— Mouse

CHILDREN BOOK READING AU @maneosoobin 

iseul needed to go for a walk. most of the time she’s pretty, ‘gang gang gang’ but today, her members had her slightly ticked. every other day they come bothering her in the lab about repairs to shit they can’t maintain, and frankly, she was tired of it. most of her inventions for herself have been put on the back burner because of it- but iz was more worried about the stress though. she wore her gucci eyebags like a g but, it was effective her work. so, for now- she needed to be MIA, go on a walk and clear her head- at least for a few hours. 

iseul wandered around enjoying the action of not doing anything- or thinking. it was nice. she even stopped to get treats to celebrate the freedom and wandered even more- until she had passed a daycare. a hand reaching out and grabbing her elbow stopped her in her tracks. 

“hi, sorry to grab you-.. i’m soobin, a volunteer for this daycare. one of our storytellers will be late last minute- and the event is about to start-..” 

immediately, her reaction was to recoil and say no, she knew where this was going and she didn’t do volunteer work, especially for small human gremlins. but it seemed he wasn’t finished.

“we just need someone to read every other page, for the first book-... it will be fast...” iz just stared, before he continued. “i’ll treat you to refreshments after-...” 

oop... that’s all she needed to hear. snacks were the way to her heart and had the power to almost shut up any excuse to not do something. for a stranger, he definitely knew how to get her- and she was just setting up to tell him no as harshly as possible. “deal.”

after getting briefed on the situation, and what she was reading, iz entered the daycare behind soobin- for a strategical reason- children didn’t respect personal space. that was easily proven the moment he walked in before her. within minutes, little children was rushing to his legs, grabbing at him and laughing like the GROSS creatures they were.  one even offered him a drawing. naturally, iseul stood there cringing- watching him interact and praise the children flocking to him. a mystery to how he could do it, cause she was thoroughly disgusted.

moments of dodging children happened all the way until they began their festivities. it seemed, they like appreciated the fact that iseul was on the short side since some of the older ones were nearly passed her torso. it made her relieved that once things started, she was seated in front and not among them. 

“alright guys, we have a guest reader with us today, miss iseul! can we get 3 big claps for her on the count of 3? 1, 2, 3!” the children clapped as soobin counted down, iseul faked a friendly smile.. barely. “today, we’re going to read, ‘the three little pigs’, i’ll do the honors and start.” 

“once upon a time there was three little pigs that sat out to build in their own little homes,” 

iseul continueing, attempted to mimick soobins voice. “-...uh-... the first pig was lazy, he didn’t wanna work at all, so he made his house out of straw. then they played the rest of the day.” immediately after she finished her sentenced, the children laughed- maybe her voice was too silly. 

they went on, shifting the lines back and forth- each time the children laughing and enjoying the story. she almost was ready to fight, however, seeing as everyone was having fun- she decided against it. not cause she was like-... finding it cute or anything-.... not even a little-.. not ANY, not even the child on the end that was laughing so much his cheeks were red. she denied that fact all the way up until she had to laugh herself. strangely, as the vent went on- she started to tolerate this type of environment- but.. she vowed to never speak it out loud. 

by the time they were finished and sending the kids home, iz and soobin had collected a hug from almost every kid- and although it was uncomfortable, she couldn’t deny they were cute.

Sighing, Rigs briefly debated draping his entire body across Iseul’s desk like a melting manifestation of whine. He resisted, barely, settling on an indignant pout.  “Your ass cheeks are always in peak condition, my knucklers always end up broken, Iz, that’s the whole problem! How am I supposed to leave tiny little holes in people’s faces if my spikes keep breaking off in other people? Huh?”

He continued to prod her machine, unbothered by her threats as he investigated the contraption. “Canon Rifle? What in the shit is that?  Is it a canon or a rifle? It doesn’t look big enough to be long-range, is it some sort of mid-range high-stoppping-power sort of a-” A small piece of metal came away in his hands, separating itself from the machine with a soft click. Rigs made a face, glancing at Iz warily. At least he’d fed her.

“This is supposed to come off right?”

as he went on, iseul starred at the dealer- her mind slipping into thought. how could someone so macho, whine like a child like this- over toys HE keeps breaking. the tech’s face cringed, judging him from head to toe before shaking her head, tuning him back in. “-cause i know how to take care of my shit. that’s the difference.” leaning back in her bean bag, she shrugged. “you’re the only one i see multiple times a month for the same thing-.. see a common denominator here?”

iseul sat up a little, eyeing him. “exactly what i just said, a canon rifle. it’s going to be the first hybrid- and caREFUL IF YOU PICK IT UP LIKE THA-...” iseul really didn’t even need to see the metal detach, cause she heard it. she froze in her spot, her eyes closed- fighting back the anger boiling in her chest. before deciding to yell, she leaned over her knees- her head bowed as she ruffled her hair. iseul stood and walked over glaring, a hand still in her head as the other took the contraption from him and setting it down. iz then reached up, grabbing his shirt. “you-... YOU CRAZY BASTARD-...what did i say hm?”

”Yah! What do you mean?” Rigs pouted, the expression five times more dramatic than necessary and ten times more emotional than he actually felt. “I need my knucklers in peak condition Iz, what am I supposed to do? Punch people bare-fisted like a savage? What am I a cop?” Truthfully, he’d be fine bare-knuckle fighting, but complaining at the weapons maker was a favorite pastime.

The Naga snorted, eyeing the woman on her beanbag as he jumped, taking a seat on an empty space atop her desk. “Maybe it stunted your growth short stack, but I’m obviously,” he gestured to himself, his height plain despite being seated, “made of stronger stuff.”

Reaching out, he poked the invention next to him with vague curiosity, “What the fuck is this thing anyway?” 

finishing off the sandwich, issy beamed with energy. food honestly, was the root of all happiness. she still felt like shit but, at least- her tummy didn’t feel like it. tossing the empty bag on the ground next to her, she let her arms come together and cup behind her head. “i mean what i said, rigs. this is the 4th time this month you’ve said the same shit, and it’s almost played out.” issy looked up in her seat, “pEaK cOnDiTiOn... my ASS CHEEKS.” the mechanic laughed, at herself- and what he said cause- it was funny. maybe she’ll wait to tell him she’s got a whole drawer of brass knuckles with his name on it in the back. 

iseul watched him closely as he sat next to her equipment. “be careful, iron man. one scratch on my baby, and your butt is mine.” 

“I mean…” he looked at the invention on the woman’s desk, eyebrow cocked questioningly. “Is it though? I mean look at that and then look at this.” Brandishing one his brass knuckles dramatically, Rigs pointed at the pair of broken spikes like they could’ve single-handedly solved world hunger had they been whole. “Devastating.”

“Also, I resent the attitude Iz! Look I even brought you a breakfast sandwich,” he pointed to the paper sack on her desk. “Who deserves this at the asscrack of dawn? Oh, and speaking of addictions-” he pushed the black sunglasses up into his hair, revealing the bags under his eyes. “Wheres the fucking coffee? I literally, literally, am going to die.”

iseul ran her hands through her hair and stared at him. clearly, irritation was building up faster than her mind can think rationally... so yes, this wasn’t good. usually, iseul was pretty chill. today though.. or at least- right now, that laid back izzy was VOID. sleep deprivation at it’s finest- and the fact that shit wasn’t connecting. // watching rigs look over her workspace, she dropped her hands from her head to latch on to her sides. “oh, yeah- it is, cause.. im not fixing that shit.” 

izzy ignored his words and grabbed the bag, instantly looking in it and plopping down in her bean bag in the corner. chewing on his offering she leaned back, “i surely don’t deserve this, that’s for sure... you really should’ve brought me a whole SLAB of ribs or something but.. i digress.” the tech let out another sigh, digging herself deeper into the seat, her legs spread. snickering, she looked up at him, “-..yikes, rest in pieces, fam. coffee stunts the growth.” 

🎠: if you had to describe your aesthetic, what would you describe it as?

today, rocky was visiting iseul’s house. usually, the genius’ spent every waking moment doing shit for the gang, of course... as they should, but- the intelligent needed a break here and there too. hence, why rocky was standing in issy’s kitchen, reading the instructions from a cookbook.

everyone knew iz wasn't capable of using her stove without causing a fire- and she’s excepted that. still, that wasn’t going to stop her from having homebaked cookies.. that’s where rocky came in. her close friend, her prankster in crime, her savior. this was a job only for her- and in order to even get her here, iseul was sure not to leave out the close-friend and savior parts.. 

“okay, so.. you go ahead and start- and im going to run to the store to get some juice to eat everything with. i’ll be like.. 15 minutes, tops.” grabbing her leather jacket and beanie, she left rocky to her own devices. 

rocky looked at the instructions and her ingredients, slightly intimidated at the picture of the finished products on the pages. still, she was determined to bake these cookies- surely this was no harder than hacking into government firewalls so, she knew it was going to be a breeze... she felt that way until she actually started to get to work. 

measurements weren’t lining up, spills kept happening. before she knew it, she was making more of a mess with the ingredients that the cookies themselves. by the time iseul came back, her stove had nearly exploded, and rocky was covered in flour, eggs and char from her now nonexistent oven. 

issy looked at her, holding back a laugh. “...i was gone for... 18 minutes, how?” 

issy was drilling some safety bolts into a magic-powered gun she’d been working on when aiden popped in. she could hardly notice him enter cause her mind was completely occupied- her inventions always got her like that.. especially when she knew they were gonna change the game for the veritas crew. stepping back and placing her drill down, she sensed him and she removed her goggles to turn to him. 

“yo, aiden, hey-.. what you need?...” 

aiden reminded her of his weapon he had requested her to order, it seemed he wasn’t aware that his fix was already here. “your glocks? they’re in the back-..” issy pointed before walking to the storage, wheeling out a case. “i just gotta do your personal adjustments.” 

“want to see how much trouble we can get into?” 

iseul paused with her hands in a bag of chips, her eyes meeting his. her answer should be no. realistically, a proper older sibling is supposed to be a good influence. but, she didn’t wanna. she was bored and wanted to fuck some shit up. trouble was always a good substitute for that. a few chips later, she’s nodded her head. she crawled off the couch, tossing the empty bag on the table in front of her. 

“I thought you’d never ask.” 

“who are you?”

a good question. although, a better one would be.. why was she here.. still, not a question she would be able to answer fully but- ... valid. iseul was probably the WORST when intoxicated. it was easy for her to drink a few drinks and walk into the wrong house.. or in this case... climb into the wrong house. WILD? Yes. Fake? sadly, not. 

sitting on the ground, looking up at the man stunned by her presence she grinned awkwardly. this house... felt different. the vibe wasn’t the same-...  she wondered why, scratching the back of her head. soobin, tonight's victim repeated his question. issy stood up, fidgeting. an answer came to mind, and she let it out. 

”I AM YOUR FATHER.” 

iseul nodded proudly the energy of a clever responce flowing through her. she did that- she thought of that genius. all original. her mind? unstoppable. 

soobin stared at her, confused. she couldn’t really tell if he was amused or not but- she figured he didn’t get her little lord of the rings reference. ( i kno it’s not lord of the rings but asdfg iseul thinks it’s that ) shrugging it off, she looked around herself, picking up her phone and checking the time. it was LATE. the middle of the night. yikes. // issy looked up, tucking her hands in her pockets. a moment of silence, waiting for him to leave but still he stood. 

“Did you hear something?” 

it was dark, and... lowkey scary. NOT TO ISEUL though, she wasn’t a punk.. she wasn’t scared-.. just cautious. why? cause- playful dares could turn into something a little more dangerous- especially when they involved ‘tests of bravery’. she’s seen goosebumps, and cartoon halloween specials- sometimes playing with the spooky doesn’t always turn out to be just a game. nevertheless, here she was- standing around in a cemetery at night with rigs. 

iz pulled up her hood and tucked her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie. her eyes peeked beyond the hood to scan the surrounding area, slowly stepping around in circles-..calm. well- until rigs decided to open his mouth. she froze, turning to him. “NO. i didn’t..“ her calculating eyes locking with his, “-.. and you didn’t either, so chill out with that.” yes, that was her verdict. she couldn’t tell if he was grinning, or smiling but- he had to be joking, or playing. right? 

before she had realized, iseul was placing herself slightly behind rigs. for safety, ya know? just in case. out of the two, he was the biggest- a whole foot taller- and he probably had an annoying enough personality to scare off whatever he did hear. a few moments went by and rigs paced a few steps forward, stopping once again. “iz, i know you hear that shit..”  iseul was too anxious to hear the mischief in his tone, “listen- rigs.. i’ll brew you a WHOLE mug- pitche-.. whatever-the-fuck of coffee tomorrow if you just... shut the fuck up, hm?” 

just as the words slipped her mouth..  they both FOR SURE heard a branch break. 

“yeah, yeah. minnie said the same thing.” 

“-....why? ... hm?” 

🗼: what's one thing you've learned to take as a warning sign in any type of relationship?

“to be frank, i’ve never had a notable relationship- but, from observation, common sense.”

🌌: how do you feel about god?

“lol, who?” 

🏯: if you could move to any country of your choice, which would it be?

🌠: if you were allowed three wishes, what would they be?