Tumgik
#i had no idea there was a tag limit lmao
silverlistenstothings · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
love wins!
59 notes · View notes
and-stir-the-stars · 1 year
Text
@dire-kumori (this is, uh. This is gonna be a long one 😬)
It's completely fine if you're not up to date on the fnaf books, especially considering I haven't read any of them myself, lmao. I only know the things that the silly fnaf youtubers tell me is important in their theory videos, so. I don't know very much, and what I do know is probably very biased through their theory-crafting lenses.
But I enjoy me a good Evan and Gregory story, so I'd love to rant a little but more about them. I like the idea that Evan is hiding away somewhere in the Night Terrors recreation of his room, too terrified to leave it. He hides away somewhere that only a little kid would think to go/be able to reach, which is exactly why Gregory (who isn't THAT afraid while playing the game, but is a little menace who likes breaking the game's boundaries and trying to see where he can and can't go rather than playing the game normally) is able to find him.
Maybe Evan is terrified of Gregory at first-- after all, the details are hazy, but he clearly remembers how much the Stranger hurt him for so long, and who says this stranger will be any better? But Evan is terrified and alone and he just wants comfort. He thinks about the weird pictures on the wall of the family with blurry faces, how happy and safe they all look, and after a while of Evan being scared and Gregory trying to calm him, Evan can't help but notice that Gregory looks a LOT like one of the small blurry figures he sees in the family photos (ig technically Gregory should be nothing more than a pair of transparent floating arms if they're in a VR game, but I'll do what I want with no regard to the cruel constraints of logic). And Evan wants the happiness and safety he sees in those photos, so wouldn't it make sense to go with Gregory? (though, Gregory insists the kid in those photos isn't him)
Evan is so broken at this point that he doesn't remember his personality or his name. He can't answer any of the questions Gregory asks him about what things he likes or what he does for fun (though, the difference in technology thanks to them being born so far apart may play into that, too). Gregory has to help give Evan a name (Evan shudders for reasons he can't remember when Gregory suggests the name Freddy).
The last thing I'll say about the Gregory ending (such an original name, ik) is I'd like to think the two of them get out of the game eventually. Despite Gregory’s kindness, Evan still thinks he's too broken and the world is too big and scary for him to continue existing... and then the sun rises. At this point, Evan has spent what accounts to years/billions of nights desperate to survive long enough to see the sunrise but always being brutally murdered before he can. And then! Then Evan feels the light and warmth ghosting against his skin for the first time in god knows how long, he sees the brilliant pinks and oranges and reds of the rising sun, and he falls onto his knees with tears in his eyes. "I made it," he whispers. "I finally, really made it."
The happiness is almost enough to make his soul move on right then and there. But... it also fills him with hope that maybe this world and the people in it are worth surviving for after all.
Okay, moving on!
~
Tumblr media
~
Oh gosh,, the idea of "Michael" trying to take control of the game in order to turn it into a safe haven for Evan!! It's such a painfully sweet idea... except, I can't help but wonder if Michael would even know what a 'safe haven' for Evan would look like-- let alone if the Fragment would know, since the Fragment has lost everything that makes Michael, Michael and is just the remnant of an instinct to keep Evan safe. I feel like the "safe haven" that the Fragment would make for Evan would end up being empty and hollow, devoid of any real meaning or happiness. It's nothing but an empty paradise filled with false promises of what the Fragment thinks a little kid SHOULD want but is devoid of the love and affection that Evan NEEDS. I'm having trouble coming up with any examples, though. Maybe it's like the Other World in Coraline, but instead of a greedy, hungry monster being in control of an empty world of lies, it's a monster that WANTS to help Evan but doesn't understand how.
~
Tumblr media
~
And the idea of Glitchtrap using Evan against the Fragment is positively delicious :3
I'm going to make William and Mike a bit more sentient than you originally intended for a sec, though. I like the idea of a manipulative, silver-tongued William turning Evan against his brother. Maybe William even takes advantage of the fact that Evan (and probably Mike) never found out or knew why he got trapped in the Nightmare in the first place; maybe William frames the whole thing as Michael coming up with another way to torture Ev for fun. I wonder how Evan would respond. Would he listen to his father (whether or not Evan even recognizes this person as his father) telling him Mikey deserves this, take out his frustration on Mikey and hope that he can rest once Mike is gone? Or does Evan break, because as much as Mikey has hurt him, he doesn't want his brother dead?
And wouldn't it be interesting to see how Mike/the Fragment responds to Evan attacking him/it? The Fragment wants nothing more than Evan to be happy, so it must glitch the hell out of it when Evan tries destroying the Fragment. It's just like what you wrote about Mike being torn when Ev begs Mike to stop trying to save him in the Nightmare; the Fragment's entire existence is to keep Evan safe and happy, and it needs to be present so it can do that, but if Evan wants it gone... how is it meant to fulfill both objectives at once?
Though, I'm also curious about how this au could tie back into Security Breach. Maybe the Fragment does end up winning control of the game from Glitchtrap, so Glitchtrap runs to the only place he can: Vanessa. And maybe he drags Evan with him, or perhaps Evan goes *willingly* if it means escaping from the Fragment/Stranger that tortured him for so long. Security Breach still happens, but this time, Glitchtrap has Vanessa AND Evan under his control. Maybe he even uses Evan’s ghost to try tricking and manipulating Gregory as well. And all the while, Michael has to try to figure out how to get out of the VR game and back to protecting the ghost spirit whose name he no longer recalls.
~
Tumblr media
~
AND THE FRAGMENT BEING A YOUNGER MIKE IS SO COOL! Maybe it could be the reverse of what I described with Evan and Gregory, where Evan sees another lost and scared kid his age hiding away, just like him, and decides "i am not leaving you to face your horrors alone." Neither Evan nor Mike have any memory of who either of them are, but they're both lost and alone and terrified and cling to each other. They're the only thing that either of them has, and vow to get through this together, sort of the antithesis to how isolated they were in the Nightmare. Very depressing that it takes both of them completely losing all of their memories and will to live for them to trust and rely on each other without constantly hurting each other, but...
Maybe the two of them spend eternity forever without their memories. Or maybe like you said, they slowly find each other's memories in the game's coding, and they have to reconcile the horrible truths they learn about themselves and their pasts with the fact that they're *friends* now and don't want to lose each other
23 notes · View notes
shoezuki · 1 year
Text
one thing that has stuck with me from the latest kerfuffle i got into on twitter is like. there was one person arguin w one the homies that my bio stating i was white isnt accurate because white people cant be people of colour or a poc so putting 'white' in my bio was the reason people wouldnt acknoweldge Im mixed. and like. that shit has stuck w me
cuz to me that seems fucked up towards mixed ppl like me who have that white background mixed with some non-white identity. but thinking about it i can ABSOLUTELY understand the idea of it due to the notion that white people cannot be poc. cuz that sentence in itself is SENSIBLE. like oh Obviously white people cannot be in the non-white community, so therefore mixed people 'cannot' identify as white????
but i keep thinking about it cuz. wow that shit really pointed out an issue that is so obviously present when it comes to recognizing and acknowledging mixed people like me. Because regardless of how much of a Person Of Colour i am or how much aboriginal background i got, i look very white. I have possibly more typically white experiences than typically aboriginal ones. I have blue eyes as when i was a kid I had naturally blonde hair and there was the joke that i was the whitest in my family because of it. which despite the joke is pretty damn true. people dont see me on the street and say oh thats an indigenous person, and the extremely rare times someone sees me as non-white its usually another indigenous person yknow.
I think its like. its kinda led to this revelation of mine i suppose. On one hand i've come to terms with the idea that i am Aboriginal AND white in the sense that i cant just pick either or as both aspects of me have influenced my entire existence as a mixed person. but its really hit home on why i've struggled so much with seeing myself as being in the non-white community or recognizing myself as a person of colour. because the only 'requirement' of being a poc is Not being white. but does that instantly eliminate all mixed white and non-white people like me from being anything other than white? does that not just further the notion that mixed ppl have to just 'pick a side'? Wouldnt decrying my white identity to be a poc then just diminish my own experiences with white privilege and passing as white?
#ask to tag#idk i think its like. when it comes to racial groups and racialized peoples it tends to seem more#black and white (lmao)#in the sense that ethnicity and race isnt something changeable therefore it is treated as more concrete aspects of identity#rather than the fluidity of gender or sexuality when it comes to identity#but in actuality. its really not so easy with race either#like the lines between races and even between that of being white and being non-white isnt so clear#like ive spent years feeling guilt for my identity. as a kid i tried to get rid of my indigenous identity#and somewhat more recently i felt guilty for being white#and its only recently ive resolved that i can be both#but i hadnt explicitly thought about how much of an outlier that makes me#but honestly with mixed white poc i feel its worse to try and limit or get rid of the white aspects of us#like we cannot ignore how it has benefited us or how our general ease as being seen as white has made our lives easier#like i always think of a friend i had in highschool who was also native#but she had the more traditional features of darker skin and black or dark hair unlike me#and we bonded a lot over our aboriginal identity#but the fact she experienced more blatant descrimination than me was a constant factor in our relationship#like it is not something us white poc should not ignore! our expiriences with both privilege and descrimination is unique and unavoidable#i feel the idea of you cannot be white and a poc really tries to bury the privilege of that though. and thus the varied experiences#idk man i been thinkin bout it a lot#like maybe the inclusion of white people who are mixed should be noted in non-white circles more. because of this weird#inbetween we have
27 notes · View notes
unluckilyimnot · 28 days
Text
lazy day with bllk boys
characters: sae, rin, nagi, karasu, reo
fluff
m.list || rules || requests are open :)
note: i had more ideas but i got lazy lmao, feel free to ask for more
Tumblr media
Sae + beach day
it’s better when it’s sunny but honestly he just needs it
he goes whenever he has a day off
you two usually eat around the harbor, take cute pictures, visit a little if you can
Sae loves beach more than anything in life but if you ask him he’ll never admit it. Yet that’s where he find himself naturally going when he needs some fresh air and needs to clear his mind. It happened to be rather cloudy today, but it means less people outside so he’s not complaining. He didn’t felt like dealing with people trying to talk to him. Beside you.
You always tag along since you’re a sea lover as well – and that you love collecting rocks.
“Sae, Sae look at this one !” you cheered while getting up and rushing to him. Showing off your really cute, red rock to him with a smile, he can’t help but nod with a little smile in return before offering his hand. You leave it to him so he could clean it up before giving it back to you. It’s an habit now, because you hate it when you have stuff on your hands.
You took his other hand and started walking around the beach again, admiring the view even without sun or boats. It was calm, just like you like as well.
“There.” He gave the rock back to you as he secretly promised and he couldn’t wait to see where you’re going to put it in his apartment.
Tumblr media
Nagi + gaming
understand : usual day off
he’s always gaming anyway but that’s the rare occasion you play with him
“Ah… Ah! Aaah!!” you whined, almost throwing the controller across the room. You fell on your back, laying down with open arms. “I think I’m gonna die now. It’s fine, I can’t face the shame.”
“You did great.” Nagi added quietly, already getting ready for the next game. You two were playing Mario Party together, one of the only game you play in fact. “Come on, I choose the next one.”
No answer.
“Come onnnnn.” It was his time to whine but when you still didn’t answer him, he had to use his special technique : laying flat on top of you. A strangle oof left your lips before you tried to pus him. It’s your tall, heavy boyfriend against your limited strength.
“Move !!” you command but it fell into deaf ear. You cry even more, not really in the mood to receive the treatment you gave.
“Okay,I’m sorry ! I’m ready now move please ! I can’t breath !”
“You’re a liar,” he started, pulling himself up on one arm. “You’re still breathing.” You roll your eyes at his statement.
“No shit.” you scoffed before pushing him for good. “I’m gonna win this time.”
Nagi only nod, knowing dawn well you won’t but still loving your enthusiasm.
Tumblr media
Reo + bath and skin care
he likes to take care of you and himself
his day off are dedicated to that
+ funny picture to decorate your wall
A mask now setting on you face, your whole body was immersed in hot, bubbly water and all your muscles were finally able to relax. Your back resting against Reo, you look up to catch him looking at his phone, with a mask on his face as well.
You two just had the best skin care routine hour and Reo had the wonderful idea to run a bath. That’s how you ended up with both you hair up and you blowing bubbles around like a child. It’s been a while, you missed it.
“Babe, hear this,” and then he goes on about some news about one of Mikage corporation’s partner and their research. You don’t get about everything about business but you still into it as well, but you weren’t really in the mood. Kissing his jaw, you answered.
“What about I don’t and you try to disconnect a little ?” You took his phone off his hand after whipping your hand. Reo sighs behind you but you didn’t mind. His head laid on your shoulder, waiting for you to come back in the water. After putting a soft, lofi background music you were back in the hot water and in your lover’s arms. Reo slowly stroking your arm while talking about some book he’d like to read, finally leaving work behind. You couldn’t ask for more.
Tumblr media
Karasu + reading together
he likes some quality time on his resting day
some tea, a good book and you reading by his side
Karasu couldn’t ask for more when you asked him to make another tea pot. You already have finish it when he only drank 2 cup, but it also mean that you’re really into your book and he loved that sight. You gasping from time to time, holding your month or even when it shows that it takes you everything to not get up to run laps around the house.
You know he likes to have close while reading session but sometimes it just physically hurt you. And he makes fun of you every times. His laughter filling the whole place, light and so annoying but you can’t help but tag along after a few second.
You can’t even give it back because he doesn’t react at all, annoying you a lot, but you accepted it in the end.
All of that with the tea he kindly makes every single time you two sat down in his living room to read.
Tumblr media
Rin + him reading for you or vice versa
depends on who’s tired
but he reads better than you
still find it calming when it’s you
“ “I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia.” “Huh ?” I asked –” you quoted, reading one of your favorite book to Rin. He was laying his head in your lap, kind of falling asleep from time to time but still catching up when something bothered him in your tone or the story.
“She’s annoying with her maze.” he noted.
“I think he is to not get it.” she answered, sounding a little offended. “He’s annoying all the time in fact. I get her, but I don’t get him.” she added before going on. Rin knew that, he heard about it enough, yet he never once read it and the last time you said you felt like reading it again, he asked you to read it to him.
You two don’t really share any tastes in books, but you still kind of enjoy it when the other is reading it for you. You usually get fed up by his reading and Rin found yours comforting, but maybe it’s just your voice. He likes the fact that you try, maybe a little too hard, to show the emotions. It’s deep too, in some kind, and he knows you’re especially close, if he may say, to the things you read. It’s like discovering you again.
Tumblr media
i hope you liked it !
it's me, i collect rocks. the book y/n's reading in rin's one is Looking for Alaska by John Green.
409 notes · View notes
rhaenella · 4 months
Text
CL16 | Is It Over Now? | pt.3
Tumblr media
pairing: charles leclerc x singer!reader
genre: social media au
summary: you and charles have been everyone's fave couple on the grid, but when you somewhat unexpectedly break up, you turn to songwriting to cope with the pain
face claim: léon
a/n: sit back, get comfy, this is quite a long one… let me know if you guys prefer longer but less parts or shorter but more parts. also, if you’d like to be added to the taglist, comment below!
・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・
part 1 | part 2 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7
・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・
y/n’s story
Tumblr media
Seen by maddyhill, landonorris and 4,292,317 others
7 June
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen1 and 1,221,408 others
yn: The video for Is It Over Now? is officially out ✨ Had the best time shooting it with some great, great people. Special thank you to the wonderful director Lina Söderström for embracing my ideas and bringing them to life 🧡
View all 24,291 comments
taylorswift: 👏🏼👏🏼
danielricciardo: Still don’t understand why I couldn’t be a background dancer
yourbestfriend: She was looking for professionals, not clowns
danielricciardo: :(
user1: i love it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
user2: one of your best ever ✨🥹
user3: ARTIST OF THE DECADE
user4: she’s got style, she’s got grace 🎶
landonorris: She’s a winner, she's a lady
Liked by y/n
user4: OMGGG LANDO?? Y/N???
user5: lmao not lando lurking in the comments of y/n’s instagram
user6: y/n, thank you forever for sharing your art 🧡 this song means so much to me
Liked by y/n
23 June
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Liked by y/n, breelfilms and 11,872 others
lina.soderstrom: 🎬 Loved creating magic alongside the always fabulous y/n y/l/n
Comments are limited
y/n: Thank you for helping out so lastminute! Could have never done it without you 🤍
lina.soderstrom: For you, anything 💕
24 June
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Liked by user20, user21 and 39,179 others
wagsf1update: Charles Leclerc and rumored new girlfriend Maddy Hill were seen attending the opening of Hill’s brother’s art gallery in New York City (6/26)
user14: here we go again
user17: not surprised she’s actively trying to get photographed with him now
user21: she can’t exactly help it that photographers were waiting for them to show up…
user17: sure whatever
26 June
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Liked by charles_leclerc, haileybieber and 506,744 others
maddyhill: Feels so good no longer having to hide our love ❤️
View all 5,671 comments
charles_leclerc: ❤️
haileybieber: So happy for you 🥰
user6: did you ever hide it
user3: “our love” lmao what a joke
user10: POWER COUPLE!!!
scuderiaferrari: See you at the Austrian GP! ❤️🏁
maddyhill: You bet!
user2: okay but who the fuck turned admin???
user5: they used to be team y/n… :(
user8: you’re only posting this now cause you feel threatened by y/n’s success
user12: no cap
27 June
Tumblr media
Liked by yourbestfriend, sophiet and 1,191,361 others
y/n: Your new girl is my clone… 🎶
Comments have been disabled
27 June
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・ ⋆ ・ ⠄⠂⋆ ・
Tags: @sukisheadlights @eviethetheatrefreak @blueflorals @kiskso
1K notes · View notes
joonberriess · 1 year
Text
𓆩♡𓆪 “can we take this off and get naked?” — jock!jk
Tumblr media
·˚ ༘ 💌 TAGS — SMUT, pure smut, riding, creampies, degradation, jk’s a big fat meanie :( , y/n likes it tho, she kinda wanted to cock warm him??? dunno he’s playing games tho at first lmao, CHAIR SEX FOR THE WIN.
Tumblr media
"Yugyeom quit fuckin' around, we're losing cause of you!"
It's been like this for about the past hour since you and Jungkook got home from having dinner and watching some movie at the theaters. You were lazily sprawled out in his bed, watching some anime on the TV while Jungkook sat at his desk playing some game you didn't know of.
You didn't mind the cursing and yelling coming from him cause well, it's Jungkook. Though you did start getting a little lonely, it was no fun watching anime all by yourself when Jungkook was more than capable of coming to cuddle you in his big arms.
You could already picture it! Jungkook would be shirtless because he always took his shirts off and gave them to you before bed (but you were already wearing his shirt duh). You'd be all wrapped up in his arms, leg tossed over his hip as you watch the new episode of My Hero or Demon Slayer. Maybe if you wanted to you could give him kisses all over and then he'd give you kisses all over and it'd just be a fun time!
Yeah, that sounded like a perfect idea. Too bad he was playing his games. You had begun to pout without realizing it, who else was going to lay on your tits and use them as pillows? Luna wasn't here to lay on them and Jungkook wasn't paying attention. You didn't like this... not one bit >:'(
"Hmph." You glared at the computer screen that was taking up so much of your boyfriend's time, it was YOUR time not theirs. "Gonna show you whose time it is." You mumble quietly and slip out of bed, sauntering over as you gently slide Jungkook's chair back.
He's in visible confusion and turns to look at you in question, hands still hovering over his keyboard and mouse since you didn't really pull him that far anyways. You slip under his arms and climb on to his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck as you bury your face in his shoulder. Jungkook relaxes into the seat immediately and wraps his arms around you as he scoots the chair back in.
"Nah man, I was fixing my chair." Jungkook mumbles a bit lower this time, kissing the side of your head as he goes back to playing. He even lowers the volume and tones his comments down, limiting them to just small talk and slight curse words, nowhere near as loud as before.
Your eyes are closed as you peacefully rest your eyes and take a little cat nap on him. Jungkook occasionally jerks a little in the seat, jostling you just a little bit in his lap but you don't mind. In fact you find yourself seeking more of him because in the middle of all that you can feel his heavy cock sitting inside his sweats press against you, and you're not wearing anything other than his shirt and panties.
He presses up just nicely against you, it feels like enough to grind down on him and get pleasure but knowing you... you don't want grinding. You want the REAL deal, and you want it now.
"Yugyeom," Jungkook bites back another curse when he feels it, you grinding down on him. At first he doesn't say much and it's probably because he thinks you're doing it by accident or something. So he doesn't comment and goes back to playing the game. That is until he feels you do it again, only this time you moan, soft and sweet the way he likes it.
You turn your face to hide in his neck, lips parting as you softly moan and continue grinding your hips in tiny circles. His cock throbs pathetically in his sweats and right away you know he's gone commando. You gently kiss his neck and suckle on the patch of skin there, tongue pressing down and applying the slightest of pressure.
He sucks in a breath, clearing his throat as he furiously pushes at some keys and clicks his mouse, "Yeah, I heard you.." He mumbles.
You're having a lot of fun with this, heat pools in your panties as your pussy slicks up with anticipation. This is all so new to you, usually you're not the one initiating anything and usually you don't take control/charge like right now. You could used to this if anything.
Jungkook lets out a choked groan when you suddenly slip your hand down between the two of you, sliding inside his sweats and stroking his throbbing cock. Your delicate fingertips take ahold of the tip and rub around it, smearing the precum that built up from your little teasing. His hips jump in surprise, and he barely has time to answer Yugyeom when his friend asks him a question.
"You good bro?"
".. Yeah," he breathes out, looking down between the two of you where your hand is slipped inside his sweats. He nearly moans but bites his bottom lip in efforts to not give away what was happening.
You pout softly, really wanting nothing more than to slip down to your knees and get his cock into your mouth. You crave the weight of it on your tongue, you want him to hit the back of your throat and make you gag on it. This will do you suppose, turning your face and kissing the side of his face and leaning over to glide your lips over the corner of his mouth.
Jungkook turns to capture your lips in a quick kiss before he pulls away to reply to his friend. You giggle quietly and tap his hip, motioning to his sweats. He helps you slide them down, fitting them right under his balls as his cock slaps against his abdomen. You nearly drool and reach down to pump it a few more times.
"What were you saying?" Jungkook whispers out, jaw slack and tongue peeking out as he licks his lower lips slowly.
You adjust yourself in his lap and snuggle into his neck as you guide his cock towards your pussy. Your free hand is holding your panties to the side, a small dollop of slick drips from your pussy down on to his cock.
"Okay.. yeah.. yeah I can do that." Jungkook says shakily as he grips the mouse a little too tightly.
Finally you rub his cock against your folds, smearing your slick around first before you pop the tip inside. A low mewl escapes your lips, and you let his cock go in favor of setting your hands on his shoulders for purchase. You slide all the way down until your perky ass meets his thighs.
You hear him swear under his breath as he takes a moment to relax in his chair. You tentatively roll your hips in figures of eights, getting used to the feeling of his fat cock so deep inside of you in this position.
"Mm-" you bite your lip and relax against him, eyes fluttering closed.
Jungkook makes a quiet noise of confusion, probably questioning why you aren't moving yet. You lazily look up at him from where your head lays on his shoulder, "You can keep playing." You softly say as you stare up at him, " 'm gonna take a nap coz you feel so warm." You smile dreamily.
"Baby," he says but Yugyeom whining in his ears cuts him off as he stares slack jawed at you.
You peck his jaw and then his lips, "Was just kidding," you wiggle around, "don't mind me."
You roll your hips slowly, pussy greedily swallowing up his cock and making these little squelching noises. Jungkook pokes his tongue against his cheek as he tries to focus on the game at hand. You notice he isn't replying as much and can only muster out hums and grunts. It makes excitement to hear him moan pool in the pit of your tummy as you squirm around to get a good grip.
"Jungkook we're gonna level up in the que okay so my bad if I take a little long to ready up." You hear from the headset since the room was filled with only your little moans and Jungkook's labored breathing. Perfect.
You sit up and cup his cheeks, bringing him in for a long kiss as you moan into his mouth. Jungkook's hands immediately drop down to your ass and grips both cheeks in hand. He starts moving you in his lap, kneading your ass and grinding you back and forth on his cock. The delicious friction it brings nearly has you drooling.
"Mm..mm.." You shakily reach behind you to mute his mic, struggling with finding the button at first but Jungkook gets the hint and reaches over to slam the off button.
Hell breaks loose once it's off, a whimper bubbles out of your throat and you start slamming your hips down on his. The sound of your ass meeting his thighs fills the entire room as you bounce on his cock. The chair begins to lightly creak in protest from the weight of you and him and for a minute you think it's gonna cave in.
"Fuck," Jungkook harshly breathes out as his lips part, "baby couldn't wait so you had to come bounce on my cock like the desperate little slut you are?" He groans slapping your ass, "That's it baby, fuck yourself on my cock, you can ride me better than that."
The little whimpers and moans that leave your mouth rise in volume, you're eager to show him you can take his cock and make him feel good too. :( You reach behind you to set your hands on his knees for support, " 's not e-enough..!" You whine loudly.
"Then make it enough," he growls back, "you wanted to be a little bitch in heat so act like it." He slaps your ass harder, making a louder whine escape your lips.
He gives you a look and you sniffle softly in defeat, "Meanie." You mumble and set your hands on his shoulders, riding him more earnestly now.
You huff with effort and set a pace you both like, not too fast and not too slow either. The clapping noises get louder and lewd squelching add to the mix of the filthy fucking. A ring of white forms around Jungkook's cock as you get it wetter and wetter, the slick dribbles down to his balls and on to the floor. The slide is so wet you have to force yourself to focus on the task at hand because quite frankly you want nothing more than to clean up all this mess with your tongue.
Jungkook's moans rise in volume alongside yours, occasionally turning into breathless pants and sighs. He has a death grip on your ass, fingers leaving little prints here and there wherever he grabs. "Doing so good for me baby, look at you making a mess all over my cock. Gonna have you clean every last drop of it, 's only fair since one of yours holes made the mess." He licks his lips, tilting his head up to watch you through hooded eyes.
"Jungkook..!" You squirm, " 's not enough I want you to touch me." You pout.
"Where?" He smirks.
You whine loudly, "You know.."
"Actually I don't, c'mon be a little smarter than that baby, or you too cock drunk to even answer?" Jungkook slips his hand from your ass and cups your tit, "I can touch you in so many places it's hard to tell where you want me." He murmurs and leans forward to engulf your nipple in his mouth.
You let out a moan, "There too," you grab his other hand and guide it between the two of you, "I want you here though."
His finger comes into contact with your throbbing clit, you mewl happily and rock your hips back and forth on his cock, "Yes.. like that," you softly whine, "more, more.."
Jungkook presses down on the sensitive bud and flicks it back and forth, "You gonna cum baby?" He licks his lips.
You nod eagerly, going back to bouncing in his lap, only this time faster, "I'm gonna cum," you whimper, "so close..!"
"Then cum for me, let go baby c'mon," Jungkook whispers once he lets your nipple go with a lewd little pop, he brings you down for a sweet kiss and holds you to him as he bucks his hips.
His cock slides deep and hits those sweet spots with ease, your hips desperately seek more and more. Your orgasm draws nearer and nearer, tummy doing flips as it grows hot down between your thighs.
"Jungkook!" You cry out weakly, back arching and hips going stiff as you cum hard on his cock, completely soaking his cock and making a even bigger mess than before.
Jungkook growls lowly and doesn't let up on your poor overstimulated clit until you're crying out for him to stop as you shakily reach down to push his hand away. He grabs ahold of both your cheeks and grips them tightly as he begins fucking up into you.
"That's it baby, greedy little pussy sucking me in." He whispers.
The creaking gets a louder and there's a flopping sound from where his balls hit your ass with each thrust. You can only mewl and hold on as you wait for him to finish inside your cunt.
Jungkook comes a few seconds later, hissing through gritted teeth as he steadies you and rolls your hips slowly. He milks his cock through his orgasm, filling you up just nicely. A satisfied little sigh leaves you and you snuggle closer to him like a little kitten.
"Mmm carry me to the bed please?" You pout.
"After we clean you up," he murmurs back, "you still gotta pee 'member baby?" He turns his mic on and tells an angry Yugyeom he's done playing for the night, "I got busy and I need to help my girl with something."
He ignores the little curses sent to him as he logs off and hangs up from the call, "Okay baby, up you go."
You make a little "wee" noise as he lifts you up and carries you off to the bathroom for a well deserved shower, and if you end up letting him fuck again that's your business.
Tumblr media
HE’S BACK! I haven’t figured out how to finish his Halloween special so that might be later on -.- im feeling a bit better now so i might as well focus on writing hehe.
TAG LIST: @fragmentof-indifference @jungkooksseuphoria @kooliv @angelarin @jjeonjjk7 @jungkookminthairwhen @pb-n-juju @ellesalazar
3K notes · View notes
f1byjessie · 1 month
Text
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS ━━ LN4.
sometimes the right words are hard to come across, and sometimes everything you need to say can be captured in an image.
( lando norris x photographer!reader )
━━ part seven.
INSTAGRAM.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
liked by mancity, oscarpiastri, and 431,912 others
tagged: mancity
yourusername february has come too soon… thank you to these wonderful lads for all they’ve done for me in the short time i’ve gotten to work with them. i’ve been a manchester city girlie my whole life, and getting to see the time and effort all of these men have devoted to this team and this sport ensures i’ll stay a manchester city girlie for the rest of it. but it’s lights out and away we go, and it’s time i get myself back into some papaya 🧡
view all 1,971 comments
mancity Training won’t be the same without you!
↳ yourusername can’t say i’ll miss all the times i was nearly clocked in the head by a ball, but i’ll definitely miss all the happy smiles 🩵
↳ mancity And we’ll miss yours! 🩵
jackgrealish you better not forget about us
↳ yourusername as if i ever could!! i’ll even wear sky blue in the paddock on match days if i have to 🫢
↳ mclaren 😨
↳ jackgrealish real talk though, it was wonderful working with you. you’re an incredibly skilled photographer and having you around was loads of fun. we’ll miss you lots, but we’ll be cheering you on with the mclaren lads
↳ yourusername you’re gonna make me cry grealo 😭
erling.haaland we will miss you! 
mclaren Can’t wait to have you back in the garage with us Y/N! We’ve been missing you around here 🧡
↳ yourusername can’t wait to be back! i’ve missed you dearly mclaren admin
↳ mclaren Our love has grown stronger with the distance 😌
↳ yourusername that it has 😉
kevindebruyne great time working with you! best of luck with your future endeavors 😁👍
oscarpiastri you look better in orange anyways
↳ yourusername since when were you a fashion expert??
↳ oscarpiastri it’s better if i don’t say… 😔
philfoden you gotta come have one last celebration with us before you go!
↳ yourusername if i did that, i’m pretty sure i’d be too hungover to make it to my other job
↳ philfoden maybe that’s the plan 👀👀 if you can’t get there then you’re stuck with us
chloekelly come work with the girlies next time babes! we’re jealous the boys hogged you all for themselves 😜
comments on this post have been limited
INSTAGRAM.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
liked by oscarpiastri, yourusername, and 217,172 others
tagged: oscarpiastri, landonorris, yourusername
mclaren the muses and the artist
view all 1,609 comments
yourusername i had no idea this was being taken…
↳ mclaren We felt the need to share your beauty with the world! 😁
↳ yourusername you just wanted to show me off and prove i’m back with mclaren
↳ mclaren And if we did? 😁
oscarpiastri when the photographer becomes the photographed
user THE LADS AND LADY ARE BACK
user y/n is my favourite part of f1 actually sorry mclaren 🫣🫣🫣
↳ user i think the admin understands with the way they flirt in the comments lmao
user 🧡🧡 MCLAREN 2024 WORLD SUPREMACY 🧡🧡
user i’ve been following y/n’s stint over with the football club and i’ve been so jealous waiting for her to come back to mclaren!! her photos are on a whole different level of skill and i can’t wait to see oscar and lando’s smiling faces in her style again!!
user awww i’m kinda sad she left man city, i really liked her work and it was like a crossover of my two favourite sports teams ☹️
↳ user me too, but if she worked during the off season with them then she might do it again next year or during the summer
↳ user i think the 24/25 premier league season starts up again in mid august, but the f1 summer off season is supposed to end in late august so i don’t think that would really give her enough time to start a gig
↳ user that’s a shame
↳ user not necessarily! footballers do get a bit of a break to take vacations and recover mentally and physically during the summer, but a lot of them are back at their clubs a good chunk of time before the new season starts. assuming man city makes it to the finals in the champions league, their last confirmed scheduled match will be on june 1st, and the 24/25 premier league season starts on august 17th, which means they’ll probably be back at etihad in late july/early august if not sooner
↳ user at the very least, i hope her time with man city has gotten more people interested in f1 🙌
↳ user i’m not too sure… when she started dating ward apparently there was lots of backlash from city fans so who knows what the overall perception of her is over there
↳ user still shocked about that, i had kinda thought her and lando were together since they seem so close 🤔🤔
user mclaren admin please post more y/n behind the scenes bc she doesn’t post herself enough and we always love to see her 🙏🙏🙏
↳ user REAL
landonorris looking good! 😁🧡
↳ user what a bland comment…
↳ user bro gives us radio silence for weeks and THIS is what he comes back with..?
↳ user trouble in paradise methinks 🧐
user haven’t seen any of the garrett ward stans causing a stir in these comments which either means war is over or the mclaren admin isn’t taking any shit and is deleting them, in which case good on you mclaren admin for defending your wonderful official unofficial gf 😩😩
↳ user mclaren admin is better at protecting their official unofficial gf than garrett ward is at protecting is actual official gf 🤨
There’s a certain sense of rightness that comes from being back amidst the McLaren staff dressed in the bright papaya orange. Manchester City had been a fun adventure, and you hadn’t been lying when you told the team you’d miss working with them, but Formula One is where you belong and that had become more and more apparent as the last days of January came to an end.
The last couple of weeks had been nice. The boys had thrown you a small party on your last day, with a cake that they all spent a good hour running off afterwards. Jack had made you promise to keep in touch, and you planned on holding true to that and keeping him updated with selfies from each of the Grand Prix locations at the very least.
The dates with Garrett had worked as planned, his agent was already claiming that just you two being spotted together more than once was doing wonders for his reputation, and Garrett had been treating you civilly since then. You still resented him for how exactly he’d forced you into this situation, but you’ve managed to find a middle ground of at least appreciating what the arrangement can also do for you.
As for Lando, you hadn’t yet gotten any confirmation about how things were going with your plan. Apart from refusing to meet your eye all day and resolutely staring either into the camera or anywhere that wasn’t you, he’d been professional.
Things felt like they did back in 2019━ back when you were convinced he was just an arrogant, pretentious, self-righteous prick with a complex. You’re torn between hating every moment of it and feeling wickedly vindicated by forcing him to acknowledge the consequences of his own actions.
At the very least, however, you have Oscar.
You’d gotten to know him relatively well in 2023, not to the same extent that you knew Lando of course, but Oscar had filled a brother-shaped hole in your heart that you hadn’t even known was there. His teasing was shy at first, like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to act that way with you, but the ribbing you’d given back had been assurance enough and he’d been a steady presence at your side ever since, cracking jokes at your expense.
There’s an unspoken agreement between the two of you that you both act as an escape. It was never acknowledged, it kind of just came to be as you both got to know one another, but you’re to Oscar what Oscar is to you━ the person you can go to when you need to pretend your more serious problems don’t exist and when you don’t really want anyone asking questions.
That’s why it surprises you when Oscar asks, “What’s going on between you and Lando?”
There’s nobody else in the car park, the sky is dark and most of the staff have already gone home or━ in the case of a few engineers━ won’t be leaving until the sun is rising tomorrow morning. The silence makes Oscar’s voice sound a bit louder, a bit harsher, a bit more like being doused in cold water.
It’s easy enough to ignore the reality of the problems between you and Lando when you hide behind your frustration. It’s even easier when Lando is so frustratingly good at pissing you off and keeping you in a haze of annoyance that perpetuates your justification of letting the tension linger. It’s hard to miss the closeness when you’re too busy being angry at him.
But the quiet emptiness of the world around you now gives you nothing to hide behind and nowhere to run━ not from Oscar’s scary perception, which has never before been locked on to you.
“Not really sure what you mean,” you answer after a moment. “Me and Lando are fine.”
It sounds as fake as it is.
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “Because whatever that tension was today was totally ‘fine.’”
The only real downside to having Oscar fill the brotherly role in your life is that he can be just as annoying as one.
You heave a sigh and shrug, “I don’t really know what you want me to say.”
“Try starting from the beginning.”
You’re at your car now, with your keys in your hand. It would be easy to get in, drive away, and ignore it all. That’s what you and Oscar use each other for anyway━ it’s your dynamic. If you really told him to drop it, you know he would. A single word would make it all go away and you could show up tomorrow morning still pretending like nothing’s different.
But the only other person who knows about everything with Garrett is Jack, and you don’t have him anymore.
So you do. You start from the beginning.
“I’m not actually dating Garrett Ward,” you say. If Oscar’s shocked at the revelation, he doesn’t show it. His face is calm and blank, and it reassures you to continue. “He needed someone to be his pretend girlfriend so he could fix his reputation, and he blackmailed me into agreeing by threatening to make up rumors that would ruin my career.”
You lean against the side of your car, fiddling with your keys. “Right after it happened, I kept trying to reach Lando. Nobody else knew and I was alone and afraid━ I didn’t know what to do but I thought that he, as my best friend, would at least be able to help me calm down and rationalize. But he never answered me.”
Oscar hums.
“When he did finally call━” you bite down on your lip when you feel tears burn at the back of your eyes, “━he berated me the entire time and asked how dumb I had to be to date Garrett of all people. Then, he proceeded to tell me exactly what people online had to say about me and my choices. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain what was going on.”
You heave out a sigh and tip your head back until you’re staring up at the never-ending expanse of the night sky. The clouds from earlier are still there, blocking out the stars and leaving it all an abyss of black.
“He still hasn’t apologized,” you mutter, sniffling. “He hasn’t said a word to me since then.”
Oscar’s quiet for another moment. He’s got his hands shoved into his pockets, and his eyes are focused on where he’s kicking the toe of his shoe down against the pavement. The tap, tap, tap is all there is for a moment, and then he hums again.
“Lando can be a real twat sometimes.”
You burst into laughter, startled. You give Oscar an incredulous look, and he shrugs.
“I mean,” he starts again, “he’s a good dude, but sometimes he can just be stupid. He does something dumb and even though he knows he’s wrong, he doesn’t know what to do about it or how to make it better, so he doesn’t do anything and just hopes that it’ll fix itself on its own.”
You nod. “That sounds pretty accurate.”
Oscar lets himself rest beside you, pulling his hands from his pockets so he can cross his arms. “I’m not saying you need to let this go, but talk to him, yeah? He was able to dodge your calls and texts, but you’re here now and he can’t dodge a face to face conversation for forever.”
“I was gonna try and really sell things with Garrett to rub it in his face,” you admit.
It makes Oscar laugh, and then you’re both laughing and it feels good to have this again.
“You know,” you breathe out when you eventually fade back into silence. “I think I’m in love with him.”
“Garrett?”
“No. Lando.”
Oscar hums.
“I think one of the reasons his whole spiel pissed me off so much is that I’ve been pining after him for years now, pushing it down so that I don’t ruin things or make it awkward━ trying to get over him,” you rub at your eyes, pressing as if it’ll erase the memory of what Lando’s grin looks like and how warm it makes you feel when you’re the one who puts it there. "But then he goes and does things like this and it frustrates me but it also gives me hope that maybe he feels the same way, because why would he get so upset about this if he didn’t?”
“I think you should really talk with him,” is all Oscar says, before pushing off from your car and walking away.
━━ tags: @maih23 @urfavnoirette @leclercsluv @f1luvur @formulaal @a-disturbing-self-reflection @starlightpierre @chezmardybum @marshmummy @405rry @sideboobrry11 @d3kstar @mcmuppet @happylittlereader @casperlikej @5starl1ght @bellezaycafe @whentheautumnleavesfall @mess-is-my-aesthetic @ssprayberrythings @landosgirlxoxo @lifelessfan @81ja @wcnorris @a-disturbing-self-reflection (CLOSED).
━━ a/n: i have mixed opinions on how this part came out. it's a bit filler-y, but trying to include anything more would make this singular part longer than i want it to be. but it's also very late (early?) at the moment and i've been staring at this for hours trying to get it done up as fast as i can, so perhaps that's why. anyway, i hope you enjoy!
372 notes · View notes
stevie-petey · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
episode two: the weirdo on maple street
Trying to ease the awkwardness, you hold up a poster and offer it to them, but Steve snatches it from your grasp. “Henderson, didn’t know you were also a little know-it-all. Why don’t you share your review sheet with the rest of us?” He says, casting a teasing look your way. It isn’t until he inspects the piece of paper that he finally notices that it’s a missing poster for a child, not a review sheet. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.” You snatch the poster back from him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”
summary: you use your limited psych knowledge to help a bald girl, you force jonathan to accept $20 and he's later an ass to you, steve doesn't know what a "missing" poster looks like, and it's really hard being a single mother to now four kids.
rating: general, but there's cursing as usual and steve being... well, steve - but hes still season 1 steve so give him some time
warnings: cursing, fem!reader, use of y/n, and there's more angst in this chapter with some fighting between reader and jonathan, so fair warning.
words: 10.1k (the longest thing ive ever written)
before you swing in: i'm almost done with chapter 4, so here's a sweet treat as i cram for exams lmao. some housekeeping: should i do a tag list ? i got a few questions about it, so pls let me know soldiers. also, i feel the need to clarify that i adore nancy but for plot reasons - reader and her don't really get along (but they def will later, trust me). season 1 nancy and steve are just so silly. anyways, i hope y'all enjoy this loooong chapter. the rest definitely aren't as lengthy due to plot, but wow. i amazed myself. carry on !
-
Your jeans drip onto the Wheeler’s carpet, and you’ve definitely left a wet imprint on the couch cushion beneath you. The other boys are dripping as well, but all their attention is on the girl in front of them. 
After finding her in the woods, your motherly instincts kicked in, immediately removing your coat to place on her and gently ushering her to your bike and demanding that the boys go back to Mike’s. Your mom is home, so your house was out of the question, and it’s always been easy sneaking into the Wheeler’s, anyways. 
Once you all had made it back, you guided the girl onto the couch and sat next to her. You refuse to let her go too far from you, having no idea where she came from or why, but regardless you know she’s too young for any of it to have been good. 
Which leads you to now: wearily watching the boys stare at the girl as if she’s some science experiment, asking her a million questions a second.
Bless them and their little prepubescent minds. 
Lucas reaches out to touch her, and before you can nudge him away, Mike slaps at his hand. “Stop it! You’re freaking her out!”
“She’s freaking me out!” Lucas retaliates, which honestly? That’s fair. The girl hasn’t said anything yet, even after your multiple attempts to get her to do so. No matter how much you try, you can’t coax a response out of her. 
“I bet she’s deaf.” Your brother offers, suddenly clapping his hands to scare her, making both you and her flinch. “Not deaf…”
You roll your eyes at him. “Guys, she’s probably just really scared right now. We should give her some space,” you look at both Lucas and Dustin, “and time,” now you look at Mike. The three boys deflate a bit. 
“She’s probably cold,” Mike says after a moment of silence, and you nod at his suggestion. Seeing your agreement, he walks over to a basket of clothes and takes out some pajamas.
While Mike is away, thunder rumbles and the girl jumps, unconsciously getting closer to you. You wrap an arm around her reassuringly, making note that she doesn’t like loud noises. If anything, she’s showing more and more signs of trauma response, which makes you uneasy. You remember Hopper saying something about Will being in danger. What are the odds that this little girl was running from something as well?
“Here, these are clean.” Mike’s return breaks you from your thoughts, and you take the clothes from him and stand up. You thank him, then offer your hand to the girl. She looks at you uncertainly. 
“It’s okay,” you reassure her. “Let’s go get you dressed in some warm clothes. I’m right here, sweetheart.” 
“She’s super nice.” Dustin says, trying to help.
Lucas adds, “Yeah, you can trust her.” 
“She’s alright.” Is all Mike offers.
You give them all an appreciative smile, even if Mike is being a bit of an ass, and then you feel a small, cold hand wrap around yours. The girl stands up, looking around shyly, and you lead her to the bathroom. When you go to close the door, she stops you.
Mike has followed, seeing the interaction. “You don’t want it closed?”
Her voice is quiet, solemn. “No,”
You and Mike look at each other, and he voices what you’re thinking. “So you can speak.”
He looks excited about this new information, and you shove his head out of the doorway. She needs to get dressed. “We’ll leave the door cracked, okay?”
She nods at you, and you stand guard outside the door. It’s not that you don’t trust the boys, but Mike has only known her for ten minutes and he’s already been nicer to her than you’ve ever seen him with anyone else. The only other person he’s this soft spoken to is Will, so you’re protective of her. 
You can hear the boys discussing tonight’s events from the living area while the girl gets dressed. They sound scared, and a part of you can’t blame them. While you’re fairly certain that the girl isn’t dangerous, it’s still a creepy situation. Once again, Hopper’s new theory surrounding Will floats through your mind. This all can’t be some coincidence. 
Sighing, you approach the boys and catch a bit of the conversation. 
“Our houses become Alcatraz.” You hear Lucas saying, and you figure they’ve finally pieced together that there’s no way any of you can tell anyone about the girl. None of you were supposed to be out tonight. As much as you know you should tell an adult, you also need to be able to help Jonathan with finding Will. If your mom locks the house down, you’re doomed. 
“Lucas is right,” the boys turn to you. “We can’t go to anyone about this just yet, but I also don’t think it’s a good idea to hide her. She’s been through something terrible, it’s obvious. Tonight, I say she gets some rest. We can figure out what to do later.” 
Mike nods, for once agreeing wholeheartedly with you. “She’ll sleep here tonight-”
Dustin’s eyes widen in horror, “You’re letting a girl-”
You clamp your hand over his mouth, motioning for Mike to continue.
“Thanks, Y/N. In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She’ll send her back to Pennhurst,”
They think she’s from Pennhurst? You think, but don’t verbalize it.
“Or wherever she comes from. We’ll be totally in the clear! And tomorrow night, we go back out, and this time we find Will.”
You gotta hand it to Mike Wheeler, he may be a pain in the ass, but he’s a smart pain in the ass. The plan is pretty sound, so long as he follows through with it. However, it’s him following through with it that leaves you a bit unsure. 
He looks at you for approval, and you hesitantly nod. “It’s a pretty good plan, Wheeler. So long as you stick to it.” 
Lucas and Dustin nod along with you, there’s an unspoken sense of doubt that Mike will actually be able to turn the girl over to his mom. Then she walks out, dressed now in some of Nancy’s old clothes. She draws into herself when you all turn to her, shy. You walk over and offer your hand again, which she accepts. 
“Mike, go find her something to sleep on. Dustin, we gotta go soon before mom notices we’re gone.”
Both boys comply, with Mike searching for a sleeping bag and Dustin packing up his stuff. You crouch down next to the girl, so that you’re face to face, and give her a warm smile. “It was lovely meeting you. My name is Y/N, I hope Mike over there doesn’t give you a hard time tonight.” 
Mike flips you off, having heard you. “If he’s annoying,” you lean in close to her now, whispering in her ear. “You have my permission to pinch him.”
The girl giggles, finally relaxing a bit, and you warm with pride. She’ll be okay, she seems like a very resilient girl and you’ll oddly miss her. 
The two other boys are waiting for you upstairs. You all wish Mrs. Wheeler a good night and head out. Thankfully the rain has now stopped, so the bike ride home isn’t bad. You stop at Lucas’ turn to make sure he gets home safely before finally arriving at your place. As Dustin begins pedaling into your driveway, you don’t follow. 
“I’m going to go see Jonathan, he didn’t answer my calls earlier and I just…”
Dustin waves at you, not even bothering to turn around. “Yeah yeah, go see your boyfriend. If mom asks, you’re asleep.” 
“He’s not my boyfriend-”
“Are you seriously going to argue with me after I offered to cover for you?”
Your brother gives you a pointed look, and you know he’s right. “Touche.” 
Dustin goes to leave, but you quickly grab at his jacket. “Before I forget, swear to me that you’ll keep me updated if anything weird happens, okay?”
He nods at you, knowing better than to argue, and gives you a mock salute as he heads inside. 
The living room light is on when you arrive at the Byers home, despite the late hour, but you aren’t surprised. You knock on the door and wait. When no one comes, you knock again, a bit louder this time. After another few moments, the door swings open. 
Jonathan has a finger over his lips in a shushing manner, motioning to Joyce who is passed out on the couch. You nod, letting him know you understand. The two of you go to his room and when he closes the door, you finally get a good look at him. He looks worse than he did earlier, the bags under his eyes have somehow gotten darker. His hair is a mess, his eyes bloodshot. 
“You’re soaked.” Jonathan says. 
“Yeah,” he doesn’t want to talk about it yet, so you play along. “Got caught in the rain. Are some of my spare clothes still in your bottom drawer?”
He nods at you, going over and grabbing a t-shirt and pajama pants for you. You accept them gratefully and excuse yourself to the bathroom to change. Your bones are cold, the rain seemingly having penetrated the layers of your skin. In the mirror you see that your own eyes are bloodshot; you don’t look much better than Jonathan, really.
When you return Jonathan is sitting on his bed, so you join him. It’s silent between you, all you can hear is his breathing. You stare straight ahead, so does he, and you wait. You’ve only seen Jonathan like this a handful of times, where the stress and anxiety becomes too much for him. He shuts down, draws into himself, and all you can do is wait for him to return to you; he always does. 
“Mom got a call tonight.” Jonathan’s voice is hoarse, and he looks frail. You wonder if he ever did end up making the spaghetti you prepared for him.
“Who was it?”
He swallows heavily, taking a moment to respond. “She said it was Will.”
“Will?” You look at him now, searching for any signs on his face, his voice lacks emotion. By the way he stares blankly ahead, as if he’s not really present with you right now, you know that it hadn’t been Will on the other end. 
“She started freaking out, going ballistic,” his voice cracks a bit, so you take a chance and reach for his hand. He lets you take it, giving you a squeeze, before continuing. “She was screaming, begging whoever it was to give Will back.” 
Jonathan pauses again. You don’t say anything, because no words will help. He’s never been the type for comforting words, anyways. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. “It wasn’t him. Lightning struck and our phone got charred. It wasn’t Will.”
Now it’s your turn to squeeze Jonathan’s hand. He doesn’t deserve any of this. None of the Byers do. Out of the entire town, they’re the family who deserves the most that life can give. Will, too good. Jonathan, too selfless. Joyce, too loving. They’re the best damn people you know. 
“I tried calming her down, but she was hysterical. She’s only asleep right now because she worked herself up too much and passed out. I’m worried she-'' Jonathan shakes his head, as if ashamed by his own words. “I’m worried she’s going crazy, Y/N.”
He’s quiet again, but you can tell he’s about to break. His knee is now bouncing up and down and his breathing has become slightly ragged. Everything from today has been building up, it was only a matter of time before he snapped. You’re also worried about Joyce, a part of you skeptical to believe her, but the little girl you found tonight in the rain? Something was definitely weird about Will’s disappearance, but you’re hesitant to tell Jonathan just yet. For all you know, she could’ve simply been a girl who got lost and will be returned to her family tomorrow. 
You don’t want to worry Jonathan any more than you need to.
“I should’ve been there for him. I shouldn’t have taken that shift.” He gasps out, and like a dam the tears begin to fall. You’re quick to pull him into a hug and he crumbles into you. His body shakes with violent sobs and he clutches at you as if afraid you’ll leave.
“You can’t blame yourself.” You whisper, stroking a hand through his hair. He cries even harder, the force of it almost enough to knock you over, so you situate yourself so that you’re fully on the bed, laying against his pillows, with Jonathan crying into your chest beside you. 
“He’s g-gone.”
“We’ll find him, I promise.” Your own tears threaten to come out, but you force them down. You have to be here for him, he needs you. The only other time Jonathan has so openly cried was when Lonnie left years ago. He’s been holding everything in since then, all those years of looking after his family, taking care of his brother, getting harassed by assholes like Tommy Hagan. 
Neither of you say anything else, and you know that Jonathan needs to let it all out. You soothe him as best as you can, running a hand through his hair, stroking his back, reassuring him over and over again that none of this is his fault until your own voice becomes hoarse. You don’t know how long you stay like this, but sometime during the night Jonathan finally falls asleep, and you follow shortly after him. 
— 
Sunlight streams through Jonathan’s spare bed sheet that he’s pinned over his window, serving as a makeshift curtain, waking you up. You stretch, careful not to wake the boy beside you, and crawl out of the bed. You’re antsy, already knowing that today will be another long day. After grabbing some clothes from your designated drawer and getting dressed, you head into the kitchen and start making a quick breakfast. Just as you’re finishing up, Jonathan comes out of his room, dressed and ready for the day.
Neither of you say anything about the night prior, instead silently working around each other in the kitchen with years of practiced ease. He hands you the salt shaker right when you need it, you grab the pieces of toast that he popped into the toaster, the two of you never once get in each other’s way. You get deja vu, remembering all the times you’ve slept over with Dustin, you and Jonathan making the boys breakfast while they slept in. 
The only indication that last night really happened is a forehead kiss from Jonathan, his lips soft against your head. Out of the two of you, you’re definitely the touchy one, so it’s always a nice surprise when he initiates the touch, and his forehead kisses were a welcome rarity. 
When the plates have been made, Joyce gets up from the couch and stumbles over to the table. You quickly help her sit down, and for the first time since Will’s disappearance you’re able to really look at her. She looks like Jonathan, only worse. The bags under her eyes are darker, her hair is more matted, and you believe she’s still wearing the same shirt you saw her in the night that Will went missing. 
“All right, mom. Breakfast is ready.” Jonathan tries to place her plate on the table, but Joyce stops him, worried about the poster of Will. 
Jonathan gives you a look and you run over to the table, grabbing the poster so that he can set the plate down. 
Joyce gives you a tired smile, “Thank you, Y/N, but I can’t eat.”
“I just need you to eat, mom.” 
“Jonathan’s right, Mrs. Byers. You need to eat, we gotta keep your strength up.” You feel like you’re talking to a child, but in a way, you suppose you are. 
The woman lights a cigarette instead, and faintly you wonder how many she’s had within the last 48 hours; you’ll need to wash your clothes when you get home. She begins to ask Jonathan to go to Xerox to make as many copies of Will’s poster as possible. You sit down in front of her, silently eating, knowing there’s no place for you in this conversation. 
It’s not that the Byers are ashamed that they have little money, but you know it’s rude to listen in. They make do with what they have, and Jonathan has never felt embarrassed with you knowing it. 
“I don’t want you to go alone,” Joyce says, causing you to speak up. 
“I’ll go with him and help hang them up, it’s no problem.” 
Jonathan turns to you. “You have that chem test, remember? I’m not letting you miss that.” 
“Shit…” you bury your face into your hands. You completely forgot about that after finding the little girl last night and dealing with Jonathan. You’ve heard about how impossible the chem exams were, and science has never been your best subject. That was Dustin’s thing, your thing was more humanities. 
“You’re the smartest person I know, you’ll ace the exam,” Jonathan reassures you before turning to his mom. “And I’ll handle the posters, it’s okay.” 
Joyce has been lost in thought during your conversation with her son, only beginning to speak again when she’s asked how many copies will be efficient. Once she starts speaking again, it’s almost like she’s physically unable to stop. She begins to ramble, finally exposing the crumbling woman that you’ve only heard about, now understanding Jonathan’s fears for her. 
“Mom-”
“If we… ten cents-”
“Mom!” Jonathan raises his voice a bit, now grabbing at his mother’s hand. “You can’t get like this, okay?”
The look on Joyce’s face kills you. She looks so lost, ashamed of her behavior, and you cast your head down; this is a private matter. Joyce profusely apologizes to him and all Jonathan can do is gently reassure her that it’s okay. All of this is okay. 
Their tender moment is interrupted by knocking on the front door, revealing Hopper on the other side. His presence makes you uneasy, so you stay in the kitchen and begin to clean up with Jonathan while Joyce attacks him with questions. 
“A little bit of trust here, alright? We’ve been searching all night.” You hear the cop say. Your hand clenches the sponge, rubbing a bit harder at the plate you’re cleaning. If they’ve been searching all night, why are they here now?
“Went all the way to Cartersville.” Ever since Will disappeared, you’ve been building a wall of hope within you that he’ll be found safe and sound. However, with every passing day, with every new situation that occurs, you can feel a piece of the wall collapse. You can feel it now; the search party went all the way to Cartersville.
“And?” Joyce asks. 
“Nothing.” The cry that Joyce lets out causes you to drop the plate you’ve been cleaning, shattering on the floor. You curse, immediately bending down to pick up the pieces. Luckily it didn’t shatter into a million bits, but you still feel horrible for breaking one of their dishes. 
Jonathan bends down as well to help, and the commotion catches Hopper’s attention. He sees you scrambling to clean up the mess and sighs with annoyance. “Does she live here or something?” 
You and Jonathan look at each other, a slight smile on your faces, and only respond to Hopper with a synchronized shrug. You basically do live at the Byers’ at this point, you have been for years now. It was the same for Jonathan: if you weren’t at his house, he was at yours. 
Joyce wipes some of her tears away. “Y/N is family, she’s here to help.” 
Hopper ignores this, instead bringing up the phone call from the night before. Joyce leads him over to the phone, and you join them once you’ve collected the remaining pieces of broken glass. When you see the phone, you can’t help but gasp. Jonathan’s words from last night are accurate, the phone is charred. 
“Storm barbecued this pretty good.” Hopper says.
Joyce waves her arms out, disbelieving. “The storm? You’re saying that that’s not… weird?”
“No, it’s weird.” Hopper begins, but you cut him off. 
“It’s really weird.”
He glares at you. You mumble a quick sorry and back away a bit while Jonathan asks if the call can be traced. Hopper focuses back on the situation at hand, informing him that it isn’t possible and then questions if Joyce even heard Will in the first place. The question makes you cringe, knowing it’ll only make Joyce more agitated and hurt.
“Flo said you just heard some breathing.” 
It’s the way he phrases the question, the way he emphasizes the word “just”, that bothers you. This woman has just lost her kid, what kind of mother wouldn’t know her own child’s breathing?
“Even if it was ‘just’ some breathing, I’d know it was my brother. Will is her son, she’d know better than anyone.” You find yourself saying. The words weren’t meant to leave your mouth, but the appreciative look Joyce casts your way outweighs the fear from Hopper’s glare. 
“It was him. It was Will, and he was scared. Then something-”
“It was probably just a prank call,” Hopper tries to reason with her, causing you to roll your eyes at him. You respect the guy, you do, but could he at least attempt to listen to Joyce?
You excuse yourself before you say anything else, heading back into the kitchen to collect the two posters you and Jonathan made. While the others talk, you grab his things and pack his bag for him. You know he’ll probably skip school today to get the copies done in time, maybe keep an eye on his mom, so you make a mental note to inform him later that you’ll help with putting the fliers up the second you’re done with the exam. He needs someone there for him. 
When you’ve grabbed the last of Jonathan’s things, Lonnie’s name is mentioned. You freeze, standing right outside the hall from them, only a wall between you. If Lonnie is somehow involved in this, you’ll kill him yourself. He was always cruel to Will, even when you were around to witness it. You hate him more than anything in this damn world. 
“It’s been long enough, I’m having him checked out.” Hopper declares, storming out of the house. 
You count to three in your head, and the second you get to three, Jonathan is following after Hopper. You knew he would, hating his father the most out of everyone who has had the displeasure of meeting him. You follow behind him, heading outside to talk to the Chief. 
“Hey, Hopper. Let me go.” 
Hopper takes a drag from his cigarette, facing the two of you. “I’m sorry?”
“To Lonnie’s,” Jonathan says, looking at you for backup.
You do your best to try. “If Will’s there, that means he probably ran away. Cops will scare the poor boy, he’ll think he’s in trouble.”
“And he’ll hide. He’s good at hiding.” Jonathan finishes for you. 
Hopper stares at you both, inhaling more smoke from his cigarette and blowing it in your direction with a curious look in his eyes. “You two are sickening to be near, you know that?”
You and Jonathan share an annoyed look. A kid is missing, and you still have to clarify that you aren’t together? “It’s not like that,” Jonathan says.
“Sure, you know cops are good at detecting lies,” Hopper approaches him now, grabbing his shoulders. For a brief second you’re afraid he’ll hurt him. “And we’re also good at finding, okay? Stay here with your mom. She needs you.” 
Hopper punches at Jonathan’s shoulder before facing you. “And you,” you brace for whatever he’s about to say, knowing you probably aren’t his favorite person at the moment. He points at Jonathan, “He needs you.”
His words hang in the air several minutes after he’s gone. You glance at Jonathan, but he doesn’t meet your eye and instead he goes back inside. You sigh, following after him because it’s what you do. Hopper’s right, he needs you. 
Jonathan’s in the living room, speaking softly to his mom when you enter. You don’t disturb them but rather snatch Jonathan’s keys from the counter and wait for him by the door. Like Joyce said, Xerox opens in about thirty minutes and you have a chem exam to take. If you leave now, you’ll be able to make the copies with him and be back in time before school.
The ride to Xerox is tense, you know Jonathan is upset that he’s been sidelined by Hopper. You also know that he’s torn between wanting to help his mom and staying out of his house as much as possible. If it weren’t for your god damn chem test you’d offer to skip and hide out at your place, but you can’t. Jonathan wouldn’t let you risk your future for him (even though you would, in a heartbeat, a million times over). 
The man at Xerox gives Jonathan a look of pity, clearly recognizing Will’s picture on the poster. It’s your favorite photo of him, smiling with all his teeth and happy as can be. From what you’ve heard, the whole town has been conducting search parties for him. Jonathan ignores the look and asks for the 200 copies to be made. 
It’s just you and him in the store as you wait for the prints to be done. The guy said it’d be about a ten minute wait so you wander around the store. Jonathan clearly is in a no talking mood, so you occupy yourself with whatever you find. You wish you’d brought your backpack to Jonathan’s last night so you could at least study a bit while waiting, but you didn’t. It’d be a miracle if you pass this exam. 
Jonathan wanders around as well, so you give a quick look around and find the employee. He’s standing over the printer when you approach. “I’d like to pay for the copies, please.”
“You can pay after they’re done-”
“No, I can’t let him see,” you point over to Jonathan, who is now looking at some stationary. “Please, just let me pay now so he can yell at me later.” 
The guy gives you a shrug, clearly not getting paid enough to care. “Okay, it’ll be $20. Just leave the money on the counter over there, the prints should be done soon.” 
You nod and do as you’re told, leaving the $20 bill on the counter while Jonathan isn’t looking. He can kill you later, right now you want to make up for not being able to help with hanging them up. There’s literally hundreds to get through, he can’t do that all alone. 
When the posters are done and Jonathan collects them, you wish the worker a good day and then wrap your arms around him and use all your strength to drag your friend into the car. He doesn't fight back at first, too confused by your actions, and you’re almost out the door before he sees the man pocket the money and wave at you. The dots connect in his head and Jonathan begins to fight against you. 
“Y/N, let me pay-”
“Nope. Not happening!”
“We both know I’m stronger-”
“Debatable, honestly, seeing as how we’re almost to your car.”
“Let go!” He tugs harshly as his arm, which you’ve got a secure hold on, causing you to stumble a bit. 
You plant your feet more firmly against the ground and use all your weight to pull the boy forward. You’re a few feet away from the car, just one more solid pull should do the trick. “Stop fighting this, Byers. I’ve already paid-”
“Which you shouldn’t have!”
“Keep fighting and drop all the posters, I dare you.”
Jonathan looks down at the posters in his spare hand, realizing that you’re right. If he doesn’t give in soon, they’ll topple over. He lets out an agitated groan, throwing his head back, and then marches over to the car to unlock it and fling himself into the driver’s seat. “Just get in.” 
You do a small victory dance and hop in the car.
“I hate you.” 
“You love me.” 
He hesitates only for a moment. “God, I hate that I do.” 
You smile, buckling your seatbelt. Jonathan pulls out of the parking lot and begins the drive to school. He’s less tense this time, at least. The small little wrestling match between the two of you seemingly did some good, then. 
When you pull up to school, you once again apologize to Jonathan for being unable to help. He waves you off, understanding. 
“It’s okay, I promise. I can’t have you failing out of high school because of me.”
You roll your eyes. “One test won’t make me become a high school dropout, Jonathan.”
He ruffles your hair, which you slap him for. “You can join me after, okay? Good luck, bug.” 
“Fine, but I’m taking some posters with me so I can hang up on my way to my locker.” 
“Deal.”
You run to your locker, flinging it open and letting out a sigh of relief when you spot your chem cards. Honestly, you really should’ve prepared better for your little sleepover at the Byers. You glance at the watch on your wrist, noting that you have roughly fifteen minutes to memorize all the elements in the periodic table as well as some chemistry definitions. 
Just peachy. 
You tie your hair up so you can focus better and grab the note cards. If you review the cards as you walk to class, you can save at least three minutes of studying time. You tuck the few remaining posters of Will under your arm and begin to head to your class, getting absorbed in all the elements and words. As you’re skimming a card about protein being K, you run into Nancy and Barb, who also seem to have the same idea as you.
“Oh, hey Y/N.” Nancy greets you, Barb waving to you as well. 
They’re being nice, so you try to make conversation. “Studying for Kaminsky’s test?”
They nod at you and Nancy sighs, “Yeah, his exams are the worst.”
You laugh a bit, for once on the same page as her. “I know. I spent last night at Jonathan’s, I completely forgot about the test until this morning. I’m screwed.”
Barb raises her eyebrows at you while Nancy suddenly looks sad. “Oh, I’m sorry about Will. I know you and him are close.” 
“Yeah, it must be hard taking care of Jonathan right now.” Barb voices. 
You give them both an awkward smile. “Thanks, I guess? It’s just, there’s still hope, so…” 
The three of you stand there as your voice trails off. It’s painfully awkward. While you’ve known Nancy since you were 12, and at some point you even called her a close friend of yours, the second you entered high school she became distant. You never blamed her for it, people simply grow up and grow apart. Now you only ever interact with her if it concerns the boys. 
Trying to ease the awkwardness, you hold up a poster and offer it to them, but Steve snatches it from your grasp.
“Henderson, didn’t know you were also a little know-it-all. Why don’t you share your cheat sheet with the rest of us?” He says, casting a teasing look your way. It isn’t until he inspects the piece of paper that he finally notices that it’s a missing poster for a child, not a review sheet. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”
You snatch the poster back from him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”
His friends laugh, but Steve has a bit of heart to look guilty, so you count that as something. His shame doesn’t last long though and the goofy and sweet boy who made sure you were okay after almost hitting you with his car is gone. 
Steve plays off the situation as if it were nothing. “Let me make it up to you, Henderson. I know you’re probably stressed out of your mind dealing with boyfriend troubles because of Bill-”
“His name is Will,” you grit out, remembering now why you dislike Steve so much. Everything was about impressing his friends, and while you can sympathize with him, it doesn’t give him an excuse to be an asshole. 
“Right, Will. Anyways, I was just about to inform Nance over here that my dad has left town on a conference and my mom’s gone with him, ‘cause, ya know, she doesn’t trust him.” 
“Good call,” Tommy says, and you glare at him. 
Steve carries on. “So, are you guys in?”
“In for what?” Nancy asks. 
“No parents, a big house?” Carol says, as if Nancy is a giant idiot.
You feel bad for her being treated so poorly by her boyfriend’s friends, so you lean in and whisper, “A party, Nancy.” Then you look at Steve. “And no, I’ll pass.” 
Steve pouts. “Can’t leave loverboy alone for a couple hours?”
You scoff, shoving the poster against his chest, using more force than probably necessary, but the satisfying grunt he lets out pleases you. “If I didn’t know you I’d say you sound jealous. Unfortunately, I do know you, and that’s exactly why I’m not interested.”
“Meow,” says Carol as she and Tommy laugh. 
You ignore her and push past the group to get to class. You’ve wasted enough time, you have to study. Steve lets you, hurt by your words, but tries to play it off, instead focusing his attention on Jonathan up ahead hanging up some posters. You both see him at the same time and as you start to approach him, you hear Steve and his group mock him. 
“God, that’s depressing.” Steve says, and you’ve never wanted to hit a man more than you do right now. 
You glance at Nancy, trying to convey your disappointment in her. She’s a nice girl, she shouldn’t be with an idiot like Harrington. Who the hell makes fun of a guy with a missing brother? Nancy doesn’t meet your eye, which pleases you. She should feel guilty. 
As you near Jonathan, Nancy calls after you to wait up. You listen, mostly because you’re surprised she even followed, and together you walk up to him. “Hey, bee. I thought you’d be long gone by now.” 
Jonathan looks up at your voice, surprised when he sees Nancy next to you. He gives you a look that you conclude is a what is she doing here? look and you can only shrug as if to say I have no clue how I ended up in this situation. 
Nancy doesn’t see this exchange. “Hey,”
“Hey,” Jonathan responds, still confused. 
Nancy looks at you uncertainly, but you refuse to leave. Screw your exam, if she even considers voicing her boyfriend’s opinions to Jonathan then you’ll personally see that she fails alongside you. “I just… I wanted to say, you know… I’m sorry, about everything.” 
Oh, she’s being nice. You’re still unimpressed, but Jonathan motions to you to stop staring her down, so you reluctantly listen. 
“Everyone’s thinking about you.”
You all turn towards Steve and his group, who are clearly listening in, and you snort at her words. “Right, obviously.” 
“Y/N.” Jonathan warns. 
“Sorry.” 
“It sucks.” Nancy continues, and you have to give her some credit. You’re being a blatant bitch, but she’s still trying. You feel a bit bad now, which honestly makes you dislike her a bit more. Damn morals. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, he’s a smart kid.” 
The bell rings, ending Nancy’s little monologue. “I have to go, chemistry test. Y/N, want to walk together?” 
She really makes it impossible to be a bitch to her. “Sure, just give me a second.”
You lean close to Jonathan and lower your voice. “Good luck with your dad, bee.” 
“How did you know I’d go-”
“Because of course you would. Now go, give him hell for me, will ya?”
Jonathan nods, relieved you aren’t pushing the topic. You know that Lonnie is a sore topic for him, for the entire Byers family, really. You only knew Lonnie for a year or so before Joyce left him, but you’ll never forget his spiteful words and the bruises that Jonathan tried to hide from you. He needs to do this alone, father and son. 
You see Nancy watching, and just to spite her you kiss Jonathan’s cheek, relishing in the fact that she looks away, and you wish him luck once again before following her to class. 
The test isn’t as bad as you’d feared, and the rest of the day goes by with relative ease. You don’t see much of Steve and his group and you’re thankful for that. Nancy also keeps her distance, no longer attempting to be all buddy buddy with you. A part of you feels bad about that, because honestly the thought of someone thinking you hate them makes you feel physically ill, but as long as Nancy is with someone like Steve, there’s not much you can do about that. 
After school you stop by all of Jonathan’s classes and collect the work he’s missed over the last few days; he has enough to worry about, so you figured you could help do some assignments for him. It’s nothing unusual, truth to be told. There was a time you were out for two weeks straight due to the flu one year and Jonathan did every one of your assignments, so it’s about time you returned the favor. 
Once you have what you need, you hang up the remaining flyers in your bag and begin your journey to work. You’ve used up all of your sick days helping the Byers, and while Mrs. Waters has insisted on letting you have more time off, you figured the distraction would be good for you. Jonathan will want some space after confronting his dad, and as much as you hated Lonnie, something told you he had nothing to do with Will. 
Just when your shift is almost done, your coworker, this young kid named Alex who you’re honestly surprised can legally work, informs you that your mom is on the phone and wants to speak with you. You stack the remaining books in your hands and thank him, walking over to pick up the call.
“Hey, mom. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, sweetie! I was just calling to tell ya that Dusty is at the Wheeler’s tonight for dinner, so my plan for ribs won’t work without him. I was wondering if darling Johnny could feed you tonight? I know the two of you have that little sneaky food game.” 
Your posture, once slumped over and uninterested, now straightens out. Why the hell is Dustin having dinner at the Wheeler’s? They never do that. “Uh, sure mom that won’t be an issue.”
Your mom lets out a sigh of relief. “Bless that Jonathan! I’ve always liked him…”
Your mom may be the biggest Jonathan supporter you’ve ever met. “Yeah, he’s your favorite. I know,” you shift a bit to catch Alex’s attention, mouthing to him that you need to leave work early. “Hey, did Dustin by chance say how long he’ll be at the Wheeler’s? I can swing by and pick him up after my shift.” 
“Oh, I think he’s staying the night there. He mentioned something about Mike not finishing his part of their little science project?”
They’re calling the little girl a science project now? Boys are so typical. “Oh, I see. Well, I gotta get back to work, mom. I’ll be home late tonight.”
Your mom wishes you goodbye and warns you not to be out too late. You hum, already trying to figure out the quickest route to the Wheeler’s house. You can’t say you’re surprised that Mike didn’t follow the plan, but you also can’t say you were prepared for this either. 
Alex comes back with your boss and you quickly make up a lie about not feeling well. Mrs. Waters gives you a pitying look and tells you to go. You’re incredibly grateful for her, she’s like a grandmother to you and has always been so kind. 
You quickly bike to Mike’s house, going over a grand speech in your head for the boys. Logistically speaking, you’re not sure if they can even harbor the little girl in his basement. Would it be kidnapping? Could kids even kidnap other kids? You aren’t sure and you definitely aren’t willing to find out. 
You arrive at the house just as Nancy and Barb are pulling out of the driveway, presumably to Steve’s grand house party. They wave at you awkwardly and you don’t have it in you to wave back. You park your bike next to their doorstep and knock on the door. 
“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Mrs. Wheeler asks after opening the door. 
“Oh, I was just wondering if I could hang out with the boys tonight? Jonathan’s busy and I promised Dustin I’d help with their campaign.”
Mrs. Wheeler cocks her head at you. “But I thought there was a special assembly at the school for Will? Nancy and Barb just left for it.” 
You feel your blood boil a bit. There was no assembly for Will at your school, and it was really damn low of Nancy to use his disappearance as a cover story for her stupid party. She’s known Will since he was practically a baby. You have no idea how someone could be so unaffected by a missing child, let alone one who has been at your house every damn weekend for years now. 
“Oh, that!” You force yourself to remain calm; there isn’t time to snitch on Nancy, Mrs. Wheeler would only have more questions for you. “Yeah, I’m, uh, skipping it. Jonathan doesn’t want to go, so after he’s back from his errands I’m heading over to his place to, you know, comfort him?” 
The woman stares at you for a second, trying to determine if there are any lies to your words. You’ve never been the best liar, but being the oldest Henderson child has unfortunately prepared you for being quick on your feet when needed. 
“Well, come on then. They boys just went downstairs, and if you can please remind them to bring the plate of food back up here I’d really appreciate it.”
You thank Mrs. Wheeler and let yourself in. Her words have all but solidified your suspicions: Mike kept the girl. 
When you descend the basement steps, it’s almost comical how the kids scramble to hide the girl like little cockroaches. They run around and Dustin screams something about covering her before the poor girl is being manhandled into a sheet as Mike screams at Lucas and Dustin to calm down. 
“Guys! It’s just me! Jesus!” You shout, shoving past Mike to rush over to the girl and free her from the sheets. She looks more frightened than usual, but at least she’s alive. 
“God, why am I always the one you push?”
You shush Mike, smoothing back the girl’s hair and offering her a reassuring smile. “Remember me, sweetheart?”
The girl nods and softly says, “Y/N.”
“Very good. I’m going to scream at my brother real quick, so why don’t you cover your ears for me so you don’t get too frightened?” 
“Wait, what-”
The minute her ears are covered, you turn to Dustin and begin screaming. “Are you brain dead and not understand the words ‘tell me if anything weird happens’ or do you simply lack the appropriate empathy needed for a concerned sister?”
Dustin ducks his head in shame. “Y/N, look-”
“No! I’m all for helping you guys with your adventures and whatever, but Will went missing and then she appears and Mike,” you turn to him and he hides behind a frightened Lucas. “You said you’d stick to your plan. Now tell me, did you?”
Mike shakes his head, his eyes wide. Dustin looks no better as he cowers behind the others. Lucas simply shrugs, knowing that this would happen. You never, ever, yell at the boys; the few times you have in the past, all hell had broken loose. 
“Y/N-”
“Zip it, Henderson. I’m so pissed off at you right now and if you want to make it to thirteen I suggest you keep quiet.” 
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now, why don’t you guys catch me up on what you’ve so sweetly kept hidden from me.” It’s worded as a question, but the boys know better than to deny you. 
You sit on the ground so that you’re next to the girl and then motion for the three boys in front of you to start speaking. They look at Mike, giving him a nudge, and he hesitantly steps forward to begin speaking. “Her name is El.”
The girl, El, looks up at you and smiles. You return the smile and knock your shoulder against hers in a playful manner. “Nice to meet you, can I ask what El is short for?”
“Eleven,” she says, and you want to question the name further but the look on Mike’s face stops you. Now is not the time, you guess. 
“El, she’s… different.” Mike continues, looking around nervously. He’s acting as if someone could break in any second and snipe you guys, and a part of you doesn’t doubt it can happen. “She has these powers, like, mind control powers.”
You snort, unable to stop yourself. El looks at you, looking unoffended, seemingly expecting this reaction. However, Mike groans at you. “Y/N, this is serious. She-she knows about Will.”
At this, your smile fades and you feel an overwhelming sense of hope take over you. You find your arms wrapping around El before you can control yourself and you give her a tight hug. She stiffens in your arms and you immediately pull away. “I’m sorry, I just… sorry.”
She laughs a bit, softly saying that it’s okay. 
“Do you really know Will? Where he is?” You ask, almost too scared to say the words out loud. If she’s telling the truth… you shake your head in an attempt to dispel any false hope. You don’t know this girl, she could be lying. 
Before El can say anything else, Mike speaks for her. “She does, but there’s bad men out there who want to hurt her. I think they’re after Will, too.” 
You freeze. “Bad men?”
“Yes, this is why we didn’t want to tell you!”
“I wanted to tell her,” Lucas says, which causes Mike to glare at him.
You wave your arms at the two boys, breaking up their fight. “Mike, what do you mean by bad men? Honey,” you look at El, “did someone hurt you? Are you in danger? Should I call the police?”
“No!” All three boys shout at once. 
You look at them, at the genuine fear in their eyes, and sigh, “Okay, if you can give me a good reason not to call the cops, I won’t.”
“Did you not hear the part about El having powers?” Dustin asks. 
“Gee, Dustin. You’re right! It’s like her having powers is totally believable and reassuring to the situation at hand!”
“I can show you,” El speaks up. 
You all face her now. “You can?” 
She nods at you, getting up and grabbing your backpack that you threw on the ground when you walked in. She rustles through it while you and the boys look at one another. After a few seconds, El grabs one of your comic books and places it on the table. She looks at you and tilts her head, indicating for you to sit down next to her; you do as you’re told.
El straightens out your comic and then closes her eyes, going completely still. The air around you shifts and you can practically feel the static electricity encasing you; the hair on your arms stand up. The pages of the comic begin to flick up, fluttering as if someone is thumbing through them in rapid succession. You watch as the Spidey panels flash before your eyes, the pages flying faster and faster until it becomes almost frightening to be near. Then, once it gets to its last page, the comic flies up into the air and hovers for a few seconds, right in front of your face. 
“Holy shit,” you breathe out, your eyes wide. 
Just as quickly as it began, the comic drops back onto the table. You look up at El and see that her nose is now bleeding, which rips you back to reality. The chair scrapes against the ground as you get up to help her, dabbing at the blood with a tissue that had been laying on the table. 
“Do you believe us now?” Mike asks, a smug look on his face. 
You gently wipe away the remaining blood from El’s face, looking her in the eye and directing your words to her. “I’m listening, sweetheart. What can you do to help us find Will?” 
El smiles, pleased to have earned your trust, and you get the feeling that this little girl is the most powerful thing in all of Hawkins, maybe even the world. At her request, Mike places his DnD board on the table and arranges the pieces for El to use. She sits down and closes her eyes once more.
Lucas gives you a doubtful look. “What’s the weirdo doing?”
You flick his head, not enjoying the name calling. Honestly, you thought you raised these boys better than that. 
El seems to accomplish whatever she was doing and picks up the wizard piece, murmuring, “Will.” 
You feel your heart stop. Will always insisted on being the wizard whenever they played the game. He was Will the Wise, forever and always. El couldn’t have simply guessed that, and you know it’s her-
“Superpowers,” Dustin finishes your thought for you. The two of you exchange a glance and you notice the slight glee in his eyes. Under different circumstances, you’d also find this all pretty cool. 
Mike sits next to El and begins to ask some questions about where she last saw Will. She gives him a look that you can’t quite decipher before swiping her arm across the table and spilling the pieces onto the floor. She then flips the board over, having it now face upside down, and places Will’s piece back down. 
You knit your brows together, trying to follow along. El’s movements are methodical and carefully planned, being unable to find the right words due to her poor speech, and you try to piece together the information you’ve been given. 
“I don’t understand,” Mike says, being extra gentle with El. You’ve never seen him so soft spoken before and you’re grateful at least one of the boys doesn’t view her as some monster. Which reminds you that you need to have a conversation with Dustin about respecting women, but for now you’ll hold off.
“Hiding.” says El. 
He’s good at hiding, Jonathan’s words echo in your head. 
“Will is hiding?” 
El nods, now looking more nervous. You can tell that Mike is getting closer to information that she doesn’t want him near, which finally causes you to ask the question that’s been heavily on your mind. “From the bad men?”
Now El gives a slight shake of the head, and Mike presses on. “Then from who?”
Without saying anything, El places a second piece onto the board right in front of Will’s. It’s a piece you’re unfamiliar with, with two snake-like heads that loom over the small wizard piece. Whatever it is, you know it isn’t good judging the way Mike, Dustin, and Lucas look at each other in fear.
You turn to Dustin and whisper, “What’s that piece?”
Your brother puts his hands behind his head and sighs deeply, a new resigned look on his face. He looks as if he’s just aged thirty years, which you find a bit dramatic. “It’s the Demogorgon.”
“The Demo-what?” The name sounds familiar, but you can’t remember anything about it.
Mike looks at you and for once his voice holds no annoyance when he says, “There’s a lot we still have to catch you up on.”
– 
Your head is spinning as you bike to Jonathan’s with all the new information you’ve just received. Demogorgons, magical vortexes, kids with damn superpowers. It’s all a lot for you to take in, and while you fully believe that El is something entirely different from a normal little girl, how can you be sure that it’s connected to Will? While his disappearance still confuses you, it’s illogical to jump to supernatural conclusions. 
Dustin had begged you to let him spend the night at Mikes in order to keep talking to El, and you only agreed because you figured you’d be at Jonathan’s again tonight anyways. He’s been MIA all day and you’re worried as usual, but you made him and Mike swear to you that they’d stay put in the house. At least this way they’re in one place, so if they screw around they’ll be easier to find. 
When you arrive at the Byers home you notice that Jonathan’s car isn’t in the driveway, which only confuses you further. Where the hell is he? You gave him all day to deal with Lonnie and cool off, trusting that he wouldn’t do anything stupid for twelve hours, and yet… 
You fear he’s done something stupid. 
You don’t have time to think too much about Jonathan’s absence because a frantic Joyce runs out the door screaming. She runs straight past you and into her car, and the house begins to light up like a christmas tree. You can hear The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go, a song that Will once had on repeat for three weeks straight, and you can feel the same static electricity in the air that you felt when El used her powers in front of you. 
Joyce suddenly gets out of the car and spots you, pointing towards her house. “You see that too?”
You swallow. “Yeah,”
She nods, as if your confirmation is all she needs to determine her sanity, and then marches inside. You stand in the yard, motionless. You’re terrified, and after learning about El tonight, you don’t have it in you to discover any other supernatural beings in Hawkins at the moment. Sighing, you follow after the woman because Jonathan isn’t home and someone needs to talk her down from whatever panic attack the flashing lights have inevitably caused. 
“Mrs. Byers-” 
“Y/N, you can’t tell me there isn’t something,” Joyce waves her hands in front of her face, almost grasping at the air, “weird about all of this. That was Will’s song, the lights were flashing in Will’s room, something came out of Will’s wall-”
“Something came out of his wall?”
“Yes! I’m not… I promise I’m not crazy, okay? You saw it, please tell me you saw it.”
You bite your lip, now thinking about El. You swore to Mike you wouldn’t tell anyone about her, and honestly you’re not sure that you should tell Joyce about her right now. You’re still unsure if El is being honest with you, and you can’t just give the woman false hope for her son. It’d kill you if you were wrong about El. But seeing the lights, hearing the music, the thing in the wall… There’s something that she’s not telling you. 
“Mrs. Byers… I’m not quite sure what I saw, but we just had a bad storm and it could be faulty wiring.” 
Joyce slumps her shoulders, frustrated that you aren’t conspiring with her. You just… you can’t. Not yet. Not before you figure out what the hell El is doing in Hawkins. You refuse to worsen Joyce’s already chronic anxiety and paranoia; Jonathan would never forgive you if you fed into her delusions, but it kills you to lie to her. 
“Look, I do think that something is weird about this entire situation, “ Joyce’s face lights up, but you’re quick to add, “however, there’s no proof. You, I mean-Mrs. Byers, you’ve seen things in the past. You’re stressed, and anxious, and all the other synonyms.” 
The woman lets a few tears drop from her eyes, now embarrassed. “Maybe you’re right. I-I’m sorry, honey. I just-”
You grab her hand. “I know,”
Her smile is brittle, a ghost of the once beautiful smile she’d give you, and your heart breaks for her. 
After your conversation, Joyce excuses herself to her room. She looks even more exhausted than before, so you leave her alone and hole yourself up in Jonthan’s room. 
You glance at your watch and note the late hour; you’re starting to worry now. Jonathan didn’t mention anything besides Lonnie and the posters, so you don’t know what else he could be doing so late. He wouldn’t go searching for Will without you. 
You wake up to Jonathan returning an hour or so later, apparently having fallen asleep while waiting for him. 
“Y/N?” His voice is gruff and surprised. 
You groan and rub your eyes. “Turn the light off, bee.”
He doesn’t. “What are you doing here?”
The tone of his voice wakes you up a bit, making you sit up and look at him more clearly. His shoulders are tense, his eyes are hiding something, and his overall demeanor is hard to read. “I had something to tell you, but is everything okay?”
“You couldn't have waited until tomorrow? Y/N, this is my house, just… just get out.”
“I’m sorry?” You’re confused by his behavior, now starting to become a bit defensive and hurt by his dismissal. 
“You can’t just let yourself in whenever you please.” Jonathan puts his camera on his desk, still refusing to meet your eyes.
“Jonathan, we literally have always let ourselves into each other’s houses whenever we please.” 
He rolls his eyes at you and rips off his jacket, throwing it at you. “Get out!”
You catch the jacket before it hits you in the face. “What the hell, Jonathan!” 
“Listen, I get that you think you’re a part of the family, but you’re not. You’ve been here for days now, it’s getting old.” 
His words cut through you and leave vicious wounds against your skin. He doesn’t mean that, he can’t mean that. You and him were family. He’s never, ever insinuated anything less. He wouldn’t dare. Your Jonathan would never act like this to you, and the only time he’s ever been this cruel to you was when he accidentally dropped Lonnie’s last beer in the fridge and was too embarrassed and ashamed to ask for help; he’d shown up with bruises later that night.
Then it hits you. He did something, something that makes him feel guilty; he keeps glancing at his camera. You soften your voice, “Bee, what did you do?”
He whips around, now yelling. “Nothing! Just get the hell out of my house! It’s getting pathetic!” 
You swallow back the angry tears that build in your throat. Fine. Whatever. Let him be a raging bitch after everything you’ve done for him these last few days. 
“Fine, I will.” Grabbing your backpack you snatch the assignments you were supposed to give Jonathan and slam them against his chest. “Here’s all your fucking assignments, by the way.” 
He seems to come back to himself, blinking away the anger and shame. “Bug…”
“You don’t get to call me that.” And with that, you don’t spare Jonathan another glance. 
– 
When you get home, the house is eerily quiet. Dustin is at Mike’s and your mom leaves you a note saying that she’s spending the night at your aunt’s. Great. Looks like it’s just you and Mews tonight then. 
After everything that’s happened tonight, you never found time to eat dinner, and your stomach is loudly growling. You drop your stuff in your room and then reheat some leftovers, feeling like a pathetic child. You know that Jonathan didn’t mean what he said, but the words had come too easily to him to have just been a way to dodge his guilt. There had been some truth to them. Maybe you were pathetic for always fretting over him.
Dinner is quiet tonight. 
You wait for the phone to ring, for Jonathan to call you and apologize, but the call never comes. 
You’ve never felt so alone before.
-
⌑ series masterlist
⌑ if you would like to be added/removed from my taglist, just let me know :)
255 notes · View notes
ncteez · 9 months
Note
hi i’m very excited for the sleepover! can i request 38 with yeonjun from the prompt list
Tumblr media
yeonjun + “I want to see you, want to watch you come.” 
wordcount: 3.5k
tags: camboy!yeonjun, cam sex obv, dirty talk, masturbation, implied anal but not in detail nor is it related to reader & yeonjun’s interaction. use of: y/n, baby, babe, pretty
note: *heavy breathing* not proof read sorry lmao
Tumblr media
~
You weren’t exactly the type to watch dude’s jerk off online. Really you aren’t. You are, however, the type to watch Eboyfantasy jerk off though. He kind of woke something up inside of you. 
Given, in terms of porn there’s not a whole lot you hadn’t already seen and fucking avoided. Live cams and their little cash grab tricks were your least favorite and most avoided, until the cash grab got you…And it got you bad.
At this point, you don’t care how much money you’ve spent watching this stranger pleasure himself. He’s given you some of the best orgasms you’ve ever had, alone in your room, as he speaks out to a general audience. It got to the point where, you know, yeah, you made that account to watch more than just the public show. That was your first orgasm after your initial interest in the strikingly beautiful man spread out on camera with his loose, ripped up t-shirt covering what everyone wanted to see. 
You watched, and then you started typing, thirsting much like everyone else was. Wanting to be the “you’re not like other girls” girl for him, but ultimately, always being just like the other girls and men typing dirty words to him. 
Those words surely didn’t get him off, but the praise. Oh yeah, that did something. You could see the way he would close his eyes when the chat was doing nothing for him, relying on his own hand and fuck-toys to get him there. You could definitely see how his eyes would stay glued to the chat, open and shining when there was praise and money though. Things like, “So pretty, you sound so pretty like this.” or “If i send you $300 worth of coins, would you say my name?”
He always said those names, but it was never your name. That was too personal for some 1k viewers to hear from a pair of slack, moaning lips. It was something you wanted so badly at this point though. Spending half of your paycheck to keep him in that lavish bed, with all of those expensive toys to fuck into and be fucked by. 
Safe to say, you felt about as pathetic as he sounded every single time he drenched himself in his own cum. Even safer to say when you realized his recent update, claiming to offer private shows for a limited time, you felt pathetically aroused at the idea. 
Limited time, for a very limited man, with your limited ass bank account. 
God, the hours of overtime were so worth it, you think, as you sit here in front of your laptop. Unsure of what to expect, but trying to be prepared for your name to finally sound from those lips. Six hundred dollars for this was not a hard bargain when he comes on the screen, waving at you with a polite smile and a small nod. 
“One second babe, let me just grab a few things.”
You politely nod, realizing he definitely didn’t see that shit considering you’re not on camera. 
You: take your time, we have an hour!
That exclamation mark looks stupid, but it was a better option than using a fucking emoji. 
“So sweet and understanding, I should have been better prepared. You’re only my third private show, I’m not so good with someone else’s schedule–” He giggles, stepping off camera to presumably grab something. “I wouldn’t mind if you were a little annoyed with me, you know.”
You: oh? you’re into that?
You: you seemed to like praise, i didn’t want to step over a boundary.
His face comes into view as he reads, smiling with a breathy chuckle. 
“Observant, huh? I’m very adventurous. Sometimes getting everything I want can be a little boring.” 
You pause, staring at him on your screen and didn’t realize that you’d ever want to play a part for him like this. You expect him to jerk off as usual, dirty talk, and simply moan your name. But it appears he is actually putting some effort into it. 
“You didn’t mention in your request what you wanted to see? Does this mean I can decide how to fuck myself for you?”
God, the heat in your cheeks. The way your stomach flips each time you realize he’s talking to you and not a general audience. 
You: i just like it when you feel good. Would love to see how you do it when you’re not putting on a show. 
Another chuckle from him, and honestly, you’re kicking your feet out of fondness at him and his bright little smile, with his bright messy hair, and his pretty fingers. 
“You want me to just– jerk off like normal?” He tilts his head with a slight smirk. “You paid six hundred dollars to watch me finish in ten minutes when we’ve got an hour because when I’m not on cam, and i’m not getting paid, it’s just a quick cumanddone?”
Well, no. Of course not. 
You: I paid 600 dollars for you to use my name. 
“Is that what you want? Give me your name then,” He pauses, letting his loose shirt fall down his shoulder as he places a bottle of lube down onto the bed. “I’ll make it sound good. I promise.” He boasts himself up, pulling his pinky up to the camera and looking into it with doe-eyes. 
Something inside of you clicks, feeling nervous and kind of embarrassed. You can barely bear to look at the way his eyes go to your messages as you type them out at lightning speed. 
You: I’ve never done this before so I don’t know how to ask for things, you might have to help me.
You: my name is y/n. 
You: i just feel good when you do and it feels weird to say that to you one on one
“Oh, I’ll make you feel good babe,” He smiles again, lying back on his bed and presenting to you the bulge in his boxer briefs. “I’m honored to be your first.” 
Your eyes actually devour this man and the way he glances up at the camera with cheeky charm and then back down at himself, inspecting how hard he’s gotten and how hard he plans to get. 
You find yourself typing, then erasing, then typing, then erasing in this short span of silence. Of course, for him it’s entirely silent save for the music he seems to play every time he’s on camera. For you though, it’s too quiet and the air feels heavy as you watch him work that six hundred dollars out of your bank account. 
Given, he could genuinely just lay like this, with his lazy fingers caressing across his length before dragging up his chest and lifting the shirt slightly more. 
“You’re shy, I can tell.” He eventually explains, noting the lack of typing from you and probably the large amount of staring. “What made you start watching me?” 
You pause, still watching the way his movements remain lazy as he speaks to you. 
You: you just looked really pretty in the thumbnail.
“I bet you looked just as pretty watching me,” He looks down at himself, grabbing his length through the fabric and letting out a sigh of relief. “Wanted it to be you, didn’t you?.” He adds, looking straight into the camera.
And it’s normal for him, he thinks. Wondering what his viewers look like and the ratio of how many he would actually let touch him if given the chance. He gets off to the idea of being watched, gets off to the idea of someone shyly watching, and of course, gets off on the idea of someone so docile, like you, paying such a sum just to get him to moan a specific name. 
Surely, a lot of his followers are not quite up to his standard. Most of them are lonely, unable to find partners, or too socially awkward to talk to an interest outside of a paid sex-stream. He really does wonder though, how many of his viewers use his as a guilty pleasure. Working their day job as if they’re not dirty talking a computer screen in a darkened bedroom. 
“Right, babe?” He tilts his head, looking into the camera.
He’s right. 
Is it a parasocial relationship if he’s moaned your name various times through various sessions? Is it really one-sided when he asks you through the camera, drowsy voice evident and chest drenched in his own cum that, maybe, he’s looking forward to the next show? 
Are you thinking too much into it? 
Perhaps it’s the money, or perhaps he really meant it last time when he mentioned wanting to try something new if you come back to him. That something new was chuckled out of him with deep breaths of post-orgasm bliss. “I’d like to see you next time, if you’re okay with that?” 
He really thought that by suggesting that, you’d never come back. And no, he doesn’t typically ask his viewers to reveal themselves because time and time again it’s happened without his requesting it, and time and time again it has been insanely disappointing. 
You can probably imagine that he butters up all of his viewers like this, but that isn’t the case at all. What you don’t know is that, yeah, he gets a lot of private shows but none of the viewers are as polite as you. They don’t type in a way that makes them seem small, they request a lot out of him. But you, you’re really just here to enjoy the show and he can’t help but feel that like, yeah, maybe he wants to enjoy a show too. 
It felt too one sided, which is rare for him to think. Usually it’s all about him, but he’s truly made it about you. Asking what you want from him and only receiving a polite “What did you have in mind this time?” 
Is it so weird that his horny brain desperately wants to erase his curiosity about the other person on the other side of the screen? Probably.
But then, he gets that little email. The one with your name in it, paying full price yet again despite his insistence on giving you discount codes. He smiles to himself, glancing around the small shop and pretending that the job he works during the day surely pays his living compared to, well, you. 
He doesn’t even read the message because he knows damn well that you don’t place any specific instructions. You simply send money, and wait for him at the appointed time. Under the implication of what he said last time though, wanting to see you this time? He wonders if you took this week-long period to decide if you wanted to or not. 
The show is set for the next day at eight in the evening. A bit early, considering he gets off of work at six tomorrow. He won't have a whole lot of time to eat his dinner and clean up for it, but he will make it work.  
That, he does. Rushing home the next day and immediately throwing himself into the shower to get the smell of spilled drinks off of him. He makes a quick snack just to get him through too, and within a perfect time frame, he’s at his set up, waiting for the clock to pass the last five minutes before he will need to be emailing you that private link to join. 
He feels a little silly acting like this though. Normally, he would decline a show that makes him rush through his day. Normally, he’s not reaching out to see who the person he’s been fucking himself for is. Normally, his heart isn't racing at the idea that he’s either going to be real fucking disappointed tonight, or real fucking turned on. 
Send link.
And now, he waits, and waits. Honestly, the span of seconds between 8:00pm and 8:01pm was a bit too long for his liking, but you join, and once again, you do not type before he speaks. 
“I didn’t think you’d come back this time,” He smiles as he says your name to you, feeling his insides shake a little bit. “And it’s officially our tenth show, so we should celebrate!” 
You’re quite literally panicked upon seeing him again. His hair is a different color this time, but still just as pretty. His lips are especially plump today, and his eyes are shining much like they always do. You, on the other hand, are sitting here in your brand new fucking pair of lingerie, with your hair and face all made up just in case he asks again to see you. 
Because maybe that means he will moan your name even louder. Or maybe, you know, he’ll like your name a little more. 
You: celebrate how? 
“I dunno,” He shrugs looking around the room before getting up and closer to the camera. “I’d still like to see who matches the name I continuously fuck myself to.”
A wave of arousal flows through you. His confidence never failing to minimize your own. Even if this is your tenth show, you think you’ll always feel seen by him despite never seeing you. 
“Would you be okay with that?” He backs away from the camera now, presenting himself to you much like he always did. Lying back, propped up on pillows, hand gripping his length from under thin fabric. “I just want to see who makes me this hard simply by requesting me.” 
Another wave runs through you. 
“If you’re too shy though, babe, it’s okay.” He smiles reassuringly. “I’d be happy to show you how much I like you anyway.” His grip against his length grows tighter. 
You: i’ll show you.
Honestly, you thought it would take much more effort on your part to admit that you’re interested in his reaction to you. Plus, you’ve spent so much money on him, and you didn’t spend even more to have this set of lingerie go unnoticed by him. 
“Yeah?” He smiles wider than you’ve ever seen. A crooked look on his face, blinking bashfully at the camera. “I’ll send a request to see you then, is that okay?” 
You freeze a bit at the thought that, as much as you want to show him, you’re still fucking shy.
“Would you rather let me hear you first?” He offers now, leaning forward to his set up and darting his eyes across the screen. 
You: i would feel better if it’s just my voice first. 
He nods and immediately you get the notification that he’s requesting to hear you. 
“Hi baby,” He says after you accept, listening hard and preparing for what you’re going to sound like. Upon you saying nothing though, he continues. “So shy still?” 
You work up the courage. 
“Hi,” You start, suddenly needing to cough, or choke, or die, really. “I’m sorry, this is another thing i’ve never really done before.”
Good lord the softness that comes with that voice could only belong to a person he would absolutely fuck himself to on or off camera.
“Such a sweet voice.” He says, trailing off a bit as he leans himself back in position and this time, immediately trails his fingers down his pants. “After all this time, this is what she sounds like?”
The heat pooling at the apples of your cheeks is almost painful. It feels sore almost with the way he compliments you without issue. 
“You must sound so, so good, moaning.”
God, you forgot how to talk. You forgot how to breathe. 
“It’s okay, just watch me.” He reassures your lack of speaking, clinging to that single sentence you gave to him before letting his thoughts run wild at what your tone would sound like hiccupping moans through deep thrusts. 
You must feel so embarrassed, and that’s hot. You’re not as embarrassing as he is, already with a pathetic and leaking cock twitching against his fingers for more of the touch, and more of your voice. He holds his fingers back a bit, nearly whimpering at the situation before his hips chase up and into his hand. 
You’re a little bit shocked watching him, appearing far more desperate than he normally is. 
“You look–” You start, taking a small breath to encourage yourself to continue. “So good right now.”
“Mm,” He hums, one arm reaching somewhere off camera to grab his presumed favorite pocket pussy. The one you always seem to respond well to because of the way he fucks it. “Gonna show you something.”
God, he always has something to show you and you never get fucking tired of it. 
You watch him, for the first time not having to lube up his toy. He removes his shirt, and tugs his briefs down to his ankles before sitting himself up and instantly sliding the toy down on him. You watch his lips quiver, biting slightly and reddening his lips further than normal. You watch the way his legs writhe at the sudden pleasure, and the way his eyebrows furrow in relief as he buries himself into the toy and holds it in place. As if it needs to adjust, or maybe, as if he needs to take it slow. 
“This is what you do to me,” he whispers more to himself than to you, but definitely loud enough for you to hear. “Without seeing you, even before hearing you, I want to do this for you so bad.”
Good fucking god. 
“Do you get yourself off watching me?” He asks, more for reassurance because he knows damn fucking well that you do. 
“Every time.” You say shortly, already feeling entirely too sensitive as you watch him and try not to completely drench the panties you’re wearing. “Without fail.”
He hums again with a smile, holding the toy in place as his hips very slowly fuck in and out of the pussy that he wishes belong to you. 
“I want to see you,” He groans out, feeling the slide of his cock hitting every single bump the toy offers. “Want to see you come, want to hear you when it happens.”
The way you’re so turned on by now that you honestly do not fucking care about the embarrassment. You’re desperate, watching him hold his hips back but still try and chase a feeling of pleasure as he listens to the small amount you offer him. 
“Please, y/n?” He very nearly whines out, licking his bottom lip and fucking up a bit faster, deeper, into the toy. “You can let me see you slide those pretty fingers in and out of you, please, I’ll guide you the whole time. I’ll make you feel good.”
The pleading, the image, the fact that he can hear the gasp you take in at his assault of words. 
“Request it,” You say softly, trying to pretend that you’re absolutely not fucking insane right now. 
It would be funny if you weren’t so turned on, with the way he holds the toy with his cock buried into it and nearly leaps for his set up. The request comes faster than you thought possible and you have to fucking force yourself not to think about it before accepting it.
And there he is. 
And there you are. 
For a moment, you almost lose momentum with the way he freezes, the toy sliding off of his length as he runs both hands through his hair at the image that pops up on the screen. 
You almost want to end the session. You almost want to bury yourself a hole and lay in it.
“Fuck, y/n.” He groans, staring straight at you and the way you have yourself sitting awkwardly, all made up, with a dainty bra, and even daintier panties. “Can you lean back and spread your legs for me?” 
The way he says it so shamelessly has you doing it for him, just as shamelessly. 
“God, look how wet you are for me baby,” he groans, reaching down to grab his toy and slide it directly back onto his length, all while staring at you. “I knew you’d be pretty, but this…”
That hole you were going to dig for yourself? Scratch that. 
“Is this okay?” You say as you lean back and keep your legs spread for him, trying to keep your voice from shaking as you intentionally avoid his compliments out of fear that you’d orgasm on the spot. 
He seethes out a moan through his teeth, his eyes staring straight at your entire being before landing right back between your legs. Then, he resumes his position, unintentionally burying himself into the toy as he stares at you with a nod. 
“More than okay,” He says in a moan, unbelievably surprised at how much he finds you attractive. “Can you use your fingers? Can you show me how you’d want me to fuck you?”
Reluctantly, you give him a nod, already well aware that he’s fucking that toy of his as if it’s you. 
“I’ll do whatever you want, just tell me.” You respond.
God, he thinks this might be dangerous. 
518 notes · View notes
fluorenaliy · 4 months
Text
Tumblr media
A cup of warm milk
Levi ackermen x fem!reader
Words count : 1.3k
Tags : Captain x soldier , sfw.
S/T : This is my first time using this app and my first time writing fanfics and English is not my language LMAO, I would be grateful for any advice <3
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“Ugh…”
An annoyed sigh left your mouth after the 30th flip on your hard bed.
You decided to sit down on your bed for the fifth time after three hours of sleeplessness. All you could hear was the sound of silence that had fallen over the soldiers’ headquarters after another failed trip outside the walls.
Should I go out? You asked yourself, it’s forbidden for soldiers to go out at this late hour, and breaking this rule may be followed by severe punishments, but insomnia was the most severe punishment for you, so you stood up and didn’t bother to put on your uniform. You were content with your pajamas.
You opened the door lightly so as not to break the silence of the building. You closed the door to the common room behind you more lightly, then directed your gaze to the corridor that was connected to the other bedrooms. You began to walk on the wooden floor with as quiet steps as possible, but you stopped yourself suddenly when a question came to you.
Where do I go now?
Your goal was to go out just to get rid of insomnia, what then?
You thought and decided to go to the kitchens and make a cup of milk that might help you feel sleepy.
It was a good idea and you started implementing it quietly. You reached the kitchens and it was strange that you had not met anyone yet. This is to be expected, as no sane person would stay awake after returning from a harsh trip outside the walls! But it seems that you are that person.
You started looking around the kitchens. You didn't enter them much because all you ate was the food that was served to you as a soldier, so you stood in the middle, confused, thinking about which drawer you should start searching in.
You decided to start from the last drawer on the right. You sat on your knees, and when you opened the drawer, it made a loud sound that made you freeze in place.
"Shit.."
You didn’t take the loud creaking sound of those old drawers as a possibility, and it ruined your entire plan, so you quickly closed the drawer, which led to another rusty creaking sound, which made you abandon the idea of ​​(hot milk before going to bed). So you decided to escape from the kitchens before someone caught you.
You were walking cautiously, looking right and left in the dark to see if anyone had heard you and came to check, until you collided with a hard object, which caused your body to retreat slightly with a small gasp when you saw it face
“Captain Levi-..”
"What are you doing here?"
He said in his calm voice and you could see the annoyance in his tone and your only answer was to stare at him silently. You have been caught, your punishment is inevitable.
“I-I was-..”
"Did you steal anything from the kitchens?"
His harsh question interrupted you, making you choose punishment over talking to Captain Levi.
"I didn't! I swear!"
You said with a slight panic in your voice as you pulled on the hem of your pajamas.
"So what were you doing in the kitchens? Are you a rat or something?”
He said, not seeming to believe you
You will definitely wish you were dead instead of talking to him, especially in this situation.
"I was trying.. to.. make a cup of milk."
You said nervously as you felt his intense gaze under the veil of darkness that spread throughout the place, but you justified yourself before Captain Levi spoke.
“I'm really sorry! I c-couldn't sleep so I thought I would make something warm to help me sleep! And...I know that the resources we have are limited and it was selfish of me to even think about-”
You stopped talking when you felt the captain starting to walk to the kitchens without paying attention to your words, then he said in a less harsh voice this time.
"Follow me."
You stopped in astonishment, Is he going to take a kitchen knife and cut your neck like he does to the titans outside the walls? You began to think about the methods of punishment that the leader might do to you, but his voice broke your train of thought
"Are you listening?"
“Y..yes!, I’m sorry Captain!”
You said and broke the stillness of your body with a sudden jog, Which caused your body to lose balance, but you regained it at the last moment before you fell and continued walking behind him.
“Stop running around, brat.”
"Okay, Captain!"
Levi sighed and decided to ignore you this time until he reached the kitchens.
You stood at the kitchens door while your eyes followed your captain until a spark of fire appeared and lit a small candle that enabled you to see your captain more clearly. He was wearing normal clothes, far from his official clothes.
"Sit down"
He said to you while he tapped on the wooden table, which took you a few seconds to respond. You sat at the table politely while staring at the captain as he opened the drawers and took out some of their contents.
You were staring at his face and body under the candlelight, even though you were very afraid of him you cannot deny how handsome he is, his slim body with well-toned muscles as a result of decades of strenuous exercise, and his soft black hair and strands that make his face more beautiful, handsome and-
"Sugar?"
His sudden question caught you off guard
"H-huh?"
Levi sighed, he didn't like to repeat himself
"Do you want a lot or a little sugar in your milk? Are you deaf or what?"
You were silent for a few moments... Was he preparing milk for you? Wasn't he sharpening a knife for your neck?
"tch.."
Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance, annoyed by the slow work of your brain, which pulled you out of your thoughts and spoke quickly
"Extra sugar, please!"
You said, then the captain nodded and put extra sugar in the cup and started stirring the sugar to dissolve in the milk.
The silence was suffocating you as you stared at your fingers shyly until a cup of warm milk that was placed in front of you caught your attention. Then Captain Levi sat directly in front of you while drinking the cup of tea with his strange hold.
You wrapped your hands around the cup of milk, feeling the warmth coming out of the cup as you stared at it, you could feel the captain staring at you.
"Won't I get a punishment?"
You said as you shifted your gaze between Captain Levi and the warm cup.
"for what?"
Captain Levi said as his eyes never stopped staring at you.
“W..well uh..because I left my room at this time?”
“Do you want to be punished?”
Levi asked, his question surprising you
“N-No, definitely not...”
You said quickly while waving your hands in the air, then captain Levi stood with his cup of tea in his hand.
"Okay..”
He said as if nothing had happened, You were shocked...won't you get a punishment? that easy? You tried to hide your happiness at being saved after breaking a law.
But what brought you out of your thoughts was the warm hand that landed on your shoulder along with your captain's calm voice.
“Drink the milk quickly and go to sleep, brat. You will catch a cold.”
The captain said, not looking at you, then he continued walking and left the kitchens while sipping his cup of tea.
You looked at him until he disappeared into the darkness, then you smiled to yourself as your eyes returned to the cup of milk. You took a sip and it was warm and delicious.
The captain doesn't seem heartless after all.
85 notes · View notes
doycngs · 2 years
Text
bet! | lee jeno.
Tumblr media
summary. it was bound to bite both your asses eventually. just plain ‘ol comedic luck that you and your best friend’s shared tradition of petty bets get you two to finally cough up years of repressed feelings for one another. 
pairing. y/n x nct’s jeno
genre. college!au, best friends to lovers!au
word count. 17k
warnings. swearing, fem!reader, underage drinking, emotional constipation lmao, hyuck and yeri hustle often, general dreamies tomfoolery, hyuck and nana are like dumb and dumber, honestly just super chaotic since it’s slice of life :)
taglist. @donutswithjaminthemiddle @dvickyyy @jenosbliss @matryoooshka @luvenshiti @nap-of-a-starr @dojun00 @nctdom @yangsbff @bockhyun
i feel like i did a pretty bad job rounding this fic up, my bad… still hope this lives up to the hype from the teaser! to those tagged, many hugs and kisses!! tysm for the interest <3
also biggest thank you to yunn aka @kdyism for being my beta reader and just being super helpful on absolutely everything for this fic! it def got finished faster bc of ya, much love bun :3
Tumblr media
“WAS HE DROPPED on the head when he was a kid?” 
You can’t help the snort that passes your lips, making a satisfying slap to Jeno’s arm. “Don’t be mean.” 
“You didn’t answer my question.” Jeno raises an eyebrow.
“Eh… maybe like once or twice. Not that I would know, I was the same age as him but I’m just guessing.” 
You two continue to watch the disaster in front of you befold. Hyuck was currently bothering Yeri. Apparently, he didn’t know the limits as to when to stop because the older senior’s ears are burning red. You’re sure if you were in a cartoon right now, Yeri would have smoke coming out of them, nostrils flaring. 
“Should we intervene?” You side-eye Jeno and he’s the least bit concerned, eyes blearily watching the soon-to-be wreck happen in slow motion, cheek squished against his palm. 
“Nah. This is way more entertaining than continuing my stats homework.” 
You peer over his notebook and he has the word problem and equation written down. Humming, you bring your attention back to the stars of the show and see Yeri grip her notebook tighter, knuckles going white. 
“Here we go.” You sing, Hyuck’s screams of protest soon alerting everyone in the campus plaza of his pain. 
“He never learns his lesson, huh?” Renjun finally joins, his boots making the fall leaves on the ground crunch. Throwing his book bag on the table, it scrunches Jeno’s current page in his statistics work but the latter doesn’t care. 
The two of you nod simultaneously. You and Jeno halfheartedly discouraged Hyuck from going to poke at Yeri around five minutes ago, soon after the three of you had sat down at your usual spot under the only weeping willow tree on campus. It was honestly impressive how quickly your mutual friend could annoy someone so quickly. 
“We should time him next. See how long it takes for Yeri to lash out at him.” You mutter the idea, Jeno pursing his lips after the two shift left and right around Yeri and company’s picnic table, a textbook held high in Yeri’s nimble fingers. Wendy and Seulgi are ducking as Irene begins trying to stop the madness, scolding Joy for cheering on their youngest.
“Not a bad idea to be honest. Bet?” Jeno grins and you shake on his hand without looking at him. 
“Bet.”
It was just getting good. Hyuck doesn’t have the endurance to continue but Yeri does. Pilates has done her well. 
Renjun quirks an eyebrow, pulling out his laptop as an apple slice is shoved into the corner of his mouth. “You don’t even know the conditions of the bet yet.” 
You shrug, thoroughly entertained as Hyuck sits on his knees, his hands rubbing together furiously as he begs for mercy. “Next time, he gets Yeri to go after him in under two minutes.” 
“I say three.” Jeno nods and he offers a hand again which you shake. 
“You underestimate that little lady’s body. She can hold a lot of anger.” 
Jeno hums in response, ending the conversation quickly as Hyuck stumbles his way over, a pout sat on his lips. The well-beaten idiot rubs at his forearms, mumbling curses under his breath as he plops down beside Renjun. 
“Didn’t end well, did it bud?”
At the smug expression you have plastered on, Hyuck’s pout deepens. “It’s not funny. I need her to partner with me in Psych. I’ll go fucking crazy if I actually have to work with Felix.” 
“Felix’s a sweetheart. I don’t know why you have it out for him.” 
Hyuck rolls his eyes, running his hands through the ruffled brown strands. Yeri managed to grab a bunch of pine needles and aim correctly enough, even with the air resistance the leaves have. 
Renjun beside him plucks a long green one out the battered boy who’s seated beside him, slouched over on the picnic table. “You can’t have two eggheads who don’t pay attention in class paired together. Isn’t that so, Hyuck?” Renjun baby-voices, the latter placing his chin on his stacked wrists to glare. 
“Somebody’s cranky.” Chenle swings by, a childish smirk gracing everybody’s presence. 
“It’s justified.” Hyuck huffs, turning away from the new arrival. You scoot over, bumping into Jeno’s large body to allow Chenle to sit. 
“Why are you so meaty nowadays? Take a break from the gym, will you? We can barely fit eight people at this table as it is.” There’s playful malice in your voice but a little truth in there. The asshole was getting too bulky for your liking. 
“Oh please. Mark hardly swings by for lunch with us anymore. And why by chance are you bothered by me bulking up?” Jeno leans closer, eyes impossibly close to yours, “Are you swooning yet?” 
Ignoring your heart racing faster, you slap a palm to his forehead, pushing Jeno further away from your face. “No, I’m sick of these freshies asking me for your number, that’s why. You want to know how many have asked for your digits indirectly through me this entire week?” 
Chenle and Renjun have suddenly started bickering about something and you have to raise your voice a little. 
“Five. Five people. Four girls and one guy. I’d be proud of you if it weren’t for the annoyance starting to kick in.” Jeno raises his eyebrows at the number, finally flattening down his stats paper. 
“And what’d you tell ‘em?” Jeno bites distractedly at the cap of his pen, seeming to hit the realization his work has to get done by midnight. 
“That they should ask you themselves,” You’re rolling your eyes, nudging at Chenle to back off on his squishing, practically half his body across the table to try and snatch at Renjun’s sliced apples, “I’m kind of sick of your posse trying to scour me for your personal information.” 
“Get your own, dingus! We get our rations per month at the commons!”
“I’m not giving up a precious coupon just to get one apple slice, come on!” 
“Tell them to stop then.” Jeno tries to solve.
You laugh incredulously, watching Jeno’s concentrated (confused more like) side profile. “You think that deters them? They regenerate into different people every week. The message is not passed on from generation to generation apparently.” 
Jeno makes that endearing ‘huH?’ sound and you grab at the notebook yourself, having taken Statistics 101 before. He thanks you under his breath, which you nod at before Jeno slumps onto your shoulder, sighing heavily. 
“Sorry. I know it bothers you. I would go around and tell them to back off of you and me personally but I don’t know all their names.”
Glancing at Jeno, it irritates you helplessly that you know he’s not even trying to sound dickish. He’s just that sweet and kind of a guy that makes other people not want to talk to him and ask those types of questions themselves. You know those people that seem too perfect to want to approach? Yeah, that’s Lee Jeno in a nutshell. If you looked up the definition of that type of person in a book, Jeno would be grinning that Samoyed smile of his from on that cursed page. 
“I should tape a sign to my back that says, ‘Ask Lee Jeno himself. I’m not his personal owl,’” You peek at his face, “What do you think?” 
He slightly smiles, eyes crinkling almost shut even at such a small gesture of amusement. “Okay. I’ll add my signature to it so that they know it’s approved by yours truly.” He looks up to your face and you’re glad the cold can disguise your flustered face easily with this type of weather. 
Guess it’s time to actually settle this officially since it’s been clued at a little, but yes: You do have a crush on Jeno. And no, he does not know because when does telling one of your best friends’ that you’ve been crushing on them ever worked out? 
No, not in the Wattpad story kind of way, you mean truly worked out. Because personally, you’ve never heard of it working out ever, especially since you’re practically in the you’ve-seen-him-in-his-boxers and he’s-seen-you-shirtless stage of friendship. Don’t ask, it’s a long story that’s already too long for this kind of boring read. 
So, no, you will not take your chances, thank you very much. There were many signs flashing neon that told you Jeno didn’t see you in a romantic or sexual kind of way but the glaringly obvious sign was actually the one you two are discussing currently. 
What’s the appropriate way of acting if your crush is being berated by other peers on campus to give them your number? You’re not confident in what it actually looks like because for one, you’re not on the receiving end in this imaginary scenario, and two, it’s exactly that; an imaginary scenario. You can’t even seriously dream of Jeno liking you if you could. It was just that bizarre. 
In the two years you've known the boy, he’s never even once mentioned another human being that he could potentially be interested in on campus. It’s not a problem of him not being comfortable telling you either because he’s told you upright that he’s not interested in anybody here (including you who’s enrolled in this stupid university). You’ve even nonchalantly asked Jaemin before and he’s confirmed that even in high school, this kid did not have wandering eyes. 
You had wondered if Jeno was asexual, aromantic, or something along that line in the spectrum, eventually having the courage to ask him one day and he shook his head no quite confidently, a small smile laid on his lips. 
You don't know what Jeno's deal was but the risks in finding out really didn’t lean in your favor. And that’s fine, considering how many fish are available on Earth's wide sea of potential mates. You’ve killed off even the chance of dating Jeno and that’s all good in your book. You’ve been attracted to your guy friends once and twice and they faded away with time exploring their weird quirks or horrible habits. And even if Jeno was a strange case where you’ve even seen the dude have beer dripping from his nostrils from a shitty keg stand and you still manage to harbor feelings for him… eh. 
Time brushes away a lot of problems if you’re desperate and willing enough. Luckily for you, you checked off both boxes easily with this special instance. 
You open your laptop and scour your documents for your old stats notes on chi-square tests. Bleh.
Pretending to gag in your mouth at the sight, Jeno smothers a laugh that shakes your shoulder and you share the document his way before scrolling and finding the right topic. You do the problem with few difficulties and write a quick message in the corner of his notebook page. 
‘Actually study this because Y/N did the example and took time from her day to do so, thank you.’
“Thanks,” Jeno chirps as he takes his notebook back, removing himself from your shoulder (to your well-hidden disappointment), “I owe you one.” 
“You’re right. A coffee works just fine, thank you.” You pipe back, folding your hands on the table cheerily. Jeno is shaking his head in mock annoyance but you knew the next time you two meet, you would not be disheartened, a warm cup pressed in hand. 
“A four-dollar coffee is worth one solved problem in your book?” Jeno argues. 
You fire back without hesitation. “It’s statistics. And I just sent two semesters’ worth of notes to you. You’re very welcome.” 
“You’re right,” Jeno turns, stowing his notebook away, “That’s like seven coffees then.” 
“And a scone if you’re feeling nice. A croissant works too.” You beam. 
“Now you’re pushing it. Those things are stupidly overpriced.” 
“Even for me?” You playfully place your chin in your cupped hands, blinking slowly and looking through your lashes. 
Jeno sighs, placing a hand on your head of hair. “Fine. You win, you spoiled princess.” 
In times like these, you knew you really asked to be put in these types of situations. And you’re not one to start being a saint and stop being hypocritical but… you deserved what you were putting yourself through, saying these types of things and teasing like this. Trying to get a stir and playact with being more. 
Maybe it was a little cruel, somewhat tricking Jeno into saying sweet things to you, just to let your mind wander for a second. Call it… taking advantage of his friendship to pretend a little. Harmless but still adds into your ledger of sins for Judgment Day right? 
“Why are Jisung and Jaemin taking so long? I’m running out of apples.” Renjun whines, looking at the bag that’s been emptied. You’re almost one hundred percent sure it was the two other hungry animals sitting at this table and you weren’t even listening to their argument earlier. 
“They’re carrying seven people’s worth of food. I think that warrants a little patience.” 
“I wouldn’t be nearly upset if these two idiots didn’t steal my apples.” Renjun spits out, glaring. The two culprits wholly ignore the oldest. 
A whole two minutes later, Jaemin and Jisung arrive, lugging four plastic bags of takeout. Jisung’s thin arms are shaking with the effort to hold them, Hyuck getting up to relieve him. 
“Wah, took you two long enough. Thanks for losing the bet last week.” Chenle slaps a hand to Jisung’s heaving back. 
“We just walked… half a mile carrying all this.” Jisung breathlessly collapses beside Hyuck, bent over with his hands on his knees. 
“Why didn’t you take Jaemin’s car?” Jeno mumbles around his hamburger. 
Jaemin laughs, out of breath as well. “I left my fucking car at Yangyang’s from Friday. I didn’t even remember until today because I can walk to my Monday classes.” 
“What the fuck did you do without a car on the weekend?” Hyuck wonders, chipmunk cheeks stuffed full of fries. 
Jaemin makes a suggestive face and everybody recoils, not willing to be curious anymore. The culprit laughs airily. “Why are you all assuming bad things right now?” 
“You didn’t go crawling back to Eunji or something, right?” Hyuck squints, “Because I saw you talking to her that night and that would be pathetic to hear about right now—”
“No, I’m not that kind of asshole—”
“At least you can acknowledge you are one…” Jisung comments under his breath. 
“I simply asked her how she was doing. It was completely innocent,” Nana’s wide bunny eyes scan the table, “Really! I conked out in Hendery's room after the party.” 
“And just so happened to leave your car at Yang’s which is directly across from Eunji’s dorm—” Hyuck continues before Jaemin cuts him off with a scoff. 
“Again. Not that kind of an asshole. Besides, if you had looked closer Hyuck, we were civil Friday night. I doubt she would ever let me get near her that way again… except for maybe with a baseball bat.” 
The table stifles laughs at that, chowing down the food. Everyone murmurs a quick thanks halfway through every food item getting demolished.
“Can you even afford this Jisung?” You mention on second thought, considering the younger boy sat diagonally from you.
“Jaemin owed me too so he paid for everything.” 
“Man, you just rack them up, don’t you?” Jeno pityingly looks over to his best friend at the end of the table. 
He shrugs, not all that bothered. “I’ll eventually learn my lesson, right?” 
“Not if you keep agreeing to our daily bets, stupid.” Chenle quips past his tenders, shoulders shaking in mirth. 
“That’s true. You walk right into them when we bring it up.” Renjun supports. 
“You should be glad you’re never around to accept Ten’s though. I like to think you would fall for them easily.” You crunch at Chenle’s fries, the younger boy not noticing your swiping. 
“What do his bets look like?” 
“Skinny dipping. Egging houses. And occasionally, seven minutes in heaven.” Jisung answers for you, which you backtrack at. In fact, everybody does. 
Hyuck blinks owlishly at him. “What?” 
“How do you know these things, kid? Spill.” You threaten with a long fry of Chenle’s, the soggy potato cut flopping as time goes by. 
“You’ve never seen me at Ten’s?” Jisung spills. Everyone gapes. 
“Why the fuck would we see you at Ten’s!?” Hyuck laughs in disbelief, hilarity at the situation peeking at the twinkle in his eyes. 
“Yeah, what the heck? Why am I never invited?” Chenle sulks.
Jeno scoffs. “Because you two are freshmen, that’s why.”
“What are you, fucking Casper the ghost in the corner? How come we’ve never seen you?” Nana is skeptical as well, the only one upset that his baby freshie has managed to sneak into an upperclassmen party. 
“Johnny invites me sometimes. When he remembers.” Jisung shrinks at all the attention, nervous with the sudden interrogation. 
“Johnny is a bad influence,” Jaemin argues with a fold of his arms. 
“Like you’re any better, Nana.” You laugh, bringing an arm around Jaemin to offer comfort. You don’t see Jeno shift at the contact. 
“And you don’t take part in the bets, do you?” Renjun implores before he shakes his head, “Wait, no, I definitely would have heard of Jisung having seven minutes in heaven with someone.”
“Oh, no. I’m not insane,” Jisung shivers at the thought. “It’s fun to watch Taeil go crazy though.” 
Hyuck slaps a hand to Jisung’s back, the latter wincing at the battering his body is taking today. “Welcome to the real deal, man! My god, why did I not know you came to upperclassmen parties? You sneak in sometimes?” 
“What? No! Do I look even close to a sophomore to you?” Jisung looks to make a point, gesturing towards himself. “There’s your answer.” 
“I think Johnny favors you then. He has a soft heart for freshies, who knew?”
“Where is my invite then?” Chenle whines, still sulking. 
“I’ll take you as my plus one.” Jisung placates his best friend with that and he continues to happily chew on his cheeseburger. 
“When’s his next one? Oh, I can’t wait to see how Jisung acts wasted.” Hyuck wiggles in his seat, giggling like a happy toddler. 
“Oh no, not on my watch. Baby Jisungie is not getting wasted at any party, ever.” Jaemin acts tough, glaring at the youngest of the group. 
“Oh, please Grandpa. You didn’t even realize I was present at these until I just told everyone.” 
Nana bursts at that, screeching a scolding noise that startles a pair of girls walking by. “Because I never even expected you to be at one! That’s why!” 
Jaemin looks to you, eyes wide. “My baby chick. At an upperclassmen party.” 
Giggling, you push at his jaw to turn his gaze towards Jisung again. “Jisung’s got a fair point. Who are you to stop him?” 
“I never get wasted anyway. I just come to watch the chaos.” Jisung grins, munching on his chicken tenders like Chenle. As you watch longer, you understand why Nana babies the youngest so much. He’s cute in moderation and it looks easy to want to mother him. 
“Whatever,” Nana grumbles, “Guess I have to watch out at parties and babysit now.” 
“Oh, please don’t.” Jisung’s face scrunches up.
“This Saturday. You coming, Jisung?” Hyuck grills, pocketing his phone which you didn’t even realize he pulled out to text presumably Johnny or Ten. 
“I guess… if Johnny asks me.” Jisung drags out, glancing at Hyuck. 
“This sounds like a disaster now that everybody knows.” Renjun leans across to whisper to you and Jeno. 
“You two should come to watch the shitshow with me,” You grin, wiggling your eyebrows, “I know you two usually don’t come but sometimes they can be fun.” 
“I don’t wanna drink to have fun.” Renjun wrinkles his nose at that. 
Waving a hand at that, you offer a tip, “Just fill your cup with a liquid. Nobody is sober enough to check you like a cop.” 
Jeno hums at that, Renjun saying that he’ll think about it. Hyuck pockets his phone once again, having pulled it out to ask about Jisung.
“You got the go-ahead, dude. Ready to party with the big boys?” Hyuck wrestles Jisung’s long neck into the crook of his elbow as the younger boy cringes. 
“I don’t know about that but…” 
Jaemin stands up dramatically, slapping both hands on the table. Your cup of soda spills a little when it knocks over, Jeno cursing as the two of you rush to correct the drink’s position. 
“Oh, not on my watch, you won’t!”
The table is quiet, absorbing Nana’s usual dramatics. 
Chenle raises his hand a little. “I’m going too, right?” 
|—————|
It took a little more convincing for Renjun to come. You and Jeno usually like to watch havoc together, pure rapture and popcorn shared between you two. You seriously considered bringing the movie snack to the party but in the end, was unconvinced by the others. Using the microwave at a frat party didn’t seem so smart, especially if your attention dragged away and someone nagged the bag from the microwave before you could notice. Would just be a waste of popcorn. 
Jeno and Renjun swing by your dorm building, waiting outside in the cold for a minute or so before you pop out. 
You shiver, pulling at your black jean jacket. “How many more layers do I have to put on to not be cold?” 
Renjun shakes his head, observing your legs. “You’re wearing thin ass tights, Y/N, what were you expecting?” 
Teeth chattering, the three of you begin to walk to the 127 house. “Jokes on you, I’m wearing leggings underneath. These are fake tights with fleece in them.” 
“Why are you so cold all the time? Is your body just that weak?” Jeno genuinely queries, your black skirt flying a little too high with the current wind for his comfort. He slows to walk behind you, conscious of the nonexistent people on the deserted streets looking.
“Yeah, you’re actually shaking. Do you wanna turn back to change?” Renjun offers kindly and you shake your head, committed. 
“I look cute right now. Fashion sacrifices, am I right?” You grin impishly, eyeing your company’s outfits. 
Following your act of observing everybody’s clothing choices for tonight, Renjun laughs at all three of your different fashion senses. “We look ridiculous walking together right now.” 
Jeno peeps up from the back of the two of you leading the way. “How? I think we look fine.” 
You hum in agreement. “We look like college students going to a party.” 
A bark of laughter escapes Renjun’s mouth, tugging at Jeno’s jacket zipper. “Yeah, three different parties. Jeno looks like he’s about to rob a store. Y/N looks like a grunge girl and I look like I’m heading to the fucking library.” 
He’s not that wrong. Jeno’s wearing all black, cargo pants, tee, chunky boots, and zip-up hiding his good figure in the darkness of his clothes. A navy blue cardigan covers Renjun, wearing similar beat-up Converse to you, with a white tee and light blue jeans. Looking down at your own outfit, you pluck a piece of lint off your gray sweater. 
“But we all look great. Killing the fashion game. Fabulous.” You strut forward with confidence, the other two amused at your antics. 
The 127 frat house lays ahead and you speed up to get out of the cold. Mark greets you with a hug and shout of happiness. You can smell the alcohol reeking his breath and the entire vicinity already. The floor bumps beneath your feet, everyone else in the building bobbing their head to the beat. 
“Hi, Y/N! Oh shit, what?” Mark calls out to Jeno and Renjun, dapping them up as his Solo cup dangerously leers to the left. You hurriedly correct it in his hold, not willing to get beer stains on your nice clothes this early into the night. 
“What the fuck are you two doing here?” Mark shouts down to you, a dopey grin implanted on his expression, “You convinced them to come for once?!” 
“I know, right? It’s a rare occasion tonight!” You yell back, a contagious smile growing on you at Mark’s infectious mood. 
Jeno leans closer to break your close proximity to Mark, “Hyuck is gonna get Jisung to let loose. Seems like a good disaster to watch unfold.” 
Mark shakes his head fondly at that, grabbing a hold of Renjun’s shoulder and leading all three of you into the kitchen. It’s crowded with humid heat, too many bodies in one room for comfort. 
“Grab a drink and toss any cups just laying around, please. I gotta get back to door duty but have fun!” Mark sings, planting a brave wet kiss to your forehead in goodbye before he’s off, shoving to the front of the house again. 
You wipe at your forehead, deciding to make fun of sober Mark for this innocent kiss later. Jeno bristles at the sight, grabbing three red cups and pulling out the unopened liter of Coca-Cola in the back of the line of sodas. 
Renjun holds the three cups gladly, there being no counter space to easily maneuver for pouring, before passing on the beverage to you. You press your cup to the ice machine and grimace as no ice chunks come flying into your cup. 
“Lukewarm Coke it is.” You toast the other three, clinking your Solo cups together before sipping. Getting out of the small kitchen, your eyes scan the crowd. 
“See Jisung, Chen, or Hyuck anywhere?” Renjun queries, yelling over the thumping bass. You climb onto the step bar of a stool someone’s currently sitting on, placing a hand on Jeno’s shoulder for support. The height lets you look over the big jumble of people in the large living room, not noticing any familiar heads.
“I see Jungwoo. Maybe he knows.” Jeno calls out, before stepping into the mass of moving bodies. He abandons the two of you for a total of thirty seconds before dragging not one, but two of the 127 boys over. 
Doyoung gives a quick side hug, shoving at Jungwoo who comes to lift you off your feet. You make an impact sound at the tall puppy’s strength, patting at his arm to let you down. 
Jungwoo’s blonde head of hair is all mussed up and you brush at the strands, laughing. “How much have you had to drink already?” 
“A good, healthy amount! I’m on water for the rest of the night!” Jungwoo happily confesses with a thumbs up, all his perfect white teeth on display. 
“You two know where Hyuck is?” Renjun bellows. 
Jeno adds on, “Or Jisung! We’re here for them!” 
Doyoung makes a pulled face at that, Jungwoo bending over in laughter. “What!? Jisung is here?” 
The younger of the two frat boys begin darting over the crowd, trying to locate the tall beanstalk. 
“What would Jisung be doing here?” Doyoung is puzzled, a little concern crawling into his expression. 
“Apparently all Johnny’s doing. Or Hyuck’s, we don’t know at this point.” Jeno shrugs. 
“We’re here for the shitshow to commence!” You revealed a little too happily, Doyoung making a forced smile. 
“I don’t know anything about this. Johnny’s DJing right now! You can go ask him though.” He points to the far back of the living room. The black-haired senior is head bobbing to the music, a set of headphones half on his head as he waves his gigantic arms around. 
You giggle nervously at the obstacle between you and reaching him. “Oh hell no,” You push at Jeno’s arm, “This tough guy is going to go ask for us.” 
Doyoung cradles his favorite underclassman by the neck and joins him in his journey to the front. Jungwoo’s a little ways away, dancing wildly. Renjun laughs at the sight, bringing your attention to the silly junior. 
“I dare you to join him.” You challenge playfully, and Renjun shakes his head adamantly. 
“Fuck no! You think I dance at these parties?!” 
“If you have alcohol in you, anyone can dance!” You try to convince Renjun, pulling his lips down. 
“Good thing I’m not drinking tonight then!” 
Jungwoo gets swept out into the dance floor again, not allowing the three of you to converse more before Jaemin joins the two of you out of seemingly nowhere. He cheers at the sight, ruffling Renjun’s well-styled hair, much to the older boy’s disappointment. 
Jaemin grasps at your opposite shoulder, leaning on your head to heave some of his dead weight. 
You nudge his side, Nana yelping at the contact. “You know where Jisung is?” 
Nana widens his eyes at your question, suddenly remembering his self-proposed babysitting job. 
“Oh shit! I forgot! Where is that idiot?” Jaemin gasps, helplessly looking around. 
“Trust me, we’ve been trying to navigate this mess for ten minutes since we’ve arrived. Just wait here with us!” Renjun pulls at Jaemin’s belt loop, yanking the same-birth-year boy back into your talking circle. 
Jeno arrives a minute later, lugging a slouching Jisung on his back. Hyuck is laughing his ass off, pushing the hair off of Jisung’s forehead to catch the youngest’s drunk face better. 
Jeno practically throws Jisung on the now-available stool this stranger just gave up, blowing out a breath of relief. “This kid is way heavier than he looks!” Jeno complains.
Hyuck is still dying of laughter and you and Renjun can’t help but follow in line as Jisung groans, pulling at Jeno’s waist to cuddle him. The latter is halfway between uncomfortable and endeared at Jisung’s affectionate behavior, who’s mumbling nonsense. 
“Jesus, why did he drink so much?” Jaemin worries, patting his baby chick’s head. 
“Dude, I didn’t even need to say anything! Chenle is the bad influence here, not me!” Hyuck throws his hands up at Nana’s deadly glare. As if on cue, the second youngest of your friend group gathers everybody’s attention in the crowd, pulling 127 boy Jaehyun on the table he’s standing on to make a speech. 
“There’s no damn way…” You whistle at the sight, Jaehyun patting the underclass man in pride. 
Jisung mumbles something into Jeno’s stomach and the older boy leans down to hear him better.
“Hm… w-wanna go… home…” Jisung hiccups, eyes barely open and Jeno nods.
“I better bring this idiot home. I’ll probably have to sneak his dumb ass past the RA, I’ll be right back.” Jeno grunts as he wraps Jisung’s long arms around his neck, practically carrying the beanstalk like a backpack. 
“It’s okay, I’ll do it!” Nana rushes to switch off with Jisung’s dead weight. He groans, looking to Jeno with a grimace. “Ugh, you were right. He is a lot heavier than he looks.” 
“Are you sure? I can help?” Jeno halfheartedly makes sure, to which Jaemin nods resolutely. 
“I need some fresh air anyways, been here too long!”
“Do you want me to go with you?” You offer, only because you knew sneaking around the RA would manage to get rowdy with just the two of them alone. 
“Nah, it’s okay. I better have a drink after getting back from this though.” Nana jokes and you shove the pair towards the door. 
Jeno stuffs his hands into his pockets, low-key relieved that he doesn’t have to go back into the cold night. He had just gotten here and despite how disgusting it was thinking about how much heat was being produced, it was better than freezing outside. 
“There’s our entertainment for the night.” Renjun lifts his cup in salute. 
Hyuck nudges everyone to watch Chenle though, who wants to crowd surf but fails to, nobody willing to hold him up. Everyone starts cackling at the sight, peers practically making space so that Chenle won’t be convinced to just commit and dive onto them. 
“Up for a game of beer pong, anyone? I’ve been trying to play all night!” Hyuck hooks around the boys, dragging everyone over to the foyer where two tables were set up. Tons of spills made you almost slip and split your head open. Thankfully Jeno is like a solid wall behind you, not fazed by your clumsiness. 
He gets close behind you, hands still on your waist and breath tickling your ear as Hyuck and Renjun take the other end of the pong table. “Wanna bet Mark comes in for a celebrity shot later?” 
You laugh nervously, getting hot under his hold and turning to look at Jeno’s expression. “That is oddly specific. How are you so confident?” 
Looking over to Mark, he’s chatting with Mina and completely distracted from answering the door now. You’re sure that Johnny, the brother he’s been shadowing in the frat, would not be happy with Mark ignoring his job. Or maybe he would, knowing Mark was actually shooting his shot with a girl.
“I don’t wanna tell you why. Then you won’t agree.” Jeno argues, finally getting his hands off you to roll up his sleeves. You slightly roll your eyes at his words, trying to subtly look at the veins in Jeno’s hands' flex. 
“I think he’ll come in later too. But I say it’ll be for us. Not for Hyuck or Renjun.” 
Jeno makes a tutting sound, collecting the empty cups on your side and making the triangular shape. “You’re trying to sell me out here, no way. You’re just gonna convince Mark to come over by…”
Your eyebrows lift. “By what exactly?” 
Jeno shakes his head, a small smile sat on his face. You poke at his side, curious. “By what? Now you’ve intrigued me!” 
“Whatever. I’ll make a better bet,” Jeno nabs Renjun’s missed shot, to which Hyuck whines, “Mark is gonna ask you out tonight.” 
Sputtering on the soda you’ve been sipping on, you watch Jeno whip his ping pong ball like straight butter into your opponents’ cup. The other side’s loud protests distract him from your obvious gaping, confused at the sudden thought of Mark liking you.
Jeno eventually eyes your expression, making a weird face. “What?” 
“What? What do you mean, what? Are you insinuating Mark likes me?!” You angrily whisper, afraid that somehow the person you two were talking about would hear over the loud music flowing throughout the house. 
“Why are you so surprised? It’s very obvious! At least in my eyes.” Jeno shrugs. The ping pong from Hyuck hits your stomach, confusing him. You grab at it, just tossing it without a care. The ball whooshes in and you don’t notice, still frazzled. 
“You’re joking, right? This is a sick joke of yours?” Peering over at Jeno, he scoffs. 
“No. Don’t tell him I said this but when we first introduced you to him, he said you were pretty.” The deadpan way Jeno utters this makes your eyes squint. 
“That seems like an innocent compliment to me.” (News flash, you’re denying reality here.) 
Jeno lifts a dark eyebrow at that. “When has Mark Lee ever gone out of his way to intentionally compliment a girl?” 
You scrunch your nose at that, rubbing at the kiss he planted on your head earlier. “This changes things.” 
Jeno only chuckles, plucking the ball from one of your cups and setting it aside. He closes one eye, practically doing the same with the other as he aims. He groans with a failure, looking back to you. “Do you not like him? He’s nice, though you haven’t known him as long as I and the others have.” 
“No, no, he is nice! I like him.” The last sentence is pronounced like ‘I like him as a friend’ in your head but Jeno interprets it differently. Maybe the bass from the speakers morphed the tone of your words in his thick skull. 
“You like him?” Jeno’s voice tilts high. Hyuck’s next horrible shot plonks straight at Jeno’s forehead, which he ignores in shock. 
He’s never shown incredibility like this to show you. You’re diverted to denying his words instantly, not thinking of the consequences. 
“He’s… a nice guy.” You look to Mark again and this time, he senses your gaze, throwing up a nerdy gesture of a peace sign. You wave back with a smile and don’t catch Jeno’s suspicious tonguing of his cheek at the interaction. 
“Are you accepting the bet or not?” Jeno holds a hand out, which you wait to contemplate after absolutely dunking your next shot. On a roll.
“Mark’s wingman now, are you?” Your tease causes Jeno’s jaw to shift. He acts it off as confidence, nodding with reluctance. 
Maybe he had gone too far with the little game of bets now. 
“Okay! Bet!” You perk up, wanting to win this easy wager. Mark wouldn’t ask you out, no way. 
Accepting the deal easily, you shake on it and smirk internally. 
Jeno was easy to read. An open book, you could say. Everyone in your friend group knew it as well, which made him the butt of jokes and teases all too often. He made it too fun to poke at him and you’ve joined in on the game plenty of times. This was just another game of prodding the naive Samoyed you had, though a little different. 
You didn’t really understand the reasoning behind Jeno’s disturbance all that much but he was the one that brought Mark’s supposed “crush” to you. And you’re not one to fuck with someone’s feelings that far, especially with sweet ‘ol Mark’s. 
You were pretty confident the older boy did not fancy you though; he was never around you in the first place to hint at the notion. Mark was pretty private with his romantic life so you’re not all that surprised you don’t know much. He was glued to the frat more often than usual and has been hanging out with you and company less often. 
To be fair, if Mark was with someone, hopefully, he was not blatantly kissing your forehead without care. You were never as close to Mark as the other boys like Jeno had stated before. You suppose if he did happen to ask you out tonight, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the desire to win this bet burns in your veins, even more than usual with the bizarre behavior Jeno is exhibiting at the mere thought of you returning Mark’s so-called “feelings”.
“If you’re making a bet to win this game right now, you’re gonna eat shit!” Hyuck brags, practically vibrating in excitement because the two of you were somehow tied up. Even with this dude drunk, he could be somewhat decent at games. How irritating.
Biting the corner of your lip, you ignore Hyuck, plan to win this short game of cup pong, and then win this bigger game of bets with Jeno. To gain this extra favor initializes a step-by-step scheme of what you were going to do. There was no way Jeno could beat you.
Jeno watches greed grow in your irises, probably confused. 
“So you’re confident he won’t ask you out.” He drags out his words, making sure you understood what you just shook on. 
“Yeah,” You bob in place now, trying out his strategy of closing one eye to shoot, “Mark won’t ask me out. He’s not that drunk.” 
“Really?” Jeno feigns interest, throwing his head to Mark fast approaching you, “You sure about that?” 
You don’t get to answer, Mark’s alcohol-hazed eyes crinkling. Mina follows close behind, waving a greeting to the both of you. “Hi, Mina! Mark— oomph!” 
Thinking Mark’s walk trajectory would stop before reaching so close, the junior bumps chest-first into you. 
“Hi! Can I take a celebrity shot?!” Mark yells, overcompensating his volume when you’re glued to him. He swarms your space, placing a touchy hand on the small of your back before standing on his tippy toes and stealing your ping pong. 
His mouth is instinctively making ‘Oh!’ noises as he readies it, failing miserably and pouting at the loss. “I could’ve sworn that was close, dude!” 
You and Mina share a smile. She knew her friend was a little touchy when drunk so the two of you chalk it up to being just that. Jeno doesn’t though, burning eyes watching the tight hold Mark has on you. 
Mark blinks rapidly down at you, pleading with big doe eyes, “Just one more shot I steal. One more celebrity shot!” 
You nod, easily agreeing with a laugh. Maybe you had underestimated how turnt your dude was right now. Mark leans backward a little, losing his balance and almost toppling you over with him. Mina pulls Mark away from your space, probably deciding he’s had enough of bothering you. 
“Sorry, he is so wasted right now.” Mina apologies, pushing the boy away from your beer pong table to the kitchen for water. 
Jeno makes a face that reads “I told you so”, forcing you to bend over in laughter. 
“Jeno, you can’t be serious. He acts that way with everyone!”
“You think that Mark touches up every girl like that? He kissed your forehead earlier too.” Jeno genuinely notes and you pause. Just for a split second. 
“We’re friends.” It’s as if that statement alone will end this argument and Jeno rolls his eyes. 
“And we’re friends too, dimwit. We don’t act like that, do we?” 
You shift at his words, uncomfortable at the sudden lodging of your throat. Oh, how you wish Jeno did. At least then, you’d have a pathetic hope he had an inkling of an interest in you too. 
Instead of replying to him, you turn and take Jeno’s shot for him to end the game. The last cup is yours for the taking and Renjun groans with his head thrown back, almost flying off balance at the shove Hyuck gives his partner for more space. 
“Okay, okay! Redemption shot, I got this!” Hyuck steadies his hand and bounces off the lip of your side’s last Solo cup. 
“FUCK!” 
“YOU ABSOLUTE DICKHEAD, LEE DONGHYUCK!” 
There’s a forced smile on your lips at the victory, one that only Jeno can notice is fake up close. Thankfully, he doesn’t pry on it more, seeing as he knew you weren’t going to give a truthful answer in this setting. 
You were starting to wish you had a bit of alcohol in your system, as much as you hated the taste of it on your tongue. 
|—————|
By the end of the night, you had won the bet as expected. But Jeno being the sore loser he is, tried to convince you to drag the bet on. He was super confident that Mark was into you. Maybe his friend was too wasted to ask or remember your answer if he were to come up to you about a date. 
“I’ll sleep on it,” You had said, “Especially since I pity you and I haven’t decided what I want the favor to be yet.” 
With that, Jeno breathed out a sigh in relief as he walked you home. 
|—————|
You didn’t realize how committed Jeno was to this particular game. And you don’t know why because you had honestly forgotten about it yourself the morning next. Maybe it was his pride and stubbornness stopping him from giving up.
When Jeno swings by your dorm, texting you to come downstairs quickly, you’re confused. 
He’s in comfy clothes, hair a little frizzy as he hands you a croissant and a warm cup of coffee that heats up your body temperature. 
You blearily squint your eyes at him in suspicion. “What are you buttering me up for right now?” 
With no RA in sight, you usher him into the warmth of the dorm lobby, virtually no people around to notice your blatant disregard for rules. 
“I’m not buttering you up. I just wanted to be nice this morning.” 
Staying silent, Jeno watches your expression breathe incredibility. 
“Really! I didn’t know it was a crime to be nice to you anymore, jeez.”  
The bet comes to mind and you mention it. “You’re hoping I’m not going to make you splurge your money on my favor, aren’t you?” 
Jeno laughs, the sound deep in timbre as the sun rises higher in the cold blue sky. “No, I swear. Although talking about Mark, he is going through it right now. I woke up to a video Doyoung sent me of him vomiting into the toilet.” 
You suck your lips in, holding back a laugh. “You know, if you’re trying to sell your man to me right now, describing his hangover is not working.” 
Jeno quirks the corner of his lip at that. “He probably drank half his body weight last night.” 
You roll your eyes. “And here you were, thinking he was going to be sober enough to consider asking me out. Alright.” 
Your friend shrugs, sipping at his drink. “I’m not wrong, Princess. I’ll show you with your own two eyes Mark Lee has the hots for you.” 
Cringing at the way Jeno phrased his words, you stuff the pastry you were kindly gifted into your mouth, muffling your reply. “Plea don’ efer say if like ‘at again.” 
Jeno’s shoulders shake at your antics. “You’ve slept on my proposition now, ma’am. What’s the deal?” 
Swallowing roughly, you mutter, “Can I raise the stakes to three favors?” 
Jeno scratches at his hairline at that, face in a grimace. “Fuck. Is this worth it?” 
At the hesitation in Jeno’s eyes, you jump like a hound to the smell of meat. Or in this case, a perfect opportunity to score on some free meals. 
“Yes! Yes, it’s worth it. I accept your deal!”
“Woah woah woah! I haven’t agreed yet!” Jeno is shaking his hands in front of him, dangerously leering his hot drink side to side. He licks at the lid, the brown liquid sloshing everywhere. 
“You brought this new condition up in the first place so,” Taking Jeno’s distraction as a chance to dunk cheaply on him, you take his free hand in yours, shaking on it, “Bet.” 
|—————|
It was game on from the damn get-go. 
Any chance that Jeno got, which was within a hundred feet radius of a certain junior named Mark Lee, he bolted to the boy’s side. 
Poor Mark is so confused at the sudden ramblings Jeno has of you. He’s also even more conflicted because Jeno is going in on his compliments of your smile, smarts, humor, you name it. Mark wasn’t sure whether his friend was either crushing hard and needed to only confide in him, or whether Jeno was trying to make him like you indirectly through his selling words. 
Another thing the boy stuck in the middle of this mess notices is your sudden disappearance from his vicinity. You two didn’t exactly share a class but shared a professor, who taught two subjects back to back. 
Usually, you would wait around in the auditorium-shaped classroom to catch up with him, just say hi. But no, apparently you now bolt as soon as the professor calls it quits for the day. Mark had a greeting on the tip of his tongue opening up the doors, only to scour your usual seating arrangement and come up empty. 
Poking his head out down the sidewalk, you’re speed walking away like your non-existent pet was on the verge of death. 
Mark would brush it off to some urgent duty you had but… at the odd behavior of his two friends, he decides to swing by the willow tree at the end of the week. Maybe start his own experiment on what was going on. It just didn’t seem like a coincidence to him. 
And right he was in his thoughts. 
At the sight of Mark approaching the table, your eyes widen to the size of saucers, whipping your head around to Jeno. You want to slap his smug face right off. 
“What the hell is Mark doing here? Did you convince him to come?” You spit out in a whisper, Hyuck none-the-wiser as he hollers for his best friend to sit beside him. 
Jeno shakes his head no innocently, lips pouting out. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 
Swearing under your breath, you plaster a smile onto your face, breathing out a greeting to the upperclassman. He grins at you, to which your cheeks heat up for some reason. 
Maybe it was because this dude beside you had been bragging about you to Mark. Jeno had told you his genius plan of planting unconscious thoughts of you in Mark’s head a few days ago and its effects are now catching up to you, sweat building on your hairline.  
Jeno misinterprets it as you getting nervous in the presence of Mark, probably wishing rain to fall on his head at manifesting his final Lee brother to sit down this afternoon. 
“What’s up, man?” Mark exchanges a handshake with Jeno as he swings his bag to the ground and tucks his legs under the table. He watches with rapture as you busy yourself with the textbook splayed out in front of you, eyes skittering. 
Before Jeno can give a general reply to Mark, Hyuck bumps Mark's shoulder. “You should text Renjun your order from that Mexican place down the street.” 
“Who’s favor are we using today?” Mark asks in curiosity. 
You raise a hand rather timidly, to which the entire table is bewildered and bemused. The bewildered people are only Hyuck and Mark because they don’t know the absolute pain-enduring embarrassment to which bemused Jeno has cursed you to withstand. You’ve always been very comfortable with the guys, including Mark, so the oblivious two not in on this bet are raising their eyebrows at your behavior. 
“What did Renjun lose against you again?” Jeno pretends to ponder deeply while you throw a heated glare his way. You wish you could burn his eyebrows right off in this moment. 
“Oh!” The bulky meathead gasps, “He lost ten-to-two against a game of naming capitals of countries. Isn’t she so smart?” 
Jeno is being so obvious. You grit your teeth as he pets your head. 
“Take your hand away before I bite your pinky finger off.” You seethe past closed lips, the audience not hearing your threat. 
Jeno jolts his limb away at that, instead, grinning a Samoyed smile toward Mark. The latter is mainly lost in trying to navigate what the fuck was going on. 
Hyuck only rolls his eyes, a little more used to your duo’s antics. “They’re probably betting on something right now.” 
Mark blinks at that. The picture was becoming a little clearer. He wasn’t sure which way to start investigating this dilemma next. 
“No!” The two of you deny instantly, sitting up straighter. It’s even more cause to believe Hyuck’s point. 
“Ignore them,” Hyuck acts like an exasperated mother to you and Jeno’s Dumb and Dumber act, pulling out his phone to show Mark the Mexican place’s menu. 
As the other pair get lost debating what to order for Mark, you turn to Jeno with a death wish written in your eyes.
“Are you crazy, Lee Jeno!? What are you doing right now, you’re practically on the verge of cheating! You’re going to give this entire thing away!” 
“No,” Jeno drags out in denial, acting like you’re a child that doesn’t understand his obvious tactic, “I’m just telling him of your intelligence. I have no clue what you’re on about.” 
You’re heavily tempted to close your textbook and go bonkers Yeri-on-Hyuck style on him but Mark butts into your killer thoughts before you can pull through. 
“What are you ordering, Y/N?” 
You stutter to Jeno’s, albeit bitter, amusement. “Um, a chimichanga. It’s… pretty good from there.” 
“Okay!” Mark perks up, tapping at the phone in Hyuck’s hand, “I’ll get the same.” 
Jeno giggles into your ear and irritation bubbles to the surface of your skin. 
“I swear to fucking—”
Mark interrupts your threat once again and you paste another pleasant smile on. “Y/N, I missed you before my class on Wednesday. You were gone before I could even say hi.” 
“Oh, yeah. I uh…” You rush to make an excuse, “I really had to water my— plant. Yeah.” 
You want to punch yourself. 
Hyuck snickers as he texts Renjun Mark’s order. “What the fuck…” 
“Yeah, what the fuck? You don’t even have a pet plant in your room. Everything you attempt to raise dies.” Jeno feels the need to contribute. You’re seething at this idiot’s audacity. 
Clarifying your mistake in excuse will only deepen the hole you’ve dug for yourself so you shut up, wanting the ground to swallow your entire being whole instead. 
“Huh,” Mark chuckles, “Okay. You’re not avoiding me for some reason, right?” 
“What? Oh, no. Not at all!” As if to prove a point to Jeno, you give the most convincing smile you can to Mark. 
“Okay, that’s good.” 
Renjun saves you from continuing this conversation as Hyuck’s phone rings, pressing the speaker button to the call. 
“What’s up?” 
“Could two of you come to the restaurant real quick? I’m going to need help carrying all this food back.” 
“Why didn’t you use your car, dumbass?” Hyuck whines. 
“Because it’s a two-minute walk from campus grounds? Come help me!” 
Jeno pipes up, “Make Jaemin and the two youngest help you. They haven’t shown up here yet.” 
“Well obviously I had thought of that, Jeno,” Renjun sasses back, “They aren’t answering.” 
“I’ll go!” You practically trip in getting up from the picnic table, dying to get away from this awkward atmosphere. 
The other three make eye contact. 
“Not it!” 
“Not it!”
“Not—! Ugh.” 
For fuck’s sake. Your luck is actual dog water.  
“Why are you so slow at this game? Your reaction speed is usually good,” Hyuck questions Mark, who groans as he gets up. 
“Well, why do we always play “Not it” then? It’s targeting me specifically.” 
You wholly ignore Jeno’s disgusting grin of satisfaction as the two of you begin to tread down the street. You curse to all above that Jeno gets kicked in the shins one day. It was looking like you were going to be the perpetrator more and more these days. 
“So…” Mark drags out, his hands in his pockets, “Do I even want to know what it is I’m currently stuck between?” 
You hum as you genuinely consider Mark’s words. “I can’t tell you. It’ll break the bet. And I really want to win.” 
Mark’s eyes crinkle in mirth. “The two of you are so competitive. It might take forever for you to win at this rate...” 
“Are you willing to be on my side?” You raise an eyebrow, secretly wishing.
To be fair, there were no very clear-cut boundaries to other methods of getting the dub. After all, Jeno is practically begging Mark to get the idea to ask you out. 
You could still cheat but not… outright cheat. 
“I guess so, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.” Mark shrugs innocently. You fold your hands together, laughing under your breath as you close your eyes while looking up. 
“Damn, this is serious, dude.” Mark laughs boisterously, observing your silly act of gratitude. 
“It’s on three favors,” You mumble past your silent prayers to the sky, “Of course this is serious.” 
“Three? Shit… Well, you have me at your disposal as long as you don’t tell me what the bet is, right? What should I do?” 
You smirk, finally looking at Mark with sinister eyes. 
The ball is in your field now. 
|—————|
“Huh.” 
Jaemin looks up from his laptop to Jeno who makes the noise of discernment, watching two figures from afar. Following his best friend’s eyeline, you and Mark are walking side-by-side toward the commons. You’re grinning as Mark laughs, bent over with difficulty while walking. 
“When did they get closer?” Jaemin asks in bewilderment. Jeno stays silent as Mark holds the door open for you and the both of you disappear into the commons. 
“Don’t know,” Jeno mumbles, finally looking down to his device and rereading the same paragraph over again. 
Jaemin makes a face at that, having been able to read his buddy for a while now. 
“So…” 
Jeno sighs, knowing that Jaemin is obviously hinting at something. “Spit it out.” 
“What bet did you make with Y/N?” 
Jeno side-eyes Jaemin with annoyance. “How do you even know anything about this?” 
“I have my ways,” Jaemin concludes mysteriously, “Answer me.”
“We bet at Johnny’s party two weeks ago.” 
“On what though?” 
“I said Mark would ask her out.” 
Jaemin snorts at that, going back to his laptop. “He’s not into her. He likes Mina.” 
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t really seem that way anymore. They’re getting all giggly and close with one another.” Jeno has a tone of temper growing in his words. 
“If the bet is over then, why is this dragging on?” 
“I raised it to three favors now. It’s indefinite.” 
Jaemin glances at Jeno again with fingers halted on his keyboard, holding back laughter. “Why would you ever, under any conditions, accept that? Against Y/N of all people too? She’s going to drain your wallet for food.” 
“She’s convincing.” 
“Or you’re whipped for her.” 
“I’m not.” Jeno gives a dirty look to the poor paragraph he’s been on for five minutes.
“You’re in deep denial, bud. I’ve been saying this for an eternity.” 
Jeno scowls at his best friend, not appreciating the entertained, twinkling eyes shot his way. Jaemin tilts his chin toward his neck, looking up through his long eyelashes at Jeno. 
“Deny it all you want but I know my shit. She likes you, you like her. It’s simple.” Jaemin chirps.
“Oh, and you’re the love expert, aren’t you, playboy?” Jeno’s exasperated, practically pouting. “I don’t like Y/N.” 
“Really? Why are you bothered with the idea of Y/N being with Mark then? You’re the one that suggested to her Mark was interested. Now that Y/N is entertaining the idea, you’ve backed off on trying to win,” Jaemin lands a slap on Jeno’s back, “You’re deserving of what you’re putting yourself through, man.” 
Jeno sighs as he folds his arms onto the table, laying his chin down. “I don’t like it when you speak sense.” 
“For one, I’ve always been speaking sense. But I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging my genius good points. I’ve been trying to get through your thick skull about her for two years.” Jaemin nods in gratification, glad Jeno is opening his eyes a little, even if it took some good ‘ole jealousy to stir his best friend’s heart around. 
|—————|
“Ow!” 
You cringe, the corners of your mouth reaching your ears. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to do that.” 
“S’okay.” He grumbles at the way, rubbing at the eye you just poked.
Pressing the face mask firmer on Mark’s already milky skin, you fixate on a bump and attempt to smooth it over. Once you’re satisfied, you wipe your hands on your pajama pants and clap in completion. 
“Perfect!” Twisting Mark’s shoulders around so that he shifts on the bed to face his mirror, he immediately ruins your hard work by bursting into laughter at the sight of the sheet mask on his face. 
“Mark! You fucking ruined it!” You can’t help but fall in line with your friend’s contagious sounds of amusement, slapping his arm lightly for him to face you and fix it again.
“I’m sorry! I look so stupid, I can’t—” 
Urging him to sit up straight, you shake your head side to side, not able to be actually mad when Mark was so humored by the new experience of night skincare. 
“Whatever. I guess I don’t care since you paid for dinner and I paid for this.” Grinning down at him, knees planted on the bed, Mark naturally returns your smile and regrets it as you lightly pinch his ear in retaliation for again, messing up your hard work. 
“My bad, my bad. But it’s whatever. Pizza isn’t expensive.” 
“That restaurant is kind of expensive though.” You mutter under your breath, brushing Mark’s hair from his head and adjusting his baby lion headband you bought for this tiny sleepover. 
“It’s chill. No big deal.” 
Settling back to sit on your heels, you raise a teasing eyebrow. “And if I make you sleep on the couch in the living room?”
Mark falls line and sinker, pouting a little. “You said we would put pillows between us tonight.” 
Laughing lightly, you rush to reassure Mark. “I’m joking, you know I am,” Throwing yourself back to the pillows on your friend’s bed, you pat the spot beside you and Mark follows, “What movies do you wanna watch?” 
He hums, tugging his laptop from its charger on the bedside table, “Didn’t we decide on binging the Tom Holland Spiderman movies earlier this week?” 
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that! I—”
Your phone begins to buzz incessantly on his nightstand and you peer at it. “Oh. It’s Jeno.” 
Mark makes a suggestive face at that and you scoff. 
You and Mark have gotten closer over your comradery of this bet with Jeno. And not in a romantic way, just more of genuinely enjoying each other’s company as friends.
Yeah, sure, the times to hang out at first were very much arranged and a little awkward. And Mark being the star student he is, was always studying or doing something productive but you two balanced each other out. You’re glad this entire thing with Jeno has gotten you to know Mark better. You two were way more similar than you thought. Mark inspires you to be productive with your weekly library study sessions and you remind Mark to not stress so much and have a breather sometimes. 
Over this bet, you’ve gained a closer friend and you’re not mad about it. The bet wasn’t ruined either since you hadn’t clued into Mark what the whole deal was about but he had an inkling; you just couldn’t confirm his suspicions. 
What Mark did confirm though was your very obvious feelings for Jeno. And no, you did not need to tell him. It was a bit obvious and as much as Mark was oblivious to many types of things, your subtlety about Lee Jeno somewhat escaped everybody else’s eyes in your friend group except for him.
(It was not because Mark caught you staring at a secret screenshot of Jeno’s gym picture he snapped you one time. Nope. No way.)
“Answer him. What are you waiting for?” Mark throws a hand over to your device, laptop placed aside for now. 
Sighing, you press the answer button. Jeno’s sleepy face drowns your phone screen and your heart palpitates at his soft look and droopy eyes. 
“Hey.” His timbre is deep with sleepiness and you resist the urge to physically make a cooing sound.
“Hey, what’s up?” 
“Was gonna ask you the same.” Jeno twists to lay on his side in bed, only illuminated with the light of his phone screen. 
“Chilling with Mark,” You flip the camera to Mark, who is busy scrolling and puts up a hand in hello, “Sleepover things, you know. Ate out earlier too.” 
You can’t register the look on Jeno’s face all that well with the way he shifts the phone to sit up in bed. But Jeno’s tone dies a little of interest and the natural quirk on his lips downturn as well. 
“Oh… I like your facemasks.” 
“Thanks!” You pat at your own, peering at Mark for a second and checking on his, “Mark kept fucking up his for ten minutes. It was a big hassle.” 
“That is not true. It was five minutes, max.” Mark pouts offscreen, patting at your cheek where the edge is lifting. Jeno catches his friend’s hand touching your face and feels a bubble of crossness pop in his chest. 
“Whatever makes you feel better,” You smile off to the side, returning to Jeno and sensing his emotions change. “So uh, you didn’t say what you were doing.” 
“Oh. I was calling to ask if you wanted to do something.” 
You feel a weight fall to the pit of your stomach in a split second. “Shit, sorry.” 
“It’s okay.” Jeno picks at a thread on his mattress. 
Mark butts in, leaning his chin on your shoulder and coming into view. “Come swing by. Hyuck is here right now, hanging with Taeil playing Mario Kart.” 
“Nah.” 
You furrow your eyebrows, confused. “Didn’t you want to spend time with us? Come on.” 
“I changed my mind,” Jeno smiles with no real power behind it. At the mention of “us”, Jeno flips his desires, not willing to out himself, and say he just wanted you for company right now. There’s a hollowness in the expression he has pasted on and you bristle at it, bothered at his show of trying to hide. 
“Okay… text me. Actually, scratch that— I’ll text you.” 
“Alright. Night.” 
“Bye—” 
A bit dejected at Jeno cutting you off and ending the call quickly on his side, your hand loosens and falls straight into your lap, phone in grip. 
“That was weird,” Mark mumbles, popping open a bag of chips and chewing a bit obnoxiously. “What are you gonna text him?” 
You follow his hand’s path and dig to grab a crisp too, sighing in agreement. “He was being a bit off. I’ll just check on him.” 
Mark hums, smiling a little. “You know him well.” 
You shrug at Mark’s words. “He’s easy to read.” 
“Oh yeah?” Mark goads, “How come you don’t notice the way he looks at you then?” 
“Huh?” 
The face and noise of confusion you make, automatically has Mark thinking of the boy you two were talking about.
“What do you mean, ‘Huh?’ It’s so obvious.” He mocks, making an exaggerated face to imitate you.
“What? What is?” 
Mark lets you stew in silence for a few moments to try and grasp what he was hinting at. At your lost expression, Mark’s facial muscles relax, a blank look overtaking his task of chewing. 
“You’re joking, right?” 
Now you laugh, incredibly baffled and feeling called out. “Mark, what? What are you trying to say?” 
“You dumb bimbo.” 
“Excuse me?!” You run out of breath, a smile still plastered on at the audacity this man has calling you a bimbo of all things. 
Mark resumes his munching, shaking his head with mirth, and returns back to his phone. “You two are lost causes.” 
“Lost c— What the—?”
He doesn’t elaborate, now ignoring you and waving a hand for you to proceed to text Jeno. Sighing, you drop this subject, albeit with difficulty because the kindest boy on Earth (well, you presumed so until now) just called you a bimbo.
You’re a little flattered at the attractive aspect attached to that word but still… rude.
You
hey, are you good?
you seemed off over facetime 
He reads your message but there’s no bubble showing you Jeno is thinking of replying. You elaborate, trying to yank some information out of this kid. 
You
if something’s up, i’ll raincheck with mark and come by
Jeno :3
nah, i’m good
don’t cancel your plans for me
was bored and didn’t know you had plans already
You
hyuck is here too like mark said 
you can join us and watch spiderman :0
doyoung’s home as well
Jeno :3
don’t worry princess, i’m good 
promise 
have fun with mark 
Biting your lip at the nickname, you rush to reply and not seem so affected by it over text. He’s never messaged and called you the nickname over the phone before. It seems more… flirty and intimate. 
You
okay, nighty night :D
Just as you’re about to put down your phone, it buzzes in your hand once more, lighting up with one last unread message from Jeno. Opening it, your brows furrow. Mark curiously peeks at your phone at the vague face you’re displaying. 
Jeno :3
wait one more thing
are you and mark??
You 
are me and mark what
Mark carefully watches your eyes, flittering as you watch Jeno’s typing bubble appear. It takes the latter a minute to reply; Mark counts in his head. 
Jeno :3
are you two dating?
have i… ya know 
are you sitting too close to him to tell me you know what? 
Your brows lift, finally looking to Mark and realizing his proximity to you. Yelping and backing up a little, Mark laughs. 
“Is he mentioning the bet? What are you going to say?” 
“Yeah, he is. And what do you mean, ‘What am I going to say?’ We obviously aren’t.” You snort, beginning to type your response. 
Mark snatches the phone straight out of your grasp, lifting it out of your reach. Crossing your arms in impatience, you frown. 
“Hear me out.” 
“Uh-huh.” There’s levity in your voice. 
“Be ambiguous.” 
“And why would I do that exactly?” 
Mark doesn’t appreciate the sass, rolling his eyes a bit. “Come on, catch up Y/N. Get a clue as to how Jeno feels about you.” 
“Why are you suggesting this? He obviously doesn’t see me that way.” 
“How do you really know that, though? You haven't been in a real relationship in college yet, right?” 
Nodding, Mark carries on. “And Jeno knows this… right? Do you see where I’m going…?” 
“Mark, please get to the point. I’m about to get an aneurysm following this plotline you’ve got going on.” 
“Just don’t say no directly and see whether he acts super jealous of you being with someone else.” 
Sighing, you droop into the pillows. 
“Give it a try. And I’m agreeing to this whole scheme too, you’ve got my permission.” Mark encourages, bumping your forearm. 
“Fine,” You give in, making a “gimme, gimme” motion for Mark to hand your phone back into your possession. 
You 
no, you haven’t won
we haven’t talked like that  
i suppose i’m not against the idea tho
Jeno :3
it seems like you two are seeing each other
Mark makes a noise that is similar to being translated to “I told you so!” as Jeno adds to his statement a few seconds after his last text. 
Jeno :3
did you notice the way he looked at you on ft?
Mark bursts into laughter but you don’t follow suit, genuinely befuddled. “This kid is so lovesick.” 
Ignoring Mark’s comment, you reply back for more clarification. 
You
no??? 
how 
Jeno :3 
like you hold the fucking moon in your hands idk 
i’ve been telling you, he likes you 
Mark takes your device again and you panic, fighting for it. “Don’t you dare! Make it sound like me, idiot!” 
“Okay, okay! Relax, I got this!” 
You 
Would you be okay with me getting with Mark? 
Does it bother you? 
“MARK LEE! YOU DUMB BITCH!” Yanking the pillow from behind Mark, you begin to whack the heedless boy, angry beyond belief at his obvious text. “Could you have been any less discreet?!” 
“STOP! Oh my God, stop! Look at what he said back!!!” Mark begs, cradling your conversation with Jeno like a baby and offering it over as a token of peace.
Jeno :3
i just don’t want you to get hurt 
You
you tell me, you know him better 
would he hurt me?
Engulfed in Jeno’s texts now, Mark mumbles over your shoulder, “I would be an amazing boyfriend to anyone.” 
“Shut up, I dislike you right now.” 
Mark shrinks, lips sucked into his mouth to stay silent. 
Jeno :3
not intentionally 
he’s a good guy
You’re grasping at straws, unable to believe your eyes. He was jealous, holy shit.
You’ve gotten to know Jeno’s speaking mannerisms, his facial expressions, his texting habits well, and yet you have never seen jealousy as an emotion so easily read from him like now. You’re not sure how to interpret this yet, either as a chance that maybe, just maybe, Lee Jeno potentially has feelings for you or is that he’s just confirming your beliefs of him caring about you as a platonic friend. 
You 
that sounds passive-aggressive, even over text 
Jeno :3
i’m not being passive-aggressive 
ig i’m saying i don’t want to pick up the broken pieces after he hurts you or smth 
“Yikes,” Mark whispers and you send a scowl over your shoulder, “Why’d my man word it like that?” 
Making a sound of indignation, you press on your phone’s keyboard with aggression.
You 
do you realize this is all hypothetical right
Jeno :3
well by the looks of it, you two are together already 
You 
jeno you’re being stupid rn
i just told you we weren't together 
Jeno :3
and you just asked me if i would be bothered if you ended up with him 
i’m answering your question???
You 
look i don’t want to fight over text rn 
i’ll call you tmrw? 
Jeno :3 
sure 
At your downcast face, Mark starts feeling bad. “Sorry. It seemed like a good idea in hindsight.” 
Looking back at Mark through your lashes, he gives a small tight-lipped smile and opens up his arms. You fall into them with a huff and he tugs his laptop back onto his thighs, also dragging your blanket over your body. 
“It’s okay. I agreed with your idea. At least now I know he’s bothered at the thought of us being together.” 
Mark softly grins at that, patting your head in endearing reassurance. “Maybe this will push him to actually do something.” 
You peer up from the crook of Mark’s shoulder for a second, trying to get at what Mark means. “Push him to do what?” 
Mark only shakes his head in mirth, black hair falling into his eyes. “Nothing. Don’t worry about a pretty little hair on your head. You’ll get it soon enough.” 
|—————|
Leaving the 127 house and heading back to your dorm, the cold air rushes at your face. Your flimsy jacket doesn’t do much to keep you warm, the blasting wind this late morning waking you up. 
Your eyes squint as you begin your trudge to your room and coincidentally, Jeno is standing at the door, looking to have been pacing outside for a while. 
“Jeno?” 
He whips around at the sound of your morning voice, puppy eyes wide in surprise. Jeno takes in the state of you, appearing like you just walked straight out of bed and snorts. 
“What a sleepover.”  
Wholly ignoring the twinge of spitefulness in the remark, you trudge past, not down for his attitude currently. 
“Morning.” You curtly mutter, waving an exaggerated hand to usher Jeno into the lobby of your dorm. With no one around in sight, you figured it was safe. After all, you weren’t petty enough in this tiny misunderstanding to leave Jeno out in the cold. 
He shivers once inside, collapsing onto the stiff couch and blowing into his cupped hands. Rocking on your heels, you stand before Jeno and patiently wait for him to bring up this conversation you two needed to have. 
“So… have I won?” He looks up to you.
You raise your eyebrows. “No. And I said that last night. Want to tell me why you were agitated yesterday?” 
“I was not agitated.” 
“It kind of seemed like it.” 
Jeno crosses his arms. A small pout sits on his lips and the ice around your heart from his mean demeanor earlier melts. 
“He’s… Mark isn’t…” 
“He’s what?” Deciding to sit down beside him, your back leans against the armrest of the couch, body facing toward Jeno wholeheartedly. 
Jeno looks to the soda vendor, eyes locked on the broken and shaky lights blinking in it. 
“This bet isn’t fair. I realized last night,” He meets your gaze and at the blank look in them, you wrap your arms around yourself, “The indefinite terms were that… I would win if Mark asked you out and you would win if he didn’t, right?” 
“Are you suggesting that I’m lying to you? Over a dumb bet?” 
Jeno shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweats, brown irises fluttering away from you again. 
“Let’s call it off.” 
You sit up straighter, confusion stapled in your voice. “What?” 
“Let’s call the bet off.” 
“But— but why? It’s been a few weeks and you’re going to call it off now—?” 
“Yeah, I am,” Jeno sighs, standing and turning with a serious tone. “I don't want in anymore.”
Getting up as well, you grab Jeno’s hand before he could leave without any explanation. “Jeno, are you being serious? I told you, Mark hasn’t asked me anything. We aren’t seeing each other.” 
“Then why did you suggest last night you were thinking about it?” 
The furrow between Jeno’s brows indicate his anger. Leaning back from the emotion, you can’t help but roll your eyes. 
“Jeno… this is why I hate texting, alright? It’s a misunderstanding. I was just wondering what you would think about me and Mark being an item. I wasn’t genuinely—”
Sighing deeply, you cut yourself off and tug at his hand to get him to sit back down. Jeno resists the movement, looking frustrated. His non-cooperation to try and talk things out burns the fire within you higher.
“Why does it even matter to you if I were? I don’t need to be explaining myself to you. You’re the one that’s gotten me onto Mark in the first place, Jeno!”
“Look, I don’t give a shit whether you like Mark or not—”
“Then why are you acting this way?”
The desperation is your strained voice has Jeno swallowing roughly. The words he wants to say are dying to climb out of his throat but…
Jeno’s jaw shifts, eyes becoming cold. “I don’t want in with the bet anymore, end of story. Are we done?” 
Water starts to prick your eyes, not understanding Jeno’s harshness. It was just a lighthearted bet, right? 
Your throat constricts, making your belated answer sound forced. “Yeah. We are.” 
|—————|
“Jeez. Who shat in your salad today?” 
You glare, meeting the sight of Hyuck dragging out the chair opposite to you as the metal legs scrape against the commons’ linoleum floor.
“Not in the mood, Hyuck.” 
The corners of his mouth stretch to the edges of his plump cheeks, bared teeth cringing on display. “Okay… I just wanted to update you that my mom wants your family over for dinner on break. Do you… want me to leave?” 
When he starts looking around the cafeteria, you hurriedly grab your childhood friend’s arm which is hovered near his face holding a breadstick. “No! Stay.” 
Your friend smirks at the needy words and in retaliation, you snatch the warm bread of his weak grip. Hyuck is on the cusp of complaining but eying the pout glued to your lips, he sighs and gives up. 
“Want me to accompany your misery?”
Humming non-committedly, your cheeks puff out from the food you completely stuffed in its confines, not willing to talk much. Biting his lip, Hyuck hesitates to mention what he wants to say. At the puppy eyes you give him, Hyuck finally asks. 
“This about Mark?” 
You shake your head. But on further thinking, you take it back with lips sucked into your mouth and shrug. 
“Ah, this bet with Jeno then?”
Stilling at his name, Hyuck shakes his head mirthfully. “I figured. You two argue?” 
Swallowing harshly, you rest your chin on the palm of your hand. “Yeah. It’s been two days and I’ve tried reaching him but he doesn’t pick up. Nana says he’s ignoring me.” 
Hyuck rolls his eyes at his friend’s shitty behavior. “Fucking idiot. Can’t take a clue for the life of him. Actually…” Hyuck aims his twisted face of disgust towards you, “That applies to your dumbass too.” 
You kick at Hyuck’s ankle lightly. “Hey! You’re not making me feel any better. Stop calling me names, Hyuck!” 
He hisses dramatically, grasping onto his foot like a baby. “Ow! Alright, alright! I was just saying… All of us have been watching this little footsie game between you and Jeno for a while. It’s annoying to see you two mope around when you could just confess and not ruin the vibes! Movie night was boring without you two yesterday.” 
He makes an exaggerated devastated face to pair with his last words. 
“Hyuck…” Your throat tightens and willing yourself not to cry in front of a lot of the campus population right now, you gather yourself more, “Although he’s acting like a fucking idiot right now… I don’t like fighting with him. He’s my best friend.” 
Hyuck smiles softly, taking your worries more seriously now. “I would hope so. You two are the backbone of our entire gaggle of friends. None of us don’t like seeing you two fight either.” 
Biting your lip, you lean closer across the table. “I’ll be honest. I knew that we were taking the bet too far when Mark was starting to get suspicious. And I feel bad for dragging him into it… Is Jeno ignoring Mark too?”
“I’m guessing so… Let’s clarify some things first though,” Hyuck pushes his high plate of food aside with your poor excuse of a salad for lunch, folding his hands in front of himself like a professional therapist, “You have to be completely truthful to me. No lying.”
You nod desperately, roped into Hyuck’s serious tone. 
“Do you like Jeno?” 
Breath stopping, you sit back into your seat. Your hesitation says it all for Hyuck while you look around, afraid of others overhearing. Hyuck gathers your wrists, willing your body to stop squirming. 
“Are you okay with just being his friend? Or do you want to be more?” 
You whine. “Hyuck…” 
“Because if you can’t settle with just being his friend anymore… You should tell him. It hurts more to think about what could’ve been than knowing the truth in the moment. Don’t you agree?” 
Hyuck stares deeply into your conflicted eyes, wanting you to understand him. 
“But… but what if he says he doesn’t—? I mean, you said we were the backbone o-of— then everything would be ruined and things would fall apart!”
“Well, I’ll tell you this now Y/N, that boy is head over heels in love with you. You’ve probably heard this before but seriously… if you consider him your best friend and you know him so well, Jeno would not just cut you out of his life. Especially for feelings you can’t help.”
“Are you sure?” 
Your open expression makes Hyuck grin, left hand going up to ruffle your hair in amusement. 
“Yes, you goof. Now eat up some more breadsticks and let’s begin Operation Confession…” Hyuck grins sinisterly after shoving his pile of said-breadsticks your way, “How you’re going to confess to Jeno.” 
|—————|
“Hyuck, I’m going to throw up in anxiety if you keep pacing in front of me.” 
Hyuck stills at that, the trek he’s made and burned into your dorm’s floorboards halted. The fingers in his hair rip out, suddenly coming forward to play with your own. 
“Sorry, I’m just worried for you.” Your friend’s eyes are wide, the nerves getting to him as his hands shake while brushing through some of your strands. 
“Worried for me? Hyuck, you’re the one that’s planned this whole thing!” 
“I know but now that the moment is finally here, I’m scared!” 
“Hyuck, stop!” Yanking his hold away from you, you stand and jump to shake the butterflies in your stomach. Your chest felt tight and the breaths you were taking through your nose felt too short for comfort. 
Thoughts of rejection and the possibility of the worst come flooding in like a thunderstorm, drowning your senses and bringing everything forward, including the pasta you and Hyuck demolished an hour ago. 
“Oh my gosh, I think I’m going to be sick.” 
“Woah, woah! Okay!” Hyuck grabs onto your forearms, guiding you to sit back onto your desk chair, “Y/N, you’re going to do just fine, okay? I’ve set up everything for you, all you have to do is be there and tell him.” 
Your eyes meet Hyuck’s and he takes in your frightened expression with open arms. Hugging your frame tightly like you’re his own little sister, his own lids shutt with the sincerity he holds. Hyuck pulls back to pat your cheeks. 
“Don’t be too nervous.”
You roll your eyes. “I can’t help it, alright? Tell me more details! I feel so out of the loop… I mean, it’s been a week and we haven’t talked. How are you getting him to see me?” 
“Don’t worry about that,” Hyuck forces you to take a deep swallow of air and you do so with difficulty and shakiness. 
“Let’s leave. Jaemin is waiting on us.” 
|—————|
“Jaemin, what’s the ETA?” 
“Uh… I’m in the parking lot right now. His class just got out.” 
Hyuck nods resolutely, the most serious and grave face on. You clutch to his forearm, desperately leaning your ear to hear Jaemin as well. 
“Okay, so what? Five minutes?” Hyuck digs. 
Nana sighs over the receiver. “Dude, are you sure this is okay? He’s been avoiding even me for the past week because I’ve been bugging him about Y/N… we live together! Don’t you think this is going too far?” 
Hyuck clutches the phone tighter, his hand blindly pushing your face away to get some space and focus on answering Jaemin. 
“Dude, go with the excuse and do whatever needs to be done. Pop his fucking tires, I don’t care. We’ve getting these two clueless clowns together today.” 
You pout at Hyuck’s words which are unnecessarily harsh. “I’m right here, you know?” 
Hyuck ignores you, nodding at whatever Jaemin says in response over the phone, which you now can’t listen to. The both of them hang up.
“So?” You rock between your toes and heels, “We just wait here? This park is near his class?” 
Hyuck finally turns while pocketing his phone, nodding. “Yeah, he’ll be here any minute now,” He then grabs onto your shoulders, shaking you like a bobblehead, “You got this, okay? Jaemin will text me when Jeno will head your way.”
Swallowing with difficulty, a noise between distress and a cry climbs from the bottom of your throat. 
“Hyuck, no. No, we’re canceling this whole thing, I’m shitting myself right now! I mean—” You gesture toward the nice picnic dress you have adorned, hair pinned up and light makeup done, “I look so stupid trying so hard and it’s fucking freezing out! He’s going to be weirded out that I’m telling him all this in a fucking park of all places—” 
Hyuck attempts to ease your worries but you’re unable to understand him, crouching to the ground and scolding yourself for being so optimistic.
You get up in a hurry. “Nope! Nope, I’m leaving, I can’t face him today—” 
“Wait! Wait!” Hyuck chases after your quick tread back to his car on the dirt path of the park, urgently starting to whisper and tug at your arm when he feels a buzz in his pocket. 
“He’s coming right now! Stop Y/N—!”
You register Hyuck’s words in your head too late, eyes bulging out the sockets when the turn on the path has Lee Jeno jogging on it. Worry paints his face, his dark hair is matted to his head with sweat as he desperately looks around. Jaemin is calling his name and cursing him to slow down, bent on his knees when his best friend finally stops but only to yell, “Where is she?!” 
Freaking out, you whip around causing Hyuck to skid and dig the heels of his feet to stop himself from running into your frame. Looking over your head, he clutches your shoulders. 
“See?! I was telling you, it’s too late to back out. He’s here!” 
“Oh hell no.”
You push at Hyuck to start walking in the opposite direction but Hyuck shakes his head vehemently before yanking you back. You almost fly to the ground, stumbling with a yelp. It alerts Jeno, who looks over to the sound and recognizes your figure.
“Y/N!” 
Your face turns furious, burning hot in anger. Hyuck freezes and shrivels under the fire of your vengeance, only to smile tightly a second after. 
“Sorry!” He chirps before abandoning you, turning 90 degrees and sprinting straight up the incline of the park’s hill. Hyuck trips on the way to the top, finally reaching the safe haven from your wrath and putting up a clenched fist. 
“Fighting!” 
“You motherfucker!”
Genuinely startled when familiar large hands engulf your waist and turn you around, you come face to face with Jeno, out of breath and eyes wild with fear. 
“Are you alright?!” He starts gently patting your cheeks, gaze fluttering over your body, “Are you hurt anywhere?!”
Jeno’s eyes flicker to the top of the hill, anger still set deep in his eyebrows. “Was that him!? The attacker?” 
“W-What? What attacker!? Why would I be hurt—?” 
“Jaemin said some guy hit you with his bike!!” 
Leaning over to peer past Jeno’s forearm, Jaemin jumps when meeting your eyes, slowly placing his foot behind a tree, following it with the other to hide his guilty expression. 
“You… didn’t get hit?” 
Looking back to Jeno’s blinking, confused at your twisted face, you can’t help but laugh at the stupid lie. 
“What— of course not! I’m fine! There’s not even a bike around us anywhere!” 
“Then why did Jaemin—” Jeno catches the sight of chestnut hair flapping at the top of the hill, peeking eyes blinking over the two of you. “These dumb idiots…” 
He’s tonguing at the inside of his cheek, head thrown back in annoyance. You suck your mouth in at that, finally realizing what Jaemin and Hyuck had planned behind both of your backs. Rubbing at your forearms, you cave in on yourself, shoulders drooping in anxiety. 
Heart beating out of your chest, you open your mouth to speak up but Jeno suddenly whips his head forward to peer straight into your eyes.
His mouth opens to start talking more but something within himself forces him to stop. It was just like the last time you two fatefully argued. 
As he considers how to put out his words, your facial expression is wide and hopeful. It causes Jeno’s heart to stutter. Suppressing himself from seeing you for an entire week was a complete miracle and a curse. 
Sure, it felt good when his phone would light up, vibrating with your caller id on his phone. But leaving it unanswered made his stomach twist the first two days. After that, Jeno would constantly look to see if you had called again, like the imbecile he knew he was being in this situation. 
Attempting to own up to how mean he was, Jeno would hover over the call button on your contact… but your profile picture would always halt his thumb from facing you head-on. 
Both of your backs are facing the camera but you’re clearly smiling up at him in the picture. Your eyes are crinkled up to and although you always love to point out how endearing his squinted eyes were, he’s never had the courage to say yours were cuter in his opinion. 
From there on, Jeno would think of how you smile when Mark is around. Like that time in the commons, or at the picnic table under the willow tree, or at that stupid sleepover. Jealousy would consume him and slide a hazy, red-tinted window of anger over his vision before Jeno tosses his phone away. 
But a few moments later, he’ll feel guilt and stupidity for acting possessive of you. He had no right. You’re weren’t his and you never were.You never would be if he didn’t even take the chance to tell you how he’s felt for the past two years… You must hate him, you must absolutely loathe him for pushing you away like this… 
He hates it too. 
The wise phrase— “You only miss what you have until it’s gone,” is entirely true and Lee Jeno would bet everything on those words. If only he could turn back time and take back that small moment of curiosity at the 127 frat party. If only he hadn’t felt the urge to see whether his small suspicion of Mark liking you was anything solid. If only he hadn’t placed that bet and gotten your interest piqued. 
But you deserve to be happy. Jeno, as your best friend, should want you to be happy. And right now, you weren’t if you were scared of losing him. The sooner Jeno gets over you, the sooner you could be happy again. 
With this in mind, Jeno swallows harshly while digging his hands into his pockets, ready to get rejected. “Y/N, I’m sorry for ignoring you this past week. I’ve… been thinking a lot…” 
You let Jeno talk, knowing he needs to get something off his chest. Seeing his face contort with how much he’s been holding in, your grip on your forearms tighten to avoid trying to comfort Jeno.
“You should be mad at me for how childish I’ve been acting over this bet, right?” Jeno peeks at your expression, flickering between the ground and your expression. You don’t give anything away though, only tucking your lips into your mouth. 
“I’m sorry.”
“For what specifically?” 
He hums, trying to gain confidence to look forward. “Just being a dick. I know we don’t have many big disagreements so I’m sorry you had to learn I tend to push people away like this when I get angry.” 
Your laugh twinkles in his ears and Jeno can’t help but smile softly. “Oh, I know, you meathead. I just tended to be a bystander and not on the receiving end of the silent treatment.”
His lips quirk up when you cross your arms, brows furrowed. “Cute.”
For once, he finally gives into the urge of telling you, smiling. 
“Horrible timing, Jeno,” You slap his arm out of complete habit, embarrassment getting the best of you. Jeno can only grin, happy to see your crinkled eyes make an appearance. 
“And also, I look cute everyday.” 
“You do.” 
Squinting, you shake your head. “You’re buttering me up to accept this semi-shitty apology, aren’t you?” 
Jeno’s shoulders shake in amusement. “Princess, stop thinking I have an ulterior motive all the time.” 
“What’s all these compliments with the apology then? Are you going to tell me why you got so angry over this bet?” The rambling starts, questions spilling forward while you momentarily forget to tell Jeno your feelings, “I mean, I know we’re both competitive, and maybe I was taking it too far by getting Mark somewhat on my side to make you nervous—”
“You what—?”
You wave away Jeno’s indignation. “But I promise he doesn’t know what the bet is about! He just knows he’s involved! I’m still really confused why you pushed me away in the first place though because you’re the one who proposed the bet first! Really, if anything, you should have realized how unfair the bet on your side was before remaking the rules—”
Jeno sighs before interrupting you, bracing for the worst with cringed teeth. “It’s because I like you.” 
The swallow of your saliva while rambling makes it halfway down your throat before you cough, turning in shock to not spit in Jeno’s face. You accidently meet Hyuck’s gaze, his own irises widening on his friend’s confession. Somewhere in the background, the loudest gasp is heard very conspicuously behind a tree. 
“And I know I’m fucking stupid and horrifically dumb for not realizing it until you started getting really close to Mark but—” Jeno rubs at the back of his neck, unwilling to see your reaction to his words. 
“Sounds very toxic for your masculinity—” 
Jeno clears his throat awkwardly.
“But—! I’m working on it. I also know you really don’t see me like that, knowing how upset you were about how I was talking about Mark—”
You tug at one of Jeno’s arms, panicking at his assumptions. “How do you know I don’t see you like that?”
Jeno’s eyes go as wide as saucers. “Are you saying you do?”
“I mean…” You chuckle, gesturing towards the two mutual friends you had camping around the both of you, and then to your outfit, “Hyuck got me to wear a dress in the middle of November. What other special occasions like confessing to my crush would require me to look like this? ” 
Jeno snorts, tucking your hair behind your ear. “Well, in your usual words, fashion sacrifices. And you look very pretty. Unfortunately, I’m all sweaty from sprinting here after thinking you got hurt.” 
You curl your arms around Jeno’s neck, grinning with a slight laugh. “Oh yeah, you’re a real idiot for falling for those words so easily.”
“Seems like you’re stuck with this idiot now…” Jeno swallows roughly, smiling eyes darting to your lips, “Will you go out with me?” 
You lean in, a hair's breadth away from making you two official.
“Bet.” 
|—————|
“What did your mom say about dinner?” 
Humming, you start the timer and face your phone’s screen up, returning to join Jeno’s watch party of the Yeri and company’s picnic table. Hyuck was over there currently, rubbing shoulders with the older girl. 
“You’re all set. She said she’s excited to meet you since Hyuck bragged last break how he got the two of us together.”
Jeno looks away just as Yeri stands up, Joy jumping at her sudden movement. He peers at your side profile and the happy grin you’ve got on. 
“Hyuck did not.” 
You sigh, sending a grin Jeno’s way. “He did. He has my whole family on the edge of their seats, waiting to meet you.” 
Jeno groans, his forehead banging against the picnic table. “Don’t tell me that. Now I have even higher expectations to meet.” 
“Don’t worry,” You drag out while rubbing Jeno’s back, eyes glued to Hyuck slowly backing away from Yeri, “I’ve never brought someone home before but my family knows whoever I will bring home means a lot to me. That’s enough for them, trust me.” 
Jeno turns his head, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand now. “That didn’t make me feel any better.” 
You laugh, pressing a quick peck to your boyfriend’s pouty lips. 
Finally, Hyuck’s signature high-pitched screech of terror alerts everyone in the campus plaza of his next hustle with Yeri. 
Jeno hurriedly peers over to your phone’s screen, collapsing onto the table again in defeat. You don’t have to look at the timer to know you’ve won, instead further attempting to heal Jeno’s suffering this particular bet made back a few months ago and about meeting your parents soon. 
“It was exactly two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.” Jeno groans, muzzling his voice and hair as he tunnels himself into his arms. 
You burst into laughter, leaning on Jeno’s body as Yeri grabs a fistful of snow and makes Hyuck fall on his back with the powerful throw. 
“Please don’t laugh at my pain.” Jeno peeks up at you. 
“No, no, look!” You’re gasping in air as Hyuck slowly gathers himself and starts walking over to you two again, face completely red from the cold snowball launched at it. 
Jeno can’t help but fall in line. As Hyuck approaches you closer, the funniest expression of a defeat is glued on his tomato-colored face. You almost fall back off your seat but Jeno clutches your arm at the last minute. 
“You two enjoy seeing me in pain so much, don’t you?” Hyuck collapses into the bench, a flurry of snow fluttering into the wooden table. You and Jeno bend even farther forward, laughing your asses off. 
“Well I hope that stupid bet you two just had was worth it. Especially given all I’ve done for you idiots…” Hyuck grumbles.
Jeno suddenly stops chuckling, now completely void of any humor and getting up slowly. “About that asshole… what did you say to her parents, huh?”
“What?!” Hyuck’s eyes are humongous, flickering over to you for some help, “Nothing bad, I promise! All good things!”
“Oh, I know you, Lee Donghyuck—”
“— Not the full government name…” You snicker. 
Jeno bends to grab snow, “You and your devilish words probably spilled—”
“Of how much of an asshat you are?” Hyuck daringly leans his chin up, teasing your boyfriend in good fun, “Yeah! Maybe I did.” 
With that, Hyucks rounds the table in a flash, using you as a shield as a snowball fight commences. Renjun, being just around the corner for arriving for the usual lunch, gets a clump of white in the balls and Chenle and Jisung pounce on their oldest friend for fun. Jaemin slinks in to sit on the sidelines calmly until you and Mark target him. 
Your fear of ruining the friend group was irrational and this specific moment solidifies that fact. Because as Jeno drags you to the ground to tickle, fluff in his hair and in yours, you sober up. You take in the moment and hear the sound of those gaggle of chaotic boys you call your friend group in the back before tugging at Jeno’s jacket to meet his cold lips. 
Let’s just say, as the two people being the backbone of eight, you wouldn’t have things any other way. 
2K notes · View notes
rvfecamerons · 3 months
Note
Girl write as dark as you want. It's hard to find good writers who "push the limits" when it comes to dark ideas and I find myself reading for characters I know nothing about just bc I stumbled upon an account who's into the same stuff as me. I think a lot of obx writers tag dark, but the "dark" thing in question is rafe calling the reader a slut and I'm over here wanting him to fuck a girl with a gun then hit her with it 😭 idk if you're into marvel or cillian murphy, but @slut4thebroken and @mypoisonedvine are some of my favorite writers who have very unique fics/drabbles if you want to check out their accounts! I always say the more niche/dark/unique your fics are, the more dedicated your followers will be bc they know you'll deliver every time.
i sooo appreciate you taking the time to send this to me fr!!! ty for the recs, i will def check them out 🫶🏽 honestly i’ve had to do the same before i started writing!! i found some really good dark marvel fics and i’m not even into that universe but i had to force myself to try to imagine rafe’s name everytime it said peter or steve or BUCKY?? wtf kinda name but anyway LMAO PLS
AND WAIT IM CRYING bc the dark thing being reader getting called a slut is so real pls 😭 also u are so real for the thing about the gun LITERALLY SAME 😭 i guess i just get nervous bc i don’t see many rafe writers going as dark as i want to so i get scared aldjfididk but ty for this motivation bby ily 🤍
51 notes · View notes
lacefuneral · 9 months
Text
hi reddit. here are some tips.
i will be putting these below a "readmore" - which is the first lesson. on desktop there is a button for this. on mobile you type :readmore: followed by a linebreak. it is considered common ettique to shorten your long posts in this way.
by the way, are you reblogging a long post that isn't under a readmore? tag that as #long post so users can blacklist it and not have to scroll for five years.
(weird gaps in bullet points due to character limits lmao)
Title. Icon. Banner. blog description. (look around if you need an idea for what to put in your blog description.) Blogs without this information (ESPECIALLY the no icon + no title combo) gets you blocked immediately. This is because tumblr has always had a severe bot problem. Just grab a meme from your camera roll or a picture of a character you like from google.
also, because most users have their pronouns in their bio, it is expected that you will look there to check before addressing them, out of courtesy. don't just default to "they" - only do that if a person's pronoun's are unclear or if the pronouns listed ARE "they."
Disable public likes. the like button is for personal bookmarking. very often, people will like posts they have not read yet, so that they can read them later. a person's likes is not always reflective of their stances, and if your likes are public, people may use them against you in an argument. think of your likes as your browser history. tumblr users value privacy in this instance.
unrelated to the above point: likes are also used to show compassion for a user going through a tough time, or to say "hey, i thought this joke you made was funny." this use of likes is more for friend-to-friend communication.
Disable anything in your settings that is algorithmic including seeing posts based on other people's likes (one, because algorithms exist to make you mad and two, as part of respecting privacy)
set "following" to appear before "for you" (and overall avoid "for you")
Snooze Tumblr Live (sorry. you have to do this once a week bc tumblr sucks.)
Open your askbox so people can communicate with you. Decide if you want to allow anonymous asks and/or public DMs.
Enable the desktop version of your blog. This makes it so that when you use a computer and go to [yourusername].tumblr.com you can have a website with HTML and CSS. tumblr has tried very hard to kill blog personalization but you can find many helpful users posting in the tags, as well as pre-made themes you can install. tumblr users are the ones making the bulk of neocities websites, and in general tend to be friendly in redirecting you to resources.
enabling your desktop blog also allows you to insert links and do very basic editing (like inserting line breaks) in your blog description (we call "bio") which translates to the mobile version of your theme. you have to do this in the editor for the desktop on a computer. also, editing your theme on mobile (like changing color, font) will undo your HTML. your best bet is to edit your mobile theme first and THEN do the HTML/link stuff on a computer. i know it sounds a bit convoluted but you'll figure it out. (this website is made of duct tape)
also while you are on desktop: download xkit rewritten. it won't work on mobile but it gives you a lot of helpful features. also consider installing ublock origin if you haven't already, because tumblr will sometimes add annoying widgets to their website and that tool will allow you to block them. i also use "palettes for tumblr" to customize my dashboard color. tumblr DOES have built-in dashboard themes but i do not like them personally.
pinned posts. you can pin any post you make or reblog. some people use this to pin a funny meme, and other people use the pinned post as an extended bio (or otherwise an alternative to it). a tumblr post made on desktop can hold up to 30 images (the limit is 10 on mobile.) you can also embed links, a video, and even audio. you can change text color, have bullet points, and increase font size. as such, you can express yourself much more in a pinned post than in your mobile blog description. a typical pinned post may include information about the user, a link to an external website (like a carrd, neocities, or linktree), and sometimes an image or two. tumblr allows you to disable reblogs for a post, so most pinned posts are set this way so it just stays on a user's blog.
DNIs (also called "BYF"). not everyone uses them, and they can be divisive. it stands for "Do Not Interact" - and is a boundary set to keep people away. this may include age (example: "minors DNI"), political opinions (example: "prolifers DNI"), and sometimes deeply niche online discourse. DNIs are also sometimes a joke (example: "DNI if you like tuna salad"). there is actually a meme where someone will write a post with a very long, unreasonable DNI and users will count how many apply to them.
If you would upvote a post on reddit, you would reblog it here. If you see something and you think it is cool, you think it is funny, or you think it is helpful, reblog it. Some users have sideblogs (you can have infinite sideblogs attached to your main account) to organize all of the posts they reblog. Others simply use a tagging system for organizational purposes (and so users can blacklist ("filter") those tags in their settings if they don't want to see the post). For example, if I followed a user for Star Trek, but they also posted a lot of Star Wars, I might add "#star wars" to my list of filters. This way, I am only seeing the Star Trek posts. Tumblr's default way of handling this is to display a box that says "this post contains #Star Wars" and you can choose whether or not to open it. on desktop with xkit rewritten, you can have it hide those boxes entirely. please use filters. your sanity will thank you.
In a reblog, Organizational Tags are for /you./ I see a lot of confusion about this from new users. If you reblog someone else's post and add 500 tags..... it's not going to get picked up in tumblr search. You're not going to get any sort of exposure. Because it is not your post. Those tags are only for /you/ - if you want to find the post again.
tags are also used for commentary. most tumblr users do /not/ talk in post replies or in the comments of a reblog. most of them talk in tags. tags have a character limit so these messages are broken up in fragments. tumblr uses a comma (,) to make a new tag, so users often use either no punctuation or a period (.) or a hyphen (-) to break up thoughts. two apostrophes ('') are used instead of quotation marks (because they dont work in tags). this is also where "tumblr writing style" comes from. we all began to write in lowercase and use punctuation in. a weird way. like. for emphasis. there is also the Tumblr Comma, a special unicode character that resembles a comma and works in tags when copy+pasted or put there with a keyboard shortcut. but this is often not used. here it is: ‚
also here's an example of tags. you will notice that commentary goes before organizational: #GOD DHSHSKDDJDL #i cannot BELIEVE i forgot about this. what the fuck #star trek #spock
when leaving tags, most users talk to themselves. but please remember that tags can be seen by anyone, including the original poster. in general, it is discouraged to traumadump or be rude.
"prev tags" (which tumblr staff is trying their damnest to erase sadly) is when a user reblogs a post from another user and tags it simply ''prev'' or ''prev tags" (meaning "i agree with the previous user's tags"). sometimes it's because a thoughtful observation was made, but usually it's a way of saying "hey! that was a funny joke!" without putting the user on blast by screenshotting the tags. it's most common between friends and mutuals (users following each other). i would say it is equivalent to users whispering to each other and giggling rather than getting up on a table and shouting. "prev tag chain" is when users reblog "prev tags" "prev prev tags" - and so on. however, sadly, tumblr has removed the feature of moving backwards in a reblog chain on desktop. i have not updated my app and refuse to, so i so not know if it is gone on mobile as well, but it probably is. EDIT: the browser extension Xkit Rewritten has an option now, in "tweaks" called "restore links to individual posts in post header." it should be the first option. prev tags, on desktop at least, is saved!
screenshotting someone elses tags and adding the image in a reblog is known as "passing peer review." it is, however, considered to be Greatly Annoying to accompany those tags with unnecessary commentary (ex: "these tags pass peer review!" "WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE THIS IN THE TAGS" "LMAAOO THIS IS SO FUNNYYY"). the tags can stand on their own. the only instance in which this is different is during a serious discussion, when you want to build off of another user's perspective. in which case, you address them as normal. some people credit taggers, some people don't. crediting tends to occur in discussions.
when making an original post, do not use irrelevant tags for Exposure. this is Greatly Hated by the userbase and is also against the TOS. you will get blocked at best, reported or yelled at at worst. only add relevant tags, and do not go overboard.
reposting other people's artwork is highly discouraged and is considered the Highest Offense. if you do any sort of reposting, you should credit and link to a creator directly. however, tumblr loves reposted videos, especially ones from tiktok. there are entire accounts dedicated to posting those.
sideblogs! it is possible to have multiple blogs under one email address. tumblr treats these blogs as proxies of your main blog. this means that sending someone an ask/commenting in the replies of a post will always appear with the name of your main blog, your likes will appear with the name of your main blog, and that if you follow someone you will appear on their followers list as your main blog (so you may be mutuals with someone and not even know it because their sideblog interacts with you, but isn't on your follower's list... because their main blog is listed there instead.) however, DMs DO appear as the sideblog name. you cannot swap your main blog with your sideblog. and right now, there is a bug where deleting a sideblog will delete your entire tumblr account so. don't do that lol. anyway, the amount of sideblogs you can make is literally infinite and i think there's just a Daily Limit of creating 10 of them or something. some users make a sideblog for each interest they have. others have no sideblogs and reblog everything to main. and then you have people like me that do both. somehow. some users will make sideblogs to hoard URLs. also sorry i'm just introducing this now, but that is what our usernames are called. because when tumblr was more desktop-oriented, every blog was literally a Personal Website. so ya. we call them "URLs." anyway, if someone wants to hang onto a URL for later, they might save it on an empty blog. this usually pisses people off. a "canon URL" is when someone has a URL that is like One Word or a Company Name or a Fictional character. hypothetical examples: "ketchup" "burgerking" "lukeskywalker." these are highly rare, coveted, and you look cool as hell if you have one.
tumblr's /\/SFW policy (/\/ is an N. i've censored it.) is best described as ???. posts that are safe for work get marked as /\/SFW and hardcore p0rn somehow persists. in general, be very wary of posting even artistic nvdity (even though it is supposedly permitted.) never deliberately mark your own posts as Mature. this is essentially like walking directly into a bear trap and waving a big sign at tumblr staff saying "hey! make it so people can't find my blog and i'm far more likely to get banned!" also do not tag posts with "/\/SFW." too many of those will get your entire blog marked as mature (which makes your posts pretty much invisible to other users.) tumblr users used /\/SFT (/\/ot safe for tumblr) for a long time, but staff caught on. there is now no consensus and people use their own personal tags for it. just pick something and people will catch on and blacklist it if need be. (btw you CAN type whatever you want on this website. i am only censoring in the hopes that this will allow my post to appear in the tags. this isn't tiktok lol)
while it is possible to disable reblogs on a post, this is a very RECENT addition and most users forget it exists. as such, please use common sense. if someone has written a post about, say, how sad they are feeling because they got in a fight with their family... that's not a good post to reblog. a like would be better here, like a pat on the back.
we LOVE polls. we love them. they are like sports to us. most of them are popularity polls - who is the better character? but people also use polls for, say, making bug emojis "race" each other. or "lets build a cake." other people use polls to write poetry, or learn about regional differences, or even to draw a pen!s. if you tag a poll as "poll" it will most likely be seen and voted in, because users look in the tag to find buttons to click.
there is unfortunately a T3RF (this one censored specifically to protect my notifs lmao. 3 is E) presence here. report, block, ignore, move on. common courtesy for users to inform each other if one is accidentally reblogged from. it also helps to blacklist tags related to them to avoid them. use shinigam! eyes browser extension on desktop.
there is NO equivalent to reddit awards on this website. as the userbase hates the staff, it is considered blasphemous to spend your money on checkmarks, etc. - buying them as a gift for another user is seen as a hostile act. it's like receiving a "kick-me" sign. once owned, badges cannot be deleted. thankfully, tumblr now allows you to disable checkmarks and other badges from appearing publically. that said, some users also give checkmarks unironically to show appreciation??? and others buy checks for themselves???? so yeah. tumblr doesnt actually have a verification system - these exist to mock twitter and to make a quick buck.
tumblr blaze. essentially, tumblr has a system in place to showcase user posts instead of advertisements sometimes. this is done by the user paying money. the higher the amount, the more impressions. tumblr users can now also blaze OTHER PEOPLE'S POSTS. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BLAZE DISABLED!!! blazing another person's post (without asking first) is seen as a hostile act. why? because most blazed posts result in rude comments from strangers who are annoyed to see the post on their dashboard. unless it's like, a cute picture of a cat. or something genuinely helpful. boosting your soundcloud or a selfie or a rant about fandom does not typically garner positive responses. you can blaze just like. watch out. and also always ask the OP if you want to blaze someone else's post. (there is a reason this feature is called "blaze pvp")
tumblr merch is also frowned upon, as tumblr staff steals ideas from the userbase and profits off of them without financially compensating or crediting the users. there was a meme on here, "vanilla extract", that tumblr turned into water bottles while the person who made the meme was having to fundraise to survive :(
BLOCK. LIBERALLY.
umm i think thats it for now. but like if you have questions feel free to launch them into The Void with some tags and users are pretty quick to help out! hopefully i covered some stuff that other ppl haven't
161 notes · View notes
valeriianz · 7 months
Text
Me: says im 100% not going to write anymore of The Proposal AU. Also me: "but what if--" tagging @valiantstarlights, my partner in crime for this AU lmao
this is part 4, aka the engagement story. part three, two and one, if anyone is keeping track (its not in any actual order, we run on vibes only in this house).
-------------------
“Stop taking my hand!”
Dream slips his hand out of Hob’s with a pointed glare (and only a brief reflection of the instant warmth that shot up his arm from the touch). Hob, for his part, sighs with a barely contained eye roll.
“Sorry.” At least Hob sounds sincere, leaning in to speak quietly in Dream’s ear in the crowded room. “Force of habit, I guess. But you know…” He brushes his knuckles under the line of Dream’s jaw. “We are supposed to be engaged. Holding your hand is not the worst thing I could do to you.”
Dream’s skin prickles. “Is that a threat?”
Hob sighs again, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“It’s a tease. I’m teasing you.” He bumps his shoulder to Dream’s. “Lighten up. Have a drink.”
Perhaps Dream could do with a drink, especially if he’s actually thinking about what other debauchery Hob could get up to, outside of the limits of hand holding.
Snagging a beer out of the fridge, and forcing himself to smile as an aunt or grandma or someone comes up to him and starts asking him how he and Hob met. 
They had developed this, on the flight here, to Hob’s surprisingly luxurious childhood home. The story wasn’t much of an exaggeration of the truth– they indeed worked together but had hidden feelings for each other and after years of dancing around each other, they finally realized they were crazy for one another. 
It was easy enough to sell… perhaps not to the siblings who would loudly announce to Hob, “This is the same Dream who you bitched about on the phone? The one who didn’t let you come home for Thanksgiving last year? Who makes you go on coffee runs and harass writers?”
And Hob would shrug while Dream’s plastered on smile would sharpen to something deadly as he looked sideways at Hob. 
“Ah, what can I say? I like a man who knows what he wants.”
It would appease his family, for now. Dream had a moment of realization himself. 
He wasn’t aware Hob had such a large, welcoming family. His mother had immediately hugged Dream, smiling ear-to-ear, and Grandma Johanna had taken his hand and expressed to him how elated she was to finally see Hob settling down with “someone so handsome.” And now, at the welcome home party, everyone wanted a piece of Dream. To interrogate him or just meet him; meet the man who would make Hob honest. Who was now part of the family.
Dream had swallowed thickly. He wasn’t used to all the attention. Nor the care and playfulness of Hob’s family all around him. It was making him emotional and he didn’t know how much longer he could hover, an imposter among Hob’s fortunate family, with parents and siblings and aunts, uncles, and grandmother who all loved him and genuinely were excited that he was home for the holidays.
They all had no idea that it was all fake. Dream was a fraud. Hob and his relationship was purely transactional. The reality of Dream’s impulsive decision was finally crashing down around his ears and the room started to spin.
“Hey, you okay?”
Dream startled at Hob’s touch, no matter how gentle it was, on his shoulder.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Dream bit out, blinking away the stinging in his eyes and going for a sip of his beer and scowling as he found it empty.
Hob’s hand, palm open, slid down Dream’s shoulders to his back, rubbing soothing circles between his shoulder blades.
“You look a little green.”
Dream huffed and tried not to relax into Hob’s soothing caress.
“This is all a little much,” Dream spoke honestly. “You didn’t tell me you had such a massive family.” Who love and are proud of you and are so quick to welcome me. So happy and eager to congratulate us and–
“Well, you never asked.” Hob replies simply, his hand dropping. Dream misses it immediately.
“Hey love birds!” Jo, Hob’s sister, pops up in their quiet space with a drink in her hands.
Dream tries not to jump at Jo’s sudden appearance, or bristle as she takes Dream’s left hand without permission to stare at the fake ring Hob and him had bought in the airport, realizing too late that they needed some kind of proof to their engagement.
Dream hoped Jo wasn’t some kind of jewelry appraisal. The silver band was simple, with a glass diamond inlay. Hob had a matching one. It cost them $30 each.
“I love the rings!” Jo gushed, thankfully dropping Dream’s hand before he could yank it back rudely. “Oh! You gotta tell us– who proposed to who?”
Dream can see the panic that crosses Hob’s eyes, which only grows larger with a nervous laugh as the family around them picks up on what Jo said and now everyone is interested in hearing the story.
Dream feels his heartbeat in his throat. They hadn’t discussed this. Hob and him had exchanged hobbies and interests and food preferences and allergies (Dream utterly bewildered at how much Hob already knew about him) but had somehow forgotten to build an engagement story.
“Oh, it’s not that interesting,” Hob laughs, an edge of hysteria to it. “Dream, honey, you were just mentioning that you wanted to rest–”
“Ah, c’mon!” Grandma Johanna prods, wiggling in her seat on the couch. “We’re all dying to hear it.”
“Yes, Hob.” Dream speaks with his own mischievous glint in his eyes. “I’d love to hear it from your perspective.”
Hob stares at Dream, utterly bewildered and then– Dream swallows nervously– his lips curl. 
“Aw well, if my sweet Dream insists…” Hob takes up Dream’s left hand and kisses the top of it while maintaining eye contact and Dream’s pulse stutters.
“You’d never know it,” Hob starts, addressing the room, which the whole family has now congregated in. “But underneath this hard, prickly exterior–” he gestures with a wide sweep to Dream. “Is a big ‘ol softie.”
A round of tittering surrounds them. Dream stares at Hob, eyes widening as he suddenly realizes his mistake of giving Hob the reins. Putting him on the spot.
“He took me to the local carnival…”
Dream hates carnivals. The rides are rickety and dangerous and full of rowdy teenagers.
“... where I won him the biggest pink teddy bear in the darts game, after he begged me for it…” Hob turns to wiggle his nose in Dream’s face.
Dream feels his cheeks warm and jaw drop. He hates the color pink and would never beg for anything, let alone a stuffed animal–
Some family members are now studiously looking at Dream, seeing him in a new light, no doubt. And Dream nearly shakes with the indignity of it all. He doesn’t even know these people, but he will be staying with them for the next week and he absolutely will not lose face over Hob’s overactive imagination.
“And finally,” Hob grins at Dream, clearly having the time of his life putting his boss on the spot and Dream can only stand and wait for the punchline.
“We go on the ferris wheel– the sun is setting– all planned, I’m sure. And then–”
“And you kissed me,” Dream interrupts, causing all eyes to refocus on him. Dream swallows at the bewildered look on Hob’s face. “It was very romantic.”
He turns to address the room himself, feeling ridiculous but barling onward, leaning sideways onto Hob in a way, he hopes, is besotted. 
“We walked off the ferris wheel to a group of carnies that Hob had hired, a quartet, to meet us and they sang ‘Cherish’ acapella.”
Hob’s brows shoot up into his hairline, stunned silent. 
“The Madonna song?” Somebody asks, Dream thinks it’s Hob’s cousin, Fancis.
“The Association,” Dream spares them a glance and a vague gesture with his wrist. “It’s an oldie.”
Grandma Johanna puts her hand on her chest and makes a sound like, “t’aw.”
“And then,” Dream continues, delighted now to have the upper hand. “Hob joined them for the chorus.”
Jo and some of Hob’s cousins exclaim loudly, looking back to Hob, who is running a hand through his hair with a wide, uncomfortable smile as more of his family join in on the slowly building sound of laughter. Dream smirks and tugs on Hob’s arm to get his attention. 
“You have a great voice, darling, don’t be embarrassed. I was very smitten.”
“Oh, I’m sure you were,” Hob says, his ears red. Dream would never admit it, but it’s a very cute look on him. 
“And when you asked me to marry you, of course I said yes.” Dream tapped Hob on the nose, who’s eyes narrowed murderously. Dream smiled with teeth, uncaring how sarcastic he appeared now.
“Oh you guys!” Hob’s mother exclaimed, her expression reflecting utter joy. Jo was whispering something to Hob’s brother and snickered between themselves. “That’s very unlike the Robert we all know,” she gives Hob a knowing look. “I suppose love makes you do strange things.”
“Strange, yeah. That’s one way to put it.” Hob is looking at Dream again, his eyes glinting with revenge, most likely. But Dream doesn’t mind. He’s just relieved they got this out of the way, along with the bonus of managing to embarrass Hob in front of his entire family. A win-win in Dream’s books.
the song Dream came up with... which Hob would definitely, absolutely, sing to Dream on any other occasion lol
129 notes · View notes
corviisquire · 24 days
Text
Tumblr media
I’ve read the comments on my post abt soulsborne sleep token thing! Here’s some concept art I tried. More is on the way just… HW ew. Tagging people who were interested/encouraging this idea: @sleep-token @wingedinsect @moonchild-in-blue @foundationsofdecay @madsthenightowl @a-s-levynn
Undercut is me mindlessly rambling about what’s going on in my brain about this. Don’t read unless you like torturing yourself with reading.
I guess to start, I have only played Elden Ring (crucible knight more like crucible kill yours-IM JOKING), I’ve watched some lore videos on Elden Ring Bloodborne and DS1, haven’t played DS1 yet, and have all the art books except DS2 (cause nobody likes DS2). I’ve played very limited DND games. I’ve read lots of weaponry wiki pages but I have bad memory. If any information I say below is incorrect (like I say this sword is two-handed but it’s not or I misspell spauldor… spalder? Spauldron?) please correct me. I’m just using information I know and I’m always open to suggestions and feedback!
Random Lore Bits: Sleep and the Whale lived in peace but Sleep was always the higher deity. It created all that lives on the land and the TMBTE creatures. Sleep had many worhsippers but Vessel and the rest stood out. They were appointed as the highest knights of sleep. Vessel always had Sleep’s favor and therefore became Sleep’s vessel. Confusing I’m aware lmao. Sleep and Whale became enemies somehow and Sleep injured the whale, causing it to die. This time period before the Whale’s death was called Eden. NPCs speak of Eden all the time about how, “Peace and day has never been restored since Eden” “Eden is over” “If the whale were here, Eden would still be here”. All followers of Sleep become corrupt.
Bosses: Once killed, all bosses turn into statues and have branches grow out of them. They aren’t dead, just dormant. You can fight them again but returning to their fight area and making an offering of a certain amount of tokens. Once defeated again they return to being dormant. If you defeat all resurrected bosses (fought each one twice) you get smth called a Talisman of Blood (important later).
Regular enemies: Idk skeletons???? Giant birds??? Snakes???? Giant insectoids Idk bro???
Location: Like Elden Ring lands between, it’s called Fields of Elation. The capital city is either Nazareth or Jericho. I’ll try to incorporate Calcutta somehow. Geography is a mix of frigid coast, deep dark forest, large cavernous cave strictures, old ruined castles with mysterious rusty machinery inside, sparatic temples to sleep (all whale temples were destroyed), and the remnants of towns. Large trade road that goes through the entirety of the land is called the Path of Reason??? Idk bro I’m spitballing.
Currency: Tokens. Killing enemies and bosses earns you large amounts of tokens and like how runes work, you can level up you and your armaments with them.
Waypoints: Sites of grace, bonfires, more like RITUALS (I am not funny). I think calling waypoints rituals makes sense.
Flasks HP/FP: Estus Flask, Flask of Crimson/Cruelean Tears…. How about Flssk of H I G H W A T E R. Nah I’m kidding. No idea! Suggestions are open! I’m reading lyrics and nothings jumping out.
Incantations/Spells: Can be equipped to magic armaments and weapons! Kinda like you can choose between spell sword or just being a wizard.
Player Character: Tarnished, undead, hunter…. No idea what to call them. Robes and garments Very inspired by TPWBYT. Thinking the whale was an ancient god defeated by Sleep. Player Character is gifted with a certain power of the whale and was resurrected to defeat Sleep. Game opens with epic cutscene and player charter emerges from a cavern (TLYW) and goes through it before finding themselves on the coast of a freezing raging sea and an inviting forest. There’s probably one class you play as cause I’m lazy and you just collect armor and new weapons on the journey. TLYW style robes with greaves, hood, and gauntlets. Basic longsword.
Vessel: I’ve read the feedback and I agree that staff needs to stay. Live laugh staff. I’ve seen a few Elden ring builds where it’s right armament is staff for casting the long range stuff and left armament is a short sword, miséricorde (mercy dagger), scimitar(?), or other various short weapons. I like the image of this because I imagine him having somewhat light armor so if you’re far away, he spell. If you’re close, he stab. Spells are gonna be red. Change my mind. I like the Elden Ring boss Maliketh’s magic attacks so I imagine something like that. I imagine his boss fight starts with epic cut scene with him kneeled in a big arching cathedral temple type place and he’s like, “you seek to defeat the vessel of Sleep, foolish warrior? I have not known defeat against those of the sea nor those of Sleep” or some crazy bs like that. Half health, hands of Sleep show up and swipe and grab and Player Character. Just giant spindly hands that appear and float around. Attempts to break away form Sleep control but fails so that why he evil >:}
II: Dual wielding… what? No idea. I want him to dual wild some sort of straight weapon cause like drumsticks but honestly… sickles are so badass… Med. to light armor so he can move around a lot. Some sort of helmet with feather Mohawk. Boss area is probably in a fort outside of the main city. Just you and this guy. Get ready for a stamina check.
III: I’m torn between frenzied flame/black flame style magic user or spell sword. If magic, light armor. If spell sword, med. armor. Boss fight in a large old temple, candlelit and torn tapestries everywhere. Better have some fire immunity talismans on you.
IV: Halbert. All the way. Heavy armor my guy. Idk not much to say. Thinking banished knight ornstein inspo?? Boss fight Outside the gates to Vessel/Sleep’s castle. Vigor check time!!!
Chokehold: large dark cavern with webs strung about. It appears from above like, “A traitor to Sleep, hm? Pity. You seemed like you would be a good asset to the Vessel’s artillery.” Big axe time. High HP high strength boss. Vulnerable spot is probably its stomach area. Gives you armor, weapon, talisman, and incantation “Branches in a Flood” (roots sprout from the ground and entangle enemy).
The Summoning: Player probably stumbles upon the fight after meeting Aqua Regia and Granite. Mean killing machine. Idk what else to say erm… maybe player interacts with a sleep token symbol on a pillar with runes and it summons (pun intended) the summoning creature??? Stonehenge lookin boss area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.
Granite: Relatively peaceful NPC. Dialogue options are cool and it probably raises stats and alters your armaments. Quest line ends with Granite maybe just becoming dormant or it becomes a member of sleep again and sad boss fight initiates. Drops its armor, axes, root/weed talisman that increases stamina and immunity.
Aqua Regia: Chill and never ends in boss fight. Probably lets you summon them during other boss fights. Spear and sword. Gifts you new armor and talismans. Quest line maybe ends with them becoming too weak to keep battling and becomes dormsnt. You get their armor, spear, sword, rose talisman that raises FP, and a spell/incantation that shoots gold acid rays called Gold Rush or smth similar (Like Aqua Regia? Get it?)
Vore: Awesome boss. Inflicts poison damage for sure. I think we can all imagine how fighting Vore would be. In a poison lake haha it wants you to suffer. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.
Ascensionism: Swords swords swords. Pulls a Starscourge Radahn and turns a meteor and player has to dodge lmao (cause yk ascending). Boss area is probably in a giant colosseum that’s old and crumbling. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.
Are You Really Okay?: Player character pulls a stupid and decides to touch and inspect the strange incubator with a fetus inside and AYRO appears and is like “DONT TOUCH MY CHILD” initiate boss fight. Small castle is the boss fight area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.
The Apparition: Big guy, big hammer. Boss fight is somewhere in a forest clearing. No other ideas for it. Drops weapons, armor, talisman, incantations like everyone else.
DYWTYLM: Chokehold but with tiny dagger and looks like a giant engine. Probably shoots fire from the pipes on its body? Chokehold is PISSED if you defeat this guy first. Brothers fr fr. Boss fight in an old building filled with machinery. Speed is low but HP is super high. Drops armor, weapons, incantations, and talisman.
Rain: Your magic immunity better be HIGH. Renala style fight: Crazy hits, bad defense. Probably drops some crazy cool incantations, armor (really bad armor), and a talisman of fire immunity and raises your FP. Boss fight area is in a shiny crystaly forest area surrounded by weeping willow/wisteria like trees.
Take Me Back To Eden: The last boss before Vessel. Killer fight. Armor is also fire??? Difficult but probably super dope. Boss fight is in a SUPER large hallway in the castle of Sleep. Drops weapons, armor, talisman of resistance against airborne attacks.
Euclid: NPC that’s probably cranky and hesitant to befriend you at first. Still a follower of Sleep but respects the players fate to defeat the sleepmiester (I’m so tired bro—). Might fight you idk.Once dormant, drops and old mask of Vessel, a few incantations, and armor.
Endings: Endings one: You defeat vessel, sleep becomes dormant and no gods rule over the land. Retires and vessels are resurrected. Endings 2: You defeat vessel and become the new Vessel of Sleep. No difference from first ending, you just chose if ya wanna be evil or not. Endings 3: If you acquire the Talisman of Blood, Sleep sees you worthy to fight them without using a vessel. Radagon Elden Beast situation. When you defeat sleep, the whale is resurrected.
34 notes · View notes
cosmicstarlatte · 9 months
Text
Sunburn (Obey Me!)
━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━
My ~personal~ rankings of most to least likely to get sunburned at the beach!
»Characters: Demon bros + Dateables
»Tags: Rankings, Headcanons, Humor
»Notes: Made this for @solomons-poison summer event! Go check it out! ♡
Tumblr media
1. Mammon
No matter how many times you tell him to put some on, he refuses. "It looks funny and I hate the feelin' !" Hours later he regrets it of course and whines about how much it hurts and how it'll affect his modeling gig tomorrow. "I would've helped rub it all over you!"
"W-well why didn't ya say that sooner!"
2. Levi
Actually applies sunscreen but it wasn't enough for the shut-in. He's use to swimming around in his room but he underestimated the wrath of the sun. "Well I'm gonna be in the water most of the time so it's fine!" ...Now he's crying in his room about how normie activities are always a bad idea.
3. Lucifer
This responsible™️ demon put on some sunscreen and laid under an umbrella. He admired the ocean view and shared quite a few drinks, laughing and chatting with Diavolo and the others. He fully relaxed! Once they left to do other activities he grabbed a book and fell asleep...unaware of the Anti-Lucifer Leagues plans. He woke up sunburned with no umbrella in sight. 😔
4. Simeon
Bless this angel, really. All he ever wants to do is help. While helping Luke and some of the others apply some sunscreen, the poor angel forgot about himself and everyone forgot to offer as they one by one went to partake in beach activities! (*shakes fist* a national outrage I say!!)
5. Belphie
Was too lazy to apply any but Beel and Simeon helped. Like Levi, it wasn't enough through out the day though. After a particularly long nap in the sun, he too woke up sunburned. (To Lucifers amusement of course lmao)
6. Beel
Might've sampled the sunscreen because it smelled really good. Small sunburn. Occasionally forgot to reapply and the poor thing should've gotten a stronger spf. He also missed a few spots when he tried to apply it himself when Belphie or Simeon were unavailable. 😔
7. Satan
Gets only a tiny sunburn, nothing too noticeable. He would forget to reapply every so often due to being so absorbed in his book but his sunscreen was a particularly good one, perfect for his skin type.
8. Diavolo (Everyone from here on is tied)
Barbatos would never let Diavolo get sunburned. He had the Little Ds help apply sunscreen to the giant demon before they left for the beach. If it weren't for Barbatos though, the demon would forget to apply some through out the day due to having fun.
9. Barbatos
Failing to apply sunscreen to Diavolo or himself would tarnish his name, it'd be unbefitting for a butler and he would never be able to forgive himself. He is meticulous on how it's applied and when and only uses the absolute best he can get.
10. Luke
There is no way Simeon (or anyone) would let the young angel play around without sunscreen. They make sure to apply every half hour & keep him hydrated. He complains about it of course and just wants to go back to play in the water or make sand sculptures.
11. Solomon
Asmo took his chance and helped the sorcerer apply sunscreen. There was not an inch that was not properly applied and he made sure to re-apply through out the day. 🤭 If it weren't for Asmo though, this man would burn and brush it off.
12. Asmo
You will never see this man sunburned. It does not exist. He brought all different types of sunscreen, re-applies, and still limits his time in the sun. The day he gets sunburned is the day he never gets seen again.
Tumblr media
Who would you help apply sunscreen? 👀
⬦You might also like: Fire Alarm︱US State They're From
121 notes · View notes