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starlit-serenade · 4 years

Text

Starry-Eyed Smile | Chapter 3

⭐ Summary: You practically grew up with Youngjo, attached at the hip, two peas in a pod. You did everything together. At some point, both of your feelings became more than platonic, and you both knew it. Everyone knew it. But neither of you have had the courage to do anything about it.

⭐ Chapter 3: 2,096 words

⭐ Pairing: Reader X Kim Youngjo (Ravn) / Characters: GenderNeutral!Reader; Kim Youngjo (Ravn); Lee Seoho (Seoho); Kim Geonhak (Leedo); Lee Keonhee (Keonhee); Yeo Hwanwoong (Hwanwoong); Son Dongju (Xion);

⭐ Rated: E / Warnings: I talk too much about Youngjo’s smile / Genre: Fluff; BestFriends-To-Lovers; Angst; Love Triangle if you squint; Happy Ending;

《 Series Masterlist // ONEUS Masterlist // Boy Group Masterlist 》

The work day has ended. It's been a long and boring day. One of your coworkers was being really rude and exhausting, and now all you want is to sleep. But you know that in a few hours, you'll be hungry for dinner, and there are no supplies at home for a full dinner. So you have to go grocery shopping.

On the way home from work, you stop by the grocery store to buy ingredients. You walk down the vegetable aisle, eyes skimming for something you might need.

"Y/Nie?" You look to your right and see Seoho standing a few feet away, smiling brightly.

"Oh, Seoho! Hello." You wave. "What are you doing here?"

"Shopping? It's a grocery store," he says, laughing.

"Right. Sorry, stupid question." You nod, embarrassed, but he laughs, patting your head gently to tease you.

"Cute," he says. "Don't worry about it. I'm here to go shopping for ONEUS's dinner. We've basically finished everything for the album, and as a reward, we're having a nice big dinner as a group. Comeback is coming up, so we're celebrating that as well."

"Congrats. I'm excited for you," you say. "Are you guys prepared for the comeback?"

"I think so. I think we're ready, but we're still anxious about how it will be received."

You two walk down the veggie aisle together, both grabbing what you need.

"You guys are gonna do great," you say as you examine an onion closely. "I've already listened to 'To Be Or Not To Be' and some of 'Dizzy', and they're amazing. No doubt the others are, too. I know you'll impress everyone."

Seoho smiles. "Thank you, Y/Nie. I think all of the members need that kind of encouragement, especially Youngjo. But I'm glad I get to hear it."

You buy your groceries, and Seoho purchases his. You exit the store together, and as you're about to wave goodbye to him, he insists on walking you home.

"Y/N . . ." he says, as you reach your house. You hum to let him know you're listening.

"How long have we known each other?" Seoho asks. You think. It must have been when Seoho and Youngjo were on Mix Nine when you first met him. You do the math in your head.

"Three or four years," you say.

"Yeah," he says, nodding. "That's a long time, I think. And I think we've been pretty good friends. I know that you're really close to Youngjo, but I really want to express my feelings to you."

He stops and looks at you, and you turn to look at him, eyebrow raised curiously. You have a sneaking suspicion about what he wants to say.

"Y/N, I see you as more than a friend," he says, taking a deep breath. "I like you a lot, both as a close friend and as more."

He watches your expression closely, waiting for a sign of your answer in your face, or a reaction. Anything. Meanwhile, you're trying to think of a way to answer without hurting him.

A moment passes, and you take a deep breath.

"Seoho," you say. You take a breath. "I care about you a lot. You're one of my best friends. You've always been there for me. But I already like someone."

"It's Youngjo, isn't it?" Seoho asks, a soft, yet sad, expression on his face. You nod. "I thought so. I just wanted you to know my feelings. That's good, Y/Nie. He likes you too. I'm happy for Youngjo, and if you need anything at all, I'll help you."

You smile. "Thank you, Seoho. I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "Don't be sorry, Y/Nie. You being my friend is still enough to make me happy."

"Okay . . ." You smile at him. "Can I hug you?"

He nods. "Yes please."

You hug him tightly, and he squeezes you. After you pull away, he smiles at you softly. Sadly. But not too sad.

"Thank you." he says, grinning. "Youngjo is lucky. That someone so kind and caring as you is his friend. And likes him like that."

You blink at him, unsure of what to say. He nods over to your apartment. "Now go make yourself dinner. You must be hungry."

You nod, realizing that you are, indeed, hungry. "I am. Bye Seoho!" you say, waving goodbye. He waves back, smiling, as you head inside.

You're cleaning up from dinner, putting away your dried dishes when you hear your phone buzz from where it's sitting across the table. You put away your plate and walk over to see what it is.

Sunny's Dad: Y/Nie

You: Yes?

Sunny's Dad: Can I come over?

You: Sure!

You: Why?

Sunny's Dad: Need hugs

You: Okay, of course! Come over!

You spend ten minutes finishing cleaning up the table and dishes. Youngjo still hasn't shown up, so you make warm tea for him. You know that it helps him calm down and relax after a stressful day.

You have the mug of warm tea sitting on the table when there's a knock on the door. You walk over and open the door. Youngjo stands in front of you. You can tell from the sheepish smile that he gives you, from his shy posture and slumped shoulders, that he isn't feeling great. He looks exhausting, but you can't tell if it's emotionally exhausted or physically exhausted.

"Youngjo," you say gently. "Come in. I made you some warm tea to calm your nerves."

"Thank you."

You tell him to sit on the couch and bring him his drink, sitting down next to him. He thanks you and sips from the mug, relaxing a bit.

"Thank you," he says. "For having me over. And for making me tea."

"No problem," you say. "Is everything okay, Youngjo?"

"Yeah," he says, sighing heavily. You shake your head.

"No, it's not. Something's on your mind. I can tell."

He frowns. "How do you know?"

"Because I know you, Youngjo," you say. "I've known you my entire life. Plus, you just look like something is bothering you. What is it?"

He sighs again. "Our comeback is coming up in a few days. And even though I'm excited and we're all well prepared, I'm feeling very nervous and anxious."

"Yeah?"

"They're expecting so much from us," he mumbles. "After Road to Kingdom, the bar is so high. And I don't want to disappoint anyone. And I just wanted to hang out with you and watch a movie or snuggle or something," he says. "If that's okay. Hanging out with you always calms me nerves, I guess."

"Yeah, of course," you say. "What movie do you want to watch?"

"Anything."

You two end up watching Zootopia together, sitting on the couch together. You two laugh together during the sloth scene, snuggled up as you giggle together.

The scene reminds you of your shared movie nights and sleepovers when you were kids. Especially as teenagers, you two would even spend until early morning watching movies together. Obviously, since you're both much older and are busy with work--Youngjo is a K-Pop idol--you haven't had movie nights as much anymore. The nights before ONEUS's debut with Valkyrie and the album release of Light Us, you and Youngjo watched several movies to calm his nervousness and excitement. The day before Raise Us was released, you and Youngjo watched a couple movies today. Since then, you and Youngjo didn't watch as many movies. During Road To Kingdom, you and ONEUS had several movie nights. But every time you and Youngjo watch movies together, you go back to being a child, watching movies with your best friend.

You smile. You're leaning against each other, comfortably snuggled up to each other as you giggle at the funny parts of the children's movie. After a while, Youngjo falls asleep. He's shifted to that his head is on your lap. You smile down at him. He's breathing softly, and looks so cute. You want nothing more than to run your fingers through his hair.

After the movie has finished, you look down at Youngjo, who's still asleep with his head on your lap. Honestly, he looks so calm, asleep like that, and you almost don't want to wake him up. But he has to go to work early tomorrow, so he should get back to the dorm soon to sleep properly. You nudge him gently, trying to wake him. He groans softly. He looks so cute. But you shake him gently again.

After a moment of your gentle shaking, he groans and binks up at you, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of you, and a little joyful feeling bubbles inside of you when you think about how just seeing you makes him smile like that.

"Movie's finished," you say softly, smiling. "You have an early morning tomorrow, so you should be heading home soon."

He nods, sitting up. His hair is messy, but he runs his hand through it to fix it. "Right," he says, chuckling.

You help him get his stuff together. His shoes and coat. You smile at him as he waves goodbye, stepping out the door.

"Youngjo," you say before he leaves. He pauses and looks at you, standing on the other side of the doorway. "It's going to be great. You guys will do amazingly. I promise."

"Thank you, Y/Nie. See you soon." He smiles brightly at you.

Without thinking, you stand up on your tip-toes and kiss Youngjo on the cheek. Youngjo blinks, standing frozen, staring at you, and it takes you a moment to realize what you just did.

"What . . . ?"

Embarrassed, you wave a quick and shy goodbye and close the door quickly, turning around so your back is against it as you think over the past ten seconds.

After a few seconds, you hear Youngjo's footsteps walking away. You run to the window, and after a few seconds, you see Youngjo walking away slowly. He has his phone on in his hand. Suddenly, your phone on the couch buzzes, and you run over to see what it is.

Sunny's Dad: Thank you for always helping me and comforting me.

Sunny's Dad: It means a lot.

You smile stupidly at your phone. How strange that someone texting you can make you feel so happy. As you're about to put your phone in your pocket, it rings again. You look to see what it is.

Sunny's Dad: 😚🤭💋

You feel your face heating up, and realize how you're smiling so widely it makes your cheeks hurt. Instead of feeling embarrassment, you feel giddy inside.

You prepare for bed, brushing your teeth and changing before getting into bed, all the while smiling like an idiot while thinking about Youngjo. Thinking about him sleeping with his head on your lap. Thinking about kissing him on the cheek.

Youngjo arrives at the dorm, opening the door quietly and closing it slowly. Everyone should be asleep by now, as tomorrow's morning starts early. He starts removing his shoes and coat in the entrance living room, trying to keep quiet so as not to wake anyone up.

He smiles to himself as he puts away his coat, thinking about how you had kissed him on the cheek. He gently touches his cheek where you had kissed him, and giggles softly to himself. Oh, he really is a fool in love with his best friend.

You've always been his best friend. You were always there for him when he needed you, when he was stressed or sad or worried or upset. You would always hold his hand when he was scared and be a shoulder for him to cry on. You were always supportive of his dreams, even when he doubted himself.

He's liked you since you were teens together, but he was always too afraid to ruin your friendship. He loves you a lot. Both as a best friend, and more than that. But as much as he likes you as more than a friend, but also loves you as a friend too, and he doesn't want to ruin that.

It's strange, he thinks as he puts his shoes away. Even Geonhak has commented on it. He's usually more confident about things. He's usually less afraid to take risks. But he's too scared to ask you to be more than friends. He's too afraid to risk your friendship. Because if you don't feel the same way, what would that mean for your friendship.

"Youngjo?"

He looks up. Seoho is standing in the doorway, blinking at him.

#oneus #ravn #kim youngjo #oneus fanfic #oneus fanfiction #myfic #fanfic #fanfiction #ravn fanfic #ravn fanfiction #kim youngjo fanfic #kim youngjo fanfiction #fluff #angst

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shineonbubbledy · 5 years

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Pt. 1

Wendy x Reader

You and Seungwan is now in 3 years in a relationship. But something change in her, she always not in home or go home late, and she reply to your text after several hours.

Your worried, that's why you decided to visit her in her office. While you walked tp the corridor some of her employee greet you with an awkward smiled. You noticed that but you decided to ignore it and continue to walk to Wendy's office.

While you stand in ftont of her office door you inhaled. Opening the the door slowly you was totally in shocked to see Wendy with this girl back hugging her and rest her head on Wendy's shoulder.

"Y/n" Called seungwan who is now very shocked to see you

"Oh, I'm sorry? I guess I disturb your romantic time." You said sarcastically looking to Wendy and you walked out in her office

"Y/n, wait" Wendy called you while running to reach your arms

"Let me explain" she said in watery eyes. You turn around and look to her eyes in a cold gaze.

"It's not what you think! I-its just nothing, we're not in a relationship you are thinking, it's just..." Explained panic Seungwan who doesn't know what to say next

"It's just what?" Asking her in a cold tone

"She's being so clingy to me and I cant, I don't know, I-m, im just"

"Enjoyed?"

"No! I don't! I don't love her Y/n, please"

"You don't love her but you always go home late and you really not going home! Where do you spend your night? One more, you didn't reply to my text or not answering my phone calls, and you what? She just nothing to you? What the stupid excuse Seungwan!!!" You said, this time you can't control your anger you want to say what you feel right now

"I'm sorry"

"Ha! I'm sorry? I guess we should stop this Wendy"

"No! Please, dont! I'm sorry please don't leave me" she said while crying

You don't know what to do. Your mind says you better to stop this but your heart says it's better if you fix this. You love her, you really love her. While you are thinking she hug you and murmured a hundreds of sorry. You back to reality and say to yourself to give her a second chance.

But after a weeks you feel like you being so irritated everytime you two are together. You don't want to to feel this way, because you know you still love her. But you can't control your emotion. Everytime she was near you, your mood suddenly change.

One day, you are at the grocery store to buy some kind of ingredients you needed. And you hear someone called your name in nowhere, you look to the side where the sound is coming from. You shocked when you saw yoyr Highschool friend smiling and running to hug you. You smile back and hug her.

"Y/n how are you?" Joy asking you in a very happy and loud tone

"I'm okay, how about you? You didn't message me anymore when you go to America" you said while pouting. Joy giggled to your reaction

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy in school! College is suck!" She said while rolling her eyes remembering the worsts days in her college life.

"Let's eat together" she said. You agreed and you two go to a restaurant near at the grocery store

You spend your time together that day till night. You missed one another very much. She tell you the things she experienced when she was in abroad. And her life now when she was back at your country.

"She didn't change, she still the Joy I know" you thought

"Let's go home, it's late" she said while smiling. You smiled at her

"Let's go"

-------

You park your car in front of her house.

"Goodbye Y/n, let's meet again next time" she wave her hand and unlock the car door to get out.

- - - - - - - - - -

When you got home. All the lights are now turned off. When you go to your room, you see Wendy sleeping while hugging her olaf toy. You look at her for a second and you go to the bathroom to take a bath and do your routines. After that you go to your bed and thinking about Joy. You're happy. You know your happy cuz finally you saw your highschool friend after a long time.

After a weeks you always spend your time to Joy, you two always eat finner together after your work.

Wendy in the other hand know this things between you and Joy.

She was in her meeting place when she saw you laughing with this girl. Till that day she always hunting you and this mysterious girl.

"Why you don't confront her?" Asking her friend Seulgi

"I-i can't Seul, what if she was getting mad at me and asked me that if I can do it to her why she can't?" She simply answered in a sad face. Seulgi rolled her eyes and feel so sad to her friend.

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

You woke up and you smell the pancakes. You sure that Wendy was the one who cook. You get out of your bed and go to the bathroom to do your morning routine. After that you go to kitchen and saw Wendy preparing the foods. You quietly sit at the chair and wait her to sit next to you.

"Good morning y/n" Wendy great you. You just smile and start to eat. Wendy smiled dropped and focus to her pancake. There was a deadly silence between you two. Till Wendy talk first

"Y/n, let's have a movie marathon later." She said, her heart beats so fast

"Alright" You simply replied. She smile big

"I will order a pizza" she said. You nodded and continue to eat your pancake and excuse yourself when your done to prepare to your work.

Past 9 in the evening when you got home. And all the things was ready for the movie marathon

"Oh fuck" you murmured to yourself and look for Wendy

You actually forgot that you and Wendy will have a movie marathon when Joy texted you to meet her at the cafe in 7pm. Ofcourse you two spend you time together while telling her stories about her day

You felt so guilty when you found Seungwan, and says a sorrys because your late. You two still continue your marathon. But Seungwan is hurt. She can't focus on the movie because she knew why you're late. She know you and Joy seeing each other again. She don't want to think of it but she can't. She feel her heart clenching and she wants to cry.

"Y/n, are you happy with her?" She suddenly asked you. Your shocked, you knew she knows about you and Joy. You think for a second and answer her

"Yes" It's true your happy with Joy, but not the kind of happiness you feel with Wendy before

"D-do you love her?" She asked you again while sobbing

"I... guess." You know your lying but you still answer that word.

"Im so sorry y/n, I-i love you, and yeah, I'm... I'm gonna... I will - I will let you go" she said while sobbing

You look to Wendy, when you see her crying, you want to hug her and say that she was wrong, because Joy is your friend only. Your heart clenched, that time you feel that you still love her. But you stop yourself, you thought that maybe you two needed a time to think.

"Thank you" you murmured but you make sure Wendy will hear it. You stand and go to your shared room.

Wendy face palm and cried to her hands. She hurt she can feel her heart broke into pieces. She's not sure if she can move on and continue her life without you. She really love you. She really really do. But she can't blame you nor asking for a chance because she knew you doesn't love her anymore. And think that it's all her fault. That's why she respect your decision and try her very best to forget about you.

Lame. Lame. Lame😂 Sorry this is my first story ever! If my grammar is wrong, I'm so sorry😅

Pt.2? Don't know

Photo by Masternim Maplesyrup

#wendy #sonseungwan #seungwan #fluff #angst #wanda #red velvet #red velvet wendy #red velvet wendy imagine #red velvet wendy reaction #wendy son

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acescreations · 6 years

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Moody Manipulations - Patton

[Part 2 to the Connected Youtuber Ego Universe(CYEU) stories I'm doing on Amino.]

Characters: Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Roman Sanders, Thomas Sanders, Elliott (Cartoon Therapy), Kai (Cartoon Therapy), Lauren (Cartoon Therapy), Missy Sanders [background character], Pranks Sanders [refrenced], Mitchell (Cartoon Therapy) [mentioned]

Warnings: Patton has a really bad day, cries, and hides his emotions, Patton also has a retail job I feel like I should mention that, Mitchell is implied to be a little b*tch, Patton gets verbally abused

Word Count: 1798

It really didn't take me long to figure out what my emotions do. Whenever I was happy, things went right in the world, and when I was sad things went wrong. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but the correlation was too obvious to be chance. After that, I always did my best to stay in a good mood. I'd do things I enjoy, and avoid people and things that upset me.

I have to admit, staying happy became a lot harder. It almost seemed like a job at this point, since it was my responsibility to be happy. I still tried my hardest despite this, and when I was happy, hearing about all the good things happening in the world put me in an even better mood. Though that did go both ways, and hearing about bad things happening made me more upset, so I eventually decided to not look at the news when I was already uspet.

This was all a pretty good strategy for keeping my mood up, but one day everything went wrong, and I had no idea how to stay happy then.

I was heading down to my job at the local retail store and I bumped into someone on the street. "Whoops! Sorry about that." They said nothing, and just kept walking. I was surprised I didn't see them sooner. They had a head full of messy green hair along with bright blue eyes. I didn't really think much of it, after all, it was a busy street, people run into each other all the time. Once I got to my job, I saw my best friend getting his stuff. It looked like he was leaving, but we were supposed to be on the same shift today. I walked up to him as he was putting his hat on. "What's going on Chase? Are you leaving?" He turned to me with a sigh. "Yeah, I just got fired. I have no idea how I'm gonna pay for my date with Stacy now."

"Oh, geez." I was pretty disappointed myself. I always looked forward to the days when we worked together. "Well, good luck on finding a new job, I guess." Chase nodded as he walked past me. "Yeah, I guess."

I sighed as he left. This job was going to get a lot harder without him here. But, I still had my job to do, so I put on my name tag and I clocked in.

After a while of uneventful work, a woman came in and slammed a box of party supplies onto the counter. "I need to return these," she demanded.

"Okay ma'am," I said, a little nervous, "do you have the receipt?"

"No, but I don't need this anymore. I never needed it, so give me a refund on it!"

"I'm sorry, but can't return anything without proof of purchase." I had never had one of these conversations before, and this lady was really intimidating.

"I'm not keeping stuff my husband bought as a prank! Of course you teenagers don't care about how much money all this costs, you probably get handed money just so you can spend it all on stupid parties, don't you?"

Of course, I didn't actually do any of that, but she didn't know that, and I wasn't allowed to tell her that. "I want to help you, but I can't give you a refund on anything without a receipt."

The woman let out a frustrated growl. "I don't have time for this." She stormed out of the store, leaving the box on the counter. I allowed myself a sad sigh as I picked up the box and moved it off the counter, putting on a brand new smile as the next person in the line brought up their stuff. "Good afternoon, did you find everything you were looking for?"

~ ~ ~

By the end of my shift, I was exhausted. I wanted to call someone for a ride home, but my phone had died, so I had to walk. To make matters worse, I saw a cat that had been hit by a car on the side of the road. By that point, I was barely holding back tears, although I kept telling myself to stay cheerful, which only made it harder. I decided that I'd have a few cookies to cheer myself up when I got home.

I walked through the door, and saw Logan and Thomas sitting on the couch, watching the news. Obviously, it was all bad news. Logan turned off the TV as they both turned to me. "Bad day?" I must have looked pretty upset, because I never told Thomas about what my emotions do, but something must have prompted him to ask that. I just shrugged. I didn't want to talk about it, because I felt like I'd break down in tears if I did. I walked past them wordlessly and went into my room to change out of my work clothes. When I walked back out, I was determined to improve my mood, so I put on a smile and went to get that cookie, but I opened the cookie jar to find that it was empty. "When did we finish the cookies?" I asked to anyone who was listening. Thomas spoke up from the living room. "I'm pretty sure Lauren finished them with Roman and Virgil." I wanted to be upset about this, but I was determined to stay positive.

It's okay Patton, you can just make some more. That should be fun, that should make you happy.

I began taking out ingredients, but it turned out we were out of a flour, sugar, and eggs. That was definitely a disappointment. I told myself I'd be able to get through it anyway.

After that, though, was when I completely lost composure. Elliott walked out of their room, their shoulders hanging as they sat down next to Thomas on the couch. Logan looked up from where he was reading on the other end of the couch. "Mitchell left another message today." I overheard them saying. My heart broke in sympathy for my parent, and I quickly walked out of the kitchen and into my room, barely even trying to hold back tears anymore.

As soon as I was alone in my room, I collapsed to the floor, letting out all the sobbing my day had been leading up to. I don't know how loud I was being, but after wiping tears from my eyes, I looked up and I was surrounded by my family, all with faces of varying levels of concern and sympathy. Once my crying slowed, Virgil, eho was sitting in front of me, said "Hey, what's wrong?" I lowered my head onto my knees. "Bad day," I muttered, overcome with guilt for how many people I must have gotten hurt today. "Patton," I heard Logan say at my right, "you can't keep getting upset at yourself for being upset." I shook my head. "No, you don't understand," I said.

"I'm pretty sure I do, and Patton," Logan continued, "you're going to have your ups and downs, and it'll be less... disastrous if you just let the bad days be just a little bad. The world can take a little bit of misfortune, believe me."

I looked up at him, confused. "Are you saying you-"

"Yes Patton, and for your information I regularly keep up on the news so I can tell how your feeling. And yes," Logan continued, "everyone else knows too."

"Oh." I looked around at everyone, unsure of how I never found out.

"So why don't you just tell us what's going on today?" Virgil asked, scooting over to sit next to me. I shrugged, not really sure when exactly my day started going terribly. "Well on the way to work I bumped into this guy, which I really didn't mind that much, but after that I found out my friend got fired," I then just started stating everything that happened that day. I didn't mean to, really, I just started talking and then I couldn't stop myself. Once I was finished, Roman gave me a thoughtful look. "What did the guy on the street look like?" I blinked at him, confused as to why he was questioning that. "Well, he had blue eyes, and really messy green hair."

"What was he wearing?"

"I dunno, this big wavy coat?"

"Roman," Logan sighed, "what does this have to do with anything?" Roman didn't answer, despite everyone beong equally confused. He just stood up, muttered something about "Marvin" and walked out. "I have a hunch about something, I'll be back, hopefully with good news." Thomas sighed and shook his head after Roman left the house. "That boy, honestly. Anyway, how about me and Elliott go get those ingredients you were needing? You can just stay here and relax."

"No!" I said, a little too frantically. "I-it's just," I mumbled, "you could get hurt."

"It's fine," Logan said. "Camden's got an eye on the TV, and things are improving. They should be able to get there and back safely." Camden was the name Logan gave his familiar. I slowly nodded, and Virgil stood up and grabbed my hand. "All right, now you come here and watch some TV." I stood up and followed him as he led me to the couch, Logan, Kai, and Lauren following behind while Thomas and Elliott got ready to go to the store. Me and Virgil sat next to each other on the couch, Logan sitting a small distance away while Kai and Lauren sat near us.

After a while of watching Steven Universe, Roman burst back through the door. "Patton, you will have to worry about this misfortune no longer!"

"O-okay. Um, what did you do?" I asked.

"Well that person you bumped into, I'm actually acquainted to him. He calls himself Marvin the Magnificent. He claims to be a magician, but for as long as I knew him he couldn't do any actual magic. Turns out he got magic powers through a deal with a demon or something, and he had to agree to curse you with misfortune." He sat down on my other side, so now I had one sibling at both of my sides. "I talked him into releasing the curse," he said, probably more casually than what the situation would call for.

"Okay, thanks then," I said, despite Roman already being immersed in the show. We continued watching until Thomas and Elliott returned with the baking supplies, then Virgil, Thomas, and Lauren joined me in baking cookies. Once I tasted one of the cookies from out of the oven, I figured that the day wouldn't be as bad as it had been.

#patton sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #logan sanders #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #cartoon therapy #marvin the magnificent #elliott #kai #lauren #chase brody #stacy brody #missy #pranks #missy and pranks #mitchell #bad writing #writing tag

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transitverse · 4 years

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Eggshells: Chapter 5

WORDS: 2192 CHAPTERS: 5/9 CHARACTERS: Aubrey, Kaveh CONTENT WARNINGS: A little bit of weird eye stuff

Aubrey opens up... again. Kaveh is definitely not concerned at all.

Soundtrack: Twelve - tide/edit

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that Aubrey is awake when you get up for work a few hours later--she did spend most of yesterday asleep, after all--but it does, a little bit. You almost forgot she was there, which means you jump when you open the living room door and find her sitting straight up, staring at the opposite wall.

“Jesus-- Hey.” Trying to look like you didn’t nearly just throw coffee on the floor, you wait until she turns to you, which takes a couple of seconds. “You’re up early.”

“I’m always up early.”

“Right. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay in the end?”

She shrugs. “Yeah. I’m… fine.” This time, you decide not to question it.

“Good. Did you, uh-- Do you want a drink, or something to eat?”

“...Coffee would be nice.”

“Sure.” You zip back to the kitchen to pour a second mug for her and return to the living room, where you sit beside her with your own. She cradles the cup in her hands with her legs pulled right up to her chest. It strikes you as odd, initially, given yesterday’s admission about her lack of taste, but perhaps it’s just as much for her other senses as it would be for that. Going through the motions, the scent, the warmth, even if she can't taste it. It’s something to focus on.

“Are you gonna be okay on your own today?” you ask, taking a sip of your own drink. “You can always call me or something, if you need to.”

“...Yeah.” She nods without looking up from her coffee. “I won’t… trash the place, or do anything stupid.”

You find yourself chuckling. “Good. I trust you. If you want anything from the store, I can swing by and pick it up on my way home later, so let me know.”

“What if something happens to you at work?”

The question takes a second to sink in.

“It won’t,” you say, once you’ve processed it. “I’ll be fine. It’s a low-risk job in broad daylight.”

“What if it does? And then I’m stuck here, on my own, after they said I shouldn’t be doing a lot, and--then you’re hurt, too--”

“Aubrey, Aubrey, Aubrey.” You reach over, pat her on the shoulder. She stops dead and stares at you. “Don’t freak out. It’ll be fine, okay?” you insist, squeezing her shoulder for emphasis. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. And if it does, I know people who we can fall back on, who can come and help you out. It’s okay.”

She looks skeptical, but after a second, she sighs, nods, and relaxes back against the couch.

“Okay. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry. I get why you’re worried. I can check in with you over the course of the day, if it’ll help.”

“...Yeah. It would.”

“Sure. Okay. I’ll let you know when I’m off for lunch, or something, and whenever else I have a spare minute.” You’re already knocking back the last of your coffee at this point, and rising to your feet for a refill. “Alright, I’m hungry. Are you gonna eat now, too?”

She nods and follows you out into the kitchen.

Breakfast is quiet, but comfortable: you, flipping eggs in a pan; Aubrey, slowly pulling apart a meal bar in between sips of coffee; the radio on, but turned down low to provide some background noise without disturbing the peace. It's nice, actually, having the company. It's been a little while since you had a roommate, and Aubrey is content to just exist alongside you as you go about your usual morning routine.

You point a few things out to her before you leave--how the coffee machine works, where you keep the tea, how to work the electronics manually if she can't tap into them. Knowing she has no need to use most of the kitchen is a weight off both your minds, you think. No risk of her accidentally setting anything on fire, unless she does something truly, astonishingly, spectacularly wrong mixing a fucking protein shake.

You keep your promise, and ping her a message every few hours or so, just to let her know you're still on your feet. You don't get a whole lot in response, but then, you don't really need to. She just needs reassurance that you're doing okay; you just need to know that she isn't in a panic.

(When you leave that evening, you consider picking up the pamphlets on psychiatric support for her, but decide against it. You said yourself that she doesn't have to think about coming back to work for a few weeks yet. It's too soon after her clash with the infirmary staff. She’ll get there. One thing at a time.)

***

You arrive home to find Aubrey in place on the couch, TV on, empty Soylent cup beside her. You notice, now, how much better she really looks since she left medical; hair washed, fresh clothes on, the bags under her eyes noticeably faded.

"Hey." You shrug your coat off, hang it up, and lean in through the doorway. "How are you doing?"

“Not bad,” she answers, smiling slightly as she cocks her head at you. “Better here than in a hospital bed.”

“Looks like.” You return the smile as you pull your shoes off. “Your side’s not giving you grief?”

She shrugs. “Not really. It’s fine.”

“Cool. Hey, I’m starving, so I’m gonna go make a start on dinner. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

You make yourself busy in the kitchen, and Aubrey joins you a few minutes later, bundled up in her blankets again.

"Do you mind if I watch?"

"Sure," you answer, nodding towards the dining table. "Pull up a chair, if you want." She does, and plops herself down beside you, watching--contentedly?--while you chop onions and garlic.

"You know, I ate an onion raw for ten nuyen one time."

"Seriously?" You laugh and look over at her. "I mean, I guess not being able to taste anything has its perks, huh?"

"Yeah. Helps when you've only got one set of working tear ducts, too." Your eyes linger on the cybernetic in her left eye socket. Your curiosity just keeps on getting the better of you.

"So… can I ask you about that eye?" you venture. "I mean, I know the deal with cybernetics, obviously, but…"

"You've never seen one like this?"

"Most people tend to go for something… subtle. Or cosmetic." Hers is certainly not the former, and judging by the distinctive scarring and--as far as you've been able to tell--lack of an eyelid, it's safe to say it's not the latter, either, unless she’s a woman of unusual tastes.

"Yeah. Well." Aubrey looks off at the wall for a moment, and you're concerned you've pushed the conversation too far until she turns back to you. "This is… It does other stuff.”

"What kind of other stuff? "

"Can I show you something? Promise you won't get grossed out?"

"O... kay?" Before you can ask any more questions, her left eye has popped clean out of the socket and zips around her in a loop, coming to a stop in mid-air a foot or two away from her.

"It's a drone," she explains, as you stare at the thing (and do your best not to stare at the empty eye socket; you catch the glint of light on metal on the interior and that’s plenty enough for you). "It works as an eye, does all the stuff you'd probably expect from a fancy cybereye, but I can pilot it around like any other drone, too."

"Doesn't that feel weird? Popping it in and out like that?”

She shrugs. "I don’t feel much around there at all. You get used to it. I used to feel sick seeing two places at once, but you get used to that, too." Well, you don’t know what the fuck to make of this. Your best guess had been that it was an archaic piece that was all she could access or afford, but it seems you were very sorely mistaken. For a drone, it’s tiny, and completely silent, on top of lacking any visible method of propulsion. This is not something she picked off the shelf at any old clinic.

"Where did you get that thing? Something like that can’t come cheap."

Aubrey looks down and sucks on her lip, as the drone slots itself back into place in her eye socket.

"I was moving with some bad people, before I got this job," she says, eventually. "I had to do some shitty things, and I had some shitty things done to me. I had to… make some sacrifices to survive in that world."

"Is that why you…" You nod vaguely in her direction. "With the arms, too?"

"...Yeah." It takes her a moment, but she nods slowly. "Look, I don't… want to get into it."

"Right. Of course." You hardly register what you're doing as you scrape the ingredients into the pan and push them around. She's said so little, but revealed so much. "I'm… sorry that you had to go through that."

She's silent, at first. Then:

"Thanks," she says, quietly. She props one arm up on the counter and leans her head against it. You glance at her, out of the corner of your eye, and you swear you see a tear roll down her cheek.

But you can't be sure. You're not looking properly. You shouldn't comment. You turn your attention back to cooking and start chopping chillies instead.

"How'd you find this job, anyway?" you ask, taking the initiative to set the conversation back on a more positive course. "It's a big leap, to go from… what, gangs--?" (You look at her, and she nods) "--from gangs to working private security overnight."

"A friend tipped me off that you were hiring, and…" She trails off and shrugs her left shoulder slightly, her gaze darting from you to the floor and back again. "Can I tell you something?"

"What?" Because that doesn't sound like this is about to get sketchy at all.

"They… called in a favour for me. They got my application in front of the right people, and… I don't know. If they did anything else, they didn't tell me. All I know is I passed through all the interview stages, and here I am."

"Aubrey…"

"I needed this job, okay?" She spits the words out with unexpected aggression, her expression suddenly sour. "You know where I'd be without this? Hanging out at some shitty, crusty bar, doing a ton of Bull and beating people around in the parking lot for fun, waiting for someone to drag me away to start gunning people down. Nobody ever treated me like a person. I don't want that. I don't ever want to go back to that."

Her voice cracks at the end, and you realise too late that your attempt at fixing the conversation has gone awry. Shit.

"Aubrey, no, I don't…" You sigh, go to pinch the bridge of your nose, remember you were just touching chillies and think better of letting your hands get so close to your eyes at the last second. "It's not-- I'm just--"

"Don't tell anyone." You glance down, and now her eyes are wide with the same primal fear you saw when she was threatened with an extended hospital stay. "Please. I don't wanna get in trouble. I need this."

"I won't, I won't. It's okay. You're not in trouble." You exhale hard and stare down at the chillies, like they might hold all the answers to the situation you find yourself in. They don't, and after a few seconds, you flick them into the pan.

"I guess there's nothing to be done about it now. I mean, I think you really are a solid candidate, regardless. You're good at what you do. And I'm glad it got you out of a bad situation. Nobody deserves to be stuck somewhere like that forever."

"So you won't--you won't tell, or--"

"Nobody else has to know," you assure her. "It's irrelevant now. You're here, you can do what the job asks of you, and you can do it well. Not everyone can keep a grown man pinned when they've got a bullet lodged in their gut."

You can see the fear fall away as she slumps against the counter again.

"I don't want to lose this."

"You won't. It's okay. I wouldn't… do anything that I thought would endanger you like that." You don’t know where you’d even take this, anyway, if she has someone on the inside vying for her. But you have no reason to chase it up, beyond rules-for-rules’-sake; nor do you have it in your heart when you look at her. Her intense fear every time she thinks her job is under threat is making more and more sense, and she’s completely won you over.

She’s trying to do better. She’s trying to break the cycle. And you would be a terrible, terrible person to sabotage that.

#lost in transit #eggshells #side story #ongoing #aubrey #kaveh

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