caffeine he is from most likely another all-nighter in the studio. But then again, the big producer man always looks like he runs on nothing but caffeine and no sleep. What a life.

Still hanging upside down, you give him a small wave and a “hi-yo” to which he copies your greeting adorably, his droopy eyes lighting up slightly.

“Hyung, not you too.” Jungkook whines defeatedly, running a hand down his face, “Look, she’s no secret, okay. I just, I don’t know, I just—”

“—don’t want to scare her off, yeah I get it.” Namjoon calls over his shoulder as he scuffs his slipper-clad heels towards the coffee machine in the kitchen. “It’s a new relationship, you’re still testing the waters, and we can be a lot to handle, so I get it. And by we, I really mean ___.”

“Hey!” You protest as Namjoon starts the machine before he comes out of the kitchen and strolls towards you, affectionately ruffling your already mussed hair.

“I say that with all the love in my heart, you Tasmanian devil.”

You scowl at him. “I hope your coffee is just as bitter as I am right now.”

“Anyways,” He turns to Jungkook, ignoring your griping. “Yoongi and I just got word that Slow Rabbit’s throwing some sort of PR event this weekend. He told us to invite the whole gang and any other friends, help boost our publicity a little.” Namjoon gives the younger man a pointed look. “Basically, it’s the perfect opportunity to introduce bae, if you want to, that is.”

“Oh, this is perfect!” You jump up and clasp your hands together excitedly. “We’ll finally expose Jeon for making up some fake ass imaginary girlfriend, and maybe I’ll finally be able to mingle with some normal guys for once.” You pause, turning to Namjoon, “Your producer friends are decent guys, right?”

Namjoon gives you a wary look and a half-hearted shrug, “Uhh, sure, I guess?”

“Awesome!” You chirp, “I trust you Joonie, it’s always been you and only y-” You let out a yelp when a pair of arms grabs your waist and spins you around so that you’re falling face first onto the sofa. The hands holding you hostage begin to mercilessly poke into your sides, forcing what sounds like a combination of choked laughter and cries for help out of you.

“Fake ass imaginary girlfriend, huh?” Jungkook growls, digging his fingers deeper into your love-handles, and you immediately howl in surrender. “I’m gonna make you throw up your tacos, you wench.”

From the sideline, Namjoon just sighs at the noisy commotion playing out in front of him, shaking his head as he watches Jungkook flip you onto your back and dive for your stomach, lips curling upwards mischievously. The wide grin on your face and ringing laughter in between yelps for mercy prevent Namjoon from feeling like he actually needs to intervene and save you. He does, however, feel disappointed (but not surprised) that you both can’t even see what’s happening here. He decides to just leave you two to duke it out, quietly sighing and shuffling into the kitchen to grab his coffee.

Maybe one day.

- - - - -

It’s the following Friday night and guess where you are?

Not at home in your pajamas watching Black Panther while eating Thai take-out that Jungkook brought, that’s for sure. The thought alone makes you so incredibly sad. Because instead, in cruel reality, you’re sitting at a table inside a very dimly lit club called the Sound Bar, which is surprisingly clean and roomy, waiting for this PR event to start already. You know this is how all the hip young adults live out their lives in the movies, but now you’re seriously beginning to regret all that complaining about wanting to go out.

A few people have arrived, and you recognize them as some of Yoongi’s friends that you don’t know too well yourself. They linger around the bar in a huddled group, sipping on beers and chatting away with the man himself, who also looks like he doesn’t particularly want to be here either. That’s because you and Yoongi know what’s up – comfort is king and living under a rock is the only way to go. The thought pulls a sigh from your lungs as you turn to scan the venue. Besides them, it looks like you and your closer group of friends make up majority of the crowd currently, but people are really starting to file in now, steadily filling up the spacious area with body heat, boisterous conversation, and a lot of different smells. It makes your nose twitch.

Strangely enough, you don’t see Jungkook and Soobin yet, and you keep craning your neck to watch the door like a hawk for their entrance. While you were getting ready with Hari hours prior, you made Jungkook double pinky swear to not bail and to actually bring Soobin so you could meet her and confirm that she’s real. (“If you don’t come, I’m actually going to spread the rumor that you have an imaginary girlfriend.” “You’re the actual spawn of Satan, I swear.”) You know he’ll come regardless – he wouldn’t just leave you hanging like this. It’s finally time to figure out why he’s keeping this girl on the hush hush, and what exactly is going on with him.

“Whoa.” A baritone voice brings you out of your thoughts. Swiveling around, you see Taehyung gaping openly at you, a hand covering his mouth. “Seriously, like whoaaa.”

You scrunch your nose. “Tae, don’t even start – you’re literally so embarrassing.”

“Hey, if Hari is your number one hype woman, then I’m your number one hype man, okay, just let me be!” He stretches his arms out towards you as if he’s showing off an award, holding up jazz hands and everything. “Just look at you, queen! My baby Hari did such a great job, you look like a total hoochie mama!”

Your cheeks burn a scarlet red. “Oh good, because it was totally my goal to look like a hoochie mama. Thanks Tae.” Now you also regret letting Hari squeeze you into this skimpy black two-piece set. It was a bad idea from the start, but Taehyung’s reaction just confirms it. The short noodle strap crop top tightly hugs your bust and shows off more of your midriff than you would ever prefer. You keep wanting to cover it up with your arms out of reflex. But luckily the shorts are comfortable, though a bit short for your liking. Your hair flows down in beachy waves and a deep burgundy tints your lips, and the silver dollar-coin sized hoops hanging off your ear lobes are over the top in your opinion, but Hari threatened you to wear them out, insisting the outfit wouldn’t be complete without them. If anything, it’s Hari’s fault you apparently look like a hoochie mama.

“No problem!” Taehyung grins, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He catches whiff of your unhappy demeanor and nudges you playfully, his expression softening. “Aw, c’mon __, lighten up a little! You look hot, seriously.” He pulls away to examine the state you’re in. “Do you need a drink? Actually yeah, you definitely do. I’m going to get you one.” Taehyung spins around on the stool to head to the bar, only for a hand to clamp down on his shoulder, stopping him mid-spin. Your eyes drift to the side and you’re surprised to see Jungkook giving his friend a silent but very clear warning, tilting his head intimidatingly. “No, I’ll go get it. God knows how many types of alcohol you’ll ask Hoseok hyung to mix into her drink. Then you’ll be responsible for dealing with the mess afterwards.”

Glaring at Taehyung’s sheepish smile, Jungkook’s slate eyes land on you and immediately widen, his jaw going slack when he sees the little (emphasis on little) black number you’re wearing. It’s probably because he’s so used to you wearing only leggings and oversized shirts and hoodies all the time that seeing you like this is a shock. That’s certainly how you felt looking at your reflection in the mirror at home. But you can’t help but shift uncomfortably in your seat, suddenly feeling the need to cross a leg over the other and place your purse strategically over your midriff from his gaze alone. Seconds, minutes, hours could be passing by but his glare doesn’t falter one bit. It’s almost seems like he’s angry or something but it’s also not quite that – you can’t seem to put your finger on it. Fortunately, the lights are dimmed low, and you just hope it’s dark enough to hide the blush that’s suddenly crawling up your neck from the way Jungkook keeps staring. At this rate he’s going to end up burning a hole straight through you.

“Doesn’t she look smoking?” Taehyung whistles low, giving his friend a nudge to the ribs. He barely moves and just continues keep his eyes glued on you.

“Hari did this?” Jungkook ignores him, finally speaking up after a few tense moments. His voice sounds much deeper than normal.

“Yeah,” You squeak awkwardly, looking away from his heavy gaze. What’s his deal? “So uh, where’s Soobin?” You try to change the subject, clearing your throat slightly and pretending to look around for this girl you don’t even know. You think it works, but then Jungkook catches you off guard by suddenly shrugging off his jean jacket and reaching around to drape it over your shoulders, the denim fabric engulfing your figure. It automatically feels a lot stuffier and ten degrees warmer, but you’re not sure if it’s because of the jacket or because of Jungkook’s unrelenting glower. You suddenly feel jittery.

“Dude, I could use this later when I’m drunk and cold and waiting for an Uber, not when it’s like a bajillion degrees inside.” You joke as you jump down from the stool and move to take the jacket off, only for his hands to keep it firmly in place on your shoulders. You look up at the man towering over you and have to consciously keep yourself from physically cowering away. Jungkook looks pissed. But for what reason, you have no clue. He just looks annoyed beyond reason, and not like when you normally mess with him and call him a fatty or something. It’s different, and it’s intimidating enough to make you swallow your pride and obey his next words.

“Keep it on.”

He lingers for a moment longer before dropping his arms and stalking off, disappearing among the crowd that has grown significantly in the last ten minutes, probably to go find Soobin. What’s disturbing is how your chest rises and falls rapidly, your heart hammering against your rib cage like a trapped bird that wants to be let out. You have no idea what the hell just happened here. It’s not like Jungkook to ever despise your outfits, let alone even care about what you wear in general. Maybe he fought with Soobin on the way here and is in a bad mood? Or worse, maybe you did something to upset him without realizing it. You shake your head as if to brush aside all the conflicting thoughts, and pinch the bridge of your nose. Yeah, you do need a drink, pronto.

At the bar you order a vodka-cran and send a weak smile to the bartender Hoseok, who’s a friend of Namjoon’s and an acquaintance of yours, requesting for him to make the drink a bit stronger than normal. He smiles back and doesn’t question your request, immediately whisking away to make your order. You would hug the man if you could, God knows how much you need a nice strong drink right now.

“___!” You hear Hari giggle and she plops down on the stool next to yours, looking very giddy and flushed in the face – a tell-tale sign that she’s had a few drinks already. At least someone’s having a good time. “Where’d you get the jacket? I kind of like the addition, it’s a bit grungy but in like a sexy, hipster way, you know?”

Remembering what happened with Jungkook, the jacket suddenly feels twenty pounds heavier as you shift it around awkwardly on your shoulders. “Uhh yeah, Jungkook gave it to me ‘cause, uh, I was cold.” Yeah, that’s why he acted the way he did. He was just angry because you might be cold…because that totally makes sense. You sigh inwardly.

“I don’t know about cold, it feels like a hundred degrees in here.” A voice chimes in, making you and Hari turn your heads simultaneously to the right. Dressed casually in a white button-down shirt that’s rolled up loosely at the elbows, a man sits on the bar stool to your right, sporting short jet-black hair, thick but neatly groomed eyebrows, a small, polite smile, and these beautiful obsidian eyes that are currently locked in on yours. Even though he’s sitting, you can tell he’s literally the definition of tall, dark and handsome, enough so to make you wonder why the hell he’s talking to you.

“Oh yeah, it’s like a god-awful sauna in here. In fact, let me go tell Joon, maybe he can get someone to crank up the AC or something.” Hari hurriedly blurts out, jumping from her stool with a knowing twinkle in her eye. She gives your arm a quick squeeze, a silent “good luck!” before taking off, making sure to look back at you every other step of the way. Very subtle.

Just before an awkward silence can ensue, Hoseok comes by to deliver your drink, which you immediately grab and begin to chug hastily, all the while silently praying this guy won’t end up being dud #7. Even if he does, you’re still going to need all the alcohol you can get to survive the rest of the night, what with Jungkook acting all weird, not having even met Soobin yet, or not having mingled with other people yet. The glass still at your lips, the thought causes you to wave your hand in a haphazard signal to Hoseok for another vodka-cran.

“Bit thirsty, aren’t we now?” Damn. Tipping back the last bits, you set the glass down and take in a deep breath, alcohol steadily dissolving in your blood as you ready yourself for whatever is to come. “Ha-ha, yeah,” You croak awkwardly, fidgeting with the glass, “just needed to cool down, ‘cause you know, it’s so hot.”

“Didn’t you just say you were cold?”

You glance down at the light acid wash jacket and momentarily shut your eyes in regret. If it was humanly possibly, you’d kick yourself in the shin for sounding so stupid right off the bat.

“This,” You open your eyes after re-composing yourself and put on a one-hundred-watt smile, “is merely a fashion statement. I was going for the grungy, sexy, hipster look, that’s all.”

“Ah, right, like your friend just said.”

You bite your lip. Okay, it’s official – you fucked up. You should just get up and walk away right now. Save some face and talk to someone else before this gets any more humiliating than it already is. You decide that this can’t go for much longer or else you’ll literally die and wither away from embarrassment. A goodbye is already on your lips and your legs itch to make a run for it when the guy suddenly starts to laugh, his shoulders shaking, while wearing a grin that undoubtedly looks really good on him.

“Wow, alright then.” Looking positively amused, he stretches a hand out to you. “Hi, I’m YoungHo.”

“And you think I’m totally bizarre.” You mumble back, wanting nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die. But YoungHo shakes his head, letting go of his drink to wave his hands at you as well.

“No I don’t, really.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, causing him to cock his head to the side, a lopsided smile on his face.

“I just think you’re kinda… quirky?”

“Oh God, you might as well tell me to go join the Ripley’s Believe It or Not crew.” You groan, propping your elbows on the bar and burying your face into your hands. He’s just being nice and trying to make light conversation and here you are looking like a total buffoon with half a brain cell left. There’s just no way he doesn’t think you’re at least a little insane. Your cheeks feel like burning pieces of coal, the heat effectively setting the rest of your face ablaze along with them.

He laughs again, the sound so deep and rich and honestly quite pleasant to listen to. But sensing your mortification, he quickly begins to cough, clearing his throat to rid of the laughter.

“You know,” He continues, seemingly more composed now, but a smile still twinkles in his eyes, “I used to not be able to understand why people would go see shows like that. They just didn’t seem all that appealing to me. But then I watched The Greatest Showman and man, it totally changed my views. Now I’m dying to go see a show.”

Your ears perk up after hearing the name of one of your favorite movies and you lift your head from your hands, the embarrassment slowly starting to fade away. “Isn’t that movie just amazing? And I totally get what you mean, I wasn’t a huge fan of stuff like that before but now I’m just waiting for something like Ripley’s to come to town so I can snag tickets and reminisce.”

He hums in agreement, “It also hands down has the best soundtrack out there. I think it’s definitely up there with the Lion King and Hamilton.”

You rest your chin on the palm of your hand, your muscles starting to relax a little bit now. “Hamilton tickets are seriously impossible to get. You’ll never guess how many email accounts I made just to try and win lottery tickets.”

“How many?”

“Eleven.”

“Get out of here.”

“No, seriously!”

Before you know it, more drinks are being poured and the conversation is taking off with its new set of wings, all embarrassment now left in the dust of the past. You two continue to chat about movies, which leads to talking about hobbies, favorite places in the city, the best pizza parlor in town (it might just be the alcohol or you’re just really that passionate about your pizza opinions because you two even end up getting into a very heated debate about thin crust versus deep dish). You’re honestly surprised by how natural it feels. Time flies through bouts of laughter and light conversation, and it all ends up being so much easier than you originally thought it’d be. And, this guy has yet to prove himself to be a dud yet. He’s actually very nice – attentive, funny, finds you funny. No joke, the man seems to really enjoy laughing at you. But he assures you that he’s not laughing at you – he’s just laughing at your antics, the peculiar things you say, the never-ending sass tank you’ve got fully loaded and on hand at all times.

At one point when you slam your fist down and insist that deep dish pizza is the only way to go, he tells you to prove it, smoothly asking you out on a pizza date so you two can compare thin crust and deep dish. You almost can’t believe it when he hands your phone back to you, “YoungHo :)” and a phone number illuminating on the bright screen. Things actually seem to be working out for once – you might’ve actually found a normal match!

Two hours of drinks and conversation breezes by before YoungHo tells you he needs to run to the restroom. “Watch my drink?” He smiles, a hand gently resting on the small of your upper back. You nod more furiously than you anticipated, but he doesn’t seem to notice and thanks you, turning to squeeze his way through the crowd.

It feels great to know that things seem to finally be looking up, you would cry if it wasn’t for the fear of ruining Hari’s wonderfully done make up. You do figuratively pat yourself on the back, though. You really did your drunk, 26-year-old self some good by putting yourself out there like this.

YoungHo seems like a decent guy, really. But in the short time you spent getting to know him, you still made sure Hoseok just kept the drinks coming, because no matter how nice of a conversation it was, you were still a little nervous the entire time. With your luck and current track record, things could go wrong at any time, so you needed the help of your good friend alcohol to get you to loosen you up a bit. But it’s only now that you’ve let your guard down a little that the effects of the drinks seem to really be kicking in full force. Only now is the room is starting to spin, your head feeling a lot fuller and fuzzier than before. You swirl Youngho’s whisky glass absentmindedly, sleepily observing the ice spin round and round at the bottom, the motion soothing, almost hypnotizing. If you keep doing this you might actually be able to put yourself to slee-

“You hanging in there alright?”

You startle from your drowsy haze, eyes uncoordinatedly searching for a bit before finally landing on a familiar figure to your right. It’s not YoungHo – this time, it’s a much more familiar person.

“Jeon-bun!” You excitedly coo, cupping your chin with your hands and leaning forward on your elbows to get closer to your best friend, who plops down on the seat next to you. You blink lethargically several times, a dopey grin hanging on your lips. “Why isn’t it my favorite boy, my baby, my love child, my little tulip.”

Jungkook whips his head toward you, the once stoic look on his face now morphed into one of bewilderment. “Tulip? Love child? What the actual- how many drinks have you had?”

“Psh,” You wave a hand carelessly at him, “Like, Monday.”

“Shit, this is bad.” Jungkook groans, carding a hand through his hair. “Monday’s not a number, stupid.”

“Oh, I meant seven, seeeevvveeeen, hehehehehe.”

You’d argue you can handle your alcohol pretty well, with six or seven drinks being your limit. But then again, it’s not like you remember much after having that many drinks, so you can’t really say for sure. According to Jungkook who’s witnessed and endured majority of your drunk episodes with you, that is definitely not the case, but what does he know?

You watch as he squeezes his eyes shut, as if pained about something, and the sight makes you frown. You don’t like seeing your Jungkookie sad, mad, upset or frustrated about anything. Not on your watch.

“HEY!” You shout, startling some people nearby as you press your index fingers onto the corners of his lips, pushing them up until they form a constipated looking smile. “No frowning allowed, nuh uh. My love child is not allowed to be sad. You’re ugly when you’re sad.”

“Oh gee thanks, real confidence booster.”

You let go and pinch his cheeks before letting your arms drop, swaying your head as you hum along to the music that’s playing. You recognize it to be one of Namjoon’s original songs from one of his mixtapes, and it also happens to be one of your favorites, the tune upbeat and catchy. It just serves to lift your drunk spirits even higher.

“YoungHo’s great, did I tell you that?” You suddenly announce. Eyes closed, you continue to hum as you wait for Jungkook to respond. It feels like it takes longer than usual for him to respond to you, but that could just be you and your impaired sense of time. But he eventually answers, his voice low and even.

“The guy you’ve been talking to all night, his name’s YoungHo, huh.”

You bob your head up and down, “Yeah, he likes pizza. And I think he likes me. Actually I don’t know yet, we’re gonna go get pizza next week so I’ll find out then.” You giggle, turning from side to side on the bar stool. Sighing happily, you suddenly swivel around to face Jungkook, knees bumping up against his. He flinches at the sudden contact.

“Jungkook-ah.”

“What.”

“I’m so happy.” You sigh again, staring off into space with a dreamy look on your face, not noticing the way Jungkook tenses up, gripping the beer bottle in his hand.

“That so? How come?” He says calmly, though his body reacts in the complete opposite manner. He nervously taps his fingers along the glass of the bottle and bites down on his lower lip, worrying the flesh between his teeth. But you don’t pay attention to it, his actions cloaked by the drunken spell that’s been casted over you.

“Because,” You tilt your head to the side, giving him an even more wistful smile, “pizza exists, Fat Fridays are the best, I finally met a guy who isn’t 58 or a total creep, I have the most amazing friends, and an even more incredible best friend and I love you, Jungkook.” A hiccup mixed with a chuckle escapes you. “I love you, best friend. You know I wouldn’t be able to do life with you, right?”

On a regular night out, drunk you includes the following: increases in smiling frequency, steadily rising volume of laughter, increasing amounts of shouting and passionate declarations, ensuing of blabbering nonsense, and finally, sleepy sappiness to end the night. Basically alcohol brings out your normal personality and amplifies it a few thousand times. Normally, Jungkook’s used to experiencing all your drunk symptoms and isn’t even phased by all the cheesy sap or ridiculousness that tends to spew from your lips. But this time your words hit differently – they strike his bones from an angle he wasn’t prepared to take a blow from. It causes him to swallow past a lump in his throat, and he quickly takes a swig of his beer to help force it down.

“Thought you said you were tired of Fat Fridays, said they made you feel like a retired grandma.” He manages to get out, eyes flitting around nervously.

You place a hand to your chest in feigned offense, “Who, me? I would never say such a thing, Fat Fridays are a blessing from above.” Reaching over, you give Jungkook’s hand a friendly squeeze, his eyes focused on where your hand lies. “I’m just saying that things are perfect the way they are right now, okay. YoungHo and I are getting married, you and I will keep the Fat Friday tradition alive, and everything will be happy and wonderful for the rest of our lives.”

“Married?!” Jungkook nearly spits out the sip of beer he had just taken and chokes back on a cough. “I think you need to take like eighty-six steps back and stop jumping to conclusions for a second, ___.” He scoffs in disbelief, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “You barely even know the guy.”

“I know enough about him, trust me.” You drunkenly wave his judgment away. “Anyways, where’s Soobin? You did bring her, right? I want to meet her already, you asshole!”

Jungkook sighs and fights the urge to roll his eyes, even as you give his arm a spiteful pinch. “Calm down, she’s using the restroom. I’ll introduce her once she gets ba-”

“I’m here, babe.”

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, your eyes shoot open. You immediately spin around and hop off the bar stool, steadying yourself on the seat cushion once your feet hit the ground because apparently alcohol has the power to turn your legs into jelly. You squint a little in an attempt to get your vision to focus. Through the drunken fog, you’re able to make out a set of cat-like eyes, pink thinly pursed lips, a cascade of perfect ringlets of caramel curls, and a tight blue body-con dress hugging a slim, petite figure. This must be her, this must be-

“Soobin!” You squeal elatedly, taking the girl’s hands into yours, proceeding to shake them up and down furiously. “It’s soooo nice to finally meet you.” You let go of one hand to jerk a thumb at Jungkook. “This asshat’s been keeping us in the dark for so long when it comes to you, so I’m so happy to finally be able to meet you!”

You look back and forth between Jungkook and Soobin like an overly excited puppy that needs to pee. But you can’t help it, you’re finally meeting the girl that Jungkook has deemed worthy of his affections, so of course it’s a huge moment for you, for all of you. Best friend meets girlfriend, girlfriend meets best friend. It does makes you feel a little weird though, seeing the person who is apparently his girlfriend stand by his side. Whatever this feeling is, it’s definitely…foreign. But you’re too caught up in the excitement to really care – you just hope it’s a moment you won’t forget because of your frenemy Mr. Vodka-Cran. Screw him.

“Um, hi, it’s nice to meet you too.” The girl says uneasily, leaning a bit closer to Jungkook. “You must be ___.”

Your jaw drops open unattractively as you jab a finger at your own chest. “You know who I am?!”

“Jungkook talks about you a lot.” Soobin states matter-of-factly, her demeanor cool and calm – almost too cool and calm. You feel the need to introduce her to Mr. Vodka-Cran.

“Aw, does he really now?” You affectionately pat Jungkook on the cheek, who rolls his eyes when you coo at him. “I’m his best friend – actually, the best friend he could ever ask for – so I’m not surprised. But still happy to hear it.” You focus your attention back on Soobin, your eyes sparkling. “So, tell me about yourself! How did you and Jungkook meet? Oh wait, silly me, I already know you met on Tinder, duh! What I meant to say is, how’s it going? Are you guys happy together?” You suddenly gasp, “Are you guys going to get married?! Oh my gosh, congratulations! I can’t wait to tell the others-”

The rest of your words come out as a muffled, unintelligible mess from behind Jungkook’s hand. He knows better than to let the “blabbing nonsense” stage get any worse. It takes you an extra long second to register what’s happening but when you finally do, you give him a repulsed look before licking his palm in revenge, causing him to draw his hand back reflexively.

“O-kay, I think that’s enough ‘getting to know each other’ time.” He cringes, wiping the spit off on his dark denim jeans. “Uh, so yeah, ___ this is Soobin, Soobin this is ___.” He turns to Soobin, looking apologetic, “Sorry you have to meet ___ when she’s butt-drunk like this. Normally she’s a little off her rocker but I swear she’s not this crazy all the time.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Well that’s kind of a bummer to hear.”

Cheeks flushed, you whirl around and are greeted by another one of YoungHo’s amused smiles and he leisurely strides over to where you guys are standing. It feels like he’s been gone for forever; you nearly forgot about him for a second there. You wonder if he was really in the bathroom for that long or if alcohol just slows time down that much.

“YoungHo,” You beam, raising a hand up in salutation, before directing it towards the couple beside you, “this is my best friend and pet bunny, Jungkook. And this,” you gesture towards Soobin, “is his girlfriend Soobin! Aren’t they just precious?”

YoungHo bites his lips to hold back a bout of laughter, obviously having not expected your level of inebriety to increase this much in the few minutes he was gone. But he lets his manners go ahead of him, extending a hand out to Jungkook. “Pleasure’s mine, I’m YoungHo, a… new friend of ___’s.”

Jungkook stares at the man’s hand like it’s his first time seeing a hand and he doesn’t quite know what to do with it. He stills, the booming music and surrounding chattering conversations blurring together messily in the background. You may be far from sober, but even you can feel the palpable awkwardness, and you frantically wonder why he’s just letting this stretch of silence pass on by without saying anything. It’s so awkward, YoungHo’s expression starts to shift into an uncomfortable one, his outstretched hand wavering slightly. Your eyes quickly flicker to Soobin, who looks just as puzzled as you feel, and out of anxious discomfort you inwardly start to chant you shake it, you dimwit, shake it!

After a few more excruciating moments of tension, the man seems to finally figure out how to operate his own hand and takes YoungHo’s into his, the handshake looking really firm – almost painfully firm. But at least he finally shook his damn hand and put all of you out of your collective awkward misery.

From beneath slightly narrowed eyes, Jungkook makes silent eye contact with YoungHo before he mutters a greeting and briskly lets go, shoving his hand into his pocket. You remind yourself to give Jungkook a lesson on basic manners after this night is finally over with.

“Allllllrighty then!” You chirp, clapping your hands together to break up the strange atmosphere. “Friends, girlfriends, tulips – everyone’s been introduced. This calls for celebration! And more alcohol!” In your trek back towards the bar, you somehow manage to trip over your own foot, gravity pulling your body forward in a sudden jerk that has you falling towards the gleaming wood surface. But luckily a hand, no, two hands grab your arms and quickly hoist you up, your eyes rolling around dizzily in your head from all the movement. Blinking in a daze, you turn to your left and right and see Jungkook and YoungHo holding onto you, wearing similarly concerned expressions on their faces.

“Well thank god I have the two of you to save me from banging up my face, haha!” A hiccup leaves your lips, but soon turns into a giddy giggle, followed by more hiccups. At this point, you don’t have enough sober left in you to even think about feeling embarrassed. You just grin stupidly, happy as can be.

“Okay, no more drinks for you. I think it’s time to go home.” Jungkook enforces sternly, pulling you away from the bar and consequently out of YoungHo’s grip as well. The event must really be taking off now because it’s much more difficult to hear his voice over the pulsating bass and rowdy cheering than before. In the distance you see a circle of people cheering on a group of break dancers who are spinning around on the floor and showing off their fancy, intricate dance moves. More and more people are squeezed onto the dance floor now, swaying their bodies to the music in one massive clump of body heat and sweat, the beat and blanket of intoxication fully taking control of the atmosphere. There’s just no way you’re can leave now, not when the party’s just getting started.

“No.” Jungkook says scoldingly, reading your mind before you can even think of protesting. “I already know what you’re thinking. Trust me, you’re gonna thank me tomorrow when you get a full night’s sleep and your hangover is ten times better than it would’ve been.”

“But Jeonnie,” You whine unapologetically, giving him an annoyed pout. “Just because you want to go home doesn’t mean I want to go home yet. Some of us just want to live our lives, you party pooper!” You swing your hand at his chest but completely miss, stumbling forward when you hit nothing but air. This time YoungHo is quicker to react and his hands are on your waist before you even realize you’re falling, his grip steadying you on your feet.

“Actually, I think that might be a good idea, ___.” YoungHo agrees gently, trying hard not to smile at your sulky frown that just grows larger and cuter by the second. “Might be a good time to call it a night, gotta keep you from breaking an arm or something. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” In your drunk stupor, you still get startled when Jungkook suddenly steps forward, wearing an expression you don’t think you’ve ever seen on him before.

“No it’s all good, I’ll take her home.” Though he stands tall, his words come out in a nervous rush. The nervousness in his voice sounds so unlike him, so uncharacteristic of him. He must realize how hasty he sounded because he’s suddenly scratching the back of his neck, eyes flitting around awkwardly. “I mean, I’ve taken care of her drunk self plenty of times in the past, so I’m used to it. She can just be a real beast to deal with once the alcohol fully hits.”

Your face twists in offense, “Uh, excuse you Mr. Jeon-balaya-”

“No really, it’s fine,” YoungHo cuts in, stepping forward as well to match Jungkook’s stance. “I don’t mind at all. I’m completely sobered up and my car’s parked right up front. Besides,” he eyes Soobin who’s been standing there all along, quiet as a mouse, before shifting back to Jungkook, “you should take care of your girlfriend, no?”

Maybe it’s just your eyes playing tricks on you, but you swear you see Jungkook’s hands ball up into fists at his side. He looks ticked, again, just like earlier when he first saw your outfit. But at the same time, your best friend, whom you can usually read like a book, faces the other man completely stone-faced, blank of any real emotion, and truthfully it comes across as a bit scary. This night just gets stranger and stranger by the minute.

You think the unbearable awkward tension is back, but this time you can’t really tell for sure. They continue to stare at each other like there’s some sort of show down to be had, and it soon becomes too much for your inebriated brain to comprehend. All you know for sure is that just as Jungkook predicted, the alcohol is really starting to hit you now. You know you’re standing still but it feels like the world is tipping sideways on its axis just to throw you off balance. The strong bass hammers in your ear and shakes you from the inside out in a way that makes your stomach churn uneasily, like Mr. Vodka-Cran is about to take his revenge on you. For the first time that night, you agree with the both of them – maybe it is time to go home.

“Jungkook,” Soobin suddenly speaks up after not having said a single word in the last ten minutes, “just let the man take her home. You were planning on staying at my place tonight anyway, no?” You bring a hand to your head as if it’ll help alleviate the headache that’s starting to pound away at your skull. Why does Soobin sound upset too? Did you do something wrong? What the hell is going on? Where are your goddamn pajamas ‘cause you really need to pass the fuck out ASAP.

Sensing your growing discomfort, YoungHo reaches for your purse on the bar stool and slings it over your shoulder, looking down at you worriedly. “___ really doesn’t look too good, I think we should head out. I’ll let her friend know we’re leaving, and I’ll be sure to get her home safe. It was nice meeting you both.” With a hand on the small of your back, he leads you away from a shell-shocked Jungkook and an equally upset-looking Soobin, moving forward through the hordes of people, not letting you turn back to look even once. You just hope all of this, whatever this was, will be cleared up by morning.

- - - - -

Things aren’t the same after that night at the Sound Bar.

Thankfully, you wake up the next day alone and in your own bed, the other half of it empty and fortunately unoccupied. You end up nursing a nasty hangover for the next two days after that night, your recovery weekend filled with lots of pedialyte, tylenol, and soup to keep your poor stomach at bay. It’s frustrating because no matter how hard you try to remember, that night is just one big drunken blur in your memory. Luckily Hari, who had been nearby at the time and witnessed it all go down, helps fill you in on everything that happened. You immediately spam Jungkook’s phone afterwards with apology texts, asking him to deliver your sincerest apologies to Soobin as well for being so rude and insane that night (you swear to never talk to Mr. Vodka-Cran ever again, that bastard). But strangely, there’s no reply. You vaguely remember him saying he was going to spend the night at Soobin’s place, so you figure he’s just busy spending his weekend with her. It’s no big deal, he’ll get back to you in a few days and things will soon be all settled and forgiven.

He eventually texts back to tell you it’s fine, but that he’s got a busy week ahead of him. The deadline for his demos are coming up, and apparently he’s super far behind and has a ton of shit to catch up on. You were hoping he’d be free so you’d be able to at least apologize to him one more time, in person. But you don’t get to see him, and Fat Friday doesn’t happen that week. Again, not the end of the world. He’s an adult, he’s got adult responsibilities to take care of, and it’s totally normal to not see your friend’s face for a week. Well, not normal for you, but you figure it’s normal in general.

The following week, Jungkook says he’s still swamped with work. You tell him you’ll go to his place to keep him some company in his misery, promising not to distract him too much and even offering to bring take-out, which happens maybe once in a blue moon. But he declines your offer (he says no to take-out!) and insists he really needs to be alone and concentrate. Though his rejection leaves a slight sting, his reasons are understandable – the producer life isn’t an easy one and knowing how much of a perfectionist Jungkook is, that life is probably just that much more difficult for him. It’s a very reasonable excuse.

Before you know it, two weeks go by, and it’s onto week three. His text replies are becoming sparse and each successive one sounds less and less like him. His apologies are half-hearted at best and he repeatedly blames it on the stress he was dealing with. But he says the demos are finally in, and that he’s free for the next few weeks before he starts up on another project. You ignore the fact that he’s been acting off, your desire to see your best friend trumping his unusual behavior, and text him to get his “fat ass ready for wings and some Thor action, cuz it’s Fat Friday baby!” hoping deep down inside that he won’t turn you down again this week. But to your utter shock, he does, this time with the excuse of needing to tend to his very neglected girlfriend. Another slap of rejection. But it makes sense that if he didn’t have any time for his own girlfriend, then he definitely didn’t have time for you. Of course he’d want to spend quality time with her to make up for the time he was gone. Of course.

So in those three rather empty weeks, you fill your time in other ways. The day after meeting at the Sound Bar, YoungHo texts you to set up your pizza date. Instead of lounging around at home like you normally do with some superhero movie on Netflix and Jungkook hogging up majority of the sofa with his body, you spend the evening going to two different pizza places with YoungHo. It ends up being a nice first date, one which concludes with you reluctantly admitting that thin crust is actually pretty bomb too (but you still pledge your loyalty to deep dish forever). The conversation still flows nicely with him as you both continue to get to know more about one another. Turns out, YoungHo’s a friend of a friend of Namjoon’s and works as some fancy business manager for some even fancier big-shot business company in the city. Strangely enough, this new tidbit of information makes you instantly think of Jungkook, who in his college days, once passionately declared he’d rather die than be stuck at a boring office job for the rest of his life. He sure is a man of his word, seeing how he kept to it and now is doing what he truly loves to do – producing and making music.

The second week, YoungHo surprises you by taking you to see Hamilton, the musical. Apparently, his company offers discount prices on certain events like musicals, and he managed to get seats in the orchestra pit for dirt cheap. He was worried it’d be too fancy and serious for the third date, but you’re just thrilled that you finally get to see the musical in real life, rather than just listening to the soundtrack on Spotify on repeat and creating an imaginary musical inside your head. The show ends up being even more amazing than you could ever describe with words. The songs, the dialogue, the characters – it’s a night that will be forever embedded in your memories. You know you just have to take Jungkook to see it the next time the Hamilton crew is back in town – you know he would love it just as much as you did.

The third week you offer to make YoungHo dinner at your apartment for date five, to change things up a little. He’s been so generous and proactive with planning all the previous dates, you feel like it’s the least you can do to show some effort on your part. So you invite him over and prepare a fancy steak and roasted vegetable dinner that you copped off a Tasty recipe. After dinner, you turn on the Hamilton soundtrack as YoungHo pours out two glasses of wine and continues the conversation about favorite childhood memories. He sits up properly on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other as he animatedly reminisces about the time he accidentally called the fire department thinking he was calling his mom. You smile and nod at his story and make sure to laugh at the right times, but for some reason, you can’t help but think about how he’s sitting. It’s an odd thought to have, but it bothers you throughout the night – it just looks too proper, too upright. If Jungkook were here, you think, he’d be sprawled out all over your couch, legs and arms hanging over the edges and you’d have to shove him off or prop his feet up on your lap just so you could sit. Then you’d make a comment about his feet smelling like a dead animal and he’d pounce on you and tickle you until you’re breathless and admitting surrender. But that’s if Jungkook were here. He hasn’t been here in weeks.

The days, hours, and minutes, crawl by at a snail pace until it’s finally week four since you’ve seen Jungkook. Now, there’s just – nothing. No legit or even half-assed excuses to explain for his prolonged absence. It seems like he’s even given up replying to your texts, seeing as though you were left on read three days ago.

You start to think that maybe this is just what it feels like to grow up. That adult friendships are just starkly different from younger ones, where you have all the care-free time in the world to hang out and talk and do nothing together. Maybe this is how adult friends end up becoming more distant from each other. Life starts to demand too much, significant others are put at the higher end of the priority list, and something has to suffer for the new change in the hierarchy. If that’s the case and that’s what this is, then you conclude that being an adult sucks, and you want no part of it anymore.

You don’t even realize you’re lost in your own thoughts until YoungHo says your name, snapping you out of it and back to reality. He was in the middle of explaining what was going on in the baseball game you two were watching at his place when you started to space out, traveling down the sad, dark rabbit hole you hate to admit you’ve kind of been living in for the past month. Now that your head is out of the clouds, you wince at the sight of the baseball game on the TV. Jungkook loves baseball. You wonder if he’s out there somewhere watching this game too.

The TV suddenly goes black. Youngho’s hand lowers the remote control onto the coffee table before he turns to you, one leg crossed over the only, polite and proper as usual. You can already tell by the look on his face that he has a question on his lips, ready to fire away.

“What’s been going on with you lately, ___?”

You blink a couple of times, not liking where this conversation is going. “What do you mean? Nothing’s up.” Even you don’t think your words sound convincing to your own ears.

YoungHo sighs. “These past few dates, I’ve caught you staring off into space multiple times, looking so sad and out of it.” He furrows his brows in concern. “Do you not even realize it yourself?”

You bite your lower lip. You know you’ve been feeling a bit gloomy and really out of it these last few weeks, you just didn’t realize you were blanking out that often – especially in front of YoungHo. And even if you were, you thought you were at least hiding it well. Guess not.

“Alright,” He shifts to sit closer to you, folding his hands in his lap, “Tell me what’s really going on.”

You almost laugh at that because frankly, you don’t know what’s going on yourself. Work’s been the same, you’ve been sleeping alright – not as soundly as normal but getting enough to function – and maybe your diet has been a little cleaner now that you haven’t had any greasy take-out food for the last month, but honestly that’s the biggest recent change you can think of – Jungkook’s absence. Just the thought of him makes your heart twinge. You miss Jungkook’s stupid face so much, the thought of him and his stupid voice and his stupid comments and his stupid presence have had you tossing and turning at night for the past few weeks. Every time your phone rings, every time you crave take-out or come home from work and just want to pass out on the sofa with a movie, you automatically think of him and wonder how he’s doing, if he’s doing okay, if he got enough sleep while pulling his hair out over deadlines – you wonder if he even remembers you exist anymore.

You shake your head, squeezing your eyes shut momentarily to block out the pain. “I- I really don’t know, honest.” You admit the half of the truth, because you really aren’ts sure what to make of these thoughts and feelings you have for your best friend yourself. But it’s like YoungHo can read your mind, or maybe, you’re just that easy to read.

“It’s Jungkook, isn’t it?”

Shocked, you look up at him, lips parted to match your expression. “W-what?”

“___, you can’t fool me.” YoungHo sighs again, looking obviously frustrated, but he somehow manages to maintain a level tone, and his eyes look gentle as ever. “Ever since our first date, you haven’t been able to stop talking about him. Jungkook this, Jungkook that – it was never ending. I know you two are best friends and all, but honestly I was shocked when all you would do is talk about your male best friend ninety-five percent of the time even while on a date with another man.” He pauses for a moment, his gaze softening. “Not to mention you just look so down nowadays, I figured it must have something to do with him.”

Your eyes are still saucer-wide as YoungHo searches them carefully, his expression sullen. The way he does it is scarily similar to how Jungkook does it. Maybe this whole time you were wrong and Jungkook was actually the one who could always read you like a book, and not the other way around. But like your best friend, YoungHo seems to find whatever answer he needs as he inhales, the sound a bit shaky, as if to compose himself for what he’s about to say next.

“You love him, don’t you?”

It’s more of a statement than it is a question. In fact, the way he says it makes it sound like it’s so obvious, like hey the sky is blue, dogs are cute, you love Jungkook. It rolls off the tip of his tongue like a cold, hard fact rather than just a mere hypothesis that needs further testing. It shakes you at your core and makes your head spin, and the confusion is simply overwhelming.

It is an obvious fact that you love Jungkook – he’s your best friend, the one who’s been by your side for so many years now and knows you better than anyone else, even more than Hari or your own parents. He knows what makes you tick, and then he knows what really makes you tick and goes the extra length to make sure no one ever gets to that point with you, including himself. He always knows just the words to say to comfort you, or just the joke to crack to lighten up the mood and make you smile. Without fail he’s like your giant Care Bear, just maybe less fuzzy wuzzy up front. He’s dealt with drunk you, post-break-up-crying-over-ice-cream-you, low self confidence you, lost in life you, all the parts of you that you didn’t even want to bother with – Jungkook embraced them all. He’s been the most stable constant in your life. Yet in the past, you never really considered him in a romantic way, mostly due to the awkward start you two had and how long it took to get over that hill. And even after you did, then you started dating your college boyfriend. There was no time to even think about looking at him in that way – so you never did.

But YoungHo’s words ring unmistakably loud and clear in your ears, and suddenly there’s so much pulling and pushing of your emotions happening all at once. It’s like the boulder of sorrow weighing on your heart lightens up only to hang down even heavier now after hearing his words, like a fog has lifted to unveil your true feelings while your heart still runs around in circles, frantically lost, so confused and caught off guard. His words are a real sucker punch to the gut that you didn’t see coming, one that leaves you breathless, because never did you imagine that this would be the issue you would have with Jungkook. Arguing over what to get for take-out? Of course. Bickering over who the better looking person is? All the time. Cussing one another out in Mario Kart? A regular occurrence. But falling in love with your best friend? Never in your dreams.

You clench your hands into fists on top of your thighs. It almost feels like you’re going to cry for some reason, maybe from just feeling overwhelmed by it all. But whether they’d be tears of joy or frustration, you have no clue. It just doesn’t make sense. You can’t just wake up one morning and suddenly love your best friend in a completely different way, it doesn’t work like that. But the more you think about it, the more you realize it didn’t happen overnight – none of this did. No, all those times he let you cry on his shoulder, whether it was because of your college boyfriend or because of a bad grade, all those moments he paused his video games just to talk with you about life, about nothing, til the wee hours of the morning, all those times he fought with you for the last crab rangoon like his life depended on it, only to give in and let you have it in the end – it’s in all these little moments that you didn’t realize you were slowly falling for the boy with the doe eyes, the smart mouth, and a heart of pure gold.

YoungHo is right – you are completely and undeniably in love with Jungkook.

These last four weeks have been hell, missing Jungkook so much more than you ever thought you would. The feeling is ten times worse than that one time junior year, when he went to a music camp for two weeks in the mountains with no phone service or wifi signal. You koala-ed him for nearly a week after he came back and demanded he never lose contact with you for that long ever again. This time is definitely much worse. This time, his absence had been constantly gnawing at you – a bitter, lonely, slow spreading infection eating away at your insides bit by bit, eventually leaving a gaping hole that wouldn’t be easy to patch up. It’s strange because the more time passed without his presence and the more you saw YoungHo’s face instead, the more often Jungkook’s would pop up in your head, as if to torture you even more in your misery. But now it all makes sense why that was happening.

Even in this very moment, you still miss those big, brown, doe eyes of his with all your heart, and the way his nose wrinkles adorably when he laughs or smiles, along with that brilliant smile itself– seriously, when was the last time you even saw the light? You miss the sight of his big hoodie clad figure splayed out on your couch and being able to banter with him and make him snort with the ridiculousness that spews from your mouth, you miss calling him names and immediately getting insulted back. You miss having his head or even his feet on your lap with Hulk playing in the background. You miss him so much, it hurts.

So much that you finally decide that enough is enough.

“YoungHo,” You begin after who knows how long, your voice sounding more stable now. “I think I- I need to go.” Too busy filtering through the complicated web of thoughts and emotions, you didn’t even notice the way YoungHo’s expression completely changed since the start of the night until now. His expression is soft but there’s a sense of solemn acknowledgment in his eyes, and you can just feel his disappointment, the weight of reality sinking down on his shoulders. But his lips pull up into a somber smile as he stands up from the sofa and watches you follow his motion, your head hung low in shame.

“I’m so sorry, I’m a horrible person,” You blubber, feeling genuinely guilty, “I’m sorry I’ve wasted so much of your time and efforts and that I’m dumb as fuck and didn’t realize this sooner to avoid all this unnecessary misery. But I just want you to know that I had an amazing time hanging out with you. You’re an awesome guy, YoungHo, and I mean no bullshit when I say that I hope we can stay friends.” You find the courage to look up and directly into his eyes, eyes glistening with remorse. “I really mean that with all of my heart.”

He offers you a smile and it’s small, but to your relief, it’s genuine, and that helps to ease the guilt a little. “Whenever you’re craving thin crust, I’m always just a call away.” He cocks his head towards the door, “Now get out of here and stop being miserable already. Go, before I change my mind.”

You stand on your tiptoes to leave a light peck to his cheek, giving his arm a squeeze before you’re out the door, rushing towards the elevators while fumbling around with your phone to call an uber.

Jungkook may be busy and have more important people and things to tend to, but that doesn’t change the fact that that bastard neglected you and your friendship for an entire month now, that just the thought of him still makes your stomach churn with something miserable and painfully empty, though it feels different in the light of these new feelings you’ve discovered. But at this point, your feelings don’t even matter. And screw all of this “normal progression of adult friendships” crap. All you know is that no matter how you feel, no matter how he feels about you, in the end, you just want your best friend back – you need Jungkook back in your life.

- - - - -

[7:34PM] You: joon

[7:34PM] You: where the hell has jeon been lately?

[7:35PM] You: bugger won’t reply to my texts and i rly need to talk to him

[7:36PM] Joonie: uhh, lately?

[7:36PM] Joonie: at home

[7:37PM] Joonie: playing overwatch

[7:39PM] You: ……

[7:40PM] You: what

[7:40PM] You: the actual

[7:40PM] You: fuck

[7:42PM] Joonie: what?

[7:44PM] You: for the last 4 weeks

[7:44PM] You: i thought he was busy dying over his demos and hanging out w/ soobin

[7:44PM] You: but he’s been ditching me for OVERWATCH?

[7:46PM] Joonie: well he was dying

[7:47PM] Joonie: he just turned in his demos not too long ago

[7:48PM] You: i’m gonna kick his sorry ass

[7:50PM] Joonie: wait

[7:52PM] You: what

[7:53PM] Joonie: you mean you don’t know?

[7:54PM] Joonie: jungkook didn’t tell you?

[7:55PM] You: ugh what now

[7:56PM] Joonie: dude

[7:58PM] Joonie: jungkook and soobin broke up like a month ago

- - - - -

“Jungkook!” A breathless shout leaves your lips as you barge through your best friend’s bedroom door, flailing it open and simultaneously scaring the living daylights out of the owner of said bedroom. His hunched figure at the desk jumps up and whirls around at the sound of your voice as his headphones slide off one ear haphazardly.

“Holy Widowmaker, yes hi, hello, shit you scared me.” He exhales all in one breath, eyes still enlarged and mouth hanging slightly ajar. Judging by the look of surprise bordering sheer terror on his face, he definitely wasn’t expecting you. But then again, he doesn’t look like he was expecting anyone, really. He’s wearing a black hoodie that’s one size too big for him and matching colored basketball shorts, the oversized hood pulled up over mussed chestnut hair, and it honestly looks like he hasn’t moved to shower, change, or just move at all. But he still somehow looks so good like that, bits of his wavy hair falling into those warm hazelnut eyes, plump lips parted slightly – so unfairly and effortlessly handsome. It’s a mystery how you faced this man for so many years and somehow remained immune to his gorgeous looks alone (well, as long as he was fully clothed).

“Wow,” You manage to get out between rapid breaths from quite literally running straight to Jungkook’s apartment from YoungHo’s place. You glance at his computer monitor before focusing back on him. “You really are playing Overwatch.”

He tilts his head in confusion. “Uh, why yes, I am?”

The urge to smack him for giving such a lame and frustratingly obvious answer is strong, but since he doesn’t understand the context from which you state this, you decide to spare him from your wrath for the time being, putting away the fists of fury for now as you march over to where he’s sitting in his fancy black and red, almost half cocoon-shaped gaming chair.

“How are you Jungkook? How’ve you been lately?” The questions roll off your tongue icily, eyes narrowing into slits that are meant to be intimidating, but it doesn’t look like it does all that much to Jungkook. From the way his eyes are still bulging out comically, it seems he still hasn’t fully gotten over the shock from your grand entrance as he mumbles a dazed “uh alright, how ‘bout you?” under his breath.

“Oh good, I’m glad, just so glad.” Sarcasm drips from your voice, and it’s hard to keep it from shaking. “And me? Oh well I’m just peachy – feeling fan-fucking-tastic.”

“You sure ‘bout that?” He queries, crinkling his nose in disagreement and looking too cute for his own good, “‘cause you sure as hell don’t sound or look like it.”

“Oh no, really, I’m just dandy!” Hands on your hips, you raise a brow at him and click your tongue once, “I’m just thrilled to see my best friend again after he avoided me for four weeks straight without any solid explanation as to why. It’s nice to see you’re still alive and kicking virtual ass, that’s all.” Slowly slipping his headphones off and setting them besides his mouse on the desk, Jungkook hesitantly rises to his feet, looking guilty, apologetic, but also slightly frustrated as he approaches you. He chooses to stand a few feet away, hands slipping into his pockets as he shifts his gaze to the floor. You can just feel this new barrier separating the two of you, and that realization hurts, especially since you still have no idea why he’s been acting so damn weird around you lately.

His lower lip is caught between his teeth, his eyes flitting around nervously as he contemplates what to say, how to explain the mess that was the last four weeks in order for it to make sense to you. But you’ll wait as long as it takes to hear him out and to resolve this issue. You’ve already waited four weeks, what’s another couple of seconds, minutes, or hours more? What else do you have left to lose?

You decide to help him out, though. You’re not sure it’s the best move to make, but you know it’ll get the job done and get the ball rolling for sure. So you bite the bullet and go for it, your voice much quieter and timid than before.

“How- how have you and Soobin been doing?”

It goes completely silent in the room safe for the almost inaudible sound of breathing and your heart beat pounding against your ear drums; besides that, it’s so quiet you would probably be able to hear a pin drop if one did. A thick tension begins to cloud the air that lies between you two as you wait for him to answer, for him to finally admit that he’s been lying, for him to stop with the bullshit and tell you what’s really going on with him. And after a few more excruciating moments, you begin to see him come around. It starts with how he squeezes his eyes shut and bites down on his lower lip even harder, staying like that for a few moments, the regret so evident in his expression. He knows he’s been caught red handed – that there’s no more escaping this conversation.

“Who told you?” Jungkook finally grits out, a low murmur under his breath as he trains his sights on the floor boards.

“Well, not you, that’s for sure.” You answer, the soft tone of your voice contrasting the sting that accompanies that comment. “Since you weren’t replying to my texts, I asked Namjoon about where the hell you’ve been lately, and he just suddenly dropped the bomb on me.” When all he does is continue to stare at the floor some more, you sigh, trying to cover up the way your lip quivers. You hate this weird awkwardness between you, and you want nothing more than for things to be okay again between you two – it’s driving you absolutely insane.

“What’s been going on these past few weeks, Jungkook?” You push on, silently begging for him to just give in already.

“___, I,” Jungkook stutters, raking a hand through his hair, the movement pushing his hoodie off his head to fully reveal his face. When the dim light from the lamp hits his face, only then do you realize just how haggard he looks. It’s almost like he hasn’t been getting very good sleep, much like yourself this past month. “I’ve just been… really busy.”

“Wrong answer, try again.” You refuse to lose to his stubbornness, not when you’ve come this far, not when things have escalated this much, not when your friendship feels like its dangling on its last fraying thread. He’s stubborn, but you’re a Taurus, and you are hell-bent on getting answers out of him, even if it means just standing there staring at him all night. You need to break down this new all he’s built up against you – it’s all you can think to do to get your best friend back.

Jungkook must sense your unwillingness to back down because he suddenly runs a hand down his face, a heavy sigh resonating from his chest. He knows this is all unavoidable – that now’s the time to lay it all out on the table. So he does, and nothing can prepare you for what he’s about to say.

“I was scared.”

Not expecting that answer at all, your brows furrow together in concern, and you feel your hands itching to just reach out and hold Jungkook, who can’t seem to lift his head and for once just looks so small. “Scared? Of what?”

“I, I thought I had more time,” He peeks out from under his eyelashes, lips forming a grim line, “more time left with you.”

Confusion fills your expression. “You make it sound like I’m dying and only have a few days left to live or something. What do you mean you thought you had more time?”

Jungkook clenches his jaw. It’s obvious that bringing all of his thoughts and feelings to the surface is proving to be a lot harder than it may seem. His hands keep curling into fists and unfurling over and over, the movement full of anxiety and tension. But then to your relief he finally speaks, breaking the silence with his quiet confession.

“For so many years, it’s just been me and you, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He starts off, voice soft and hesitant. “Even after college, we still somehow made it a routine to see each other at least what, twice a week? And then somehow Fat Fridays became a thing, our thing, and just having you by my side became enough for me. That’s all I ever needed.” His expression twists into one of distress, his brows knitting together, “Then all of a sudden, Hari and Tae convince you to start searching for a boyfriend to help with your quarter life crisis, and before I can even blink, you’re off on your first blind date who ends up being some dude that doesn’t know how to shut up to save his life.” You cringe inwardly at the thought of Date #1, doing your best to not let it show on your face for fear of interrupting Jungkook’s flow. Luckily he doesn’t seem to notice it and continues on, taking a cautious step towards you

“So what choice did I have left? I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I somehow ended up downloading a couple of those dating apps you were using and made my own profile. And as you know, that’s how I met Soobin.” Jungkook smiles sadly, scoffing quietly to himself. “I – I had to fill the void somehow. And she seemed cool, liked anime, and she was pretty so I figured, why not give it a shot? If you were out there giving all those losers a chance, I might as well do the same.”

“Wait,” You interrupt him, pinching the bridge of your nose in confusion, “so you only dated Soobin because I was dating other guys?” He nods solemnly, shame filling his expression. “But why? Just because you thought I wouldn’t have time for you anymore?” Heart clenching inside your chest, you reach out to take a hold of his hand, “Jeon, you should’ve talked to me about this instead of avoiding me like the plague. You need to know that no matter what, I will always have time for you. You’re my best friend, and there’s no one else I can do Fat Fridays with – there is always time for you in my life.”

“No, that’s not it.” Jungkook interjects quietly, shoulders sagging like the energy is being sapped out of him. The sadness etched in his eyes make your heart sink even further – it makes you afraid to hear the rest of what he has to say.

He inhales deeply, involuntarily tightening his grip on your hand. “I was always afraid it’d happen one day, losing you to another guy. But honestly, I thought I still had time. When your first few online dates flopped, I was so relieved because it still meant I had time left with you. But then,” He exhales, his expression hardening slightly, “this YoungHo guy comes out of nowhere and sweeps you off your feet, makes you laugh and looks at you like he’s hit the jackpot and it just made me feel sick to the stomach. Then he offers to take you home,” Jungkook lets out a short laugh, the sound incredulous and wounded at the edges, “and that was the cherry on top. In that moment, I didn’t care if Soobin was there, I didn’t even care that she was my girlfriend at the time, as horrible as that may sound – all I knew was that some other guy was taking you home, and I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“It felt like all of my worst nightmares were coming true. You looked like you were so into him, and he looked just as smitten with you, and when he left with you that night, I thought ‘wow, this is it.’” Jungkook closes his eyes briefly in anguish, as if just saying the words themselves is painful for him. “I thought ‘this is how I lose her – this is how I officially run out of time with the one girl I need in my life. I’m such a coward for not saying something sooner, for not taking the risk and just going for it. This – this is it.’”

Jungkook slowly looks up to meet your eyes, watching as tears gather at the corners of your eyes, threatening to spill over at any second. All this time, your best friend was fighting in a silent battle against his fears and insecurities, and the worst part is that those fears and insecurities involved you. You were so dumb and blind and really had no idea this is what was happening to him this whole time. But it’s all starting to make sense now. Why he was so upset that night at the Sound Bar. Why he was making up excuses to avoid you. Why he’s been hiding for the last month – it was to avoid having this very conversation. He thinks this is the last night he’ll ever have with you.

“That night, I went back to Soobin’s place and man, she let me have it.” Jungkook chuckles, the sound not happy in the least bit. “She was pissed, and rightly so. She told me she didn’t get why I was even dating her in the first place when it was obvious that all I cared about was you.” Giving your hand a gentle squeeze, Jungkook steps closer so that now, finally, his toes line up with yours, his body towering over you and dark eyes searching yours intently, as you take in his scent that smells like home, and it helps to ease the sharp sting in your heart a little. His other hand finds yours so that he’s holding them both, so gently within his palms, thumbs tracing your knuckles gently, affectionately.

“If you don’t get it by now, even after all I’ve said, then you’re a real idiot.” Jungkook jokes lightly, but his muscles are tense and shoulders hang heavily in stark contrast to his words. “But you’re also a moron for not realizing that I’ve been in love with you ever since you kicked my ass in Mario Kart freshman year of college.”

It took you all these years, a quarter-life-crisis, several horrible blind dates, and even a potential boyfriend to get your eyes to finally open and truly see what Jungkook has just confirmed for you. It’s just that when someone is by your side that often, that regularly, it becomes natural to have them there, to have their presence nearby almost at all times and it’s so nice not having to question it. It’s so easy to get comfortable and not consider any other ideas or feelings because why do that when what you’ve got is already so good? Why venture into dangerous territory when life is great in the safe zone? But that’s exactly what Jungkook did. He embraced those very ideas and feelings and kept them bottled up and neatly tucked away all these years, knowing what you two had was so good, knowing it wasn’t worth risking the friendship you two had built up and nurtured over time. He never pushed his feelings onto you, or held you back from anything just because he felt a certain way about you. All he did was stay by your side the entire time, protecting you, silently loving you and figuring out life with you every step of the way. It’s always been Jungkook – it’s always been him.

“You know, you’re gonna need to thank YoungHo after this.” You mutter after a brief and tense silence, a tear escaping to trickle down your cheek.

Jungkook, who still has worry and stress scribbled all over his face, visibly recoils at the sound of the name of the man who was once after your heart as well. “And why would I ever need to do that?”

Not letting another moment go to waste, you suddenly perch up onto the tips of your toes, letting go of Jungkook’s hands to cup his cheeks and press your lips against his. Hands snaking through soft, wavy locks, you press yourself further into his plush petal lips, moving your mouth gently against his as he remains frozen in place. It takes him a few seconds to react, and in those few moments you can imagine what he must look like – shell-shocked doe eyes, eyebrows raised in astonishment because is his best friend really kissing him right now? But then slowly he begins to melt into your touch, brushing against your flesh hesitantly, as if he can’t believe this is all happening, his hands finding the small of your back to pull you flush against his chest. You capture his top lip between the two of yours and gently suckle on it for a moment as if to reassure him that this is real and that it’s all okay now. He seems to take the hint because then he’s suddenly sliding a hand up your sides to cradle your head, lips fervently chasing after yours, tongue swiping at your bottom lip, begging to be let in. With a small moan, you allow him to lick into your mouth, the wet muscle hurriedly fighting for dominance with yours in a way that makes heat pool in your lower abdomen.

You never knew it would feel so right to kiss Jungkook like this, to feel him moan against your skin and graze his warm hands all along the curves of your body. The more accustomed you become to his touch, the more you want him – the more you crave him. But before it can get any more heated, he slows his movements before pulling away, slightly breathless, more strands of hair scattered messily on his forehead to frame his gorgeous face, the stupid stupid face you’ve missed with your entire being.

“Please say it.” Jungkook breathes out, chest rising and falling as he tries to catch his breath, his eyes dark and dripping with want. “Before we move on, before anything else happens I just- I need to hear you say it.” Feeling his hot breaths fan against your skin, onyx eyes fixated on yours, it’s in this moment that you realize you would do anything for this man. That even though he gazes at you like you’ve got galaxies in your eyes, he’s the one who owns every inch of your stubborn and stupidly blind heart. You don’t blame him for wanting, no, needing, solid affirmation after everything he’s been through, after everything the both of you have endured. And you yourself don’t want to hold back any longer either. But despite how overwhelmed you are with emotion, a playful grin twitches at the corners of your lips. Because this is still Jungkook you’re dealing with here – and you plan on dealing with him the way you would any other day.

“I…” You stutter, watching Jungkook’s eyes widen with anticipation as you utter the words he’s been waiting for years to hear.

“I love Park SeoJoon.”

You make the declaration playfully, unable to contain the wide smile that fully spreads across your face. There’s just no other way you could ever imagine this moment playing out. And to your delight, Jungkook growls at this and presses your body tightly against him, causing a laugh to slip past your lips. It feels so euphoric to finally be able to actually laugh and joke like this after spending these past few dismal weeks without your best friend – without the love of your life.

“Don’t make me make you say it.” His threat is empty, and it shows in the way he leans his forehead against yours, eyes crinkled at the corners and twinkling brightly even in the dimly lit room. And the way he looks at you has the words falling from your lips before you can even think to say them.

“I love you, Jeon Jungkook, more than just a friend. I love you so much more than just that.” Your cheeks feel like they’re going to split from how much you’re smiling. “And I’m sorry it took me a whole ninety-eight light years to realize it. I’m the village idiot.”

Jungkook turns his head to snort and you expect him to say something sassy back like he usually does, but instead he just beams with a radiant glow you don’t think you’ve ever seen on him before, or on anyone else, for that matter. He gazes at you like a man who, after endlessly searching far and wide for miles and years on end, has finally met the end of his sufferings and is being rewarded for his hardship – like a man who has finally returned to his home.

Completely satisfied with your answer, Jungkook pulls you back into his embrace, the shape of his lips immediately molding to fit yours. He tastes sweet with a hint of bitter saltiness from the one or two tears that escape as you close your eyes to meet his kiss with your own, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. These are tears of relief and joy – a sign that everything is going to be okay from now on.

Suddenly you jump up and hook your legs around his waist, and he lets out a small grunt from your unexpected attack, but he reacts quickly and catches you with no effort required, his hands immediately finding and supporting your bottom as he leans back in to kiss you, caressing your lips with his own like he just can’t get enough of you.

“Are- are you okay with this?” Jungkook murmurs between kisses, giving your ass a tentative squeeze, to which you just sigh into his lips, giving him a small nod before you reclaim his mouth. With a kiss to match every step he takes, Jungkook carries you to his bed before gingerly laying you back, his lips still attached to yours, only parting to trail kisses along your jaw and up the column of your neck until he finds a sweet spot right behind your ear. The feeling of his lips gently nipping at the sensitive area there has you arching up into his chest, your fingers finding their way under his shirt to stroke up and down the skin of his back in a light, feathery motion.

“You really, really have no idea how long I’ve wanted this,” Jungkook whispers against your skin, catching your earlobe between his teeth, “How long I’ve wanted you.”

“Jungkook,” His name comes out in an airy breath, your eyes fluttering shut at the feeling of his hands exploring your body, gently skimming down your sides and eventually lifting the hem of your shirt.

“Mmm, babe.” His hands slip beneath the fabric to caress the skin of your torso just beneath the swell of your breasts, head lifting from the crook of your neck to meet your eyes, a teasing lilt in his voice. “I am allowed to call you that now without getting beaten up, right?”

“Jeon, if you don’t hurry up and strip and get the show on the road already, I’m gonna do more than just beat you up, baby.” You snap jokingly, but it’s impossible to ignore the need and impatience clearly embedded in your voice, your dark pupils blown out and full of lust. You hold back a giggle at how Jungkook’s eyes go saucer wide, a visible confirmation for how he interpreted your words as a flush quickly creeps up his cheeks as well, making him look so cute, it’s almost unbearable. But he immediately shuts down all those thoughts as he rises up to his knees to pull off his hoodie, tight abdominal and pectoral muscles greeting you as he stares down at you, his gaze potent and heavy.

“Holy cheezits.” You exhale, eyes hungrily raking over the honey-glazed skin and the intricate lines that make up the map of his toned body. This time, you have no shame in openly gawking at all the hard work and dedication that has obviously paid off for him as you admire the lean muscles of his shoulders and arms and the way two particular crevices at his hip bones create a sharply defined “V” shape, the lines narrowing and then disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts. He seems to notice your lack of shame too and chuckles darkly at the sight of your wide eyes drinking him in.

“What, are you hungry or something?” He laughs, and the sound is like music to your ears after not having heard the beautiful sound for so long. “Like, do you really have to bring up food right before I’m about to make you forget everything but my name?”

You suck in a breath and just hold it there at his bold words, words you never thought you’d ever hear him say, especially to you. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

He smiles before bending forward to leave a gentle kiss on your lips. “It’s whatever you want it to be, baby.”

That night, it felt like all hell broke loose, and the truth was finally brought to light. That life changing, very over-delayed night, Jungkook made sure to take his time with you. After several weeks apart and countless years of stuffing his emotions down his own throat, instead of rushing and letting it all end up as one big blur in his memory, he made sure to etch every kiss, every fluttering touch against your warm skin, every breathy moan and call of his name deep into his memory, to fully indulge in your warmth and the weight of your body against his. He teased you slowly with his touch, his mouth, the press of his body, while embedding the feeling of your smooth skin into his finger tips to remember forever, even though he knew he’d have many more opportunities to do so. He let himself come unraveled in front of you as you teased him right back, drawing your name from his lips in sweet low moans as you pleasured him and made his deepest, darkest fantasies come to life. You brought each other to your highs over and over again, kissing, caressing and exploring every single inch of skin available. Countless I love yous were pulled from your lips as he rocked into you, slowing down and then speeding up his pace, bringing you to the edge of your high only to bring you back down, whispering even sweeter confessions and promises against your skin as you came for him, satiated him, and loved him with your entire existence.

At the wee hours of the morning, the two of you finally spent and tangled up in one another’s arms, breaths and heart beats matching and slowing to a sleepier pace, you pressed light kisses to his bare chest as he tucked your head under his chin, pulling you even closer against him, the feeling so indescribably perfect, like that’s where you have belonged the entire time. And in the few moments of consciousness before sleep took you captive for the night, Jungkook lightly stroking his fingers against your naked back, it dawned on you in that moment that what you’ve been missing the entire time was never an exciting, wild nightlife or having new hobbies to try out all the time. It wasn’t even going on dates or just having any old boyfriend and living life as the other young adults do. You realized that Jungkook’s always been the so called “missing piece” you felt you needed, even though he was always right there in front of your eyes all this time. He was just a piece of your puzzle of life that’s been sitting in the wrong spot – until now. It was him that you needed, and not just his friendship, not just his company, but his everything, Jungkook’s entire being – you just needed Jungkook.

With this in mind, sleep finally claimed you prisoner as you felt one more I love you whispered against your skin, a smile left on your lips as you slowly faded away into unconsciousness.

Being an adult wasn’t turning out to be so bad, not when you have everything you could ever need in your arms – not when you have Jungkook, your everything.

- - - - -

[Loser’s club group chat]

Hari: ___ where are you?

Hari: why you won’t pick up

Hari: your apartments empty

Hari: AND WE’RE LATE FOR BRUNCHHH

Hari: srsly anyone know where she at?

Tae: let her be bruh, maybe she just got laid or something

Hari: why are you texting me i’m standing right next to you

Hari: and omg wait, could it be?

Yoongs: i can’t believe i had to sleep in the studio last night because of them

Joon: yall know i normally sleep like the dead but not last night holy shit

Tae: omg IT FINALLY HAPPENED

Tae: THE RED SEAAA

Hari: um excuse me

Hari: WHOS THEM???

Joon: PSA – jeon’s a very verbal lover

Joon: and a moaner

Joon: like a LOUD moaner

Hari: JEON??

Hari: LIKE ___ AND JEON??!!?

Hari: OR IS THAT JUST YOUNGHO’S NEW NICKNAME OR SOMETHING??

Hari: IT FINALLY HAPPENED??? WHAT THE FUCK????

Yoongs: seriously took em long enough

Yoongs: been eye fuckin each other for years now

Tae: HALLELUJAH FELIZ NAVIDAD YALL

Joon: so all it took was ___ going on a couple of blind dates huh

Joon: should’ve done this ages ago then

You: uhh

You: good morning everyone

You: i honestly

You: don’t even know what to say

JK: what can i say folks

JK: i tend to leave em speechless ;)

Hari: JOON

Hari: YOONGS

Hari: TAE AND I ARE COMING OVER LEAVE THE DOOR UNLOCKED

Hari: YOU HAVE A SHITTON OF EXPLAINING TO DO MISSY

Tae: don’t worry guys ill stall her

Tae: so you can get dressed and shit

Tae: or don’t. your choice ;)

JK: its all good

JK: ___ still has a lot of explaining to do for me as well

JK: we’re all waiting babe

Hari: BABE?!?!?!

Hari: omg i could cry i never thought i’d live to see this day come

You: ………

You: it’s gonna be a long day

4K notes · View notes

winterbuckytho · 4 years

Text

Aint’ Too Proud To Beg

Pairing : Stucky ft. Recovered Buck

Wordcount : 3240

Plot : 2018. Bucky gets turned in to a nekoboy, and Stucky has their first failed attempt at making it together, awkwardness ensues. But it’ll all work itself out...right?

Warning : NS.FW, Sm.ut, Erot.ica, Swearing, An.al Fing.ering, An.al se.cks (lmao)

A/N : Yea, so I just do that ⬆ to make it harder for the t a g s to be hidden. I’ll still link it with something else too

"Are ya happy now!?!" Steve shouted slamming the door as the went into the house

"How am I the bad guy here?!" Bucky yelled throwing the keys on to the couch fighting his way out of the combat gear he wore down to his undershirt and leggings.

"Bucky, what the fuck were you thinking?!" Steve shot back ignoring what Bucky had said in the heat of his anger, which was really fear with a sharp tongue.

"Would you fucking stop yelling at me?!" Bucky nearly shrieked hands in clenched fists at his sides.

"You jerk!!"

"You punk!

"You... You are the worst right now, Steve! I can't believe you! I was trying to save you!"

Steve replied arm out gesturing at the state of Bucky "By diving face first into incoming fire from weird alien tech we've never seen!?"

"I couldn't help it! I couldn't stand there and do nothing! I had to try, it's what you woulda done too!" Bucky yelled before stalking off to the bathroom and slamming the door shut once he got there.

He stared into the mirror and kind of wanted to cry. He was scared and uncomfortable and all he wanted was Steve's help right now and instead was only getting lectured By Mister I’m-Tall-Now-So-I’m-The-Daddy-Here. He hadn't had time to understand what the thing was doing to every transformed victim, just time to see their human bodies begin shift and change becoming more bestial in form as they screamed in pain. And the end of one of the glowing spear things pointed at Steve.

He put himself between it and Steve without even thinking. There had been so much pain but a lot of it he could barely remember now, but it had started with weird sensations on his head feet and base of his spine. He had screamed with the intensity as Steve put the creature out of commission ceasing the blast from the device. But by then the transformation was half over and had changed him.

Bucky looked and he saw six four inch long whiskers, three sticking out each of his cheeks. His eyes reluctantly crawled upward and took in the dark furred ears perched atop his head. They sat limply looking sad. He could hear from them. He heard Steve still grousing under his breath three rooms away. He looked down at his hands. One of them was now covered in fur, his fingers more squat and tipped with retracted claws. He found he could extend them and retract at will. Bucky turned sideways and saw at the back of his shirt a long dark furred tail stuck out. It swiped back and forth at odd intervals it's tip sometimes twitching. He had never spoken cat body language before but he on instinct knew this is what you do with your tail when you are a step away from swatting any offender in the face.

Now Steve was saying "Christ... you can't be so damn ready to sacrifice some... " as he went to the kitchen to do something and get this frustrated energy out. He began gathering things and Bucky knew he was making something for Bucky to eat which he would deliver with an apology.

"Fucking asshole... Why can't you just... " Buck whimpers as he does start crying, covering his face with his metal arm. He more than anything had wanted to hug Steve and make sure he was alright and let Steve hug and make sure Buck himself was alright.

Anxiety hit him and as he was beginning to panic he stumbled back and his legs struck the tub. He turned and looked at it and instantly needed to be inside it. He didn't so much as think as he felt "I am scared and can fit there".

Without thinking he stepped in and sat down in the tub then leaned forward as he wrapped his tail around his butt and thighs and rested his head on his arms and he felt the most comfort it ever felt in his whole life. He felt something strange but also comforting something in his head oscillating was producing a purr in his body. Bucky soon closed his eyes and rested in a light dose, his anxiety melting away again far faster than with any other technique he tried.

In the kitchen Steve yanked open the fridge and as upset as he was, had the presence of mind to moderate his strength and no trip the darn thing off the fridge as he went after the mayo. Unable to quit ranting he was thinking. 'Jesus Christ, please never let anything make him scream that way again. I just about tore that fucking thing’s head off for it. I don't know what I will do if someone hurts him like that and I fucking find out about it! And now he's mad as hell at me? Well, Buck I stick with my guns on this one, you can't keep doing things like that! I was so fucking scared. Also Lord forgive my potty mouth it's been a trying ass day...' while making tuna sandwiches until half a dozen of them sat on the plate in front of him.

"Goddamn you, Bucky. I understand. You're all I have left of my life before the ice too..."Steve sighed. Then he paused realizing the house was totally silent. Which was wrong if an angry Bucky was in there somewhere. He should be blasting something loud and angsty to get the intense physical part of frustration out as he has begun to do these last few years. Steve picked up the plate and went to see if Buck ever left the bathroom.

Finding the door closed, he tapped gently. "Honey?"

Bucky opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head. He uncharacteristically remained quiet preserving the soft vibration of oh his own purring. But then realized he smelled food and had to stop himself leaping across the room to rip the door open. He made a soft plaintive sound and turned his head to look at the door.

When there was no answer Steve began to speak again, now calming a bit further. "Sugar, you got to know, I would do the same in a heart beat, I would. And you would be in my shoes... Scared shitless, worry eating up any restraint and organization of yourself... So I'm sorry. But you can't keep doing things like that. What the hell am I supposed to do if you die saving me? How do you like the sound of being cloned?"

"Stupid. That is so stupid. And you did scare me. You were yelling and kicking the shit out of everything around us and I was confused, just wanting you to tell me the pain would stop and I'd be alright." Bucky said. It had a whine to it and he allowed it to because if he couldn’t be himself with Stave where the hell should he?

Steve opened the door and could now clearly hear Bucky purring. He looked on a moment astounded by the changes but also because he's never seen anything more adorable than the man of his dreams with the features of a cat. He came to the edge of the tub and handed Bucky the plate and then proceeded to lift him out as if he were a cat sitting in a shoe box once more happy that he was as strong as he was now to pick up this other grown man with just as much muscle as he and hold him and care for him. They moved into the living room where he sat on the sofa with Buck on his lap and Bucky took up a sandwich to handing it to Steve and took one for himself and began to nom on it. They nibbled and tried to refuel after a hard day of being almost killed and almost turned in to a 6 ft tall feline of some sort.

After a moment Bucky licked his lips and said in quite rational tones. "I'm sorry. But I all would do it again. I can't watch something happen to you."

Steve's smiled and in it was some exasperation. "Don't doom me to watching something like that though!"

Bucky's left ear flicked as he said it. "I... I'm sorry Steve. I'm so tired. I didn't mean to scare you, baby."

Steve without thinking reached up up rubbing Bucky's head forgetting about the ears then ending up bumping them with his hand. "I'm sorry too. Oo, do they still hurt?" He said removing his hand.

Bucky placed it back out top of his head with both his hands before Steve could move his hand too far. "N-no... it's like regular ones. they're stupid sensitive so I heard you still spouting off in the kitchen. Even heard the can opener. They feel a little uncomfortably cold though."

Steve smoothed his hand over one then the other gently then closed his hand over them trying to warm it up.

Bucky felt the touch as if amplified by double and couldn't stop trying to flick his ear when Steve touched it but it felt quite nice and he wondered how much more of his body would be like this. ”M-mnf~”

"Ah, s-sorry..." Steve blushes as he starts to move his hand but then Bucky presses his head against Steve's hand with the cutest hecking expression of both yearning and pleasure Steve chuckled and pulled him close, hugging him to his chest and going to let the other ear.

Again Bucky began to purr and Steve nearly exclaimed out loud at the sound till he realized what fit was. Then he had a brief fight with himself which he lost and finally simply went. "Aaw... Is it bad if I want to say it's not so bad? Because I could get used to your purring."

Bucky hated to admit it but he gave in. "Now that it doesn't hurt... I can't wait till someone comes up with a fix. But no... It's not that bad." His tail wiggled in the air as if drawing S shapes on it and he found himself after the chaos and fear in the mood for more intimacy.

Steve agreed hand now sliding down Buck's back. "Yeah, we know a few genius scientists, people that were known as gods and an honest to God wizard. We'll get you back to normal and I'll take care of you every step of the way."

"Thanks Stevie. I'm so glad you're here. I can't image what fresh hell those asshats at Hydra would have done to me after something like this..." Bucky murmured.

Steve rubbed his back a moment and he rubbed Steve's chest in a moment of mutual reassurance. Then Buck turned his whiskered face and pecked Steve on the lips but Steve stopped him turning away again. "No, don't you're still a fucking knock out, Dollface..." He said softly smiling as Bucky blushed. He knew having his body changed this way must hurt Bucky and he also knew he was going to make sure Bucky never had time to worry he was not good enough anymore. He kissed him deeply hand sliding lower to squeeze Buck's ass and came in contact with the new limb sticking out of his beloved. "Oh, I forgot-" he started but was drowned out by a loud cry from Bucky.

The man in question had tilted his head back as his voice came out in a wild get aroused reaction. He then flopped against Steve taking a few shaky breaths.

"Lord in heaven, did I hurt you, oh God sweetheart I'm so-"

"Hng... it w-wasnt that kind of feeling...it was just so... intense, hah~" Bucky said his face flushed red.

"What do you mean? I can stop..."Steve said with worry. He tilted Bucky's face up to his with a finger under his chin and saw unexpectedly an expression of Bucky's he knew very well. Buck's ocean hued eyes were full of lust and he looked on Steve as if just realizing who he was.

"Y-you don't have to. I ju-just never had a tail before..." He looked away a second brows furrowed. "That I can recall anyways." He returned his gaze to Steve. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed until then but the smell of Steve's body was making him crazy for him. He obviously had been smelling Steve for most of their lives and knew his scent well but he figured with the outer changes some mental impact had occurred and now smelling was as important as seeing in a knife fight is. And he felt he could swim in a tub scented with Steve. The fact that this smell was more important at the moment than the fact he might have cat's brain in his head was proof of it. He licked his lips in a slow manner and bit his lower lip as his back arched and his tail whipped side to side in an expression of obvious excitement. "It... it felt good just, explore gently. It's kinda like first time anal, you know?"

Steve blinked in surprise a moment and slowly rested a hand on Bucky's new appendage. It's tip flicked in side to side motions and Bucky inhaled in a soft gasp.

"God, that is so bonkers. It's like the opposite of phantom limb or something because, ah~ it's definitely there. It's sorta... getting to me." He said not wanting to admit he was growing more aroused by the minute. The combination of scent and touch were making something odd but enjoyable happen. For some reason he kept wanting to emit some message to even the empty room that Steve was his.

"You mean... it's a turn on?"

"Maybe..."

Steve returned to kissing Buck, his finger smoothing down the tail’s length. "Are you sure you don't know? Because a certain hunch is telling me you know the answer." He said in quiet tones wrapping a hand around it loosely at it's base and stroking all the way out off the top of the end of Bucky's tail.

Bucky grabbed a hold of Steve's shirt and tugged him down on to the plush carpet with him where he nipped and kissed Steve's throat. Steve in turn rolled Bucky on to his belly, kissing Buck around the shoulders and nape. Bucky presses his hips up and back rubbing against Steve's crotch with a deep moan.

Griping the tail Steve scratched about the base of it digging his fingers in to the fur, yet not scratching hard.

Bucky shuddered pressing his hips further upward into Steve's touch. "Come on, it's getting weird. I'm starting to earnestly want you to fuck me."

"OK. Fine. " Steve let go and made like he was gonna walk away.

Bucky mewled on the floor staring up at Steve. "You can't leave, you have to fix this!"

"Didn't you just ask me to stop?"

"I did. But you're a dummy. I meant that... I just didn't want you to think you can touch me there any old time you want! I want you to touch it when I say!"

"Oooh, I understand now. So should I continue?"

"Mmfff!! " Bucky half moan half sqealed with impatience.

"What was that? I didn't hear any consent so guess I'll just go have a cup of frozen yogurt, seeya Bucky... "

"You big dumb... Get over here now and finished what you started, Steven!"

Steve went on all fours leaning over Buck. He ignored the fur and grasped Bucky's ear in his teeth.

Bucky moaned and his head began to tilt back towards Steve. Steve undid his fly and pushed Bucky's leggings down. He gripped him by the tail and Bucky cried out again. Then he began toying with Bucky's hole, massaging the head of his cock against it. "I'll take you for little ride... Won't you like that baby? Huhn? Who's a good kitty?" He spit on his hand and Bucky gasped "Oooh, fuck!!" knowing what the sound meant. Steve used his hand to get Bucky open and push his dick inside. "Uh-hoh, yeah, do it, babe!

When he was ready he released Bucky's tail and pinned his arms to the floor by the wrist and began to plow Bucky like no tomorrow. Tail lifted ass up and face down Bucky moaned and gasped as Steve fucked him hard there on the livingroom floor. His tail ear and back all still vibrated with pleasure. He thought he could really get used to it.

"Oh, aaahn! "Bucky whimpered in long loud tones.

It was with intense jackhammer like thrusts, Steve thought drove Bucky to cum rather quickly.

"Ooh oh oh god!!!" Bucky moaned Steve kept going to let Bucky ride it out and soon came himself.

But then he noticed something different that had never happened before. Bucky still laying on the floor was staring straight ahead no longer panting or moaning in bliss till Steve asked. "Babe? You okay??"

Bucky turned his head very slowly and in a different situation would have made Steve laugh at how much he looked like that one famed gif of confused Britney Spears. "T-that's it? How..?"

Steve frowned and pulled away to sit beside Bucky looking at him very seriously. "Honey?"

"How in the fuck did we do all that and I didn't even make it? Something is seriously wrong if you can fuck me like that and I don't cum from it. What new fresh hell..?" Said Bucky unaware that Steve was rather disappointed in himself for the poor performance and the fact he just assumed Bucky was having as much pleasure as he did.

"I... it sounded like..."

"Yeah, it was that good, I just hit a wall and nothing happened." Buck paused for a long awkward silence. "Alright, now this feels weird and I don’t like it."

"I could try again if you just need more time." Steve offered. His own opinion mirrored Bucky's. It's had been a long time since he felt so inept and he did not miss feeling his shortcomings so starkly. 'Shortcomings indeed...' he thought wryly.

"I... dunno. Maybe I'm too stressed out. We can try again later, because I was really looking forward to finishing with you. Don't worry, Nat says it can be like this sometimes, and nothing is perfect 100% of the time." Bucky said trying not to make Steve feel inadequate.

Steve pulled him into a hug. "Okay babe. As long as you're okay. It's just one time. I don't know maybe because we usual don't argue then try that."

Bucky nodded but disagreed. 'Steve, we have stupid little fights and have make up sex all the time. You just don't want think about this anymore and even though I need release still, I'm gonna let that go because today has be too much.'

The pair separated, Bucky going to bathroom to finish alone and Steve to the bedroom to take out something for both to put on after a nice shower. Oblivious to Steve Bucky frustrated himself trying to to prompt an orgasm with anal then finally gave up and begrudgingly took the easy o which came with cock stimulation. The rest of the night had a sour taste to it though they tried had to go back to normal. Bucky's new appearance confirmed normal might not be 8n reach anymore.

TBC

#sm.ut #bucky barnes ns.fw #Bucky barnes #stucky ns.fw #Steve Rogers #have some delicious grapefruit pie #ns.fw

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vannminner · 4 years

Text

Where Magic Flows

A03

Fanfiction

Part One: Through This Night

Her shock had barely begun to settle before Honeymaren returned to her feet. She was panting. Her heart beat erratically beneath her ribs. She decidedly ignored it while taking a staggering breath. Honeymaren pushed herself away from Elsa and redirected the hilt of her spear back at the red cloak.

“You will stay away from her.” She sharply commanded.

“Honeymaren, no- I,” Elsa’s voice faded. Emotions shifted as her eyes flickered between the figure and her friend.

“Your magic is no match against us, Elsa, and see how another has fallen victim to the Queen of Ice.” The last of their statement was directed at those surrounding them. Behind the red silk, the figure's words rang like a melody; soft and soulful. “Elsa of Arendelle has always accepted payment in the form of sacrifice… And always in exchange for their love. It appears she of Ahtohallan, now follows in suit.”

Snarling, Honeymaren drove forward with her spear. “How dare you talk about Elsa as if you know her! You know nothing!”

Laughing beneath the shadows of their veil, the figure turned their head. “Oh, but I do know Elsa; better than most, I suppose. However, a more important concern remains- does the young princess remember me?”

Gloved hands wrapped around the hooded opening of their cloak. The fabric pulled back from the figure's face, revealing a women with fair skin and golden hair. From their brown eyes, held in evening shadows, to their tall build; nothing about this woman appeared familiar. She wasn’t from Arendelle. Her melodic yet clipped accent, confirmed that much.

“I don’t know you.” Elsa stated. Her brow pinched, but only slightly.

“This does not come as a surprise to me.” The woman continued. “I remind you, you should, though…”

Elsa quickly shook her head. “No, no riddles! Tell me who you are and what you want from me.”

“Patience, young one.” Her hand raised to silence Elsa. “Do you not know it is ill mannered to make demands when you are so clearly… outnumbered?”

The woman stepped forward again, and Honeymaren stood her ground.

“I no longer have the luxury of patience!” Elsa snapped. “My friend requires help, or my magic will freeze her heart!”

Very slowly, the woman’s shoulders drew into her ears. Her hands turned to their palms. “Your foolish friend is as good as dead, then. Any stalling you continue with now will only provoke me to end her life sooner.”

Elsa’s teeth grit behind her lips. Rage surged beneath her skin. “Say your peace. Make your demands, but do not expect me to meet them.”

The woman laughed, and her voice sang with a pitch like a singing bird.

“Oh, Elsa, Elsa, Elsa… how ignorant you continue to be…”

Her two fingers raised above her head, and the woman snapped. The hoods fell from the other cloaked figures in unison. Elsa stared hard. She was standing center to what appeared to be, a female coven.

Their formation briefly parted as a thirteenth member crossed through their circle. Behind them, a hooded-captive dragged at their feet. The body was dumped before the red woman. She smiled graciously at her aid and dismissed them toward the others.

The woman then leaned down. Her smile maintained. Her dark eyes locked on Elsa, and she freed the canvas from around the body’s head.

Elsa gasped. “Kristoff!” Her voice fell to a whisper. She made moves to step forward, but Honeymaren turned her spear, holding Elsa back.

Kristoff’s eyes opened at the sound. They gave a long, fatigued roll, before he slipped out of consciousness once more.

“When will your friends and family learn to leave well enough alone? Do they not see the truth reflected in the eyes of the woman they condemn their lives for? “ The woman snickered. “It is only fair to say, I see what they cannot. I know what grows within you, child. I know what storm you fight inside.”

“Please, what do you want from me? You have my attention now!” Elsa’s hands pleaded at her side.

“Finally, Elsa of Ahtohallan learns some sense. Good girl.” The woman commended with ease.

She stepped forward once again, this time not stopping when Honeymaren extended her spear. The woman snapped her fingers. In a flash, Honeymaren’s spear had turned to dust. She was stunned, looking down at the red grit covering her hands. Seeing her distracted, the woman circled in slowly around the pair.

Honeymaren quickly shook from her shock. She slid in at Elsa’s side. Her chest drew into Elsa’s shoulder as the woman came close enough for them to fully see.

She was young; perhaps only a few years older than Elsa. Her eyes were like slow burning embers, and her cheeks freckled with ash.

“You see me now, Elsa.” Her finger brushed against Elsa’s chin. Honeymaren growled, moving in closer against her friend. “You see we are both quite similar, yes? I, too, was born with powers, but unlike you, I was ostracized for mine. Imagine a child abandoned by parents whose fear towards her outweighed their love… And so, at thirteen I was forced to leave my country behind. I sailed by ship to find work in the Western Lands, and make more for myself than I could have at home.

“Now, my first job in your country was selling fish on the streets. The men cut my hair short, making me resemble a boy. I worked for ten long hours a day- in the hot sun, and on days so cold my hands would numb. I did this for many months, but then I was finally rewarded for my service. I befriended an older woman from the Kingdom of Arendelle. She was kind, always coming to me for fish. She reminded me of the mother I would never have, and the one I might of had if I been had born here instead. Regardless, this woman found me a work placement in the castle. I would serve as a handmaiden for two young princesses there…”

She smiled slowly. The woman’s eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Yes, Elsa… if you will recall, it was I who worked for you.”

Elsa’s expression never faltered. She remained stern even when she felt Honeymaren hug tighter to her side. She was cold, but Elsa could not be certain, how cold. She didn’t know if it was her own fear, or the growing night, but Honeymaren’s cool skin reminded Elsa that they did not have much time.

“My name was Cleyomey back then,” The woman continued. “However, now I am called Cleyo. I was working for three years at the palace, and I felt I had finally found my place; my new home. But you know what happens next, don’t you, Elsa?” Cleyo nodded with a slight turn of her head. “Yes, I was terminated by the royal family at seventeen- placed on a boat, and returned to my home country.

“Not many things went right for me after that. I was lost between places for a long time, and struggling to understand why magic had cursed my life before it began. I was starving and lonely, but then I discovered myself in a place I could not have anticipated.”

Cleyo came to sit against the log in front of the dying fire. She stoked it briefly with a discarded stick before turning back to Elsa.

“You see, my people, my country; they fear magic. Even more than your parents did, I am afraid. Magic was seen as a direct act of disobedience against the gods, and more importantly; against our kings. Yet, I had found myself in a place where not everyone felt this way. While drifting, I happened upon a group of sister mages who taught me to appreciate my gifts.

“For the first time in my life I did not hate who I was, and I didn’t fear the powers I held beneath my skin. I learned to love magic, more than I ever believed possible, too. I loved magic, yes, but I was also taught how I could love more.

“Mages have much intelligence.” Cleyo smirked. Her eyes curled, and her shoulder shrugged upward. “They know how magic flows through the earth. They see how our natural elements respond to that magic, and understand the careful balance between the two sides. The mages also studied our world’s creation. They moved beyond religion, beyond talk of gods and goddesses, and look at how natural phenomenons created the bridge between magic and all things living. This is how I know of Ahtohallan. This is why I am certain it is from there in which you were gifted your magic.

There are places like Ahtohallan which exist all over the world. They live in tandem with the life around them. There are some places out there which have already been exploited. Others are still waiting to be found. Yet, regardless of their status, the sister mages seek more than exploitation. We wish to learn how these places decided which powers to gift, and to whom. Then, we will end by draining its magic. We will restore the balance in favor of those who can wield it, and only those who can truly understand.”

Hearing her silence, Elsa drew in a sharp breath. Her neck pulled straight and her eyes briefly met with Honeymaren’s.

“I cannot allow you to enter Ahtohallan.” Elsa’s response was blunt. “Even if I wanted to, the forest has lost its balance. I imagine this is due to your meddling, however it has caused the spirits to depart. I can no longer access Ahtohallan, myself. I’m afraid your plan here has failed.”

Cleyo chuckled again. Her head bobbled as it shook. “You take me for someone less clever than I am. I left the Nokk uninhibited by our influence. I see how you reach the land that calls you. So long as the Nokk stands, both you and I may access the frozen river.”

Elsa shivered as a chill drew up her spine.

Cleyo knew too much. She knew nearly everything Elsa had come to learn herself. She was dangerous, intelligent, yet still; her motives were unclear.

“It is silly to stand against the mages, Elsa. You cannot win. Tomorrow you will take me to Ahtohallan, just before the full moon rises, or else- not only will you lose your friend; but your sister shall lose her husband as well.”

The mages moved forward in unison as Cleyo’s words fell away. Elsa’s hands went up defensively, and they briefly faltered in their approach.

“What are you doing?” She demanded. “Honeymaren must be permitted to leave! She needs medical attention. I will be of no use to you if she dies!”

“Elsa, no.” Honeymaren’s hand settled at the small of Elsa’s back. “I am not leaving you here on your own!”

Their eyes met, and Honeymaren’s lowered.

“Your friend goes nowhere.” Came Cleyo’s sharp response. “You will make do with the supplies you have in your tent. If she lives, I add one more life to bargain with to my list. If she dies… it is your loss.”

It was minutes after midnight when Anna awoke with a start. The sudden knock at her door had her jumping to sit up. She gasped for air with a hand against her chest.

“Your majesty,” Her door opened.

Kai stood in the archway. His hands tucked behind his back. The light from the hall created a halo around his large form. Seeing it, Anna released a sigh and spun against her sheets.

“I regret to inform you that there has been a disturbance in the Kingdom. You must wake at once.”

“A disturbance?” Anna leapt from the bed, ignoring her disheveled appearance. “What kind of disturbance?”

Kai entered and pulled Anna’s robe from its hook. He placed it over her shoulders, his eyes following her skeptically.

“Ships have entered our waterways, ma’am. A dozen of them; they have sailed in from international seas.”

“Ships?” Anna questioned. Her head turned to the side.

Quickly, she hurried to her balcony and threw back the doors. With her hands wrapped tight around the banister, she looked out over the fjord. In the light of the near full moon, twelve white sails reflected off the water. Ships surround the far banks and blocked access to the estuary. Against the tide, they moved throughout Arendelle waterways; both silent and slow.

“Who are they?” Anna inquired, feeling Kai step in at her back.

“We are attempting to learn that now, your majesty. In the meantime, it is imperative that we relocate to the meeting hall with the Royal Guard.”

Anna took one last glance at the overrun fjord. Her heart beat fearfully, and she sighed.

“Give me two minutes.” She requested.

Kai bowed. He left her room at once, and waited for Anna just beyond the door.

Honeymaren and Elsa were directed into to her goahti. She had Honeymaren tucked safely into her side, and her arm wrapped tight around her waist. Together, they moved beneath the tarp. Elsa turned back to find Cleyo in the doorway. Her arms were crossed and her lips curled at their ends.

“You are here until the sun rises.” She explained. “Do not expect for one minute that you can overpower us. If you try, or if you attempt to leave, your sister’s husband dies while he sleeps. Am I understood?”

Lowering her eyes, Elsa nodded.

“Good. You always were quite an obedient child, weren’t you?” Cleyo dropped the tarp behind her, her feet never making a sound as she walked away from the hut.

Elsa moved out of the anxious hostage role, and into medical expert so quickly that Honeymaren’s head began to spin. She had the lantern brightened. The extra furs were pulled from her trunk, and her bed was turned down to its sheets.

“Come here, and don’t dawdle. We have to get you warm!”

When Honeymaren didn’t move, Elsa marched from her spot. She snatched Honeymaren’s hand and dragged her to the bed, attempting to lower her down.

“Why are you fighting me?” Elsa scolded. Honeymaren remained planted on her feet. “Please, be serious! I have seen how my magic affects people before.”

“Elsa…” Honeymaren searched for her blue eyes. She took their hands together, but was quickly shook away.

“Honeymaren. Stop! Can’t you see this is exactly what I was afraid would happen!”

Elsa’s emotions wavered behind her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Honeymaren. If she did, she was afraid she’d lose control.

She whispered now, “Please, get under the covers. Get warm, and stop fighting-”

Honeymaren’s hand pressed to Elsa’s lips. She didn’t pull it away until Elsa turned to her, surprised.

Slowly, Honeymaren’s head tipped forward. “Elsa, I’m okay...”

“What?” Her voice rose, and Honeymaren caught her mouth beneath her palm once more.

“I think I’m okay.” She said again. “Your magic didn’t hurt my heart, Elsa... My heart is okay.”

Elsa shook her head, attempting to free her mouth. Honeymaren’s hand caught Elsa’s and she pulled her to the bed to sit.

“You don’t understand! My magic works slow. It is painful!” A strange noise jared in Elsa’s throat. She turned her eyes to her lap.

“Elsa, I think we would know by now if something were happening to me. See?” She lifted her braid. “-no white hair. No chills. I feel fine!”

“What?” Elsa breathed again. Her hand tugged from Honeymaren’s and replaced against her forehead.

She was warm. Her tan complexion remained. Honeymaren appeared as she always did. Elsa watched her lips curl upwards, and all at once, the emotions she’d been holding back came flooding to the surface.

“What were you thinking?” Tears sprang to her cheeks. Elsa pushed roughly against Honeymaren’s shoulder before folding her arms protectively over her waist. “Are you crazy? Do you have a death wish or something? Are you always this reckless?”

Her fingers swept across Elsa’s face, and Honeymaren brushed the fallen tears from her red cheeks. “I didn’t know what was happening. I saw the blast coming back at you, and I couldn’t just stand there and watch you be hurt! You’ve already experienced so much in your life, Elsa. You tell me about the sacrifices, the pain, and how you’ve tried to overcome it all! You didn’t deserve this on top of it...”

“But you could have died! You still could! How can I move forward from this if I lost you as well?” Elsa drew back from Honeymaren. Her knees tucked against her chest.

Elsa’s breathing was shallow. Her eyes, wild. She was embarrassed by her tears, and by Honeymaren’s proximity. She wanted space; space to deal with her thoughts, but they’d been trapped inside together.

Elsa’s face buried between her legs, and she fought desperately for air.

“Hey, woah!” Honeymaren’s hand soothed over Elsa’s shoulders. “Take it easy. You've got this. Slow, deep breaths…”

“I can’t!” Elsa panicked. “I have to- we have to get out of here! I have to rescue Kristoff and get back to Arendelle. We can’t just wait in here until morning comes!”

Pushing her legs flat, Honeymaren pinched Elsa’s chin. She drew her eyes from her lap and softly smiled. “One step at a time, okay? You’re worrying yourself sick! We will figure this out together, but you have to take care of yourself first.”

“How can you say that? I should be taking care of you!” Elsa shook her head from Honeymaren’s hold. “You came back for me and you shouldn’t have! Now this, and I-” Suddenly, she froze. Her eyes turned wide and her head snapped to attention. “Kiss me- you have to kiss me!”

“Wait, what?” Honeymaren balked.

Elsa leaned toward her. Honeymaren braced a hand against her chest and held Elsa effectively away from her lips.

“It’s the only way!” Elsa continued. “Don’t think about it. You have to do it. It’s the only way to stop my powers from hurting you!”

Honeymaren was forced to stop her advances once more. “Elsa, I’m not going to do that…”

“Why not? Only true love can thaw a frozen heart! Please, we have to try! It’s the only way to guarantee that my magic won’t affect you.”

“This is silly…” Honeymaren stood. Her arms drew tight around her waist. “A true love's kiss isn’t going to save me, because I don’t need saving!”

Elsa shook her head. “But it doesn’t make any sense! Why wouldn’t it? My own sister was powerless against my magic!”

Shrugging, Honeymaren’s lips pressed flat. Her eyes drew to the side. “I don’t know. Perhaps because the attack was meant for you, it didn’t affect me?”

Elsa frowned and rose onto her knees. “It doesn’t work that way! Magic is magic, no matter what it’s intention is. But listen to me, please! Anna said a kiss should have worked if the two people care about each other enough to show their true feelings!”

Lines creased along Honeymaren’s forehead. Her eyes lowered sternly. “It’s not going to happen, Elsa! Forget about it. It’s not right!”

“Why?” Her expression darkened. “I thought you liked me in that way? Isn’t this exactly what we were fighting about three days ago now?”

Honeymaren sighed. Her cheeks turned pink. “Elsa, do you know how long before tonight I have thought about just that; about kissing you? Months! It has been months, but I am not going to do it like this! If I let you kiss me out of desperation- to fix something you weren’t responsible for in the first place… it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn't be right! You were only just beginning to understand your feelings for me. You’re not ready for that step yet, and I won’t force you into it.”

“This is my decision!” Elsa defended harshly. She stood in front of Honeymaren, angry and with mused hair. “It’s not for you to say when I am ready for the next step. Only I can tell you that!”

Her tears returned, swelling below the lids of her eyes and spilling out onto her cheeks. Honeymaren hated seeing her like this. Elsa was always so regal; so composed. It was heartbreaking to witness, but Honeymaren also felt privileged to be allowed to see this vulnerable side of her.

Without a second thought, she took Elsa in her arms. Honeymaren’s hands settled at her back. She held her tight, willing Elsa to relax in her hold. When that didn’t work and her tears persisted; Honeymaren directed Elsa to the bed. Together, she laid them down over the soft quilt. Her legs curled upward, and Elsa cocooned herself into Honeyumaren’s chest.

“Looks like it’s your night to be coddled…” Honeymaren teased her at a whisper.

Elsa’s head drew up from her chest. “You find this funny?”

“It’s kind of funny.” Her nose scrunched, but Elsa continued to glare. “Listen…” Honeymaren encouraged her. She placed a hand against Elsa’s head and directed her ear down over her ribs. “My heart sounds fine, doesn’t it? And my skin is warm. There is no indication that your magic has hurt me, or that I am freezing to death...”

Angered, Elsa attempted to free herself from Honeymaren’s hold.

Honeymaren trapped her there. Her arms tightened around Elsa’s waist and she pulled her back down against her.

Once Elsa begrudgingly settled, Honeymaren quietly laughed. “If it makes you feel better, I will let you kiss me in the morning.”

“You are terrible! Do you know that?” Elsa cried, but did not move.

Shaking her head, her laughter continued. “I know I am stubborn, and a little bit reckless, but I also know that I love you, Elsa of Arendelle. Now, get some rest. Put your worries aside. Together we will figure out how to stop this disaster, and we will return the forest as it once was.”

Elsa had gone siff in her arms upon hearing Honeymaren’s confession. She should have felt panicked, or even a little scared. However, instead Elsa felt a burst of warmth swirl around her chest. Honeymaren loved her, and that suddenly seem more magical than her powers ever could be.

She replaced her head against Honeymaren’s heart. Elsa nuzzled softly into the fabric of her shirt, listening to the steady beat beneath her ribs. Her own arm clung to Honeymaren’s waist. She drew her knees up, and curled onto her side.

“Thank you,” Elsa whispered. “-for loving me.”

Cheers,

-M.

#where magic flows #my writing #elsamaren #elsa #honeymaren #elsa x honeymaren #frozen 2 #frozen #frozen fanfiction #elsamaren fic #frozen fic

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lokiofassgards · 4 years

Text

Beyla (Loki) 9

Thor, Jane, Darcy, Selvig and the other Asgardians stand in the desert with Thor, Coulson, and several SHIELD agents. Thor turns to Coulson with a smile. "Beyla, this is Coulson. He is with an organization named Shield. I've told him about your gifts. Your calling." The Agent smiles and sticks his hand out. "How do you do, ms. Beyla." I look at his hand in confusion. I raise his finger and shake it and curtsy at the same time. "I'm sorry this is my first time to earth." He nods. "Yes, this is clear. Say, when your so called calling is here let us know. We can set you up somewhere. We will take care of you here." "Thank you very much! I am excitedly waiting for my time."

Thor then turns me to his lady friend. I gasp looking over her. "Thor! She's beautiful!" She smiles awkwardly and giggles. "I'm Jane." "Beyla." "I've heard so much about you." "Well I cant wait to hear everything about you! I have to say... no one has ever trained that man. You've got talent." She blushes and laughs into Thor's chest.

Thor calls up to the sky. "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!" As nothing happens I look at him worried. Loki what have you done?

"He would open it if he could. I fear the worst."

"Then we're trapped here forever." Sid turns to me, "you can travel realms within the bifrost. Can you get us home? Beyla?" I nervously bite my lip. "I've crossed lands I've visited many times. I don't know the correct navigation here. We could end up in a hole." Thor shouts back up to the sky. "Heimdall!"

From inside the ice, Heimdall hears Thor calling to him. Knowing that the fate of Asgard depends on him, he musters all his strength. The ice around him begins to crack. With a tremendous effort, Heimdall shatters free from the ice. Weakened, near death, he drags himself inside the Observatory.

The Brute is nearly upon him, when the Jotun stops suddenly, his eyes going wide. The Brute falls to the ground, revealing Frigga. Standing behind him, the sword stuck in his back. She looks to Loki, takes him in her arms.

"I swear to you, mother, they will pay for what they've done today. I will end the Jotun threat, now and forever!" Loki looks to Odin. "And I will make you proud." Loki savors the moment, but it's short-lived, as Thor and Beyla burst in.

I rush to Loki enveloping in his arms. I pull away viewing the scene before me. Odin safe, Laufey and two Jotuns dead, Frigga regarding Loki with pride and respect. Do they know nothing of his plans? I stare up at him in concern as he avoid my eyes. "Loki. Look at me, love." He looks down at me with worried eyes. "What have you planned?" He grabs my hand and smiles. "I was doing it for you. For Odin. To prove myself daring. You can't be mad."

Frigga moves to Thor and hugs him, but Thor's eyes remain fixed on his brother. Loki looks at Mjolnir in his brother's hand.

Loki wraps his arms around me tightly. "Found its way back to you, did it?" Thor glares. "No thanks to you." Their mother exclaims, "What?"

"Why don't you tell her? How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends? To kill me? Even Beyla." I look up at him. Would he have harmed me? Loki shakes his head. "You were never in danger." Frigga looks to Loki, alarmed and confused. "It must have been enforcing Father's last command."

"You're a talented liar, brother. Always have been. Have you lied about you love as well?" Thor jabs at him.

Loki snarls smirking, "It's good to have you back." His expression changes to a dead smile as he loose his grip on me. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to destroy Jotunheim."

Loki suddenly raises Gungnir, fires at Thor. Thor goes flying backwards, smashing through the chamber walls, into several rooms. Loki runs form us as he rushed towards the Observatory. "Loki! Stop!" I run to aid him, but Frigga pulls me back. "You can not put yourself in this danger, Beyla." She drags us both to her chambers as we await the ending results of this madness.

"I will not fight you, brother!" Thor cries at Loki.

"I am not your brother. I never was!"

"Loki, this is madness..."

Loki grins with dead tearful eyes. "Is it madness? Is it? What happened to you on earth that turned you so soft? Don't tell me it was that mortal woman."

Thor doesn't answer. Loki laughs, realizing he's right.

"It was. Perhaps when we're finished here I'll pay her a little visit myself!" Loki and Thor rush at each other. They and their weapons collide. The two battle. Loki unleashing hundreds of years worth of pent-up rage and jealousy, Thor having no choice but to defend himself.

I pace as I feel the energy shift. "Frigga, something is not right. I have to defend him please. I fear someone will get hurt." She looks at me and turns her head. "I will watch this wall for two seconds and if-" I open a portal transporting myself to the bridge and see the brothers in a heated battle.

Thor and Loki battle savagely. Loki fires Gungnir, sending Thor sliding across the floor and knocking Mjolnir from his hand.

I slide in front of Loki in a panic. "Stop this now!" I scream as I block his path. He looks at me with all the love he can provide. Loki brings me to him and presses a passionate kiss to my lips. "I love you, darling. Please forgive me." I look at him confused as he opens a portal and pushes through. I land at the very beginning of the beige. "Loki!" I rage and rush to him once more.

As I come to them I see both Thor and Loki crashing through the Observatory dome and land, rolling across the Rainbow Bridge. As Thor gets to his feet, Loki slips, dangling off the Bridge's edge. I slid on my knees to him reaching for him.

"Thor you have to help me. Please!" I beg him as Loki dangles away from my reach. I stare up at Thor desperately.

"Please..." Loki begs, his fingers start to slip. Thor reaches down to grab his brother's wrist, but his hand passes through Loki's. I gasp recognizing his trick.

Just then, the real Loki materializes behind us. Thor whirls around as Loki stabs him in the chest with Gungnir.

Loki lifts Thor into the air, impaled on the spear, and hurls him across the bridge. Thor, bleeding, rises to his knees. Loki strides up behind him to finish him off, when Thor swings his hammer around.

It passes through him. Instantly, another Loki appears next to him, Thor swings his hammer, but that too is an illusion. Loki after Loki appears, Thor futilely swinging at each one, never making contact. Thor falls back to his knees. The several Loki's grin as they raise their spears, encircling us .

Thor raises his hammer, rising into the air, summoning lightning. A massive bolt strikes Mjolnir, then channels outwards, splitting up, striking each one of the Lokis.

Loki is sent flying back across the Bridge, Gungnir knocked from his grasp. Thor steps over to his fallen brother, lying dazed on his back. Loki winces, prepares for the worst, as I sit in shock and stress.

Thor places his hammer on Loki's chest trapping him. Thor looks about him desperately. The Bifrost fired towards Jotunheim, gaining in strength, at the surge of energy moving through the Bridge.

He's at a loss of what to do, but I'm not. I stand, walking to him slowly as Loki watches smugly.

"Look at you, the Mighty Thor. With all your strength, what good does it do you now?"

I look at Thor and create a sharp pointed end on my staff. I connected eyes with him. He loses Jane. I lose Earth.

Thor realizes what we must do, and what he must sacrifice. He extends his hand towards Loki, summoning Mjolnir. The hammer goes flying to his grasp. Loki looks confused at both of us.

Thor and I look at each other as we raise our weapons in the air. He strikes Mjolnir down upon the Rainbow Bridge as I pierce the ground as well. A crack appears where the blow struck. Loki rises to his feet.

"Stop! What are you doing?!" We continue to break the bridge as Loki screams. "Beyla! Stop this! You won't be able to fulfill your needs as earth's queen!" I look up at him with tears. "I know."

I lift the spear again, bringing it down harder. The crack grows bigger. The Bifrost energy starts to stream out from it.

Summoning every bit of strength he has left, Thor raises Mjolnir one last time, drawing lightning to it from all sides, and brings it down with a final, terrible blow. The Bifrost shatters, rainbow energy exploding out of it. Both Loki and Thor are hurled into the air by the force of the blast. A wave of destruction moves forward along the Bridge towards the Observatory, breaking it apart as it goes.

The three of us fall. Loki and Thor fall together on one side as I fall and dangle off the other alone. I scream looking down. Loki screams for me in panic. "Beyla! Darling!" I look to him shaking my head and crying. I can't reach over. This is my end.

Thor grabs hold of one end of Gungnir, while Loki still clutches the other. They both fall towards the massive wave of Bifrost energy which spews out from the broken Bridge.

I feel my fingers slip and as I free fall a single inch a strong hand grabs me and hurls me over to the ground.

The Allfather catches Thor's leg. Thor dangles there, holding onto Gungnir as Loki hangs onto the other end. Loki looks up, shocked to see his father standing on the edge of the broken Bridge, awakened from the Odinsleep, restored to his full strength.

Loki looks at me and sends me a look of sorrow. I shake my head beating the bridge in tears. "Don't do this, Loki."

Loki searches his father's face, looking for some kind of approval, some kind of redemption, but all he sees is disappointment and regret.

"I could've done it, father! For you! For all of us!" Odin shakes his head, "No, Loki."

Loki's eyes fill with tears. "Beyla... remember me." Loki lets go. I reach for him and Thor stops me from following into the wormhole. I cried out into the empty space loudly.

Odin sits upon the throne gazing down at Thor and I. I stand weakly, looking at the ground, tears still silently spilling. "Beyla. Did you have any idea what Loki had been planning? If you were involved-" "How dare you?!" Frigga roars hugging me close. "She just lost him. We just lost a son! As far as this concerns her it ends here."

Frigga leads me away to my chambers where I stay in the darkness for weeks. Alone. Without my love.

Weeks pass when a knock echos in the quiet room. I sit up from the bed and look to see the Allfather, and Thor present.

He sits next to me and smiles. "Today is a wonderful day, Beyla." I stare up at him blankly. "Why?"

Odin nods at me and offers me a bracelet embedded with beautiful golden and gems. "The Bifrost is gone, but you my dear have the talent to manipulate the dark magic. Today is the day where I send you to care for the earth." I stare at him in shock. "Why now?" He grins a small smile at me. "Loki has made a mess. You've always been good at cleaning up after him." He nods and walks out leaving me with Thor. I giggle and look at the horned helmet across the room. "Something amusing?" I nod look at Thor. "He said that would be my gift. Cleaning up after him. He never knew how right he was." Thor helps me up and hugs me. "I am sorry, Beyla."

I nod and remove myself. "Only moving forward. Now tell me everything I need to know about earth."

I arrive in the middle of two tall buildings and a very noisy street in front of me. I look around and smile at the large structures. I remember my incense studies and gasp as I see the large lights of the city. "New York!" I cheer spinning.

I back away into the ally and crouch behind a bin. A look to my right seeing a homeless man. He smiles and waves. I conjure an apple before his eyes. He takes it in thanks as I pass through my portal to my destination.

I look around at my success in shock. Loki would be proud of me.

Coulson screams as he spins around in his chair. "Hi!" I sit across from him and smile at him waiting for his response. "Beda... Betty...No... Beyla! Welcome!" He stares at me in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take care of this mess. It could really use some work you know. I didn't notice one potted plant in the city." He nods at my statement. "Most people steal them. Anyways... I do indeed have somewhere for you to stay.

He opens a large file and reads the many pages before passing me a key, a small box with a screen, and a stack of green paper. "We have a friend who is willing to take you in and show you some of the things we have to offer." He passes me a card with a name and an address. "Great!" I stand as he continued to speak. "You'll be offering us assistance while you're here. If we need you we will-" "Bye Coulson!"

I portal to this new building. I look at the card and look at the man in front of me. "Tony Stark?" He lowers his sunglasses and looks at me in question. "Goddess?" I nod walking up. "Yes! Call me Beyla."

As Loki traveled through the wormhole, he arrived in a part of the universe called Sanctuary and met the Mad Titan Thanos and The Other, the former who offered a pact that would allow him to become ruler of the Earth while he would take the Tesseract which was being studied by S.H.I.E.L.D.. Thanos provided Loki with a Scepter with a blue gem which acted as a powerful weapon, and also as a mind control device.

Loki would do this. He is the rightful king. You are his queen. Nothing would stop him from sitting with you on a throne over subjects.

#loki imagine #loki laufeyjarson #loki layfeyson x reader #loki odinson #loki odison x reader #loki of asgard #loki of jotunheim #loki x oc #loki x reader #loki x y/n

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earlybirds-atla-au · 4 years

Note

Who’s this universes equivalent of Jet?

*DING DING DING!!!* YOU GET A CHARACTER REVEAL! :D

~~~

“This is Nanyue?” Hama repeated.

“Yep!” Aang said, securing the reins on Appa’s horns. “I can’t wait to find a village here, there’s this really good artichoke tea that they make in this area! And their music’s really cool, too, there’s this one instrument - ”

“Nanyue is a highly contested hotbed of occupying Fire Nation forces and stubborn guerilla fighters,” Hama said flatly.

Aang sighed. “Guess I should really just start expecting everything I remember to be awful now.”

Hakoda gave him a side hug. “How much of a hotbed are we talking here?” he asked Hama.

She shrugged. “It goes back and forth. A lot. The Fire Nation pushes, the Nanyuese push back. Sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other does. I used to listen to soldiers in the pubs talk about it, there’s one region that’s been taken and retaken five times in as many years. It’s a mess.”

Hakoda looked around the forest they’d camped in overnight. “Do we know if this area’s firmly in the Fire Nation’s control?”

Hama snorted. “If it wasn’t last week, it might be this week.”

“Doesn’t sound like a place we want to stick around too long,” Kya said.

“Yeah,” Hakoda nodded. “But also not a place we want to draw attention to ourselves.”

“Flying bison are a very good way to attract attention,” Bato pointed out. “We don’t know who might be in this area.”

“I think we should lay low for a while,” Hakoda said. “Literally. Let’s get walking.”

Aang was enthusiastic about the plan at first. It wore off after ten minutes. “Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?”

“Come on, Aang, just a few more miles,” Kya said. “Maybe by then we’ll have a better idea about where we are and what’s going on in this area, and we’ll know if it’s safe to fly or not.”

Aang sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. No one’s lobbed a single fireball at us yet this morning!”

“Must be a record,” Hakoda said, parting the branches of a bush, and then he froze.

The Fire Nation soldiers milling around the campsite in the clearing froze as well.

“Run!” Hakoda snapped, but before he could even turn a fireball flew past his face and the undergrowth behind them turned to flame and cut off their escape route. Hakoda decided to do the next best thing, lifting his machete menacingly. “If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.”

He could feel the physical pain Bato went through to refrain from slapping his forehead. “What are you doing?”

Hakoda shot him a sheepish grin. “Bluffing?”

The Fire Nation captain laughed. “You? Promise not to hurt us?”

Hakoda took a breath and prepared himself for a fight, but then he was suddenly pulled back by a hand on his shoulder. Hama stepped forward, between the kids and the soldiers. “Well,” she said, her voice hard as ice, “me.”

“Hama what are you doing?” Hakoda hissed.

She popped the cork on her waterskin. “Not bluffing.”

“Hama!”

“The second you’re able to, fly Appa out of here and don’t look back.” She shifted into what the kids were starting to recognize as a waterbending stance.

That was when the first arrow whistled through the air and hit the back of the Fire captain. Three more hit his men in quick succession before any of them had the chance to react.

“THEY’RE IN THE TREES!” someone shouted, and that’s when people in leafy camouflage started dropping from the branches and taking out soldiers.

“...Or we can see how this plays out,” Hama amended, and then she jumped into the fray with a water whip. She hit one man right in the gut, the next in the neck, and then sliced through half the company’s spears, iron spearheads falling to the ground with little tinks.

“I guess we’re doing this,” Bato said, and he clubbed a soldier over the head.

Aang used an air blast to blow another soldier into a tree. “Do they have any Firebenders - oh, there’s one!” He dodged the fireball that came soaring at his head. The Firebender gave an angry war cry and charged forward. Hakoda and Kya shouted back, weapons raised.

And then the Firebender’s cry was cut short, and he fell to the ground with an arrow in his back. The teenage girl behind him already had another arrow fitted to the string, but she only had a split second to look grimly satisfied before a spearman came for her. She ducked, twisted, and fired short-range into the soldier’s gut when she came back up. He went down howling, and she whirled back around towards Aang and his friends, her next arrow aimed right for them.

They barely had time to react. The arrow loosed, and it flew right past Hakoda’s ear and Aang’s face and into the chest of a Fire Nation soldier Kya hadn’t even noticed coming up behind her.

“Thanks!” Kya shouted, and she returned the favor by throwing her boomerang at the head of a Fire Nation soldier fighting one of the girl’s compatriots. The girl nodded back, one fighter to another, and went back to shooting arrows.

She came to them when the fight was over - when her people had declared the area clear and started cleanup, and Aang was steadfastly not looking at the scattered bodies, and Hama’s breathing had slowed down. She went around to every single one of her people first, issuing quiet orders and listening to quick reports. Then she went and found them clustered around Appa, cleaning weapons and checking each other for injuries. They paused when she approached, and she took a moment to look them all up and down. Their blue and yellow clothes must have looked as foreign to her as her lefay outfit and strange woven hat did to them.

“I’ve never actually seen waterbending before,” she said after a moment, looking at Hama. “That was very impressive.”

“Heh,” Hama managed. Her breathing still hadn’t quite returned to normal. “Glad to give a good first impression.”

The girl inclined her head and looked to the rest of them, expression going uncertain. She’d seemed more comfortable taking out soldiers than she did trying to figure out how to greet a group of foreigners. Her gaze slid towards Aang, and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, only to close it again a second later.

“Thanks for saving us,” Hakoda said after a moment. “For a second there I really thought that was going to end badly.”

The girl smiled. “From what I saw, you’re all very formidable fighters. I’m sure you would’ve taken out a lot of them.” She didn’t say they would’ve made it out alive. Like taking out as many as you could before you went down was the best you could hope for.

“Maybe, but there were a lot of them,” Hakoda shrugged. “I’m surprised you managed to take them all out. There’s a lot less of you than I realized.”

She sent a proud look over her shoulder to where her people were still cleaning up. There were only a dozen leaf-clad warriors to be seen. “We don’t have much choice,” she admitted. “Our forces are spread thin, and we’ve suffered losses over the years. We do what we can with what we have.”

“Well, you did a lot,” Bato said, “and we appreciate it.”

“I should really be the one thanking you. We needed to ambush this camp before they moved on, but they were on high alert all morning. We were trying to figure out how to stage a distraction - and then you walked in. I couldn’t have planned it out more perfectly.”

“So...you’re Nanyuese?” Kya surmised.

“Yes,” the girl said. “And I’m sorry for being so blunt, but - you’re the Avatar, aren’t you?”

Aang laughed weakly. “Yeah, Appa’s kind of a dead giveaway, isn’t he?”

The girl chewed her lower lip. “Are you...here to help?”

Aang smiled. “I mean...I’m trying to help the whole world.”

“Right now, our focus is getting to the North Pole so Aang can learn waterbending,” Kya said.

“So...you’re just passing through.”

Kya nodded, apologetic.

“We were walking because we thought it might be too dangerous to fly on Appa,” Hakoda added.

The girl gave Appa a disbelieving look. “That thing can fly?”

“We call them flying bison for a reason,” Aang grinned.

She shook her head. “Well, it’s a good thing you were walking. The Fire Nation has garrisons and watchtowers all over this valley. You would’ve been spotted for sure.”

“Do you know how we can get through Nanyue safely?” Bato asked.

“There’s no safety here,” the girl said darkly. “The Fire Nation’s been burning away at us for fifty years. They take our land and our people and our culture, and every time we take any of it back, they get upset.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hama muttered.

“Okay, but what’s the best way out of here, then?” Hakoda asked. “Can you give us directions, or…?”

“I can do a bit more than that,” she said. “You should come speak with my aunts. We’ve got intel on the Fire Nation’s movements from here to the northern mountains. And we can get you a safe place to spend the night, too.”

Hakoda and Kya exchanged glances before looking at the rest of the group. Aang gave them a trusting look, Bato nodded, and Hama shrugged. “We’d appreciate that,” Hakoda said. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “For the Avatar? It’s an honor.”

“All clear!” someone shouted from the other side of the clearing.

The girl glanced over her shoulder and gave a hand signal of acknowledgement. “Move out in five!” she called to her fighters. “Come on,” she added, looking back at them. “We need to get out of here before any scouts show up.” She started walking back to her people.

“So what’s your name?” Kya asked as they followed after her.

“It’s Tien,” she said. “Tien Trung.”

#early birds au #jedimasterjaina

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alexiss-fic-archive · 7 years

Text

This universe of yours Chapter 3: A Gem’s glow Part 3

After a few months of not posting, inspiration came to me and I wrote this in 2 days, I hope you like it

Summary: Steven plans to help the gems on their battle against the mother of the centipeetle.

You can also read it on the Ao3

The sun was setting over the horizon as Steven and Connie left the Beach House, small tremors crept along the ground as they ran through the beach.

A moment earlier, they had discovered that Steven could summon a shield from his gemstone, and even though how he did it was unclear, he decided to help the Crystal Gems on their newest quest: Protect Beach City from its newest menace.

As they ran around the corner of the cliff, the kids finally saw the creature that disturbed their evening.

A black and green arthropod of the size of a small train with a huge white mane on its head, which had a pair of jet black pincers that had a stick stuck close to their junction. Its long body writhed in pain as it released an earsplitting shriek that stopped the children on their tracks.

Next to the creature there were two smaller figures that remained unfazed by its loud call. They were Garnet and Pearl, who had already summoned their weapons and were regrouping to face the humongous enemy before them.

However, the absence of Amethyst along them worried Connie.

"Where's Amethyst?" Connie asked Steven as they ran into a small hole in the cliff.

"I don't know." Steven said as they reached a safe hideout. "I couldn't see her near the others."

"I hope she's okay..." Connie said as she heard a crackling noise coming next to her.

She turned away from the opening of the small cave to see at the origin of the noise only to find Steven struggling to open the plastic bag of one of the Cookie Cats he brought with himself.

"Steven... What are you doing?" A Sceptical Connie asked him.

"I'm opening a Cookie Cat." The hybrid stated as the bag finally opened. "I'm gonna go and help the Gems!"

"Steven..." Connie said before Steven Spoke again.

"I know what you're thinking, Connie. The Cookie Cat may or not be the source of my power," He said. "And even if it isn't, I still want to do what I can to help them."

"But Steven.... That thing could kill you!" She said.

"If that thing defeats the Gems, it'll kill us anyways." He said. "I must try, Connie, even if I can just distract it for a moment."

"Steven..." Connie said one last time before he stepped out of the hideout.

Once he left her alone, Connie let out a sigh and told to herself: "Why are like this, Steven...." Before stepping outside of the small cave to follow him.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Althought they were a rare creature to encounter, Corrupted nephrites (or Centipeetles, as the Crystal Gems began to call them based on their appearance) were always a force to be reckoned with in Pearl's opinion; Their giant body and hard exoskeleton, junctioned with their unnatural strength, their power to replicate themselves and their ability to release showers of acid as a desperation move, made them formidable foes that could turn a lenghty battle into a calvary.

Within any other circumstances a fusion such as Rainbow Quartz or Sardonyx could quickly deal with the corruption. However, since the holder of one of the halves of Rainbow's gems couldn't even summon his weapon and let alone fuse with another gem, and that all the knowledge about fusion was being withheld from Steven until he could formally join the Crystal Gems OR when his 14th birthday came to be, The Crystal Gems had to fight the Centipeetle the old way.

And If they were being honest, They were not having a nice time.

The creature not only took them by surprise, but was quick to dispose of Amethyst by launching her into the overcast clouds. It was continuously slamming Garnet into the cliff while Pearl tried to avoid getting pinned down by its legs or mauled by its pincers.

So they were pretty much against the ropes as their opponent toyed around with them.

"I don't remember having so much trouble with a Centipeetle before!" Pearl said before attempting to cut one of the creature's legs, resulting only in her spear getting small dents and chips on its blade. "Crud!"

"Pearl, your spears aren't as hard as Rose's Sword or Rainbow Axe!" Garnet grunted as she grabbed insect's jaws after it failed to catch her between them, keeping them away from her body. "Use them on its soft spots!"

"THIS THING DOESN'T HAVE A SOFT SPOT!" Pearl yelled as she tried to stab one of the legs' joints with the body, resulting in the spear's spiral shattering against the harder surface.

"I'M SEEING ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Garnet shouted at her partner as the creature tried to bite her before slamming her into the cliff.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TOLD ME THAT EARLIER!?" Pearl exclaimed as she created another spear and rushed to help her friend.

"'CAUSE I'M BUSY TRYING TO NOT GET EATEN BY THIS THING!" Garnet said as she fought the creature's jaws in an attempt to not get trapped inside the insect's caustic maw.

Fortunately for her, Pearl showed next to her and quickly shoved down her weapon into the soft tissue of the creature's sclera, as far as possible from the gemstone that acted as its eye. The open wound released a small Spray of caustic blood in front of the lancer, who covered her eyes and gem in time to avoid getting blinded by it.

The insect released a horrifying screech as it freed Garnet from its grasp, squirming in pain as its blood dripped down from the pole of Pearl's spear.

The thin gem created another spear as the droplets of acid blood ate away her projected flesh before fading away from existence. She was thankful that she got hit by its blood and not by its spit, as the caustic properties were stronger in the monster's saliva than in other bodily fluids.

"You okay?" Garnet asked.

"You know I've been worse." Pearl replied smugly.

"We'll be in a worser situation if we don't come up with a plan to defeat it." Garnet stated.

"We can't target its eye again, and its exoskeleton is too hard for my Spears...." Pearl said.

"What about its underside?" The fusion asked. "It's soft enough for them to hit."

"But it won't work...." The lancer said. "That thing is too long, its vitals can be anywhere in there."

"How about I damage its entire body from within?" Garnet suggested.

"Fried bug, huh?" Pearl said with a raised eyebrow. "We haven't done that since the eighties."

"We still need Amethyst here for it to work, though." The bigger gem stated as their enemy began to recover, curling around itself and trying to pull out the shaft of the weapon lodged in its eye with the pincer of its tail, squealing in pain as its acid blood dripped down from the metal pole as it was removed. After that, The Centipeetle's mane of white hair began to rustle, as smaller copies of the monster were released into the Beach next to it.

"So, We buy time, wait for Amethyst, connect it, shock it, and then, you finish it up?" Pearl summarized before looking at Garnet to check if they were in the same page. After receiving an approving nod from her partner, The lithe gem mirrored her before they both changed to a battle stance, Unbeknownst to them that there was someone else listening at them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

While the Crystal Gems were discussing their strategy, Steven managed to sneak behind them and find cover behind one of the many broken pieces of the temple's statue that littered the beach's sand.

He listened at their plan with hope that he could jump out at the last second, shield in hand to help them out.

He took a bite of the ice cream he opened earlier abd waited for the shining light of his gemstone to materialize.

But nothing happened.

He took another bite and the pink gemstone remained as inert as always.

He took another, desperate bite from the melting treat as tears began to sprout from his eyes, his left hand clutched at the unresponsive, pink gemstone underneath his shirt.

"C'mon..." He pleaded to his Gem. "Please... let me do something..."

He slumped into the sand as the gemstone remained unresponsive. Apparently, Connie was right, and Ice cream had nothing to do with his powers at all.

"Darn it..." He said as the ground rumbled again as the battle between the gems and the monster and its minions ensued. "Why did I even though this would be an good plan..."

Tears began to flow freely from his eyes as Steven realized that he was a complete liability for the gems, What was the point of having a weapon if it didn't appeared when you needed it the most?

He felt small and useless, so much that he literally felt like he shrunk down to the size he had when he was eight.

He hugged his legs close to his chest, forsaking the now almost extinct ice cream sandwich to the beach's sand as he heard Pearl's voice as she was slammed against the wall of the cliff and Garnet's cries of concern for her teammate.

He sat there, hoping that the creatures or the gems couldn't listen to his whimpers and soft sniffles.

A moment later, He heard a loud boom accompanied by a burst of wind and sand that made him raise his head from his knees. He peeked from behind the hand he was hiding into the source of the sound, finding a small cloud of sand that quickly settled down, Inside of it was an injured Amethyst, who had crash-landed into the beach after having been thrown so high into the sky by the Centipeetle that she was airborne for at least five minutes.

"Amethyst?" Steven said as he checked her from his hideout, She had her right arm twisted in an unnatural way, as well as some bruises, scrapes and cuts result from the crash against the abrasive sand; Interestingly, The purple gemstone in her chest didn't had a single scratch or crack, probably because Amethyst cushioned the fall with her small body.

"AMETHYST!!" The other Gems shouted in concern as the creature lost interest in them, leaving them to its spawns as it moved towards the weakened gem.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Pearl said as Amethyst struggled to stand on her feet, as her right leg was also displaced from its natural position.

The beast loomed above the helpless gem as it prepared to lunged at her.

Steven couldn't tear his teary eyes away from the scene that was about to happen.

The Insect prepared to lower its acid-coated jaws at her, However, it was interrupted by a stream of the corrosive poison that its descendants spew on its back.

It squealed in pain as it own acid ate away the protective armor, leaving that particular spot weakened and vulnerable.

It turned around to see the origin of this new attack while The gems and Steven did the same, And no one could've prepared them to the sight they were beholding.

Connie was standing in the middle of the beach, Tears running down her cheeks as she frowned angrily at the monster in front of her. In her arms there was a smaller Centipeetle that had acid still dripping from its jaws.

"CONNIE!?" The pair of gems said worryingly as they focused on killing the remaining offspring of the creature.

"Stay. Away. from. Her." She said to the creature who now had shown interest in her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!!" The girl yelled before squishing the insect in her arms, forcing it to regurgitate the acid concoction towards its creator.

The stream made contact with some of the legs of the monster, making it shriek in pain as it cut them off away from the main body.

Enraged by the new attacker, The monster chose to retaliate with the same fire.

It quickly crawled against the girl with murderous intent, closing its maw to store the acid it was about to spew.

Noticing what was about to happen, Steven suddenly felt bigger, and left the hideout as fast as his feet allowed him, Rushing to protect the girl from the deathly insect before her.

Sensing the immediate danger, The creature in the girl's arms manage to escape from her grasp, while she covered herself with her arms to protect herself from the spray of lethal acid.

She closed her eyes as she awaited for the Centipeetle to unleash its attack on her.

However, Instead of feeling a burning pain all over her body, Connie felt nothing. She was completely fine.

She opened up her eyes to see the reason she was still alive and found that Steven was standing in front of her, along with a enlarged version of His pink shield; It had blocked the deadly acid from the monster

He stood in front of her before he suddenly collapsed into the sand, His shield dissipating as well.

"Steven!" The girl said as she walked over to him. Worried about his sudden fainting, She kneeled down next to him and was about to check his pulse, when an angry screech interrupted her. The beast was still there.

It was about to lunge at them when a purple whip encrusted with purple crystals wrapped itself around it's neck; Amethyst had recovered.

Her arm and leg were still made a mess and her face had a black eye and had some bleeding cuts around the left side of her visage, but still, she was determined enough to overcome her injury in order to protect her children.

"HEY, BUGFACE!" She shouted as she restrained the insect with only one arm. "WE'RE THE ONES YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT!"

After finishing the sentence, her other two teammates showed up besides her. They also had some scratches and bite marks from the offspring they fought, but they were in better shape than Amethyst.

The white gem threw the spear she was holding towards the weakened portion of the armor that Connie made with her stunt, creating an opening to Garnet to finish the job.

The bigger gem in the trio gathered lightning in her fists before leaping into the spear that protuded from its body.

With a grunt, She pushed the spear deeper into the monster's insides along with her thunder with a mighty punch, electrocuting the corruption with thousand of volts, effectively damaging its vitals.

With a final screech, The green gemstone that functioned as an eye lost its glow, before the creature's entire body vanished in an explosion of smoke that cleared up the overcast sky.

Garnet got close to the beast's remains, It's gemstone, before she sealed it inside a stasis bubble and sent it to the temple.

Meanwhile, An awed Connie looked at her saviors as Steven began to move again.

"Connie?" He said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Steven." She said with a smile. "Thanks to you."

The boy returned the smile before Garnet walked towards them.

"You two were of many help." The large gem said proudly. "Let's go inside."

#connie maheswaran #steven quartz universe #SU FIC #Orphan AU #Violence #Amethyst

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riacannafon-writer · 5 years

Text

F.E.A.R.

Chapter Five.

Sat over the edge of my bed, I tried again and again to process what was happening. I closed my eyes and listened to the agitated thump thump thump of my heart, forcing my mind to recall.

Athen, Oliver and I stood awkwardly in the unsettled market square. The Royal Guard dispersed from surrounding the flame-coloured carriage to talking to bystanders. Some apologetically shook their heads and carried on with their buisness, while some others gestured towards my stall.

"You don't suppose this is about what happened with that noble yesterday, do you?" Athen leaned in and whispered to me.

"Gods, I hope not. Do you know anything about this, Oliver?"

Oliver shrugged. "Sorry. My idea's just as good at yours."

"In which case," I said. "We'll just have to find out."

I walked over to the nearest guard and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and regarded me carefully. His iron armour outlined with gold glinted blindingly, even in the overcast light, and he held his spear rigid at his side.

"Sorry to bother you, but may I ask what all of...of this is about...?" I asked timidly.

"We're here on official royal buisness, looking for a Healer. We're told there's one here; name of Marescot." A gruff voice came from the armour's helm. "Do you know where they could be?"

My blood froze like ice. "Yes," I replied. "My name is Arietta Marescot, I'm Lakepine's resident Healer."

"Do you have an identification form?"

"Right here." I dug into my satchel and took out the form for the guard.

The guard handed it back and nodded. "I hear you have an assistant, too?"

"Yes, that would be my brother - Athen."

"Right. I need you and your brother to come with me for a moment, please."

"Of course, sir. I'll go get him."

Athen watched me with worried eyes as I trotted back. "What's going on?"

"Official royal business, apparently. Come on, Athen, the guard wants to talk with us," I tried to assure Athen.

"I'll wait here for you," said Oliver.

"Hopefully, we shouldn't be too long."

I headed back to the guard with Athen just behind me, holding my sleeve tightly.

"Follow me, please," the guard said, nodding to the carriage. We made a beeline through the crowd with the guard in front.

We paused at the carriage door, where the guard motioned for us to stay put for a moment. He knocked a specific rhythm on the door and opened it a fraction. He exchanged a few words with the person inside, all to quiet for me to make out what they were saying. The guard poked his head round the door to talk to me and Athen.

"In here, please."

My hands shook violently and my stomach lurched, but still I carefully climbed into the spacious carriage with Athen close behind. The guard shut the door. We stood silently in the dark space; the only light came from a translucent grey veil covering the window on the far side.

"Have a seat," said a new voice. This was clearly a woman speaking. Her face was hidden in the shadows.

We sat.

The woman talking shifted herself forward. In the faint light, I could see that she wasn't a woman at all, but instead a teenage girl - perhaps sixteen. I had seen her face in portraits and books a hundred times.

"Princess Phoebe Castillo!" I gasped. I immediately lowered my gaze. "Your Highness."

"Please, I must ask of you to not be so formal," she said. "I'm here for...personal reasons."

I nodded, unsure of what to say.

"I need your help."

"How so?"

The Princess's voice got quieter. "It's my father - I mean, the King. He's very ill and nobody in Imperium knows what to do. The Queen is covering his reign, for now, while my brothers and I are looking for any Healers who can help."

"I may not know much about advanced Healing, but I know all of the standard practices."

"So you'll help?" She leant forward eagerly.

"Of course," I said softly. "About this illness, Princess: can you tell me anything about it that I can link to a name? Symptoms and such?"

"Yes, certainly! Let's see, where do I start?" She muttered.

"The King is trying to brush it off as simply a flu virus," she said. "It's got all the same symptoms. But, whenever he tried to move out of bed, he hasn't the energy to make it even a few steps without assistance. What's more, he's pale as death and even if he lightly bumps into a doorframe or wall, he'll start bleeding from nothing."

"Has he coughed up or thown up any blood or anything like that by any chance?" This was all sounding oddly familiar.

"Yes! Yes he has! Do you know what it is?"

"I can't be certain, as I haven't seen his condition first-hand, but I can make an educated guess."

Princess Phoebe said nothing, silently urging me on.

I just said it quick, wanting to get it over with. "It's Logamas."

The Princess looked like she'd been slapped.

"I think I've heard of that," she whispered. "But, how? I haven't known of any cases within the Capital that occurred outside of the national outbreak seven years ago!"

"There's been a few instances here in Lakepine since. This town is near a large fresh water supply, with plenty of vegetation and animals to keep Logamas around. There's less of that in Imperium. The only reason I can think of as to how the King got infected is that a bird or a bat or something along those lines brought it over."

"And you're absolutely sure that's it's Logamas?" Princess Phoebe's eyes were wide and shining with tears yet to fall.

"As much as I hate to say it, I'm sure of it," I spoke kindly.

"Can you cure it?" Her voice sounded on the verge of hysteria.

"I'm afraid not," I answered. "But, treating the symptoms properly cam make it more manageable."

"Thank you," she breathed. She took both of my hands in hers tightly. "Thank you so much."

I nodded quietly.

"We need you to come to the palace," she pleaded. "You're the only one we've found who knows what can be done. Will you?"

How can I say no? I thought.

"I will."

This time she hugged me. I gently wrapped an arm around her, not knowing what else to do. She suddenly let go and jumped back, trying to regain her composure.

"I'll send someone to collect you at the end of the month," stated the Princess. "Is that enough time for you to make any arrangements in regards to your buisness?"

"It's plenty of time."

"Wonderful. I'll write to you a week or so in advance."

"Thank you, Your Highness." I bowed my head.

"No," she said. "It's me who should be thanking you, Miss Marescot. You and your brother both."

Princess Phoebe shuffled over to the door and knocked the same pattern that the guard had. The door opened and Athen slid out first and the Princess smiled at me in farewell as I followed.

I felt blinded for a moment as I stepped out of the dark carriage. The sky had cleared some, but clouds still covered most of the blue.

"So, we're really going to go?" Athen asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"I can't believe it. The King - infected with Logamas?"

"It could happen to anyone," I reasoned, more for myself than Athen.

We spotted Oliver over by a bakery stall, talking with Darren and another man (dark-skinned, hair cut extremely short - almost bald) holding a little girl. Oliver noticed us and came striding over to meet us halfway. Darren and the other man followed suit.

"What's going on?" The other man spoke first.

"I don't know how much I can say," I said. "But I can tell you that it's got nothing to do with the incident with that nobleman."

"Can you tell us why they wanted to talk to you?" Oliver piped up.

"Not here, there's too many people."

The six of us returned to the spot under the willow tree atop the rolling hill. Myself, Athen, Oliver, Darren and Tyler (Darren's husband) all sat in a close circle in the grass. The sixth, Ffion, stood behind me. Her caramel brown curls fell about her matching eyes as she focused on playing with my hair, sticking random flowers and blades of grass through messy plaits of her own creation, as any four-year-old would.

"So, what you're saying -" Tyler rubbed the stubble on his chin. "- is that you have to go to Imperium, because there's been a case of Logamas infecting a person of importance, and nobody has any idea of what to do."

"Essentially, yes," I said.

"Do you know how long you'll be gone for?" Oliver asked.

"No," I admitted. "All I know is that we're going at the end of the month. I assume we'll be gone for some time, considering that Logamas needs almost constant attention to make it even remotely manageable."

"We'll definitely have our work cut out for us," said Athen.

That sparked a thought. Were we even qualified for this? Yes, Athen and I worked in a medical profession, but we rarely had anything as important as this. The few cases of Logamas we had treated were in the early stages; by the sound of things, the King's case was definitely in the later stages.

"Done!" Ffion exclaimed. She threw her arms around my neck, jumping up and down. "Can I have a piggy back ride?"

A knock on the front door made me leap out of my memory and back to reality. I raced down the stairs, heart hammering in my chest and stomach churning like waves moments from crashing onto the beach.

Athen watched me anxiously as I made for the door. His typical bed-head-style chocolate brown hair had been brushed down neatly. He fiddled with the buttons on his grey waistcoat as I tugged up the neckline of my teal dress.

Another knock.

I took a deep breath to steady myself and opened the little wooden door.

A short, stout woman, clad in the same iron armour as the guard from before, stood outside. Her onyx hair (streaked with a few pale hairs) was held back in a tight bun. When she smiled, her brown face became creased; overall, she had the look a friendly grandmother.

"Do you have everything you need, dear?" She asked.

"I think so," I said. "Um...what do we do about our bags?" I added, glancing at the small carriage waiting just behind her.

"Oh, don't worry about that, we'll bring those in a separate cart for you. Now - let's get going, shall we?" The woman skipped off to the carriage, Athen and I following behind.

She opened the door for us; I shifted my satchel higher on my shoulder, hearing the faint crumpling of various letters from Oliver, Darren and Tyler, and Princess Phoebe (and the letter from the mystery author), and climbed in.

Although it was the end of May, and the sunny weather was slowly beginning to settle in, this afternoon was as chilly as it was overcast. I drew my indigo cardigan closer around me and Athen huddled closer to me.

"Hello." A boy sat opposite us (though I'm not sure if "boy" was the right term - he looked around twenty or so); his copper-blond hair grazed just past his ear lobes and his amber-hued eyes regarded us with friendly curiosity. "I take it you're Arietta and Athen Marescot?"

"Yes," I said. "And you are...?"

"Oh! How rude of me!" The boy rubbed his clean-shaven cheek with one hand and held out the other. "Zachary Henderson. I'm sorry, I'd have thought that the Princess would have told you that I was coming to collect you."

"It's quite alright. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Henderson."

I made to shake his hand, but instead he gently held my fingers and placed a light peck on my knuckles. "The pleasure is mine," he said. "And, please, call me Zach."

I could have kicked myself for blushing.

Zach shook hands with Athen before leaning back, straightening his navy tie. The carriage jolted slightly as we started moving.

"So," Zach started. "You're the only Healers in Lakepine?"

"Yes. The last Healer - Clifford Jubert - died in the outbreak."

"You knew Cliff?"

"He was a good friend of my father's. After both my parents moved away, he took me and Athen in, trained us as Healers," I said quietly. "You knew him, too?"

"Cliff often popped in to see us at the palace if he was in Imperium. Almost always had something new to talk about: whether it was a new invention of his, or just what he'd been up to."

I quietly nodded my agreement and turned to look out the window while Zach eagerly struck up a cheerful conversation with Athen.

We had taken the road that ran along the outskirts of town, caressing the lake and the river that cascaded away from it. Even from here, I could hear the rush of the waterfall as is fed the lake from the opposite end; a thin vapour rolled lazily around the plunge pool, before reaching out across the surface like snakes.

Further ahead, up in the mountains, the road disappeared into a thick haze of clouds. There was no chance of getting through that pass safely.

"We aren't taking the Falcon Trail, if that's what you're worried about." Zach must have seen the uncertainty in my eyes. "We'll be going under the mountains, along the Riverways."

"I didn't know there was a road passing under the mountains," Athen said, slack-jawed.

"Then I'm guessing you don't know about the one that runs under that lake over there," said Zach.

"There's a road under the lake? That's impossible!"

"He's teasing you, Athen." I ruffled his hair, sending it back to the unorganized mess it was this morning.

"Am I, Arietta?"

"There's no way there can be a working road under the lake."

Zach nodded to the grey-blue water.

A figure stood hunched over the shore. They raised their arms, and their long, pale hair formed a halo-like swirl above their head. The water nearest to them slowly lifted like a weary head, and regarded the person for a moment before opening its mouth to let them through. Once inside, the mouth closed, and the head rested in the sandy bed again.

I turned back to Zach. "That's not a road, it's more like a front door."

"Oh?" He chuckled. "How do you know?"

"That's Grandy Kamryn. They're basically Lakepine's adoptive grandparent - so everyone calls them Grandy; everyone knows them!" Athen said in disbelief.

"Still doesn't explain how you'd know that as a front door rather than a road."

"Everyone's visited Grandy Kamryn at least once, they live under the lake."

"Alright, alright," sighed Zach. "You win."

We continued the rest of the journey chatting away about anything and everything, mainly talking about the city.

"So -" I shifted in my seat. "- what do you do, Zach?"

"I'm a bit of a pioneer in the way of science and technology," he said.

"Like an inventor?"

"Pretty much. I'm working on ways to improve the efficiency of medicine, you know, given the issue at hand."

"How're you planning on doing that?" Athen quirked an eyebrow.

"Apparatus that's more accurate, equipment that's easier to transport while still maintaining full functionality, et cetera," Zach explained. "There's been a few setbacks with practical testing due to a few... miscalculations - but progress is being made!"

"Progress is progress," I agreed.

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