#i just can’t get over this. i don’t even have any important deadlines today like it’s a FRIDAY just take the day off girl whaddahell…… | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

countessofravenclaw · 1 year

Text

Christmas is the time for joy and unexpected events

When holidays creep up around December, everyone gets ready to celebrate, especially our dear residents of Buenos Aires ... And maybe, just maybe, people you never though would enter each other lives... have more to do with each other than you think.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Well, to me Christmas was yesterday since we celebrate here in Finland on the eve, instead of the day, but the party still goes on ad Holidays are not over until after the New Years.

“Gastón, don’t forget that we are supposed to take Luna to pick up Matteo from the airport at 6 pm today,” Nina reminded her husband as he was about to leave the door in the morning. “So, don’t even think about staying overtime at the office.”

“I would never forget that,” Gastón laughed, “I think I’ll be able to leave early today. There is not that much to work on since everyone is going to be out for Christmas beginning Friday. I’ll have to just submit these last figures about the CO2 emissions and exhausts over the construction in the USA this year to the executive team.”

“Wasn’t the deadline for that after new years?” Nina turned her head confused. She could not really pretend she was up to date on all the projects Gastón had for his work, but she was sure he had not had anything to turn in right before he was off for the holidays.

“Oh it is, but I got it done now, as I revamped the excel since the system they had been using…”

“...has to be from 20th century.” Nina completed his sentence. “You have been saying that since you started there.” She turned her head and noticed that Gastón’s work ID was still laying on a bureau in the living room. “Don’t forget this. This is probably the second time this month.” She picked it up and walked over to Gastón and put the lanyard around his neck, “Someday you’ll actually forget it.”

“What would I do without you?” Gastón smiled at her.

“I don’t know, be late to work.” Nina got up on her tiptoes and kissed him briefly. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

***

“You are performing at the holiday party this year right?” German asked Violetta after Olga had served the dinner.

“Of course Dad,” Vilu answered and rolled her eyes at Leon. She and Leon had arrived for dinner on Tuesday to her dad’s place. Her father had been asking for confirmations about the party every week, when they had fixed the plan a month ago. “Fran and Diego, and Ludmi and Fede are performing with me and Leon. Like we have every year, so don’t worry. We’ll entertain all of your important engineers.”

“How is it going with the company, German?” Leon asked and Vilu hid her groan. The last thing she wanted was to be talking about her dad’s work, but it was too late.

“Well, the last construction project got just finished, but one of my engineers is retiring, so that brings it own set of things to settle. This will leave an empty vacancy to the team so I have to find someone to fill it. And recruiting so close to Christmas is not fun. We can’t leave the spot open, since we need all hands on deck as the energy crisis gets worse.”

“Dad, do you know what your problem is?” Vilu piped up.

“What?”

“I don’t pretend that I know about the engineering or whatever you do, but most of your engineers are your age. No wonder you are getting nowhere.” She continued.

“Are you calling me old?” German responded, half offended.

“Yes, I am Dad. It is almost like writing a song. If you keep using the same words, the song will never be done. Basically, what I am trying to say is that you need some new blood, someone our age.” Vilu gestured to herself and Leon. She could not really believe that she was giving her dad hiring advice right now, but he was painfully clueless of the modern world. Someone needed to wake him up.

“Didn’t you have that program to recruit just-graduated college students?” Leon continued to ask German.

“Yes, it was implemented five years ago.”

“Promote one of them,” Leon continued and Vilu smiled at him proudly. Given that neither of them had any idea what they were talking about, they were doing a very good job at helping her dad. “There must be somebody who has proven themselves. You hired them for a reason after all.”

***

“And if we change this variable, the costs would go way down.” German pointed on the board at the meeting with his executive engineering team. “And I think thats it.” He looked down on his tablet. “Next thing on the docket is the CO2 emissions, but we need to wait for the Energy Preservation to bring in the figures, we will have to leave it until…”

“Haven’t you noticed?” One of his engineers suddenly said, “The numbers came in earlier this week.”

“Really?” German opened the folder on his tablet. “Well, that was fast. They are way ahead of the deadline.”

“Energy Preservation has been surprisingly efficient this whole year,” other one of his engineers noted. “It is after that new member of theirs started. He apparently even improved the algorithms they have been using.”

“Hmmm, this is really excellent work.” German raised his head up, “What is his name?”

“Gastón Perida I think. He is one of those college program recruits, from Oxford—”

For some reason, the last name “Perida” sounded familiar to German. Maybe Ramallo had once mentioned it.

“—I think the case with him was that he actually declined the job offer the first time around, right after graduation. Something about not wanting to come back to Buenos Aires yet. He worked a year at London, before coming to us.”

The words that Violetta had said about him needing younger people in his team echoed at German’s mind. “What was the firm he worked at in London?”

“Ramallo?” German asked as he and Ramallo were sitting in his office later in the day. “Didn’t you used to work with someone called Perida, before you came to work for me?”

“Oh, yes I did. Marco, a really nice person. It was almost twenty years ago, and I understand that he and his wife have done quite well for themselves, she is a real estate agent if I am not mistaken. I think he works for the government right now. Why do you ask?”

“I think I am employing his son,” German answered.

“Really? I do remember them having a son… is he that old already?” Ramallo straightened up in his chair.

“Almost two years out from Oxford.” German said, “He really seems to be an efficient worker.”

“Not surprising, given who his parents are. In this case, he also is the nephew of Tomas Perida.”

“The software engineer?”

“Mr. German!” All a sudden Olga burst into German’s study.

“Olga, we are in the middle of something.”

“Little I care about your something! I can’t work with these conditions! The tree has not yet arrived so I can’t start decorating for the party!”

***

“Gastón?” Gastón looked up from his computer to see their floor’s front desk secretary in front of his desk.

“What is it Melinda?”

“The boss wants to see you.”

“Okay, uhm,” he quickly looked back at a diagram he had been working on his screen, “Can you let Mr. Gomez know that I’ll be there just in a second. I’ll just upload this.”

“No, it is not him,” Melinda seemed to be twisting her hands nervously, “It is THE boss.”

“Mr. Castillo?”

“Yes.”

“What on earth? I’ll be there at once.”

Gastón got up from his desk and walked through the hallway to the elevator. He had no idea what this could be about. Was this good or bad? He definitely was not a senior enough employee to have the CEO concern himself with him. The only times he had actually heard of Mr. Castillo himself were in the annual company-wide emails and a couple of video conferences. He also was not aware of anything he had done wrong.

Well, whatever this was about, he was about to find out. Whatever happened, he’d have a story to tell Nina at home, and he had good connections with lawyers.

“Mr. Castillo? You asked to see me?” He stepped into a big office on the top floor of the building.

“Yes, come on in.” Mr. Castillo looked up from his desk. “Gastón, isn’t it? Perida?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, sit down.”

Gastón, who still had absolutely no idea what this was about, took the chair he was offered. Mr. Castillo’s face was quite unreadable, but a couple of business classes all the engineering students had been forced to take at Oxford had taught him that those incidents where someone got fired out of the blue only happened in the movies.

“So, I understand that you are responsible for the latest data on the carbon dioxide and monoxide emissions.”

“Yes, I was the one who submitted the last figures,” Gastón answered, trying to keep the confusion out of his voice. “If… if this is about the excel, I cleared it with my supervisor. I was under the impression it was fine—”

“It is.” Mr. Castillo interrupted him. “I was actually quite impressed. But this is not about that. You were originally recruited to work for us through our college recruitment program, but started working for us a year later after the initial offer. And you worked in London for a year after you graduated”

“Yes, that is correct.” Gastón answered, still not fully following.

“Well, I’ll just cut to the chase then.” Mr. Castillo turned on a tablet that had been on his table and turned towards Gastón. “I would like to offer you an assistant engineer position in the executive team directly under me.”

“What?” Gastón stared at the contract that was displayed on the tablet. “I’m sorry. I am just surprised, I have barely been here a year.”

“Your employer at Renishaw spoke very highly of you. Didn’t want to let you go.”

“Yes, they did offer me a full-time place, with a raise, but my timing with the move back to Buenos Aires had nothing to do with a job I had at that time, or would have in the future. It was a personal choice considering the stage of life I was in and my family.” Gastón started explaining.

“I understand that,” Mr. Castillo continued. “We have been more than happy with your work here, and I think these talents are going to be wasted at the Energy Preservation Division. We need young minds to battle the crises we will continue to face. So, you accept the position? You can sign now, since we have a separate contract for the executive team, and start after the new year.”

Gastón looked down at the contract again. “Can I take 24 hours before I sign it?”

“This should not be a hard decision.”

“It is not, I just want to take the time to read it over. I don’t like making fast decisions.”

“That is okay,” Mr. Castillo nodded, “I’ll send all the forms to you and you can sign them on Sunday.”

“Sunday?” Gastón was 100 % certain that everyone was going to get off on FRIDAY for the holidays.

“I host a holiday party every year for friends and family, my engineers in the executive team are always invited. We’d be honored if you and your wife would attend. You’ll get to know the team before you start.”

Even if he had already been married six months, it still took Gastón off guard how everyone just knew that he was married, until he remembered that he literally wore a ring visible to everyone, signifying that he was as taken man as could be.

“This is a great honor, all of this, amazing opportunity.”

“It will be good to have you on board.”

As Gastón exited the office, he still was not fully sure what had just happened.

“What?” He let the words fall out after the elevator doors had closed. Honestly, he did not know how to feel, as this was definitely not how he had expected this day to go. He was half wondering if this was a dream or some kind of holiday joke and if he should ask Ambar to go through the contract, just in case.

***

Nina was erasing a typo on her file of the chapter she was working on at the moment when she heard the door open.

“Hey! You are back already?”

“I didn’t interrupt you right?” Gastón said as he hung his keys on the rack and pulled out his ID over his head.

“No, I was just doing proofreading today really. I haven’t made any further leeway.” Nina closed her laptop, “I try to pretend that this isn’t a start of a block.” She got off the sofa and walked up to Gastón. “So, how was work tod—”

She was interrupted because Gastón pulled her into an extremely passionate kiss with no warning.

“You are in a good mood,” she said after she was able to catch her breath. “I am not complaining.” She slid her arms around his neck as he had not let go of her yet, and seemed like he was not going to.

“I think I just got a promotion.” He said before leaning down to kiss her again.

“What?” Nina asked in disbelief, but Gastón did not look like he was kidding. “You've barely been there 12 months .”

“That’s what I said, but they want me to start as an assistant engineer, in the executive team, after the new years,” Gastón continued. “Apparently they have been impressed by what I have been doing at Energy Preservation.”

“That is amazing!” Nina jumped to hug him and he picked her up twirling her around. “I knew you were good, but not this good.” She said after he put her down.

“Auch, that hurt,” Gastón laughed, “especially coming from my own wife.”

“I was just joking. I am so proud of you.”

“I mean this is nuts, absolutely crazy,” Gastón continued, “I am 25 and barely two years out of university. I would not promote myself. I thought I would be on Energy Preservation for at least five years, it was not a bad placement.”

“Stop right there. That clearly doesn’t matter to them.” Nina interrupted his spiral, “You clearly have proven yourself, otherwise they would have not offered you the spot. You were literally one of the tops of your class at Oxford, that's the reason why you have this job in the first place. You are extremely good at what you do.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Gastón pulled the invitation out of his pocket. “This invitation came with a fancy cocktail party on Sunday.”

“Sunday?”

“It is pretty much mandatory, given the circumstances.” Gastón continued, “But you don’t need to come, if you don’t want to. I can go alone.”

“No, I am coming.” Nina shot him down. It was true that she still did not exactly feel the most comfortable in a big crowd of people she did not know, but she had gotten much better in the years, that did not happen if you just sat at home. “You always support me, there is no question about me not doing the same.”

***

“I think we are ready!” Violetta squealed after she, Leon, Francesca, Diego, Federico and Ludmila finished rehearsing the last song. “Thank you guys so much for doing this again!”

“Your dad’s parties are always fun,” Diego said as he got off the sofa to put the guitar he had been playing. “It is always nice to do some more low-key intimate performances.”

“Even if that means performing to a bunch of 40-plus engineers.” Vilu laughed. “The party starts at seven.”

“Diego, we really need to get going if we want to be at Art Rebel for five,” Fran jumped up from the couch as well. “We’re giving a dance tutorial there.”

“Wow, Gregorio is letting you do that?” Leon joked.

“Apparently.” Diego nodded.

“Wait, before you go,” Ludmila piped up, “Fran, sent me a picture of what you are wearing, Vilu you too, so I can make sure it is appropriate.”

“Oh and Vilu,” Fran stopped as she was about to walk to the door. “did you make to the book store on Monday? I was so mad I got stuck in that production meeting.”

“I did,” Vilu shook her head, “But they were already out of the Si Pudieras Tener un Deseo’s second print. It is not that mainstream yet that they’d have ordered more copies. We have to wait for a restock.”

“Awww, really?” Fran groaned, “I had such high hopes. I just wish we could get them signed… but it is still almost impossible to track her down.”

“Well can’t blame her for being a private person.” Diego noted.

“Actually, I think I might have an idea why it is so hard to find her,” Vilu suddenly pondered. “I looked at the sample piece at the bookstore, and you know how there is that small info box about the author there. In the second edition, the wording was bit changed and it kind of sounded like she is using a pen name.”

“Nina Simonetti is not her real name?”

***

“Absolutely not.” Nina crossed her arm as she shut the guys’s idea down.

Luna and Matteo had come over to their house to help them decorate their Christmas tree. Matteo and Gastón had suggested that in order to place the star on the top of the tree, they’d climb on each other’s shoulders.

“Why not?”

“Because I doubt that Luna wants to lose her groom, and frankly, I don’t wanna become a widow.”

“Okay, okay,” Gastón raised his hands in surrender, “We’ll go get the step stool.”

Luna burst into laughter as Matteo and Gastón disappeared into the kitchen. “What are we gonna do with them?”

“I don’t know,” Nina shook her head and bent down to pick up another ornament to hang on the tree.

“Have I already mentioned how happy I am that you are here for Christmas!” Luna jumped up and down excitedly.

“Well, we are back and here to stay.” Nina smiled at Luna. Truth be told, in some way, she would always miss the Christmasses in England, but she was more than happy to be back. “I will feel a bit strange that it is summer and not winter as it is supposed to be, but I know I won’t miss the flat. We can actually have a tree here, in a proper house.”

“I wanted to have a tree at our apartment but Matteo said that we would not be able to get it there,” Luna continued as she almost dropped a gold glitter star she had been trying to hang on the tree. “And I guess he is right. We live on the top floor and there is no elevator.”

“It is going to feel a bit weird to not have any snow. Not that we always had that in London, but when we did, it was one of the most magical things I have ever seen.” Nina said, looking out of the window.

“You know, I have never seen snow in my life, but it seems cold.” Luna noted, “By the way, how are you spending Christmas day? You do remember that you are all invited to the mansion on Boxing day. Mom is making a huge dinner.”

“Of course, I remember that,” Nina laughed, “We’re going to Gastón’s parents in the evening of Christmas day.”

“What about your parents?”

“Dad won’t be able to come here from Miami until little before the New Years. Mom is going to some event with Mora. I can’t believe she managed to convinced her of that, but we’re going to spent the Christmas Eve with them, so Mom won’t have any reason to complain.”

“What about Christmas morning?” Luna asked.

“You are coming here,” Nina said amused. Luna really had forgotten that? Well, she would have not been surprised. “We fixed that two months ago.”

“Oh, riiiiight,” realization seemed to dawn on Luna, “I forgot.”

“What are you doing for the evening?”

“Matteo’s parents.” Luna explained, “Mom and Dad won’t mind as Ambar and Simon will be with them and everyone will be there on Boxing day. Just wait until you get to taste mom’s Christmas cookies … oh that reminds me, Matteo gave me the go-ahead on making our own gingerbread house. I thought I’d ask Jim and Yam to come over and we could make one together on Sunday.”

“Sunday?” Nina asked. “I am sorry, but I can’t. We are invited to Gastón’s CEO’s Christmas party on that day. It is this whole big fancy cocktail party.”

“Since when does your CEO invite you to fancy parties he is hosting?” Matteo asked as he and Gastón had just arrived with the step stool.

“Well, since I got a promotion,” Gastón said nonchalantly, but Nina could see the small blink in his eye. He had not yet told Matteo, she realized.

“WHAT? You got a promotion?” Matteo questioned.

“Yeah, a couple of days ago. One of the engineers in the executive team is retiring so they promoted an assistant engineer and offered that spot to me. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know myself, but it happened.”

“OMG! Gradulations!” Luna ran to hug Gastón and Matteo followed her quickly.

“Well, that is awesome,” Matteo said enthusiastically, “I knew you were overworking. You really are an overachiever.”

“The party was at six, I think. I never actually fully read the invite. Hold on, I’ll go grab that real quick.” Gastón said and walked out to the chest of drawers in the hall. He grabbed the invite that had been in the top drawer.

Nina saw his face change as he opened it up.

“No way. Matteo, you won’t believe this.”

“What?”

“It is the Castillo House.”

“What, no way!” Matteo grabbed the invitation from Gastón. “That's him? What did your parents say?”

“What is going on?” Nina questioned.

“Oh, right.” Gastón raised his head. “I guess we should explain. So, my boss, German Castillo’s house is like a couple of blocks away from Mom and Dad.”

“Really? But what about it?”

“Well, this is a bit of a long story. I didn’t realize, that it was him, but Mom and Dad always told me, when I was growing up, that owner of the house was a bit strange and if we saw anything odd happening there, just ignore it and not to get involved.”

“How did Isla and Marco think he was odd?” Nina still did not fully follow all of this, “You work for him. Should I be concerned?”

“Yeah, how did they react?” Matteo questioned too.

“I don’t think they have anything against him as an engineer or anything against him at all.” Gastón sat down on the sofa. “I honestly don’t really remember and I can’t believe I never realized that they were talking about Mr. Castillo. It was so long ago. I guess it was just about the fact that he apparently had lot of engagements after his wife died really long time ago. They went to an engagement party where he ran after his daughter who ran away, and the fiancee went crazy.”

“Oh, I remember that too.” Matteo piped up. “Dad was invited too, but couldn’t go. Sofia went on his behalf.”

“And in the end he never ended up marrying that woman. He jilted her on the altar. Then he had a couple of other engagements and then some celebration of love or something. I don’t really know how accurate this is. Mom and Dad never told me this directly, I just heard them talking about it, so I could be wrong.” Gastón continued.

“Hey, remember that weird flashmob we saw in 2014 when we skated past it?”

***

“Honestly, I can’t believe I have walked past this house so many times, and never realized it was my boss’.” Gastón laughed as he parked the car on the side of the street next to Mr. Castillo’s house. “Castillo is not that common of a name, and I have worked for him for a year.”

“Well, it does not matter.” Nina said from next to him, “You are really sure we should not be concerned about him?”

“Mom and Dad never knew him personally,” he reached to take her hand, “They only really met him in some charity functions, so in the same circles, but not friends or anything. Anyways, we should go in, so you can make judgments yourself.”

Gastón got out of the car and opened the door to Nina and they walked inside the house.

“Welcome. Glad to see you made it!” Mr. Castillo said as he shook Gastón’s hand.

“Again, thank you for the invitation. I don’t think I am in any position to refuse it. This is my wife, Nina.” Gastón kept his hand on the small of her back when Mr. Castillo also shook her hand. “She is an author and lyricist. Works for a couple of musicians.”

“This is not the first time I have heard of an engineer and an artist. My late wife was an opera singer.” Mr. Castillo smiled, “Gastón, would you mind stepping into my office so we can get that paperwork done.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be right back.” He said to Nina and placed a light kiss to her hair.

“How long have you been together?” Mr. Castillo asked as they got into his office. “We are all in first name basis in the executive team. I like to know my engineers.”

“That is actually a more complicated question than you think.” Gastón was bit taken off by a direct question, but he figured that there was nothing wrong with getting a bit more personal level with his boss, given his promotion. And this was at least better than the usual small talk. “Married for six months. That I can say for sure. But how long we actually have been together is a bit more complicated. I could say a little over five years, and I could say nine years. We went to Blake South College together, but after I graduated I made couple a of really stupid decisions. Broke my own heart, but she is a determined woman. We reconnected back in university and I could not risk ever letting her go again. Fate was really on my side.”

“It is good to hear that.” Mr. Castillo said as he pulled a tablet out. “So, the contract. I take it that you read it.”

“Yes, I did.” Gastón nodded, “One of my friends is a lawyer so she scanned it really quickly too.”

“You really came prepared. So you are ready to sign it?”

“I like to know what I get into sir. This is a big ascension for me, especially this soon.” Gastón responded, “But yes, I am ready to sign it.”

“Lets get to it then.” Mr. Castillo offered him the touch-screen pen.

Gastón took the pen and signed the contract on the tablet.

“I am looking forward to working with you.” Mr. Castillo shook his hand.

“Me as well, Mr. Cast—”

“Please, call me German.”

***

“Vilu, seriously, if there is one thing I love about your dad’s parties—” Francesca said as she picked up another cupcake from the table, “—it is the food.”

“I know.” Violetta agreed. “Olga is the best. This is the only reason I tolerated them for so many years.”

“I have been trying to teach Diego to cook.” Fran continued, “Do you think Olga could give us lessons. I mean, my family owned a restaurant, but we know what happened to that…” Fran’s gaze travelled across German’s living room. Vilu’s dad’s house was decorated beautifully with all kinds of Christmas lights and decorations. The tree in the middle of the room was huge.

Suddenly her eyes fixated on a brown haired young woman, who was wearing a red dress. She was standing around and ever so slightly looked like she was not sure where she was supposed to be.

“Vilu!” Francesca grabbed Violetta’s arm and pulled her closer, “Are you seeing what I am seeing?”

“What am I supposed to see?”

“There,” Francesca pointed to the woman, “red dress, black heels, black bag. You did not tell me your dad knew Nina Simonetti.”

“He for sure does not know her. Fran, he is over 50.” Vilu hushed, “You are sure that’s her?”

“I mean she does look like her, just with no glasses.”

“Should we go and ask?”

“Vilu, are you crazy?” Francesca shook her head, “We can’t do that. What if it is not her? That would be so embarrassing.”

“Girls, what are you doing?” Ludmila, Federico and Leon came over to them with Pablo. “Pablo was just asking about our performance?”

“We're trying to figure out if that girl is our favorite author,” Vilu hushed the others.

“Oh, the one you can’t track down?” Ludmila asked. “Is she an engineer, because why else would she be here?”

“We don’t know.”

“Hold up a second,” Pablo suddenly started speaking, “It can’t be…”

“What is Pablo doing?” Fran asked as Pablo started walking towards the woman.

“Well this is your chance to talk to her,” Ludmila stated and started pushing Vilu and Fran toward where Pablo was walking.

***

“Nina? Is it really you?” Nina had been carefully looking around at the house while waiting for Gastón to finish up with his boss. She turned around as she heard suddenly a familiar, buts still a voice that she had not heard in a long time.

“Pablo?” She turned around and saw one of her dad’s cousins standing in front of her.

“It is you.” Pablo hugged her, “It has been years. I almost didn’t recognise you. You have grown up. Tell me, how is Ricardo?”

“Dad works in Miami these days.” Nina explained, “He got a big job offer there in 2017.”

“Well, I see dear cousin is doing well.” Pablo laughed. “I should talk with him more often.”

Nina saw more people come behind Pablo. Two women with black and light brown hair were pushed by a third with blonde hair. They all seemed slightly older than her.

“Guys,” Pablo turned towards the people since he seemed to know them. “This is the daughter of my cousin Ricardo Simonetti, Nina Simonetti”

“So you really are Nina Simonetti?” The black-haired woman asked excitedly.

“Yes, I am her…” Nina said, a bit taken aback by the sudden attention on her. “Well, actually it is Nina Perida, like this, in person.”

“These two were nervous to come and say hi to you.” the blonde said behind the others.

“Nervous?”

“We love your book.” The brown-haired one started talking.

“Hey, you have gathered quite a crowd.” Nina felt a hand being placed on her waist.

“Did you get everything done?” She asked Gastón.

“Yes, the paperwork is all signed. The work stuff is done.”

“Uhm, so this is actually Dad’s cousin, Pablo Galindo.” Nina figured some introductions were in order. “Pablo, this is my husband, Gastón.”

“Gastón Perida, good to meet you.” Gastón shook Pablo’s hand. “I can see the family resemblance.”

“Ricardo and me always got confused as brothers when we were growing up.” Pablo laughed. “I really should talk to Ricardo more often, I didn’t know you had gotten married.”

“Yes, Six months ago. It was a really small wedding.” Nina explained, “Gastón works for Mr. Castillo, thats why we are here.”

“So are you the one Dad promoted?” The brown-haired woman asked of Gastón.

“Yes, I believe I am.”

“That is great news.” the woman smiled excitedly, “Most of his employees are dinosaurs. They need younger people. German Castillo is my father, I am Violetta Castillo.”

“Oh, how silly of me, I didn’t even introduce myself yet,” the black-haired woman started excitedly while offering her hand for a handshake for Nina, “Francesca Caviglia, my husband Diego Hernandez is somewhere in here, but who cares about him? As I said, I am a huge fan of your work. It is really inspirational how a young artist gets her work published while still being in school.”

“Well, thank you.” Nina shook Francesca’s hand, “I didn’t really think it would actually happen, but you can blame him for that.” Nina said looking at Gastón.

“I forced her to give it a shot with the publishers,” Gastón smiled at her, “World needed to see her talent. But did you say Francesca Caviglia?”

“Hello, what are you talking about?” Two guys came to join them. Nina and Gastón both stared at the curly-haired man for a second… he looked uncannily like Matteo.

“Excuse me, but you don’t happen to be Federico Paccini?” Gastón was the first to speak.

Right, Nina suddenly remembered that Matteo had talked to them about his second cousin who apparently looked a lot like him. They had met through his friend he had made through the Eurovision… right, Francesca Caviglia.

“I am Federico Paccini.” the man responded. “How did you know?”

“Our friend Matteo has told us about you.”

“Matteo, as in Matteo Balsano?” Francesca asked. “You know him?”

“He is my best friend.”

“What?”

“Not to throw my hat in this ring of very strange coincidences, but you two look very familiar to me.” The other guy next to Federico started speaking. “I am Leon Vargas, by to way. This is crazy, but you were not in my cousin’s wedding in Mexico a year ago, were you?”

“Are you talking about Simon Alvarez?” Nina thought it was better to let Gastón do the talking.

“Yes, I am. He is my cousin from my mother’s side.” Leon continued.

“Simon and Ambar are old friends of ours. I started at the Castillo corporation a week after the wedding.”

“How is world this small?” Violetta exclaimed.

“Oh my god! How did I never realize?” Francesca suddenly uttered. “Matteo briefly told me during the Eurovision auditions that his friend Nina wrote lyrics with him often. It is you isn’t it?”

“Yes, I work for Matteo as a lyricist.”

“Anyways,” Francesca continued, “Would you mind signing the book? It would mean so much to have it.”

“Of course.”

***

“And then it completely toppled over,” Luna explained animatedly as she, Matteo, Nina and Gastón were sitting on the floor of Gastón and Nina’s living room, next to the Christmas tree on the morning of the 25th of December. “It happened right after we had just finished cleaning the kitchen… so we had to do it again.”

“We saw the pictures Matteo sent to us of that gingerbread house,” Nina laughed, “It looked… impressive…”

“I do have a couple of questions about the stability of that construction,” Gastón laughed as well. “But I promised no work talk for today.”

“By the way,” Matteo asked as he sat back down next to Luna after getting another cup of hot chocolate. That was still absolutely necessary at Christmas, whether it was summer or winter. “How was the fancy holiday party?”

“Nice enough,” Gastón responded. “Got the papers signed and the food was good. But guess who we met there?”

“Uuu! I wanna guess.” Luna was already raising her hand, “The president of United states? The Kind of England?”

“No, Mr. Castillo’s—” Gastón knew that he was supposed to call him German now, but it still sounded so weird, “—daughter is Violetta Castillo.”

“The singer?”

“Yes her. She and her friends performed some songs at the party and those friends just happened to be Francesca Caviglia and Federico Paccini, and their respective spouses.”

“What? Really?” Matteo asked in disbelief, “How did you figure this out.”

“Well, Federico looks quite like you, like you told us,” Nina explained, “And Francesca seems to be a bit of a fan of my book. She asked me to sign it and everything. Honestly, it was a bit nerve-wracking. I didn’t think I’d have fans.”

“Oh, also Simon’s cousin was also there.” Gastón continued.

“Which one?” Luna tilted her head.

“Vargas. I think he is dating Violetta Castillo.” Gastón explained taking another sip of his chocolate. “He and Federico are also in the same band. We had a nice discussion with them.”

“Simon’s cousin is in All Four You?” Matteo furrowed his brow and opened his phone, “So Leon Vargas? He is related to Simon?”

“Was at the wedding and everything.”

“Anyways… this gives me an idea,” Matteo pondered to himself “I should ask them if they could take part in the new years concert…”

“Matteo, no work.” Luna said firmly, “It is Christmas! Okay, so I just have to tell you what Matteo got me for Christmas!”

“Tell away.”

“So… I took them with us because I wanted to show you,” Luna started digging in the bag she had brought with her and pulled some cards out of it. “So these are like vouchers I can redeem in…”

“Only valid until our wedding.” Matteo smirked. “So she has a year to use them.”

Luna handed the cards to Nina so she and Gastón could look at them. They read stuff like “Three guitar lessons” and “one date night under the moonlight”. They were extremely corny, and exactly something you could expect from Matteo. Gastón thought it was really brave of Matteo to promise to teach Luna with an instrument.

“Very original,” Gastón remarked to Matteo as Nina handed the cards back “Good job Matteo. So what did she get you?”

“A new notebook to write my songs in,” Matteo answered a smile on his face and opened a picture on his phone of a black notebook decorated with strawberry stickers.

“I decorated it myself.” Luna declared proudly. “Now, your turn. What did you get each other.”

“Well, he got me five new writing journals,” Nina turned to look at Gastón, “Now I will never run out.”

“Well, I happen to know my wife.” Gastón smiled and placed a kiss on her temple.

“And you can explain this one,” Nina continued, pointing to her right hand.

“That is so pretty!” Luna gasped.

“Okay,” Gastón said and took ahold of her right hand. In her right ring finger, she was wearing a golden signet ring that had a carving of a rose on it. “So, there is a bit of a story behind why I gave her this.” He looked up at Luna and Matteo. “So, do you remember how both of my paternal grandparents died of cancer while Mom and Dad were still at university?”

“I thought your granddad died in a car crash?” Luna questioned.

“That was mom’s dad.” Gastón corrected, “Anyways, after they died, Dad and Uncle Tomas, of course, inherited everything that they had, which was not much of course, but when they were going through the stuff, dad found an old signet ring, that had a sun on it, from Granny’s things and he did not tell Mom about it. Instead, he got it cleaned up and kept it hidden. He gave it to Mom on the first Christmas after they had gotten married. So I thought, I’d make it a tradition.”

“Aww, that is so cute,” Luna tilted her head and squealed.

“She got me a watch,” Gastón continued, “After making me believe that I had enough.”

“You would have bought it on your own, so I had to play a couple of physiological games with you.” Nina defended herself.

“Well, I can forgive you because of the second gift.”

“Uu, what is that?” Luna was jumping on her knees. Almost like the Christmas gift reveals were the most exciting thing in the world.

“Do you wanna explain or do I?” Gastón asked Nina.

“You can do it.”

“Okay,” Gastón got up and walked to get a card from the top of some drawers.

He handed it to Luna and Matteo.

“OMG! Really?” Luna shrieked while Matteo just looked shocked.

“Yes,” Gastón said as he sat back down next to Nina and wrapped his arm around her waist. “We’re getting a dog after our first anniversary. I have Nina’s promise on writing, and I will hold her to it.”

“What breeds are you considering?” Matteo asked finally recovering from his shock.

“We have not really talked about it yet,” Nina said looking at Gastón, “But probably a retriever of some sort.”

“You need to let me help with it!” Luna started full on jumping up and down. “I have always wanted a dog!”

“Now as that is out of the way, we should probably exchange our gifts.” Matteo started speaking after Luna had calmed down, “Isn’t that why we are here?”

“Oh, I thought you were here for our company.” Gastón joked.

“Anyways…” Matteo laughed and pulled a present from the same bag Luna had pulled the cards from. “This is from me and Luna to you two. It might be a bit cheesy, but it is your first Christmas as a married couple so it should be allowed.”

Matteo handed the present to Nina and she opened the wrapping carefully. The wrapping revealed a picture frame and inside of it was a picture of four of them that Luna had taken on, at the time, her a brand new polaroid camera in Matteo’s mom's hometown on their Europe trip a year ago. The picture was on a white background and there was text surrounding it. The text was the lyrics to the song Luna and Matteo had written for Gastón and Nina’s wedding. To the frame was tied a red ribbon and there was a silver pen drive hanging off it.

“That is the official produced recording of the song.” Matteo explained pointing to the drive, “It is officially called Two Hearts, One Story. Like I said before, it will be coming out on my next album, so you can tell me sometime what you want to be said or not said in the song description.”

“The picture was my idea.” Luna piped up.

“This is beautiful.” Nina said looking at the picture frame.

“You really outdid yourselves,” Gastón agreed with her.

“We do have to admit that Flor helped with the design of that,” Matteo pointed to the picture frame. “It doesn’t hurt that your cousin has masters in art history and that she is dating a graphic designer.”

“Oh, so you don’t hate Oliver anymore?”

“I have never hated Oliver or Jacob or James.” Matteo countered, “But I am your best friend.”

“And no one is challenging that.”

“I think we can talk about that some other time,” Nina said, moving them away from the topic and pulled a wrapped present from under the tree. “Hopefully this will measure to your gift.” She gave the present to Luna and leaned on Gastón’s shoulder while watching Luna excitedly rip the paper off the present.

“Uuuu, pretty… What is it?”

“It is a photo album,” Gastón explained while Luna handed it to Matteo. “Those may seem bit old-fashioned, but we thought since you will be getting married in a year, you should have a place to store some memories.”

“You can just print some pictures that you take with your phones or use that polaroid camera,” Nina explained. “Concrete photos are always better than digital ones. We took the liberty to start this for you.”

She took the book from Luna and turned it around opening it up. On its first page was a picture of four of them that had been taken in Gastón and Nina’s wedding.

“I love it!” Luna screamed taking the album from Nina. “I need to start taking pictures of stuff right now.”

“And that was not all,” Nina continued, “You two never had an engagement shoot.”

“I guess we didn’t, what about it?” Matteo asked confused.

The original plan had been for Luna and Matteo to have a professional photographer to take their engagement pictures, but their busy schedules had gotten in the way and, in the end, they had kind of just forgotten about it.

“You need something to fill that album,” Gastón continued, “So we are going to take your engagement photos.”

“What?” Matteo looked flabbergasted, “You are serious?”

“Yes,” Nina smiled, “One full day, whatever you want. The sky is the limit on the pictures.”

“As long as no one gets hurt, so no fence climbing.”

“OMG! This is Amazing!” Luna jumped on her feet. “Best Christmas ever!”

Luna’s excitement ended up escalating into a huge group hug.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

{}

#Soy Luna #soy luna fanfiction #Violetta #violetta fanfiction #Violetta x Soy Luna crossover #Gastina #Lutteo #Leonetta #Diecesca #Fedemila #christmas fic #christmas fluff

5 notes · View notes

vgckwb · 2 years

Text

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 119: Lifting Curses

Sunday morning arrived. Ren was gently shook awake. She sat up, still half asleep. She put on her glasses and looked at who had shaken her. “Sojiro?”

“I know it’s early,” he said, “but I want to bring you in on something. Just come down when you’re ready.” Sojiro headed downstairs.

Ren was a little confused. Morgana yawned and woke up too. “What do you suppose he wants?”

“I dunno,” Morgana said, trying to get accustomed to being awake. “But it seems important. You should head down.”

“I guess you’re right,” Ren said.

Morgana yawned again. “I’m going back to sleep.” He closed his eyes and soon started snoring. Ren gently got up and got dressed.

Once she was downstairs, she saw Sojiro preparing three cups of coffee. “Glad you’re here. Have a seat.” Ren sat down next to one of the cups closer to the customer edge of the counter. Sojiro started pouring into the cup next to her. Then his, then hers.

He sighed deeply. “I can’t believe it’s been two years already.” He looked at Ren. “Since Wakaba passed, I mean.”

Ren nodded. “I getcha.”

Sojiro nodded back. “I mean, I don’t have to tell you that life isn’t fair sometimes.”

“Well,” Ren interrupted,” I don’t think I’ve dealt with something like this.”

Sojiro sighed. “That might be true, but pain is pain. Even if the wound’s not as deep, it might not hurt any less.”

“Right…” Ren agreed.

Sojiro smiled. “You know, I told you that my charms didn’t work on Wakaba right away, right?” Ren nodded. “You know what did it? I made her some curry.” Ren was surprised. “She was surprised at how good it was. She asked for the recipe. I gave it to her. Before I knew it, she came back with the best damn curry recipe I’ve ever had.

She told me that coffee actually goes well with curry. I found it a little odd at first, but then again, so was Wakaba. When I tried it, I was amazed. Heh. That’s the very recipe that I sell here. I’ve been keeping the recipe alive since I’ve opened this place.”

Sojiro sighed, growing a little sadder. “For the past two years, I’ve done whatever I could to protect and help Futaba. However, while I’ve been trying to get her to heal, I haven’t really been healing myself. This whole thing still haunts me. I keep thinking that there was something more I could do, then maybe Wakaba would be here with us today. Trying to live with that pain is no easy task.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Do you know when I actually started to heal?” Ren shook her head. “When you came here.’ Ren was surprised. “I realized that in order to heal, you have to let others in to help. Wakaba was always good at forcing herself in, but ever since the incident, I’ve kept most of the people I know at arm’s length.

But I guess one of the reasons I took you in was that a small part of me knew I had to let someone in, even if I also tried to keep you at arm’s length too. Seeing you going to school, making friends, defying what it said on that sheet, it opened up the idea in my heart that I could do that too. And then, of course there’s this whole Phantom Thieves business you’ve gotten yourself into. You really did your best to save Futaba.”

“Well, we were only able to help because of what you told us,” Ren said.

“Heh, that just goes to show how much we’ve been helping each other,” Sojiro responded. “When you first got here, there’s no way I was gonna tell you about Futaba. I still had to protect her. I mean… Well, you know…” Ren nodded. “But as I came to trust you, and you came to trust me, I felt like maybe you could help me with her. Of course, I never imagined it would be like this.” Ren giggled.

Sojiro got a bit serious. “I know that the deadline for this whole Medjed thing is today. And while Futaba has been recovering, it’s still unclear if this’ll actually work. But come what may, I invited you here for a simple reason: I wanted you to join me in celebrating Wakaba’s life… as a part of this family.”

Ren smiled. “Sojiro…”

“If it works, I’ll be over the moon,” Sojiro continued. “However, if it doesn’t, and you need to do something drastic, I just want to let you know a few things. You have my thanks, you did nothing wrong, and I will be with you no matter what.” He raised his cup.

Ren raised hers. “To Wakaba.” They clinked their cup and drank.

Hierophant-Sojiro Sakura: Rank 6

The door opened to Leblanc. Sojiro and Ren turned to see who it was. Much to their surprise and delight, it was Futaba. “Mornin’,” She said.

“Futaba?!” Sojiro said, surprised. “How are you feeling?”

Futaba sat down next to Ren. “I’m feeling fine. A lot better than I have been recently.”

Sojiro could barely contain his happiness. “I see… Well, that's great to hear.”

Futaba took Wakaba’s cup and drank from it. “Ah! That hits the spot. But, it’s a little cold. I don’t think people would like it if you served them cold coffee.”

Sojiro chuckled. “Right.” He figured Wakaba wouldn’t mind. After all, Futaba was her world.

Futaba finished drinking her coffee. “Still, it’s exceptionally well made. Maybe some people would be taken in by the taste they’d forget about the coldness.”

“Sure,” Sojiro said.

“Oh, speaking of, I feel like I’m forgetting something…” Futaba mused.

“Medjed?” Ren reminded her.

“Oh right!” Futaba said, alerted. “Well, thanks for the coffee Sojiro, seeya!” She sprinted back out the door.

“Well, look at her go,” Sojiro said with immense pride.

Ren smiled along with him. “Yeah. I’ll go keep her company.”

“She usually doesn’t need it,” Sojiro said. “But if she’s anything like her mother, she’ll appreciate it nonetheless.” Ren nodded and headed out. On her way to Sojiro’s, she took out her phone, and messaged the group chat.

Ren: Futaba’s up and running.

Ren: She’s going to stop Medjed.

As Ren walked into Futaba’s room, Futaba greeted her with a simple “Hey.”

“Hey,” Ren shot back. “How are you doing?”

“Well, I’m just getting started,” Futaba said. “I might take a while, but I should get it done.”

Ren sat down on Futaba’s bed. “By all means.” Futaba nodded and went back to work on her computer. While Futaba was working, Ren got more messages.

Makoto: She’s fighting Medjed?!

Ren: Yeah.

Jose: That’s great news!

Ann: And not a moment too soon.

Ann: I’m seeing people freak out online.

Ryuji: My mom’s even a little worried.

Lena: So is mine.

Yusuke: Still, it looks like we managed to win in the end.

Sumire: Um, I don’t mean to be pessimistic

Sumire: But Futaba-chan is still working on it.

Sumire: As much as I want to believe in her, things could still go either way.

Yusuke: You are forgetting she managed to hack the Medjed site and cause a stir that way.

Yusuke: The fact that the new Medjed has yet to respond shows that they are taking that threat seriously.

Sumire: !!

Sumire: You’re right. Sorry…

Yusuke: I understand.

Ren: Yeah, this whole thing has been nerve-racking for all of us.

Makoto: Still this is good.

Makoto: Keep us informed.

Makoto: We’ll see how things are going on their end.

A little later, Morgana woke up for real this time. He yawned. He looked around. “Where’s Ren?” he wondered. He carefully peered downstairs to see if there were any customers. When he saw there weren’t any, he walked in.

This surprised Sojiro. “Oh! I didn’t know you’re still here. If you’re wondering where Ren is, she’s over at my place. Futaba’s finally up, and is working on dealing with Medjed.”

“Huh,” Morgana mused. “Thank you. I’ll be on my way.”

“Seeya,” Sojiro said. Morgana nodded, and went back upstairs and out the window. “Heh,” Sojiro chuckled. “Did he forget I can’t understand him? Well, I guess in a way, I did.”

Morgana arrived at Sojiro’s house a little later, and made his way into Futaba’s room. “Oh hi,” Ren said.

Morgana jumped up on the bed and sat next to Ren. “How’s it going?”

It’s coming along,” Ren said. “She’s been at it for a while now.”

“Huh,” Morgana said. “Any way to tell how long it’ll be?”

“No idea,” Ren said. “And I don’t think we can just ask her when she’s in the zone like that.”

Morgana looked at Futaba tapping away at her keyboard. “Maybe you’re right.” Morgana pouted. “Is this all we can do? Wait until she’s finished?”

“Well, we’re here, right?” Ren said. “And sometimes that’s enough.”

Morgana smiled. “Right. Plus, after the summer we had, a day of sitting around and doing nothing doesn’t sound so bad.” Ren giggled.

A little while later, Ren checked her phone for the time. “Hey Futaba. Are you hungry?”

“Eh, maybe a little,” Futaba said. “But when I get really hungry, I’ll just make some instant yakisoba.”

“IIII think I’ll make something that’s…maybe a little more filling,” Ren said.

“Eh, suit yourself,” Futaba said. “Just make sure it’s not too messy. I don’t want to spill anything on the computer.”

“I wouldn’t want that either,” Ren said. “I’ll go and see what you guys have.” Ren got up and headed to the kitchen. After perusing what they had here, she gave Sojiro a quick call.

“Hello?” Sojiro said, confused.

“Hey, just a quick question,” Ren said. “None of your food you’re saving for a special occasion, right?”

“Why are you in my kitchen?” Sojiro asked.

“Futaba might be getting hungry soon, and I want to make sure she’s eating well,” Ren said.

Sojiro sighed. “Well, that’s very kind of you. Short answer is no, everything’s fine to take and eat now.”

“Alright. Thanks Sojiro,” Ren said.

“Take care,” Sojiro said. Ren picked out a few ingredients, and started cooking.

A little while later, Ren came back into Futaba’s room. “Perfect. I was just getting hungry.”

Ren nodded. “Here you go.”

Futaba looked down at her dish. It was a simple beef with mixed vegetables bowl, but it looked great. She took a bite. “AMAZING!”

Ren chuckled. “Thank you. You want anything to drink?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Futaba said. She opened up a nearby minifridge and pulled out a soda.

Ren smled. “Baby steps.” She paused for a moment. “Hey, could I have one of those too?”

“Sure thing,” Futaba said. “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Ren said. She grabbed a soda out of the minifridge. She set it down on the bed and then went back to the kitchen. She came back a minute or two later with two more bowls; one beef and mixed veggies for her, and one that’s just beef for Morgana. “Here you go,” she said, setting it on the floor

“Thanks,” Morgana said. He began chowing down. “MEOW! This is really good!”

“Hm hm, thanks,” Ren said. She began eating her food as well. Futaba switched seamlessly between taking bites and crunching bytes. Ren and Morgana continued eating and watching Futaba go to town. Once everyone was finished eating, Ren took everyone’s dishes and put them in the sink. Ren would have done them herself, but she saw they had a dishwasher, and she didn’t know if it was clean or dirty. She returned to Futaba’s room, and continued watching.

A little while thater, Futaba was keying away furiously. “Annnnnd DONE!” She spun around in her chair before slumping into it.

Ren and Morgana stood up. “You did it?” Morgana asked.

“Yup,” Futba said. “I nullified Medjed’s threat, reversed my own threat, and even released the name of one of their lesser members.”

“Why not the new head honcho?” Morgana asked.

“Medjed’s an online organization,” Futaba explained. “If I knew who the new head honcho was, I would.”

Morgana nodded. “I see.”

Ren smiled. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Futaba said. She yawned. “It’s sleep time!” She walked over and got under the covers and fell back asleep.

Morgana was a bit concerned. “She was resting all summer…”

“Well, she had a big day today,” Ren said. “Let’s let her rest. Besides, I have a feeling that when we meet with her tomorrow, it might not be the easiest thing either.”

Morgana nodded. “Very well. Let’s head out then.” The duo left Sojiro’s house.

Ren got out her phone.

Ren: Futaba said she did it.

Makoto: I’ve noticed.

Ren: Huh?

Makoto: Check the Medjed Website.

Ren went to the Medjed site, and saw that the only thing available was an image of The Phantom Thieves logo, and a message. “Greeting Japan. As you know, all summer a war was raging. As of this moment, we, The Phantom Thieves, have declared victory. Medjed’s threat has been stopped, and the Original Medjed has been dealt with. As such, we have proven ourselves as just. If you have any doubts, remember, Medjed went after everyone. We only target bad people. With that, we must bid you adieu. Until next time. -The Phantom Thieves.”

Ren: Wow.

Ryuji: I know, right? Isn’t it badass?

Yusuke: I must agree. The logo made a real impact here.

Ryuji: Uh, it’s your logo.

Yusuke: I’m aware.

Yusuke: But I’ve been seeing it popping up on all sorts of things recently, and they don’t do it justice.

Ann: That’s true. There is a bunch of Phantom Thieves merchandise showing up.

Sumire: And I think with this, the number will only go higher.

Makoto: Regardless, this is great.

Makoto: We’ve taken down Medjed, we have more information on the mental shutdowns, and we’re one step closer to stopping Eris.

Jose: Plus, we have a new team member.

Lena: I joined a little earlier though.

Jose: Oh, I meant Futaba.

Jose: She awoke to her persona in her palace.

Lena: Oh. I see.

Ren: Yeah, I want to talk about that.

Ren: Sojiro said that she’s basically been held up in her room for the past two years or so.

Ren: I feel like getting her integrated won’t be so easy.

Ryuji: Well, as the expert of being shut in, what’s your opinion Lena?

Lena: Um, I think our situations are a little different.

Ryuji: Oh. Sorry.

Lena: It’s fine.

Ann: Well, Futaba wrote that thing and signed it “The Phantom Thieves”.

Ann: I imagine she’d want to join us.

Sumire: Plus her…mother?...asked her to.

Lena: Her mom?

Yusuke: It’s complicated.

Makoto: Basically, the essence of her mom was in her palace, and it asked her to bring her justice for what happened.

Lena: I see.

Lena: I’m sorry. This is a whole lot to take in.

Ryuji: You’re telling me.

Ann: Yeah, I still have trouble understanding things about this whole situation.

Jose: All of this to say, it seems Futaba will try and make an effort.

Jose: But how long it takes for her is up in the air.

Makoto: Very succinct.

Ren: Well, we should start trying tomorrow.

Ren: Let’s have her meet everyone and we’ll go from there.

Makoto: Sounds like a plan.

Ren put her phone away, and went back to Leblanc for the night.

The next morning, Ren headed downstairs. Sojiro was getting ready for the day. “Hey Boss,” Ren said.

Sojiro nodded. “Hey.”

“Um, hey Sojiro,” Ren said.

“Hm?”

“We’re going to try and talk to Futaba today,” Ren explained. “We’re just going to go to my room for the day, if that’s alright with you.”

Sojiro nodded. “That’s fine.

Ren bowed. “Thanks. “I’m gonna go get her now.”

“Door’s open. Good luck,” Spjiro said. Ren headed to Sojiro’s house.

She entered, went up to Futaba’s room, and knocked. “Futaba? You ready?”

“Eep!” Futaba shrieked. “J-Just give me a sec.”

“Take your time,” Ren said. While Futaba was getting ready, Ren messaged the rest of the group about meeting in her room. Once Futaba came out, Ren asked “You ready?”

“Yeah…” Futaba said, nervously.

“I’ll be with you the whole way,” Ren said.

“Right,” Futaba said, more determined. The two of them headed back to Ren’s room in Leblanc.

One by one, everyone else showed up. With each arrival, Futaba tensed up a little. Once everyone was here, Morgana motioned “Well, this is all of us.”

“Uhhhhhh…” Futaba said. “Her?” She pointed to Lena.

“Oh, uh, hi,” Lena said, nervously. “My name is Lena Minamoto. I joined The Phantom Thieves while you were recovering.”

“Oh,” Futaba said.

“Um, I hope we can be friends,” Lena offered.

“Right,” Futaba said, a little paralyzed. There was a bit of an awkward silence.

“Well, I think we should just get into things,” Makoto said.

“That might be the easiest course of action,” Jose agreed. They set up the table, and everyone sat around it, except for Futaba, who opted to sit on Ren’s bed. Ren positioned herself to be the closest person to Futaba.

“So, where do we begin?” Ann asked.

“Well, uhhhh, Medjed’s threat was squashed,” Ryuji pointed out. “That’s big.”

“True,” Yusuke said. “Between Kosei and here, I must have heard something about that at least ten times.”

“It was nothing,” Futaba remarked.

“Well, it meant a lot to us,” Makoto said. “So thank you.” Futaba didn’t respond.

“Erm, so, now that Medjed’s been dealt with,” Sumire said, trying to change the subject, “let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Good idea,” Makoto said. “So, apparently Futaba-chan’s mother was working on this cognitive psience idea, and her research was stolen. And in turn, whoever stole it is using it to commit the mental shutdowns.”

“However, as long as we’re active as The Phantom Thieves,” Ren interjected, “sooner or later, our paths will intersect.”

“Also, there is the matter of Eris,” Lena reiterated.

“We certainly have our plates full,” Yusuke remarked.

“Yeah, it’s not going to be easy,” Morgana added. “However, I know we can do it.

Ren smiled. “Thanks Morgana.”

Sumire turned to Futaba. “Um, would you like to be a Phantom Thief too?”

Ann nodded. “We could really use your help.”

Futaba nodded. “Sure.”

“Woah, that easy?” Ryuji wondered. “Welcome aboard!” Futaba didn’t answer. “Uhhh.”

“Perhaps this might be the biggest thing on our plate currently,” Yusuke said.

“Right,” Makoto said.

“Futaba seems a bit anti-social,” Jose said.

“Well, I’m trying,” Futaba retorted.

“Sorry,” Jose apologized.

“I think she just needs time to get used to all of us,” Ren said.

“I agree,” Makoto said.

“Well, we have the rest of summer vacation for that,” Yusuke said.

“Most of it, anyways…” Sumire said. “My next gymnastics meet is the day before summer ends.”

“When is that exactly?” Ryuji asked. “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time.”

“Um, a week from tomorrow,” Sumire answered.

“Huh?!” Ryuji shrieked. “For real?!”

“We did do a lot this summer,” Jose said. “Between Medjed, and Lena’s mom.”

“Right…” Ryuji said. “Hey, why don’t we go to the beach?! I’m sure that’ll help Futaba open up a little.”

“Oh right!” Ann said. “I haven’t been all summer! I absolutely want to do that.”

“Uh, why don’t we work up to that?” Ren asked. “You know, give Futaba some breathing room.”

“I’d like that,” Futaba said.

“Eh, works for me,” Ryuji said. “So long as we go.”

“I think we should just spend some time with Futaba,” Makoto said. “That might help.”

“I agree,” Morgana said. “If we do this over the course of a few days, we should be ready for the beach in no time.”

“I think if we divide ourselves into smaller groups, it would be better,” Lena said. “Less overwhelming.”

“Good idea,” Morgana said. He looked at Ren. “Although I think you and I are going to need to be with her every time.”

“She does seem to have taken a liking to you,” Ann said.

“Almost like you’re her big sister,” Lena added.

“R-Right…” Futaba interjected.

Ren looked over at her. “What do you say? You wanna give this a shot?”

Futaba looked at her and nodded. “Yeah.”

Ren smiled. “Great.”

“So, how are we doing this?” Jose asked.

“Well, I think tomorrow, I can stop by Futaba’s and chat with her,” Makoto said.

“I’m free as well,” Yusuke said.

“Same,” Jose added.

“Well, with Ren and Morgana, I think that’s our group for tomorrow,” Makoto pointed out.

“That’s fine, since I have a shoot tomorrow anyway,” Ann said. “But I’m available the day after.”

“I’m cool with doin’ somethin’ then,” Ryuji said.

“I think I can stop by then too,” Lena said. “Akechi’s going to be busy now that Medjed has been stopped.”

“Wait, you know that detective prince?” Futaba asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Lena admitted. “He and I are, um, dating.”

“Huh,” Futaba said. “Poggers.”

“Um,” Sumire interrupted. “It’s just, with my upcoming meet, I don’t know how much time I’ll have off. I don't know if Futaba will open up to me as much.”

Ren smiled and pulled her girlfriend in for a side hug. “It’ll be fine. Futaba’s going to be trying, and you’re really easy to get along with.”

Sumire blushed, and placed her hand on Ren’s. “Thanks Ren.”

“Get a room,” Futaba remarked

“We have a room, and you’re in it,” Ren shot back.

Sumire’s face turned bright red. “Senpai!”

“Sorry,” Ren said. “I guess that was a little too forward.”

“It’s…fine…” Sumire said.

“I think after that, we should make plans accordingly,” Makoto said. “But I think things should go well.”

“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Jose remarked.

“I still have some questions about the bigger picture,” Yusuke said.

“Me too,” Makoto said. “But I think we should hold off until all of us are ready.”

“Besides, we can’t act until we’ve found another palace,” Morgana reminded them. “And they can’t act so long as they don’t know it’s us.”

“And like Lena said, the authorities will have their hands full with the fallout from this Medjed thing,” Ann said. “I think we’ll be fine if we just do things normal teens would do on their last days of summer.”

Futaba’s stomach grumbled. “Sorry.”

Ren chuckled. “It’s fine. We’ve been here for a while.”

“Why don’t we have lunch?” Jose offered.

“Great idea Jose,” Sumire said. “But I think I’ll have to leave after that to go to practice.”

“I think calling it here for the day would be good anyway,” Lena said.

“Yeah, like you said, we shouldn’t overwhelm Futaba,” Ryuji said.

“Do you want to eat with us?” Ren asked.

“Yeah,” Futaba answered.

Ren nodded. “Well then, ;let's get something from the cafe.” They headed downstairs.

Sojiro was a little surprised. “Oh. Hey.”

“Hey,” Ren said. “We’re just here for lunch,” Ren said.

“And it needs to be quick,” Futaba demanded.

“Hm. Very well then,” Sojiro said. He made some food for everyone, and served it. Everyone ate quietly and quickly, partially because there was a time limit, and partially because they didn’t want to stress Futaba out.

Once everyone else had left, it was just Ren, Morgana, Futaba, and Sojiro. “So, how are you feeling?” Ren asked.

“...Eh. Pretty good,” Futaba answered.

“What do you think of everyone so far?” Morgana asked.

“Well, I can’t hate them,” Futaba said. “They saved me after all. I mean, I guess Lena didn’t, but…”

Ren smiled. “You still like her?”

“Yeah,” Futaba said.

“Hey,” Sojiro interjected. “Are you thinking about joining up with them? You know? As another Phantom Thief?”

Futaba looked up at him. “Yeah. I mean, I want to. Is that a problem?”

Sojiro was concerned and frustrated. “Well…” He sighed. “It’s just… Your mother died because of all of this.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Futaba said, frustrated. “That’s why I want to. They might be the only people who can bring the people who killed mom to justice…”

Sojiro sighed. “You’re right. I apologize.”

“It’s OK…” Futaba said, softly. “You’re just worried. I mean, I am too. But I have to. For mom.”

Sojiro smiled. “For Wakaba.”

Ren smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll bring them to justice. But like you getting accustomed to everyone else, we need to do this one step at a time.”

Futaba nodded. “Right. Thanks.”

Ren smiled. “Don’t mention it. Are you ready?”

“You bet!” Futaba said. “Game: START!”

Ren snickered. “It’ll start tomorrow.”

“Right,” Futaba said, a little deflated. “In the meantime, this one anime I’ve been watching is on today, so I’m going to go watch it.”

“Take care,” Ren said. Futaba got up and left for home.

“Hey,” Sojiro said. “If something happens, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I’ll never forgive myself either,” Ren retorted. “After all, we’re family, right?”

Sojiro chuckled. “You’re gettin’ it.”

0 notes

jaesqueso · 2 years

Text

Dreaming (m)

pairing: bestfriend!renjun x female!reader

summary: who would’ve thought your nerdy bestfriend was not so shy after all?

for the www.camboyz.com collab by @neoaevis ❤

word count: 2,118

warnings: camboy, handjob, blowjob, a little cumplay

a/n: this did not turn out exactly how I intended but hey it’s not that bad I guess! hope ya’ll enjoy ❤

☽ ・・・・・ ☾

“Renjun!” The boy blinks his eyes and stares at you upon hearing his name. “Are you even listening?”

“Of course.” He clears his throat.

“So can I?” You repeat only the last words you said, pretty sure he was zoned out.

“Can you what?” The dumbfounded look on his face makes you giggle.

“And you claim you’re listening…” You shake your head in disapproval. “Why are you so sleepy today? Late night playing video games?”

“Yeah, sure…” He scratches the back of his neck and you swear you see a light shade of pink covering his cheeks. “Anyway, what were you asking?”

“I was wondering if I could drop by later tonight so we can work on the project, the deadline is fast approaching.” You repeat organising the scattered papers over the library table.

“No!” His loud voice earns him a few displeased looks so he quickly turns it down. “I can’t tonight, I… I have a thing.”

“A thing?” You raise one of your brows. “What thing?”

“N-nothing important just… Stuff to do…” He avidly avoids your eyes making you wonder if any of this is true. “But we can do it tomorrow for sure.

“Ok we’ll do it tomorrow then. I should go now.” You gather your things and place them inside your bag, Renjun following right behind.

As you two walk outside the wind pushes the hair away from your face and you cozy up inside your warm jacket. Biding your goodbyes, he pulls the white hood from his sweatshirt over his short black hair, hands tucked in his blue puffy jacket as he walks the opposite direction from you.

Making your way home you can’t help feel a little uneasy, what is it that he’s doing that he can’t tell you? When you got into college you two met and got really close with each other. Renjun presents himself as a shy, nerdy, gamer type of guy but there’s so much more to him that you got to know over time. And maybe that’s why you can’t help your heart from fluttering when you’re with him.

You don’t want to feel this way about him and that’s why you never told him about your silly little crush, this is such a precious friendship that you don’t want to lose specially when he doesn’t seem to have the same feelings. So you just keep being his friend and you believe you’ll eventually get over him and find someone knew to fancy.

But when you get home and throw yourself over your bed, bag forgotten on the floor, you can’t help but daydream about shy little Renjun laying right there next to you, how it would feel to hold him close, kiss him, touch him, feel him against you-

Shaking your head you get back to reality. You really need to get these feelings sorted but dreaming about him as become a regular thing and you’re not going to drop your feelings if you keep living like this.

Getting up you walk towards the kitchen to make some dinner and follow up to the living room watching some TV with your roommates.

After feeling like you’ve done enough procrastinating you decide to go back to your room to study for a while. Opening your bag you take out your notebook but then see something familiar that is not yours. You pick it up and take a closer look.

“Renjun’s wallet?” You mumble to yourself wondering why you’d have that with you.

Then it hits you: you might have accidentally picked it up when packing your bag at the library earlier. You check your phone to see if he had contacted you about it but he hasn’t so you decide to call him.

Ring. Ring. Ring. The contact you’ve tried to reach is not available right now…

He’s not answering. Maybe he’s busy with whatever plans he had for today so you might as well just drop by his apartment and leave it there, one of his roommates should be home to receive it and let him know.

Picking up a jacket you head outside, Renjun’s apartment is only a few blocks away from yours so this will be a quick trip. A few seconds after you ring the bell a sleepy figure opens the door.

“Hi, Jeno.” You greet the boy.

“Hey.” He smiles stepping to the side so you can come in.

“Oh, that’s alright, I’m just here to drop off Renjun’s wallet, I took it by mistake when we were studying.” You remain outside the apartment handing him the object.

“You can give it yourself if you want, he’s in his room.” Jeno tells you.

“He is?” Perhaps whatever he had planned is over by now. “Thanks.”

He closes the door once you’re inside, you have been here a few times before so you know exactly where to go and Jeno can sink back into the couch where he was before.

“Hi Jaemin.” You greet the other figure in the living room before disappearing into the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.

“Hey-” Jaemin stops as you’re no longer in sight and turns to his roommate instead. “Where’s she going?”

“Renjun’s.” Jeno explains refocusing on the movie the two were watching. “He forgot his wallet or something.”

“Jeno!” Jaemin hits the other with a pillow. “She can’t go there now!”

“Why?” Jeno looks at him confused before his eyes widen into two big circles. “Shit, I forgot!”

Both boys quickly get up and run to stop you from entering the room but it’s too late, you already saw what you never imagine you’d see.

Before entering Renjun’s room you knocked and called his name but there was no answer. You assumed he didn’t hear you as you could hear music coming from inside so you thought it would be fine to just walk in. Nothing would’ve ever prepared you for the scene before your eyes.

Your best friend and secret crush was sitting in his gamer chair in front of the computer, neon lights all around the room and camera pointed down to his torso and crotch. In the screen you can see what looked like an adult streaming site where the chat moved faster than anyone could ever read and you see what he’s showcasing to the internet.

A stripped black and pink sweater scrunched over his torso showing bits of skin he never dared to show before, black leather pants opened and his delicate fingers wrapped around what looked like his very hard cock.

Words get caught on your throat as this feels like you’re dreaming. Could your shy nerdy college best friend be a secret camboy? To hide his identity the camera wasn’t capturing his whole face, just his lips where the bottom one is trapped between his teeth and you finally notice the small moans he’s failing to hold.

“Y/N, no!” Jeno and Jaemin scream as they approach the bedroom where you still stand by the door, jaw drooping to the floor.

“Y/N?” Renjun quickly turns around seeing the three figures that were definitely not supposed to be there.

Cursing under his breath he pulls the sweater down to hopefully hide his bulge and closes his laptop in desperation.

“Well, too late now.” Jaemin shrugs and turns to walk back to the living room.

“I’m so sorry…” Jeno whispers and bows as he follows the other.

You remain frozen on your spot for a few seconds before turning around to leave as well. But Renjun is quick to jump from his chair and close the door to prevent you to go.

“Wait! I-I can explain…” He pants in front of you and you get a glimpse of the fake lip ring he has on making him look even more desirable than any of your day dreams about him.

“That’s ok, I just came here to give you this.” You extend the wallet his way looking down.

“Thanks…” He says in a low voice taking the object from your hands and placing it on the closest surface he can reach without moving.

“I’m gonna go.” You try to move past him but he keeps blocking your way.

“Wait, let me explain what you saw.” He begs.

“You don’t have to explain, we can just pretend it didn’t happen and never talk about it.” You look down, too embarrassed to face him, but then you notice the bulge showing through his sweater making you gulp.

“But I want to.” He clenches his fists, trying to forget how hard his dick still is, he was quite worked up when he got interrupted.

“I never pictured you as a camboy.” You step back and sit at the edge of his bed still in disbelief.

“It started as a joke,” he sits next to you keeping some distance, “but then I kinda liked the attention. I don’t want you to think I’m a pervert it just feels good.”

“Why do you care so much about what I think of this?” You finally look at his face.

“Because I like you.” Your heart skips a beat, is this a confession? “I really really like you and I’d hate to lose you because of this.”

“I’m not going to stop being your friend because you do this.” You place your hand over his.

“Right, friends... ” You can hear the disappointment in his voice so you scoot closer.

Leaning forward you smash your lips against his. Renjun’s eyes widen, he shyly responds to the kiss a silent whimper escaping to your mouth.

“I’m sorry I interrupted your stream.” You whisper when leaning back. “How about I help you finish it?”

“Really?” He asks before you shut him up with another kiss.

Getting up he walks back to his chair, opening his laptop and re-setting the stream. In the mean time you remove your clothes down to your underwear and find a place on the floor between his legs.

Before pressing the button he looks down and you nod with a smirk encouraging him to start. He adjusts the camera and resumes the show. You almost drool as he lifts his shirt up revealing his still hard cock.

One of his hands runs through the smooth skin of his stomach as the other gently rubs his impressive length. His eyes, off camera, are fixed on you, watching as you lick your lips while enjoying the show.

Slowly his fingers wrap around his dick and he starts moving his hand up and down, pre-cum oozing out of the deliciously looking tip.

Unable to control yourself any longer as you feel the heat between your thighs, you messily tie your hair up and move forward, sticking your tongue out to trace the wet slit. Renjun lets out a loud moan removing his hand from his member that you quickly replace with yours.

Turning the chair to the side he grabs your hair making sure the camera is capturing the action but your face is not that recognisable. You adjust your position on the floor as you start sucking the tip of his cock, hand working on the rest of his length.

Both hands now free, Renjun moves them up his body revealing his nipples that he starts teasing with his black painted nails. You look up and the way his lips are slightly parted sending out breathy moans makes you take his whole dick in your mouth, inch by inch until your nose touches his skin.

The grip on your hair tightens as you bob your head up and down making the most nasty noises, his shaft throbbing in your mouth so you know he’s not gonna last much longer, you have to remember he was already prepped from before.

When feeling he was going to burst, Renjun moves your head away pumping his length until hot white strings shoot to his chest, his own head falling back on the chair with a grunt. You can hear the notifications on the laptop going crazy at your little show.

Moving up, you kiss your away from his dick to his chest, making sure to clean up his beautiful mess. Still panting, he pulls you to kiss his lips as his hand finds its way to end the stream.

“Come here.” He gets up, taking you with him as he walks to the bed.

You yelp when he picks you up by your waist to throw you on your back on the mattress. Bitting your lip you watch the way he kisses up your body until he’s hovering it inches away from your lips.

“That was amazing, let me show you how thankful I am for you help.”

☽ ・・・・・ ☾

taglist: @yokshi-unbeliebubble @nc-teen @yutahoes @dimplehyunn @iknowyuno @bebskyy @ne0cultur3technology @nurenciye @luvjeongjaehyun @blondiedae

unable to tag: @chenleyang @doahflix @criminalmindsz

#cznnet #nctcreations18 #neohub #renjun smut #nct smut #nct dream smut #camboyz.com

413 notes · View notes

father-time-and-baby-new-year · 3 years

Text

alphabet boy

SYNOPSIS: You should feel extremely lucky that the handsome and intelligent Armin Arlert is your tutor...even when he's a little mean to you. Because that's your fault, isn't it? He wouldn't have to be mean if you weren't so damn stupid.

PAIRING: Armin x FEM!Reader

DEDICATED TO: armin fuckers. non armin fuckers, i hope i can convert you.

TW: dubcon touching, manipulative behavior, gaslighting, academia shaming,

WC: 1.8k

“Maybe you’re not cut out for this class.”

He said it so casually, a comment spoken between the flip of textbook pages. You couldn’t shake off the undeniable hurt.

“I-Uhm, uh, yeah I have to study a lot...but I like this class. It was a pain to get off the waitlist.” You keep your voice optimistic and light, hoping to mask the offense taken.

You don’t know why Armin would say that, but maybe he was just being logical...he’s seen you struggle, of course, he’d think the class was too hard for you.

The blond sighs, closing his novel that he brought with him while he waited for you to finish your practice problems.

“You can barely keep up with the weekly homework assignments. You didn’t even hand in your assignment last week, right? Better drop out now before the add and drop deadline.” His voice is soft and cold at the same time. It’s unnerving.

You tuck your hair behind your ears, eyes set low, too ashamed to meet your tutor’s. Armin had been your tutor for the past few weeks now, and you thought it was going pretty well. He was so so smart that you couldn’t help but be a little starstruck. He was handsome too, short-cropped blond hair, wide blue eyes, with a wardrobe that was composed of slacks and sweaters.

Usually, he was always overly polite and charming. You could make countless mistakes and his patience was endless. He had some off-days where he was a little withdrawn and quiet. You never held it against him though, knowing he had no obligation to make idle chatter. But sometimes, you could feel his chilly gaze watching you even though he had a book propped open.

“I emailed the professor, he was really chill about it. Last week was really rough for me, you know? I wasn’t feeling well and...”

“You know excuses don’t fly in the real world right? You’re in college now. Professor Ackerman was just being courteous. He probably thinks you’re lazy.” Even though you try not to look at him, you can feel Armin’s azure blues burn holes into you. There was this quiet intensity about him that made you worry about when the restraints would come off.

Armin can’t help but let condescension drip over his words. Any self-respecting person would defend themselves, but not you. Not when you’re already broken by your own insecurities that make it that much easier for him to trample on.

He can already see pearly-sheened tears leaking from the corner of your hopeless eyes. How cute. You part your pretty little mouth to say something, but no words come out. You close your mouth soon enough, looking every bit like a dumb little airhead.

So he continues: “You know your classmates learned all the first few chapters from high school right? You’re the only one starting fresh.” He moves closer, elbows inching closer to infiltrate your little personal-space bubble, knees knocking into yours under the desk.

More tears form under your lower lashes, and Armin mentally counts the crystal droplets. You’re recoiling into yourself like a shrinking violet which only encourages Armin to go just a little farther.

“You don’t even have your major picked out yet. This is a core class for your classmates, you know. You’re wasting your-no, everyone’s time.”

Not wanting to cry in front of your tutor, you rub your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket, fully aware of how utterly pathetic you look right now.

In a small voice, you manage to utter, “I have a right...to be in this class. Even though I’m slow now, I think with some decent amount of studying...I’ll catch up. Even if I’m not-” you take a deep breath, “as quick as my classmates, I still really enjoy what I learn. And..and...I think at the end of the day, that’s what really matters!”

Armin scoffs, “Do you really like the class or are you staying for Ackerman? God knows how many fangirls he’s had to put up with.”

Even as he spoke those words, Armin knew it wasn’t entirely true. You admired the man zealously and had read all of his published papers. Honestly, your admiration had always annoyed him.

You wince at the insinuation but you could feel the anger simmering in your gut, “You have no right to imply that! Wh-why-” Your voice breaks, “are you being so mean?”

Armin thinks you’re so cute, the way you jut out your bottom lip. So cute and pathetic. The corners of his lips quirk upwards. It’s almost endearing how you say “mean” like it’s the worst thing a person can be.

“Am I being mean or am I being realistic?” The blond coos, “I’m your tutor, right? I know the best for you.”

He takes your silence as an invitation to goad you harder: “You’re only upset because I’m telling you what you don’t want to hear.”

You don’t notice the proximity until Armin lays his hand over yours, squeezing the soft flesh of your palms. His voice is gentle as he reassures you: “Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

He made you cry, but you don’t have it in you to pull away from the only semblance of comfort given to you. His chair scrapes the floor as he sets it right beside yours, wrapping an arm around you, encouraging you to lean your head against his shoulder.

It’s a little sad but this is probably the most physical contact you’ve gotten in a while. You’re an utter mess, and on top of all that, touch-starved.

You’re still sniffling like a crybaby, trying to sort your own emotions out. You take a few deep breaths and force yourself to face the facts:

You’re behind.

The class is too much work for you.

Armin’s right, you’re upset because he’s telling you what you don’t want to hear.

“D-do you really think I should drop the class?” Your voice is so defeated, a pinch louder than a whisper.

His long fingers play with the ends of your hair, “I know this class is really important to you and we both want you to do well...so why don’t we increase our tutoring sessions? Maybe we should meet three times a week.”

He smiles at you, and it looks so genuine. You’re immensely grateful, you are, but confusion washes over you, “Wow, Uh, that’ll be great actually but um, uni tutoring services is once a week...so-”

Armin dismisses your concerns with a gentle wave of his hands, “Don’t worry, It’ll be off the books. Think of this as private tutoring. Of course, we’ll have to start meeting in my room from now on.”

While he doesn’t elaborate on why you have to meet in his dorm, you assume Armin has a good reason and it probably involves university-sanctioned student-tutor guidelines.

You’re stammering out thank-you’s, still trying to rub the tears out of your eyes until you feel a soft handkerchief wiping them away.

“It’s okay, don’t worry.” He reassures, “Don’t use your sleeve. It’s too rough for your pretty face.”

You blush under his words, wide eyes locked into his oceanic blues, “I d-don’t know if I’ll be able to compensate you f-for the private tutoring.”

His eyebrows crease as he gives you a smile full of pearly teeth, “You don’t have to worry about that for now.” His hands graze over your knuckles, “We’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you Armin.” You say it so sincerely, trying to muster the biggest smile you can after the blond essentially trampled over your self-esteem to only nurse it back with sweet promises.

“Well, we better finish today’s work then.” He responds calmly, not bothering to detangle himself from you. You can feel his body heat radiating onto you, and how his hand moved to casually rest on your thigh. But that’s normal right? If you think about it, Armin was not exactly adverse to touch. During your past tutoring sessions, his hand would always be on the small of your back or shoulders.

“Hey, you’re not getting distracted again, are you?” His voice is playful like he isn’t sliding his hand up and down the span of skin between your skirt and tights. When you don't respond, he pinches your inner thigh, eliciting a startled gasp from you.

"Focus." It's a demand so it must be followed.

Embarrassed, you nod your head and return your focus to the problem sets even though your hands are shaky as you grip the ballpoint pen.

You don’t notice how the blond’s eyes gleam under the fluorescent lighting at your easy compliance. He’s always liked obedient girls.

Your thighs are growing warmer, and it doesn’t help to have Armin peering over you. Still, you try your best to lull yourself to focus until a ringtone breaks your concentration.

Armin breaks away from you to find his phone and you find your body subconsciously missing the warmth. He lightly curses under his breath once he sees the contact name, but answers nonetheless.

“Yeah...sorry babe. I forgot. I’ll be right over.” He sounds apologetic but he looks downright bored.

And like that, the call is over. He looks over at you with an apology falling from his lips, “Sorry about that. I forgot I had something to do today. We’ll end early.”

Your throat is dry as you ask, “Was that your girlfriend?” You regretted your words the moment they escaped. That was none of your business. It doesn’t matter if he was holding you earlier. He was doing so because you were bawling like a baby. But why did he touch your thighs?

That doesn’t have to mean anything, you rationalize. Besides, Armin would never make a move on you. He was a handsome senior with a perfect GPA and a powerful position in the student government. Stupid freshman girls like you are not worth the time he so generously gives out.

The blond smirks, seeming to notice your internal struggle, “Something like that. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure she won’t distract me from our future sessions.”

That was a puzzling comment. His girlfriend supposedly distracting from your study time wasn’t even a concern you held.

“No, no, that’s ok.” You quickly assure, “You’ve already helped me out so much.”

The blond pats the top of your head like you were a puppy, “I’d do anything for my cute little student.”

The way your face heats up with a dark blush should be criminal. All he did was pat your head, and you’re looking at him starry-eyed like he didn’t grope your thighs under the table. Honestly, all your cute little blubbering had gone straight to his cock. Annie would have to handle his big problem.

These private sessions are going to be fun.

part I ---- complete

#attack on titan fanfiction #armin arlet x reader #yandere armin arlert #armin arlet x you #armin arlert fanfic #slight dubcon #tw manipulation #tw gaslighting #tw crybaby reader'

757 notes · View notes

compassionatereminders · 3 years

Text

Dealing With Executive Dysfunction - A Summary

(The full post with elaborate explanations can be found here.)

Being a responsible adult doesn’t have to mean doing things perfectly - it means doing what you realistically can. Can’t eat 7 fresh veggies and fruits a day? Buy some veggie juice or a smoothie and chug that. Can’t make a proper, healthy meal? Add some extra protein to your instant noodles. Can’t do the dishes? Buy some paper plates. Don’t worry about doing things “the right way”, just do what works.

It’s not cheating to do something the easy way. If there’s an easy or more manageable solution available, use it. Even if some people think it’s lazy. Don’t worry about that. Just focus on finding the methods of doing things which make life easier for you.

Fuck what you’re “supposed” to do. Yes, ideally you shouldn’t run the dishwasher twice, but if cleansing the dishes by hand is not an option and that’s the only way you can get clean dishes, do it anyways! When you’re in a really bad place mentally, fuck the rules. Do what you need to do to get shit done, even if it’s not how you’re supposed to do it.

Do stuff while you’re waiting to do other stuff. We spend a lot of time waiting, so spend the time you’d normally just waste getting some chores done. Collect the trash while your roommate is in the bathroom or wipe down the kitchen counters while you’re making coffee. You can even turn it into a game! How many dishes can you clean before the potatoes are boiling? How much trash can you collect and throw out before your load of laundry is done?

You don’t have to do everything at once. Don’t wait for the day where you’re up for cleaning the entire house cause then you’ll be waiting for ages. You can wipe down one counter and call it a day. You can put away a couple things and leave the rest. You can do one small chore and let that be it. You don’t have to choose between doing everything and doing nothing. Any progress is worthwhile.

Let go of the idea that something has to become a permanent habit to have any value. Doing a certain sport for a month is still healthy even if you then move on to something else. Exploring a new hobby for a while and then moving on to other stuff will always teach you something. What’s good for you today will not necessarily be what’s good for you tomorrow.

Don’t worry about the entire task. Just focus on the first step. Don’t worry about brushing your teeth - just get your toothbrush wet and put tooth paste on it. Don’t worry about writing the essay - just look at the assignment and open a document. Don’t worry about going to the store - just put on your coat and your shoes. Starting a task is a lot easier if you only focus on the step right in front of you.

Imagine that your body is a pet/animal you have to care for. Feed and hydrate yourself, keep yourself and your environment clean, make sure you don’t get under or overstimulated, allow yourself time to rest and relax, find ways to enrich your life (like socializing, media or hobbies) - and do your best to make sure you’re healthy and happy, even though you never actually signed up for being your own zookeeper.

Just because you can’t do it perfectly doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Packing lunch a couple times a week is better than never packing lunches. Journaling or making art once a month is better than never doing anything creative. Exercising every once in a while when you have the energy is better than never exercising. You don’t have to do something every single day for it to be important and helpful.

Put on a professional persona when it’s necessary. Try to separate the anxious and dysfunctional you from the Student You who’s sending that important email or the Client You who’s making that phone call or the Customer You who isn’t afraid to ask for help. It might feel like you’re performing a role, but to be honest, most of us do at times.

When you’re doing chores, act like you’re filming a tutorial. Narrate what you’re doing like someone’s watching. That might make it easier to maintain focus and to keep track of the various steps.

You don’t have to do anything perfectly. Wiping yourself off with some baby wipes beats not doing anything about your personal hygiene. Eating a protein bar beats not eating. Using mouthwash beats neglecting dental hygiene completely. Going for a quick walk beats not moving. It doesn’t have to be perfect to count and make a difference.

Make something you know you have to do the trigger for you to start doing something else. Tell yourself “next time I get up to pee I’ll take out the trash” or “when I get up to get something to drink next I’ll make lunch.” If you HAVE to get up anyways, you might as well.

Assign yourself a deadline. Tell yourself “once this video is over, I’ll do the dishes” or “once this alarm rings, I’ll do my laundry.”

If you struggle to be compassionate towards yourself, try visualizing your future self as a separate person who you like and want to do favors for. Try to think of your future self as a friend who is separate from your current self and do what you can to make their life easier by doing things like preparing that lunch, doing those chores, taking that shower or making fun plans. I know they’ll be grateful.

Make putting stuff back where it belongs so easy that you “might as well.” Organize your home so that placing stuff where it belongs becomes so easy that you might as well just place it there. For many people that means several laundry baskets, many trash cans and easily accessible and very visible storage options. So if you keep finding things in annoying places, make sure they get an easily accessible home!

Look into why you can’t do something. Is something about the chores you’re struggling to do actually causing you sensory distress and is there something you can do to make it more comfortable? If you hate mint toothpaste, get one that tastes like bubble gum. If old food grosses you out, do the dishes with thick gloves on. If showering makes you feel bad about your body, shower with the lights off. The problem isn’t always about self discipline, and in those cases it’s worth looking into why you’re struggling so much to get certain chores done.

Take care of yourself in order to take care of others ( whether pets or people.) Outside motivation is necessary for many people who struggle with executive dysfunction. For many people getting out of bed is easier when you know someone else is relying on you being somewhat functional. So don’t be afraid to find the motivation to take care of yourself in wanting to take care of others.

Make keeping your place clean as easy as possible. Make sure there’s easy one step access to the things you need often. Make sure that the place where a thing is supposed to be is actually within reach of where you use the thing. Make sure everything has a an easily accessible place to go, even if that means several laundry baskets and several trash cans. Examine what’s messing up your place and find a home for it where you’re likely to actually place it on a regular basis.

Choose one very specific thing to work on - like the bathroom sink or the oven or your desk. If you suffer from executive dysfunction you’ll likely be distracted, but having one specific focus point you can keep returning to will mean that in between getting distracted, you can return to your chosen project and get some shit done.

When something feels overwhelming, tell yourself to “just show up” and that you “won’t have to stay the whole time if it’s horrible.” Cause odds are that once you’ve pushed past your initial mental block, you’re likely to stay and finish what you started.

If you really can’t do something, accept your limits and find a different method. Don’t keep trying to push through via willpower alone. If you need outside accountability to get your shit done, find someone who can hold you accountable. If you know you can’t remember the stuff you’re supposed to remember, make sure to always write things down. If you keep forgetting your meds, set a daily alarm. Don’t keep expecting yourself to be able to do things you always struggle with.

Make your chores into a game. Assign certain chores certain points and make a list of fun rewards you can have once you’ve earned a certain amount of points through doing chores.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly. Any amount of effort is better than none, so on days where you can’t do something well, do it anyways! Any amount of progress beats not getting started.

Find a momentum and use it to do that thing you’ve been struggling to start doing. You can’t get yourself together to shower? Well, find something you CAN do - and once you’re already doing something, you might be able to channel said energy into showering.

Take it one step at a time. I know a shower sounds overwhelming, but can you take your clothes off? If yes, can you turn on the shower? If yes, can you stand under the stream? Look who just tricked themselves into doing the thing by breaking it down into manageable chunks!

Don’t just break a task into smaller steps - break it into steps so small you can’t possible get overwhelmed and fuck up. “Clean my room” is far too vague - but “set a timer and collect all the trash you can in 10 minutes” is actually manageable and so is “move all dirty dishes to the kitchen” or “remove and/or sort all clothes laying on the floor.”

Don’t worry about how most people do things - worry about what works for YOU. You constantly lose your key? Make ten copies. You overlook your post it notes? Put something with the important reminder on it in front of the door. Got laundry and trash all over the floor? Get more laundry baskets/trash cans. Coping with executive dysfunction is not about learning to do things the neurotypical way, it’s about finding strategies which actually work for you.

When you’re overwhelmed and struggling, find the easiest and fastest way to get rid of some of the distress. Eat if you’re hungry, sleep if you’re tired, pee if you have to, get that thing you’ve been postponing done if you can. The more stressors you can remove, the better - and it’s okay to start with the smaller ones!

Don’t worry about aesthetics. When you struggle with executive dysfunction, maintaining a picture perfect home is probably unrealistic. So drop that dream and focus on making your space practical and functional. Remove the doors of your kitchen cabinets and closets if that will actually make you put stuff away. Get a paper shredder and a mail sorting station if you got mail and advertisements everywhere. Buy all your socks in one color if you struggle to pair them. There are many ways to make your environment more functional. Explore them instead of just trying and failing to make your home look nice.

Get started on your next task before you take your break. Write that first sentence, make that first sketch, get the vacuum cleaner out of the closet or collect the dishes for washing and THEN have your break. Many people with executive dysfunction struggle to start tasks, so for most of us it’s easier to continue something we’ve already started working on than to begin from scratch.

#kat gets serious #coping #executive dysfunction #disability #mental illness #self care #recovery

2K notes · View notes

secretswiftymarvelfan · 2 years

Text

secretswiftymarvelfan’s 1k follower celebration challenge!

I somehow have 1k of you lot following me! I still don’t quite believe it, so to celebrate I’m putting together a challenge for you all to celebrate!

Masterlist of submissions can be found here!

Rules and prompts are below the cut!

Rules!

All forms of creation allowed! fics, poems, headcanons, art, edits all welcomed!

You don’t have to be following me to participate but you can it you want!

Any Marvel/Chris Evans character goes!

Limit of 3 people per dialogue prompt (we’ll see how this goes, it may change), other prompts are unlimited! You can use a max of 3 dialogue prompts

Mix and match prompts if you want! You don’t have to pick just one!

If there’s an AU/Trope prompt that’s not listed that you want to do, go ahead! You don’t have to stick to the list!

Reader inserts and OFC are allowed and welcomed!

Any creation MUST BE ORIGINAL! No stealing, stealing is bad!

The creation if part of a series must be able to be read as a stand alone!

Mini series (roughly 5 parts max) are allowed (I will try my hardest to read it all! but I can’t promise anything!)

All ethnicities, interracial, LGBT and polyamorous stories are encouraged!

TAG YOUR STORIES WITH WARNINGS!!!

No sexual relations with minors, no somnophilia, necrophilia, incest, toilet stuff, snuff, or beastiality! If this rule is broken I WILL NOT READ/REBLOG!

SMUT, Fluff, Angst etc all allowed.

Dark Fics are allowed (Non-Con/Dub-Con) but they MUST BE APPROPRIATELY TAGGED!

No word limit! If it’s over 500 please use the read more function!

I reserve the right not to read/reblog.

Deadline:

No strict deadline, suggested deadline of May 31st but you don’t have to stick to it! this isn’t school!

There is no start date! Once your work is ready post it!

If you need an extension then let me know!

How to enter:

Choose your prompt(s) from the list below, send me an ask or message with what one(s) you want (and what characters if you want)

if I don’t answer immediately don’t worry, I’m British so it might be the timezone! If I don’t respond in the week then give me a little nudge!

When your work is posted tag me in it and also send me a link via DM because tags are sooo temperamental on this site!

also tag your your work with #secretswiftymarvelfan1kchallenge I will be checking that tag every evening!

Please highlight your prompt in someway (either at the beginning or in the text)

Once you’ve posted your creation if I haven’t responded within a week send me a DM to let me know!

Prompts!

Dialogue!

1) “Hey! That’s mine” @before-we-get-started

2) “is there a problem here?”

3) “what on earth happened here?” @sweater-daddiesdumbdork

4) “you’ve caught me at a really bad time”

5) “what have you done now”

6) “How- how did you find me?” @youre-amazing-say-it

7) “excuse me, sorry that’s my seat”

8) “well... this is new” @bucky-boo-bear

9) “lets hear your side of the story”

10) “i don’t know what happened officer”

11) “I don’t hate you, that would imply i care”

12) “there’s no point in running” @bucky-boo-bear

13) “how are you feeling today? a little better, hmm?”

14) “don’t move” @angrythingstarlight

15) “when did you last see him? think! this is important!”

16) “oh man, I’ve had the worst day ever”

17) “this isnt what it looks like, i swear! okay... it’s kind of what it looks like, but just give me a chance to explain”

18) “I’ll take that as a compliment” @youre-amazing-say-it

19) “woah, back up, you’re losing me”

20) “okay, I think we do need to call an ambulance”

21) “you must have misheard me”

22) “believe me, my dear, no-one regrets this more than I do”

23) “didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers”

24) “i’m going to give you five seconds to take that back” @before-we-get-started

25) “hey, look at me” @youre-amazing-say-it

26) “good, I meant it to hurt” @bucky-boo-bear

27) “actually, I think you’d find that most people have a pretty massive problem with that” @before-we-get-started

28) “you have to tell her, it wouldn’t be right not to”

29) “I made breakfast, but I didn’t know what you liked so I made enough to probably feed a small army”

30) “for what it’s worth, I don’t know much about you either”

Tropes!

1) Bodyswap

2) Fake Dating

3) Dopplegangers / Evil Twin

4) Only One Bed!

5) Enamies to Lovers

6) Friends to Lovers

7) Childhood Sweethearts

8) Mutual Pining

9) Cuddling for warmth

10) Trapped together

11) Amnesia

12) Language difference

13) Mistaken Identity

14) Truth serum

15) One night only

AU!

1) Hallmark Movie AU

2) A/B/O AU

3) Coffee Shop AU

4) Mob AU

5) Sports team AU

6) College AU

7) Rockstar / Band AU

8) Medical AU

9) (Medieval) Royalty AU

10) Pirate AU

11) Pornstar AU

12) Cop AU

13) Fairytale / Fantasy AU

14) Angel / Demon AU

15) Flower shop AU

#secretswiftymarvelfan1kchallenge #writing challege #prompts #niamh writes

97 notes · View notes

lululawrence · 3 years

Note

Can u please be nicer on ao3? Maybe you should try answering people's comments

when i read the first line i was honestly flabbergasted and wracking my brain trying to figure out when in the world i wasn't nice on ao3 ever. because i honestly truly try to be nice to everyone always, even when i'm angry or frustrated or people are going after those i love and want to protect. if there was a time i WASN'T nice on ao3, i wondered if it was maybe because my comment had been misunderstood or someone saw me razzing an author i'm good friends with and they didn't get that we are close and i said what i did with so much love and appreciation, you know? like what??? did i do???

but then i read your second line. and please forgive me if i come off as rude in my response to this, because honestly i'm in a pretty bad spot mentally and emotionally in general right now, but PARTICULARLY today, and this ask triggered an anxiety response in me. so. i'm trying really hard to word this in a way to educate without being condescending or mean, but i might not succeed.

firstly, thank you for your comments i'm assuming you've left. i'm also assuming they were nice comments, in which case extra thanks. i'm sure i'll send you effusive responses on ao3 when the time comes.

secondly, please understand that sending an ask like this, on anonymous no less, is incredibly entitled. writing is not my profession, i receive no compensation for my works that i post for free online, and as a part of that it is not required of me to respond. i do my very best to reply to every comment i receive, but it is not always in a timely manner, because i have other priorities in my life. all of which leads us to my third point, which is:

writers do not owe you a reply to your comments. end of. there are no other qualifications or quantifying modifiers to be added to the statement. is it nice to be acknowledged and know your comment was seen? sure. but do they OWE you one? hell no.

in fact, i'd like to offer you a suggestion. a way of tweaking your thinking about the comments you leave on fics. instead of looking at comments you leave as being something that deserves a reply from the author, think of your comments as your way of paying the author for the gift of their time and talents that they have shared with you by posting their fic. that's how i think of the comments i leave for authors. i'm giving them my thanks for the words they've shared! i want to help THEM feel as amazing as they have made ME feel when i read their fic. in fact, my hope isn't necessarily a response from them, but instead my hope is THE GIFT OF THEM SHARING MORE FIC WITH ME. i'm a selfish bitch in that way and i always want all the fic to read. i never want that well to go dry. one way i can ensure that doesn't happen is by supporting authors and being kind to them and spreading all the love and excitement i can about their writing in the hopes that my words will inspire them to share more.

because whether they reply or not, i GUARANTEE they are seeing your comments. i PROMISE they are. and for all you know, your comment might be the one that keeps them writing even when their words aren't coming easily or when they are tempted to give up.

but, again, please remember that no matter what, these authors (including me) don't actually owe you anything.

the rest of this is going under a cut, because honestly my reply is already far too long and i have a LOT more to say now that you've gotten me started.

now, all of this in mind, i'll explain to you why i'm not great with keeping up with comments made on my fics the last couple of years. i don't owe you this explanation any more than i owe you a response to your comments, and i'm honestly not sure you deserve this explanation either, but i'll still offer it anyway. it'll help me feel better knowing i at least put this out there, whether you care or not, mainly because if i don't do that it will cause me greater anxiety having you possibly think i am not responding to people because i feel all high and mighty or that i think i'm better than the comments or whatever the fuck kind of motivation you're attributing to me to see my lack of a response as something "not nice" towards the commenters.

i'm not sure if you've noticed, but i put out a lot of fic. like a lot. a lot of words and shit. i love writing, it's often my therapy and a way for me to help keep my anxiety and depression and ptsd at bay.

now, more personal shit for you, i've got three kids ages 9 and under. the oldest has adhd which we have yet to find a med for that helps to the extent she needs without side effects that aren't healthy for her to continue with, she also has anxiety, AND she's extremely gifted and starting a new program at a new school, all in the midst of a pandemic. and all of those situations exacerbate her anxiety! huzzah! she's also dealing with the beginning of her tween growing up shit, which is great fun because it means where she used to be pretty damn understanding of her younger brother, she is finding it much more difficult to. because the second oldest? he's autistic with some pretty significant gross motor, speech, and socialization delays that have only been exacerbated because of the previously mentioned pandemic. PLUS he transitioned from his special needs preschool to a fully integrated elementary school for kindergarten last year and then had to deal with all the ups and downs of the switch from e-learning to hybrid to all in schooling when everything in him screams for a normal schedule he can rely on to keep his own anxieties and fears and struggles at their minimum. and that youngest child? he was born in january of last year. he STILL barely leaves the house and has only met other children in close range a couple of times because, once again, pandemic!

add onto all of this my own mental health issues, the fact that my husband ALSO battles major clinical depression, adhd, and anxiety, AND we live with my parents who have their own health issues, both mental and physical. i run the home for our house of seven. i keep this place functioning, fed, clothed, clean, and everywhere we need to be for all of our five million appointments every. fucking. day. there is a REASON i've been borderline burnt out for the last fucking year and a half.

now, for fun, i have fandom shit. i love it here, even if it is a dumpster fire on the best of days, and getting to be a part of the writing community is so very lovely. i adore it. honestly, it's because of those friendships i've built with other writers that i have been able to keep writing and have found just how helpful it can be for my mental health. but i'm REALLY. INCREDIBLY. BUSY. i hardly have time to get on tumblr for just a quick swipe through my dash most days. i put off asks so long i forget i have them. i don't have the mental and emotional capacity to talk to people on here or interact fully a lot of the time. but i do my best to do so and be kind while i'm at it even when i don't want to be.

then, on top of that? i also run fic fests like @wordplayfics and help friends run their own. because not only am i a writer, i'm a reader. i LOVE fic. fic has saved me soooooo many times over the past seven years that i've been here. i want to do what i can to support other writers the best way i can, which is to provide a space for them to create their works that welcomes and helps promote them, but also by doing my monthly fic lists and pocast highlighting what i've been able to read, reblogging their fic posts, and then commenting and kudosing their fics too.

sometimes i get really fucking down on myself because i'm so behind on replying to comments, but my brain is very much a "if you start this, you have to finish it" kind of a brain, and i feel even WORSE sometimes if i reply to comments on some fics and not all of them. but i do my best and reply when i can. i was actually really fucking proud of myself because i had a couple days to myself in june, and i spent hours replying to comments on 20 of my fics. when you have almost 150 fics (i think? i don't even know how many fics i've posted by now), that is only scratching the surface. but i tried and i was so so happy i did that many fics at once. it's exhausting, though, and takes a lot of spoons for me to reply to them in mass like that plus time consuming. so i tried to be happy with those 20 fics and the comments i responded to there and told myself that when i ha a moment to breathe, i'd go and work on replying to some more.

but see, that again causes anxiety and guilt. because i haven't replied to all of them. and that anxiety and guilt can cause me to put it off further OR to put off important things like feeding my children or getting sleep in order to finish it, so i have to make myself put things into perspective and ensure i'm doing the important things, like taking care of myself and my family, first.

and then, i have a moment where i CAN go ahead and reply to comments... but i also have MANY fics that are on deadline and i actually have a schedule. a SCHEDULE. for when i'm going to focus on which fics. i can spell it out for you if you really want. i made it back in APRIL to make sure i didn't sign up for too many fic fests because there are so many going on right now that i want to participate in, but i know i can't do all of them so i had to pick and choose. and when you are SO overscheduled and busy that back in APRIL you had to figure out what fics you would focus on at what time to ensure you got everything written when you wanted to through THE END OF THE YEAR, more choices have to be made.

for example. my writing time and time for myself came down to only one evening a week for ALL fandom things i'm doing and a part of right now once the kids were out of school for the summer. it quickly became apparent that for my own self care i needed more time, so i worked with my husband to find two other days i could carve out at least 30-60 minutes to myself to write every week. and i did. but if i'm already only getting that much time and have committed to those fics and fests and things that you're running etc, you have to choose am i going to use this time to try to squeeze in some comment replies? or am i going to write? and i choose to write. simple as that.

so yeah. see it as selfish if you want. see it as mean. you can honestly see it as whatever the fuck you want, but for me? i know that as soon as i possibly can and i can breathe freely for once and not feel like i am constantly drowning in my day to day life and am doing pretty well when it comes to my fic deadlines and getting started on those christmas cards i'm once again going to be making by hand for everyone on tumblr who chooses to sign up for one this year out of the KINDNESS of my heart and the love i really do feel for so many of you, then i promise i'll be on ao3 catching up and commenting. my friends laugh and make fun of me for it sometimes, because they will sometimes get 10-12 replies to their comments in a single day. they know that's how i work. i WILL reply to every single comment i get, no matter how old it is. but for the love of all that is holy, do NOT add to the anxiety and guilt i already feel over it. the only place that will get you is the ask/comment getting deleted if it's a good day, a fucking long rant like this one if it's not, and a block if it's a REALLY bad day.

if you're asking me to be nice on ao3, then i ask in return that you also be nice by not demanding things of people that they are not in any way obligated to give.

#long post #rant #i almost deleted this #but you sent it on just the right day and instead i let loose #this is unedited and unbetaed lmao but ENJOY #or don't #whatever #writing stuff #i should tag it #writing SHIT #but that's not really a tag i keep cause who wants to keep track of the negatives #not me

193 notes · View notes

leejeongz · 3 years

Text

fluffy a-z SUNGHOON (enhypen)

requested: yes, by anon

🔅the comeback!!???!!!?! amazing. i just had to write this today i just HAD TO. this is really long but nevertheless i hope you enjoy🔅

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

he loves holding your hand even at the most random times. if you seem anxious or upset, his hand slowly creeps closer to yours, just to remind you that he’s there. he’s not a fan of pda, but holding your hand is just fine :D. (taken from my enha as boyfriends post)

he messes up your hair (but only when he knows it’s okay to do so, he knows his place lol) when you do something silly or cute. he also does it when he’s first introducing you to people too. he’ll be all like “this is y/n, my gf/bf/partner” and then ruffle your hair, just to once again show them that you’re his.

similarly, he loves when you play with his hair. he’ll purposely rest in head in your lap so that your hands naturally fall to his hair. sometimes, he accidentally drifts off to sleep like that and then wakes up a few minutes later all smiley hehe.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

you don’t have the chance to meet up a lot, most of your contact is via text since he doesn’t have the time to call you all day, every day. he’s super supportive of you, he’s your wingman, your hype man and your parent all in one. he looks out for you as much as possible and (even if you’re not younger than him) he treats you like his younger sibling.

there’s always a lot of laughter when you two are together that stems from the assortment of inside jokes that you share. you can talk for hours despite neither of you being the talkative type (mainly about other people lmao.)

as a pair, you’re often misunderstood. people never associate you with each other but you just know that you don’t always need to be with each other to still be the closest of friends. when you are together, you’re an intimidating duo that people often avoid through fear, but you’re actually really nice 🥺😔

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

he uses cuddles as a way to distract you and/or annoy you. can and will be the big spoon every time you cuddle. he loves cuddling with you, holding you or just touching you, he’s just shy okay. he loves having you in his arms and holding you, especially when he knows you’ve chosen to cuddle with him over doing something important. cuddling with him just makes him want to cuddle all day :((. so if you start cuddling at 10am, except to still be in his arms at 7pm. more so than cuddling, he likes draping his legs over you “to irritate you” (he just wants to be close to you hehe). it makes him feel like he’s protecting you without it being too hot and stuffy and oppressive.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

there’s no time frame for him when it comes to settling down. he wants to settle down but there’s no deadline for him. he’s not actively looking for the love of his life at any point, he’s never going to force himself to be in love just for the sake of creating family. he thinks about settling down a lot, he wants a pet with the person he loves for sure, he’s excited for that day to come, but it doesn’t have to happen soon.

cleaning, he’s fabulous at. the house or apartment is minimalistic anyway, so things that are out of place are easy for him to spot and move. he almost enjoys doing chores with you even, just because he’s spending time with you. when it comes to cooking,,, like sure he’s confident which is so sweet but that doesn’t always mean a good meal. but please don’t tell him that else he’ll get really sad and disappointed in himself.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

if he was to break up with you, it would probably be a “right person wrong time” kinda thing. he wouldn’t get into a relationship if he didn’t see a future with that person, he’s very picky to find the perfect person for him. you’re definitely the right person, but he’s just too busy right now being an idol. he feels guilty for not spending time with you and so he wants to let you live you life, without being tied down so early on. he’d hope that you’d wait for him, but he’d understand it if you didn’t.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

commitment is a big part of the relationship for him. he would want commitment from day one, even if he's not officially your boyfriend yet.

he doesn’t care when you get married, but he definitely wants to get married someday. he likes the idea of dedicating one whole day to celebrating your love for each other, and sharing that with friends and family too. it would quite literally be the best day of his life. he’d propose to you pretty quickly into the relationship, but at a time that felt right. you both knew it was something that you wanted, that you dreamed your relationship would last forever, so why not propose?! he doesn’t mind eating years for the wedding though, it’s a big deal and everything has to be perfect.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

emotionally, he acts quite tough. he doesn’t want to be seen as weak, but at the same time he wants to show his emotions to let you know that’s he’s mature, and that emotions aren’t a sign of weakness. he often keeps really troubling things to himself until he can tell you and you only. you’re the only person who knows him truly, you know everything about him because he’s only willing to share this stuff with you. when it comes to things in your relationship, he also isn’t afraid to speak his mind. he’s not trying to be gentle or tough with his emotions when it comes to you, everything seems like a natural reaction, he’ll cry when he wants to and he’ll be stubborn when he wants to.

physically, of course, he’s very gentle. every touch feels like feathers, every kiss, every hug, every smile, it’s all just very soft and gentle. you notice that he talks to you differently too. his tone with others appears harsher and more blunt than with you. with you, it’s like he’s talking to a baby (in a non- condescending way ofc he’s very mature and you’re not allowed to forget that)

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

when he’s congratulating you on something, when he’s proud of you for something, he hugs you. it’s better for him to communicate using hugs rather than telling you because he’s a little shy saying it, even though he means it.

he likes when you rest your head by his neck, while his arms are holding you close. he kisses where your ear is through your hair or your head while you’re hugging and (when he manages to finally say it) whispers a little “i love you”. it’s a tight hug, but it doesn’t last long. when you pull away, he reaches out to hold your hand, he doesn’t want to separate just yet.

if you initiate the hug, he laughs and grunts and lot just to tease you, but don’t be fooled he’s really happy that you are hugging him!!!

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

oh you pair beat around the bush a whole lot. it’s pretty much unspoken for the first year or so. although you never said it to each other, you both knew.

it wasn’t until sunghoon had left you for a little bit while he went on tour (not left as in broke up, just went out of the country lmao idk how to write that in a coherent sentence big sorry) that you realised that you should probably say it. he returned home and it was on that day that you told him you loved him while nestled against his chest in a satisfying hug after such a long time apart. he said it back straight away, looking down at you and waiting expectedly for your lips to meet with his.

he was always waiting for you to say it first, there were moments when he thought he should just say it, but he wanted to wait, he wanted to hear you say it.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

he gets jealous quite quickly and he always makes you aware of his jealousy no matter how petty the situation may be. he wouldn’t try to hide it, or compromise with you, he wants you all to himself so if there’s even a chance that another boy could possibly be flirting with you, he’ll be mad.

that being said, he’d definitely voice his opinions in a mature and well thought through manner. he would think of how to say things to make you understand where he’s coming from without trying to guilt trip you into unfriending that person, he doesn't want to be THAT guy. he’ll just explain his side and wait to hear your response, and often times it turns into a sarcastic, inside joke which reassures him a lot. he’s just like “fine, go to the cafe with him, but he wouldn’t know which smoothie you like best, would he?!”

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

him initiating kisses? few and far between. but when he does, you know he means it. he loves all types of kisses, he just wants to cover you in kisses sometimes, but he’s gotta keep up his image of course. pecks on the lips and longer, more passionate kisses are his favourites though, he just can’t get enough of your lips. (taken from my enha as boyfriends post)

as i mentioned in the hugging part, he likes to kiss your head or place a kiss where he thinks your ear is while hugging. it sends a rush though the both of you, it just really makes you both think about how lucky you are to have each other.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

a little awkward at first. he’s not sure how to talk to them, and every time he speaks the kids are just like ”??” because he says things that are a little too mature for them.

it will take him some time to be comfortable and confident around the kids, but he wants to be liked by them and he wants them to be happy so he will not give up until that happens.

although, it does have to be said, he’d much rather have a pet than a kid 😳

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

usually, sunghoon wakes up before you. he gets up before you wake up too, and sits and stares at the wall with a blank mind, just to wake himself up a bit. once you get up, he’s gonna ask if you wanna go back to bed again and cuddle and/or watch some tv together when he has a day off. if you agree, he’d bring some toast with him for you both to eat. but if not, you’d just grab some cereal together and eat while sat around your dining table in silence because he does not want to talk first thing in the morning (valid,,, extremely valid)

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

sunghoon is a big fan of evening dates as opposed to going somewhere during the day. everywhere is quieter and this is usually his free time so you have him all to yourself, you can do whatever you want together. as much as he enjoys going to fancy restaurants, bars and what not (which usually take you into the late hours of the night), he’d still rather spend some time at home with you.

on those nights that he can spend at home with you, he likes to just rest with you. chilling on the sofa just watching some episodes of your favourite show, ordering a takeaway. you share your thoughts about the show and that’s all you really talk about while it’s on, but afterwards you talk about your day and head to bed, where you cuddle until you both fall asleep (which is pretty quickly since you stayed up late to watch more tv)

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

like anyone, he overshares when you first start dating due to nerves. you learn a lot about him through this and he’s actually pretty grateful that you do the same thing. you pretty much know everything about him before actually getting into a relationship. throughout the relationship, he’d never try to hide his feelings about certain things and would be pretty hurt if you used things that he’d told you against him.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

with you, he doesn’t get that angry. you’d have to do something really vile for him to show actual aggression and disappointment. with other people, it’s not so simple. he finds a lot of things that other people do irritating but he wouldn’t show his anger there and then. he’s more likely to go home and get angry there. he’d appreciate someone to talk to about it, a shoulder to cry on perhaps. definitely an angry crier (cries when he’s angry) and likes to slam doors to make a point.

he’s not afraid of confrontation when something that someone did is actually wrong. he will stand up for what he believes in and it’s worth putting a friendship on the line given their opposing opinions.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

this bitch acts SO dumb when you ask him stuff but he knows… he knows everything. everything you’ve ever said is stored in his brain, probably written in his notes app as a back up. he’s ready to spring this knowledge on you at any point. he knows exactly what you like and what you dislike, important dates, about your childhood, he even remembers how certain things he did made you feel, so he could do them more or avoid them in the future. but of course, if you ask him, he knows nothing.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

you weren’t even together officially at this point, but when he turned up at your place on prom night. he’ll never forget how stunned he was when he saw you looking all glamorous that evening. you had some photos taken as a pair, egged on by your friends of course because you’d never normally do that, and he looks at them a lot. he can’t help but think how great you look as a couple (and how you two are going to look on wedding photos 🥺). he had a rose prepared for you, a white one because he knew it would go with your outfit, whatever colour it was and also because of its symbolism. he really wanted to confess when he handed it to you, but he over thought it a lot and the moment ended up passing too quickly. that’s his favourite memory. something that he’ll never forget.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

i know i said he got jealous a lot, but he’d distance himself when it actually came to it. he’d be jealous in his own space until you two were alone rather than being protective while the act that made him feel that way was ongoing. as i mentioned above, he does indeed want you all to himself, but he’d hate to cause unnecessary drama and have you lose friends over a silly misunderstanding.

if you were clearly very uncomfortable around someone, he’d be there with an arm wrapped around you. you’d both like to think that his presence alone is intimidating enough, but sometimes he has to resort to harsh one liners to get them to back off.

i don’t think he’d ever get into a physical fight. it’s not that you’re not worth it, but he just feels it would make the situation worse.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

he really wants to put a lot of effort into your dates, but he finds it difficult because one, he has no time and two, he doesn’t want to disappoint you/organise something you end up hating. most dates are spontaneous and on a whim, but also like… planned in both of your minds. like you know you want to go and you know he wants to go, but it’s not confirmed that it will actually happen until the time of the date if that makes sense. when it comes to it, he gets really shy asking you out on dates, so you’ve kind of just started to read each other’s minds lmao.

he never forgets your birthday or your anniversary. he makes a big deal out of your anniversary because it’s a celebration of you both, he wants to make you feel special and will do everything he can to do so. you pair make your own traditions when it comes to days like that, and he looks forward to them a lot. your birthday is pretty much left down to you (other than his gift for you of course). he doesn’t want to do a poor job of planning anything for your special day so he just leaves it and hopes that you do something instead, if you wanted a party you should have organised it. he would help you plan it thought, anything you want he’d do for you.

his gifts are always things that you like. things that you can treasure and things that you can display and show off are his go to. jewellery is a common gift that you receive from him and every single piece that he’s picked out is so delicate and beautiful.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

when you pair are out with mutual friends, he likes to tease you. sometimes he takes it too far without realising it, the atmosphere becomes tense and he becomes even more awkward and wants to leave the situation just to apologise to you but realises it will probably make everything 10 times more awkward.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

he’s a handsome teenager surrounded by other pretty people of course he’s gonna have some concerns about how he looks. actually i don’t think concerns would be the right word. he’s very confident in his appearance, why wouldn’t he be, but he also thinks that everyone else should be too, everyone is attractive in their own way. in reality, he’s very humble about how handsome he is despite constantly flexing his visuals lmao.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

you do a lot for him, not just as in help him out with cooking or whatever, but his mental state. you’ve allowed him to mature a lot and he’s become more emotionally intelligent with you.

he’d hate to think of how his life would be if he wasn’t with you, he wouldn’t be the same person at all.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

one of the first dates you went on was to build a bear, it was his idea surprisingly (he wanted to see which animal/character you picked out, okay?!) you stuffed each other’s teddies and returned them to each other in time to name them. you named yours sunghoon first, he followed by naming his y/n. you both sleep with them on the bed and hug them tightly when you’re not together :( (but your never tell each other that’s what you do lol)

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

people who are all up in his face. just back off, yeah? chill out for a second. he gets that you’re excited, and he wouldn’t want to bring you down, but you don’t need to get up in his grill. personal space is a big one for him. if you don’t respect that, then he’s not gonna have any time for you.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

the prettiest sleeper on the planet. his lips are slightly separated and his eyelashes often flutter as if he’s about to wake up, but it’s actually just a sign of him having a really pleasant dream.

#enhypen #sunghoon #enhypen fluff #sunghoon fluff #enhypen imagines #sunghoon imagines #park sunghoon #park sunghoon fluff #park sunghoon imagines

208 notes · View notes

yoonsshadow · 3 years

Text

Strike! - OT7

❥ prompt ; ‘could you please do an ot7 where they all go bowling or to the arcade together? (I also love your eternals series so much!!)’ sent in by @deathbybigsisrory

❥ pairing ; ot7 x fem!reader

❥ genres ; non-idol!au, rom-com, friends-to-[future]-lovers, [they’re not together yet but everyone is very much in love]

❥ themes ; fluff!!

❥ warnings ; none

❥ word count ; 1.7k

❥ note ; Thank you so much for the submission!!! (And also thank you for your sweet words darling xx) I may have strayed a little from the prompt, but I hope you still like it. I haven’t been bowling since I was like 11, so I’m sorry if some details are incorrect. I have never been to an arcade, so I thought this was the safer option. [this isn’t edited]

Somewhere, in the back of your subconscious, is a loud knocking.

It’s a rapid noise, insistent and forceful, but the dream you’re submerged in is far too pleasant to pay it any heed. It will go away eventually.

Except it doesn’t.

As you’re lying in the paradise of a warm coastal beach, mermaids off the coast and dragons in the distant sky, muffled yells are lost in the ambience of crashing waves and mer-song. You are so incredibly comfortable on this beach chair. You think, perhaps, that you’d happily stay here for an eternity.

Eternity does not last very long.

Your idyllic fantasy dissolves the instant hands shake your hunched shoulders, voices now louder in your ear as you are rocked from your sleep. It aches to move, to be moved, but soon you are sitting upright rather than folded over your desk, cheek pressed into papers.

“Hey there, sleepyhead.” Namjoon’s deep timbre vibrates through you; shocks you into clarity faster than your mind is ready.

“Hmrrfh?” Is your unintelligible response. He seems to understand.

Seokjin is crouched beside you, one hand on the back of your office chair, the other on your knee. “I thought you said that you were finished with your work.” You rub your eyes and yawn as he speaks, quickly taking notice of the other figures in the room. “You were supposed to have a break, remember?”

You hum. “I don’t get paid to take breaks, I get paid to have my work done by the deadline. Which is soon, might I add, so I’ll have to rain-check today. Sorry.”

“Nope.” It’s Yoongi who speaks this time. In the next moment, your office chair is rolled away from the desk and into the group of men who have somehow entered your home. Which reminds you-

“How did you even get in?”

“We found the spare key,” Taehyung says, as if the fact should be obvious.

“Yeah,” Jimin adds, “when you didn’t respond to our knocks and calls we thought you might be dead or something. Ggukie damn near kicked the door down when Namjoon-hyung lifted up the doormat.”

“Terrible hiding spot, Y/N,” Namjoon says. You can tell that he’s trying to sound disappointed, but he looks just a little too endeared.

Moving in front of you, Hoseok flashes you a warm smile. His eyes become crescents, his lips a heart, and your fingers twitch with the want to reach forward and caress his cheek. You don’t.

“There’s no way you’re getting out of today,” he says without a hint of malice. “You need a day to relax, and we haven’t seen our girl in far too long. So, will you be coming willingly, or by force?”

“But-” Your protests are cut off.

“By force it is. Gguk.”

Your vision is suddenly filled by a broad chest as thick arms sweep you from your seat. Gravity has no effect on the young man who now holds you bridal style, nor on the Bambi smile that naturally grows on his face.

“We’re going to have so much fun today,” Jeongguk says, muscles flexing around you as they all begin walking towards your bedroom. You have no doubt that Hoseok and Taehyung already have an outfit planned for you, and you even hear the bath beginning to run.

Your boys never fail to look after you. God, you care for them so much.

[You won’t admit to yourself that you may feel something deeper. Not yet. But one day, perhaps soon, you’ll realise that you don’t have to be afraid of that feeling.]

Retro music swirls around you as your group makes their way towards your assigned lane. Bowling shoes in hand and a competitive spirit growing, a weight seems to melt off of your shoulders.

All thoughts of work, of responsibilities, have simply disappeared.

“How are we going to decide teams?” Namjoon looks around the group, as if calculating a mathematic equation. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

Yoongi scoffs. “We’ll be here forever if we do that. Let’s just do Hyungs versus Youngs.”

While Jeongguk, Taehyung and Jimin are cheering at the quick resolution, you lift a brow at the unbothered man. “But what do I call your team then, Yoongi oppa?”

For a moment, he says nothing, merely ducking his head to hide the rosy tint that dusts across his cheeks. Hoseok is the one who steps in to answer, clapping a harsh hand on Yoongi’s back as if to wake him from a trance.

“We can come up with team names!”

Jimin jumps up and down, wide beam blinding you all. “We are team Young and Beautiful!”

“No, we should be Bold and Beautiful! Like that American hand-wash show,” Taehyung suggests, equally as enthusiastic.

Namjoon sighs. “It’s soap opera, Tae.”

“What about Y/N’s Angels?” Jeongguk seems to be thinking hard, ever competitive even in the sport of picking a team name. “Because we are angelic, and Y/N bosses us around.”

That lands him a swift chop to the neck, much to his giggling delight.

“We are the Young, Bold, and Beautiful Angels,” you decide, rolling your eyes. “And what about your team?”

Seokjin does not hesitate to announce: “We are team Kim Seok Jin!”

Yoongi sighs, but doesn’t object, and Hoseok leans his forehead on Namjoon’s shoulder as if he needs the support to keep standing.

“Thank you for consulting the rest of the team about this decision, Jin-hyung,” Namjoon says, deadpan but not upset.

“You should be thankful that I’m allowing you to use my name at all,” Seokjin replies, hands on hips. “It is, after all, a national symbol of good luck.”

“National...?” You mumble.

Jimin groans out a sigh, easily bored and antsy to win. “Can we just play already? We don’t need to have a board meeting every time we make a decision.”

“Let’s go hold some heavy balls!” Jeongguk then grabs your elbow and drags you to the bowling ball racks, uncaring that you’ve only laced one of your shoes on.

“Do you need me to teach you how to bowl?” Jeongguk’s voice in your ear startles you as you stand in front of your lane, ready to go. The pink ball is heavy in your hand when you turn around to glare at him.

“I know how to bowl, Gguk. Now shoo, I need to concentrate.”

“Yes, but do you know how to bowl properly? Like a pro?”

“I am this close to dropping this ball on your toes, don’t test me.”

“Pleeease? C’mon, just this once?”

Damn him and his doe eyes. “Fine. Just once. But you’re going to buy me a plate of nacho fries.”

“Deal.”

You shouldn’t be surprised when he stands behind you and circles his arms around yours, but you do jolt a bit when his hands touch your waist.

“Some people think that it’s the wrist movement that’s most important, but really, it’s the hips. Even if you mess up the bowl, if your hips are at the right angle, you can’t really go wrong.”

“I’m pretty sure wrist movement is actually pretty important.”

The man has the nerve to shush you. “Angle your hips like this,” fingertips press into the soft flesh over your hipbones, “and then take three steps before you let go of the ball. The trick is to start with your non-dominant foot, so that when you bowl, your dominant leg isn’t in the way.”

Sighing, you humour the youngest and stride away from him, following his steps and then releasing the ball from your grip.

It lands a perfect strike.

Jeongguk walks back to the group with a smug smile and a pep in his step, while you simply chuckle at his pride. Meanwhile, the other boys are glaring at him.

“So,” Hoseok says as you wait for your ball to return so that you can have your second go, “are we all going to be allowed to teach you? Or is this favouritism?”

Heaving a deep sigh, you look up to the ceiling as if it, or any higher being, may give you an answer as to why you’ve chosen these seven as your favourite people.

Deep down you know why, but it’s times like these that make you question yourself.

It’s also times like these that make you feel impossibly endeared.

Night has crept up on you by the time the boys drop you back at your apartment, ribs aching from laughter and cheeks sore from smiles. No tension resides in your muscles, in your bones, or even in your mind; you feel as though you are floating, ears brushing against the clouds, with how light you are right now.

“You have to promise that you won’t do any work until tomorrow,” Namjoon says, watching you dig through your bag for your keys.

“After a full night of sleep,” Yoongi adds.

Seokjin then says, “And a nice, big breakfast.”

“And plenty of water!”

“And a comforting shower- Or a bubble bath!”

“And you have to take plenty of breaks.”

“Maybe we can drop by at lunch to make sure you eat-”

“Would it be better if we stayed over tonight?”

“Why don’t you just stay with us? We can help you-”

“Guys.” Your voice is sturdy as it cuts through the overlapping voices of seven worried men, all eyes turned to you as you stand in your open doorway. “I appreciate the concern, truly, but I’m a big girl. What happened yesterday - well, this morning - was a one-off. I assure you that I can take care of myself.”

You’re met with silence that sounds an awful lot like doubt.

“But,” you sigh, “maybe you can come over for lunch?”

Gleeful voices whoop into the night air, and you have to bite back your laughter as you hurriedly hush them, wary of your neighbours.

One by one, you give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek as you exchange farewells, peeling the younger ones off of you as you tell them that yes, I really do have to go inside now.

It’s only when you’ve closed the front door behind you, leaning on the wall beside you, that you come to the full, unafraid realisation.

You are in love with them. And you think they might love you back.

End

652 notes · View notes

blu-joons · 3 years

Text

He Looks After You When You’re Overworking ~ BTS Reaction

Jin:

You jumped at the sight of a hand pressing to the top of your laptop, following it up you were met by Jin’s stare, shaking his head down at you as you pouted softly.

“What happened to you saying you were finished?” He asked, remembering your previous conversation.

Your shoulders shrugged innocently, “another email came in that I needed to reply to, and that just opened a can of worms to even more things I needed to do.”

“If you closed your laptop like you said you would then you would’ve never seen the emails,” he teased, trying to push the lid down.

“I can’t come off now when I’ve started all of this.”

He frowned, “you can, and you will, because you’re absolutely exhausted, you’re doing too much.”

“It’s not too much when it needs to be done,” you challenged, letting go of a heavy sigh. “If this isn’t done, do you know how much trouble I’ll be in?”

As much as he didn’t know, he wasn’t prepared to see you stress. “You’ll be in more trouble with me if you don’t come off from work and get some rest.”

“I’d like to see that, but I guess I should call it a day,” you whispered, closing it all down.

“Now, get some rest.”

Yoongi:

The smell of food hit you as soon as you heard the office door open, hearing Yoongi’s footsteps walk through the room until he appeared by your side.

“I thought you could do with a snack to get you through all of this,” he smiled, placing a takeout bag by the side of your paperwork.

You glanced appreciatively up at him, “I’ll eat it when I get a moment. Thank you for bringing me something, it’s exactly what I need right now.”

“Why don’t you eat now with me and take a break?” He suggested, sitting down beside you. “You need to take a moment away from your screen.”

“And I will when I get a moment to stop and eat something.”

His head shook, “Y/N, please just eat now, so I can make sure you look after yourself properly.”

“I’m doing alright,” you tried to assure him, but he could see straight through all of that. “You don’t need to worry about me, work isn’t even that bad.”

His shoulders dropped as he tried to listen to your defence, “I know you’re having a hard time; you really don’t need to pretend around me.”

“I’ll be alright,” you spoke, trying to force a smile onto your face.

“Just rest for now, please.”

Hoseok:

You peered down as Hobi tossed and turned in bed, opening his eyes to see you sat up with your head still flicking through the pages of your latest book for your assignment.

“Did your tutor tell you to read the whole thing tonight?” He asked, placing his lamp on too so he could see you properly.

Your head shook, checking quickly to see how far into the book you were. “No, we’ve got a week to read it all, I’d just much rather get it read now.”

“And I’d rather you try and get a bit of sleep tonight,” he argued, “you’re over halfway, and there’s still another day tomorrow, please.”

“But it’s such a good book, and it means I can get my assignment done sooner.”

He sighed, trying to take the book from you, “you’ll get nothing done without some sleep.”

“You really want me to stop, don’t you?” You asked, as his head solemnly nodded. “I guess I can put it down for now, there’s still plenty of time to read some more.”

He smiled appreciatively as you placed the book down and made yourself comfortable under the duvet. “I’m only looking out for you, you know that?”

“I do, and I appreciate that you’re here to care for me,” you whispered in response.

“I’ll always care for you.”

Namjoon:

As much as he wanted to look away from you, he just couldn’t as it tore him apart watching you work yourself up more with all the deadlines you were working towards.

“Y/N,” he frowned, walking across to you, scooping you up before you had time to respond. “You need to take a break.”

You gasped as he collapsed on the sofa with you, “you can’t just do that, I’m in the middle of something important, breaks will just have to wait.”

“No, what can wait is your boss before he ends up causing you a breakdown,” he argued, holding you tightly in position. “You’re working too hard.”

“He’s supposed to ring me in a minute, I can’t answer like this.”

His shoulders shrugged, “don’t answer, I’ll give him the reason why if I have to.”

“I know you mean well, but I honestly don’t need a break, you’re worrying too much,” you tried to argue, but he was not listening to a word.”

His eyes glanced down at you, “I’m not sitting here and listening to you sigh any longer. I need to make sure I look after you like a good boyfriend.”

“I know your heart is in the right place Joon, and I appreciate that,” you smiled.

“Just listen to me for a while.”

Jimin:

He slinked back into the room, careful of how tense it was as your body froze, hearing his footsteps straight away, unable to even so much as look at him.

“I don’t want us to argue,” he sighed, sitting down beside you, “but I really do think you’re working too hard, and it worries me.”

Your eyes fell to him, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, I know you only meant to look after me, I’m letting all of this get to me too much.”

“Work shouldn’t stress you out this much,” he sympathised, wrapping his arm around you, “I don’t want it to affect us either.”

“Neither do I, it’s the last thing that I want to happen.”

His lips pressed to your cheek, “so, please stop working for today and come and be with me.”

“Alright,” you smiled without even putting up an argument, “I don’t want us to keep arguing like this, it just stressed me out more.”

His head nodded in agreement, “that’s exactly what I don’t want to happen. I’m only ever trying to look after you, don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t, and I don’t want to take your kind heart for granted anymore,” you sighed.

“You never have done.”

Taehyung:

His eyes immediately fell on you as he came home from his ten-hour day at the studio to find you still sat at your computer, typing away to try and get everything sorted.

“Have you got out of that chair all day?” He asked, making you jump having not heard him come through the front door.

You spun around to look back at him, “I got up to go to the toilet once, but that was about it. I didn’t even realise it was as late as it is.”

“You’re telling me you’ve not eaten or drunk anything all day?” He asked, as your head nodded. “Do you realise how bad that is for you?”

“I’m alright, I’ll get something once I’m done.”

He glared across at you, “you’ll get something to eat now, I’ll make sure of it Y/N.”

“Tae, please,” you pleaded, but he refused to listen, grabbing one of the menus and placing it in front of you. “I won’t be too much longer here.”

His shoulders shrugged, “that means it won’t take you long to finish once you’ve had dinner. Pick whatever you want, I’ll order it now.”

“You’re a pain sometimes,” you chuckled, “how can one person be so relentless?”

“It’s a skill, really.”

Jungkook:

He couldn’t help but sigh as he walked into your office and found you laid out across the computer, light snores escaping from you as you finally caught up with some sleep.

“Y/N,” he whispered, gently shaking you awake, knowing how uncomfortable you’d be.

Slowly you woke up, groaning when you realised what had happened and the mess you’d made of your work, “I only closed my eyes for five minutes, I promise.”

“You’ve been asleep for ages,” he challenged, carefully helping you sit up, “you’re exhausted, why don’t you just call it a night?”

“Because there’s still so much that I need to get done Kook.”

His head nodded, “can it not get done tomorrow? When you’re a little less sleepy?”

“I’ll just finish this one,” you tried to reason, but his head shook, holding your hands to stop you from typing. “I promise after this one I’ll shut everything off for the night.”

He continued to reject your suggestion, “you always say that, but then you carry on when I’m not looking, so you’re coming off now, no objections.”

“Alright, I’m coming off,” you giggled, closing your laptop down quickly.

“See, much better.”

---

Masterlist

334 notes · View notes

thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years

Text

Let’s Talk: Jimin’s & Tae’s confessions (RUN Episode 141)

by Admin 1

Originally, I planned on writing a summary or vmin cut of the RUN episode but then I transcribed Jimin’s and Tae’s confessions and it got me thinking, and now here we are. Instead of a summary here are some of my musings and thoughts about their confessions and how they are right in line with things they’ve said in the past, and even quite recently, as well as how it fits with something Namjoon said in 2020 about them as well. I hope this will at least be somewhat interesting.

So, first, let’s look at Jimin’s confession, since this is longer and was first in the episode:

Jimin’s Confession

Jimin: Sometimes I am blunt. I’m like that at times.

Na PD: Taehyung, has Jimin ever said anything bluntly to you?

Tae: Nowadays, he's really putting in effort to fix that to the point where it rarely happens anymore. Jimin tends to be very hard on himself, which also broke our hearts to see.

Na PD: So, he gets stressed from himself, then gets mad at himself...

Tae: Then gets mad at himself.

Na PD: ...and then he blurts remarks.

(here it was a bit unclear (for me at least) which of the two said which line so I’m sorry if I mixed them up)

Jimin: It’s something I want to be forgiven for.

Tae: But Jiminie being blunt and me being blunt is completely different. Jimin has a kind hearted nature on the regular.

Na PD: Right.

Jimin: Are you usually not like that?

Tae: I’m, well...

The other members stop Tae, since it’s not time for his confession, and instead the question is posed by JK if they forgive Jimin to which everyone says yes.

Tae: You’re innately kind at heart. stretches out hand for handshake.

Jimin: Thank you. Jimin thinks (?) Tae might be going for a fist bump since he gives him his fist instead, which Tae still takes and shakes.

The first thing about this that caught my attention, as well as one of our anons, was the fact that instead of choosing literally any of the other members, Na PD turned to Tae and asked him to verify if something like that (as in Jimin being blunt) ever happened toward him. You could say we’re thinking too much here, interpreting too much into it, and yet it doesn’t change the fact that he chose to ask Tae. Of course it could be because he said at the start of the program that he feels closest to Tae since he heard about him from two of his Wooga squad friends, but it might’ve just as well been because he watched the members for a while already at that point (since they’d already been filming a few hours) and perhaps he did notice how Tae and Jimin naturally gravitate toward each other, have this special bond? Other people who worked with them in the past noticed it, so why wouldn’t he?

There’s actually moment where Jimin turns and says Taehyungie like he wants to ask him something or say something to him which isn’t in the subs and the members don’t notice it either so Jimin never got to actually say whatever he wanted to say. Also, we’ve all seen how Tae and Jimin behaved during the game in the previous episode, how happy, smiley and giggly they were while being silly together.

Then the actual confession itself, Jimin saying that he can be blunt at times, toward others but also especially toward himself. We’ve heard many times from Jimin about how much of a perfectionist he is, how he can get mad at himself for mistakes, how he sometimes speaks without thinking which can end up a bit mean/blunt, and now he’d like to be forgiven for it.

This actually reminded me of something he said to Tae before:

FESTA 2020 from 42:56 min onward (context - the question was: have you felt disappointed in or sorry to the member to your right?):

Jimin: For Taehyung I should say if I compare those two feelings to him I was more hurt than sorry. Over time, it was reversed. Now I don’t feel slighted. I’m more sorry about things. Back then we were buddies so we had a lot of disagreements or didn’t admit that we were wrong. So I felt disappointed about little things. Now he listens to me well so I feel sorry that I talked to him harshly and every little thing.

The last line especially sticks out to me. I know there’s some language nuance here that got lost in translation which wisha mentioned when the FESTA 2020 video was posted (but is now gone since her twt was suspended), and yet it doesn’t change that fact that it fits with Jimin’s confession, how he was harsh to Tae in the past but now feels sorry for it, and with what Tae said, that Jimin is now making an effort to fix that behavior, to not be so blunt/harsh anymore.

It’s so interesting to me to see these mentions of what could be seen as character flaws over the years, things that make them inherently human. Also it fits with what we know about the evolution of vmin, how they used to have disagreements, have issues with proper communication but over time worked on it, got better at it to the point where they can now understand each other by just looking into each other’s eyes, and Tae’s words about Jimin, how he’s an angel, the warmest person he ever met, and now how he has a kind hearted nature, therefore the bluntness is not taking away from it in any way.

There was also something about this in Jimin’s solo RollingStone interview which caught my attention:

(btw, if you haven’t yet, I highly recommend reading the main and solo RollingStone interviews because they are really, really good!)

Taehyung’s confession

Tae: Compared to the other members, I’m very lazy. Once I’ve set my mind on something, to get that into action, it takes me up to 2 months. I’m start working out, then quit. I’ve quit projects midway too. I’m the type where if I’m not feeling it, I don’t do it. There are times when I feel sorry to the members.

Someone (I can’t pinpoint the voice): How would be summarize this?

Jimin: You’d usually call this as “irresponsible”. He lacks responsibility,

Tae: I’m still an amateur.

Na PD: “I lack responsibility and am lazy”. Is that how we can understand it?

Tae: Yes.

Jimin: To be honest, we don’t think it’s to that extent, but if that’s what he feels... we forgive him.

Something I love about what Jimin said (in far fewer words than I will use because you know me, I can’t keep myself short) is that he essentially did two things at once, being: he assured Tae (and the viewers) that him and the members think differently, don’t see it as severely as Tae does himself, and then he also acknowledged the validity of Tae’s words, that even if Jimin doesn’t agree with him, Jimin knows that those feelings are still valid, that that’s what Tae feels and that, at the end of the day, even if the members don’t agree, they can’t change Tae’s mind, can’t force him into seeing things differently. The only person who can do that is Tae himself, and that’s okay. Jimin and the other members will still quietly support and reassure him when needed until he’ll “fix” this weakness, if that is something he wants to do.

This really shows how in tune with Tae Jimin is, but also how emotionally intelligent he is. Beautiful. Also, notice how Jimin said that without being asked to do so, which will come into play again a little later in this post and why I point it out specifically again.

Listening (or rather reading along) as Tae said that, it reminded me of something he said a few months ago:

Taehyung BE-hind Story Interview from 5:49 min onward:

Q: How do you cope when it’s hard to work/with these situations?

Tae: I’m very true to my emotions so uh...if I can’t write the songs or can’t come up with a title I just don’t. Like now!

Yoongi: That’s actually the best way.

Tae: I just don’t write it like how I’m doing it now, and I don’t want to be pressured to create something against my will.

Yoongi: It’s not like you have to finish a song within a day or two?

Tae: Right! So I’ve been taking some rest for about four months now. Now that I’m resting for four months...

Yoongi: Wasn’t your mixtape supposed to be out last year?

Tae: The mixtape that was supposed to happen last year was postponed. I should be in a state full of emotions right now, but I haven’t reached it yet. It’s like...my first mixtape so I want to feel that satisfaction when I release it whenever that time will be.

Yoongi: That’s why you have to finish the whole thing while you’re at it...

Tae: Yes.

Yoongi: ...or else it takes too long to finish it. So, you have to finish it within that period.

Tae: Right.

Yoongi: I’m guessing you might’ve missed the time.

The thing though is that what Tae said, that if he doesn’t feel it, he won’t do it/finish it, that just shows how much of an artist he is, how much his art truly matters to him, and how important it is to him that his art, in this case his music, turns out just the way he wants it to or else he won’t finish it or release it. And while Tae might call this “irresponsible”, I don’t think it’s that in this case, or that it’s a sign of laziness either, though just like Jimin, I don’t want to invalidate his feelings either. All I want to bring across is how in the context of his music, this isn’t a weakness or flaw, even if it might seem like it, especially in their line of work with deadlines, schedules and plans made weeks and months in advance where, usually, you can’t just take a four month break.

So, in that regard, I can understand how it can feel like a flaw to him, make him feel guilty about it and sorry to the members who in this case might rely on him to get something done on time and he might not do it, or not without forcing himself to do it or being dissatisfied, you know what I mean?

Earlier today Tae was on weverse and answered a few questions about his mixtape (though I have a feeling it really is time for ARMY to stop asking him about it and just let him breath) where he said that even though he got a song from someone and made ten himself, even with that break he took according to his BE interview, the songs just aren’t what he wanted them to be and thus he decided to start again.

Some could say it’s again a case of him being irresponsible the way he characterized it during the RUN episode, that even though he said last year he was almost done and would release it soon it ended up being postponed and now he started over again, but once again I think it just shows how very important his music is to him, and therefore I’d actually call it a strength. It shows how valuable his artistic expression is to him, to create music the way he wants to, at his own pace, and only release it once he feels it’s right.

One more thing, just like I said in the intro of this post, Jimin and Tae jumping in to assure the other, reminded me of something Namjoon said during his Map of the Soul : 7 vlive last year:

The context is a little different, but I think it’s still valid here as well, how Tae and Jimin made excuses for each other, how Tae immediately softened how harsh Jimin’s own words about himself might come across, assured both us and Jimin that really he has a kind heart despite this weakness, and then also Jimin by saying that things aren’t as bad as Tae makes them seem either. It’s interesting to really see something play out in a manner similar to what another member said about them based on having been with Jimin and Tae for the last nearly ten years.

Whoever claims that BTS just play out concepts or “plots” and characters given to them by the company really should just take a seat and stop. I mean, sure they all have a sort of persona they embody in front of the camera, at least to a certain degree, they’ve spoken about that numerous times, but they are still humans with flaws and their own dynamics between each other away from the cameras which, logically, also come across on camera as well, not always but enough for us to pick up on it. And in this case, with these confessions during RUN, we saw something that we previously only really heard about happen right in front of us proving (not that they have to prove anything to us, of course, we should simply trust them and what they tell us) that it really is that way.

Here’s the anon I mentioned earlier:

From anon: It might just be me lol but I think rather than Jimin forgetting he's being filmed for a show (with all those members of staff as onlookers as well) and blowing a kiss at Tae / blowing on Tae's chest, he probably just noticed a tiny bit of lint or fluff on Tae's cardigan or mic and decided to blow it off... Of course, if that was the case, that still reveals their high level of intimacy and the fact that even when interacting infront of strangers they seem to be unable to stop showing exactly how tuned into each other they are... I don't think it's a coincidence that Na PD chose to ask Tae, of all the members, to verify Jimin's statement about his flaw. He was probably observing them all day and noticed how particularly close they were, even amongst all the extremely close members.

#vmin #Jimin #Taehyung #BTS #BTS RUN episode 141

94 notes · View notes

tohellandbackanthology · 3 years

Text

WE FINISHED SHIPPING OUT ALL PHYSICAL ORDERS (and other important info about your package)!

Hi guys! That’s right! On June 19th, we officially wrapped up packing more than 800 orders of To Hell + Back: A Destiel Anthology and immediately got drunk and partied actually we just talked about the impossible housing market in Vancouver. Barring three orders which were still missing phone numbers, by now everybody else should’ve received a tracking number with their book on the way!

While we’re relieved that one of the hardest parts of the job is now done and over with, we know that our project is still far from over. With that in mind, we’d like to outline some important info via this handy FAQ about what to look out for as you wait for your package to arrive.

**When are digital books shipping out?**

Right now! As promised, now that we’ve finished shipping all physical books, we’re now switching our focus to digital copies. Please do note that we’ll be shipping digital books in batches, so not everybody is going to get their book at the same time. Why are we doing this? Because sometimes emails bounce and we want to make sure we catch those when they happen. By sending the books out in batches, we can better keep track of these issues.

We will be sending out digital books in the following order: Indiegogo/Big Cartel digital-only backers first, and then everybody else. We feel this order is fair because those of you who didn’t order a physical book have now been waiting a long time and we want to be sure you receive your books at the same time as people begin receiving their physical copies in the mail.

We aim to complete shipping all digital books no later than July 11, but we are working fast in the hopes of finishing by July 5th.

**I didn’t receive my tracking number!**

We had multiple checks in place to ensure that we covered every order*** so if you didn’t get an email from Canada Post, please check your junk/spam folder and see if your email might have landed there. If it’s not there either, please message us at [email protected] and we’ll resend you your tracking number. It’s always possible that there might’ve been a typo in the email address that we had on file for you, and if that was the case, then the email containing your tracking number wouldn’t have reached you. That said, even if Canada Post’s email didn’t reach you, you should have received an email from Indiegogo or Big Cartel also indicating your tracking number as we inputted tracking info into these sites too!

*** A select few packages don’t have tracking numbers. If you purchased a tier that was a merch + E-book combo on Indiegogo (“I’d Rather Have You”; “Cursed or Not”; “I Always Come When You Call”) and live outside Canada and the United States, it was unfortunately not possible for us to generate a mailing label with a tracking number because your parcel was too small. Instead, please keep an eye on your mailbox. Your envelope parcel should reach you within 4-6 weeks.

**The only thing my tracking number says is ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY SHIPPER :( When will Canada Post pick up my package?**

All orders were picked up by Canada Post on June 21, 2021. If your tracking still doesn’t show ITEM PICKED UP BY CANADA POST, contact us immediately so we can figure out what’s going on.

**My package didn’t arrive! It says ITEM BEING RETURNED TO SENDER! Help!**

Please contact us IMMEDIATELY if this happens so that we can reroute your package before it’s too late. If the package is returned to us, we get charged for its shipping. Then subsequently shipping has to be paid again to resend it to you! That’s 3x shipping and it’s not good, for either us or you! Please don’t delay a second if this happens. Tell us right away because we are determined to get it back to you! In the words of @justholdingstill, “Over my dead body are they sending it back to us.”

**When will I receive my package?**

From the point that your tracking displays the message Item picked up by Canada Post, you can expect that:

Canadians will generally receive their packages within 2-4 days, but it can be up to 7 days for remote regions.

Americans will generally receive their packages within 10-14 days. This includes Guam and Puerto Rico.

All other countries will receive their packages within 4-12 weeks, but we have noticed that these packages are coming WAY faster than that, usually within 2 weeks. Down below is a breakdown of how quickly certain countries have received their fastest package:

Argentina: 15 days

Finland: 8 days

Germany: 10 days

Italy: 16 days

Mexico: 10 days

Norway: 18 days

Russia: 15 days

United Kingdom: 21 days but so far, this seems to be an exception—only one package has arrived as of today.

All other countries: No package has reached its destination yet that we know of

**I have my tracking number but it’s not showing any movement! Is my package lost?**

Canadians and Americans should have regular updates to their tracking information every couple of days, but please be patient—things happen, packages get rerouted, or sometimes have to sit for a little bit in customs or a sorting facility before moving on to their final destination.

Likewise for our international backers, you will most likely get regular updates to your tracking information until your package leaves Canada. At this point, you will receive the following notification: International item being forwarded to destination country. From this point onward, you won’t receive any updates to your tracking information for a long time. This is completely normal and it just means that your book is on a boat making its way to your country. After it arrives on shore, you may or may not get more tracking notifications—it will depend on how the next carrier processes your order. In general, for all the international countries that have received packages so far, they have had full tracking upon reaching shore.

**When is my package considered lost? What should I do then? How much time do I have to contact you?**

Canadians should wait 14 days from the day that their package is picked up by Canada Post before contacting us (unless your tracking says that it’s returning to sender, in which case contact us IMMEDIATELY so that we can reroute your package!).

Americans (including Guam and Puerto Rico) should wait 21 days from the day that their package is picked up by Canada Post before contacting us (unless your tracking says that it’s returning to sender, in which case contact us IMMEDIATELY so that we can reroute your package!).

All other nationalities should wait 12 weeks from the day that their package is picked up by Canada Post before contacting us (unless your tracking says that it’s returning to sender, in which case contact us IMMEDIATELY so that we can reroute your package!).

Please don’t contact us before that. We won’t be able to help you earlier than this. We have to talk to Canada Post about your parcel and they won’t take further steps until the waiting period is over.

When you contact us, please give us the following information via email at [email protected]:

Your full name

Your shipping address

Your shipping phone number

Your shipping email

Let us know where you’re an Indiegogo or Big Cartel backer

You have four weeks to contact us after the ‘package-is-officially-lost’ date. For example, if your book was picked up by Canada Post on June 1 and your home address is in a country other than the United States or Canada, you will wait 12 weeks to see if your package arrives. In this example, your package is officially considered lost on September 1. You have four weeks to let us know. In this example, you have until October 1 to tell us that your package is lost. If you tell us after October 1, unfortunately we can’t help you! We have a timeline in place for the official end date of our project and this deadline helps keep us on track to donate our remaining funds to our charity of choice, Wish Vancouver, in a timely manner. Not to mention we’ll be selling off our extra books and if you take too long to contact us, there might not be any remaining books for you to have a replacement!

**My tracking says that my package was delivered but I can’t find it!**

We encourage you first and foremost to ask your neighbours and anybody else who lives with you or around you to see if they might have received it for you. Please also contact your postal service to see if they might have held it for you at the post office. Finally, please keep an eye on your tracking and please try your absolute best to be there to receive it so that there is no chance of your package being stolen. If your tracking information declares that it was delivered, we consider it delivered on our end too and as much as we would like to help you, we’re not a business and as such, our funds are limited and we can’t be responsible for stolen packages. If your package does get stolen though, please let us know and we’ll talk to Canada Post regardless. All our books are insured and if Canada Post agrees to pay the insurance amount, we’ll put aside a book for you from our extras sale. You will still be responsible for paying the full amount of shipping. If Canada Post denies the insurance amount, we can still put a book aside for you but you will have to pay the full amount of the book and shipping.

**Have any other questions that come to mind?**

As always, please don’t hesitate to shoot us a message! We always strive to get back to you within 48 hours or less, but please note that justholdingstill, casthewise, and pray4jensen/60r3d0m are heading out on a mini vacation to Vancouver Island from June 30 to July 4 so you might not hear from us as promptly at that time! Unfortunately we won’t have cell service or WiFi.

Aside from this, thank you again for your patience and support. We can’t wait to see photos of your books (and shelves and pets and plants!). Be sure to tag us when you do post!

With love,

Your TH+B mods

#admin: 60r3d0m #admin: pray4jensen #announcement #tohellandbackanthology

66 notes · View notes