#its been months but the second chapter is here and the boys are even cuter than before!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luxaofhesperides · 6 months

Text

greener on the other side.

Danny makes a habit out of hopping into portals and exploring he places he ends up. It just so happens that this time, he ends up in Gotham right as the Signal begins his patrol. Duke meets the strangest, funniest, cutest guy on the roof of the Gotham City Public Library. He knows Batman would not approve of literally anything he’s doing, but sue him, he wants a meta friend and this guy seems to up for it. – OR: how Duke and Danny got together despite having secret identities and living different dimensions.

chapter two: how it grows - 10.7k

read chapter one here or the entire fic on ao3.

here's the duke pov! one chapter left from danny's pov, then this fic is complete and i can get started on the rest of the series focusing on their relationship! . . .

Duke doesn’t like to make a big deal of things. He’ll try to handle things on his own and roll with the punches. As long as he keeps his cool, things will work out.

Unfortunately, feelings are not one of the things that just ‘work out on their own’ and he has to admit that he might just need some outside help for this. The problem, then, becomes a question of who he can go to.

He’s come a long way since he was part of the We Are Robin gang and knows that he can rely on the rest of the Bats for help. He’s one of them, something that still feels surreal when he thinks about it for too long, but Duke has his place with them both in and out of the mask. He gets along well enough with Damian, trains often with Jason, bothers Dick for help when he gets in over his head, and makes fun of Bruce with Tim and Cass and Steph.

They’re good people and he trusts them. They’re messy, with lots of history and fights between them all, but what family isn’t like that?

They’re good people and he wants to ask them for help, but Duke can’t bring himself to go to the Manor. They’re all just… Some of the advice they give him for his civilian life is suspect at best. So instead, he’s going back to Jay’s house, hoping his cousin will have some normal advice for him.

Though he spends a decent amount of time with the Waynes, Jay technically still has custody of him; Duke doesn’t want to leave his family behind at all, not if he has any other choice, but he knows that looking after a teenager while being single and not having the biggest paycheck is stressful. Plus, it allows less time for any resentment to spring up between them with the amount of secrets Duke is hiding from him.

As unprepared for him as Jay was, he still does his best. He’s waiting in the living room when Duke arrives, dropping his keys into the dish on the side table in the entrance hallway. A bowl of popcorn and two glasses of ice tea are set on the coffee table and Duke gladly takes one and drinks half in one go before he even sits down.

“Alright, man,” Jay says, “What’s going on? You never ask me for advice.”

Duke sighs. “It’s, uh… dating problems? I guess?”

“You guess?”

“I don’t actually know if it was a date or not and I need a second opinion.”

Jay gives him a long look. “Usually, just having to ask tends to mean it was a date and you just didn’t notice in time. You getting back with that Izzy girl?”

“No! We both decided to stay friends, and it’s not like we’ve been hanging out much at all since the break up. This is someone new.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Nah, he doesn’t live in Gotham.”

The smile falls from Jay’s face and he leans closer to Duke, suddenly growing serious. “If this is an internet friend, I’m going to have to lecture you on stranger danger. Come on man, I know you’re smarter than that.”

Duke shakes his head, pushing his cousin back into the couch. “No! No, no, definitely not! Do you really think I don’t know anything about internet safety? Not the point. The point is, he’s from out of town and he’s really cute and I spent most of yesterday just hanging out with him and took him to the best food trucks I could find. Was that a date?”

“Honestly? Sounds like it. Good for you man. Just make sure to let him know if you want the next one to officially be a date.”

See? Simple, normal advice. Jay is just telling him to communicate like a normal person. It’s not that simple, of course, since Duke isn’t going as Duke but as The Signal, but it’s still good advice. Once he finds the courage to ask Danny out on a proper date, he’ll do it in a way that leaves no confusion.

It won’t be any time soon, though. Not when they’ve just met and Danny doesn’t even know his name.

“It’s that easy, huh?”

“Sure is,” Jay grins. “How do you think I got all the girls when I was in school?”

“Is that also why you can’t get any dates now?”

“Alright, you little shit,” Jay laughs, throwing an arm around Duke’s shoulders to trap him in a noogie. “See if I give you advice ever again. Is this the thanks I get for looking after you?”

Duke can break free from his grip easily, but it’s been so long since he had a nice, easy interaction with his cousin that he just sinks into it, laughing. Time apart has made things better between them; there’s less stress involved with hiding his identity, and Jay isn’t worried out of his mind about raising Duke right while also making enough for rent and groceries.

“You staying the night?” Jay asks, finally releasing Duke.

“Nah, the Waynes want me over for game night and I really wanna see them try to kill each other. But I got a couple of hours until they’re expecting me.”

“Up for a movie?”

“Is it another zombie movie?”

“You know it.”

Duke shrugs. “Sure, put it on and I’ll try not to laugh too hard when you get scared.”

It’s nice and lets his mind finally stop spinning in circles, going over everything he can remember from his not-date with Danny. He’s missed spending time with his cousin even if living away from him is a lot less stressful. As great as the Waynes are, they can’t give him this.

What they can give him is chaos and embarrassment.

“Caught you slacking yesterday,” Jason says casually as he drops onto the couch next to him. Both of them watch as Steph and Damian team up to kill Bruce for taking all their properties in Monopoly, and Duke suddenly has a feeling that he should have stayed with Jay after all.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies, “I’m never slacking as the Signal. I’ve never done a single thing wrong, ever, in my life.”

“Didn’t you lead a gang?”

“Didn’t you decapitate eight men?”

Jason pinches his side in retaliation, making Duke jump. “So, you pulling a Superman? Flirting with a civilian you saved?”

They didn’t go anywhere near Crime Alley. How did Jason just happen to stumble across them? He probably should have expected someone to have spotted him. None of the Waynes care too much for other people’s privacy.

“No,” Duke says slowly. He is flirting with a civilian, but Danny is not someone he saved. Danny is someone who helped him out when fighting crime, and is fun to be with. “I was just showing him around Gotham?”

Jason’s eyebrows go up. “An out of towner? Didn’t think they’d have the balls the stay in Gotham longer than a few hours.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not one to be scared away so easily.”

“And does this someone have a name? If he’s spending time with you, I wanna know his name.”

Duke side eyes him. “Why do you want to know?”

“Look, it’s good to keep an eye on any civilian that gets close to us. In case they’re a threat, and in case they get caught up in the bullshit that saturates every part of our lives. The longer they’re with us, the more danger they’re in. But I can help you look out for him. So: name?”

That is… a depressingly good point. Duke can’t save everyone despite how hard he tries. It would be good to have someone else looking out of Danny while he’s in Gotham, just in case.

“Danny. His name’s Danny.”

“No last name?”

“I don’t know it. Look man, I only met him two days ago. He’s a meta like me and he’s not from Gotham. That’s about all I know.”

“That’s it?”

“Again, we literally just met. If he decides to keep coming around, then I’ll learn more about him.”

Jason gives him an assessing look, then gives him a sharp grin. “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be coming back for you. Boy was giving you doe eyes the entire time he was with you. Don’t drag him along too much, yeah? Poor thing’s got it bad for you.”

“He does not!”

“I’m not blind, Narrows. And I know you saw it too.”

That’s the problem. He did see how flustered and cute Danny was around him, always finding some way to bump into him or have their arms brush as they stood around, always sticking close as they soared through the air almost close enough to hug. It was cute, so adorable that Duke wanted to squish his cheeks and also lie face down on the ground. But it wasn’t Duke who was causing Danny to blush was the slightest of touches. It was the Signal, the daytime hero, and Duke knows they can’t build anything good together when it’s built on a foundation of secrets.

Danny’s got his own secrets too. Being a meta is only one of them and he’s not sure he’ll ever get to know those parts of Danny when the guy can just choose to never return to Gotham again.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to try. It’s stupid and reckless when they’ve only known each other for two days but no one has ever made him feel so normal before. Even in the midst of using their powers and hopping around Gotham fighting crime, there was a sense that they understood each other, that their lives rhymed and it made everything so easy and comfortable between them.

“And?” Duke sighs. “He doesn’t even know my name. It’s not really anything right now, okay? We just get each other and it’s nice to spend time with someone like that.”

“Want me to find him for you?”

“Please don’t.”

Jason shrugs. “Alright, your loss.” He looks back to where Bruce is calmly stealing Steph’s Monopoly money as she has her arms around his throat, trying to choke him as she clings to his back. Damian is trying to steal everything back. None of them have caught on to the fact that Tim and Cass have teamed up and have taken over the bank and are steadily taking properties on the board, fully and shamelessly cheating.

He’s so glad he chose to sit this game out.

Jason seems content with leaving the conversation there, so Duke cuts his losses and leaves before Tim and Cass have to fend off everyone else and turn this entire game night into a blood bath.

It’s not like anyone’s going to win against Cass anyways.

Duke fully intends to go up to his room and get a full eight hours of sleep while everyone else goes on patrol. He’ll take some time to think about how excited he is to see Danny again when he brings his friends over next week, but only for a bit. His sleep is so important.

Batman could never compare to how much he values his sleep.

He’s got good priorities, okay? He’s not changing them for anything.

Instead of sleeping, though, he ends up laying on his bed for hours, all his thoughts swirling around in a restless tangle. This is why he can’t ask the Waynes for advice on Normal People Shit. They just make him overly paranoid and sure that everything is going to go wrong.

Danny’s a mystery. He didn’t feel like one when they met; Danny was just an average citizen standing on top of a building, and the Signal had a duty to check up on him.

But when Danny turned to face him, his eyes were a bright blue, practically glowing, and there was a light emanating out of his chest, as if he tucked a star into his ribcage. No normal human looked like that, and Duke would know. He’s seen a lot of weird shit with his powers, especially once they started affecting his eyes even more, but even people who dabble in magic didn’t look like that.

Danny had looked ethereal. Unreal. As if he wasn’t from this world at all. Like someone who had stepped out of a story and into the real world.

And he was fun.

That’s what’s tripping Duke up. He’s met other metas before. They tend to either be 1) homicidal, 2) depressed and traumatized, or 3) serious and heroic. Sure there were some that had a sense of humor, but it was just to keep the mood light as they went around saving people and being more Hero than Person.

That’s what Duke had become, growing into his role as the Signal until he worried that it was taking away from Duke Thomas. The other Bats seemed to have no problem with their various identities, or enjoyed being in the mask far more than they enjoyed taking it off. Duke, as he usually was, is the outlier.

It’s why he always has to wrestle with imposter syndrome, forcing himself to stick around until he can finally feel like he belongs with the heroes of Gotham. He can act unbothered as much as he wants. It will never change the fact that, at his heart, Duke is still the terrified and angry boy sneaking out of foster homes and orphanages to search for his parents, refusing to find a place in the world that wasn’t by their side.

As the only meta on the team, his powers are both a blessing and a curse. They’re another reminder that he’s the odd one out, the one who doesn’t fit in as easily as all the others, but also a tool that lets him help in ways no one else can.

He always has something to prove when he’s out as the Signal. He always has to make himself worth keeping around as Duke.

With Danny, all of that fell away.

Using his powers was fun with him. They darted around the city, from rooftop to rooftop, stopping crimes and teasing each other as they went. There was no pressure to conform or prove himself, just the easy joy of feeling the air rush by him as he swung through the skyline, hundreds of feet in the air.

It doesn’t hurt that Danny is cute, too.

Sighing, Duke rolls over and shoves his face into his pillow.

He hadn’t realized how lonely he was until he met another meta who wasn’t trying to attack him. Sure, he has other hero friends, but they’re either regular humans or not human at all. One day with another meta, just shooting the shit, enjoying their time together, makes him all too aware of how much he’s wanted something like this since his powers first manifested.

Jason said that Danny was down bad, but Duke’s not doing any better, honestly.

He can’t wait until he sees Danny again.

It takes putting on some soothing music and trying not to let all his thoughts drift back to Danny before Duke finally feels sleep take a hold of him and gladly gives into its embrace. . . .

The glow appears suddenly, a flash of light in the distance, and that’s all Duke needs before he takes down two muggers and zip ties their wrists together quickly. “Stay safe!” he calls to the victim, quickly grappling away as she glares at her attempted muggers. She’s looking rather violent, and if she wants to whack them over the head, then that’s her right.

Duke doesn’t need to worry about it. He’s already dealt with the problem and now he can make his way to Danny, falling into the familiar rhythm of catch, fall, and release as he chases after the cold star-glow of Danny.

He makes his way to the glow until he can see Danny standing on the roof of the mall in Diamond District. Duke stops a few buildings away, taking the time to catch his breath and make sure he’s in Signal mode instead of Duke Thomas.

Then, as prepared as he’ll ever be, he shoots his grapple out.

Danny and his friends are already facing him when he lands, eyes flickering between him and his grapple gun.

Duke tucks it away and offers them a small wave, giving Danny a soft smile.

“This is him!” Danny announces, turning to face his friends so he can do a little flourish and show off Duke. “This is the Signal, and he’s a legit hero here.”

A goth girl looks him over with an unimpressed gaze, then clicks her tongue in a way that reminds him way too much of Damian. “Too much yellow,” she says, “You should update your armor to be less… this.”

“Sam!” Danny says, smacking her arm. “Uncalled for!”

“What? I’m right. That’s way too much yellow.”

The other boy pushes his glasses up his nose and glares at Duke. “So you’re a hero, huh?”

Duke blinks and the sudden hostility, then nods. “Yeah, sure am.”

“And you save people?”

“I do my best.”

“Even if they’re not human?”

Oh, Duke realizes, they’re just being overprotective of Danny. It kind of sucks to be on the other end of it, but he’s glad to know that Danny has people that will stand by him. Being a meta without any support is awful and often dealy; human traffickers especially love to target vulnerable metas.

“Even then,” Duke says. “If anyone needs help and I can help them, I do. It’s how I got into the hero business.”

“Quit the interrogation,” Danny hisses, then turns to Duke with a strained smile. “I am so sorry about them. This is Sam, and this is Tucker.”

“Well, welcome to Gotham.”

Danny hooks his arms with Sam and Tucker’s, pulling them closer to himself with enough force that they stumble. “Stop being mean, guys. We’re here to have fun, remember?”

Sam sighs, then gently knocks her head against Danny’s. “Yeah, alright. We’ll behave.”

“ Thank you. Let’s hit up Wayne Tower first, then the botanical gardens and maybe lunch after that?”

“Sounds good,” Tucker says, pulling his arm free from Danny’s grasp just to hop onto his back. With Tucker secured, Danny sweeps Sam up into a princess carry, and all three look at Duke like this is something totally normal that happens all the time. And maybe it is! It’s probably normal for them and Duke is not going to judge them because he wants to make a good impression and not be a hypocrite.

He’ll just… not talk about the Bats and how bizarre they all are. Duke himself is not exempt from this.

“You gonna be able to hold them both and fly around?” he asks, just to make sure. He definitely doesn’t want anyone falling to their deaths while he’s leading them through Gotham.

Danny just offers him a grin, the tips of his sharp canines just barely visible. The glow in his chest gets a little stronger and his eyes flicker from blue to bright green. “Don’t worry. I’m strong enough to be their Uber today.”

“We’re not paying you,” Sam and Tucker say at the same time, then high five. Danny rolls his eyes, and Duke can’t help but smile seeing their little routines.

They must have been friends for a long time to be so close.

Duke makes a mental note to spend a day just hanging out with his own friends soon. It’s been a little too long, hero work and school taking up all his time, and though they understand and try to keep him in their lives through texts, it’s all too easy to slip away from each other.

Focus, Duke, he tells himself. Today is for Danny and his friends.

He’s the Signal. There’s no time for Duke’s problems. He’s got crime to fight and three teenage tourists from who knows where to show around Gotham. He’ll deal with his own shit later.

“I’ll lead the way to Wayne Tower then,” he says, walking backwards to the edge of the roof. Danny lifts up from the roof, hovering a foot in the air, and it’s so hard to look away from him when he’s literally glowing, eyes bright and hair turning white. “Also, just as a heads up, I may have to leave for a few minutes to deal with crime, but I will come back. Just stick to the roofs and you’ll be safe.”

Sam looks around, assessing the city. “Lots of crime here?”

“We’re called the Crime Capital of America for a reason,” Duke responds wryly and she grimaces.

“Well. At least the aesthetic is pretty nice. I’m digging all the gargoyles.”

“Wait ‘til you see some of our churches. Stained glass, dark stone, really Gothic. I think you’ll like it.” Then, to Danny, he says, “Ready?”

Danny nods, and Duke turns and jumps off the roof.

Behind him, he can hear a gasp, and then he shoots his grapple out and begins swinging through Diamond District, trusting that Danny is following behind him as they fly above the busy streets. And sure enough, when he flips off the edge of another building, Duke catches a glance behind him and sees the shimmer of an invisible Danny flying towards him, with two additional little shimmers that must be his friends.

He goes back to grappling through the streets, keeping an eye out for any crime.

“Come in O,” he says quietly, activating his comm.

“Signal, everything good?” Oracle asks, hopping onto his frequency within a second.

“Yeah, I’ve just got a few visitors I’m escorting around Gotham. Can you keep an eye out for any crimes that need my attention? Just let me know where they are and I’ll deal with it.”

“Sure thing. Who are these visitors?”

“Out of towners. One’s a meta and they wanted to do a little sightseeing, and you know how this city is dangerous for people who aren’t used to it. And with meta human trafficking…”

Oracle makes a small sound of understanding. “Yeah, best to stick close to them while they’re here. Good call, Signal. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if anything pops up, but so far, it’s all looking quiet.”

“Good to hear.”

There’s a pause, and then Oracle’s voice turns teasing, bringing more Barbara into the forefront. “Soooo,” she starts, and he can already hear the grin in her voice. “Making friends, Signal? Looking to start up your own team? It’s tradition, you know; we’ve all done it.”

“Nah, they’re not looking to join the cape scene. They just want to see the sights, hang out a bit. Are you looking for information on them right now?” He can hear her typing loudly, fingers flying across the keyboard. She’s supposed to be working in the library, but she’s also got her own office in there now that she’s the most senior employee. It would be just like her to pass off patron duties to the other libraries and bust crime rings from her office desk.

Zero separation between regular work and night work. The curse all bats and bat-adjacent folk struggle with.

“Who do you think I am?” Barbara scoffs. “If you’re making friends, then it’s my duty to make sure they’re good friends. At the very least, I can’t let you run off with villains in the makings, or cultists wanting to sacrifice you or something.”

“They’re normal civilians,” Duke hisses into his comm. He casts another glance behind him to see Danny flying off to the side. From what he can make out from the movement of the shimmer, like a heat mirage given form, he’s pointing something out to his friends. “And how likely is it that they are villains? I doubt anyone looking to hurt me is going to ask me for a tour of Gotham.”

Barbara hums. “You never know. Tim befriended Anarchy. And a couple of League assassins.”

“Tim’s a special case. He can befriend literally anyone. I mean, didn’t Jason and Damain both try to kill him? Now look at them. Thick as thieves.”

“He is something special,” Barbara agrees, amusement coloring her voice. “Say, can you tell me their names?”

“Who?”

“Your tourist guests.”

“Danny, Tucker, and Sam. Why?”

There’s a pause, even the clicking of her keyboard going silent. Oracle being stopped in her tracks is never a good thing and Duke is suddenly worried that she did find something that will connect the trio to some evil world domination plan.

“I can’t find them.”

“What?”

“I’ve run their faces through the databases, I’ve searched for people matching their descriptions, I can’t find any tech on them that I can hack into… It’s like they don’t exist. Digitally, that is.”

Duke lands just a block away from Wayne Tower, staring up at it. The glass glistens in the few rays of sunlight that force their way past the clouds hanging heavy in the sky. It’s taller than any other building in the district, overlooking Gotham all the way to the bay. He hears the slight shuffle of feet as Danny lands on the roof behind him and sets Tucker and Sam down.

He wants to keep talking to Barbara because he can’t recall a time she wasn’t able to find something. She’s ruthless in the pursuit of information, effortlessly hacking into even the most protected files, capable of finding people and vehicles and buildings and everything else someone might need for a case.

The fact that Danny and his friends have hidden themselves from Oracle’s all seeing eyes has him on edge.

He really hopes it’s nothing. He wants to be friends with Danny. He wants to trust him to be a good person just trying to live a quiet life as a meta. He wants just one thing to not blow up in his face.

“Here we are!” Duke announces, showing off Wayne Tower with a flourish. “I can’t get you much closer to the tower without people noticing you pop in out of nowhere, so you’ll have to walk the last two blocks to get to the building.”

“Impressive place,” Tucker comments as invisibility slides off of him. Sam appears a moment later, followed by Danny, the glow in his chest softening and growing a little dimmer.

“Wayne Enterprises is always striving for perfection,” Duke agrees. “Though, between you and me, I’m 99% positive that the only reason this building is as big and impressive as it is stems from Wayne’s need to be better than Lexcorp.”

“Lexcorp?”

“Rival company in Metropolis. Lex Luthor is the CEO and we all hate him for a lot of reasons.”

“I kinda want to pit Vlad against these guys,” Sam says, shooting Danny a grin.

Danny snorts and shakes his head. “Vlad has a cheese castle. I think he’s already lost.”

Duke is really interested in hearing about the cheese castle, but a quick glance at the watch hidden in his wrist gauntlet (put there only so he can dramatically check the time and leave with some insane excuse when criminals were complaining to him about their own poor choices) tells him that it’s nearly time for the next tour to start.

“Alright, folks,” he says, “You’ve got around eleven minutes to sign yourselves up for the next tour, so if you want to make it, you’d better get moving!”

Tucker swears, then sprints for the edge of the building. “Danny! Get me down there! I’m not waiting another hour for a tour!”

Danny rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling fondly as he flies over to Tucker and scoops him up. They both disappear over the edge of the building, leaving Duke alone with Sam.

“So,” she says, and her tone could be mistake for conversational if it wasn’t for the coldness of her eyes. “You’re getting pretty friendly with Danny, from what I’ve heard.”

Duke smiles nervously. This is the beginning of a shovel talk, isn’t it? “I guess so. I mean, I’d like to be friends with him.”

“How old are you?”

“What?”

“How. Old. Are you?” she bites out, walking closer with a glare.

“Why do you want to know? I can’t just be giving out information about my identity, you know.”

“If you’re not a teenager, then I am going to have a few knives sharpened for when you make a wrong move towards Danny.”

“Wait, wait! I’m still in high school! That’s fine, isn’t it?” He definitely shouldn’t be telling anyone this, but if one of his friends said they were hanging out with someone they don’t know outside of a mask, or a username, or whatever, he’d want to make sure that person wasn’t a creep. Her protective anger is admirable, really. And besides, he gets it. If telling her his age (or age range) will reassure her that he’s not going to… groom Danny or something, then he’ll tell her.

He’d never fault someone for looking out for their loved ones.

“You better be telling the truth. For your own sake.”

“Cross my heart,” Duke says.

Danny pops up through the roof a moment later, startling both of them, easily breaking the tension. “Come on, Sam, Tucker’s signed us up and doesn’t want to wait for you to get over there.” He picks Sam up, then glances between her and Duke. “Wait. Sam. Tell me you didn’t threaten the Signal.”

“Do you want me to lie to you?”

“I can’t take you guys anywhere, I swear…” Danny mutters, then flies down to the street.

Duke blinks at the empty roof, then decides that he’s just going to move on with his day and enjoy spending time with Danny.

He grapples closer to Wayne Tower, following Danny’s glow to make sure they get inside just fine. It’s only a block, but anything can happen in Gotham; better safe than sorry. As soon as he watches them go into the building, Duke sets a timer to display on the corner of his helmet visor and gets back to patrolling, keeping watch over Gotham while he waits for the tour to finish.

“Signal,” Oracle says, and Duke snaps to attention, landing on the next building at the end of his grapple, hopping down from the ledge with ease.

“What’s up, O? Got something for me?”

“Not quite. I’d like you to keep an eye on your guests. One of my drones picked up a strange reading that’s similar to magical residue.”

“You think they’re magic?”

“I think there’s something going on with them that we should keep an eye on. I know you said they’re just here as tourists, but you know we can’t take chances in Gotham.”

As much as he understands Barbara’s concerns, Duke can’t bring himself to be suspicious of Danny or his friends. They do have secrets, and none of them have even hinted at how they arrived in Gotham, appearing suddenly and without warning on a rooftop. But he’s always been one to give the benefit of the doubt. To try to talk things out, figure out a solution where no one needs to get hurt. Most of the time, it doesn’t work since whoever is causing problems really only cares about venting out their pain and frustrations through property damage and loss of life. Sometimes, though, the people causing problems need a little help, need protection, need some space to calm down and get themselves under control, and having a horde of Bats chasing them only makes things worse.

“They really are just tourists,” Duke says. “I know how you feel. I get it, there’s definitely something more to the three of them. But it’s not causing any harm right now, so I say it’s none of our business.”

He hears Barbara sigh down the line, but she’s always been good at respecting boundaries (when it doesn’t come to privacy) and will let people do as they believe they should. It’s why she helps out Jason every so often despite his violent methods and familiarity with killing. It’s why she has her own group and leads them without controlling them the way Batman tries to.

“Alright,” she says, “You make the calls since they’re your guests. Just be ready for me to say ‘I told you so’ when something goes wrong.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know you’re always right, O. Let me make my mistakes in peace, alright? We’ll fix it when we need to.”

“This is why you’re my new favorite,” Barbara jokes.

He makes to respond, maybe poke fun at some of the others with her, when he catches sight of two guys trying to break the lock on a bike to steal it from the sidewalk. Dropping down from the roof, he casually walks up to them, then clears his throat and shakes his head in disappointment at them when they jump and whirl around to stare at him.

“Really?” he says, judging them harshly, “Stealing someone’s bike? In broad daylight?”

They both flush with embarrassment, scowling at him.

“Well, we gotta get home somehow!” one of them says, kicking at the bike in frustration.

“Can’t you take the bus or something? Walk?”

“We don’t have any money on us for the bus and we’re heading to Robinson Park. I ain’t walking that far.”

Well. At least they’re just trying to get around and weren’t planning on selling the bike off.

“Two options,” he says, and both guys tense up immediately, prepared for a fight. He hates that that’s the reaction people have to Gotham’s heroes. As soon as they turn to a crime, no matter how petty, they’re prepared to be beaten down into submission. It’s a precedent set by Bruce that he’s never really liked and Duke does his best to embrace how different he is from the rest of the Bats to show the people of Gotham, criminals and all, that everyone can turn to him for help.

“I can buy a week-long bus pass for you both. Or, I can give you two a ride.”

They share a glance, slowly relaxing. “Can we do both?” one asks. “Get a ride from you and the bus pass?”

Duke glances at the timer in his visor. He’s still got forty minutes before he needs to go back to Wayne Tower.

“You know what? Yes, we can do that. Let me get you those bus passes and then we’ll get going.”

The two men share an excited grin, stepping away from the bike and its slightly mangled lock. They follow Duke to the nearest bus station where a little kiosk is tucked under the awning. Barbara, listening in as she always is, buys the bus passes for him, getting them to print within seconds when they get there.

“Sending your new motorcycle to your location,” she says as soon as he hands both bus passes to the men.

As far as Duke knows, he only has one motorcycle. He wishes he could ask what Barbara meant with new motorcycle without anyone listening in, but he’s gotta give the guys his attention, keep them company while they wait.

They make small talk for a bit, the two asking him what being a hero is like while Duke chats about life in Gotham and shares some Batfam gossip (mostly patrol blunders of one of them slipping while crossing the rooftops and eating shit).

It only takes seven minutes for the motorcycle to arrive, appearing in front of them in the street as the cloaking turns off.

“Woah,” one of the guys breathes, staring at it in awe. “Man, you heroes get the coolest shit.”

“Perks of throwing ourselves into the line of fire. Literally.”

He sees why Barbara sent him an entire new motorcycle (!!!) because his original plan of having three people squeeze onto the seat of one motorcycle was clearly going to end in disaster. This new one, Signal Yellow as it should be, is more armored, a little larger, and has an extended passengers seat attached to it so three people can ride it easily.

Duke swings his leg over it, settling into the seat and grips the handlebars. “Come on,” he smiles, inviting the men to join him. They do, nearly tripping over themselves as they get seated, excited grins on their faces.

It’s nice to know that no matter how old people get, a cool motorcycle is the way to most people’s hearts.

And what a change it is to see two men, likely college students in their final years, go from scared and unhappy people to acting like kids again, jumping at the chance to ride a motorcycle with a hero.

Small interactions like this, where everything goes right, is exactly why Duke is determined to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, a chance to choose differently and be good.

“Hold on tight!” He revs the engine, then takes off, the men letting out whoops behind him as they rush down the street. The motorcycle picks up speed quickly and runs so smoothly it’s as if they’re flying, easily dodging all the cars around them.

Normally, he’d go invisible and use the cloaking mode on his motorcycle to get around, but with two civilians riding with him, he’d rather be visible so cars don’t accidentally hit them.

The ride to Robinson Park takes fifteen minutes at the frankly dangerous speeds Duke was going, and he has no regrets about speeding because 1) it’s fun as hell and 2) the guys with him are clearly having a blast.

He slows down once they reach the park, then pulls over to the side of the road.

“Thank you for riding with Signal Wheels. Be sure to leave a review!”

“Five out of five!” one guys says as he gets off the motorcycle. His hair is a mess, completely windswept and tangled when Duke turns to look at him. “Holy shit, dude, I think I’d marry your motorcycle if I could.”

“Oh same,” Duke laughs, holding out a hand for a fistbump which is readily granted.

The second guy needs a moment longer to get off, laughing breathlessly. “Ten out of ten,” he says, once he’s next to his friend.

“Trying to one up me, huh?”

“Just being honest here.”

“Alright, well you two take care now,” Duke says, shifting his weight to one foot in preparing to kick off and head back to Wayne Tower. “And be sure not to lose those bus passes!”

“Thanks Signal!” they both call out as Duke heads back down the road, turning invisible as soon as he gets to a good speed.

He’s got just enough time to make it back to lead Danny and his friends to the botanical gardens. He cuts it close, but he makes it, pulling into an alley and hopping off the motorcycle.

“O, would you mind getting this back to wherever you piloted it from?”

“Not going to take your new friends on it?”

“Nah, I get the feeling they prefer flying.”

“You got it, Signal.”

The motorcycle pulls out of the alley silently, then heads down on road once cloaking is enabled. It’s gone just in time for his guest to walk out of Wayne Tower, trailing after Tucker who talks with his hands moving around energetically, too distracted to watch where he’s going as Sam and Danny pull him this way and that to keep him from crashing into other people.

Danny spots him first, after he stops and his brow furrows, a look of concentration on his face. Then his head turns and his eyes snap onto where Duke leans against the wall at the mouth of the alley. He grins, the glow in his chest flaring brighter for a moment, and Duke offers a small wave, unbearably charmed by how cute Danny is, especially when he’s so clearly delighted to see him.

“How was it?” Duke asks once they’re close enough to hear him.

Tucker immediately launches into a rant about WayneTech and the R&D Lab and how he would give his liver to work there. Then he starts rambling about technology and coding and a few of the things he’s created and how he’d love to look through what WayneTech does. He doesn’t stop even as Danny flies him up to the roof, Duke following after with his grapple, Sam clinging onto his back.

“So, so cool,” Tucker gushes, “I could probably take over the government in Amity with this kind of tech.”

Okay. Kind of a concerning statement to make, especially in the wake of Barbara’s suspicions of them.

Sam snorts. “You could take over the government in Amity now, if you wanted to.”

“Yeah, I could.”

“Not that you’d be good at it. What would you do as mayor?”

“Create a steak festival to celebrate steak and all the meals you can make with it.”

“Oh you little—” Sam lunges at them and Tucker falls back with a shriek. And then they’re tussling on the rooftop, arguing about meat and veganism and the farming industry, which, what a subject change.

Duke looks over at Danny, who watches them wrestle with fond exasperation. “Should we… stop them?”

“Let them get this out of their systems,” Danny replies. “They’ve been having this fight for years. I’ll stop them in a few minutes, and then we can go to the botanical gardens.”

So they stand together and watch Sam and Tucker roll around the roof, trying to choke each other out. And all Duke can think is, Man, I can’t ever let them meet the Bats. They’ll get along like a house on fire.

Or, it’s all he thinks until Danny shifts closer to him, just a few tentative steps. He’s suddenly starkly aware of how small the space between them is, how Danny’s close enough to touch, how much he’s been looking forward to this moment since Danny left a week ago.

Boy was giving you doe eyes the entire time he was with you, Jason had said. Duke saw it, when he was with Danny, reveled in it, basked in the attention. It wasn’t that he didn’t reciprocate, but he knows it can be hard to convey anything through his helmet, but there’s only so much action can do.

But it’s what he can do, so Duke shoves away his nerves and wraps his arm around Danny’s waist, pulling him closer.

Danny lets out a cute little squeak, cheeks filling with color immediately, and Duke is so, so endeared he wants to cry.

“So, what’s the story behind this fight of theirs?” he asks, leaning closer to ask his question quietly in Danny’s ear.

“Oh! Um,” Danny blinks at him, visibly flustered, and Duke wants to squeeze his cheeks together, he’s so cute.

Oh, he really is down bad. Damn. He hopes Barbara isn’t watching through his helmet camera, but he knows better than to expect her to not be collecting blackmail on him for this.

Which is whatever! Jokes on Barbara, he’s not at all ashamed of what he feels for Danny!

He could do without the ribbing from the rest of the Bats. They have no leg to stand on when it comes to relationships and being honest about their feelings. He’ll turn every conversation about Danny into improvised therapy if he has to.

“Well?” he prompts.

Danny glances at his friends, then leans into Duke and turns to him with a small smile.

“So,” he begins, then launches into a wild story from his freshman year about Sam and Tucker splitting the school into two groups to have a mini civil war over meat vs vegetarian food. Which lead to eating grass (?!) for lunch, a ghost lunch lady attacking the school, and the teachers having their own hidden meat lunch kept secret from the students, which lead to more chaos once it was discovered.

“That was a wild school week,” Danny concludes, just as Sam and Tucker’s fight winds down.

“Dude,” Duke says, staring at Danny, unsure if he wants to laugh or ask follow up questions. “What kind of life have you been living? That’s so much. The only thing we’ve got here is shootings and so much crime. Also a zombie in the sewers.”

“See, you drop info like that on me and suddenly I’m convinced that my life is actually pretty tame compared to whatever’s going on here.”

“No, no, listen. In Gotham, you expect this kind of nonsense. But your story started so deceptively normal! ‘Just a fight between friends’ and then a ghost attack? Betrayal from the teachers? Grass? Danny, everything you said left me reeling.”

“It’s not that bad!” Danny laughs. “The ghosts barely cause any problem anymore. They’re just kinda like anyone else, now.”

“What’s this about?” Sam asks, brushing her skirt off as she stands. Tucker pushes himself up to his feet and takes a moment to wipe the lenses of his glasses.

“The first time we met Lunch Lady.”

Sam and Tucker make a sound of understanding, nodding. “That sure was something,” Sam says.

“To think we were so young and innocent back then,” Tucker says with a fake sniffle. “So innocent!”

“You’re still as insufferable as ever,” Sam replies, taking his smack to her arm with grace.

“You two ready to head to the botanical garden now?” Duke asks, getting them back on track. Danny moves out of Duke’s grasp, unfortunately, to return to his role as their personal Uber, this time getting Tucker in a princess carry while Sam clings to his back like a koala.”Well. Guess Danny’s decided you’re ready.”

His friends snicker while Danny rolls his eyes and mutters about their unending arguments, then nods at Duke to lead the way.

Giving him a little salute, Duke readies his grapple, then takes off, leaping off the building to return to the skies. Danny follows him effortlessly, a soft glow that occasionally passes by in front of him playfully, sticking close as they head north.

The botanical gardens are a large spot of green in the otherwise urban landscape. It’s a few blocks away from Robinson Park, close enough that everything nearby is deemed Ivy’s territory, but far enough away that most people can pretend it’s like any other building and visit it safely. It’s been a long time since the botanical garden was attacked, or use for Villainous Purposes™, so Duke is comfortable letting Sam, Tucker, and Danny explore it on their own.

Plenty of other people are also in the gardens, from what he can see a roof away. And no one’s run away screaming, which is definitely a good sign.

“Oh, wow,” Sam says once she hops down from Danny’s back. She stares at the gardens with something unreadable in her eyes, as if she’s seeing more than what’s there. “There’s so much…”

“Poison Ivy—one of our rogues who can control plants and is doing a lot better these days, don’t worry—she takes care of most of the gardens. The greenhouse in the middle is hers for studies and experiments with plants, but she lets the public walk the garden. She’s even added little informational cards for kids to read so they can learn more,” Duke says, walking up to where Sam is leaning concerningly over the edge to get a better look at the gardens.

“That explains it,” she says, explaining nothing. “Do we have to pay to go in?”

“Just five dollars per person. It’s her income, and we’re all encouraged to leave a donation so she doesn’t turn to crimes to get enough money to support herself again.”

“Well!” Danny claps his hands together. “Let’s go, then. Jazz made sure we had cash on had, so it should be fine.”

“I can cover our tickets,” Sam offers, “Since this is for me.”

“Then I’ll cover lunch,” Danny says.

Tucker shoves his hand onto Danny’s face to push him away as he says, “No, I’ll pay for lunch. Danny, you’re not spending anything since you’re the one that scoped out this place last week for us. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, got it. Thanks, guys,” Danny smiles, then turns to Duke. “Would you mind waiting here for a bit? I’m gonna check out the gardens for a bit, but then I’ll be back.”

“Sure,” Duke says easily. It’s a quiet day anyways, and he’ll take any excuse to spend more time with Danny.

“Great. I’ll be right back!” And then he wraps an arm around both Sam and Tucker’s waits, picks them up like they weigh nothing, and casually hops off the roof.

Duke sits down on the edge of the building, watching as they cross the street and enter the botanical garden, Sam pulling out her wallet to pay for their entry. He idly kicks his heels against the wall, looking around the street, enjoying the rare Gotham peace.

No one is calling for help and Barbara hasn’t alerted him to anything. This is a good thing, but it doesn’t change the fact that Duke is bored.

He pulls out his phone, which he knows he shouldn’t have while he’s in the suit but it’s his day shift, he can do what he wants, and checks his friends (no Bats allowed) group chat and sees that Izzy is active. He opts to leave the chaos of the group chat to message her directly.

flashlight: hey izzy u know how we broke up

2(00)chains: oh boy. strong opening. but yes i am aware we broke up

flashlight: would u be mad if i started dating someone new or is it too soon?

2(00)chains: OMG DUKE??? WHO IS IT YOU NEED TO TELL ME RIGHT NOW

flashlight: izzy.

2(00)chains: babe u gotta give me something to work with so i can know if i should give u my blessing or not

2(00)chains: but also if u want to date and they make u happy, then yes u can date

flashlight: okay thanks!! wasn’t sure and didn’t know if it would be rude

2(00)chains: rude to date when ur single?? it would have been a problem if we were still together but that ship has sailed bby

2(00)chains: but duke PLSSSS i need deets. give me some tea… a girl is parched…

flashlight: lmao. so dramatic. but uuuuuuh

2(00)chains: little concerned by that pause there duke

flashlight: ok hes a meta

2(00)chains: ok strong start, u dont need to hide powers from him

flashlight: he’s not from gotham and doesnt live here so idk how well long distance would do

2(00)chains: duke. is this an online friend u’ve never met before.

flashlight: no!! i met him in person in gotham!! he’s just visiting!!!!

2(00)chains: ok ok go on

flashlight: uh

flashlight: he may only know me as the signal?

2(00)chains: DUKE.

2(00)chains: i understand the need to keep ur identity secret

2(00)chains: but PLS do not be a superhero love story cliche. im begging here. u didnt even keep it secret from me

flashlight: he may also not exist in this world (universe?)

2(00)chains: .

2(00)chains: u know i think u can make it work

2(00)chains: u have my blessing! if he says yes when u ask him out (which he better do 🔪) then i demand to meet him!!

flashlight: u got it izzy

flashlight: thanks!! u always got my back ☺️

He only has a faint prickle on the back of his neck to warn him of Danny’s approach, looking up through gut instinct only just to see Danny’s fuzzy glow fly up to him.

Danny pops into visibility a moment later, pouting. “I was hoping I could sneak up on you.”

“It’s gonna take more than that, babe,” he laughs. “I’m hard to sneak up on.” Bar that time Cass… and Bruce… and Tim… Dick, also… Jason, too…

Okay, so anyone who isn’t a Bat won’t be able to sneak up on him easily.

“Babe?” Danny repeats, his voice suddenly much higher. Duke freezes and takes a moment to curse his loose mouth; he and Izzy love pet names and still call each other terms of endearment even now when they’ve broken up. And since he was just talking to her, habit made him put his foot in his mouth.

“Yeah,” Duke says, committing to it, “Babe”

Danny makes a little whine in the back of his throat, face going red, and then his hides his face in his hands and floats up higher, curling his body up into a small ball. The movement reminds him of the videos he’s seen of astronauts in space, moving in lazy circles in zero gravity.

“Sorry,” he adds on, “I was texting a friend and we call each other things like that, so I just… slipped up. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“I’m not,” Danny mumbles.

“What?”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

Duke smiles. “Alright. Wanna come down and join me, then?”

Danny continues hiding for a few moments longer, then reaches a hand down towards Duke. He doesn’t look at him, shyly turned away, still red in the cheeks.

How is he so sweet?

Duke has never met someone so cute, and full of light, and literally glowing. He never stood a chance.

He takes Danny’s hand, gently pulling him down to the roof, wrapping an arm around him once he’s sitting to make sure he doesn’t go floating away.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, I was just… I really like hanging out with you and you’re super cool and I thought I should explain a few things about myself.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I do,” Danny says, resolutely. “First, I’m not from here.”

Duke stares at him. “Yeah, I got that. Kinda obvious after we spoke for the first time.”

“No, I mean. Really not from here. From a different dimension.”

Oh. So Danny’s just casually walking the multiverse, apparently, and chose to return to Gotham to spend time with Duke. That’s honestly really flattering.

“Makes sense,” he says.

Now Danny’s staring at him, incredulously. “How does that make sense? Do you not have questions about what that means, or where I’m from, or how I got here?”

Duke shrugs. “Not really. Listen, there’s a lot of weird shit in Gotham. Like, a lot. Batman was lost in time once and presumed dead until Red Robin helped get him back. There’s incomprehensible magic and time travel and so many aliens, dude. This is not that out of the ordinary.”

“YOU HAVE ALIENS?” Danny shouts, then claps a hand over his mouth, eyes wide. And then, whispered, “You have aliens?!”

“Yeah, we have aliens. Some try to kill us and conquer Earth, some live here as superheroes.”

“No way,” Danny breathes. “Can I stay here forever? My dimension doesn’t have aliens. I really want to meet aliens.”

“If you stick around long enough, it’s kind of inevitable that you’ll get caught up in some crazy shit, and you’ll probably be able to meet Superman then. Or maybe Martian Manhunter, if he’s available.”

He watches Danny mouth Martian Manhunter in awe and is so charmed by him and his visible excitement about aliens. Most of this is just how he lives life, knowing all these impossible things are out there but have very little to do with him. It’s only mind blowing when he actually meets Superman and all, but that’s because meeting big heroes is like meeting celebrities and it never stops being cool.

“Wait, I’m getting distracted.” Danny shakes his head, then lightly claps his hands against his cheeks. “Okay, so. I’m from a different dimension. And Tucker has made a few phones that can work literally anywhere. But only to contact other phones he made for interdimensional communication. I had him make one for you so we could keep talking even when I go home, if you wanted.”

“I want it! I very much do want it.”

Danny grins. “Great! Perfect, okay.” He reaches into his own chest (?!) and pulls out a phone.

“Um.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I can use my insides like a pocket dimension for extra storage.”

Sure. This might as well happen. Duke takes the phone and looks it over; it looks like a large, square flip phone, but when it opens, the screen and keyboard are both touchscreens the glow a faint neon green. He opens up the contacts menu, finds Danny, and shoots him a quick text that consists only of a smiley face.

“Man, this is so cool,” Duke says. “Thanks for giving it to me! I really am glad I can talk to you some more.”

“I feel like I should be thanking you for giving me the time of day.”

Duke knocks his shoulder against Danny’s. “Come on, man, don’t say that. Anyone would be happy to spend time with you. Besides, I’m really not as cool as you think. I’m a normal guy outside the suit.”

“You still have powers.”

“I do, but I’m not the only one.”

“I know this is a bit of a bad question, and I do understand how important secret identities are! But do you think I’d ever get to know you when you’re just… you?”

Duke thinks about how much Batman would disapprove, the lengths Tim went through to protect his own identity as Red Robin, how everyone around him would become a target if anyone figured out who the Signal is…

But then he thinks about how much keeping this secret puts a strain on his relationship with his cousin, how much of a relief it is to have his friends in the know so he doesn’t have to constantly lie to them, how he’s the only hero Danny knows in this dimension and the only person who can help him while he’s here.

“I’ll tell you one day,” Duke says, “Promise. When we get to know each other a little more, yeah?”

“Yeah, alright, that’s fair. Thanks, Signal.”

“You need to get back to your friends?”

“Nah,” Danny shakes his head, “They can manage on their own. Besides, they agreed to one hour each place, and Tucker’s hungry enough to drag Sam out as soon as it hits that hour mark.”

“Well, in that case, why don’t you tell me a little more about your dimension while we wait? Or any other place you’ve visited.”

Danny grins, leaning closer, and says, “Have you ever met a yeti? Cause I have.” . . .

He doesn’t get to see Danny or his friends off when they return to their dimension. They’d been in the planetarium for hours, and Duke had to end patrol and turn in for the day to look over cases with Steph and Tim, then work on his college application.

He does get a text from Danny, his new phone going off with a soft sound of a wind chime, in the middle of looking at different colleges and stressing out.

Danny: got home safe! off to fight dinner now 🤺

Danny: wanna talk more tomorrow?

Signal: sure! i’d love to!! good luck with dinner?

There’s a brief pause, and then Danny sends a blurry picture of a rotisserie chicken flying through the air towards a woman with red hair, holding out a steak knife, ready to attack.

…Yeah, he’s going to question that tomorrow. For now, he just sends Danny a thumbs up emoji and goes back to staring at his list of potential schools he wants to go to with growing despair.

Does he want to stay in Gotham? Gotham City University isn’t all that bad, and he’s familiar with the campus. Or maybe Montclair State University. Rowan University and Rutgers University don’t sound bad either, and both are still in the state, so he wouldn’t be too far from Gotham. Maybe he could go to his parent’s alma matter; UCLA and Penn State are both out of state, though, and way more expensive, even if Bruce offered to cover his tuition.

What would he even study?

So lost in thought, Duke almost doesn’t realize that his regular phone is ringing until the noise cuts off. His head jerks up and he stares at it, wondering who could be calling him right after he finished eating dinner.

Then it rings again, Barbara’s name popping up on the screen, and he lunges for it, worried that something’s going down in Gotham without him noticing.

“Babs! Is something wrong?”

“No. Should something be wrong? I was calling because you didn’t check in with me before you ended patrol, and you haven’t been responding to any of my texts,” she says, sounding distracted as the sound of her keyboard continues on steadily in the background. She must be working as Oracle already, preparing to assist the Bats on their patrols.

“Oh, sorry. Everything’s fine, our visitors were from another dimension and they really were just here to sightsee. Nothing to worry about.”

“I saw that you got a gift.”

Duke understands exactly what she’s calling about, now. He should have expected Barbara to fall to the siren call of new tech. “I did,” he says, offering nothing else just to mess with her.

“Duke,” she says, “It’s a matter of safety.”

“Just admit that you want to check out interdimensional tech.”

Barbara sighs, then says, “I want to look at interdimensional tech. Come by the Clocktower tonight and drop it off.”

“I don’t know, Babs,” he says teasingly, “I think Tim might want a look at it first.”

“I should have never believed Dick when he said you were well behaved. ‘The good one’ my ass,” she grumbles. “What do you want?”

“A favor to be decided in the future. No questions asked expect what’s needed to get that favor done.”

“Deal.”

“I’ll swing by soon. Do you think you could help me with my college apps while I’m there? I have no idea what to do or where to go.”

“Sure,” Barbara agrees, her voice warm, “I’d love the chance to big sister you. Jason hogs you too much.”

He does, and Duke doesn’t really understand why Jason gets along so well with him, but he’s not going to question a good thing. Street kids gotta stick together, after all. Even if neither of them are living on the streets anymore.

It’s nice to know that the others are just as willing to help him out, even if he works separate from them most of the time these days.

“Oh, and the phone I got from Danny has contacts already added to it. Please don’t text Danny or anyone else without saying it’s you.”

“That sounds like you’re giving me permission to talk to me.”

“I figured you’d want to talk to Tucker some, since he’s the one who built it.”

“Well,” Barbara says, and he can hear the smile in her voice, “Thanks for the permission. I’ll be sure to get as much information as I can from him.”

“Please don’t ruin this for me.”

Barbara laughs. “Oh, don’t worry Duke. I know how to be nice, especially with people you’re trying to impress. It’s Dick you should be worried about.”

She’s right.

Duke drops his head onto his desk with a groan.

“I’ll see you later, Duke.”

“Yeah, alright. See you, Babs.”

She ends the call and Duke sighs, contemplating taking a nap before he heads out. But that would mess up his sleep schedule, and he’s willing to do a lot, but not that. Instead, he flicks through his phone to the group chat with his friends, and sends a quick question about when they can hang out again.

He’s missed them. Seeing Danny with Tucker and Sam reminded him of how much he loves his friends and spending time with them. He should take a page from Danny’s book and spend a day with them, just catching up and enjoying their company.

And if they tease him about his crush on Danny, well, better them than the Bats.

#ghostlights #duke thomas/danny fenton #dcxdp #dpxdc #dp x dc #dc x dp #dc x dp fic #dp x dc fic #my writing #its been months but the second chapter is here and the boys are even cuter than before!!#tbh i dont think ive ever written such a fast burn before #now to think of a name for this ghostlights series on ao3...

230 notes · View notes

inexplicablymine · 9 months

Text

The Fandom Feasts

There are so many updates on AO3 for this Friday I just wanted to let y’all know that the RWRB fandom feasts today

In no particular order todays updates (including the link to read them of course ;)

the one in which everything is the same, but Alex has piercings and Henry has no idea by @cheesecurdsgravyandfries (E/2K)

Technically last night and a second chapter update ~ but as a celebration fic for 200 subscribers it deserves a shout out, the title is exactly like it sounds and some may like it hot, but Poutini’s fics always are

under the tuscan sun by @stutteringpeach (E/5.4K)

One shot with a mistaken Airbnb double booking, one bed, and the Italian countryside. What more could you ask for (there’s not, let me tell ya)

Going Platinum by @cricketnationrise (E/12K)

A spicy chapter three update of Cricket’s Cam Boy AU (and fret not this story is being updated DAILY every day until it reaches its 5 chapter conclusion)

Little Matters by @pridepages (M/72k)

If you have not been tuning in every Friday to this absolute masterpiece you are missing out. This chapter 14 installment was just one update in a long line of updates that have had me on the edge of my seat. Found family, real family, AU and a whole lot of slow burn between our boys

But I love him, whether or no. by @leaves-of-laurelin (E/5.4K)

This first chapter installment of a FDNY/Firefighter AU is exactly what everyone in this fandom needs. So enjoy this piping hot piece of writing.

Under your influence by @clottedcreamfudge (T/2.2K)

A canon compliant one shot 5+1 of all the times Alex was a bad influence and one time Henry was. Y’all this one made me tear up in a good way.

Level-Headed and Even-Kneeled by @historicallysam (T/2.9K)

This one shot features Alex’s water going out, and just maybe his hot neighbor in 807 has a working shower? Honestly cuter than it had any right to be

Drummers Do It Better by @everwitch-magiks (M/1.4K)

Run don’t walk to this one shot that is punchy and on beat every line makes itself count. A game of F*ck Marry Kill featuring the positions in the band. And let me tell you, drummers do it better.

All The Broken Pieces by @ifigo (M/8.9K)

An epilogue months in the making this is a sweet conclusion to the previous chapters described as “three pieces of angst in a crack shaped trench coat”

Minor Holidays by AbsoluteAudacity (E/3.2K)

This is the 4th installment of a 5+1 where the boys celebrate a very sexy little month long “holiday” involving a whole lot of deliciously explicit experiences

In the Stars by @orchidscript (E/38.9K)

A chapter 10 update! This WWII au is a part of Orchid’s History Huh series that if you haven’t taken a peak down you are missing out immensely

In His Wildest Dreams by @myheartalivewrites (E/11.4K)

Listen I wasn’t expecting and 11K canon compliant one shot (spoilers for the bonus chapter) that was this horny today but I’ll take it gladly with no qualms. Truly y’all this one will get ya

we’re right here for a reason by @smc-27 (M/12.8K)

“How to loose a guy in ten days but make it FirstPrince need I say more” - I’ll say more. This is delectable and honestly a feast for all rom com lovers, let it tide you over until the movie comes out.

We don’t feast every Friday ~ but when we do? The grub is good.

#ao3 #red white and royal blue #rwrb #fanfiction #alex claremont diaz #firstprince #henry fox mountchristen windsor #ao3 recommendations #ao3 recs #the fandom feasts #the fandom feasts: rwrb #fic rec #rwrb fic recs #inexplicablymine #inexplicablymine recommends

154 notes · View notes

seraphimguks · 4 years

Text

roses, poetry and jeon.

☾ pairing: bookstore employee!jungkook x reader

★ summary: Between the pieces of sappy poetry and dried rose petals hidden in every book you buy from the local bookstore; you fall in love with the anonymously enigmatic writer.

➳ genre: bookstore au, enemies to lovers-ish?, fluff, slight angst

☂ words: 12k

♡ a/n: hellooo! So, after countless days and nights working on this, I’m VERY proud as to how it came out to be. I don’t have any experience as a bookstore employee so please forgive me if I made some mistakes! Also, all the poetry compositions have been written by yours truly hehe. I really hope you guys enjoy this story as much I enjoyed writing it! Let me know how you felt (reblogs and comments go a long way!) c:

~*~

The sunlight filtering through your window was a familiar feeling. As it warmed your covers, you lazily turned to the other side of your bed hoping to find a cooler spot to resume your slumber. When not even cocooning yourself helped, you angrily pulled your blanket over your frame and let the heat take the win for this one.

You opened your eyes and took a minute to take in your surroundings. You felt like your party-hungry college student-self waking up one morning on someone else’s bathroom floor that wasn’t yours. In that reverie, you winced as you could almost taste the vodka at the back of your throat and the puke roiling up in your stomach.

A half open book lay face down on your nightstand and dried up drool pooled near the top of your pillow, possibly because you dozed off in between. You checked your phone, and was relieved that it was the weekend. There were no messages from work, you wanted to jump up in joy like you were a child on sugar rush.

Your job as a market assistant was good, and although you enjoyed the work, sometimes it felt dry and you lost all enthusiasm to continue. Your boss was an asshole, you really wanted to smack him. Your colleagues were no less either, but in all speaking you didn’t want to change your job yet because it paid well to give you a good apartment room and four-square meals a day.

Even thinking about work made you upset. You hugged your knees to your chest, resting your head on them because you were just too tired. Deep down in your conscious, you knew you couldn’t pursue your true passion for financial reasons and because it was just a dying profession.

Thoughts aside, you decided to treat yourself to the weekend by going to the bookstore just around your block. You loved bookstores, it was your favourite retreat growing up when your father would come and pick out the books you wanted to borrow. You were a very avid reader as a child, however as the homework started piling up as you went up a grade, there was no time to wiggle some reading time in between the cracks of your heavy schedule. Until now.

The bookstore opened five years ago, a cozy place that usually met a lukewarm crowd on weekends. You were a regular there. The owner, Kim Namjoon, was few years elder to you but was polite, handsome and very well read despite having a demanding position at his accounting job. Namjoon had opened the bookstore as a part-time thing to stay rooted to his love for literature, and since his profession earned well, he was able to recruit two or three employees to help him out when he was at work.

Ji Changmin was the cutest employee there, and honestly you couldn’t deny that part of the reason why you headed up to the cozy establishment was to see him. He had an ebullient disposition with lovely dimples that you couldn’t help but think was cute. He always greeted new customers with a wide smile and you stifled a laugh when you remembered his extremely loud shriek when one of the customers accidentally dropped a book. The poor boy almost fell from the ladder when he was trying to sort out the books on the highest shelf.

He was a dance major at the nearby University and his shifts were on the weekends, the two days when he was free. He often came to the store disheveled from practicing on his own, but he still managed to clean up and look flawless in a simple apron uniform.

You also knew that the first weekend of the new month meant fresh arrivals – so not only were you going to see your favourite employee (you would never tell Changmin, of course) and get some eye-candy, but also browse through the new novels waiting to be read by fellow bookworms like yourself. Maybe even eye Changmin over the top of the pages you read, and knowing him long enough he would probably be practicing few steps of his dance routine, and oh didn’t he look sexy.

And with that said, you were ready in flat 15 minutes.

~*~

The conundrum of living in cities was known to you – the whizz of scooters going by in the morning, the delightful screams of school children returning from class in the afternoon and the shutters of karaoke bars and clubs opening up for the evening.

That’s why you were so relieved that the apartment you were housing in was located in a sleepy neighbourhood, where the hustle-bustle was less pronounced. It was also near a subway that took you effortlessly to work. The street which you lived in mostly had all the necessities you could ask for, from grocery markets, a hospital, small cafes, retail stores, and of course, a medium-sized bookstore.

Fact and Fiction Bookstore was a store squeezed in between a medical shop and an apartment, just a couple of blocks from your place. It always had a wooden signboard that had “Open” and “Closed” in hand drawn letters and the interiors were festooned with decorative pendant lamps that lit the room in a golden halo. Walnut coloured, skyscraper height bookshelves lined the walls in even spaces, from classics to children’s books to study materials. There were few wooden stools scattered hither and tither and a small cash register at the extreme center, that led to the store room in the back. Overall, the shop had a modern yet minimalistic look that was to your liking.

As you walked inside of Fact and Fiction, you heard the familiar bell chime as you pushed open the doors. You made it just in time, and of course there were no customers there. You smiled a bit, knowing that Changmin might just be around and you could have some quality time with him for a bit. But instead of seeing Changmin usually wiping the bookshelves carefully, you were surprised to see Namjoon in his place.

“Oh Y/N! So nice to see you this morning,” Namjoon smiled, walking up to you. Namjoon never came on weekends, and if he did, it was when one of the employees were unable to work anymore. But that was very rare. Could that mean-

“Hey Namjoon,” You said, trying to mask the slight disappointment. “I thought you didn’t come on weekends?”

“I don’t, but now I guess I have to,” He laughed, returning to clean the bookshelves at the far right of the room.

“Why, what happened to Changmin?” You faked playing it cool by taking a book off the Bestseller’s shelf.

“He had to leave, he got scouted by an entertainment agency couple days ago. He’s going to be a trainee,” Namjoon shouted from the opposite side of the room.

As much as your heart felt like it fell from the sky, that you were no longer going to be ogling over the button eyed boy now, you felt a surge of happiness at Changmin finally achieving his lifelong dream to be an idol. It would take some years, but seeing him on the big screen – possibly even cuter – made your heart flutter. Of course, Namjoon was handsome too, so you didn’t mind stealing glances at him now that you no other choice.

“So, what are you going to do, now that he’s gone?” You asked. Surely the other two employees would be a replacement, you thought.

“I already hired a new employee; he’s going to be in charge in weekends now,” Namjoon wiped his hands on the cloth and disappeared into the storeroom.”

You silently nodded to yourself. It was silence now, just you and the books. Evidently you moved to the New Arrivals section, picking an interesting book cover and started reading the first chapter.

As soon as you ensconced in the setting, you heard the door open with the low chatter of what you assumed were female college students.

You heard footsteps. Someone from the other end of the store, presumably the new employee, greeted them in the conventional fashion bookstore employees usually do.

"What may I help you ladies with?"

The hair on the back of your neck stood. Your ears perked up out of its own volition. The vibrations in your heart quickened. Your knees suddenly felt weak, goosebumps erupting on every inch of your skin. You felt the air shifting, as if the coffee toned floorboard beneath you was angled and moved on its own accord.

You've heard that voice before. No, you knew that voice. You started to panic, leaving the book you were reading on the wrong shelf and scurrying past the aisles to the center of the room, where the voice seemingly came from.

You tried to recall where and whom the voice belonged to. The vestiges of your brain that locked out certain memories of your high school unlocked. Your mind worked like a tape recorder left on fast forward. If what you thought was right, it seemed as if that voice belonged to a certain five foot something, a mean, nitpicking, lanky teenager that went by the name –

Jeon Jungkook.

Your eyes widened immediately. The second you laid eyes on your high school enemy, your legs went cold. You stood there gawking at the boy – now a man – and couldn't for a second fathom why, in all places, he just had to work here in the same neighborhood you lived in. For a second you were cursing Namjoon, but honestly how could that innocent and charming aficionado, unalike Jungkook, know who your high school nemesis was?

Jungkook too, seemed flustered by your appearance, hand straight away behind his neck as he looked at you sheepishly. He aged well, you thought for a moment. He was no longer the gangly teenager that he was; he was bulky, with budding muscles on his arms if you strained your eyes just a bit. He grew out of his ridiculous mushroom haircut, settling for a fringe that slightly kissed the top of his eyes. He grew taller, no doubt, and this time he grew into his features, a square face with a visible jawline that could, quite literally cut glass.

Your history with Jungkook was clear as day. You guys were classmates in high school for four years. The then 15-year-old used to tease you every chance he got. He used to make fun of what you wore, the pieces of writing you wrote and why you always received the highest scores in literature class. Even when he asked for your help in getting better scores in English, he would always speak with a hint of sarcasm and impatience. You left high school cursing him through and through, but was happy you'd never get to see or run into him ever again. Until today.

"Hi Y/N," he said.

"Jungkook," you took a step forward, crossing your arms. This was habit you did as a form of defensive mechanism. Sure, whatever teenage Jungkook said to you during your high school years were long past, but it did put a dent in your self-esteem even if a bit. Maybe your teenage self still feels that the grown up Jungkook would once again sputter mean words to you even though high school was a good while back. “Been long.”

"Yeah, you're right. It's so good to see you again, I mean, I never expected," his voice soft, kind. Of all things, this was the most surprising. You tried to forget how shockingly attractive he turned out to be.

"Ditto," You said, unsure of what else to say. You looked down at your shoes, circling one foot around the other. "So how do you know Namjoon?"

"Oh, Hyung and I go way back. He used to tutor me in high school. Maths, geography, literature, you name it. I owe it to him, for making me pass. I heard he was looking for work so I decided to step in."

Oh, so that's why. The pieces were falling in place now. It did feel nice to catch up with an old high school ‘acquaintance’ of sorts, so you kept aside the qualms of your bullying experiences aside.

"Hey, now that you're here, I never got to say that I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you in high school. I was dumb, stupid really, I mean, dumb and stupid are the same thing, but what I mean is-"

"It's okay, Jungkook. I'm long past it, to be honest. You're forgiven." You manage a small smile, your insides warming with his thoughtfulness. What was even sweet was that he appeared a bit nervous, even though the line seemed rehearsed - it made you think as if he'd been saying this apology to himself so many times as if he would meet you again one day and say it.

Now that the mood was lighter, few more customers began pouring in. You let Jungkook continue with his work even though you wanted to know details about his life now. You resumed reading the book, considered even making this the first purchase in a long time, before Jungkook waddled up to you suggesting that he was free to talk.

"So," Jungkook began slowly, leaning over the wall opposite the bookshelf. “You live here?

“Just a couple of blocks from here. What about you?”

“Oh no, I took the subway here. It’s bit far from my boxing center at home,” he smiles, bowing at new customers who already seemed to know what to look for. You noticed when he smiled that the one thing that didn’t change about Jungkook was his doe eyes. God, they were so misleading to anyone else who didn’t know him well.

And wow, that explained the muscles. Jeon Jungkook having his own boxing center? You pegged Jungkook as being unemployed after high school because if you recall correctly, his grades were dismal. But you can’t judge a book by its cover, right?

“Wow, boxing center huh? How’s that going?” You kind of feigned interest, nodding your head more than usual whereas you just wanted to read.

“Great actually. I took business in college, and it really got me thinking. So, I pulled some strings and opened a center, that way I could practice and so can everyone else. It’s going pretty good,” he nodded satisfyingly.

You give him a sad smile. He was doing something he liked. You were too, but not exactly.

“So, do you still write poetry?” He asks, knowing he’d been talking too much about himself.

Ah, that was your sour spot. Your true passion. Writing poetry. Those years in high school you realized nothing gave you true happiness than what the joy of words did. You never wanted to make a career out of anything if it didn’t happen to include writing. However, prospects in becoming a writer were perilously low and by the time you finished your first year in college, you realized you had a take different direction if you wanted to lead a financially stable life to pay off your loans.

“Oh, that.” You shrugged, another one of your defense mechanisms. Jungkook’s eyebrow lifted questioningly. You weren’t one to call poetry as ‘that’.

“Well, I learnt poetry can get you far enough as someone with a dying YouTube career, sadly as it is. It's a beautiful profession, but I needed to make ends meet. So currently I'm working as assistant marketing manager at this company an hour away.” You tried to seem as content as possible.

“How is it?” Jungkook now had to go and take to some customers but he was still listening to you.

“It's great!”

It's fucking tedious. Sometimes I want to scream, tear some papers and run around like a maniac.

“I love my boss and my teammates.”

My boss is a sexist, misogynistic prick and my teammates love to kiss his ass.

“There are days when I don't even think about poetry.”

I think about it every single second that I'm at work. I can’t even write cause I’m so packed with stuff to do.

Jungkook laughs as he aligns some books in the correct angles. "You were a good student in high school. With those grades, getting that job must have been piece of cake for you. Although, it must suck not to write because of your work.”

You’re telling me.

The book you were previously reading wasn’t that interesting as you thought. You moved over to the Poetry section, skimming your fingers over the covers of books. You saw a familiar title and took it out. It was the same book of poems that your school had given as part of your Literature syllabus. This book made you fall in love with words and what they mean. You looked inside and to your relief, it had all the poems of love, tragedy and loss that you came to love when you studied them meticulously when you were still a student.

Your favourite poems were I Dream of You by Christina Rossetti and Rooms by Charlotte Mew. You longed for a romance like the ones they described in stanzas, but only seldom in your life did you come across someone who shared the love of sappy poetry like you did.

“Rooms, huh? I love that poem,” Your head sharply whipped towards Jungkook’s direction, who was now curiously studying the book you had in hand.

Jungkook, liking poetry? The same lad who made fun of all the writers for being over-dramatic over love, was now saying he liked poetry?

“Surprising, I know. But like, if anyone found out the guy on the football team shared a secret love for prose and poetry, I would’ve been thrown out,” He shrugs lightly. You understood, your school solely ran on conservative values of toxic masculinity and favouritism. You managed to survive all of that, thankfully.

You and Jungkook then engaged in a discussion on the best poems and writing you guys read, surprised at his wide knowledge and the opinions he had to share. You agreed on many, disagreed with a few. But one thing you realized was that maybe meeting Jungkook wasn’t such a bad thing at all, you guys could finally be friends.

You decided to buy your book of poems. You haven’t seen this book in ages and it would be nice to add to your collection anyway.

As you handed over the book to Jungkook to check out, your hands touched only slightly. Jungkook gave you a small, shy smile, and you returned it. Right before he was going to give you the bill, his hands awkwardly hovered over the register for a moment.

“Wait,” he quickly remembered. “I have to put a stamp inside of this. It’s a way of checking what books are purchased. Work regulations. Give me a sec?”

You nodded and he disappeared into the store room for a good 10 minutes. You waited as you looked around the store for the nth time and wondering when you’d be back again. Jungkook suddenly returned, looking a little sweaty even though the air-conditioner was still on. He wiped his sweat using a towel next to the register and handed over the book to you with both hands.

You smiled at your purchase, tucking it in your bag and respectfully bowing to Jungkook before you decided to make your leave. As soon as you turned your heel towards the door, Jungkook awkwardly extended a hand to you.

“So, what do you say, friends?” His eyes were looking down, to hide his embarrassment. You thought it was cute. You extended your hand too.

“Friends.”

~*~

The sky had enveloped the sun the same way it always did during sundown. You settled comfortably in your duvet, taking out the book inside the paper bag that had the initials F.F. printed in large colourful letters. You placed the book gingerly between your legs as you scanned the hard cover.

You inhaled the pages, the smell settling somewhere in your bones. Then you began reading. It was sunset when you started and then midnight when you got to the middle. You held back a yawn as you decided to call it a day and then get to work from tomorrow. You were putting a bookmark inside the page you stopped at when something like a scrap of paper fell out of the book.

Carefully, you kept your book on the night stand and picked up the fragment and turned it over.

The paper looked as if it were torn from a notebook. What looked like a poem was written in the childish scrawl of a 10-year old, but it didn’t seem reasonable that a child would write something with such thought and maturity.

Thousands of libraries will never exhaust

How you wander in the loveliest recesses of my thoughts,

An angel fallen from heaven,

Am I merely just a spectre in your presence?

Your fingers possess secrets in every page that you write

But how would it feel my dear,

if the hands that touched your skin, were I?

Books may command your attention

But I mean no harm,

But beyond the classroom walls, here is my confession

That it fatigues me that to remain a boy who will love you from afar.

You stared at the paper for a while.

The poem was no doubt very beautiful, suggestive even. Unrequited love always made the best poems, you knew. You imagined a love-struck young boy penning down this very poem for his classmate in the back of his Algebra book, thinking it would never be seen by anyone else except him. What you loved most was that in each verse, the writer made his best effort to form an analogy between his lover’s passion for books and his passion for her. And to top it all, you and this girl shared your love for books.

But how did such a sensitive piece of writing wind up in your poetry book?

The paper didn’t match the quality of the paper of your recent buy, obviously. Namjoon was also not one to keep second-hand or used books in his store either. Was someone else reading the book and somehow slipped this inside? But the writing seemed very personal and it would be irresponsible for someone to misplace something like this.

You shrugged it off later, safely keeping the piece in one of your night stand drawers. Just when you were about to place your treasured book of poems in your book case, rose petals from the book fell to the floor.

Gasping, you picked the bunch in your hands, the petals bearing an angry crimson shade. Roses were your favourite flower, so you couldn’t but smell the petals that lay within your reach.

But if anything, it only multiplied the questions in your head as to how, when and why both the love poem and the petals were in the book in the first place.

~*~

You forgot about the poem and the rose petals until you found yourself going back to Fact and Fiction the next week. Surprisingly, work load was less but you didn’t want to be one to ask why.

It was a sunny afternoon. You got the news that a sequel to one of your favourite series released few days ago. You were sure that Namjoon would keep a neat pile of the sequel somewhere in his bookstore.

Jungkook was already at the register handing a customer his receipt when he noticed you entering through the glass door. He gave a small wave as you scuttered to the New Arrival’s section. Anxiously, you browsed through the section until you finally saw the familiar title.

“Yes, yes, yes,” you muttered, the pads of your fingertips feeling the glossy hardcover. You had only turned to the front page when a dark-haired someone appeared by your side.

“Seriously, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Heard it didn’t get good reviews,” Jungkook smirks at you.

“Didn’t get good reviews my ass,” you mock him, going back to reading. The boy shakes his head and lets you read as he helps a customer find a certain book. More customers started to pour in, and soon Jungkook is up and running across the store every five minutes. You felt sorry for him, but then you realised with all his working out, running across a five thousand feet store was practically nothing.

It was just you in the store when it was evening. Jungkook leaned on the wall, resting his head on the counter in respite. You smiled dejectedly at him, wanting to say something to light the mood.

“So, how is Taehyung and Jimin? We couldn’t really catch up properly,” you said, sitting on one of the tools.

Jungkook sighed, almost happy that he could have one conversation today that wasn’t about foraging book titles of books ceased producing copies anymore.

“Jimin is good,” he said, wiping his sweat with the back of his hand. “He’s working at this law firm in Australia. Taehyung is pursuing his Master’s in Europe, something in cultural studies.’

“Wow,” the jealously in your voice was slightly apparent. You did work at a well-known company, but still, working abroad was a different league altogether.

“Gosh, can you believe how messed up we three were? Always fooling around, teachers said we wouldn’t amount to anything,” Jungkook reminisced, leaning his elbows on the counter now.

“I remember,” you laughed. “Especially when Taehyung pranked Mr. Choi with that whoopie cushion and Mrs. Kang when you drew her face on the board one day.”

“I think even Mrs. Kang laughed at that drawing herself, it was pretty impressive,” he smirks, lips breaking into a cocky grin. “

“And I think everyone remembers how you made Hae-ri cry in front of the whole class when you broke up with her,” you chucked, remembering the incident. Hae-ri and Jungkook sort of were going out in the middle of eleventh grade, but you always heard rumours how Jungkook was just playing around, like boys always did.

“Come on, Hae-ri and I were a joke. Can’t help it if she took us seriously,” Jungkook rolled his eyes. He clearly wasn’t interested in her as much as she was. As much as the others girl were really, even though to you he was what you always thought he was – a stupid, mean and lanky adolescent. “To think of it, I couldn’t help if I was a bit popular.”

“Oh, you were the cynosure of all eyes, Kook,” you smiled, looking down. It was true. Jungkook always carried an aura of confidence was that infectious. The kind of charm that made heads turn when he walked in the room, the type of startling charisma that was unnatural of a fifteen-year-old.

“Everyone’s eyes except yours,” he emphasised, crossing his arms over another.

“I mean, you hated me. We hated each other,” You state matter-of-factly, as you got up from the stool to the counter to make your purchase. “I can’t believe I even tried to be nice with you.”

Jungkook faced you with an expression on his face you couldn’t decipher. “I didn't hate you, not completely.”

That was news. You always thought Jungkook and his little gang were out to torture every weakling in school. Jungkook especially liked to torture you, so it would be an understatement to say you were a bit surprised.

“Which part of your icky teenage self,” you jabbed a finger in his shoulder playfully. “-even tolerated me?”

“The part that tolerated you thought you were special. And you still are, Y/N. Special.” He repeated.

There was a twinkle in his eyes when he spoke that you didn’t miss. Your heart felt like it was floating, warmed by the how Jungkook meant every word he said about you. Your stomach did this thing where it felt like a million bees were swarming around when you felt shy. A blast of warmth shot up your arms. The feeling lingered even when you pushed The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in his direction.

Jungkook’s smirk didn’t wipe off his face after you had given your payment. The silence seemed unusual, did you just share an intimate, if brief, moment with your high school foe? Why had he called you special? You never stood out even when you were classmates, so why was he saying this now?

“I’ll go stamp this, yeah?” he cuts the silence. You nod, and he vanishes into the storeroom again. He comes back five minutes later this time and hands you the paper bag. You take your leave and silently leave the store.

What you don’t see is Jungkook’s gaze following you intently as you pull the door, walk across the street from the store and disappear into the night.

~*~

You returned home, your laptop greeting you with tons of messages from work. You cursed each of them, especially the one from your boss asking you to revise last week’s updates even though you emailed in a bunch of times saying you did. You pulled an all-nighter as you completed the tasks expected of you. By the time you were done, it was already two-thirty in the night.

You flopped on your bed, your body relaxing as it hit the soft covers. You breathed a sigh of relief as you pulled out your purchase from the paper bag.

You suddenly remembered the poem and the petals. You decided it would be weird, but you turned the book over as if you were expecting the same contents to pool from it. And sure enough, you were right.

Not one, but two pieces of notebook scraps settled onto your lap with some blue coloured rose petals. Your mind did a mental ‘what the fuck?’ before picking up the petals and placing them on your night stand. You picked the scraps and read them, never expecting what you would find.

Help me, for I am surrounded by loquacious ghosts

Yet you stand there, a beauty in flesh and bone

Women would die for me,

yet my mind echoes only your name

Break me from my reverie,

To kiss you in the blue sweater that hugs your delicate frame

You eye me with pure hate, yet is I to blame

I treat you wrongly,

But only to hide my love for you – if you push me away.

You read the second one now.

Blue,

It is the colour of the sweater you wear every first Monday of the month

The pencil you write poems at the top of your chemistry notebook,

The rain as it brushes against your skin when you're late to class

The look on your face when you're happy

The sound of my heart when you walk past my seat at the cafeteria table

The smile you wear when your friends hook their arms around yours

And my love for you that will never be requited.

Cold sweat broke out on your spine. This wasn't some love poem that was mistakenly placed in your book. It felt like the poems were directed at you. Even the first poem made you feel slightly suspicious because you had a resemblance to the girl mentioned in it.

You tried to knit all three poems together, because all those years in poetry class made you an expert at analysing. You found a connection. They were written by someone in high school.

The love for books, the pencil, the sweater, the behaviour traits, all reminded you of your teenage self from years ago. It was so intricate, as if this person had been observing you through a lens in class for years.

It was someone that you hated and he hated you too, but then again, you hated a lot of people in high school, and they too, you felt, disliked you. You had few friends, however good ones, all of which whom you remained in contact today.

Who could this person be? He definitely had outstanding poetry skills, the words worming its way into your heart ever since you had the first poem. You felt shy. Someone, in your class, liked you behind a mask of hatred. Your body contracted as you concluded that you had a mystery writer sending you messages with every book you bought. You wondered why you were living in the dark for a long time.

How had this not happened earlier? Why was it that before buying the book, it didn’t seem to have any individual contents in it, but after taking it home, it did?

You wanted more answers. You wanted to write back, but whom would you be writing to? You didn't know this person or his address. You realised that this was a one-way connection. You could only build your assumption if you had more poems to build them on.

And that could only happen if you happened to go to a certain bookstore couple of blocks from your apartment.

~*~

You went there the next weekend, on a cold Sunday morning. You kept the mystery poet a secret to yourself, although it haunted you for the whole week while you were at work.

As the weeks ensued, work was piling up, but you felt at peace when you were there among the books and Jungkook's company. The weekends went by with Jungkook narrating funny stories of certain customers he encountered, high school memories, work schedules, and of course books.

“No, Dark Places was absolutely not one of Gillian Flynn’s best works,” you commented, one evening.

“But the Satanic vibe was cool, you have to admit,” Jungkook’s voice was lost as he piled books in front of a stand.

Jungkook was a diligent worker for a newbie; he polished the shelves and smoothened out dog-eared books. He always checked the register and counted the cash, aligned the books the correct way, made note of what books were available and those which needed immediate restocking. He lost his callous attitude of high school years, but you berated yourself for always comparing his high school habits to the Jungkook now.

You rolled your eyes. “Have you read Karin Slaughter’s books though?”

You could feel his smirk from behind the stack of books. “Pretty Girls.”

“The Good Daughter.” You argued.

“Pretty Girls was grislier. I like.” God, you wanted to lunge a book at this guy. Everything gory or Satanic amused him, it seemed.

Jungkook was funnier than you imagined with the comedic antics he sometimes pulled off, by failing at twirling a book in his hands to accidentally hitting his head on the storeroom door behind the register. He sometimes flirted here and there, which was mostly harmless. But you couldn’t forget that time in the store when he called you special. The look he gave, the sincerity behind it, how genuine it felt.

You kept buying books and of course the love letters kept emerging along with the roses. You still had no idea who this person was, but as time went by, you kept falling more and more in love. You kept the petals in your journal. They did dry off, but you kept them regardless. You always kept the poems in your drawer, neatly piled into one corner. Sometimes, you pressed them close to your chest as if the words would somehow leap up from the page, dissolve into your rib cages and settle near your heart.

But one stormy morning that you were at the bookstore, you were weighed down by how work was progressing. The company had faced some setbacks, so you were responsible for getting the hearing from your boss. You tried to mask your sadness until you see Jungkook doing something suspicious near the centre of the room.

There was a small stand, where usually books were heaped into a mountain of paperbacks. It looked as if the boy was trying to pile the books in a house of cards fashion. The experiment was bound to fail, and Jungkook was lucky Namjoon was never here on weekends to see what was about to be happen.

But you help him instead.

“Do you like working here, Kook?” you tried to sound nonchalant. You hand him two books at a time, while he dexterously stabilised a book on top of another.

“I do,” he replies. “It’s relaxing. Especially when I’m not sweaty and working out all the time. Why?”

“It’s just, I hate my work environment you know, and I miss writing– “

Jungkook eyes you worriedly as he stops midway through the activity. You don’t notice and hand him some books anyway, but they fall right at the edge of the pile and the whole stack falls down on both of you like dominoes.

Jungkook falls back first on the ground, catching you as you fall on his stomach. Your faces are inches away from each other, but you rest your head on his chest, tears stinging the corners of your eyes.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! See? I’m such a mess. I can’t do anything right, I’m a failure, I’m-“

Jungkook rests his hand on your back and the other hand gently stroking your forehead. You picked up on his hesitance, as if he was asking your body to relax as a signal that he was comforting you. You did relax, you felt as ease. The weeks when you were around him, you never felt comfortable with anyone in your life. Let alone the fact that he was attractive, erm, cute – but he was probably one of the best people you knew.

“Shut up okay? You're amazing. Those assholes at work don't know how talented you are. You're amazing.” Jungkook whispered, rubbing your back in small circles. “I…I sometimes don’t like working at my centre either. The toxic masculinity over there makes me want to puke. I hate the environment, and sometimes I think I’m the one who sparked it.

He wraps both arms round you now, and you're reminded again literally, that being surrounded by books and Jungkook was what led you to Fact and Fiction every weekend. You two lie there for a good ten seconds, before you realised that a customer may walk in any moment. There was also the mess to sort out.

You help Jungkook up, wiping your tears with the back of your hand.

“I can’t really see you cry, I start crying too,” Jungkook jokes, as he hands you a tissue from the tissue box. Always so concerned, you took note. “Is there something that keeps you happy apart from books? Y-you could try and do that?”

"Actually,” you sniff. “There is something that keeps me happy these days. Someone keeps writing me love letters."

There, your secret finally revealed. Jungkook gaped you, as if he didn’t believe it. Honestly, you didn’t either until you made the connection yourself.

He proceeded to ask you details of the discovery, and was shocked himself when you told him of how you thought the person could be someone from high school. It really got him thinking. He named each classmate you’ve ever had an interaction with, but you couldn’t picture any of them having any interest in you.

How did your mystery writer/(lover?) know so much about you? Little details, little quirks. Was he a stalker? But how did he know exactly which books you bought and when?

"Well, maybe you should write something of your own too. Maybe like, in response to how you feel when you read his poems.” The boy suggested, picking the books from the floor, dusting them before putting it in a box next to him.

You mirrored his actions. You pondered over the thought for a while though. Writing to him would be a way to practice your writing that you thought you lost. It was a great idea; you were doing it for yourself. And then if you ever meet this mystery guy, you would show him too.

“Wait, before you leave,” the doe-eyed boy stops your tracks. The books were successfully placed in the box, and you were helping him put it in the sore room when he asks you to wait.

Jungkook walks you toward the end of the room. He picks out a book and shows you the cover. It’s a limited-edition copy of one of your favourite authors of all time, and signed. You wondered what it was doing at the back, when it should be out in front.

“I saved this copy, just for you,” Jungkook’s cheeks blushed a tinge of pink. “I remembered how much you liked his work in school. And I’m willing to give this to you, half the price.”

You ran and hugged Jungkook the tightest hug you had ever given someone in years. He laughed, returning the hug. You felt like the luckiest girl, customer, (whatever!) and you almost felt bad because you had gotten something exclusive for a discount because you knew the employee, anyone else would have paid fortunes for this. You thought about declining, but Jungkook really insisted.

“Don’t think about refusing. I’ll go stamp this before you make your payment,” he says before you could protest.

Really, where had Jungkook been all this time? So much kindness, this boy was brimming with endless love that you thought you didn’t deserve. After a while, he comes out and you hand him the cash.

As you say your goodbyes and make your leave, Jungkook says “And please don’t cry, wouldn’t want to taint that pretty face, right?”

Something stirred in your heart. You had just started seeing Jungkook as a man, was it now that he started seeing you as a woman? A blush creeps up your neck as you contemplate the thought all the way home.

~*~

You carefully keep the purchase on your bed. Taking out the scraps of love poems from your drawer, you needed to look at your muse before you started writing on your own.

You stretched your hands, pen in hand, ready to recreate wonders when it hit the paper. But you were blank. It’s like your mind had wired out all the imaginations you had kept stored for the last couple of years. You fell flat on your desk, exhaustion over coming you. Had you really lost your touch? Your parents, teachers and friends always praised you for your writing skills, have you let them down? But you weren’t really going to quit this easily.

You looked at your purchase. There must be another poem hidden inside. As if controlled by an entity, you opened the book, flipped the leaves and saw the very page sitting in between the middle pages. You removed the pink rose petals too, your guy never seemed to forget adding them in. You turned the scrap over.

Today I heard your laugh

Setting my heart in a frenzied trance

The purest sound even the sweetest nightingale could not match

Like fireflies bouncing against thin glass

The most beautiful treasure, I can never have.

Your eyes watered. It was a poem tinier from the rest, but this one struck something within you. “Like fireflies bouncing against thin glass”, the words feeling sweeter every time you repeated them. You couldn’t believe someone, who was so far from you, could love you this vehemently.

Suddenly, you had found your strength. You were going to write. You were doing this for him. For you.

You picked up the pen and the words just came to you. It was a struggle, but it was a start, you console yourself. You never imagined you would be writing a love letter to someone you had never seen, touched and spoke to, but you didn’t care. Your hands worked away, filling the page in front of you.

But your mind echoed the same mantra over, and over again: I am doing this for us. I am doing this for us. I am doing this for us.

~*~

It's three weeks later that you decide to do an experiment. It's been quite a while since you've been to the store, and the poems stopped coming as well. Work was driving you crazy. You knew sometime in this week you had to drop by the bookstore, so you decided to see if your mystery lover came on the weekdays.

Another employee whom you didn’t know personally and Namjoon were there. Jungkook, of course, was nowhere in sight like you guessed. Namjoon gives you a wave from the register as he speaks to a customer. You knew that you already had too many books, but today was crucial if you wanted to see if your experiment worked out. You could also return the book after you bought it, granted you brought it in after fifteen days. You could buy a book for someone else; your mystery man would never know you were buying it for yourself. Yeah, that’s what you decided do.

You picked up a random title from the shelf and made your way to the counter. The store was mostly empty, except one or two customers. Everybody was busy on a weekday.

As you made your payment, you noticed Namjoon stamping the inside of the book before handing it over to you. The counter was designed in a way so that a person standing a normal distance away couldn’t see what was inside of it. So naturally, your eyes furrowed in confusion.

“Don’t you have to go inside and stamp?” You asked, wondering if Namjoon made the wrong stamp. Even the brightest minds can forget.

“What do you mean? Namjoon looked at as if you had said the most ridiculous thing ever.

"Like whenever Jungkook checks out a book, he goes into the storeroom and stamps? It’s a rule?" You weren’t being sure of what you were saying right now. You sounded like a poor student explaining the concept of rocket physics to a professor.

"Oh, I don't know why he does that, since there's already a stamp here." He holds up a plastic rubber stamp like someone would hold an antique. "And I mean, you could do that, since there are few spare ones in the storeroom, but that’s like extra effort you have to put in. I'm not sure why he does that."

You nodded, kind of silent.

"Does he do that to you or for every customer?"

You realise you never even noticed this. Usually when the store had customers, you were engrossed in reading or looking at books. You never even wondered if Jungkook went to the storeroom to stamp all the books that were purchased. The bookstore would be very crowded during weekends, and the time taken for Jungkook to go and come back usually takes five or ten minutes. Surely, he would’ve taken one of the stamps to the counter itself cause the journey would be too tiring. But you didn’t know for sure what he did for other customers. You slapped yourself in your head for being so ignorant.

You left the store with an uncertainty heavy on your chest.

You return home. Billions of questions bounced from one corner of your mind to another in an intense ping-pong battle. What was worse, when you looked inside the book you bought, there was no poem. No rose petals either.

Could it be that Jungkook knew your mystery guy? Was he the one slipping in the poems when you made your purchase? Did your guy come in the middle of the week and hand Jungkook his writing and leave it up to him to do the favour? Is that why there were no poems or roses today, cause Jungkook wasn’t at work?

You didn’t know. All you knew was that the best way to handle your doubts was to confront Jungkook.

You noticed that you needed to buy groceries for the night. You just had take-out for three days in a row and now the thought of Chinese food made you feel icky. You hit yourself on the head for not buying groceries earlier after you were at at the store. You took your purse and made it in time at the grocery before closing.

Once you were done, you stepped out with your heavy paper bag and saw it was pouring heavily. Pedestrians were already waiting outside the store, hoping the rain would subside soon. Nobody suspected today that it would rain and neither did you.

“Fuck,” you muttered, you didn’t bring an umbrella. The bookstore was just across the grocery. It had a bigger shade, enough to cover seven people from the rain. You silently thanked Namjoon’s choice of constructing the store as you launched yourself across the street.

Jungkook was standing under the shed, looking for something in his bag. You didn’t notice he was there until he called your name.

“Y/N!” his eyes lit up. Desperate, your eyes searched his hands. He was carrying an umbrella. You breathed easier.

“Oh hey,” you say, the rain making it hard for you to be audible. Raindrops pounded against the shed like fists banging a door. “I thought you didn’t work on weekdays?”

“I don’t,” he said. “I was meeting someone here for work.” You nodded, wondering how would bring up the topic of the poems. Maybe you would ask him on Saturday, two days from now. Right at this moment, didn’t seem like the best time.

“Would you mind dropping me off at the subway, though? It’s just near my place,” you knew you sounded desperate, but you needed to get back home. You remembered he had to take the subway to get home too. Jungkook violently nodded his head as he opened his umbrella. You both started walking, shivering slightly at the cold.

"Hey, come closer. Don't want to get your pretty outfit wet," Jungkook huddled you closer to his side, wrapping a hand around your waist for purchase. Your cheeks reddened, maybe at the way the wind whipped your skin or the fact that no one's ever been this near you.

As the space between you and Jungkook closed, you looked at the boy who was always so concerned with your well-being. He had been occupying your thoughts lately. Maybe because of his dorky personality or because he was very smouldering in person, but either ways, your experience of crushes told you that this was the beginning of another infatuation. But you, liking your high school classmate? As much you fantasised him from time to time, you had to resist thinking about it. He maybe had a girlfriend, who knew? Someone as wonderful as him deserved one.

But in this moment, under the incessant rain where both of you trying to turn his upturned umbrella, Jungkook breaking into bouts of laughter as a car splashed water on your clothes, and you complaining of your matted hair – you felt so happy. The puzzle of the poems was longer a worry to you. All you wanted was to be happy in the moment, with Jungkook.

“So, are you going to give this mystery guy a chance?” Jungkook's voice strained to speak over the rain. Ah, coming to the point. You had been so sure you wouldn’t bring up the topic, but destiny had other plans.

“How am I supposed to give him a chance when I don't know who he is or how he looks like?” You say, uncomfortable at how wet the hem of your jeans was. You were walking at an uncomfortable speed, trying to avoid the puddles in your path but in vain.

“He surely knew what he had to do to get you swoon over him,” Jungkook laughed, as if he was so sure. He was right though, strangely.

“He does have a way with words,” you agreed. The wind was horrible now, pulling your top over your midriff. "I'm scared cause maybe the day he'll come up to me, I'll look like trash."

"No, you never look like trash. You look pretty in whatever you wear, Y/N." Jungkook scoffed. You blushed again. God, why was it so hard not to blush in front of him? “But you do know what's coming.

“What is?” Honestly your mind had been occupied so much about work, and your anonymous lover than you had no time to think the next Jungkook wanted to say.

“Valentine's Day.”

As soon as you heard it, something in you jolted. Two days from now was Valentine’s Day.

"Do you think he might make his appearance that day?" you asked, your voice high as a sparrow’s chirp. Jungkook offered to hold your grocery bag in return for holding his umbrella. You obliged.

"Can't really say that, but would it make your day if he did?" he continued.

“Oh my god, yes,” you stressed on the word, even slightly a little bit anxious because you wouldn’t know what you did if he came out of nowhere.

“Does someone have butterflies in their stomach now?”

"Stop it.” You nudged an elbow at him. You have no idea what he does to me."

"I do know." He holds his gaze longer this time. The rain finally subdued. You saw something in Jungkook's eyes then, you're not sure what – sadness, hope, expectation? But whatever it was, you felt something reverberate in your ribs long after he tears his gaze away.

"I think this is where we part." You say, brushing the hair from your eyes. You were still holding his umbrella, waiting for the right moment to give it to him.

Jungkook suddenly takes your free hand and squeezes it in his own. "Whatever you do, Y/N, please give that guy a chance. He does seem to really like you." He tucked a hair beside your ear, you shuddered a bit at the cold touch.

Why was Jungkook being so persistent about it? Why was he so serious when it came to you and your mystery lover? Whatever the deal was, Jungkook's expression didn't waver. He was right too, and that strengthened your resolve to accept this stranger no matter who he was. You nodded, which made Jungkook only happier.

"I wish I can see him." You sighed, wondering if Jungkook was thinking what you were thinking.

"Y/N," Jungkook leaned over to whisper in your ear. "Maybe you just need to keep looking around you, because he could be so near to you, but you just don't know it yet."

You still don't understand what the raven-haired stunner meant by his words when he hands you the groceries, leaves without his umbrella and descends the subway stairs.

~*~

It was Saturday. Valentine’s Day.

Jungkook woke up in his one-bedroom apartment, a little shaky. Today was the day.

As he reached over to pick up the backpack he took to work, he unzipped the tiny front pocket. Scraps of paper fell out from the seams, like snowflakes on a wintry morning. The twenty-three-year-old looked at each piece, running his fingers over the love poems his high school-self had written to you. If Jungkook had told his angsty teenage self that someday the poems he had written at the top of his history notebook would be read by you, he would have never believed himself.

Jungkook always liked you.

It wasn’t love at first sight, heck, he didn’t believe in that. He didn’t mind you at first, but he realised what made you so special than the rest. You were strong, maybe not in the vocal way, but in the way you saw the world around you. When the teacher complimented how well you would write your answers, you evocative your poetry was – Jungkook could never imagine how a shy girl, her nose so lost in a book at the corner of class would do that.

So when Jungkook read your answers one day, or when he would sneak a glance at your writing, he felt insecure. The real reason why Jungkook always teased you was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t write as well you did, put his mind to something that you did so well, to be so intelligent, strong and soft. From you, he understood that strength doesn’t equate to being aggressive, or overly vocal. It can be in the way you can showed kindness as well.

So that’s why started pestering you, to hide his own feelings he could never reveal to anyone.

Jungkook never forgot how even after he teased you repeatedly in class, you would always give him an extra pencil when he wanted one, or a reassuring smile when he was anxious before a test. That was the only limit of his interactions with you, but it was more than enough.

He quickly took notice of you in the most subtle ways. The pencil you wrote with, the way your hair was styled one morning, that blue sweater that was apparently your favourite. How you passed by his seat at the cafeteria every morning to sit with your friends. How opinionated you were about certain authors and their writing styles. Even when Jungkook had to put up his ‘popular boy’ persona, sometimes he would tune out all the meaningless conversations he had just to hear how soft your laugh sounded when your friends showed you something funny.

You quickly became his muse. Jungkook was good at physical activities. He was popular, everyone had expectations from him to go on to college with a football scholarship. Everyone looked up to Jungkook cause made himself look like an idol. But in reality, Jungkook had nothing to show except for a fleeting charisma. Jungkook was good at physical activities, but not at words.

But you made him fall in love with words. Like everyone else, he was at first impatient at why poets and writers took so long to get to the point. But he learnt from you that art was patience. Love was patience.

He struggled, for weeks, months, trying to get the right words out of him. How he felt for you, how you made him feel. He now realised how hard it was express your feelings in few words. But with some practice, Jungkook eventually got there. He had begun to read more, surprising his parents too, but he eventually loved the activity. It calmed him. Soothed his nerves. Staying up late at night just reading, Jungkook noticed his English answers were improving. When he received the final grade, it wasn’t great. But he was satisfied. His whole gang slapped high-fives with him asking how he cheated his way through the exam successfully. He bit his lower lip, a habit of his, as he shrugged at them in response. The real reason was a pretty girl who always sat in the corner of class.

He kept his proudest pieces of poetry hidden in his bag for so long, secretly thanking you for realising a part of him he never knew existed. He took the bag everywhere with him, serving as his strength. His true, strength. Not the kind that had him running 20 laps around school and bench press 30 kilos to impress his coach.

He always regarded you as his first love, not Hae-ri, not any of the girls he went out with as a joke. He was sad when he graduated high school, but was too shy to come up and thank you. He regretted not saying anything to you then, knowing life is not one to give second chances.

But when Jungkook saw you in the bookstore for the first time, part of him thought this was fate. His feelings resurfaced, stronger than ever. He still had the scraps of poetry in his bag in the storeroom, he could just retrieve them and slip them into the book you would purchase. Maybe even some roses Namjoon liked to decorate on the inside.

When you slid your book the counter, Jungkook had deliberated the idea. But he knew that everything happens for a reason, so he decided to do it anyway. You would never know who it was, but at least he could tell you how he felt for you in one way. He kept repeating this as many times as you bought something from the store. He loved your company, he felt like the luckiest man in the world. Never had he felt happier when he was talking to you, getting to know the real you.

So that’s why he wanted to reveal himself to you, behold! I’m the writer behind all those poems!

Valentine’s Day would be the perfect opportunity to do so. He just hoped, wished, that you wouldn’t push him away. Or, be disappointed. That was Jungkook’s fear that kept him wide awake at night. Could you have been hoping for someone else? Did you not look at Jungkook the way he looked at you?

He would only know today. He was bracing himself, when he got changed, when he showered, when he raced to the subway and made it sharp at ten am.

Namjoon was already there, smiling at the young boy wondering why his cheeks were so red. Jungkook’s heart never beat that fast. His heart felt like it would be sliced open by a hundred bullets. He quickly put on his apron and pretended to be busy arranging the books on the middle shelves in proper order. It was already an hour when he heard the door open.

Jungkook’s feet almost leapt up when he saw you coming inside. He waved, a bit too much he thought, and took few seconds to gather himself together. He was ready to approach you any moment now. He would take your hands, press them against his chest and say: “Its me, Y/N. I’m the anonymous writer you’re looking for.”

Jungkook edged himself forward. All this time he’d been waiting for this.

Until he sees Namjoon walking up to you first.

~*~

“Y/N,” Namjoon approaches you. You didn’t expect him to be talk to you, since he was always so busy on weekends. He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to say…that you look pretty today.”

“What?” you laugh, nervously. Namjoon calling you pretty? All of a sudden? You never even thought he even looked at you beyond a friend. Yes, he was very good looking, Jungkook must have talked about you to him, hadn’t he? The former always complimented on your appearance, making you smile inwardly.

“Gosh,” he chuckles in return. “Your laugh really does sound like fireflies bouncing against thin glass.”

You blink twice, hand going right up to your mouth. Namjoon. Wait, Namjoon? So, it had been him all this time? Yes, it all made sense! Only someone as charming, educated and well-mannered as Namjoon fit in all the right pieces of the mystery man you pictured. No wonder the poems had a very loving touch, it was written by someone like him. But how he had he known so much about you? Was it Jungkook who told him all those teeny, insignificant details that you were made of?

At that moment, you didn't care. All you knew was that Kim Namjoon noticed you. He had noticed you.

You smile at him.

You looked over your shoulder, Jungkook’s face turning to a shade of grey. His seemed frozen in position. You wondered why. You just wanted to jump up and shake him and scream into his face: Jungkook! Namjoon is the one! He’s been the one writing to me!

“I've been meaning to ask, would you like to go out to coffee with me today? It is Valentine’s Day,” he scratches the back of his neck. You take his hands in yours. You nod willingly. You were too excited that all you had was time to point at Namjoon to Jungkook when Namjoon had his back turned to remove his apron.

Jungkook got the message you tried to tell him. He only smiled, but you wondered why it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

~*~

The café shop that you and Namjoon decided on was already swarming with customers, couples mostly. You guys decided to sit outside, a table for two. You were so excited, you were ready to bombard Namjoon with a series of questions, hoping it would give you the insight it needed. You both ordered two lattes and brownies with ice-cream topping.

“I can’t believe you readily agreed to go out with me,” the man before you shrugs modestly. “I mean, I could pass on as your elder brother, right?”

“Um, no, I was so happy that you asked, I…I never imagined, really. I’m really happy you did,” you stuttered, reaching out your arms to touch his. He appreciated the compliment.

“That’s so sweet, Y/N,” Namjoon smiled again, resting the palm of his hand on his cheek, giving you a longing gaze.

“Sweet, just like the poems you wrote for me,” you giggled, waiting to hear just what he would say. You almost choked on the next words.

“The what?” He blinked. Immediately, you knew you looked stupid. You tried to find your words.

“I said, just the like the poems you wrote for me.”

“I never wrote poems for you, heck, I can't even write poetry, Y/N.” Namjoon sipped on his latte that arrived. Your knees turned rubbery. He was joking right? You continued to insist, but Namjoon just shook his head firmly.

“I'm serious, I never wrote anything for anyone. Ask all my exes.” He was looking at your curiously now. You did too. Your hands were getting sweaty with nervousness.

“Then why did you say that my laugh sounded like fireflies tinkling against glass?” Exactly your question.

“Cause, I heard Jungkook saying it was.”

Your heart again did a little flip at his name. He was talking about you to Namjoon. But Jungkook was narrating the same line from the last poem you received, how is that possible, granted if he didn’t know the content? Or if, someone had given him the poem in the first place and he just happened to see it? A streak of anger went up your body when you thought of Jungkook intruding on your privacy.

“If...if, you didn't write these poems, then who did?” You searched your bag, taking out the poems that you kept in your wallet. You laid them out, one by one, on the table. There were many of them, but Namjoon scrutinised each piece closely. His eyes darted from one end to another, eyebrows furrowed in confusion suggesting he was in deep thought. Namjoon squinted at the scribbly, childish scrawls on the scraps and suddenly his brain clicked.

“This seems a lot like the poems Jungkook showed me, you know.”

You looked up shocked, your heart feeling like it was dropped from a height. Jungkook writes poems? You knew he read often; you didn’t know he wrote too. Did he have the time to? When did he start writing? All these questions made your head feel like it was stuffed with cotton.

Namjoon noticed your silence. “I know,” he laughs. “Seems weird right? He doesn’t seem like it, but that boy does have some talent in the writing department. He says it calms him somehow.”

“Do you keep roses in the store room, Namjoon?” You said, not looking at him. Your voice almost sounded robotic.

“I do, to brighten up the space there. Although I realised on the days you would come, there would always be one rose less the last time I counted them.”

Do you think...?

Suddenly, your brain had connected the dots. You shouldn't have judged Namjoon so quickly. All the times you remembered, Jungkook mentioned going to the storeroom to stamp the books you purchased. There was actually a stamp right there in the counter, but he never failed to go inside the storeroom instead. Maybe he slipped in the poems and the roses then?

And the handwriting. You remember going through Jungkook's essays in high school when you tried to help him out, even a bit. You remembered how bad his handwriting was.

But Jungkook, writing poems for you? You admit you did feel a soft spot for Jungkook albeit your sour history with him in high school, but soon you realised he's so much more than his shy demeanour. Yes, your assumption on Namjoon being your mystery writer overlooked all the clues, and you wished you thought more thoroughly. Now, because of your impulsive decision-making skills, you landed up in this awkward situation with Namjoon.

Jungkook was the one writing poems for you. Only he could notice those habits you had possessed in school, he was your classmate for fuck’s sake! All those years that you hated him for being mean to you, he was crushing on you instead? How, why?

But then you understood. You liked Jungkook. Ever since the first poem. He became such a beautiful writer, with all the delicate details he noticed about you. So, there was meaning behind him calling you special. There was meaning when he looked at you for a few seconds longer. There was meaning in his smile, in his actions, in his concern. There was meaning in every little thing he did because he liked you, and still likes you. And you liked him too.

Why had he resisted the ache in his heart to come forward and tell you the truth about who the person behind the poems was?

You put back the poems and muttered several apologies to Namjoon before you fled the scene, your mind rehearsing exactly what to tell Jungkook the first thing you meet him.

~*~

You barged inside the familiar bookstore, the cold air from the air-conditioner hitting you smack in the face. There were no customers, it was Valentine’s Day you remind yourself. Jungkook was busy cleaning up the bar, a solemn look colouring his usually bright face.

He looked a bit startled when he saw you open the door, as if he didn't expect you to enter at this hour.

“Y/N! How was your date?” He faked enthusiasm. You marched up to him and slammed the poems down on the counter.

“You could have told me, you know. The worst I could do was to storm off,” You crossed your arms, this time not as a defence mechanism.

“What are you talking about?” He wasn’t looking at you, he was looking at the poems now. How long was he going to keep up this act?

“Disappearing to stamp my book? The horrible handwriting? The intricate details about how I was in school? Sounds like only someone who knew me, or observed me very well, would know.” You said, tone a bit lighter. “I'm not dumb, Kook.”

There was a slight pause on Jungkook’s end before he speaks. “Took you this long to find out, though.”

You grinned. “You’re a coward.” You leaned forward, slightly kissing him on the lips. He responds, smiling, taking his hand to cup you on the cheek. It’s awkward at first, but his lips were just the right amount of soft and yours. Suddenly, Namjoon, your temporary crush on Changmin, disappear. The moment is magical as you lock both arms around Jungkook’s neck as he kisses you excitedly. Sparks fly between both your bodies.

You break away from the kiss. “You say big words in your poems, yet you can't muster up the courage to confess to the girl you like?”

“I thought…you and Namjoon hyung...” Jungkook’s cheeks are flushed crimson, as he eyes the floor in attempt to hide his evident embarrassment.

“Which wouldn't have happened if you confessed to me earlier.” You rolled your eyes, baffled that he didn’t speak up when he should have. “Do you know how awkward it was, realising you were the one behind the poems and not Namjoon?”

“Oh my god, did you leave him there all alone?” He tried to suppress a small laugh. “So, do you like me now?”

“We just kissed, Jungkook.” You punched him. “But yes, I have liked you ever since I read your poem the first time. And your writing is just…wow.”

“I try,” He did that thing again where he rubbed the back of his neck when he got shy. “Only for the girl I always had a crush on.”

“And you succeeded.” Throwing your hands over his neck again, nuzzling your nose against his, you felt the comfort, the same one whenever you were around Jungkook, slowly making it way from your legs to your arms.

“Valentine's Day is not over yet, shall we go out?” You nodded at Jungkook’s suggestion as you both made your way out the store, no customers projected to come anyway.

Hand in hand, you realised that fairy tales with happy endings did exist. Except for princes, dragons and villains – your story had roses, poetry and Jeon Jungkook, your enigmatic writer in hidden notebook scraps, whom you loved with all your heart.

1K notes · View notes

goldencursive · 3 years

Text

Chapter Two: 1965 words

Title: bro, will you be my bro forever, bro?

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Kaminari Denki/Sero Hanta, Kaminari Denki & Sero Hanta

Characters: Kaminari Denki, Sero Hanta, Uraraka Ochako, Ashido Mina, Hagakure Tooru, Midoriya Izuku, Kirishima Eijirou, Bakugou Katsuki

Additional Tags: BNHA Rarepair Week 2021, Fake/Pretend Relationship, 5+1 Things, Fluff, Humor, or At Least an Attempt at Humor, Carnival, Meet the Family, a wedding wheeee, its not kamisero's lol, POV Kaminari Denki, POV Sero Hanta, POV Alternating, Mutual Pining

Summary:

alternatively titled: five times denki and hanta pretend to boyfriends and one time they actually are

“Brooooo, look at that!” Eijirou’s excited voice calls from ahead. The Bakusquad were hanging out at the fair during a rare day of relaxation. Most of the other members of their class are scattered around the fairgrounds somewhere, but right now, the five of them - minus Kyouka, who’s on a date with Yaomomo - are standing in front of a small contest stage.

“Wow,” Hanta remarks. “That is a giant Pikachu plushie.” Denki gapes at it. It’s in a sitting position, arms out, face beaming. It’s as big as he is. He wants it.

“I want it,” Denki announces out loud. “It looks so soft and cute and huggable. Can you imagine the cuddles you could get out of it?”

The Pikachu is sitting close enough to the front of the stage that they could touch it if they want to. Well, if they had really long arms. Like, arms twice as long as their legs, while holding one of those claw grabber thingys.

Okay, maybe they can’t touch it, but still. They can see it close up in its full, fluffy glory.

“Hey, you guys admiring our Pikachu plushie?” A bubbly girl with bright green hair pops up from behind it. “You can win it from our contest! Couples only, starts in an hour. I can give you a sign up sheet if you want it.”

Denki turns to Hanta immediately, because he might not have a boyfriend, but he does have a best friend who he’s totally not crushing on what do you mean and who owes him so many favors for charging his phone. “Hanta, bro, please. I have never wanted anything more in my life.”

Mina snickers and drapes her arm around him. “Didn’t you say that last week about the cake Sato made?”

“His cakes are like heaven and angel tears rolled up in the burrito of the gods, okay? Don’t judge me, Kiri said the same thing.” Denki crosses his arms, pouting. “Anyways, I have never wanted anything more in my life, Hanta, please help me.”

Katsuki smacks Denki in the back of the head (but nowhere near as hard as he would have in first year because they’re totally friends now, no matter how much he likes to deny it). “Idiot, you didn’t even see what kind of fucking contest it is. Don’t just jump into it without being prepared.”

“Says you,” Mina snickers.

“Oi, you wanna die?!”

“I’m a bad bitch, you can’t kill me,” she answers playfully, ducking behind Eijirou.

While Eijirou tries to defuse the Bakubomb, Denki turns to the sign next to the Pikachu. “How well do you know your partner?” he reads. “Hey, that doesn’t sound too hard! We know each other pretty well, I think,” he says, turning to Hanta. Although he’s not sure the kind of information he knows, like how Hanta still sleep with a blanket his mom made

“I mean, it’ll be fun,” shrugs the taller boy. “I’m down.”

Denki cheers, and accepts a sheet from the girl. “Let’s gooooo.”

<><><><><>

An hour later, they’re sitting across from each other with a whiteboard in their hands. The three couples sit at tables arranged in a row with the two hosts in front of them and the prize Pikachu on a raised pedestal behind them.

“All right, let’s get started!” cries the bubbly girl from earlier. “I’m Hina and this is Yumi.” She gestures to the pink haired girl beside her, who cheerfully waves to the crowd gathered in front of the stage. “This is our ‘How Well Do You Know Your Partner’ contest for couples. It’s a lot harder than you’d think! We host this every day at the same time, so if you wanna participate but missed out today, you can always come back tomorrow! Now, can we get some introductions from our couples? We’ll start with you two,” she says, gesturing to the couple on the right of Denki and Hanta, a shy looking boy and brown haired girl.

They wave to the audience, introducing themselves as Yui and Haruto. “We’ve been together for over a year now, so I’m certain we’ll win!” the girl, Yui, says, smiling.

“All right, long term relationships are the best for this kind of contest! How about you guys?” Hina continues, gesturing to Denki and Hanta.

“What up, people? I’m Denki, and this is Hanta, my best bro and the love of my life.” Denki gives Hanta a dopey smile that’s not hard to fake because it’s not fake, and playfully bats his eyelashes, making Hanta crack up.

“Bro, stop, you’re going to make me blush in front of all these people,” Hanta says between snickers.

“What a lovely relationship! We love the ones where you can play around with your partners,” Hina says with a grin. “Now, what about the last couple?”

“I’m Ayaka and my girlfriend is Sora,” grins a girl with hair red enough to rival Eijirou’s. “We’re just here for the Pikachu!” Her girlfriend smacks her arm for being so blunt, but Ayaka’s grin doesn’t falter.

“That’s right! Our lovely prize, a giant stuffed Pikachu plushie, will be in the possession of whoever wins our contest! Now, our rules.” Hina looks over to her partner, who smoothly jumps in.

“The rules are simple: we’ll ask twelve questions of varying difficulties. Each of our contestants have a different color based on the seat they sit in, red or blue. We’ll direct our questions to either color. For example, if we ask Blue what Red’s favorite color is, Blue will write their guess on their board, while Red writes the correct answer on theirs. You’ll have thirty seconds to answer the question. Everybody got it?” She looks back at the contestants, who all nod back at her.

“Then let’s get started!” smiles Hina. “First question: what is Blue’s favorite food?”

Okay, blue, that’s Hanta. Denki looks down at his whiteboard, thinking. The first two things that pop to mind are oranges and soy bean flavored food. But which does he like better? Can he write down both? Is that allowed?

“Ten seconds!” Yumi calls. Ok, no time to agonize over it. Denki quickly scribbles ‘soy bean flavored stuff’ down. Hanta drinks soy bean milk all the time and hardly ever steals Denki’s orange juice, unlike SOME people who shall remain unnamed (cough *mina* cough cough). “Time’s up! Please flip your boards around to show the audience!”

Denki cranes neck to see what Hanta wrote. “Hey, we wrote the same answer word for word,” he says, grinning at Hanta. “High five!”

“Looks like everybody got this question right! Congratulations!” says Yumi. Hina makes a show of adding points to a large whiteboard bearing their names. “Next question: when is Red’s birthday?”

Denki writes a neat “July 29th” on his board, smiling as he remembers the first time they told each other their birthdays. Denki had been so excited to find out that their birthdays were only a month apart.

“All right, another easy point for everybody,” cheers Hina. “Keep it up! The next question: what is Blue’s favorite hobby?”

Favorite hobby, huh? Well, they don’t really have time for any serious hobbies outside of hero-ing, but Denki remembers oohing and aahing with Mina and Eijirou over the beautifully hand-woven rugs and tapestries all over Hanta’s room. His family owns a crafts shop, and Hanta had gotten into weaving that way, saying it was fun playing with the patterns he could create and good stress relief as well. So, weaving then.

“Let’s check out your answers,” Yumi says, calling the time. “Hm, looks like Yui and Haruto are the only ones missing this question.” Yui, sitting in the blue seat, frowns at her boyfriend for getting it wrong, but softens when he murmurs something back.

“I’m surprised you remember I like to weave,” Hanta says, a teasing glint in his eyes.

Denki snorts. “Your room is covered in the stuff. It’s kinda hard to forget.”

The next few questions go by without a hitch for Denki and Hanta. “Hey, we’re doing pretty good,” Hanta says. “We’re the only ones who have a perfect score right now.”

“Heck yeah, that Pikachu’s gonna be mine,” grins Denki. He’s honestly kind of surprised that they were the ones with the perfect streak, even though they weren’t even dating. But he can’t deny the burst of satisfaction that comes with getting each question right, and further cementing their brohood.

“Okay, we’re getting into the last few questions now. Who was Red’s first kiss?” Hina asks deviously.

Aw, shucks, this might actually throw their score off. Denki’s not sure if he’s ever told Hanta who his first kiss was since the guy wasn’t really anybody special. Actually, Denki kinda feels bad for forgetting the dude’s name as he scribbles down “a boy in middle school.” When the timer runs out, Hanta’s board only has a question mark on it, and he smiles sheepishly at Denki.

“Sorry for not knowing,” he says.

“Nah, dude, you couldn’t have known since I never told you,” Denki says, brushing it off. “But, hey, we still have the lead!” he continues, beaming. Hanta returns his smile with a wider one. Honestly, Denki could get drunk off Hanta’s smile, sweet and goofy and always there, like the way All Might’s always smiling, but softer and infinitely cuter.

Get a grip, Denki, he scolds himself. He’s definitely going to notice if you keep staring at him. So he looks towards the two hosts and gets ready to answer the next question.

“What is Red’s weirdest fear?”

Huh. It would be an easy point if the question were biggest fear since it’s common knowledge that Denki hates spiders as much as Katsuki loves swearing, but weirdest fear? Denki has lots of fears, ranging from insects to angry pomeranians (thanks katsuki) to forgetting his homework to Midoriya with no sleep (you’d understand if you saw it). And it has to be one that Hanta knows, so what about...sand foxes.

Okay, listen, Denki knows next to nothing about sand foxes, but he does know that their faces are NOT NATURAL and CREEP HIM OUT, so DON’T laugh at him. Seriously, the first Denki saw one, he couldn’t stop thinking about that face for hours. It still haunts him to this day. And it's definitely a weird fear that Denki complains to Hanta about all the time.

“Alright, let’s see your answers!” Looking around, Denki sees that only he and Hanta got this question.

“Dude, we’re totally gonna win,” Denki whisper-shouts excitedly, leaning into the table. “Look at how far we are compared to everyone else!”

It comes as no surprise, then, that they do end up winning. The contestants line up in front of tables. “Hey, that was a great game! In third place, unfortunately, is Yui and Haruto, with six points.” Kinda strange, that the couple has been together for over a year and they have the lowest score, Denki muses. Meh. Worked out in his favor. “Second place, we have Sora and Ayaka, with eight points. And finally, our winners, Denki and Hanta, with eleven points!”

Denki whoops, turning to give Hanta a high five. The other two couples walk off the stage while Yumi and Hina hand over their prize. “I know this Pikachu is huge and kind of hard to carry, so you can leave it here until you’re ready to leave,” Hina tells them.

“Promise we won’t let anyone steal it,” Yumi adds, winking.

“Nah, I think we have to go now,” Hanta says, shaking his head. They say goodbye to the two ladies and rejoin their waiting friends, carrying the heavier-than-expected plush between them.

“Bro, it’s even bigger up close!” Eijirou raves.

“And it’s so fluffy I’m going to die!” squeals Mina. She strokes it reverently. “Denki, you have to bring it to our next Bakusquad sleepover.”

Denki laughs. “You know it!”

one thing that i couldn't find a proper place to add in: i promise denki's not being inconsiderate in assuming the pikachu all for himself! they had a convo abt it while they were waiting for the contest to start

part one | part three

#bnha #fic #writing in goldencursive #kamisero #kaminari denki #sero hanta #bakugou katsuki #ashido mina #bro will you be my bro forever bro #my post #kirishima eijirou

12 notes · View notes

babyjiminiexx · 4 years

Text

Angel On Fire (Chapter 1)

Sinopsis/Chapter 1/ Chapter ?

Demon!andBisexual!Jimin X Demon!reader (Mention of the other members)

When you fell in love with him you had never thought you would get caught and pay for it. But here you are now, body fuming with hate and ready to sow the pain with every step you take.

————-

Warnings: mention of sex, swearing and mature language, mature topics...

Author's Note: i just wanted to say a quick thank you to every single one of you for sharing and leaving kind messages about AOF!! i didn’t expect any of this and i am SO GLAD!! that you’re liking the idea and the direction it’s taking!! 💖

Also, this is kind of a chapter 0, it’s to put in situation so i’m sorry if this doesn’t have the drama y’all were expecting, i want to slowly build it and put my readers in situation so this can last as long as i can write about it and so you can really get that conection that i wish i can give you!! but anyways, i hope you’ll like this and again, thank you so so much, i’ll try to do a proper post about this!! 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖

————-

"Wow... That was... Like... WOW!", you couldn't help but laugh at the comment, "Seriously! It was the best sex I've ever had!"

You get up from the bed that was now witness of the many sins you had committed during the night and turned your head to the young boy that was laying on his back, still naked.

"Why are you so surprised?", you ask while lightning up a cigarette.

"I-I don't know! No woman has ever done the things you did to me!", he said, still trying to recover his breath, "Don't be so dramatic", you laugh.

Slowly, you make your way back to the bed, leaning your body over his and caressing his cheek, "You're actually cute, do you know that?"

"Did you came?", the boy asks. Of course you didn't. "It was great", you say placing a peck on his lips.

Humans... Specially men, always trying to do their best, but still failing at it, how sad... But what counts is the intention, they say. He was just a boy in his early 20s, you found him alone trying to get your attention at the bar a few hours earlier. It was cute how much effort he would put in his actions to see if you would notice him, and the way his blood made a single turn all over his body when you finally approached him was even cuter. You needed a distraction, again. It wasn't that hard to get one anyways. As a demon, you could make any woman or man fall for you whenever you wanted to, and you soon found that eternity could feel pretty lonely, so that came in handy. At first you weren't really down for that idea; your Master insisted that a few of his disciples showed you that being on the otherside of Heaven wasn't that boring after all.

When in the Land of Gods, any contact with the human world was totally forbidden; in the Netherworld... Boy that was a different story...

Demons found fun in playing with the human race, distantly or near them. They were so innocent, so ignorant, so... human, that living amongst them turned into your favorite pastime.

And this boy was a pretty good pastime.

"Can you stay the night?", the boy asked you with puppy eyes. Again, he's so damn cute.

"No baby, I have grown ups things to do..."

"Now? It's 4AM! Don't you ever sleep?"

"Darling, the Devil never sleeps", and with that, you got out of the apartment, going straight to yours.

Forgetting about why you were out in the streets at this time, you actually enjoyed late night walks like these. The silence. It was really nice when you spent your whole day in between noises of cars, people complaining and others. You could use this silence admire things that simple humans couldn't see, and it was beautiful.

You weren't that far away from your apartment, on your way there you just crossed the path of a drunk homeless man that kept ranting about not having wine anymore, so you being you, you gave the poor man a few gallons of it, just so he could have a little more fun out there. He was too drunk to notice how you managed to make appear the wine anyways.

Not even a second in your home, you start to feel strange. Not strange in a bad way, but surprisingly good; everything was feeling so peaceful, maybe too peaceful, way too good to be real. That strange feeling had been following you all day, you couldn't perceive what it was, but you knew it was there. A warm and peaceful feeling. You double checked your apartment, not really sure about what you hoped to find...

"So, Paris, huh?", you sigh in relief and smile at the sound of that familiar voice, "I can't say I expected to find you that far away"

"Jimin...", you left your coat on the kitchen counter and went straight to give the blond boy a hug, "Feels good to see you..."

"How long was it? 18? 19 years? Let me see you...", he took your hands and made you turn around, "2020 looks amazing on you, glad you abandoned these thin eyebrows and cowboy boots from the 2000s", he laughed.

"Come on, full denim boy, you thought you were the top in the 2000s!"

"And I sure was..."

It was good to see him again, you didn't actually realize how much you were missing Jimin until now. He was the first person to not look at you like he was about to eat you raw when you fell into the Netherworld. And he was one of the firsts to show you all the pleasures of that world too, every pleasure. You can say that all you are today is thanks to him; he was your best friend, and that explained the feeling that accompanied you the whole day.

"So, what did I miss?", he asks you while taking a bottle of red wine from your shelf.

"Nothing much...", you sigh, "the usual, I'm always here and there, trying to get fun from now and then..."

"I saw that...", he said with a smirk. You obviously knew he was there, he would never miss seeing you in these kinds of situations, you even thought you had seen him smiling at you in the corner of the dark room of the boy's apartment. You chuckle at that thought. "The boy was very handsome, very very handsome... A pity he wasn't that good..."

"What can you ask from humans?", you laugh, clinking your glass now half full of wine with his, "but i'm sure you're not here to tell me how much you like watching me get fucked by cute boys, am I wrong?"

He laughs slightly, "You're right..."

"So, what's wrong?", you could see his eyes darken at the question, which made you worry a little bit. Jimin wasn't the type to get upset or annoyed by things that easily.

"I'm worried about you, y/n... I’ve been watching you...", you didn't need further explanation.

" I don't know what you are talking about, Jimin", of course you knew.

"Y/n... Stop trying to find him... He's older than you, more powerful, more cunning... He knows you're looking for him, he has known for the past 373 years... Stop wasting your time like that..."

"If you came here just to tell me to stop you can go through that damn door and go back to where you come from. He has to pay", you said, starting to feel your body heating up in anger.

"I know you're still in pain, but it has turned into an obsession, and he will always be ahead of you..."

"I know that! I've been behind him for years!", you yell. "Jimin, baby... it's been 20 years, please can't you just forget about that for a moment and recover lost time?"

"I know...We just worry about you, we don't want to see you ruin your existence on Taehyung...", he says warmly taking your hand in his.

"Jimin, I love you, you know that, right?", he nods, "So please, understand that I cannot stop, because what you can't understand and will never feel is the pain that I've been enduring for the past 400 years, it's more than physical pain, it's more than my scars. It's my whole self burning alive from the inside every damn day."

"I know... I just want to let you know that I care about you, and even though Taehyung is who he is, I understand, and I won't stop you... Just take it easy, for you. How long have you not enjoyed things?"

"Well, twenty minutes ago actually...", Jimin sighs and laughs,"I'm not talking about that kind of enjoyment"

You knew how worried he was, and you understood it. Him and the rest of the boys back home had seen you cry tears of blood and experiencing madness at its pure form for months after you fell into the Netherworld. You remember seeing Taehyung in your dreams and waking up screaming and debating yourself so hard that Yoongi and Namjoon had to go to your room and try to calm you down by force. These two... You also spent all these months hating them for that, for using force on you, for tying you to your bed and immobilizing you for hours. But when you finally accepted everything, the situation and your current life, you found yourself apologizing to them for making them go through a few rough months. At the end of the day, they had no other choices than trying to quiet you down, otherwise the Master himself would have taken care of you, and that wouldn't have been a pretty thing to see... Tortures in the Netherwolrd were never pretty...

You never understood why amongst all the demons, these men were the only ones that showed interest and care for you; the others would just stare at you like their future meal, or try to sneak out behind you, just for the fun of tormenting you. But soon enough, your friends showed you how to handle things, and most importantly, they showed you how to be aware of your own power, your own capabilities, which came in really handy as for the Netherworld as for the human world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You don't know how long you've been talking to Jimin now, it just feels right. You missed him so much and now him being here with you is the most amazing feeling ever.

"Are you going to leave?", you ask, sadness suddenly invading your body.

"Probably..."

"Where are you going to go this time?"

"Well", he sighs, "I have some place I want to visit, people I want to meet, you know, the usual... I don't really want to be bothered by unfortunate visits by the others so I was thinking about Madrid... or the Philippines... or even Hawaii..."

"These are... three completely opposite places", you laugh.

"Yeah... I would like to try my luck there though, remember I have all the time I want to discover and rediscover the world, just like I’ve been doing”

“I guess you always have new people to meet and new things to see... Crazy how the world can change in a few hundred years...”, sometimes you found yourself remembering how the world used to be like. How different and great it was, even though each era had its difficulties and wars, or even pandemics, each one had its charm... You kind of missed some of these eras.

You and Jimin stayed looking at each other for a while, in silence. You don't want him to leave and you know he doesn't want to leave either, but you know he has to. It's sad though, now that your best friend found you after almost 20 years, for him to leave like that... You hoped he would stay a few more days at least, but you also understand why he wants to leave so fast. No one wants to stay in the same place for too long.

“I’ve missed you, you know?”

“I know”, Jimin answers, taking your hand in his, “but I you know I’ve never liked this frenchie style of life...”

You both laugh looking at your apartment. It was indeed the most cliché apartment in the most cliché place on Earth. It was nice though.

“Just... Be careful... Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”, you ask.

“When did I stopped making stupid things?”

“That’s true...”, you laugh. At the end of the day, you guys were still demons; any thing you did didn’t matter, at least while you don’t piss the Master off, that would be the end of you. “Will you stay here for the day at least?”, without realising it, you suddenly turned into the cute boy you left alone in his room earlier this night, and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“I guess I can... What about a tour of this beautiful and not full of piss at all city?”, he proposed, to which you accepted right away.

-----------------------------------------------------------

It was actually a great day. You and Jimin had been outside all day and it turned surprisingly well, or maybe it was the fact that you were finally reunited with your best friend that made everything look fine.

“I think I know this guy...”, Jimin suddenly said while looking at a painting in one of the many halls of the Louvre.

“Oh, come on! How can you know this random dude on a 250 years old painting?”; you laugh.

“Laugh all you want, darling. I think this guy died from the Plague and is still now to this day running naked through the Master’s mansion”

“You’re fucking playing with me! I’ve never seen this guy!”

“No, I swear! I took him infront of the Master and he went completely mad!”

You continued your walk through the museum while laughing and, even though it sounded crazy, talking about the people in the painting, actually recognizing a few of them. It was a random though that crossed your mind, but it was really crazy yet amazing how you knew at least half of these people, painters and painted, and humans had no idea.

“I tell you, if anyone knew that Van Gogh was busy doing lines with Pablo Escobar in Hell, they would be surprised!”, you say thinking about it.

You kept talking and walking with Jimin until noon, not seeing the time pass. You finished you visit in the museum, took an Uber and went straight to the Eiffel Tour park, since Jimin had insisted to go there to see how the Tour would light up just after eight o’clock, even though he had seen it in the past.

You would always get surprised by the amount of tourists that would be there for the same thing, fortunately, you found a free spot. Both of you sat there and just like that, Jimin took out a bottle of wine for you.

“I’ll start thinking you have an alcohol problem...”

“Yeah, probably, but who cares?”, he laughed before opening the bottle like a pro, “honors to the ladies...”

You took a sip of the red wine, suprised by the taste. It was different, you weren’t a wine expert but you could tell it was an expensive one.

“Why do you look at me like that? If we’re going to get drunk at the feet of the Eiffel Tour, at least let’s do it with luxury...”, the dark haired boy took the bottle.

“Do you know anything about the others?”; you ask after a few minutes admiring the view.

Jimin took a deep breath and started looking through his memories, “Well, I don’t really know much. I haven’t seen them in a few years now...”

“Same... Last time I saw Jin was at an ABBA concert... 1982 I believe...”

“Ah... ABBA 1982 in Wembley Arena... What an epic concert...”

“Surely was...”, you chuckled, “But yeah, that was the last time... From what he told me Hoseok had apparently left for India in 1974 and never appeared again, so I assume he stayed there for a while, and maybe he’s still there; Jungkook was permanently staying in the United States, he got there in 1953 after touring through Europe; Namjoon, strangely, ended up being present for the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, thing that I am strangely not surprised about, he obviously survived to it and directly went to America; and Yoongi, no one knew about him, everybody started losing his tracks around 1834 when he sailed for an unknown destination...”

“Well... I can tell you that Jungkook and Namjoon are indeed still in America, from what I know Jungkook is kind of a famous social media influencer or something like that... Namjoon is currently working in a big advertising company... And for the rest, I know Jin is now in Japan, but I’m not really sure why though; and for Hoseok and Yoongi, no idea... I last saw them together in 1998 I think, they apparently missed me and wanted to grab some coffee all three of us and talk about the past, and them they just vanished again”

You were not really surprised to hear that, Hoseok and Yoongi had always been the most secretive ones when it came to their private life in the human world. They showed you and educated you a LOT too, but never went too far into explanations or anything. Obviously you loved them so much too, but you weren’t surprised at all about what Jimin just said.

“I guess Jungkook and Namjoon would be the easiest ones to get in touch with then...”

“Yeah. If you want to see them or call them you know they would always answer”

After a minute of thinking, you kind of felt bad about not really knowing anything about your friends, and it felt even worse that another friend had to update you. You knew how they were, you knew that seeing the circumstances of literally everything, everyone would have went their way. But it felt weird, you guys were so close once and now everybody was separated, ad two of them were basically missing.

“Don’t think about it too much, I can see smoke going out of your ears”, Jimin’s voice took you out of your own head, “You know they still love you”

“I know”, you sigh, “It’s just that I feel bad about not being there for them or not knowing about them...”

“Y/n... We’re fucking demons, and we’re way older than you, don’t you think we couldn’t sneak out and literally just spy on you whenever we want to?”

That... was actually true.

You never really realized that, because you couldn’t really use that power, so you just forgot about it. But if Jimin could appear just like that in a random room while you were having fun with someone, without making a noise, you supposed any of them could.

“Why spy on me when you can knock on my door and take me out or something?”, you asked; for you it was obvious, it wouldn’t make sense to spy on someone or take care of them in the distance or make random objects in their rooms to manifest their presence, like they did in the past.

“You know how they are, they’re enjoying their stay here, they’re just doing their thing, just they want to make sure you’re okay without intervining in your life just like that”

“I guess... I miss them though...”

And it was true, you missed them more than anything.

“Stop being sad and get up”; your friend said after a few moments of silence.

“What? Why?”

“We’re going to get fun”, he extended his hand and you didn’t even had time to think, you just took it and followed him to the nearest metro.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You could feel yourself float to the sound of J Balvin’s voice. The discotheque was full of people and you were having the time of your life; way funnier than you going hunting alone...

Jimin and you had your eyes on a group of boys for a while now, and you were playing with them in the distance, teasing them. You obviously knew all of this was a show, because you both had them in your pocket since the first moment you entered the party, but like a lion with a gazelle, you liked watching your prey from far and play with them a little bit.

It didn’t need much for you to be stamped against the wall of the small bathroom by one of the boys with your dress up your ass. You assumed Jimin was having his fun with one of them too, so you didn’t worry too much about him, you just let yourself flow. The guy was handsome, just like the perfect mix between a young Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves, exactly your type. And fortunately, you could see he knew what he was doing... But bad luck to you, I didn’t last as long as you wanted.

You adjust your dress, leave a last kiss on the Johnny Depp guy and leave the bathroom, looking for your friend. He apparently finished earlier than you because he was already half done with his drink.

“So?”, he ask.

“Well, let’s say I had my fun... What about you?”

“Nice guy...”, he smirks, “Come on, it’s getting late”

You could understand how what you guys were doing with people was not exactly THE THING to do for humans, they had more morals than you when it came to that, and during your life you had had bunches of arguments with passenger friends about that, but that’s just how things are. You know who you are, you know the power you have, you don’t care, that’s it, end of the conversation.

It was nearly 4.30AM when you got out of the discotheque, the streets being full of drunk people either puking or singing with their friends.

“Y/n...”, your friend called you; you didn’t realized he stayed behind you, “I have to go now...”

“Already?”, you fake cry.

“Hawaii is not the nearest place from here, you know?”

“So you’re going for Hawaii then?”

“Yeah I think so... You know you can always come visit me...”, he pulled you for a tight hug.

You knew it wasn’t really a goodbye, it was more like a “see you soon”, but you couldn’t help feel horribly sad, and you hated that feeling. The only ones capable of making you feel what you call “human emotions” were your six friends. And you hated them for that.

“Thank you for today though, I had the best day I’ve ever had in a long time”, you smiled against his chest.

“Same for me... I’ll miss you... But seriously, come visit, I won’t be able to not see my best friend for another 20 years, I’ll go mad before that”

He laughs and when he starts pulling his body away from yours, you know it’s the goodbye.

“I love you, okay?”, he says. “I know, I love you too...”

And before crossing the street and disappearing behind a building, he gave you a last passionate kiss that left you hungry for more. It was your ritual, a last goodbye kiss that meant that you’d see him again.

Yes, Jimin was your best friend, but you couldn’t deny the numerous feelings between you two, just like with the other five. But you just couldn’t let them flow. It’s not that you didn’t want to, it’s just how things are. One of the punishments of the Netherworld were to not being able to properly love someone. You felt love for Jimin, of course you did, but not the love you WANTED to. It was a big difference, what you wanted to do and what your body was able to do. And while you felt bad about it in the past, you have it like it’s the most normal thing in the world now; but still, you couldn’t stand the image of Jimin leaving you.

MASTERLIST

#bts #bts series #angel on fire #aof #bts x reader #jimin #taehyung #jungkook #namjoon #yoongi #hoseok #bts smut #bts fluff #bts angst #bts fic #bts imagine

34 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 5 years

Text

Dragon Ball Z Special: History of Trunks

The second DBZ special aired on February 24, 1993, right between Episodes 175 and 176. I was always kind of curious about the timing on this special, because it was included with the Trunks Saga box set back in the day, which led me to believe that it meant to be viewed around that part of the story. More likely, Funimation did it because the Trunks Saga was really short, and the “box set” would have been two VHS tapes without something else to throw in.

The collected editions of the manga placed it right around the same order as the TV show, right after Mr. Satan insists on fighting first. However, Kanzenshuu.com lists its original publication date as August 11, 1992, as part of a double feature alongside Chapter 396, which features Trunks taking on Perfect Cell so Krillin could rescue Vegeta. That might explain why episode 164 featured a lengthy flashback to Trunks’ boyhood. Toei had the special to work from, and while they eventually adapted the special outright, they were able to do a filler scene with some confidence in what Trunks’ future word was really like. That makes a lot of sense, because Trunks vs. Perfect Cell was probably the high water mark for the character, and after that he became much less important in the series.

To be clear, the manga version came first, and the anime version adapted and expanded it. So unlike the DBZ movies, this one is about as canon as it gets. It also stands in stark contrast to the first special starring Bardock. Toriyama had nothing to do with creating “Father of Goku”, but he liked the special so much that he briefly referenced the climactic scene in the manga.

So yeah, this is basically an account of the future timeline Trunks is from, so it opens with Goku dying of the hear virus Trunks predicted in Episode 122.

I know that feel, kid.

Then we flash forward about six months to May 12, Age 767, when the androids attacked. They kill all the Z-Fighters, and then we flash forward again about thirteen years. Things look pretty much the same, but only because this just happens to be one of the towns the androids haven’t attacked yet. Also, this one kid has a baloon with Goku on it, which seems really out of place when he’s been dead for so long.

So the Androids attack... I think it’s Peppertown, and we then find Master Roshi’s house is abandoned. Turns out he took cover in a submarine, along with Oolong, Puar, and Turtle. Apparently, this is just what they do when they hear of an android attack on the radio. I assume that means Peppertown is close enough to Kame House to warrant this sort of thing, but then again, they may just be really jumpy.

In Peppertown, 18 helps herself to a clothing store, and that’s a pretty cool sequence. The shopkeep is terrified, of course.

Then 17 blows up the store as soon as she leaves. 18 chews him out for this, because she wanted to at least spare the clothes. 17 had agreed to this, but forgot.

And that’s kind of the theme of the androids’ reign of terror. A lot of the early material surrounding Trunks’ future world made it sound more like the post-apocalyptic world of the Terminator movies. In Episode 139, Trunks even flashes back to a group of humans, many of whom are wearing outfits and swords like his, which imply that they’re all part of some human resistance movement. That wasn’t hard to go along with, especially since we had just finished the Frieza Saga, where the main villain was more about oppressing people than killing them outright. But once we finally met 17 and 18, it turns out that they’re not terribly motivated by anything. They kill people indiscriminately, but they’re in no great hurry to get it done. This explains how they can be strong enough to kill a Super Saiyan, and yet there’s still a world left thirteen years on.

As a consequence, Trunks’ world doesn’t look like a hellish post-apocalyptic nightmare. At least not all of it does. Peppertown looked pretty much business-as-usual, until the androids finally got around to destroying it. It’s not a quick, sudden thing that happened. The world is slowly being torn down, city by city, person by person, and that’s actually scarier when you think about it.

For example, Bulma and Trunks hear about the attack on Peppertown while they’re returning from a grocery run, but they have to drive a long way for groceries because so many cities have been ruined. So there’s still food and cars and fuel for cars and such, but things are a lot harder to access. I assume the world population has had to become more decentralized, since any major population center risks getting targeted by the androids.

Anyway, Trunks has had it with the androids, so he asks his mom if she doesn’t mind heading home alone, and she knows what he’s up to, but she can’t really stop him from leaving either.

But when Trunks reaches Peppertown, it’s too late. The androids are gone, and so are all the people he wanted to save.

But he does run into Gohan there, and so the two of them head back to the Capsule Corp. building, or what’s left of it. There, Trunks pleads with Gohan to take him on as his student, and teach him how to kick some android ass. Gohan agrees, since Trunks reminds him a lot of himself as a boy. But they agree to keep his training a secret from Bulma so she won’t worry.

This is one of the commerical bumpers they used in this special. I’m putting it here because I want to point out that this is maybe the only time I’ve ever seen them actually color in that bit of purple hair sticking out of baby Trunks’ hat. usually hey just leave it the same color as his face. He looks a lot cuter this way.

Gohan has dinner with Trunks and Bulma, and it’s weird to see Bulma cooking, but in this world, she probably had no choice. It looks like her house took a pounding from an Android attack, but it’s mostly in tact. My guess is that West City is mostly deserted, and Bulma stayed here because she needs the lab and other equipment, and she figured a deserted city would be safer than a full one.

Later, Gohan starts training Trunks. He’s strong and he has loads of potential, but he won’t really be in any shape to fight the androids until he can turn into a Super Saiyan like Gohan can. Gohan keeps telling him that anger is the key, but Trunks just can’t quite pull it off.

Ox King and Chi-Chi are still alive in this timeline, although they both look pretty haggard. From what I can tell, they never see much of Gohan anymore, and so all Ox King has for her are stories he’s heard of Gohan fighting the androids in various places. She longs for the days when Goku was still alive and Gohan had a chance of becoming a great scholar, but that future was taken away from Gohan when he was left as the only one strong enough to fight the androids.

Then we pick up at some later time, in another city. Things look pretty peaceful here, and they even have an amusement park. One of the people in this shot says it’s because this is one of the few cities that has any sort of military, so they think that’s kept the androids away all these years.

Only it wasn’t. 17 and 18 are here right now. They just never got around to this city yet. How is 18 doing that with her arm? Well, she is a cyborg...

Someone calls the military for assistance, but we see that there’s no one to answer, because 17 and 18 already took them out before they got to the park.

Soon, Gohan and Trunks show up, and we see Gohan turn Super Saiyan for the first time in the special. Not sure why he does that jazz hands thing, but whatever. A lot of what he’s been doing lately has probably been self-taught.

Now, we first saw 17 and 18 fight in Episodes 135 and 136. There, they took out Vegeta and Trunks--both as Super Saiyans--with tremendous ease. Afterward, Trunks mentioned that they were far more powerful than the 17 and 18 in his own timeline. He was at least able to fight them there, and the main problem was the numbers game, and the androids’ superior stamina. They never get tired, while Super Saiyans burn through their energy pretty quickly.

This fight pretty neatly illustrates the problem. Gohan does pretty well while he’s fighting 17 alone, but then 18 jumps in and saves 17 before he can come close to finishing him off. If Gohan could just get one of them isolated for a while, maybe he could divide and conquer, but that just never happens. If he had a partner, then that guy could keep 18 busy while Gohan takes out 17, and then they could double team 18 and be done with it.

And Trunks does pretty well in that respect, considering he’s only 14 and not even a Super Saiyan. He’s no match for 18, but he does get in a few hits, which is more than he managed when he was older and more powerful and tried to fight 18 in the altered timeline.

Ultimately, things go really badly for the boys, because Trunks gets overwhelmed and Gohan ends up having to fight both androids and save Trunks at the same time. He tries to hide, much like we saw him do in the flashback from Episode 164, only this time it dosn’t do him any good. The one advantage he has on the androids is that they can’t sense his ki, but that doesn’t matter here, because 18 just fires a big energy blast that happens to be right next to him. There’s no escape.

The only thing that saves them is that 17 and 18 can’t find them in the rubble, so they give up and go “home”. I wonder what their home looks like. Gohan digs himself out and one of his arms is gone. He pulls out his bag of senzu beans and finds that he only has one left. And this is truly the last senzu bean ever. Apparently the plant that they grow from died off. I don’t know if 17 and 18 attacked Korin’s tower or what.

I’m also not sure if eating the bean would grow back Gohan’s missing arm. I guess Yamcha’s injuries at the hands of Dr. Gero were at least as severe, but somehow growing back a limb seems much more extreme to me. Regardless, he gives the bean to Trunks, because that’s the kind of guy Gohan is. I like the dub version of this, because Gohan just stares at the bean and asks himself “What would your father do?” and then he gives it to Trunks.

Trunks eventually gets Gohan home and they have a doctor tend to his wounds, and before long Gohan’s back in action, minus an arm. This is about where the manga verson starts, so everything you’ve seen up to now has been filler.

I get the impression that this scene is right after Gohan recovered, and they haven’t fought the androids since he lost his arm. Trunks still can’t turn Super Saiyan, and Gohan reminisces about how he did it when he thought about Piccolo and the others dying to the androids.

I get the sense that Future Gohan has some serious flaws as a warrior. No disrespect intended, I just mean that his game plan seems to be largely improvised. Ox King mentioned hat he seems to be determined to “avenge” the Z-Fighters, which makes sense, except that he probably needs to be more focused on protecting humanity, or figuring out a way to defeat the androids. From what I’ve seen of him, it looks like he’s more interested in just fighting them. He shows up, they mix it up a little, he gets in over his head, and then he has to hide until they get bored and leave. If that’s his standard operating procedure, then I doubt he’s ever actually driven off 17 and 18. Why would they stop attacking a city after he’s out of sight?

I’m not saying that Gohan doesn’t care about the people, but it seems like his strategy is just “Hit the androids until they explode,” and that hasn’t gotten him anywhere. If Vegeta were still alive, then they might have enough firepower to make that plan work. If Piccolo were around, then he’d probably make Gohan understand that he needs to think outside the box on this. But Gohan’s not a tactician or a fighting genius. He’s very talented, but on his own, his shortcomings become very apparent.

Anyway, while they talk, the androids start attacking West City. Trunks wants to help, but Gohan insists that he stay behind. Trunks hates that idea, especially since Gohan’s lost an arm already. So Gohan agrees to let him come along.... only to knock him out cold while he’s not looking.

And this leads us to Gohan’s Last Stand. He actually does pretty well fighting both 17 and 18 at the same time, with only one arm at that. But it doesn’t take them long to turn the tables on him. My guess is that Gohan pushed himself too hard and wore himself out faster than usual. Also, as I recall from the manga, 17 told him that he hadn’t been figthing at full strength until now, so he may have underestimated them.

But Gohan warns them: Even if his body is destroyed, what he represents will live on, and someone else will rise up to carry out his last wish. Z Stands for the end, but not yet.

Later, Trunks wakes up, and find him in the city, lying face down in a puddle.

And the pain and grief and rage well up inside him, and finally, Trunks realizes what it takes to be a Super Saiyan. It wasn’t just anger, as Gohan told him. It was a kind of anger that he couldn’t truly understand until now, because as bad as this future world is, it’s the only one Trunks knows, and as long as he had his mom and Gohan, he’d never really lost anything before now. But Gohan was his best friend and martial arts master, and his hero. He was the best, and the androids killed him and threw him away like so much trash.

To be honest, I’m a little choked up on this screening, because I’ve been watching all of DBZ up to this point. The audience has watched Gohan grow up. We’ve seen him as a baby, we’ve seen him make friends and do very brave things, and this is how it ends. A couple of shithead androids kill him like he doesn’t even matter. Well he did matter, and Trunks has the yellow aura to prove it.

And this is what’s so grim about Trunks’ world. The Dragon Balls are long gone, senzu beans are extinct, and the last Z-Fighter just died a lonely death. Yeah, Trunks has become the Legendary Super Saiyan, but so what? By the time he’s pulled it off, it’s too late to do any good. It won’t bring Gohan back, or save all the people who died. This is a very bitter moment for Trunks. Goku and Vegeta might have found their Super Saiyan awakenings to be cathartic, but not Trunks.

Three years later, Trunks has been helping Bulma work on her latest invention, the time machine. Her plan is to send Trunks back twenty years into the past to see if Goku could have stopped the androids if he had survived his illness. But by this point, her lab has been destroyed, so it’s taken a long time for her to charge the time machine for a round trip. As for Trunks, he thinks they won’t need the time machine, because he thinks he’s finally strong enough to beat the androids by himself. Bulma hates that idea, since that’s exactly how Gohan got himself killed.

But when Trunks hears of an android attack on the radio, there’s not much Bulma can do to stop him from going. He straps on his sword and flies out to wreck their shit.

At first he seems to do pretty well...

But his attacks don’t hurt them at all. As Trunks eventually realizes, it’s not that his attacks aren’t strong enough, it’s that they’re just fast enough to dodge a split second before they connect.

And then he realizes his mother was right. He’s in over his head, and the androids won’t just let him walk away from this. He’s gotten sucked into the same routine Gohan was in for over a decade.

Also, look how much he resembles Vegeta from his battle with Frieza, right around the time he realized the same thing about Frieza.

So the androids toy with him and chase him around for a while as he tries to escape. Not sure why he turned off Super Saiyan during this...

But then they toss him out of a building and he’s back in Super mode again. Are those flower petals supposed to be like cherry blossoms? Did Trunks finally go through puberty?

They keep picking on him, mainly because he’s too stubborn to lay down, and when he asks them why they do this, they say it’s because they hate humans, and so they’ve decided to kill everyone they find.

Eventually, they blast him and leave without making sure he’s dead, and then Trunks wakes up a few days later to discover that his mom found him and got him medical attention. At long last, Trunks is finally on board with using the time machine.

And so Trunks recovers, and he prepares for his fateful journey. Bulma assures him that Goku will be able to help, not just because he was strong, but because he had a way of making you feel like everything would turn out okay. Oh, and Vegeta... certainly... uh, was alive back then. Yeah.

And that’s it. The credits show clips of Trunks debut in Episodes 120-122, and now you know..... the rest.... of the story. Paul Harvey...... good day?

In the past, I never had much use for this special, because most of what happens in it is stuff we already knew about from Trunks’ description of his past. Also, for a few years I struggled to accept DBZ stories that went backwards on the power scale like this. Future Trunks and Future Gohan and their android enemies are much weaker than Cell or the Saiyans in the Cell Games Saga, so what’s the point?

Also, I went through a period where I didn’t have much use for Trunks as a character, maybe because he didn’t seem to matter much after he beat Mecha-Frieza and lost to Cell. He just seemed to whine a lot and never had much to contribute, unlike Gohan and the others.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate Trunks’ story more. He has a mission, and things to prove, and loved ones to protect and avenge, and he just wants to get through this thing in one piece, you know? He’s not big on foolish heroics because he’s seen bad things happen to people who do. Sometimes his cautious, calculated approach to things doesn’t work either, but you can’t blame him for having that attitude. In his world, you’re working without a net.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #history of trunks #dbmovieliveblog #trunks #gohan #bulma #android 17 #android 18 #goku #vegeta #piccolo #krillin #yamcha #tien #chiaotzu #chi chi #ox king

41 notes · View notes

tuanyiems · 5 years

Text

The Space Between Your Fingers 09

Mark Tuan x OC Genre: Fluff, slice of life Words: 2.5k [Masterlist] [Series Masterlist] a/n – A bit early but here’s a chapter in honor of Jackson’s birthday month - [RECAP] “They showed up after she came to stay here,” Yugyeom continued. “Ahnmi, her parents, no one talks about it.” “Is...she still…” Mark’s voice trailed off as even the thought seemed to hurt them both. Yugyeom’s voice was small and unsteady. “I…I don’t know.” Mark walked over to Yugyeom who had his head in his hands now. He patted the younger boy’s back comfortingly. “She was really happy today,” Mark said, trying to lift Yugyeom’s spirits again. “From now on, we’ll give her even better memories to remember.” Yugyeom nodded his head, cracking a smile again. “You’re doing a good job, Yugyeom.” Mark encouraged. “And I, too…I’ll protect Ahnmi’s happiness.” - Ch. 9: Happy Birthday Jackson! Ahnmi giddily stepped out of the house at 6AM, scurrying to Mark’s place. He was already standing outside his door, complete with a black hoodie and snapback. He smiled sleepily at her, before gesturing to follow him to the side of his house. “You can drive?” Ahnmi gasped as they approached the black vehicle. “Yeah, but I don’t do it that often since everything here is in walking distance,” he explained casually. He walked over and opened the door for her, softly placing his hand over her head as she went in. He walked back around and sat in the driver’s seat. “Are you excited?” he turned to her, already seeing the giddiness in her eyes. Ahnmi grinned. “I could barely sleep last night.” Mark smiled as he leaned over and grabbed at the seatbelt by her side. Ahnmi stopped breathing for the two seconds that passed like hours. His jawline was alluring and she couldn’t help staring at the small stubble on his chin. She gulped, trying to act natural.

“I-I can’t wait to see Jackson’s reaction,” she said softly as he pulled away, securing her seatbelt and then his. Mark smiled again. “I know, me too! We should film him. I’m pretty sure he’s going to cry.” Ahnmi chuckled at Mark’s evil, high pitched laugh. She was happy to see Mark laughing. For a few days, after she had left Mark and Yugyeom at the park the other night, the two had been rather glum. She wondered if they had had a fight, but they hung out together like normal so she never thought any more about it. “Should we stop for coffee?” he asked as they went off onto the road. “Mm, I don’t want to crash later. I’m good.” “Alright, then take a nap. The drive to the airport is long.” “No, no, I’ll keep you company,” she insisted. However, after ten minutes had passed, Ahnmi began nodding off. Her eyes fluttered to a close as her head leaned onto the window. Mark chuckled softly, before gently reclining her seat so she could lay down properly. He reached for the fleece throw Bambam had left in the back seat of his car, his eyes still on the road, and placed it over her small frame. She tilted her head giving him a view of the small smile on her sleeping face. He was glad to know she was having happy dreams. Mark drove, enjoying the quietness of the road. It was a beautiful spring morning and though he was tired from having slept very little himself, he had a feeling it was going to be a good day. Jackson’s parents’ would be touching ground soon and his car smelled like sweet apples. What else could he ask for? As he pulled into the parking lot, Mark took a minute to just sit there. Ahnmi was still sound asleep and he wasn’t sure whether he should wake her up or just let her sleep and greet Jackson’s parents alone. He leaned over to move the loose strands of hair away from her face. He knew Ahnmi would hate it if he didn’t wake her up. Although nervous, she was also very excited to meet Jackson’s parents. Absorbing the moment with a sharp inhale, Mark let out a breath before softly nudging her shoulders. “Hey,” he spoke softly. He smiled at her surprised face. “Morning Sunshine.” She turned cherry red, sitting up abruptly. “I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to sleep the whole way. You should’ve woken me up.” He chuckled, ruffling her hair. “It’s okay, you need your energy for the rest of today.” She fingered at the fleece blanket on her lap shyly. “Thanks, Oppa.” Mark grinned. She was starting to call him Oppa more often now, though only when they were alone. He didn’t understand it himself, but hearing Ahnmi’s voice echoing “Oppa” made him happy. He was glad she was growing more comfortable with him with each passing day. “Shall we go then? They should be landing in ten minutes or so.” With an excited nod, the two left the car and headed towards the airport. Just as expected, Jackson’s parents came just in time, waving brightly towards Mark and Ahnmi. “Hello, hello!” they greeted Mark, before pulling him into a tight hug. He chuckled at their eager embrace before hugging them back. “This is Ahnmi, the new girl we were telling you about.” Mark introduced in Mandarin. Ahnmi bowed politely towards them. “She’s cuter than you guys described!” Jackson’s mother cooed, pulling Ahnmi into a hug. Ahnmi blushed at the sudden embrace but was happy to be accepted by his parents. She glanced at Mark who gave her a reassuring nod. “I’m glad you arrived safely. I hope the plane ride wasn’t too long,” Ahnmi smiled, taking Mrs. Wang’s luggage from her. Mark translated for her, making Jackson’s parents squeal with delight. She could see now why Jackson was such a bright guy. “I want her as a daughter-in-law, she’s adorable!” Mr. Wang laughed. Ahnmi looked at Mark curiously. “You’re cute,” he said simply, making her blush. Mrs. Wang looked at Mark with a twinkle in her eyes. She nudged her husband. “I think someone else has his eyes on your daughter-in-law, Dear.” Mark’s eyes widened as the two laughed together. “No, we’re just friends.” Mrs. Wang winked at him. “Raymond and Dorine will be so happy.” Mark flushed with embarrassment, grabbing Mr. Wang’s luggage and rushed ahead to the car while they laughed loudly at his reaction. Ahnmi looked on curiously, smiling at their laughter even though she didn’t know what was going on. She found it cute how flustered Mark seemed though. Jackson’s parents seemed just as funny and bubbly as their son. She was glad they could all gather today for Jackson’s birthday. Today was going to be a good day. - Jackson smiled as he woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. He brought his phone close and just as expected, it was his friends sending him cheerful birthday messages. He chuckled at Bambam’s memes and then laughed even harder when Ahnmi joined in with a photoshopped image of him as an old man. “Happy Birthday Jackson kekeke” she texted afterwards with a cheeky emoji. Throwing on a sweatshirt, Jackson got out of bed and opened his door for his daily newspaper and milk. To his surprise, beside his usual subscription was a plain blue gift bag. He giggled to himself, grabbing the things before scurrying back inside to his living room where he plopped onto the couch with his items. He quickly turned the gift bag upside down. A small leather box and its accompanying paper note bounced onto the couch. He lifted the piece of paper and chuckled. “Happy Birthday Bro! –Mark” Jackson felt his heart warm up. Of course Mark would be the one to leave his birthday gift with the morning mail. Considering the guy barely slept, the gift had probably been sitting there for hours. Putting the note aside, Jackson grabbed the box eagerly. His eyes widened as he opened it. In the box was a shimmering silver watch—the one he had been looking at for months every morning when heading to school. He immediately took off his black watch and replaced it with the new one. Grabbing his phone, he quickly took a snapshot and sent it to the group chat. “TUAN YI EN!!!” he texted. After another thought, he added. “How could you leave this outside with my milk? What if someone took it!” “Early bird catches the worm.” Mark replied. “YOU REPLIED TO THE GROUP CHAT!!!” “Only because it’s your birthday. K bye.” Jackson looked at his text blankly, before smiling again at his new watch. He couldn’t wait to show it off at the party. Speaking of which, he should probably be getting ready now. Chugging down his milk, Jackson rushed off to the bathroom. - “SURPRISE!” Jackson jumped back at the sudden cheer after opening the door to Yugyeom’s house. He laughed at all the familiar faces. “Guys this isn’t a surprise party! I already knew about it!” Jackson yelled back, laughing as he stepped into the house. “We’ll see about that,” Mark muttered under his breath, making the others smile. Yugyeom quickly placed a party hat on Jackson, pushing him into the living room with everyone else. “Happy birthday, Jackson!” Yugyeom’s mother cooed, squishing the boy’s cheeks. “You’re all grown now!” Jackson smiled, squishing her face as well. “No one can stay as young as you!” Yugyeom’s mom squealed with delight, earning a scowl from her husband. She laughed loudly before taking her husband by the arm and ushering him into the kitchen. “You boys have fun!” “But not too much fun!” Yugyeom’s father warned, looking specifically at his son and glancing back at Ahnmi. Jackson laughed. “Don’t worry, Yugyeom Appa, we’ll make sure Ahnmi has the most fun out of all of us!” “Look out for this one especially,” he ordered Yugyeom while pointing at Jackson before laughing and disappearing into the kitchen. Jackson took a seat between Jinyoung and Jaebum. Nudging them while showing off the silver watch. Mark smiled shyly. He was glad Jackson liked his gift, but he really couldn’t wait to give him the best present of all. “Well, the rest of us aren’t living the high life like Mark,” Bambam started as he pulled out a box from behind his back. “So this one is from all of us.” Jackson’s face brightened at the sight of more gifts. “Aw guys, you shouldn’t have!” He opened the box to find a plain mason jar filled with paper. “Guys, you really shouldn’t have,” he said jokingly before breaking out into another smile. “Since you love being praised so much,” Jinyoung explained. “We wrote 365 compliments and stuffed it into the jar.” “This is a priceless gift, Jackson. It’s not every day you get a year’s worth of praises,” Jaebum insisted. Jackson chuckled. “Thanks guys, you know me too well.” “Read some!” Youngjae shouted. Complying, Jackson took out a strip of paper and grinned. “Oh! This one is from Yugyeom! ‘Hyung, you are the most caring person I know. Thanks for always encouraging me to be a better person.’” Everyone oo’ed and aw’ed as Jackson wiped a fake tear from his eyes. Yugyeom blushed in embarrassment. “Read another one!” Yugyeom yelled. “Okay, this one is from Ahnmi!” Jackson announced, earning a cheer everyone. He laughed loudly when he read the strip, causing everyone’s curiosities to grow. “’Jackson Sunbae’s biceps are #1!’” Jackson winked at Ahnmi. “You want to feel them again?” Ahnmi blushed, hiding further behind Mark who was sitting beside her. Mark laughed at her shy reaction, making Jackson smirk. After seeing Mark’s expression during the picnic, he couldn’t help notice all their small interactions. Sure, he was probably overanalyzing things, but that wasn’t about to stop him from messing with the two. “But Ahnmi, before you can say a compliment like that, you should feel Mark’s biceps first.” Mark’s eyed widened. “Yah!” Bambam nodded in agreement, nudging Ahnmi. “Actually, it’s true. Mark has really strong arms.” “See, I’m not lying. You need to feel his arms before you can say mine are number one.” “No no no!” Mark yelled back, moving away from Ahnmi. He looked at Bambam. “My arms aren’t strong anymore. It goes away if you don’t work out.” “What are you talking about, you were at the gym with me last night!” Jaebum interjected. Mark shook his head stubbornly. “Still, they’re not like before. I just started working out again.” “Oh, are you feeling insecure about your body? Or are you just shy about Ahnmi touching you?” Jackson teased. “Yah!” Mark looked alarmed at Jackson’s behavior. “Shy or not, you can’t just be offering my body for others to feel!” Ahnmi giggled at their exchange before quietly interrupting, “Guys, who said I wanted to touch any of you?” This earned a burst of wild laughter from the guys (especially Yugyeom and Bambam), leaving Jackson and Mark dumbstruck. “Anyways, I’m hungry,” Jaebum spoke up after the commotion had died down. “You hungry, birthday boy?” “I can eat.” Taking this as a cue, Ahnmi left the room for the kitchen. All the guys exchanged knowing smiles before turning to the oblivious Jackson. “Is your mom cooking or are we ordering food?” Jackson asked Yugyeom. “It’s a surprise,” Yugyeom responded, trying to keep a straight face. Suddenly, the room went black and out came Ahnmi with a brightly lit birthday cake in her hands. She smiled at Jackson as everyone began singing the birthday song to him. Jackson grinned like a little boy, eyeing the chocolate ice cream cake in front of him. “Now close your eyes and make a wish!” Mark ordered. As Jackson closed his eyes, the guys began silently moving around, ushering bodies back and forth. And as Jackson blew out the candles, Ahnmi walked away after wishing a final happy birthday. The lights were turned back on and to his surprise no one was in the room anymore. “Guys?” he asked aloud. But as he got up from his seat on the couch his body froze at the sight in front of him. “M…Mommy.” Ahnmi and the boys watched from the crack in the kitchen door as Jackson and his parents wrapped their arms around one another, erupting into tears. Ahnmi’s heart clenched at the sight of the ever smiling Jackson becoming a sobbing boy in the arms of his mother. Without even realizing it, tears began streaking her face as well. She backed away from the door, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Jackson must have missed his parents so much. How did he endure this whole time without seeing them? Her chest hurt even more as tears continued to slip from her eyes. She realized just how brave and strong Jackson was. “Hey, hey,” Jinyoung whispered, noticing her first. He sat next to her and put his arm around Ahnmi. “You okay?” Ahnmi smiled with tears swimming in her eyes. She nodded, trying to explain but the words got caught in her throat. Jinyoung smiled, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at her wet cheeks. One by one, the guys turned around to Ahnmi and Jinyoung, revealing their own shimmering faces. Only Mark remained at the door, his phone fixed on recording the whole moment. It wasn’t until she heard a loud sniffle that she realized Mark was no longer focused on recording. Getting up from her seat, Ahnmi walked up to Mark, her hand resting softly on the small of his back. She quietly took his phone away and replaced it with Jinyoung’s handkerchief. She rubbed his back softly, as more tears slipped from her own eyes. Tonight, they were all missing their parents. But hearts were warm knowing that Jackson could finally be with his. - Thanks for reading! This series updates ever Friday and Saturday 8PM EST.

#got7creators #got7 scenarios #got7 reactions #got7 imagines #mark tuan fanfic #fluff #slice of life #fanfiction #writing #series #the space between your fingers #ch 9

32 notes · View notes

shookethbrooketh · 5 years

Text

stars

chapter 18

dan felt warm, both physically and emotionally, somehow. there was a warm happiness about the evening, and it made dan feel at home not in a place but in a person. he’d had one of the best weeks of his life, and phil only added to it, giving him a warm, lovely feeling he couldn’t quite describe. finally, he felt like everything in his life was perfectly balanced, and all he knew to be true was that he never wanted it to end.

summary: dan grew up in a normal 1930s london family with his parents and little brother. everything was completely and utterly normal… until the bombs started dropping. When dan was fifteen his father went off to war, and when he was sixteen he and his brother hayden were sent off to a foster family in rural england. he looked up at the stars and couldn’t help but wonder how something that beautiful could exist in such a broken world. just when he thought things would never get better, dan met phil, and he became the shining star of his life. but when phil turned eighteen and went off to war, dan couldn’t help but wonder when, if ever, the stars would twinkle the same way again.

rating: t

genre: angst, fluff, history au, strangers to lovers, teenagers

whole fic warnings: warfare (not descriptive), bombings, fire, panic attacks, ptsd, epilepsy/seizures, homophobia, death chapter warnings: n/a

chapter word count: 1.6k total word count: 24.3k

read it on ao3 read it on wattpad fic masterlist

The three boys each spent their afternoons in their independent rooms. Hayden was resting, with Dan checking in on him every half hour or so. It was a brief process, Dan just poking his head in to make sure the boy seemed alright. The rest of Dan’s afternoon was spent deep in thought dedicated to the struggles of the poor boy next door. He’d taken an emotional blow on the hill that he needed the afternoon alone to recover from, and that left Phil alone too.

It wasn’t until Margo called them down for dinner that any of them spoke. “Can I talk to you for a second, Hayden?” Dan said, pulling him back as Phil passed them by. He looked up at Dan with sad eyes as he awaited a conversation topic. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said monotonously. “I feel completely normal now; don’t worry about me.” He gave Dan a smile that was obviously just to prove his point and ran off down the stairs. Dan stood for a second, unsure as to whether or not to believe him, but he obviously didn’t want Dan to have to worry about him. He went downstairs and watched Hayden scarf down his dinner, deciding he was definitely acting normal enough.

“Hey, do you want to go back up to the hill?” Phil asked Dan as they left the kitchen after filling up on ham. “Just the two of us. I think you need a break.”

Dan sighed. “I guess.”

In a moment’s time, they were coasting up the hill in the dim evening light. The sun was still out, but Dan could tell it would be setting soon. Phil parked the truck at the top of the hill, and walked around to sit in the truck bed rather than climb the tree. Dan assumed he thought Dan’s short term memory would be triggered by the tree. He didn’t exactly appreciate the special treatment, but knowing it was out of a place of love, he climbed into the bed beside him.

“I’m sorry I made you bring Hayden up here. I should have known whatever weird premonition you had would be right.”

“Don’t be. You wouldn’t have known. He loved it up until-you know. Besides, I should be thanking you. You may have saved his life.”

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t have needed saving if I hadn’t endangered it in the first place.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Dan said, wrapping his arms around the neck of his counterpart. “You did a good thing today. Thank God you were there.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

Their lips connected in a sort of a make up kiss for a fight that never happened. It was short, but it somehow managed to melt all his stress away in the split second that it existed. They settled back into the truck bed and watched the sun set in front of them. It was an uncharacteristically cold night, so it didn’t take long for Dan to get chilly. “Do you want to go inside? I’m cold.”

Phil exhaled, rolling his eyes. “I’m so glad you said something; I’m freezing. Why is it this damn cold in June?”

“I know, right?” Dan said, suddenly widening his eyes. “Is it really June already?”

“Somehow, yeah.”

“Wow.” Dan thought of his upcoming birthday and sighed. He used to love his birthday, but after his last traumatic birthday, he preferred not to think about it at all. He shook his head and smiled at Phil as they climbed into the truck. “Best six months of my life.”

About a week passed uneventfully. Dan’s birthday was fast approaching, although he didn’t mention it to anyone. He was spending most of his time with Phil, but he was doing his best to make time for Hayden as well. The day before his birthday, Dan followed Hayden to his room after breakfast with the intent of spending the morning with him. “What do you want to do this morning?” he asked, grinning.

“Actually,” Hayden said, absentmindedly putting some folded clothes in his dresser. “Phil was going to teach me to play football this morning.”

“Ready, Hayden?” Phil said, peeking in beside him. “Oh, hey Dan.”

“Hey?” Dan said, pleasantly surprised.

“Let’s go!” Hayden exclaimed, rushing to Phil’s side. The two of them disappeared down the stairs, leaving Dan to stand in awe for a moment. Eventually he followed them down the stairs and outside, where Phil was showing Hayden some technique. Dan thought back to playing football with Hayden in the London streets a year or so ago. They’d never been very good, but they’d had fun. Dan hadn’t even known until then that he was interested in playing football, nor that Phil had the skills to teach him.

Dan slipped inside and grabbed the radio and its table, bringing them both outside and setting them down beside the rocking chair on the porch, where he rested. He turned on a jazz station and watched as they kicked the ball around. Dan was still in shock from the fact that Phil had taken the initiative to spend a morning with his brother.

They’d set up a couple makeshift goals with sticks at either end of their ‘field’, and they started playing a bit of a mini game. Phil was obviously going easy on Hayden, but that almost made it even cuter. A part of Dan was crying out for him to join the Howell team and destroy Phil, but an even bigger part was telling him that he was perfect right where he was, and watching them play was bringing him a sense of ease he hadn’t felt in a while. It was like he was Hayden’s widowed mother, and Phil was the man he’d found refuge in. He was making an effort, and that was everything.

The game was slow for a while, but then Hayden began to get into a groove. Dan watched as he scored his first goal and began jumping up and down from joy. “I did it!” he shouted, and Dan cheered from the porch, smiling so wide he wasn’t sure he was physically capable of stopping. There was a certain, soft happiness from the morning that couldn’t be replicated. It was pure, it was real, and it was love.

The three chose to spend the afternoon together, Dan and Hayden teaching Phil one of their favorite card games before they returned back outside to play hacky sack. The day was nonstop and eventful, in the best way possible, and the serotonin and adrenaline didn’t stop flowing on maximum until they were back on the hill. They were in the truck bed, as they’d taken to it instead of the tree. It wasn’t because of Dan’s possible fears; it was simply more comfortable. In the moist, summer air, neither of them wanted to use the energy to climb the tree. They enjoyed it on occasion, but more often than not they chose the truck bed.

“Hey, Phil?” Dan said while he was in Phil’s arms, turning his head up to Phil as the sun was setting.

“Mmm?” Phil responded, his hair blowing back from his head in the breeze as he looked down at Dan.

“Thanks for hanging out with Hayden today.”

“No problem,” he said, leaning his head back to its resting position.

“No, really,” Dan said, drawing Phil’s eye contact back. “I really appreciate that you’re putting in effort to get closer to him. It really says to me that you care about me, and that means a lot to me.”

“Well, you’re kind of a two for one, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad you know.” Dan smiled a pure smile up at him, and Phil smiled back. Phil shifted his head down, connecting their lips, and they simply didn’t disconnect until one of them had to gasp for air. Dan hadn’t a clue how they’d gotten there, but suddenly neither of them could tear himself away from the other. Adrenaline coursed through Dan’s veins as he ran his hands through Phil’s hair, feeling Phil’s hands on his own back. It was a release of stress neither of them even knew they had, and Dan didn’t know how much he needed it until he had it.

When they finally pulled apart, they pressed their foreheads together, a smile on each face. “Damn, I love you,” Phil said, his voice deeper than Dan had ever heard it before.

“I love you too,” Dan replied in between sharp breaths. There was a sexual tension in the air they mutually chose to ignore for the time being, instead choosing to revel in the moment. Eventually they relaxed into a cuddling position in the truck bed, hand in hand as they pointed out the planets and constellations. They even created their own constellations, Dan pointing out one in the shape of a heart. It was a moment that could only be described with the simple word ‘warmth’. Dan felt warm, both physically and emotionally, somehow. There was a warm happiness about the evening, and it made Dan feel at home not in a place but in a person. He’d had one of the best weeks of his life, and Phil only added to it, giving him a warm, lovely feeling he couldn’t quite describe. Finally, he felt like everything in his life was perfectly balanced, and all he knew to be true was that he never wanted it to end.

#phan #phanfic #phanfiction #phic stuff #stars #chapter 18 #dong and ping

8 notes · View notes

blueeyedbesson · 5 years

Text

Taking You: Chapter 21

21: War Paint

Series Masterlist Masterlist

By the time Tuesday rolled around, I had a better idea of how to be a band manager. Tyler taught me all the smaller details and helped me walkthrough it.

"The boys still don't know about this, do they?" I asked Tyler as we sat in the bus and waited for the boys to come back from sound check.

"Not yet. When they get back, I'm sure they're going to ask what's next for them and that is when you'll tell them the rest of their schedule for the day. Which shouldn't be hard since its literally just sitting at the beach until they have to get ready for the show."

"Thanks, Tyler. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"No. Thank you, Abby. I really need this break." he smiled and I hugged him.

"We're back." Jack cheered as he walked onto the bus with the boys and the girls. I pulled away from the hug just in time to see Jonah walking over to us.

"Hey Tyler. What's on the schedule for today?" he asked. Tyler just looked at me and smiled. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing." I smiled and looked at the schedule. "You just have a few hours to spend at the beach until you have to be back in time for the show tonight."

"And why are you telling us all of this?" Jack wondered.

"She's gonna take over for me for a few days as your manager." Tyler replied.

"Why?"

"Because he needed a break and I wanted to give him one. He was getting stressed out."

"Is that what's been going on for the past 2 days?" Jonah asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah. You don't need to worry." I kissed his cheek and earned a smile in return.

"Good. I don't want to lose you."

"You're cute." I giggled.

"I heard that we're going to the beach so let's go get ready." Belle cheered as everyone ran into the back room to grab their clothes. I already had my bikini on under my clothes so I stayed in my spot at the table. Tyler rested his head on the wall and looked at me.

"Think you can handle it?" he smiled.

"Yeah. Thanks again for teaching me what I need to know."

"No problem."

"1 ready, 8 to go." Daniel smirked as he was the first one ready. "It's going to be fun."

~~~~~~~~

"You can't do that. It's not fair." I laughed as Jonah and Jack threw me over their shoulders and carried me into the ocean. Jonah handed me to Jack and he dropped me in the water. "You're both supposed to love me, you assholes."

"We do love you. That's why we wanted you to you us in the water, dude." Jack laughed as he helped Gabbie onto his shoulders. Daniel pulled Aubrielle up onto his shoulders and they began a game of chicken. I swam over to the others and splashed Zach. He tried to fight back but got Belle instead.

"Jerk." she giggled and they started a splashing war.

"You're chaotic." Corbyn laughed as we watched everything that was going on around us.

"I try my best." I smirked and looked over at Jonah. He was helping Angel onto his shoulders while Zach hoisted Gabbie up onto his.

"You're going down, Gonzalez." Angel laughed as they began the fight.

"Jack, can you be my partner against the winner?" I asked him and he nodded. Just then, Angel went into the water. "Looks like you gotta go against your girlfriend."

"You got this, Abby." he smirked and easily pulled me up onto his shoulders.

"And go!" Jonah shouted and stepped back a bit so we could begin. I grabbed onto Gabbie's arm and we started pushing each other. A few moments later, we were both landing in the water. "That looked like a tie."

"Gabbie hit the water first." Jack laughed and held onto his girlfriend.

"No, Abby hit the water first." Zach replied.

"You're the judge Jonah. You decide."

"He's going to pick his girlfriend. We need a judge who isn't dating or related to any of the contestants. Aubrielle, can you decide?" Zach asked as he looked over at her.

"Okay. Um..." she began and looked at us. "Sorry Abby. I saw you hit the water 0.3 seconds before Gabbie."

"Thanks for being a fair judge." I smiled and swam over to Jonah. "Would you have said I won?"

"Yeah." he smiled then whispered into my ear. "But only because she hit the water before you."

"I love you."

"I love you too." he smiled and pulled me close. "I don't want to creep you out but Eben is looking at you and I don't like it."

"Awe, Jonah. You're so cute." I giggled. "Eben is the least of your worries, my dear. I love you more than anyone."

"I just love you so much & you've known Eben longer than any of us. You two have a connection & I'm afraid that it'll grow."

"It definitely won't, I promise you."

"Good." he smirked and kissed me.

~~~~~~~~~~

I sat backstage with the other girls, Eben and Tyler as we watched the boys perform. My 5 favorite guys are up on that stage, doing what they love and they are doing so great. I honestly couldn't be more proud of them.

"I can't believe you're the manager for the week." Eben smiled as he sat next to me.

"How is that going?" Angel asked.

"It's going well. Tyler has taught me everything he knows and I'm so happy that I get to help someone I care about."

"Again, thank you for doing this for me. It was stressing me out a little." Tyler smiled and put his hand on my arm. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." I smiled and rested my head against him. "I know what you mean though. It does get stressful."

"You're doing great sweetie." he smiled in return.

"The boys are doing great too." Aubrielle smiled and stared out at the stage.

"Look at my baby go." Gabbie stared in amazement as Jack danced on the stage.

"You guys are so cute together."

"Jabbie is definitely my favorite couple." I smiled, earning a chorus of 'same' from everyone.

"I don't know. Arbyn was my favorite." Eben said as he looked down at me, causing Angel to raise her eyebrow and look at him. "Don't hate me. I'm just stating a fact."

"You only like Arbyn because Corbyn didn't really stop you from flirting with Abby." Tyler chuckled. "You know that Jonah will not hesitate to kick your ass if you even think about his girlfriend."

"True. But Arbyn was cuter, no offense Abby."

"None taken."

"Thank you Chicago. You guys were amazing. Goodnight everybody." Zach cheered as he ran off the stage and went straight into Belle's arms. It was so cute.

"You guys were amazing. Wow." Aubrielle greeted the boys. Jonah came and plopped himself across Tyler, Eben and I.

"Damn bro. You're heavy." Eben groaned and tried pushing him off.

"He weighs the most out of the boys." I sighed and joined in helping Eben push him off.

"Do not push me off Abby. If you do, I swear I'll never speak to you again." Jonah chuckled and grabbed my legs tightly.

"You would never." I smirked and looked down at him.

"Try me, bro." Jonah smiled and held onto my legs. Tyler smiled and helped us push him down. "No longer talking to either of them." Jonah said and pointed to the 3 of us on the couch. Everyone laughed.

"You can't just ignore your girlfriend, bro." Zach chuckled. I got down and laid on top of Jonah.

"I love you. Don't hate me." I pouted and stared down at his face. He looked away from me. "Well, if you don't want to talk to me, I guess I'll just spend my time with Eben."

"I don't think so." he stood up fast but held onto me so I didnt fall down. "You're my girl & my girl only. Stay away Eben."

"Relax bro. I'm not interested in your girlfriend."

"I know. But I'm just saying. Just in case you decide that you want her at one point."

"Jonah, come with me for a second." I grabbed his hand and brought him into the dressing room.

"What are we doing in here, babe?"

"Do you feel threatened about how close I am to Eben?"

"Yeah. I think I made that pretty clear earlier at the beach." he sighed. "I don't want anyone looking at you the way he always does."

"Jonah, it shouldn't matter how anyone looks at me. I'm never going to leave you." I smiled and placed my hand on his cheek. His instinct kicked in and he leaned into my palm. "You're always my #1, behind Jack, of course."

"You mean a lot to me, Abby. But what happens if one day, you get tired of me and decide you really do want to be with Eben?"

"Jonah, that's never going to happen. Believe me. If i wanted to be with Eben, I would've stayed with him."

"What do you mean?"

"If I honestly wanted to be with Eben, I never would've broken up with him back in middle school."

"You and Eben dated?"

"Yeah. Like 6 years ago for a few months. I've mentioned this several times."

"No you haven't. Not to me anyway." he sighed and looked down at me. "I-i thought you were never interested in him."

"I never said I wasn't ever interested in him. I said I wasn't interested in him now."

"How am I supposed to believe that?"

"Come on, Jonah. Would I ever lie to you?"

"I don't know. You've been covering up a lot recently."

"No I haven't. I've always been honest with you."

"Bullshit."

"What's gotten into you lately? I thought coming on this tour was going to be fun because I got to be around the guy I love. But the last few days, all you've been doing is feeling threatened by the friendships I have. The keyword there being FRIENDSHIPS Jonah."

"I thought you coming on tour would be fun too. But then I learned that not 1, but 2 of your ex boyfriends are also on the tour."

"What am I supposed to do about that? One of them is your bandmate & the other one is somebody who YOU asked to join you on tour. I can't exactly stay away from them."

"It's be easier if you weren't around."

"Fine then. If that's what you want, I'll leave the tour." I sighed and looked at him for some sort of response. When he didn't give me one, I turned towards the door.

"Abby..."

"What Jonah? What could you possibly want now? Are you gonna bring up some more of my mistakes & secrets? Because that'd be great." I rolled my eyes and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry. I never should be said that. P-please don't leave me."

"It's too late for an apology Jonah. I already got my mind set on leaving. It's crystal clear that you don't want me around anymore so what's the point in staying?"

"I don't want you to leave. I'm just an idiot. Please don't leave."

"Jonah, if i stay, do you promise to stop getting jealous of Eben, Corbyn and even Tyler?"

"Yes. I promise. I promise a million times."

"Do you promise to stop bringing up my past?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"I love you Jonah. You need to understand that."

"I do, I do. I swear I'll never doubt your love again." he got down on his knees and held my legs. "I love you too & I want to show you just how sorry I am."

He stood up quickly and looked at me with a look of fire and lust in his eyes I've never seen before.

Were we fixed? Was everything going to be okay?

Liked by jonahmarais, seaveydaniel, BbyAngMarais and 346,972 others

abbyavery: no matter what challenges we face, no matter how rocky this relationship becomes, I want you to know that I'm always gonna come back to you. i love you so much hoenah & I hope you never ever forget that @jonahmarais 😚💕

jonahmarais: i love you so damn much. you are my angel & you make me so happy 💕💕 jackaverymusic : just a heads up @jonahmarais if you break her heart, i break your face 👊🏻 abbyavery: awe @jackaverymusic I love you so much 😊❤ jonahmarais: don't worry @jackaverymusic. i don't plan on it 😊 abbyavery: ^ily dork 😙 fanuser03: these are cute. I love polaroids tatedoll: 💜💛💜💛 AubrieBesson04: ^ @tatedoll why are you here? leave Jonah and Abby alone. they're happy and don't need you to ruin it like you ruined my relationship with him 😒🖕 fanuser06: #jonaby is goals. so jealous of you 2 ❤ abbyavery: i love you @AubrieBesson04 😊💕 seaveydaniel: you are cute @jonahmarais 😍😚 jonahmarais: i love you @seaveydaniel ❤ seaveydaniel: more than @abbyavery ? 🤔 jonahmarais: @seaveydaniel you bet 😉😍 abbyavery: @seaveydaniel @jonahmarais rude 😒😭💔

Tags: @ijustreallylovethem @samithepixie @averysgarl @jackaverybabe @trustfundshawn @lovableherron @beautybesson @jackaverx @scenteddanielseavey @beccagraceseavey @dolantwinmagconwhydontwestan-de @lilah-or-lily @dailydoseofherron @hales-a-bells @obsessedlittleangel-deactivated @zaddydaniel @brizzebesson @ramenavery@splendidseavey@smilingseavey@ilovejackavery@polaroidseavey @poutyavery @loveherron23 @sleepybesson

#taking you #chapter 21 #war paint #why dont we fanfic

6 notes · View notes

saythename-kpopaus · 6 years

Text

Cosmic Showdown ~ Chapter 1

[summary] [ch.2]

This series was inspired by my Seventeen high school AU.

A/N: i’m sorry to everyone on mobile who can’t see the ‘keep reading’ link!

Word Count: 1k

Genre/warnings: sci-fi, apocalyptic, humor, angst, death

Click here for my masterlist!

I was convinced that the world was ending.

See, I had woken up at least an hour late on a gloomy Monday morning. I basically sprinted halfway to school before realizing that I left my bag, lunch, and field trip form at home, so I had to go back to get it.

And it was just my luck, that as soon as I left home again, the dark clouds that had been gathering for some time decided to piss an ocean of icy tears. To top off my perfect morning, I stood at the front of a full math class, completely soaked and an hour late.

My dramatic entrance was met with an amused smirk from my teacher—Mr. Abbott—and quiet giggles from my classmates. A searing heat of embarrassment shot up my neck and painted my cheeks a bright pink. I kept my head down to avoid the dozens of piercing gazes as I made my way to Mr. Abbott’s messy desk. Water droplets from my untamed hair and wrinkled clothes fell to the ground with each step I took, marking my legacy down on the floor.

“Here,” I muttered, digging a hand into my damp backpack to reveal a thankfully dry field trip form.

Mr. Abbott frowned and said, “This was due last week,” but took it anyways.

“I know,” I nodded sheepishly. “I, um...I forgot. Can I come today on the field trip or is it too late?”

He sighed, taking out a list of the students going and adding my name at the bottom in neat handwriting.

Elise Mayuri.

“This is the last time I’m ever doing this for you,” Mr. Abbott said as he waved his pen in my face. “If you ever hand in a form late again, you’re not going. Mark my words.”

He then waved his pen towards the desks. “Take a seat. We’re just working on some textbook problems.”

Just as a weight lifted off my shoulders, another one immediately took its place.

There was nowhere to sit.

My usual seat at the back of the class had been taken by the school’s bad boy, Wen Junhui. Judging by the way he had thrown his feet up on the desk, he probably made a permanent home there.

I didn’t like Junhui in the slightest. He had a terrible attitude; he was rude and unhealthily arrogant.

Now, I won’t lie—he was quite handsome. With sharp facial features, mischievous dark brown eyes and a muscular body, he really did seem like everybody’s dream boyfriend. But in the way that his personality reeked, his physical scent was much, much worse. The smell of designer cologne and car oil was so pungent on him that even when I was five meters away from him, I still managed to gag.

I kept on scanning the room until my eyes landed on the only empty seat. It was the desk beside Sung...Sung something. That guy I really liked. The one who was definitely cuter than Wen Junhui.

That’s also another thing worth nothing. Not that I liked him or thought that he was cute, but how I forgot his name.

I had a habit of forgetting.

I always forgot everything: names, dates, what I was going to say, passwords, phone numbers, where I parked, and the list goes on, and on, and on. I’ve tried making myself remember things by putting constant reminders on my phone or by writing it down, but I can’t write down my crush’s name on my hands or notebook. That would just be creepy.

“What are you doing?” Mr. Abbott. asked, clearly agitated. “You’re already late and the class is almost over. Hurry up and take a seat. There’s one beside Sungcheol.”

At the mention of his name, Sungcheol’s eyes flickered from his phone to me, then to Mr. Abbott, and then back to his phone. The hood of his football sweatshirt was pulled over his forehead, making his overgrown bangs look messy and wild. He rested his cheek in one calloused hand as he lazily scrolled down on his phone, the screen painting his face an eerie shade of blue.��

Why does he look so good? I thought to myself. Even when he doesn’t try to look good, he always fails. Every time.

I scurried like a mouse towards the desk, shooting daggers from my eyes at Junhui. His response was a cheeky smirk followed by a wink.

Taking a seat in the broken plastic chair, I took out my notebook, pencil, and heavy math textbook before throwing my bag underneath the desk.

Anyone who knew me knew that I had a huge crush on Choi Sungcheol, the school’s number one jock. Being near Sungcheol sent violent waves of adrenaline coursing through my veins; it made my heartbeat erratic and my hands tremble. He was a literal prince charming, and an all-around ladies man.

I really liked him. Like, really, really liked him. The only problem is that I could never remember his name. Sometimes I would ask to borrow a pencil from him or run into him in the hallways, and I would always get his name wrong.

The first time I asked him for a pencil, I called him Trevor. The second time I asked him, I called him Henry. When I ran into him in the hallways in March— and this was after we had been in the same class for seven months—I called him Norbert.

I gave up trying to talk to him after that.

The sound of Sungcheol’s honeyed chuckles pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to look at him, thinking that he was laughing at me—thinking that he was humored by how quickly I had prepared myself or was just trying to start a conversation, but I was wrong.

He was laughing at a stupid meme on his phone.

And just like that, my Monday went from bad to terrible in a matter of six words.

“Hey Hansol,” Sungcheol whispered and leaned across the aisle, “check out this meme.”

~ Admin Calypso {｡^◕‿◕^｡}

#seventeen #svt #seventeen fanfic #svt fanfic #jun #scoups #vernon #seungkwan #high school #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #choi sungcheol #chwe hansol #wen junhui #boo seungkwan #kpop #kpop fanficition

8 notes · View notes

theres-no-paradise · 6 years

Text

Sorry not Sorry

Chapter 7

Summary: A random number wakes you up early on a Saturday morning. But it doesn't stop there. The stranger keeps on sending messages, and you have no idea what is happening, when you start to develop feelings for the unknown person.

Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader [submit your name: How it works]

Y/N your Name

Y/F your friends name

Word Count: 1726

Chapter 8

Warnings: There will be swearing for sure, lots of sarcasm

A/N: And here we have Chapter 7! Sorry for the delay though, I needed to change some things and wasn't happy with the outcome yesterday. I hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think :)

You both sat in silence for a moment, trying to understand what the words exactly meant which you just said a few minutes ago. ‘He is here’, you repeated these three words in your mind over and over like a mantra, searching through the crowds of people for a face that seemed to be familiar but you knew, that wouldn't happen. You had no idea who Tom was, what his face looked like, nor what colour his hair had. You didn't know anything and it turned you mad as you were looking at each person in the room. While you searched for him, Y/F wanted to know more about it.

“Are you serious? Where? How? Why?”, were the words she threw at you, nearly as hysterical as you felt.

“I don’t know! He texted me that he’s in his favourite Pub which apparently is this one!”, you answered a little fierce, your eyes glaring through the pub in hope to recognize him somehow.

“Oh God. But how do we know who he is?”, Y/F asked the question, you've been trying to answer to yourself for the past few minutes. Maybe a huge blinking light would appear over his head or he’d just stare back at you and you’d know automatically that it was him. You know, just as in all this Soulmate Stories. But honestly, none of that would happen. You didn't know how he looked and he had no idea who you were. So how were you supposed to find out, who of these dozens of men was Tom.

“His friend’s at the restroom … so maybe-”, you remembered from his Text and Y/F continued: “If we see who comes out we can actually check where he’s going!”

It was a good idea, but you started to feel bad about this whole thing. You weren't ready yet to meet the guy you texted with for the past weeks. Not even a bit.

“Urgh, I feel sick. Can we leave?”

“No way! I actually wanna see the guy who’s been stealing your time for so long”, your best friend insisted and gave you a serious look.

“But Y/F … I don't think it's a good idea to stay. This is so … unplanned”, you tried to convince her but she shrugged it off. “And that's the best way to get to know each other. Oh look! Cute guy alert coming from the restroom. You think this is the friend? What's his name again? Haz?”, the name dropped a little too loud and the guy with the light hair and bright blue eyes turned around, catching a glimpse of the girl that was none other than Y/F. Your face was as red as a tomato and you slapped Y/Fs arm lightly. “Stop it!!”, you whisper shouted.

“Sorry”.

Your phone buzzed and caught your attention again. “I can't read it, I’m too anxious. You do it; I really can't because I might throw up”, you said, shoving the device in your best friends direction, so she could take it.

Then Y/F read the message, only loud enough for you to hear.

Not Tom Hardy :(: Cat got your tongue? Where you at? Home?

Y/F waited for your reaction but there was none. You sat there, silent and looking quickly at your hands that were holding the glass of beer in front of you. Then, as you sat there, your face started to change colours from deep red to white as your gaze got stuck on the guy who reacted to the name ‘Haz’. He just sat down on the bench in the far back corner of the Pub, another guy sitting opposite of him, typing something into his phone while the blue-eyed friend said something. He turned in his seat and looked around until he found your table, saying something to his friend, that still stared at his mobile. You gulped as realization started to hit slowly.

Not Tom Hardy :(: Haz is back. I’ll text you later since you seem to be busy.

As Y/F read the second text, she caught your stare and followed suit but what you didn’t expect was for the guy to look up from his phone and stare back at you immediately. Y/F’s eyes widened as she looked over to the table and then she said something, that made you feel even more nauseous: “Hey, isn't that actually the new Spiderman guy?”

“I think I have to vomit.”

“What?”

You stood up and walked quickly to the restrooms. Closing the door behind you, you breathed in and out. It couldn't be. He couldn't be the guy you've been texting for the past month, right? This was not the Tom, was it? Tom Holland? Really?

No, you were overreacting once again and your brain was making up things. You were so stressed out, that you even forgot your phone on the table. How silly.

After refreshing yourself with some water, you walked back to your table where Y/F waiting for you with a confused look on her face. As you were about to sit down, a voice from behind startled you. “Can we talk?” Y/F mouth dropped and her eyes went wide and so did yours, once you turned your face to see to whom the voice that spoke, belonged to.

Since you couldn't get a word out, you just nodded and followed the guy, that you recognized from earlier, outside.

“Hi”

Awkward silence.

“I always imagined to meet you under different circumstances but here we are I guess …”, he said after a few minutes of standing next to you. You didn't know what to answer and you definitely didn't know how to react. Stare at him or the streetlamp that was surrounded by a dozen of moths and other insects, that were drawn to the light? Maybe just observe the people that were walking by? Oh and this advert on the wall looked suddenly very interesting. At some point the silence made you feel very awkward and you saw Tom looking at you, waiting for a return probably.

“I … You … Uh … So- you really are Tom Holland, huh? Who would've guessed …?”, you stuttered and moved around awkwardly. Moments like this made you very nervous, so you had to shift a little around with your feet. “Are you surprised?” “Surprised? Tom, I am shocked. I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack because I feel so … so …” “Exposed?”, he finished your sentence as you were at a loss for words.

“Yes!”

“Yeah that's how I kinda feel, too”, he admitted, still looking at you.

“This is so weird”

“I know right. But hey, at least I know you’re real! And I gotta be honest, you don't look like you're 25”, he laughed. It seemed that the whole situation was a lot easier for him than you. Maybe joking around made him less nervous, who knew.

“Yeah and you look like you're still in High School”, you countered, earning a loud and heartily laugh from the boy next to you.

“Hey, that hurts! But I guess it is really you since you haven't lost your humour”, smiling, he nudged you a little. “I'm still freaked out about this situation though.”

“No need to be. We can just pretend that we’ve known each other for a while.”he came forward with the proposal, but you only laughed nervously.

“Good Joke. You do realize that I'm still about to lose my shit since I'm talking to fucking Spider Man, right?”

“Then just talk to Tom”, was his simple answer.

You stared at him once again, taking everything in you could. His hair, eyes, nose and lips. The shape of his jaw, height and overall stature. You had to admit, he was even cuter in real life than all the movies you've seen him in before. And he seemed to be definitely the nice guy you got to know while texting. Would you give it a shot and keep the conversation going or would you leave him be since he was out of your league? It was Tom Holland after all.

After what felt like a hundred years, Tom’s voice sounded once again: “Wanna go back inside? Its getting a little crowded.” “Yeah, I think I’ll head home anyway. This was a lot to take in tonight”, you admitted and followed Tom back inside with a sunken head. You felt horrible, self - conscious and absolutely not in the mood for more surprises. Tom nodded and headed straight back to the booth were his friend, Haz, was waiting for him. You sat down at the table you’ve occupied earlier together with Y/F. “So? What did you guys talk about?”, she asked curiously. The shock she seemed to have earlier was obviously gone but your heart still beating at a fast rate. “Nothing really. I’m still to overwhelmed right now”, you admitted and finished off your drink. “Do you think, we should join their table?”, your best friend asked, her eyes shiny as brilliants. “I’d rather not.”

“Why?”

“I just don't want to bother him any longer tonight and I also feel sick”

“I bet you aren't bothering him”

You didn't say anything for a few more minutes which made Y/F fretful, as she twitched around in her seat, waiting for a reaction on your side. “I'm going home” “Oh cmon, I thought we were going out, clubbing and getting wasted? It's been so long” “No, really, I need some time for myself now. I’m really sorry”, and with that you left a twenty Pound bill on the table and left the Pub without looking one last time to the back. You felt them, though. The stares. The brown eyes that belonged to Tom were watching every move you made, as you walked out of the building.

Not Tom Hardy :(: I hope we don't stop talking

You: Did I ever stop answering you?

Not Tom Hardy :(: Gladly you didn't

You: Does that answer your question?

Not Tom Hardy :(: :)

As you read the last message, you figured it was time to change Tom’s Contact Name. You deleted ‘Not Tom Hardy :(‘ and smiled as the new name appeared on the screen of the chat after changing it.

The Spiderman

TAGLIST: I hope everyone’s appearing here. If your link doesn’t work, let me know and I do my best to keep this updated :) @hollandorks @beardedsteveslut @ilivefortomholland @casualprincess77 @agirlwithpointlessideas @isabellamozarella03 @MENDES-HOLLAND @thiswildfire @wastedheartnat @hollandbaby @moonofmy-life @smileylaurens @random-fandom-lady @heartoftheadventure @blackazkaban @augurydemon @homecomjng @punkass-potato @unfoldingdaydreams @thefriendlyneighborhoodspidey

#sorry not sorry #sns #tom holland #tom holland imagines #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x reader #haz osterfield #haz osterfield fanfiction

92 notes · View notes

choco-chip-cookie · 7 years

Text

SugarDaddy!Cal Pt. 17

A/N: Helloooo. So, it's sad to say that I was so excited for this chapter that I wrote half of it before even finishing 16 lmaoo, but I want to lightly blow your beautiful minds with this part. I've already written the next chapter so I can have a head start on you guys. As always, get this to 100 notes and send me feedback and I hope you enjoy💕

**WARNING**: Smuutt

One/ Two/ Three/ Four/Five/Six/Seven/Eight/ Nine/Ten/Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen/Fourteen/Fifteen Sixteen/ Seventeen/ Eighteen/ Nineteen/Twenty{END}

It was awkwardly quiet as the three of you sat in your living room. Connor and Felix were sat beside each other stiffly, looking out of the corner of their eye to sneakily see if the other was looking. You on the other hand were sitting in your bean bag chair beyond annoyed that this was the first time they've seen each other in over a month and had nothing to say. Not even a simple hello.

"Well, yall waisting all of my time, but we're not going anywhere until you talk so..." you shrugged your shoulders, pulled out your phone from your bra, and curled into the large chair while tugging a fluffy blanket over your frame.

"So....how have you been?" Felix scratched the back of his neck and Connor scoffed at the obvious question.

"How do you think? My boyfriend of almost a four years left me and hasn't spoken a word to me for over a month."

"Oh."

"Really, Felix?" You sighed."Just oh?"

"I told you I had nothing to say to him." He shrugged and you knew that simple action would get Connor riled up.

If there was one main thing you had in common with the blonde boy, it was that you both could go from 0-100 within a blink of an eye.

"So you don't miss me? Miss us?" Connor was hurt that Felix was making this seem so pointless. It was if he already knew that he wasn't going to try to make them happen again. "I've been going through hell and all you have to say is "oh"."

"Connor-"

"No, don't Connor me. How are you so calm about this?! Do you not love me anymore or something because you need to just tell me right now so I can just stop wasting my time and feeling my heart break all over again!"

Tears coated his blue orbs as he stared into the hazel eyes of his ex- lover, hoping that something would make him recognize that he wasn't done loving him. That he didn’t want to give up and wanted to try again. Felix showed no emotion on his face, however, and it was starting to piss you off as well. After all the boy had told you about Connor, he didn't have the guts to say it to him.

"Now all that shit you were telling me about how you missed him and regret leaving him, but now that he's here you won't say it?"

Sighing, Felix began to twiddle his thumbs. He knew that he missed Connor and wanted him back and he definitely could tell Connor felt the same. The problem was that he wasn't sure that they wouldn't end up in the same place they were in now. Felix couldn't take this a second time.

"Felix I'm sorry, okay? I know I didn't appreciate you as much as I should've and I know that...I know that it seemed as if I had you looking stupid, but I swear I never cheated on you. I've never even thought about it."

"I know, Connor, but...I don't want to feel like a second choice. I should be a number one priority, not the partying and drinking and all of the other stuff that doesn't matter in life."

"I know, baby, I know." Connor couldn't control the tears that continuously flowed down his pale cheeks."I can't be without you, Fee. You keep me grounded and I just-"

Tears sprung to the dark haired boy’s eyes at the sight of his ex. Connor, the ray of sunshine that hardly ever cried, the life of the party, the guy who was always there for him whenever he needed him the most, was sat in front of him sobbing. He's never seen him shed more than a couple of tears from watching a movie within his four years of knowing him, so this shook him to the core.

"Connor's sorry, Fee. You can see that he really means it. Just take him back, try this again. You can't seriously want to throw away almost four years without even trying to fix it first." You spoke softly as you watched the older boy's tears finally fall.

Felix gave in to his heart and pulled Connor into his arms, caressing his back as he cried into his chest. They sat there and cried together, pretending that you weren't even in the room anymore. You watched the two proudly as Felix whispered comforting words and "I love you" into the blonde's ear. You stood to go into your room and give them a little more privacy, and as you walked away to see Felix pressing a kiss to Connor's forehead, you knew they were going to be okay.

"You know we could get caught and then you're going to be in deep shit with your manager." You smirked at Calum as you teased him about his strict rules.

You were out shopping alone out of boredom when you had spotted Calum and Nicole in a store that you loved. You were going to avoid him, deciding it would be better to listen to David, but once Calum made eye contact with you, you knew that you were a goner. You saw him talking to Nicole and point towards the exit, so you picked up your slow pace to get away before he could find you.

"Y/N!"

You were just about jogging at this point, swiftly dodging the people in your way. Sooner or later Calum finally caught up to you and much to your dismay he pulled into a corner of the mall where the bathrooms were placed. With that being said, it's what lead you to the position you were currently in: your back against the wall with Calum’s body pressed against you.

"We're not going to get caught." He laughed, bringing your hips flush to his by your butt."It's been a long week. I've missed you princess."

"Whatever." You rolled your eyes playfully."You've got somebody to keep your bed warm at night."

"Ashton prefers to sleep in his own bed, actually." Calum joked and you let loud laugh that he adores pass your lips."What have you been up to?"he questioned you and nuzzled his face into your neck, planting open mouth kisses to the base of it.

You let out a sigh of contentment before answering with,"Nothing much. Binge watching tv and trying to fix Connor and Felix's relationship."

"Mmmm, are they okay?"

"For the most part, yeah." You let out a quiet moan when he began to suck onto your hotspot right underneath your ear and pushed him away from you slightly."Isn't your girlfriend waiting on you?"

"I told her I had to pee."

"If we get caught, that's your ass."

"I think you're worth the trouble."

Calum's trailed kisses from your neck, to your jaw, and then eventually your lips. He slipped a leg between your two to get as close to you as possible and let out a grunt when you rolled your hips slightly just to tease him. No one paid the two of you any mind as they passed by, some muttering out for you to get a room. The sound of Calum's phone ringing caused you both to finally pull away for a breath and he sighed when he saw Nicole's name written across the screen.

"Hello? Yeah, yeah, I'm coming....there was a line at the bathroom." The whole time he was talking to her, you were pressing kisses through his shirt, trailing your hand along the waistband of his jeans to mess with him."I'll meet you at the car, okay? Alright, bye."

His hand gripped your wrist as yours tried to make its way into his the confines of his jeans and Calum sent you a smirk.

"Trying to get me hard before I go?"

"You know where to find me if you want to relieve some tension." Was all you replied with, standing on your tip toes to kiss him once again. As he pulled away, you made sure to suckle and bite on his bottom lip since you knew it drove him crazy.

"Fucking hell, Y/N."

"Go on to your car. Little red riding hood is waiting for you."

Luke looked down at your small frame in confusion as you cheesed up at him with a brown paper bag in your hand. You knew you probably looked insane standing at his door at this hour of the night with a large smile adorning your cheeks.

"Why are you smiling so hard?" He laughed and waited as you pulled out a bottle of alcohol.

"I just bought some Hennessy and thought who better to drink this with than the boy who really needs it."

"I don't-"

"Arzaylea's posting pictures of her and some guy and Calum was getting his face devoured by Nicole earlier today." You rolled your eyes as you pushed your way into his apartment, thinking of the picture the fans kept sending to you." We definitely need this."

"I hate the fact that you're right."

After sitting on his floor having a good conversation and multiple swigs later, you were both completely drunk off your ass. Your bodies were warm from the alcohol and your speech was impaired as you drunkenly shared secrets and feelings. You had talked about how hurt you were seeing those pictures of Calum and Nicole out on a date seeming happy and sharing kisses. How you missed when he used to spoil you and treat you like a princess when he took you out on those dates, whether he spent hundreds of dollars or no more than twenty. You even told him about how distant Calum has seem to become within the last few weeks. Luke then proceeded to tell you about how heartbroken he was when he found out Arzaylea had cheated on him and how it all started as a PR, but progressed into something more. Something he thought would last longer than what it actually did.

"I don't know, I don't think I loved her." Luke took another swig of the Hennessy and passed it on to you." Like we were together for a while and we told each other that we loved each other, but...I'm starting to think that maybe I actually never did."

"That's crazy."

"I don't know how to explain it."

"You fucked with her heavy, but you didn't love her, bro." You stumbled over your words."And she damn sholl didn't love you because she cheated so."

"I know."

The more you examined Luke, the cuter he seemed to become within the time. You knew it was the Hennessy messing with your brain, but you suddenly wanted him. Luke was without a doubt attractive and you honestly had thought about what he was like in bed before, but of course you never would go that far. At least until you were alone with him with a shit ton of alcohol in your system like now. Before you knew it, you were leaning into Luke and he allowed your lips to touch in a short meaningless kiss. His fingers tangled themselves in your hair as he pulled your face closer to him and licked your bottom lip for entrance. As you began to make out, you had to push the thought of Calum far back into your mind. Luke didn't even mention his best friend until you were topless and straddling his lap, sucking hickeys into his skin.

"But what about...what about Calum?" He inquired in his drunken state.

"Forget about him."

"But, Y/N-"

You rolled your hips, pressing your plump ass down against his growing erection and caused him to let out a small moan. You had to remind him that he needed this release as well as distraction just as bad as you did.

"Fuck him, he's irrelevant now." You whispered into Luke's ear and practically growled as you told him,"Now fuck me."

That was all it took for the blonde to hop into action, clothes being shed and thrown every which way within minutes. You were both fully naked on the floor of his apartment while sloppily making out, his finger toying with the soft bud between your legs. His touch felt good, but it was different. It didn't feel as great as it did when Calum touched you there and you knew that your body wouldn't react the same, but it didn't matter. Calum had a problematic girlfriend and it had been time for you to move on weeks ago.

"You're already so wet."

"No foreplay." You got onto all fours, arching your back and you looked over your shoulder at the flushed boy."I can't wait."

The minute he slid himself into you, it was as if Calum no longer mattered. Now all you were focused on was getting to your high and helping Luke reach his as well. The sounds of you and Luke's moans along with skin slapping together resonated against the walls. Luke had a tight grip on both your waist and your ass. You couldn’t help but to let out a light laugh when he smacked it a couple of times. You weren't really expecting much roughness from the boy who seemed to be vanilla, but that's definitely what you got. He growled lowly when he pulled out long enough just to flip you onto your back and pushed back in, your head tilting back in ecstasy.

"Fuck, you're so tight." Luke bit his lip, pounding into you roughly and you felt your orgasm coming quicker than expected." I can feel you clenching. You gonna cum for me, Y/N?"

"Fuck, yes."

Luke's hand went to grip your throat, much like Calum did, and you knew you'd be reaching your high any moment now. You had a handful of his golden locks as he sucked onto the skin of your neck and pounded into you. Your hips rolled up to meet with the blonde boy's and moments later you let out a loud moan as you came around him.

"Shit." Luke breathed out at how tight you clenched around him at that second and rubbed your clit to have your orgasm last a few moments longer.

You held your hand up to stop his hips and moved away from him to force him against the wall. Once he was in position, you straddled his lap and sunk back down onto him. You rode Luke in a wave of up and down, occasionally grinding your hips in a circular motion. His eyes were squeezed shut and he held you close enough to him so that he could suck on your nipple. You knew that you would be sore there in the morning from his grip, but you really didn't mind.

"Are you gonna cum for me?" You moaned into his ear and bounced a bit harder, enjoying the sounds that were emitting from his swollen lips."Cum for me, baby. Let me feel you."

"Oh my God."

Luke let out an animalistic groan as he came deep inside of you and you slowly helped him ride out his orgasm. Luke just sat there and held you in his arms for a few minutes later until you both had caught your breath once again and began to giggle at the situation you were in.

"That was...wow." He laughed out and you pressed your forehead against his shoulder.

"You're not bad, Hemmings."

"I can say the same to you, Y/L/N."

There was a tension filled silence among you and your friends as you sat alone on the loveseat in Ashton and Calum's shared home. Calum was out with some friends while Michael had called you over to hang out with them since they were bored. You had been there for no longer than twenty minutes and had barely said a word, let alone made eye contact with Luke. Whenever you accidentally did, his face would flush red and his eyes would quickly focus on another object in the room.

"Okay," Ashton finally broke the silence and you felt your heart begin to race,"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Luke but his lip nervously and Ashton rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, Luke. Do you seriously think me and Mike are that dumb?"

"I mean..." you trailed with a smile and Ashton flipped you off with a laugh.

"What's up with the awkward tension?" Michael joined in on the interrogation. "What did you two do?"

Neither of you said anything as you began to clean under your acrylics and Luke began to drum a beat against his thigh. Again there were a few minutes of silence until Ashton finally decided that he's had enough.

"If you guys won't tell me then I'll ask Calum. I'm sure he-"

"No!" You both shouted in unison and Ashton eyed the two of you suspiciously, sliding his phone back into the pocket on his hoodie.

"Okay..?"

"So...what doesn't Calum know?" Michael's voice was muffled and a bit disorientated by the large amount of Pringles he had stuffed into his mouth. By the time he successfully swallowed and chewed he still hadn't received an answer and joked,"You guys act like you had sex or got in a relationship or something. It seriously can't be that bad."

The guilty looks on both of your faces was enough for the two older boys to put two and two together, their mouths falling open in shock.

"Oh my God which one is it?!"

"....we had sex." Luke mumbled out and his friends began to punch him repeatedly in the shoulder."Ow, guys! Ow! Stop!"

"You had sex with Y/N?!" Michael shouted and Luke shrunk down in his spot between them on the couch." Luke, what the hell?! When?!"

"A few days ago." Luke spoke timorously, rubbing the sore spots on his shoulders.

"We were drunk and it just happened." You came to rescue." We just want to forget about it and pretend it never happened."

Ashton scoffed,"Yeah, because once Calum finds out that you fucked one of his best friends later on he's just going to let it slide."

"We know he won't let it slide, that's why we're keeping it a secret."

"This isn't going to end well." Michael sighed and placed more chips in his mouth." Calum's gonna raise hell."

Once you both had gotten that off your chests, it was as if the awkward tension was lifted and you all could finally have fun like you planned. Little did you know, someone had come into the house and overheard the whole conversation, even getting a short recording of your confessions. Hell was exactly what Calum was going to raise, and you would find out sooner than you thought.

202 notes · View notes