#and couldn’t even walk more than a few steps without getting fatigued

[levilover-thefirst]

Thinking about Levi dying before you do

After the war ended, both you and Levi continued to live together, sharing the same bed, the same life. It could have been a dream that came true. But cruel fate decided to prove Levi once more that nothing lasts forever, that death might fall upon people at any time, even during the newfound peace. Loved ones could always be lost.

It wasn’t about you, though. Somehow, despite the endless injuries and trauma you had to deal with throughout your life, you lived in perfect health. Still strong, still hardworking, still determined to help rebuild the destroyed world.

It was about Levi. With the Titans gone, the Ackerman power disappeared too. And without it, his fatigued body started to give out on him, unnoticed at first.

Of course, many chores and everyday tasks became challenging due to his damaged leg, but it was bearable. Levi learned to use the wheelchair, although begrudgingly. After a few months of healing, he could walk short distances using a cane, too. It wasn't the end of the world, he liked to remind himself. Because, in fact, the world did not end on that day, so he kept pushing forward.

Time went on, and sometimes it felt as though Levi's age was catching up to him. There were no sudden changes, nothing too concerning - just some less appetite, some more exhaustion. Getting out of bed felt almost impossible at times, each sore muscle begging for more rest. But it was understandable, considering the number of stressful and terrifying events he had to endure in life. He was just tired, that's what he kept telling you every time you asked if something was wrong.

Your worry began to rise after Levi caught flu for the first time, a nasty type at that. You've never seen him this sick, bedridden with a fever high enough to push him to the edge of consciousness. You stayed with him the entire time, applying cold compresses to his overheated skin, trembling hands folded in prayer for him to get better. Eventually, he did. But it wasn't a full recovery, even though Levi kept stubbornly assuring you that he was fine. Your concerned eyes saw how much paler he got, how his breathing was more shallow than what you remembered. As if the illness didn't really leave, just hid somewhere deep and kept biting from within. You tried to talk about it, but he would just wave you off and kiss you on the forehead to calm you down. It didn't work. His lips were chapped.

From then on, not a single month passed by without Levi getting sick. You knew something was wrong, but he refused to see a doctor, couldn't bring himself to bother them with his state, which wasn't the worst. It was not that bad. Some people needed a doctor much more than he did, and Levi would much rather lie with a raging fever than be an obstacle on someone else's way to health. Because there weren't many doctors left in this world. Because somewhere nearby, a child could be losing their mother to illness, and that's where doctors are needed the most. Not here, next to him. Pressuring him did no good. The built-up frustration would always end with a fight between you, who wanted to take care of Levi the best you could, and him, who was scared. Of vulnerability. Of weakness. Of the intense worry settled in your eyes.

Levi's wellbeing spiraled downward just a few years later. One of the frequent colds turned to bronchitis. Then to pneumonia. Both of you had a feeling that it was bound to happen, that sooner or later Levi's health issues would take a turn for the worse. But neither could say it out loud, too scared that spoken words might somehow bring the grim future a few steps closer. And then there it was, right there with you, with the doctor who finally came, not because Levi agreed to their visit, but because he couldn’t oppose it anymore. He didn’t have enough energy to speak, shallow breaths being the only sound leaving his dry mouth.

He wouldn't say much even if he could, though. As his state began to deteriorate, he grew more and more distant, trying to push you away. Trying to protect you from the fruitless life you were doomed to have if you stayed with him. You deserved much more than what he could give you, especially now. But you stayed anyway, of course you did. You and your loyalty. Your unconditional love. Levi's chest tightened the more he thought about it. Did he deserve it?

The doctor explained Levi's state to you in a hushed tone, told you that his immune system didn't work properly and couldn't fight the infection. That there used to be effective treatment methods, but the ongoing crisis caused by the rumbling made them completely unavailable. Easing the pain and discomfort was the only thing left. These words cut through your heart mercilessly, but you kept your composure. You had to, for Levi. In order to bring him comfort, you had to fight off the tears, fight off the distance he set between you. You had to be brave, even if it would break you.

And so you spent every waking moment right next to him, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much Levi wished for you to leave and find happiness somewhere else. You kept smiling sweetly, sweeping strands of hair from his face. Proving to him that he could never push you away, you would always find a way right back. It filled him with an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness, but it was bittersweet. He was forced to face his biggest fear - you being left alone. Without him to look after you anymore, to make sure you were safe. Just you and a huge, still foreign world. He knew you were strong; you could survive anything. So full of empathy, you would easily find support and love in other people. But what if someone hurts you? So many terrible things could still happen. And he wouldn't be there.

These thoughts kept him from sleeping, tormenting him every day and night. But eventually, Levi became too weak to dwell on them, too dizzy to form coherent thoughts or even keep his eyes open. He did his best to concentrate on your presence, your soft hands on his cheeks, quiet whispers into his ear. Sometimes he couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep, your affection being just a part of his dream. Things started to feel diluted, indistinct. He lost track of time and didn't know how long he'd been in this state, stuck between reality and some other, distant place.

One evening, just after the sunset took the last rays of light from the room, Levi suddenly stirred. An urgent need to see you, to take a good look at you, brought him back to his senses immediately. He opened his eyes and searched for you with blurry vision, blinded by the candle burning at his bedside table. You were right next to him, as always, sitting at the edge of his bed, head resting lightly near his chest. Levi mustered up the strength to take a deep breath and say your name to bring your attention to him. It came out as a quiet croak, but you heard it clearly. As your eyes met, you smiled the most beautiful smile Levi had ever seen. It moved him deeply, made him feel that he had to tell you something, quickly, right then and there. But what could he possibly say when his head was a mess, shreds of thoughts rushing chaotically through his mind? How could he say anything with his mouth completely dry, his tongue tied and numb?

Levi's breath quickened; he felt he had to hurry, even though he didn't know why. Yet still, nothing came to his confused mind, so he just stared helplessly into your eyes. That's when you took his hands into yours and, with the same unwavering smile, told him you love him.

Instantly, Levi calmed down, tensed muscles relaxing. You love him. Of course you do. Seeing your face, hearing you say these words was all he needed. You love him, and that was all that mattered. He sighed and closed his eyes again, finally content, finally comfortable. You love him, and that was the only thought left in his mind as he drifted off back to somewhere far away.

[madaqueue]

whoever invented tamiflu deserves their ass eaten

[qin-qin16]

cw.: Dust x Reader, gn!reader, almost non verbal Dust, fluff, Dust lacks communication skills, reader is trying their best to understand him, he actually cares about reader?!

note: He was the first skeleton I wrote about, so I wanted to go back to write a little about him again :D

Dust had always been unusually quiet — almost eerily so. Unlike his counterparts, Killer and Nightmare, he preferred to remain in the background, barely joining in on dinners or group training sessions.

That was fine; you never judged him for it (well, maybe a little at first, to be honest). However, it wasn’t just his isolation and silence that troubled you; it was the lack of communication.

You knew he wasn’t much of a talker — it was possible to count on one hand the times you’d heard his voice — but his complete stillness meant you couldn’t read any body language from him. And if that wasn’t enough, there was also the hood.

That damn hood. If only you could see his face, maybe you’d understand Dust better. Perhaps those bicolored eyes would be more expressive than his lack of movement, or maybe even a smirk, a furrowed brow, or a look of disdain would be more revealing than this complete absence of expression.

Inevitably, your hands went to your face, massaging your temples with some unnecessary force. All these questions and uncertainties were making your headache worse — and Killer’s incessant chatter during breakfast didn’t help at all.

For a moment, you close your eyes and let your mind drift, trying to imagine Dust's possible expressions. Does he maintain eye contact, or does he look away constantly? Does he have any habits like biting his tongue or lips, as you do?

Despite your efforts, nothing comes to mind. It’s already difficult enough to picture Dust doing anything other than sitting still on the couch, watching TV, or standing silently in a corner observing the others. Imagining a range of expressions on his face feels even more daunting — almost impossible.

As you sink further into the couch, feeling a slight ache in your back from the uncomfortable position, a weary sigh escapes your lips.

Just as you’re about to get frustrated with your lack of creativity, a poke on your cheek snaps you back to reality.

“Not now, Killer, you know I’ve got a splitting headache—” you start to say, but your words trail off when you open your eyes and see it isn’t Killer beside you, but the skeleton that’s been occupying your thoughts recently.

Still a bit taken aback, you almost miss the mug he’s offering, gently nudging it toward you as a signal to take it.

“Uh, thanks?” You carefully take hold of the mug, quickly grasping the handle when you realize how hot it is.

You soon catch a faint aroma wafting from the mug. Without hesitation, you inspect the liquid inside: judging by the color and smell, it’s definitely tea, though you can’t tell if it’s magical or herbal.

“It’s mint.” In an instant, your gaze locks onto Dust, who is still standing beside you.

This is one of the few times he’s directly addressed you (maybe the third? Certainly the first time he’s spoken so calmly), and you can’t help but be slightly taken aback.

Dust was offering you tea. Tea. Something usually associated with soothing physical pain and fatigue. Has this Dust actually gone so far as to prepare, serve, and offer tea to you? Did he know about your headache? Wait a minute—

Was he trying to ease your headache?

“Drink it slowly; it’s hot.” And just as quickly as he had appeared, he turned and began to walk away, his steps slow and shuffling. You couldn’t help but wince at the sound of his slippers scraping against the floor.

“Um…” You mutter, your gaze returning to the mug and watching the steam rise gently from it.

Your lips quiver slightly; even though it was a simple gesture, it had deeply touched your heart.

Maybe Dust wasn’t as expressionless and distant as you had believed.

( @howlsofbloodhounds ) forget to tag you moot

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Fire Moon

Kili Durin x Reader

Words: 2482

Summary: While on an escort detail with the dwarven princes, you and Kili witness an event that prompts him into a romantic realization. 

Notes: I’ve written a lot of angst for Kili and you know what, the boy deserves some fluff. So I’m going to attempt some cozy adventure fluff for one of my favorite fantasy boys of all time. 

-

Exhaustion weighed heavily over the camp. 

Every step took more effort than you thought you had left. You’d just about completed your patrol when you heard the footsteps behind you. You reached for your sword. 

“You look too tired to lift that, let alone use it,” Kili teased, stepping into the light of your torch. 

You huffed and took your hand off the hilt. Still, even through your fatigue you couldn’t help but smile. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping your brother look over the supplies?”

He shrugged. “Fili can handle it. Besides, he always accuses me of stealing the apples.”

“Don’t you?” You scoffed. 

Kili winked and tossed you the bright red fruit. “Though you might be hungry.” 

You laughed, shaking your head. “Thanks.” You took a bite, the bright taste helping restore you a little.

“We should be in Rohan in a couple of days,” he said, taking another apple from his pocket. He spoke with his mouthful of the fruit. “The merchants should find decent trade there.”

“If they can manage not to get themselves killed.” You started walking again.

He followed, chuckling. “They aren’t exactly the exploring type, are they?”

“I’ve saved at least a dozen from poisonous plants alone.” Your hands moved with your words, emphasizing your frustration. 

He thought it was adorable. 

“I’m worried, should we run into any Dunlendings, these people won’t just be unable to defend themselves, they’ll get in our way of defending them” you sighed. 

“I’m sure we’ll manage.” He nudged your shoulder, grinning. “You look so serious.” Kili mockingly mimicked your expression, unable to hold it for long before he was beaming again. “This is supposed to be an adventure.”

“We’re charged with keeping them safe and I can’t do that if they keep putting themselves in danger!” You exclaimed. 

Kili raised a brow. “You really are tired, hmm?” He snickered. 

You laughed, running a hand down your face. “Shut up.” 

A content quiet settled between you as you took in the scenery around. Even in the dark, the silhouettes of the Misty Mountains still took your breath away. 

“I’d forgotten,” you mused. 

Kili tilted his head. “Forgotten what?”

You smiled and took his hand. “Why I agreed to come on this venture in the first place.”

Kili brought your hand up to his lips, holding it a little tighter. His dark honey eyes met yours with nothing less than utter happiness. 

“Well, we’re fortunate you could join us,” he chuckled. “Who knows what kind of trouble Fili and I would get into if you weren’t here to keep us in line.” 

You snorted. “I’m sure he’d say the same about you and me.” 

“He mentioned it just this morning, actually,” Kili beamed. 

“What a trio we make.” You looked over the camp and sighed. All these people traveling to gather supplies to take all the way back to their homes. They worked and prayed and fought to protect something you’d never had. Not that you always minded. With the stars over your head and Kili’s hand in yours, you knew you would be content anywhere. 

Besides, you were far too restless to ever stay in one place. As were your traveling companions. Even now, Kili could hardly stand still. 

You stretched beside him, yawning. 

“You should get some rest,” Kili said. “I can take watch for the next few hours.”

You shook your head. “I’ll be fine.” You yawned again before you could stop it. 

He shook his head and pressed a kiss to your temple. “Sleep, my darling.” The rumble of his voice warmed every inch of you. 

You knew there was no point in arguing. 

“Only if you promise to sleep as well.” You leaned in, lips brushing his ear. “It gets too cold without you.”

Kili turned his head, quickly capturing your lips in a kiss. He smirked. “I’ll do a few rounds and then switch with one of the others.”

You gave him another quick kiss before heading back to where you’d set up your bedrolls. 

Kili watched you go, his grin never faltering for a second. In all the years he’d known you and all the time you’d been together, Kili had still never gotten used to simply gazing at you. 

“You’re supposed to be watching the whole camp, you know,” Fili teased, appearing at his brother’s side. 

Kili cleared his throat and turned to the tents. “I am.”

Fili chuckled, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe that the girl who followed us around, demanding archery lessons grew up to be-” he motioned to your retreating figure, “well, Y/N.”

“I think she’s always been beautiful,” Kili mused, the taste of your kiss still lingering in his smile. 

Fili snorted. “That’s not what you said the first time you took her shooting.” He ruffled his younger brother’s hair. “Ah, the power love has over memory.”

Kili stopped dead. “L-love?” He stammered. 

“It’s only an expression,” Fili laughed. He watched Kili’s face turn red. “Unless… by the gods, you are in love!”

Kili yanked him aside. “Would you keep your voice down?” He hissed. 

Fili lit up with a mischievous smile. “You haven’t told her?”

“There hasn’t exactly been a good time.” Kili crossed his arms and turned away, looking more bashful than Fili had ever seen him. 

Fili pat him on the back. “Well, I wish you the best of luck, brother.” He snickered. “You’re going to need it.”

-

Fili cast many knowing looks in your direction the next day. Every side-glancing smirk made you wonder just what the dwarven prince was keeping from you. Unfortunately, you took the middle of the party while he stayed in the back, so you didn't get the chance to interrogate him. 

Kili, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get away from you quickly enough. Every time you approached him, he came up with some excuse to get away. Even last night, he’d remained distant, staring up at the stars while he lay across the grove from you. Between that and Fili’s odd attention, you couldn’t help the doubts that began to flit through your head. 

Had you done something wrong?

Another day of travel passed, vast and rolling fields to one side and jagged, towering peaks to the other. The mountain breeze wisped through your hair. Its briskness carried the scent of wildflowers and helped to distract from your thoughts. 

Kili, who was leading the party, called everyone to a stop. This would be where you camped tonight. It was a good spot- near a creek, trees for firewood, and plenty of rabbits for restocking previsions. But since he was giving you the cold shoulder, you kept this praise to yourself. 

He and Fili met you in the middle to tie up your ponies and discuss the evening’s plan. But once the ponies were secured, the three of you just… stood there. An odd and unfamiliar tension hung between you. 

So Fili took matters into his own hands. 

“Some of the merchants were talking,” he said, glancing between the two of you. “Apparently, they saw some smoke along the ridge.” 

Kili made a face. “I didn’t see any smoke.”

“I did,” Fili said- a little too quickly, you noted. He put a hand on you and Kili’s shoulders. “You two should go scout it out.” And before either of you could argue, he continued. “We wouldn’t want to be surprised by a group of Dunlendings, would we?” He hurried off to join the others, turning back just for a moment. “Don’t get killed. I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about when you get back.”

Fili shot his brother a wink. 

Kili promptly reddened and muttered a string of curses. 

“He seems… odd today,” you noted, watching the blonde vanish amongst the tents. 

“It’s a long story,” Kili grumbled and started up the path. 

You took a deep breath, trying in vain to banish the worries pounding through your head like a war drum.

Fili was right about one thing. 

It would certainly be an interesting night. 

-

It was hard to remain irritated once you began to take in the beauty around you. Massive trees enveloped you on either side, giving you glimpses of the rocky landscape through their branches. Birds and frogs filled the air along with the bubbling of creeks made from snowmelt. The setting sun cast the world in hues of orange and gold, giving the mountain peaks the illusion of being capped with fire. 

“We should be at the top of the ridge within the hour,” Kili said, hiking slightly behind you. 

“I’m not sure we need to go that far,” you observed. “I see no sign of smoke at all. And besides, why would Dunlendings be camped out this far?”

Kili caught up to you. He looked strange, almost nervous. This only worsened your confusion. 

“Why don’t we go anyway?” He gave you a small smile. “Just to be sure.”

You watched him for a second, tilting your head as if he was a riddle you couldn't solve. 

“Alright,” you finally said and the two of you continued onward, now walking side by side. 

Kili felt more anxious than he was when he faced his first one. Every time you glanced at him, the butterflies in his stomach turned brutal, and each time you smiled at the stunning view, he wanted to catch your lips with his and never let go. 

You tried your best to pretend like everything was normal despite the fact that lightning seemed to shoot up your arm every time his hand grazed yours. 

“I heard of a town with a goblin problem not far from Ered Luin,” you said. “Perhaps we could head there when we escort the merchants home.”

Kili nodded. 

You continued in silence.

A deer ran across your path to drink from the creek. Its large brown eyes watched the two of you and must have determined you posed no threat for it bowed its head down to the cool mountain waters. 

This, you thought, was all you needed. The air of the Misty Mountains, the pleasant tiredness of a day’s adventure, and someone to share it with. 

You just hoped that Kili felt the same. 

With the sun almost set completely, the first stars blinked their soft white light over you. Even Kili, who’d only ever seen them as a cold, distant light, couldn’t help but marvel at their splendor. Everything just seemed more beautiful now. 

By the time you reached the top of the ridge, you both knew there’d be nothing to find, but you stayed to enjoy the view anyway, lit by the stars and the lingering light just on the horizon. 

Across a canyon, evergreens painted the rocky hillside with shoots of autumn gold running in between like veins. A distant waterfall twinkled in the starlight. 

Breathless, you stood at the edge, taking in every sight and sound. 

“It’s beautiful,” you gasped. 

“Yes, it is,” Kili agreed, though he wasn’t looking at the mountain at all. 

You turned and he quickly glanced away. Your heart pounded. It was now or never, you supposed. 

“Have I done something?” You blurted. 

Kili’s nose scrunched up adorably, his brows drawing together. 

“What?”

“Well, you’ve been different and I thought I may have done something.” You could feel your cheeks grow pink. 

“No,” he paused, smirking at himself, “well, I suppose, in a way-” He thought of the way you smiled at every person in the camp, even when they irritated you. He thought of how your eyes lit up when you saw something beautiful, like the view before you now. How, even in the dark, it pained him not to see you for a single moment. 

Your stomach sank. You took his hand. “What is it? If I’ve said something or done something to upset you, then please tell me now.”

Kili’s expression morphed, a bright smile taking over his features, bringing a light to his eyes that rivaled the stars. 

“No, Amrâlimê,” he said sweetly, “the only thing you have done is be the incredible woman you are.” Kili took a breath, holding your hand to his chest to feel you closer. “The woman I have fallen utterly and completely in love with.”

He kissed your fingers, then your palm, then the inside of your wrist.

“K-Kili,” you breathed, feeling as though you’d given all of the air in your lungs away. Like you had given yourself to him completely. You opened your mouth to tell him this, but both of you turned as you were swallowed by a warm light like the most powerful and enchanting sunrise. But it was not the sun rising about the dark peaks and emerald trees.

It was the moon. Impossibly large and glowing it embraced everything in reds and oranges and golds. It turned the already incredible view of the canyon into a wall of magic.

“A fire moon,” Kili gasped. “I’ve only ever heard tales of them for old explorers. Truly the stories cannot compare.”

The moon continued its ascent slowly, both of you frozen by its brilliance. The pure rays washed over you, giving you all the clarity you needed. 

“Marry me,” you said suddenly.

Kili tore his eyes away from the celestial splendor to look at you in surprise. The light surrounded you with an ethereal glow. You were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. 

You continued, stepping closer to him so that your faces were breaths apart.

“I love you, Kili of the Line of Durin,” you beamed, tucking a strand of chestnut hair behind his ear. “This journey has shown I don’t want a single adventure without you by my side. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” You paused, trying to gauge his response, but he remained entranced. “If you’ll have me.” 

Speechless, Kili simply took your face in his hands and brought your lips to his for a kiss with a passion that outshone the light of the Fire Moon ten times over. When he pulled away, he could hardly contain his joy.

“Yes,” he said. “A thousand times yes. Amrâlimê… my love… my Y/N.” He kissed you again and again in between each wonderful phrase until you were both breathless and laughing. Kili’s eyes widened with realization. “We must tell Fili at once! This was all his doing, getting us to come up here so I would stop being such a coward.” He grinned, his boyish playfulness returning. 

You smirked. “First, let’s punish him for his trickery and stay here a while longer. Make him worry a little.”

Kili chuckled. “You are a devious thing, aren’t you?” 

“Yes,” you giggled, “but you love me anyway.”

Kili laid a hand on your cheek. “That I do.” 

He pulled you into his arms and held you beneath the brilliant moon.

[lilyinavalley]

Sinners Damnation

CHAPTER I - Encounter Il dottore x female oc

-SPOILER WARNING! This story happens after Scaramouche erases his existence from Irminsul, so even if the events are not happening in the current timeline of the game the 6th harbinger position is still vacant :) -TAGS: isekai but the mc doesn’t know about genshin, scientist mc, angst, eventual smut, fate, dubious morals, dubious ethics, canon divergences, no description of body features other than the characteristics of a general female body

Ao3 link

It is said that love brings the best out of people What if it does the opposite? What happens when two lovers bring the worst out of each other? When their most selfish and disgusting desires come to light?

This is the story of a man and a woman that should’ve never met

Red sky, no stars, crimson wet soil, no grass. I walked, walked and walked, bare feet stained with the dark fluid that came out from the ground every time I took a step. I was completely naked, limbs hurting from the cold and fatigue, hollow eyes always looking ahead, legs that couldn’t stop, as my will was no more.

This is a warning from the Gods above, the appetizer of what my after death is going to be if I continue to stay by his side, such is the conclusion I came to.

Every night I have this dream and every morning I wake up with a bone chilling sense of  dread.

But saying that he is the only reason behind this is an absolute naivety, for I am also a sinner.

Pain, it spread from the tip of my fingers, slow and cold.

I opened my eyes wide and with a moan of pain I looked at my hands, it was snow, the little particles of ice were slowly freezing my skin, the violet color of the phalanxes the proof.

My clothes were in complete contrast to the environment that was around me, a light sundress was covering my aching body, sandals at my feet, a straw hat a few meters from me, strange, considering the unnatural stillness of the air. 

How did I get here? What was I even doing?

Apparently I woke up in a pine forest, no village, human or animal in sight, in the snow there weren't any signs of footprints, not even mine, it looked like I fell from the sky.

The pain was unbearable and apparently at that moment I couldn’t recall the events that led me in that place, nor I had any memories of my past; but giving up wasn’t an option, so with extreme fatigue I stood up and started to walk in a random direction.

The cold pierced my bare skin, the soles of my feet started to sore and bleed from the direct contact with the snow, my lips gained a violet hue, but still, I didn’t want to stop.

As I went forward, the surroundings didn’t change one bit, it was like I wasn’t even moving.

Is it some kind of punishment? What did I even do to deserve this?

At some point one leg didn’t answer my will to go forward anymore, my sight also started to blur, probably my brain was getting frozen too.

After a couple more steps everything turned black.

The young woman fell lifeless on the carpet of snow. Maybe because she didn’t give up, or maybe for sheer luck, a few moments later a group of masked soldiers on their way for a mission saw her body in the distance. Alarmed, they got closer, one of them checked her breath, she still had a pulse, weak, but present nonetheless. He took her gently in his arms, covered her with a greatcoat and laid her in the seats of the coach. The soldiers looked at her curiously, everything about her was strange, she gave off an odd vibe, like she wasn’t even from that world. They also noticed the fact that her body was completely abandoned,  without footprints around her, considering how she was dressed and the fact that she was also alive and that it wasn’t snowing, it was impossible that she was laying there for so much time that the traces were covered by a snowfall. 

The men looked at each other and came to the same conclusion.

“Let’s bring her to our Lord harbinger”

The regular ticking of a pendulum clock, the soft creaking of fire, a reassuring and enveloping warmth, these were the things that I heard first as I slowly woke up from a dreamless and deep slumber. My body was covered with a heavy and soft duvet, only my head uncovered, my limbs weren’t hurting anymore.

I got into a sitting position, the blanket fell to my waist, I was wearing a plain nightgown with a very thick fabric, I bared my legs and I noticed that my feet were completely bandaged.

I got lucky I guess

The precariousness of my situation made me anxious, countless questions and doubts started to swarm in my mind.

Where am I?

Am I in danger?

I’m so scared 

I just want to sleep and go back to where I was

But where was I before waking up in the snow?

Why did this happen to me?

Who even am I?

I took a deep breath and I closed my eyes to clear my mind. When I gained control of my thoughts again I started to analyze the situation: for some reason I had no memories of my life, giving the circumstance I woke up in, I probably didn’t come to that forest willingly, I had no idea of where I was and there was literally nothing that gave me even a faint sense of familiarity. 

The room I was staying in was very spacious, it was square shaped, everything, from the walls to the furniture, was in shades of white and light blue. 

On my left there was a giant English style window, through the glass was reflected a raging snowstorm, other than that I could only see a never ending plain of immaculate white, beautiful and alienating at the same time.

I stood up, the bandages on my feet slightly protecting them from the cold of the marble floor, I cautiously walked towards the fireplace, the only source of warmth of the room, I crouched down by keeping a safe distance, the soft yellow and orange hues painted my face. When the heat imbued my body, I stood up to search the room. Parallel to the window there was a large fir door, on its right a full body mirror that reflected the sight of the snowstorm. I went for the door first, I lowered the handle and tried to pry the door open, but it didn’t move an inch, so I walked to the mirror and stood straight to look at my reflection. The woman in front of me was both familiar and foreign at the same time. 

I’m very pretty I have to say, a bit shabby, but I quite literally escaped death, so that’s reasonable I guess

Then I heard a light echo of footsteps, someone was walking in my direction.

Anxiety and panic rose once again, a piercing sense of chill went up to my brain passing through my spine.

My body was completely frozen on the spot, I looked like a lamb patiently waiting for the inevitable doom. The steps got closer and closer, until they stopped at once. I could feel the loom of danger even through the closed door.

The squeaking sound of keys forewent the slow opening of the light colored door.

The wolf deprived the lamb of any chance to escape

A tall man entered the room, and as soon as his foot landed on the floor, the temperature seemed to drop by a few degrees.

That was our first encounter, the image of his dreadful figure shook me to my deepest core; -even if it happened in the distant past, I still remember it like it happened yesterday. My reaction was normal though, even with my current understanding of the man I wouldn’t say that I was silly, at the time he was no different than a blood driven monster, blindly following his every whim, everything and everybody else just props to his play-

He was wearing a strange shaped mask that covered the upper half of his face, it almost looked like a beak; even if his eyes were covered, I could feel him gazing intently at every inch of my body.

-I wonder what he was thinking at the time, seeing such a proud looking lady, terrified by his dreadful appearance, but looking at him straight in the eyes nonetheless- 

He opened his mouth, a string of incomprehensible words reached my ears.

What the hell is he saying, I can’t understand a word of this language, I don’t even think I ever heard that before

I frowned in confusion and as soon as he saw my dumbfounded expression he halted his speech. His lips suddenly curved into a devious smile and he said something with a satisfied tone.

Scared by his ominous stare, I took a few steps back.

After thinking for some seconds, he took out a small object from his pants pocket, it was a metal object, shaped like a eucalyptus leaf.  

He held his hand to me, the strange object in his palm.

I was still wary of him, but both for curiosity and lack of other options (more the second) I cautiously got closer.

In his eyes I’m sure I looked ridiculous, I was completely defenseless, but I kept up a fierce and intimidating look, as if I could really scare him or react in a possible dire situation. -How amusing-

Seeing that I trusted him enough to get a little bit closer, he held out his fingers even more and out of nowhere the object began to emit a light green light, it also started to float. Is it magic that I’m seeing?

It became smaller and smaller until it was no bigger than a breadcrumb; then it moved so fast that my eyes couldn’t even perceive the movement and entered one of my ears, the tickle gave me goosebumps.

“Don’t worry it’s not harmful”

And right after he said that a head splitting headache suddenly blackened my vision.

“Not harmful?!” I said with clenched teeth and a reprimanding voice.

“It seems to work” He stated proudly.

After a few seconds the pain subsided and I looked at him with a hateful glare.

“I understand what you are saying now, and apparently I can talk your language too. What is this?”

He grinned and gave a satisfied scoff.

“It’s one of my inventions of course, it injects the information I put inside directly into your brain, quite interesting isn’t it? The headache is just a little side effect”

I wouldn’t call it “little” but nevermind, at least I can talk to him

“What is this place?” I asked and turned to the window again, the snowstorm was still raging, white snowflakes were hitting the glass, the contrast with the warm temperature of the room let them melt, but the iciness of the air outside prevailed, so the droplets of water froze once again.

“This is the country of everwinter, Snezhnaya”

I’ve never heard of this place, where the fuck did I end up?

Uneasiness enveloped my heart like thorns.

“But it's useless information for you, am I right?

Without me noticing, he got closer and with his towering height he looked down on me.

I felt so small, both physically and mentally.

“You are not from this world”

I widened my eyes, but I still kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t surprised, deep in my heart I already knew it, call it gut feeling.

“You are not the first one to come to Teyvat, we call them descenders, but usually they are powerful beings, capable of changing the fate of this world. That’s not your case though, I checked your body and you have the anatomy of a common mortal with not an ounce of strange otherworldly power”

He did what?!

“I wonder what was the trigger that made you come here”

He rubbed his chin with one hand, he inclined his head and some peculiar pendant earring popped up from his light blue wavy hair. It looked like a test tube, a fluorescent liquid rattled inside.

The man was probably a scientist of some kind.

As soon as I had this realization, countless memories flashed in my mind, causing my head to spin. 

Images of me in university attending lectures, me in a white lab coat preparing histological slides, me analyzing microorganisms with a microscope, me doing a presentation in a conference.

I seem to have gotten part of my memories back

Overwhelmed by the sudden surge of memories I put my hands on my hair and crouched a little. 

That behavior also surprised the apparently all knowing scientist, as he knitted his eyebrows.

“What’s going on young lady?”

Still shaken, I gasped.

Can I trust him? There is something deeply wrong about him, even with his eyes covered I can feel the glare of blind curiosity towards the unknown, as a scientist myself I understand what it means to have something you have never seen to study. 

So I put all my fate to his hunger for discovery .

“I lack a great part of my memories”

He looked at me a bit dumbfounded and crossed his arms.

“Right now I got some of them back”

I stood up and looked straight to where I thought his eyes were.

“What do you want to do with me?”

A snort escaped his lips, then a subdued laughter, and in the end he started to laugh uncontrollably, he looked like a complete psycho.

I’m done

As if a switch had been flipped, he stopped at once, he put his hand close to my ear and with a finger he curled a lock of hair.

“Tell me, do you remember your name?”

“I do not” I said sternly.

He hummed in thought, let go of my hair and stepped back.

“I will help you with your memories, for now, you don’t have to worry about anything else”

He turned and walked towards the door.

“Wait”

He stopped and turned slightly.

“What is your name?”

“Just call me Doctor” 

He went out and closed the door without turning back.

Really, what did I do wrong to end up here?

[sid-the-sandwich]

Chapter 1 – Missing Memory

"I’m too tired for this" the demon yawned, stretching to relax their limbs. It was too early in the morning for this. It was the start of a new term for RAD and that meant waking early once more; a total slog. Yuki had only a few short hours asleep before being rudely awakened by the sound of their alarm clock filling their senses. Dragging their feet across campus Yuki kept their head high, trying their best to get to class on time.

Walking past the centre fountain, the lesser demon saw a cluster of students surrounding a central figure, and without even needing to guess it was clear Asmodeus was the obvious culprit. His effortless beauty and grace gravitated students toward him, a few quick words were enough for students to fall for him left, right and centre. The gaggle of students blocked the path creating more inconvenience then it really needed; Yuki just wanted to get to their class. The Avatar of Lust stood at the edge of the fountain taking pictures of himself, his smile dazzling brighter then all the lamps in the Devildom.

Yuki sighed, both in exasperation and amusement. Asmodeus’ popularity was well-deserved; his beauty unmatched. Among his admirers he was a jewel among pebbles.

Yuki paused for mere moments to watch the scene unfold, Asmo in his element, encouraging others to admire his pure radiance. The lessor demon felt a smile play on their lips despite the roaring fatigue, “Must be nice,” they chuckled to themself, continuing on their route.

Stepping away, Yuki made their way inside the building, remembering one reason why they despised RAD… the stairs. The staircases at RAD were notoriously convoluted, twisting and turning in seemingly random directions, proving to be a real pain for the when you’re in a rush. Each flight of stairs never ended, a short trip to the second floor could mean climbing four separate flights of stairs, making the journey more of a hassle than it was worth. As Yuki braved the first flight, they couldn’t help but grumble under their breath

“Why can’t they just have… normal stairs?” the demon huffed out of breath, still advancing… why’d their class have to be on the fifth floor?

Every step seemed to lead to another set of stairs, some even spiralling into brick walls. Their eye twitched in frustration as they navigated this labyrinth of passages, grumbling with each step, “Who even designed this place anyway? Some sadists with a thing for staircases?!”

After what felt like Millennia, Yuki reached the top of the staircase, panting in exhaustion, “Next time I’m scaling the side of the building,” they shook their head, placing a hand on their chest to steady their breathing.

"Is this the right class?" The demon looked around, a few minutes early for the lesson they were supposed to attend. They mumbled to themself, checking their DDD repeatedly for their timetable; it would be the worst thing ever if they climbed all these stairs just for their class to be someplace else.

“504?” Yuki repeated, checking their timetable one last time with a little nod, realising this was the class. With a little sigh, they put their DDD in their pocket.

When their eyes opened once more, they looked around. They weren’t near the classroom, in fact they were on the opposite side of the school, near the student council office… why were they here? Was this another of the ‘666 mysteries of RAD’? the soft music continued playing in the background, feeling almost surreal.

However an oddity occurred, their friend, Astaroth, teleported too, seemingly unaffected by the music or the random teleportation, smiling as if nothing had happened. His smile was casual,

“Hey check it out. That’s the human everyone’s been talking about. You think it’s true what they say, that Mammon became a babysitter?” his tone jocular as he gossiped.

Yuki furrowed their brows, staring bewilderedly; what exchange student? A human? There was a new exchange student? What where they doing here? Yuki didn’t care about any exchange student! The lesser demon opened their mouth, wanting to ask their friend what happened but their words exited foreign, as if it was words off a script. “Well, if so, then I say that actually works out great, doncha think? If we wait and strike when he’s not paying attention, he’ll never figure out it was us. C’mon, we should devour the human before Beel does.” They said, the words tasting bitter and wrong on the tongue.

Looking to the side, Yuki saw who this human was… it was a pink sheep? That’s strange, the last time Yuki saw a human they were more… dextrous than that. The ‘human’ seemed as if they were going to approach before being stopped by a white haired male… it looked a lot like the sorcerer Solomon… was that the human their friend was talking about? But no… everyone knows Solomon… they have known Solomon for hundreds of years.

The music continued as Lucifer came close, causing both Yuki and their friend to slink away undetected, listening from just around the corner.

After a few seconds, Yuki felt a weight lifted off, granted the ability to move and speak once more once as the clicking and music ceased... “What the hell!” Turning to their friend, Yuki spoke, “What… what just happened?”

“What are you talking about?” Astaroth responded, his brows playfully furrowed,

“We just… teleported here… and didn’t you hear that Music?” Yuki explained

“What? Did you sneak into the potion cabinet again?” He chuckled, “We came to check out the new human, remember?”

“What…?” Yuki racked their brain… did they?  Astaroth was acting so normal that maybe they did come all this way to see the new human then they just… forgot? It’s unlikely but not impossible. Yuki shook their head confused, “I think I’m feeling sick… I’m just gonna go to class!” before stepping down the hallway.

“Yuki?!” Astaroth called for the demon, stepping closer, his boots clicking against the floor rhythmically… until silence.

Suddenly, the air around seemed to shimmer as Yuki rubbed their temples, like heat bubbling to the surface. It was as if reality itself was flickering. A subtle yet uncanny feeling of distortion. Objects blurred momentarily, some flashing, some seeming discoloured. The quiet was deafening, as if caught in a loop.

Yuki blinked, trying to focus their vision, looking back at their friend who was frozen in place mid-step. Their view seemed to go through walls for a second, seeing floating tables and chairs before another clicking sound, just like the one from earlier repeating itself,

Suddenly, the white light engulfed Yuki again, finding themselves in a different area of RAD; this time the classroom. A roar of chatter filled the air, a cacophony of voices discussing spells, assignments and weekend plans.

Yuki rubbed their eyes, feeling disoriented. “What is going on?” they muttered, looking around, their eyes searching the room for any clue of what just happened, why was no one reacting? Why was everyone so nonchalant? Yuki’s eyes passed the clock on the wall; it was… midday… wasn’t it just morning? Due to the dark of the devildom, it almost appeared as if no time had passed,

Yuki just wanted to get up and go home for the day, maybe they were ill? That seemed like the most plausible thing; they were sick and hallucinating! They repeated in their mind, trying to convince themself of the most rational theory. But just before they could get up the clicking sound reemerged with the soft piano playing once more.

Yuki sat frozen in the seat, unable to move or speak, almost as if an invisible wall kept them chained to the ground. Their throat closed up, not allowing any chirps of sound to be let loose.  The lesser demon was trapped, their senses sharpening to overhear a light-hearted conversation taking place nearby, the music perfectly setting the scene.

Surrounding a desk, Solomon, Asmodeus and Satan huddled, gossiping about anything on their mind while playing a game of cards. It was clear Solomon was winning due to the big smile on his face accompanying the wines from Asmodeus.

But the conversation shifted, Satan bringing a piece of valuable information that the human exchange student is going to make a pact with Mammon. The two others voices twinged with curiosity at the revelation.

Yuki strained to catch every word, it’s not like they could move if they wanted to, their mind raced to process the words being said; the new exchange student wants to make a pact with one of the ‘Seven Rulers of the Underworld’? would that even be possible for such a feeble human?

But before the lesser demon could ponder any longer, the restraints loosened, the music and clicking disappearing, they could speak and move freely once more! Yuki placed their head on the desk, perhaps they weren’t going crazy… if only they could remember their day. “First I came to RAD and climbed the stairs but then… what?” it was all a fog, some parts were simple to remember but Yuki’s mind couldn’t fill in the blanks, it was like one big blur.

Solomon, Asmodeus and Satan once again returned to playing cards, was it possible they didn’t hear this music? The flashing lights? or the constant clicking noises? Everyone in the room continued their day as if it was any other day.

Confusion gripped Yuki’s core, the weight of this confusion laying heavy on their shoulders, was this a curse? A hex placed on them by a prank? People loved to do them at RAD: it was so popular that every year the best prank is labelled the ‘King’ for originality and chaos. But no, that couldn’t be it, why would only they be affected, one person in the whole school.

Then, the thought struck Yuki- Solomon was right there, within arm’s reach, if this was a curse or a prank gone wrong, perhaps the greatest sorcerer in the three worlds could shed some light on the situation.

Yuki’s resolved deepened to find answers; the lesser demon arose from their seat, looking over to where Satan, Asmodeus and Solomon were sitting still playing their little games.

With a racing heart and jumbled nerves, Yuki strode over, clearing their throat, “Um… excuse me…”

Chapter List | Next

This is chapter 1, I hope everyone enjoys it

its based on the fanfic idea i had a few days ago

if there is any questions you want to ask, please feel free to!

im trying my best to keep Yuki gender neutral, but if I accidentally give them he or she pronouns please let me know so I can edit it <3

Stay Safe <3

[sentientgolfball]

A little gift for @copiasjuicebox :3 I hope you like it, I thought about it all day

Pairing: Copia/Reader (gn)

Word Count: 1211

Summary: Reader is anxious that they might be getting sick. Copia offers his best comfort.

It had been one hell of a week for you. The Ministry recently came into possession of some ancient texts that supposedly talked of ghoul mythology. You and a team of archivists were given the task of translating and rewriting the stories. There weren’t many, just three calfskin books. The problem lied in their condition. The papyrus was worn and the pigment used for the text was faded. Some pages were unlegible, marked in your notes to return to it later. You were only halfway through the first book by the end of the week and you couldn’t have been more grateful for a break. 

When the excitement of a new find finally worn off, you were only left with stress. You were worried about preservation, about getting a complete translation, about the possibility of the Clergy getting impatient and demanding a deadline. You worked yourself into the darkest hours of the night, determined to do as much as you could as fast as you could. You were beginning to regret this. 

It started as a simple headache, pressure building right between your eyes and spreading up. You ignored it. Then came the fatigue and you brushed it off as a symptom of your disrupted sleep schedule. When you woke up with a sore throat the panic finally set in. You couldn’t be sick. You have no time to be sick. Your mind couldn’t help but wander to the worst possible scenarios as you trudge back to your room from the archives. What if this thing knocked you out for days? A week? What if it was something worse than simple allergies from being a cramped, dusty room all day? What if you had to spend a night in the infirmary, oh you hated going to the infirmary. 

You were so lost in your thoughts you didn’t notice the sound of footsteps from around the corner. You try to make your usual turn, body on autopilot, but instead you crash into something solid. The figure lets out an ‘oof’ before apology after apology follows. You blink a few times, shake your head, and finally take a look at who you bumped into only tp be greeted by none other than Copia. 

“Please forgive me my head is ehh not here at the moment.”

“No Cardinal it’s my fault I should’ve been paying attention.”

“Copia.”

“Huh?”

“Please call me Copia. I am only Cardinal when the sun is out.”

You smile, “Then I’m sorry for running into you Copia.”

There’s a brief pause while you two just stare at each other. Copia fiddles with his hands, the sides of his mouth quirking up a few times. You can tell he has something on his mind and you decide to ignore the heavy feeling in your body to see if he’ll say it. 

“Apologies if I am ehh stepping out of a line here, but you do not look so well. You do not sound great either.” 

“Is it that obvious?” 

Even you can hear the scratch to your voice when you ask the question. You cringe at the feeling of dryness in the back of your throat. 

“I am afraid so” Copia nods, “you should go see Omega he can work wonders when you’re feeling ehh a little under the weather.” 

You feel a wave of cold creep through your body “I uh I’d rather not have to do that.” 

“Que? Well that is understandable he can be a bit intimidating at first. I am sure Aether wouldn’t mind a visitor.” 

“No it’s not the ghoul that’s the problem.” 

Copia raises an eyebrow and tilts his head. 

“I hate going to the infirmary. It’s like actually admitting I’m sick. I always feel worse leaving than I did before I showed up” you explain. 

There’s another long, awkward pause where Copia stares at you, tapping his chin in thought. His eyes widen and he snaps his fingers. 

“Follow me!”

He turns and starts walking down the corridor without looking to see if you’re following. 

“No infirmaries I promise just ehh trust me” he calls over his shoulder. 

You consider him for a moment before smiling and shrugging and moving to catch up with him. You end up following him all the way back to what you can only assume is his room. You hesitate when he opens the door for you, but when he looks at you with a lopsided, nervous grin you relent. It’s a little messy, trinkets and books and photos strewn about but it makes you feel at ease. It’s almost comforting seeing how well lived in the space is. You take a deep breath and though your nose is a little stuffy you can still pick up the hints of vanilla and lavender incense. 

“It is not much but I make do” he smiles at you. 

“I think it’s lovely.” 

He blushes a bit at the compliment before walking over to his desk. He pulls out a small box, muttering to himself while he sifts through the contents. You watch him as he works, setting out cups, filling a container of water. 

“It is a special blend of tea from Mountain. It is ehh meant to soothe sore throats and to help you sleep.” 

“Please do not be a stranger, make yourself at home” he works on preparing the tea. 

You happily take a seat on the small couch in the corner of his room. Your body aches and it feels like heaven to finally get off your feet. You sigh heavily and sink back into the softness of the cushions. When the tea is finished Copia sits down next to you. He takes a sip and curses when it burns his tongue. You steadily sip yours after letting it cool down a little. 

The lowlight of Copia’s room combined with the warmth of the tea has your eyes drooping faster than you can process it. You’re tired and your head feels heavy on your shoulders. You feel like you could sleep for days. You don’t even notice how close Copia has gotten while he filled the silence with whatever thoughts came to mind. He pauses in some rant about some new statue the Ministry is supposed to be receiving when he feels your head slump against his shoulder. He’s tense for a moment before setting his and your cups down. You suddenly remember where you’re at and jump up, quick to apologize.

“Please” he laughs “it is alright. If it will make you feel better I am ehh happy to oblige.” 

The rational side of your brain said it was an intrusion, but you were too tired and too anxious about the possibility of being sick to care. You settle back on the couch and, leaning against him, deciding the comfort of another was more important than any possible embarrassment. He pulls a blanket from the back of the couch to wrap around you two. You close your eyes, not willing to fight off sleep any longer. The warmth of his body, the sound of his heart, and the vibrations of some tune he’s humming are the perfect combination to finally put you at ease. You fall asleep with his arms wrapped around you. 

“Goodnight caro, sleep well.”

[lieslab]

Every day felt the same for Chan. Wake up, go to the studio, work on songs, go to practices, get yelled at by Minho for staying up too late, and repeat. The cycle went on until they had a comeback, or a concert. But then it started all over again.

The first time he noticed it was after their concert. He was watching back a fancam, and it clicks in his head what was off. His moments— they weren’t sharp like Minho’s, didn’t have personality like Hyunjin, or fluidity like Felix’s. They were stiff as a board, and he looked like he has just learned the choreography. 

The next time he noticed it was after a long day of recording. His voice— it wasn’t smooth, and even like Seungmin’s, and it couldn’t go high and still be steady, holding a note for forever like Jeongin could do. He couldn’t rap at the speed of light like Changbin, or do it all like Han could. He wasn’t special, was his next thought.

So, naturally, as any good leader would do, he worked harder. Staying until as early as 4am at the studio, and leaving again at 9am. He worked like a dog when producing, not letting up until the song sounded perfect. He spent countless hours in the studio, working until he looked perfect. And it worked, for a while, until Minho caught on.

“Channie-hyung, why are you coming home at 4am?” Minho questions him as soon as he stepped inside. Normally, the younger would wait and call him at 1am if he still wasn’t home, which he would reply to that he was on his way, and almost always got away with it. This time, it seems, he was unlucky. 

“I have a song due tomorrow. Was trying to finish it since we have interviews today.” The half-lie rolled off his younger easily. He didn’t have anything due the next day, but they certainly had interviews. Chan had spent the past few hours rehearsing possible questions and ways to make all the members included. 

Minho tsks. “You need to take better care. Did you have dinner.” Chan rolled his eyes and nodded, stepping past him into the living room.

“I’m fine, Minho-ah.” He walks over to his room, and puts his hand on the doorknob. “Goodnight.” Chan steps inside without a response, and knew he wouldn’t be asleep for another hour. 

As the months went by, Chan started to see all the progress he made slow down. His moves became sloppy— the improvements of his sharp, defined, movement were now laced with fatigue. He started to give himself less lines in upcoming songs, reducing it so the youngest members can get the attention he believed he didn’t deserve. And it wasn’t long before they caught on too.

“Why do I have double the lines than you Chan?” Felix inquires one day as he looks through a song. “I mean— I love that I have so many but, it feels so unbalanced.”

Chan simply shrugs, typing away on his computer. Jeongin, who was nearby chimes in. “Yeah. You have like nothing.” 

“I’m fine with it. They fit you two better.” Both boys stare at him for a moment before going back to working. 

thoughts?? -🥔

What the fuck? It's like eight in the morning 😭 Is this how you guys feel when I write angst? I feel like you punctured my heart with a needle. Please, for the love of everyone that enjoys angst and suffering, finish this and post it. Knowing this has actually probably happened in real life, it makes it hurt so much more.

This is gorgeous and I don't think you'll have any problems finding people to read your stuff <3

[tup-ika-5385]

Fic Complete!

Chapter Summary:

Hardcase has been in a bit of a funk lately. After finally being released from medbay, he feels like he’s just treading water, only making himself more frustrated as the shoreline gets farther and farther away. What does recovery even look like for him?

“Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Jesse mused from his seat in the mess hall, scooting over to make room for Hardcase, who was stubbornly juggling both his food tray and his crutches with a determined frown on his face.

“More like the wrong bed entirely,” Hardcase grumbled before he could stop himself. His left arm was shaking with effort as he moved to set down his tray. A few drops of juice spilled before Jesse could intervene, but Hardcase had insisted on grabbing his food himself and gave him a warning look even as the drink sloshed threateningly when he put it down. He growled in frustration, using a few napkins to mop up the worst of it. 

Jesse blinked at his uncharacteristic response, eyeing him carefully. “You good, vod?”

Hardcase sighed, wincing internally. Even if he was in a bad mood, he shouldn’t take it out on his brothers. “Yeah, sorry Jess…”

It was Hardcase’s second night sleeping in the barracks, and to his unending frustration, his well-loved top-bunk wasn’t something he could get into by himself anymore. Jesse had been more than happy to swap bunks, but Hardcase couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness pooling in his stomach every time he tried to relax in the lower bunk. Recovery had been so painfully slow, and he’d known it would be, but so many big things had been changing recently. Was it too much to ask for this one thing to stay the same?

Using his good arm, he repositioned his bad arm on the table so it was holding his tray steady. His left hand was mostly recovered, and his elbow could bend by itself without too much trouble, but his shoulder was still stiff and weak in a way that made doing most things difficult. 

At least he could put on his blacks by himself now with minimal assistance from his vode, compression shirt only slightly impeding their fit now that most of his bandages had been removed. Patch had walked him through the steps a couple days ago: dressing his injured limb first, then pulling his shirt over his head, shoving his good hand through the sleeve, twisting it to fit, and hoping for the best. He’d managed to get about 2/3 of his armor on himself, and usually Dogma would help him with the rest, but he’d sensed Hardcase’s mood this morning and wisely thought better of it, meaning Hardcase was only partially kitted up at the moment. 

His armor was another point of contention, now that he was thinking about it. Fives and Jesse had done a great job preserving his armor, and had cleaned it as best they could after Umbara, but his new backplates and shoulder pad were as shiny as… well, a shiny. His arms still shook with fatigue if he held them up too long, which would inevitably ruin his usual meticulous armor patterns if he ever decided to fix them, but he hadn’t even been down to the firing range yet since his injury, so who knows if it’d ever be needed if he couldn’t ever fight again.

“So I was thinking of going to the training room later, if you wanted to join me,” Jesse offered with a carefully casual tone.

Hardcase gave a self-deprecating snort. “So you want me to sit and watch? No thanks.”

Jesse shook his head. “There’s weights and– and other exercises, you know. And if you brought the hoverchair, we could probably adjust the punching bag for you to go a few rounds. You look like you could stand to punch something, vod.”

Hardcase was silent for a moment, mulling it over in his head. He’d been itching to punch something for nearly a month now, but it would be just as frustrating to go and find that he couldn’t do anything. There were so many little tasks that he never used to think about, like putting on his socks or brushing his teeth that he now had to plan out to the smallest detail. And he tried– he tried to put on a brave face, but nothing was the same, and neither was he.

So he hesitated before finally responding, “I dunno… maybe.” 

Jesse gave him a half-smile, accepting his answer for now and pushing down a pang of concern for his brother. “Well, let me know when you decide. I’ve missed my workout buddy.”

“Yeah, me too.” Hardcase responded, returning the smile reluctantly.

_______________

Sitting in a circle in the too-quiet barracks, a couple of troopers from the rehab group busied themselves by playing a game of sabacc. Exempt from duty while they were still recovering, Hardcase and the other injured troopers were left with more free-time than they knew what to do with. 

Thankfully, a few of their brothers were off-duty at the moment, so Attie, Tup, and one of Sev’s batchmates had joined the group, even if Dogma wasn’t playing at the moment. It had been fun getting to know the other troopers recently. They’d had a couple assignments together, but Hardcase hadn’t really had a serious conversation with Nax or Attie before the past month. They had some pretty interesting stories of their time in the 501st. 

Sev was the one who had originally wheedled them into a game of sabacc, especially now that Patch had made Sev a little card-holder so he could play without too much difficulty. The shiny had a surprisingly good sabacc face, earning himself a sizable stash of sweets. Last round, he’d won with a sylop card and a positive and negative seven, canceling each other out for a winning hand. 

Presenting his cards with a grin, he gloated, “What can I say? Seven’s my lucky number.” Cackling, he raised his seven uninjured fingers for emphasis, earning an exasperated sigh from Nax, who had the worst luck of the group.

An atmosphere of easy camaraderie filled the barracks, only to be interrupted by a chirping timer. “Hardcase, time to take your meds.” Dogma said gruffly, barely bothering to look up from his datapad. Ever since being given his new posting, he’d been pretty absorbed in learning all he could. 

Hardcase groaned in annoyance before putting down his hand of cards and leaning over to grab his small container of muscle-relaxers and anti-inflammatories from his bunk. Dogma had already refilled his canteen earlier so he didn’t swallow them dry… again.

Distracted by the group’s lighthearted banter, Hardcase leaned back to grab the container with one hand. For a brief second, he forgot– he forgot that his left arm couldn’t support his weight, even while sitting, and he let out a strangled yelp as it buckled underneath him, quickly followed by a wave of sharp discomfort.

Upper body unbalanced and half-laying on his bad arm, Hardcase hissed in pain as he tried to reposition himself. He screwed his eyes shut and yelled, “Kriff!” 

Reaction half pain and half frustration, he banged his good hand on the floor, startling the group with his outburst. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the bottles of meds spinning slowly across the floor, coming to a stop in front of Attie. 

“You okay, Hardcase? That looked like a pretty good fall.” Tup asked, concerned. He’d noticed Hardcase’s mood this morning too, but it had almost disappeared while they played sabacc, until now, that is.

“I’m fine!” He ground out stubbornly, struggling to get back up on his own. Dogma got up from his perch on a nearby bunk, offering him a hand, but Hardcase batted it away with a growl, insisting on getting back up on his own. Dogma looked briefly conflicted, but relented after another glare from Hardcase.

“There’s pain meds in here too if you need them,” Dogma offered slowly, trying to gauge Hardcase’s response.

“I don’t need pain-meds, and I’m not a kriffing invalid.” Hardcase shook his head, protesting even as he tried to steady his breathing from his half-fall. He tried to ignore the feeling of eyes on him as his cheeks turned red with embarrassment. He hated feeling like this.

The group was silent for a long moment before Nax eventually spoke. 

“... the other day, I slipped in the fresher, completely wiped out. Attie had to drag my naked shebs back up onto the shower chair. It was slippery and embarrassing as kriff.” Nax offered gruffly, giving a half-smile to Attie, who was sitting next to him. “... ‘s okay to need help, and to have off-days.”

Attie responded by nudging him with his shoulder before looking back at Hardcase with understanding, knowing what it was to be broken and then learning to remake himself, even if their circumstances were very different.

Hardcase sighed, anger and self-recrimination fading. Nodding reluctantly, he muttered, “Feels like every day’s been an off-day, lately…”

This time Attie was the one to speak, reaching to hand Hardcase back his meds. “Some battles… they stay with you. Teth was like that. Umbara too.”

Hardcase looked up in surprise, taking the bottle from Attie. It was almost an unofficial rule that nobody talked about Teth, especially around Attie. So for Attie to bring it up himself was pretty significant.

He listened intently as the older trooper continued to speak. “We can’t change it, or stop it from changing us, but we can start to move on… just a little bit.”

Attie took a slow breath, lost in thought. Sometimes he’d think back to those times after Teth, even two years later, remembering “anniversaries” of times that he’d been really bad off. Now, he’d just sit back and marvel at how different he felt, compared to how he did then. Things got better; they really did, and they would for Hardcase too. 

Before he could stop himself, Hardcase found himself asking, “How do I do that?”

Attie gave him a half-smile before shrugging. “Honestly, a lot of it just takes time… but it doesn’t hurt to lean on your brothers, or let them drag your naked shebs off the shower floor, like Nax here.” He elbowed his brother in the ribs, prompting a good-natured grumble.

Hardcase huffed in amusement before sighing. He wasn’t known for his patience, and this whole recovery process had already taken much longer than he wanted it to. But when it came to his brothers, spending time with them and leaning on them for support, he knew how to do that. So he accepted Dogma’s help unscrewing the caps of his medications, giving Tup a grateful smile as he passed out the next round of cards. Thankfully, his vode had more patience than he did, and were willing to be there for him, no matter how long it took.

____________________

Peeking his head into the fresher, Tup finally located his missing batchmate. “There you are, Dogma! Come on, we’re going to miss first-meal!” 

He hadn’t seen much of his batchmate the past couple days, but he’d noticed that Dogma had been a little on-edge. He wasn’t sure if it was his new posting, or the General’s upcoming visit with the rehab group, but he’d been keeping a closer eye on Dogma, just in case.

“In a minute.” Dogma nodded without looking up from washing his hands, gaze laser-focused on the task.

“What are you doing?” Tup had been waiting for him the last ten minutes; usually Dogma left the fresher in less than three. 

“Washing my hands.” Dogma stated redundantly, reapplying soap for the second time since Tup came in.

“Well, I can see that. Why are you still doing it?”

Silence.

“Dogma?”

“… it helps.” 

“Helps what?” Tup's voice took on a concerned tone.

“I don’t know, it just does. Go on ahead, I’ll meet you there.”

Despite Dogma’s dismissal, Tup stayed in the doorway, watching as Dogma’s hands turned red from the hot water. His normally short fingernails were clipped practically down to the skin, but he still scrubbed underneath them like his life depended on it.

“Dogma, I think your hands are clean enough.” He spoke cautiously, like he’d spook his batchmate by calling him out on it.

Dogma’s breath hitched, and finally, he paused his scrubbing, muscles tight under his blacks. Tup took the opportunity to walk to the sink before shutting the faucet off with careful hands. 

Resting his hands on Dogma’s arms, above where he’d been washing them, Tup questioned his batchmate with a quiet tone. “Dogma?”

“… I can still feel it sometimes. Their blood on my hands. Y-Your blood; Krell’s blood…” Dogma’s voice was thready and his eyes refused to focus as Tup guided him to the flimsi dispenser to dry his hands.

Tup gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You never fired a shot at me, vod. My blood was never on your hands.”

Dogma’s voice shook. “B-But I could’ve—“

“And you didn’t, right? It took you some time, but you made the right decision… any blood spilt on Umbara was Krell’s doing and Krell’s alone.” Tup gave Dogma a wobbly smile, trying just as hard to convince himself of that fact, that the troopers he’d gunned down on Umbara weren’t their faults. 

When Dogma still looked unconvinced, Tup brought their foreheads together in a light tap. Tup continued, “Remember what Patch’s been saying? Thinking about doing something is different than actually doing it, especially if it’s something you never wanted to do in the first place. It’s like…” He thought for a moment before coming up with an example.

“It’s like…the other day, I wondered what my hair would look like if I dyed it mustard yellow, like that brother from the 212th with questionable hair decisions. That doesn’t mean my hair will instantly turn yellow, or that I’ll dye it that color in the future.” Tup made a face of disgust, expression exaggerated for comedic effect, earning a small huff of amusement from Dogma.

“Sometimes thoughts are just thoughts, vod. They don’t have to become anything more than that– n-not that your thoughts aren’t important to me though.” Backtracking slightly, Tup gave Dogma a sheepish smile. This conversation broached on a lot of topics that really weren’t his expertise, but understanding Dogma was something of a science itself, and Tup had been training in that since he was decanted.

Dogma, for his part, gave a slow exhale, attempting to calm his racing thoughts as he relaxed in Tup’s hold. He nodded at Tup’s statement and tried to accept it himself. “Y-You’re right… thanks, Tup.”

After a moment, he pulled away, looking down with a grimace to examine his hands, still red with irritation. Tup followed his gaze before making a noise and using one hand to nudge him towards the door. He kept his tone free of judgment as he herded his batchmate down the hall. “Let’s head down to medbay really quick. Should probably get that looked at, just in case.” 

Dogma frowned, but didn’t fight the gentle hand on his shoulder. Sighing reluctantly, he mumbled, “Lead the way.”

______________________

Hardcase grinned to himself from his seat in the rehab room as he listened to the General’s stories. Apparently there’d been a mission where a magnet attracted his metal prosthetic so strongly that it lifted him up off the ground.

That story had nothing on the time Commander Tano found out about the prosthetic. Apparently nobody had bothered to tell her that General Skywalker was missing an arm until a month later, when she woke up at 2 am to use the fresher and found him pulling one of his fingers off to make an adjustment. Her scream had even woken the Captain, Skywalker reported with a grin.

“Hah! I remember that one, sir! I swear between you and the Captain, she didn’t stop hearing about it for a tenday!” Hardcase laughed; he’d only been a shiny when that happened, but it wasn’t the kind of story you forgot.

Looking around the room, he was pleased to see that most of the other troopers had started to relax after the first few tense minutes of the Jedi walking in the door. The chairs were organized in a rough circle, and Hardcase had positioned himself right next to the General, with Patch on his other side. Given the timing of his injury, Hardcase had missed the worst of Umbara, and while he really didn’t need to be there for the prosthetic advice, he hoped his presence would help the more anxious troopers to relax around their General. After all, it wouldn’t be long before they were deployed again, and they’d have to learn to trust the Jedi again.

When he’d first arrived at today’s meeting, Dogma’s entire body had been rigid with nerves. He hadn’t even given a response to their daily check-in. But as he sat across the circle next to Nax, holding one of the stress balls that Patch had scattered around the room, Hardcase noted that he looked a little better than he had earlier, listening with interest instead of looking trapped in his seat.

So far, the General had told a couple stories to put the group at ease, and then gave some general advice on prosthetic maintenance. Apparently he was supposed to put lotion on his residual limb when he took it off at nights, but he forgot often enough that Captain Rex had taken to carrying extra in his pack when they went on campaigns. He’d also mentioned that some people noticed that they sweat more after an amputation, with their overall skin surface area decreasing, making it harder for them to stay cool. Hardcase had grimaced at that part, wondering if he’d have similar issues with his burns.

Finally, he opened the floor for questions, looking patiently around the room. There were a few moments of nervous silence before Sev asked, “So… do you put on your pants first, or your arm first when you get up in the morning, sir?”

A couple troopers groaned in exasperation, but he retorted, “It’s a serious question!”

Anakin chuckled before responding. “Usually I’ll put on my arm first, so it can help. I’ve tried it the other way around before, and it usually gets caught in my robes.”

Another trooper, a shiny, raised their hand to ask a question, biting his lip with nervousness. “Sir, is it– h-how did you get used to it? Living with a prosthetic arm instead of your own? I-I’ve tried to get used to it, but I still can’t– can’t look at it without feeling like I’m part clanker.” He curled in on himself a little, gaze turned away from the prosthetic arm in his lap.

The General’s tone softened as he answered, “For a while, I didn’t. I was really angry; angry at Dooku, angry at Obi-Wan, and at myself. I was restricted to either the temple or the Negotiator for nearly a month, between waiting for the swelling to go down and starting rehab myself. This was at the very beginning of the war; it felt wrong to just sit around or do flimsi-work while my master was out fighting battle droids.”

A couple troopers nodded in agreement, having felt much the same way for the past couple weeks. He continued. “Even after I got my prosthetic, I didn’t really get comfortable with it until after I accidentally short-circuited the thing. It was in the middle of a deployment, so I had to fix it myself if I wanted to get anything done. And once I got started, I… went a little overboard.” He gave a sheepish grin, removing his glove to show it off. Golden chrome and shiny servos greeted the troopers, looking distinctly Skywalker-esque. 

“My arm wasn’t going to grow back anytime soon; not even the Force could manage that. But I started finding ways to live with this one, make it my own.” He gave a reassuring nod to the trooper that had asked the question. 

“I also learned a lot of new ways to do things. Honestly, I probably supplement with the Force more often than most jedi, but if it means I can do maintenance on R2 without needing help every two minutes, I’ll take it. No need to make my life harder just because I’ve always done things a certain way.”

The group continued for about an hour longer than usual, asking questions and chatting as they became more comfortable with their commanding officer. Hardcase listened with half an ear, but he kept thinking about the General’s response and the idea of making his injuries, his disability, his own.

Two days later, Hardcase came into the barracks with a new tattoo, a krayt dragon sprawled across his back and snaking down his arm. He straightened with pride as Tup and Sev gushed over the new tattoo. He’d gotten some advice from the General about the tattoo’s placement and design, and he'd checked with Kix to make sure that it wouldn’t set back his recovery, but as he looked at himself in the mirror that night, he gave himself a confident grin. He always knew it was going to be a cool scar.

[harvestjune]

june couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out, quiet and warm. he didn’t even try to hide how fond it was. he looked down at the lunch box in hans’ hand like it was part of the joke — part of this easy back-and-forth they’d built between long days and tender nights.

“you act like i won’t actually give you the massage,” he murmured, eyes flicking sideways with a little smirk, teasing. “just wait. you’ll be asleep in ten minutes. and i’ll still be the one sitting there, working out the knots in your shoulders, asking if you can feel that spot loosening and getting nothing but your snores for an answer.”

he let the silence between them settle for a few steps, only the sound of sunny skipping over the sidewalk. and then, so softly it almost got swallowed up by the breeze, june said, “but yeah. you’re right. i probably need it more than you do.” he didn’t mean it to sound heavy. it was just honesty, stripped down and worn. a little like the way he felt. that long stretch of effort behind him, the tiny moments he’d saved up all day — sunny’s laugh, hans’ lunch, the look on a parent’s face when they finally got their shy kid to wave goodbye. all of it had chipped away at him slowly, like joy and fatigue could exist in the same breath.

he looked up again, and this time his eyes weren’t teasing at all. they were full of that same love hans always managed to coax out of him, even on the hardest days. the house was just ahead now close enough that sunny had picked up her pace and run toward the porch. she turned back to wave at them with both hands.

june took a breath, then stepped closer to hans without a word, resting his head on his shoulder for just a second as they walked. just long enough to feel the shape of him there, familiar. his fingers brushed against hans’ hand again. “after that… i think i want to fall asleep with your hands in my hair. you always do that thing. so gentle it doesn’t even feel real. like i’m safe even in my sleep.” he smiled, soft and a little tired, but full of meaning. “let’s have that kind of night. just us. as a family.”

hans welcomed the breeze, the chill nipping at his cheeks as he walked beside june, with sunny skipping ahead and reciting her story in a singsong voice. she was the picture of a good day personified, hans thought. lithe steps and not a care in the world. 

he smiled softly as he watched her, though it transformed into a bigger smile when he heard june’s words. “a massage, huh? maybe i will hold you to that,” he replied with a playful wink. it’s moments like this that really show how comfortable they were with each other now. “even though i feel like you might need the massage more than i do.” 

they had walked these same streets before, numerous times, to try out different restaurants. they were fond memories hans would always look back on, the beginnings of something beautiful. but as he held on to june’s empty lunch box, talking about dinner on their way home, he couldn’t help but smile to himself at how that feeling of home stayed. it was always with them when they were apart, and it felt even stronger now that they were together. like something that felt empty inside him finally felt whole.

he did not know that a simple statement about how june missed him would have him grinning like he had won the lottery, but that’s what hans did, beaming as he looked into june’s eyes. “i missed you too. i think i started to summon you after lunch, but the roses stopped me.” he nodded in the direction of the rose in june’s hand, playful and carefree too, just like sunny who was finishing her song. “i’ll just have to make up for it with after-dinner cuddles. and the massage i was promised.” 

[chrisbannor]

Elements of Change

Chapter Eight: Revelations

Author: Chris Bannor

“I’ll do whatever I have to. If they don’t back down, I won’t either.”

Kammon nodded once but didn’t respond to Ezo’s words. Instead, he stepped through the center of Ezo’s magic, setting off the trap within. The touch of his magic made Ezo too aware of the former soldier.

Ezo could feel the strength within him, but fatigue pulled at Kammon. Ezo remembered the way it had dragged at the other man when they’d been joined at Mason Creek. It wasn’t quite burn-out, but it could take years to recover. Without a flood raging around them, Ezo could concentrate on it. This wasn’t the exhaustion of too much power drawn. It was something different. He wanted to understand, so the winds ripped around Kammon, and his magic passed through him.

The sudden wall he hit stunned him and he dropped his magic.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kammon demanded.

“Nothing. What was that?”

“Me, keeping you out. Knock it off.”

He realized then that he’d imitated what Kammon had done that night. Kammon had talked about joining the evening before and even apologized for his intrusion the night they’d first met. Ezo didn’t have an excuse for why he’d done what he had. It wasn’t his intention to join with him, but he was inquisitive by nature and it had always gotten him into trouble.  How could he tell Kammon he’d tried a joining just for curiosity’s sake?

He nodded, too ashamed for words.

“Let’s keep moving. Anyone else who triggered this would do so unknowing. They’d keep moving down the path. That’s where the raiders will be waiting.” 

Kammon walked away and Ezo followed behind him. “Will they come for us, with our magic?  Won’t they stop when they sense us?”

“If they have an elementalist like we think, they’ll still have to get close to us to know that we aren’t common folk. We can catch them before they run.”

“You have a similar trap in mind?”

“No. An extra set of eyes.”

“What?” He looked around to see if Kammon had been laying some sort of trap of his own along the way but there was nothing. “What do you mean?”

When Ezo turned around, a blood-red hawk rested on Kammon’s forearm. He stepped closer and the hawk turned its head to look at him. The hawk’s wings were tipped with a red so dark it was almost black. Its chest was a burnished orange and its underbelly was golden. It wasn’t the strange coloring that drew him to the creature though. He could feel it. It was pure magic.

“Ember is my effigy.”

“Effigies are just a myth,” Ezo said before he could stop himself.

“Your uncle told you that?” Kammon scoffed. “They are rare, but not unreal. There are maybe 5 or 6 elementalists alive today that are strong enough to contain an effigy.”

Ezo stepped closer and raised a hand to it, but Ember flared its wings and screeched. He pulled his hand back quickly.

Kammon laughed, stroking the hawk’s head to calm ir. There was genuine affection on his face as he looked at the effigy. Ezo was struck by how young he looked like that. Kammon couldn’t be more than a few years older than him, but he hid his youth with the weight on his shoulders and the scowl on his face.

“Are there rules for touching it?” he asked.

“Her. And the only rule is if Ember allows you to. She doesn’t come close enough to meet most people. She flies above me normally, keeping a lookout.”

“If she allows me?  Isn’t she a part of you?”

“No. It’s hard to explain. Effigies come to the most powerful elementalists. They are a part of us, but they are not us. Ember has a personality of her own. She is pure magic, and will often do as I ask, but it is always her choice in the end. In fact, there have been times when she has stood between me and the choices I was making.”

Ezo was fascinated by Ember. There had always been stories about effigies but Jacob had told him they were just stories. People wanted to believe in someone so powerful they could create magic instead of use the magic that surrounded them. Ezo had always had reason to wonder about effigies. He’d been able to do things with magic that bordered on creation, but his uncle has always insisted his powers were nothing like that. “Can she speak to you?”

“Not words, but she makes herself known well enough.” Kammon looked at Ember then. “Ember, watch for me. Give us notice if the raiders are coming.”

She butted her head against his hand and when he threw his arm up, she leaped into the air.

Ezo was mesmerized by her flight and watched as she rose above the treetops. “She’ll do as you asked?”

Kammon started walking again and Ezo sped up to walk beside him. “Yes. She wants to find these raiders as much as I do. I wouldn’t take a job she didn’t approve of.”

“And if the raiders run when they realize what we are?”

“Do you always ask this many questions? That’s all you’ve done since I met you.”

“Jacob use to say the same thing, so I guess it is.”

“Jacob?”

“My uncle.”

“Your uncle, the elementalist, was named Jacob?”

He nodded. It was a strange way to ask about his uncle, but he had come to expect oddities from the other man. “Yeah. He used to travel a lot when I was little. When my parents died, he came back to take care of me.”

“What do you know about him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew a Jacob. An elementalist who … traveled. He didn’t have a high opinion of the universities or the ruling class.”

Ezo frowned. “That would describe him.”

“He had a scar, across his left cheek?”

Ezo nodded, too surprised to question how Kammon knew.

“What happened to him?”

“He got sick. No one knew what to do. Not even a healer could help him.”

“I’m sorry. He was a good man.”

“Thank you.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between them as they walked. Ezo wanted to ask how Kammon knew his uncle and what he thought about the other man, but considering what he’d already said, it wouldn’t be welcomed. Instead, he pulled a small bag from his pack and opened it. He had dried fruits and nuts from the last village he’d visited. He ate a few, then knocked his elbow into Kammon’s and extended the bag to him. Kammon looked at him with a furrowed brow, then saw the bag in his hand. He took a handful, then gave Ezo a small smile.

“Thank you.”

Ezo nodded back. The silence between them became companionable as they walked, sharing the bag between them.

It was almost empty when Kammon held out a hand in front of Ezo and stopped. His eyes were directed upward and Ezo waited. A second later, Kammon looked at him.

“They stopped. Ember saw them approach, but they’re turning around.”

“Can we follow them?”

Kammon nodded. “We’ll find them, and we end this.”

Author's Note: How do you think Kammon knew Ezo's uncle, Jacob? He seems to have liked him. Friends? Did they just know each other by reputation? What do you think?

[helenadobrasil]

“Hmph.” A sound of stubborn acceptance. Klaus supposed he’d take it, with some sort of supervision was better than without. But still, was it too fast? Was this what her physical therapist would want? It’s not like he could be there enough to be sure. So he’d have to take her word for it, he’d have to trust. He didn’t have to like it, though. It wasn’t enough to change anything, not that he really could, but it was enough to boil up in his chest every time he saw Helena. This overwhelming want to protect her, even if it was from something small like walking on a treadmill. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do it on the island, he couldn’t do it when he was in Basel, and he wasn’t even sure he could do it when he was here, in person. “Just be careful, okay?” It was advice he’d never been great at following himself, but Helena didn’t know the full extent of it, so maybe it would be heard more earnestly, as he meant it to be. “If I start holding you, I don’t think I’m going to let go,” Klaus said, his tone flirty, though he did wonder how true it would be. He couldn’t imagine not wanting to spend as much time as possible intertwined. Not when he had so little of it left. Though, he supposed, it might get in the way of a picnic, if he couldn’t use his arms. The first few blindfolded steps, he’d felt relatively comfortable in his navigation, but the further they got, the worse his orientation got it, and the more uneven his steps got, swaying in his lack of direction. “Sensitive paws? Is he getting allergies?” Or something else that Klaus just hadn’t been around enough to know? What else had he missed? Had been forgotten or simply fallen through the cracks between the bubbles of their text conversations? “Don’t let me walk on the blanket”

Helena, in her own distorted view of the world, knew that to appear normal and careful would be enough to ease his mind. She banked on being able to leverage the weight from his shoulders with some sticky sweet scheme or false display of stability. Her foot hurt but not nearly as much as her heart did seeing him leave. If she could pour all of her emotions into making memories with him, it would make the inevitable goodbye sting a little less. Foolishly, it never did take the bite of his absence away. “I will and so will you, right?” Helena’s concern curled into some one liner or quip. She refused to dampen the time they shared but she couldn’t help the building protest in his participation in this war. Shaking off the festering anguish, she leaned happily into the warmth of his presence in such a beautiful place. They could still be locked in the tundra that was Regina or rotting on some island in Italy. Helena smiled fondly at the time they were afforded because tomorrow was never guaranteed. “Then don’t let go. I think I’d look pretty cute in army fatigues, don’t you think? We can fused at the hip and no one would know the wiser.” Helena hung tight to him to help stabilize his gait. Note to self, no more blindfolds and long distances. “I think it might be the treats. I wanted to talk to you about this when you came. I’ve narrowed potential allergens to salmon and chicken.” Finally, in the lavishly laid pergola draped in wilding flowers and an elevated wicker daybed dressed with the finest treats. their fleet of canines with a color coordinated bandanas, and champagne chilling beside it. 

“You can take off your blindfold now.” 

[festivalsofmargot]

Selfless {Sebastian Sallow x GN!Reader}

Introduction: Follow up to Pretty Thoughts. (I tried to write in a way you could follow what’s going on without needing to read the last part though, so jump in if you’d like!) Sebastian isn’t waiting for your permission to help you with your assignments anymore. He knows what he wants, and he’s going after it. Takes place after MC meets Anne and before Seb’s final quest. Your Hogwarts house is up to you.

Word Count: ~ 1,700

Warnings: Kissing

Author’s Note: If he wanted to, he would is the fanfic lesson of the day. This one’s a bit shorter than my others, but I feel like so much more happened! I finished up this one quicker than I thought, so I’m going to be sneaky and edit here and there if I see any typos (my worst nightmare). Hope everyone’s having a good day 🙂

Songs (if interested):

Run Away to Mars - TALK

Greek Tragedy - The Wombats

Mr. Rager - Kid Cudi

The World - TeZATalks

Sebastian was lounging on a couch in the Slytherin common room, one hand behind his head, the other rubbing at his lips. He was trying to remember the feel of your mouth on his when you had kissed him in the library. He knew a memory wasn’t the most reliable thing, but he could have sworn he felt your tongue at one point. He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance remembering the part where the two of you had to pull apart because you heard Madam Scribner approaching.

He was going to try to get another kiss in after the two of you would have left the library together. But something shifted in your mood and you ran off without him. He had been confuzzled about it ever since. It couldn’t have been that he was a bad kisser, he didn’t think the two of you would have stopped if you didn’t have to worry about getting caught.

He had tried to catch you before you left the castle that morning, but you were nowhere to be found. He was learning fast that it wasn’t going to be easy making you his. He needed to step it up, because you were a slippery one. Just when he thought he had you in the palm of his hand, you were gone.

He decided to stop moping and take action. He shot up off the couch and went to find a few people who he was thankful were easier to find.

-

When Sebastian arrived back on campus, he was covered in scrapes and bruises, and he absolutely reeked of dirt and sweat. Merlin’s beard, was this what you did nearly every day? He needed to toughen up if he wanted to keep up with you. 

After going to find Poppy and Natty, he had asked them about everything they had planned on helping you with. He told them he would take over, lying and saying he had similar assignments. He built up quite the list: Horklumps that could only be found in caves filled with ginormous spiders, ashwinder eggs he had to find hiking in the rockiest of places, and even bogeys he had managed to knock out a troll for. The professors had no hesitancy throwing you in the deep end, did they?

He was almost worried he bit off more than he could chew, but he had managed to complete the list, making the fatigue he felt oddly satisfying.

Despite being aware of his untidy state, he headed towards the dining hall. He thanked his lucky stars he had made it back before dinner time ended. He needed to get food in him or he would faint.

A majority of the students were gone, having already gotten their fill. He began making his way to find a seat, enchanted bag in hand. But among the few students left in the dining hall, he caught sight of you. Luck was officially on his side that day, he didn’t think he would have found you at all that weekend. He headed your way, wanting to walk faster but the soreness in his legs wouldn’t allow him. 

He plopped the bag on the table, startling you. He didn’t wait for you to say anything and slumped down in the empty spot next to you, too tired to lift his legs over the bench. He leaned his elbows back on the table and let his head fall back.

After allowing himself a brief moment to finally do nothing but sit that day, he met your questioning gaze and he gestured to the bag with his chin. “Hope this helps.”

You squinted your eyes at him, trying to work out what he was talking about. 

“Go on. Open it.”

You grabbed the bag and peeked inside. It didn’t take long for you to realize it had a charm to fit what looked like a dozen large jars. Getting a closer look, you realized they were full of items you needed for your latest assignments.

“Sebastian...” A proud smile tugged at his lips at the pleasant surprise in your voice. He leaned his head back again, another wave of exhaustion hitting him.

“I told you I wanted to help you.”

“This is... amazing. I -...” You were at a loss for words, shaking your head in disbelief. “I owe you, Sebastian. Please, let me know how I can repay you.”

He glanced back at you, raising a brow. “What are you going on about? You don’t owe me a thing.”

Something warm and fuzzy formed in your chest. This was not the Sebastian you first met. What ever happened to the Slytherin who was so eager to have people in his debt?

“Then why would you - …?”

“Do you need me to spell it out for you?” He smirked.

You looked back down into the bag, hiding the smirk of your own that formed. “Please do.”

He loosely took your hand in his. He would have grabbed it with a firmer hold if he could, but his forearms were aching too much. “You make me nervous too.”

You looked up to return his gaze and your heart fluttered. 

“I’d do anything you’d ask of me.” The way he said it while looking deep into your eyes, as if he needed you to understand he meant it, made you want to melt. He gave your hand a quick squeeze. “Please don’t run off.”

Finding your voice, you assured with a whisper, “I won’t.” You squeezed his hand back.

He smiled, relief overwhelming him. “Now that we’ve got that settled,” he gave your hand a quick kiss. Releasing it, he swung his legs over the bench to face the mouth watering platters. “I hate to ask, but could you help me get some of the food onto my plate. I think my arms are going to fall off.”

The two of you laughed and you happily obliged.

-

“Food really does taste better after a day like this.” Sebastian sighed, dreamily thinking back on how the first bite of many had made him want to cry.

“It does. I don’t know how I’ll survive when we don’t have Hogwarts cooking to come home to.” You replied as the two of you made your way to the Slytherin common room. You were going to drop him off and then head out to do your astronomy assignment. Once again, Sebastian had offered to come with, but seeing how he was practically asleep on his feet, you pleaded for him to get washed up and straight to bed.

Standing outside of the Slytherin common room, Sebastian let out a long exhale, thinking about how close to his bed he was. Oh how he wanted to collapse onto it. He looked to you. “I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.”

“You will.” You smiled at him.

He smiled back and turned to make his way into the common room.

“Sebastian, wait.” You grabbed for his hand with the gentlest touch. He stopped walking and faced you again.

“Yes?”

“I know you’re tired, but...” You drifted off as you leaned in and pressed your lips to his. 

Though he was exhausted, he mustered up all the energy he could to kiss you back, hoping he would catch some kind of a second wind. 

He tasted earthy and salty from the dirt and sweat that covered him. The hand that cupped your neck felt extra rough and callused then, but you didn’t care. Thinking about everything he had done for you that day, you wanted more of him. Your tongue just barely licked his bottom lip and it sent a shiver up his spine.

Truth be told, you always went a little mad when he was disheveled and sweaty like this. Whenever he needed to take off his robes and roll up his sleeves, it made you weak. He especially caught your eye after dueling matches, he would be worn out with clothes and hair disordered. You always ached to stroke his hair back into place.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you. He reciprocated by wrapping his arms around your lower back. He wanted to lift you off the ground but his muscles painfully screamed in protest. So he settled for just biting at your bottom lip instead, eliciting a light moan from you.

You weren’t masters of kissing yet. Still learning the ropes, the two of you could only do what felt right in the moment, be it little nips or licks here and there. Neither of you seemed to mind, however.

The echoing sounds of students chattering and making their way down the stairs stopped your kiss. He sighed into your neck, still holding you close. “We need to find better places to do this.” And with one final kiss to your jaw he pulled away.

“Probably for the best, you need to get some rest.” You told him, straightening your shirt.

“Don’t need to tell me twice.” His eyelids were heavy, and you thought it was the most precious you’d ever seen him. 

“You’re adorable.” You told him with a cheeky smile you couldn’t hide.

“Oh, please never call me that again.” He rubbed roughly at his eyes, too sleepy to be that annoyed with your words.

You took subtle glances to see if anyone around you was looking your way. When you felt you were in the clear, you snuck a peck to his cheek, surprising him. “See you at breakfast.” And off you went.

He watched after you. You gave him quite the reward for his actions that day, he ought to do stuff like this more often.

Someone behind him gagged. “My word!” Sebastian, startled, turned to see Ominis with a face contorted in pure disgust. “You smell putrid!”

Sebastian could only nod in agreement. “I’m aware. Now, help me into the common room, will you? I think I’m about to collapse.”

Ominis scoffed “I am going nowhere near you.” He began towards the common room without him.

“Ominis, please, I’m not joking.”

[neoyuno]

Good To Me | j.ww (M)

after a long show and an even longer tour, wonwoo finds himself at the last stop, los angeles. good thing he has someone very special to take care of him—in every single way. ; or, wonwoo stays over at your house after his last tour stop and a relaxing bath turns into a lot more.

Pairing | Idol!Wonwoo ♡ Producer!Reader

Genre | Romance [established relationship], Comedy, Smut [ oral, bath/shower sex (kinda), switch dynamics, unprotected sex, praising (lots of it), breast worship (?), petname usage (angel, love, sweetheart), pwp, they are both just very horny people.]

Word count | 7K

Reading time | 35 minutes

Warnings/notes | usage of curse words,afab fem reader. reader is not an idol, but a world-famous producer/performer and wonwoo’s long time celebrity crush—and now girlfriend. this is an adaptation of another fic of mine, it was modified to fit wonu!

♥︎ read no biting here! set in same universe!

The loud cheers of fans were heard all over the venue as they left in crowds after the group had said their goodbyes. Yet, you walked casually through the corridors of the building. Wandering amongst staff and relatives of the performers with the goal of finding your boyfriend.

The long echoey corridors of the building now engrained in your memory, many of the best moments of your career having happened in this very building—meeting him included. This time, though, you had the opportunity to indulge in the feeling of being in the audience rather than on stage, watching the man that stole your heart pour his into every melody. The passion and care your partner put into what he did never failed to amaze you. He worked hard and gave his all in everything he did.

With great performance, came great fatigue. You greeted the rest of the boys whose skin glistened with sweat and breath was quick and short, as you walked towards the last dressing room. A white sheet of paper read “Wonwoo” in black ink, the visual made you smile proudly. Knocking on the door softly, you pushed it open to be greeted by your boyfriend sitting back on a small couch.

His head was thrown back and his eyes closed behind the round specs. Even like this, he looked as ethereal as always. His pretty nose tinted a rosy hue matching the apples of his cheeks and his skin glistened with sweat. If you didn’t know better, you would’ve thought that he couldn’t tell it was you who had entered the room, but as soon as that soft lavender scent hit his nose, he knew it was his beloved.

“Hi, baby.” he greeted you without opening his eyes and exhaled. “Did you enjoy the performance?” he moved his arms briefly to pat his lap, motioning you to take place on his thighs.

You moved slowly, a few steps were enough to take you where he wanted you to be. You straddled his lap and as soon as your bottom touched his thighs, he pulled your torso towards him. Despite his sweaty state, you felt yourself melt into his embrace. He kept you close to his body, your face buried in the crook of his neck while his right hand circled your waist and his left one stroked your hair lovingly.

“You were amazing out there, baby.” you praised. Even though you had no vision of his face, you knew he was smiling, as he placed a soft kiss to the top of your hair afterward.

“Not as great as you.” he said, remembering how mesmerized he was by you the day you met, and chuckled when you poked his ribs jokingly.

“Shut up. Today you performed, we should focus on you.” you said and you meant it.

He hummed in response and indulged himself in the comfortable silence of the room. Your breathing mixed with his that was slowly getting steady.

Your lips pressed faint kisses to his neck and jaw, comforting him and giving him your love.

“Do you wanna go home, now?” You asked and he hummed once more. “Maybe you can take a shower cause you kinda stink.”

He laughed wholeheartedly and a smile grew on your lips. “You are mean.” He finally opened his eyes to look down at you. “But I love you.” He confessed and kissed your lips.

After gathering his belongings, he walked out of the room and walked over to his friends to say goodbye and let them know where he was going—to which they hollered and whistled.

“I’ll sleep over at _____’s this weekend, I’ll meet you on Monday for our recording sessions.” Wonwoo told the man before him.

“Alright, have fun.” He said and walked away, turning back for a second. “Safe fun.” Seungcheol emphasized causing the man beside you to blush.

“Will do!” You answered and heard Wonwoo shush you in embarrassment. “We always have safe fun, don’t we, Nonu?”

“Hmm,” you looked over at his sleepy face and felt bad for him.

“And for the love of God, don’t do anything that will leave him with a sore throat again cause he has recording sessions this week.” Said Jihoon in a stressed voice. “Although, you are acting as recording engineer for this. So… your problem anyway.” He shrugged and you laughed at the last part.

“I can’t promise that, but I will try.” You said innocently causing the man to roll his eyes and sigh playfully before leaving you to turn to Wonwoo. “Let’s get you home so you can rest, angel.” You grabbed a hold of his bag and he let you, following behind you to your car where he reclined his seat as low as it could go as soon as he buckled his seatbelt.

Soft tunes played on the radio and the sound of LA traffic was muted by the glass windows of your car. Looking over to the boy beside you, you noticed he had fallen into a deep slumber, his position far too uncomfortable for any person. Soft snores fell from his parted lips and you swore your heart skipped a beat at how the traffic lights reflected on his skin, making his features look beautiful.

The venue was not far away from home, the 30-minute ride felt quick, the sound of the sweet melody of his cute snores was almost like white noise to you—soothing.

“Baby, we’re home.” you shook his sleeping figure and he opened his eyes slowly.

“So fast?” he asked drowsily and stretched a bit before getting off the car and into the warmth of your house.

You walked into the kitchen, the smell of homemade food floating around the air. Turning the stove knobs, you prepared to heat up the meal that you had cooked for your boyfriend. You felt his arms circle your waist and his head dropped to the crook of your neck, his lips pressing to your skin subsequently.

“You’re too good to me.” he whispered, teeth sinking on your skin softly, making you hum.

“It’s what you deserve.” you meant it, Wonwoo was an amazing boyfriend.

He was always checking up on you even when the distance of a thousand miles separated you. Good morning texts, good night texts, random love confessions, random face-times at some ungodly hours of the night. He was always available for you, whether it was to sing you to sleep or to hold you in his arms as tears flowed down your cheeks.

With his busy schedule and yours, moments like this—having him against you, skin touching skin, lips on lips, breaths mixing together—were nearly impossible to have often. His nose caressed your neck as he exhaled once more. His strong hands laid on your torso, grabbing unto you as if you were going to disappear in no time.

“I love you.” he whispered.

“And I love you.” you giggled and freed yourself from his grip eventually, to serve him his dinner. “I hope you like dinner, made your favorite dish.”

He was now seated on the kitchenette stool and turned to you, pulling you in. His head rested on your chest and his arms returned to circle your waist, tightly this time. “What has gotten into you, you are so clingy tonight.” your fingers raked through his dark brown locks.

“I just missed you.” he confessed, making your heart swell.

“You are finally done with the tour… just one more schedule and then we can have a whole month for ourselves before I start mine.” as you kissed his forehead following by a kiss on the tip of his nose, his arms let go of you. “Now, eat up. I will run you a warm bath.”

As you walked away you could hear him hum in content as he devoured his food, a smile being brought up to your face.

The warm water ran through the faucet, filling the bathtub little by little. Your finger fiddled with the bottles that hid behind the doors of the small closet inside the bathroom, picking the right oils and bath bubbles to ensure relaxation.

The water smelled like lavender, your favorite, which soon became Wonwoo’s favorite.

Holographic bubbles soon covered the surface serving as a cue for you to turn the running water off. You exited the bathroom, running into the tall man in the hallway that led to your room.

“I will go get you some clean clothes, you can jump in.” you smiled and walked away.

Just as you pushed the door of the bathroom open, he was wiping his mouth with a towel, after brushing his teeth. He smiled at you cutely and you were about to retreat yourself from the room when he pulled you by the wrist.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I thought I could do some of your laundry, so you’d have clean clothes…” you said, knowing well that he barely had time to do so and you were free for most of the week. So, it didn’t hurt to help him out a bit.

“Oh, I just-” he hesitated. “You don’t have to.”

“I really don’t mind, love.” you smiled and he reciprocated the action. “And you what?”

“Nothing.” he said quickly, cheeks turning a slight shade of crimson before he sighed and spoke again. “Can you, can you join me?”

His request caught you by surprise. Yes, he had seen you naked before, too many times to count with your fingers, but after being apart from each other for so long, you couldn’t help but feel shy. You guess he caught a glimpse of your wide eyes as he stuttered his next response.

“Not like that, I just-” he stuttered.

“It’s okay, get in there, I’ll help you wash up.” you said sweetly. “Let me help you.” you offered as he started to undress.

His back was facing you as you helped him slide his button up shirt from his shoulders, his strong back muscles catching your attention. Not being able to help yourself, you pressed a soft kiss to the middle of his back, the skin of his arms rising with goosebump at the feeling of your soft lips against his warm skin.

Wonwoo smiled and brought one of your hands up to his face, kissing the back of it before dropping it back at your sides. His hands moved to the front of his jeans, working on disregarding of his belt before unbuttoning his pants. You blushed at the sight of the back of his body, the only part of skin covered being his soft and small bottom.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, remembering to bring him warm towels and your speaker to play some nice relaxing music. “I’ll go bring some towels, get into the tub before the water runs cold.” And with that you left the bathroom.

Wonwoo ran a hand through his hair, noticing the growing bulge inside his already tight boxers. The way your fingertips felt on his skin was just enough to have his mind going wild—but what set him off was the soft kiss you pressed on his back.

He removed his underwear completely after the placing his glasses in the counter and submerged into the warm lavender water. Throwing his head back against the edge of the tub, he groaned at the feeling of the soothing bath, right when you entered back into the room.

You placed the folded towels on the sink’s counter as well as a clean nightgown and panties for you, then turned on the speaker to play your favorite relaxing playlist, making the man in the tub smile immediately. You grabbed a small stool from under the sink and placed it behind the tub, by where his head was, and sat down with a small bowl in one hand and his favorite eucalyptus shampoo on the other.

His head was still laying back onto the edge, his face facing directly upwards giving you space to appreciate his features. His eyes were closed, as they were a few minutes ago in the couch of his backstage room, and his expression was relaxed. You could appreciate the way his cheeks were a deep shade of pink, probably due to the hectic night he had, and how his long eyelashes rested beautifully against his skin. His cute nose looked inviting as you pressed a small kiss to the tip, his nose scrunching up as he smiled widely.

“How was your day?” You asked and he hummed as you took a bit of the warm water in the bowl to soak up his hair.

“Tiring,” he answered softly. “but my beautiful girlfriend is helping me relax.” He said and you chuckled at his flirting.

“Hmm, is she?” You ran your finger through his brown locks and you poured more water on his head carefully to not splash it on his eyes.

“Mhm, she is the best and I love her very much.” he hummed again.

You smiled at his statement and moved to open the shampoo bottle, pouring a bit of the liquid on your hands before rubbing them together and lathering his hair.

“That feels so good…” he whispered when your fingers started massaging his scalp as you tried washing his hair softly. Your boyfriend’s mouth fell agape and small approving groans left his lips when you massaged any spot that was aching.

What he didn’t know is that his sounds were tempting you to do something more than just helping him wash up and get ready for bed. Shaking your thoughts, you finished massaging his scalp and moved to pouring water on his head once more to rid of the shampoo.

“Seat up, let me lather your back.” You said and he obliged. Your fingers moved to unclasp the necklace he had around his neck before placing it on the counter next to his pj’s.

His face rested on his knees after he brought them up to surround them with his arms. The sound of the water rolling on his back relaxed him to the point where he was very close to falling asleep, until he felt your fingers work on the knots in his shoulders. A deep moan left his lips almost automatically.

“You like that?” You whispered, your throat suddenly dry.

“Yeah,” he sighed and threw his head back a little as you get kneading his muscles. “Mmm, ____…” he moaned again, but this time your name leaving his lips made you blush and press your legs together.

It was insane how quickly this man could soak your panties. Everything about him was sensual but adorable at the same time. He was just so dreamy that your heart raced every time you woke up next to him and saw his peaceful face resting next to you.

“Love?” You heard him ask and you diverted your attention to him by humming. “Please join me.” He said in a slight begging tone.

You nodded, even though he could not see you, and started removing your clothes. His eyes noticed your shirt and pants drop on the floor next to the tub, your bra and panties quickly following. His eyes were glued to your body as soon as you came into his sightline, your hands covered your self a bit as you slowly sunk on the warm water facing him.

“The water is still warm!” You gasped in surprise. He smiled at you with his head slightly slanted and his cheeks blushed. Having spent so much time apart had both you feeling quite bashful of being this exposed in front if each other.

“You are so cute,” He said and smiled wider. Wonwoo moved forward and you did too, your chest pressing against your knees as he was. His nose brushed against yours and his eyes moved to stare at your lips (and part of your cleavage that was not covered in soapy bubbles). “and so so hot.” He whispered, his smile having morphed into a smirk.

“Am I?” You asked cheekily, your volume matching his.

His hand came up from under the water and he placed his index finger in the center of your collabones, his soft touch slowly moving down to the valley of your breasts and under the water again. “So pretty.” His hand slightly brushed your hips and you sat back straight.

“Lay back.” You said and he immediately obliged. Pushing yourself up on the edge of the tub, you managed to get on your knees, much to Wonwoo’s lack of luck, the glittery bubbles still covered the majority of your chest. You moved forwards on your knees, a bit of the water flowing out of the tub and splashing the tiles.

His eyes stared at you as you moved to straddle his lap, his hardening boner flinching almost instantly, his tip softly touching your entrance.

“So pretty…” he whispered again and latched his lips on your collarbones, gently pressing kisses from one side to the other. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too.” You replied, skin shivering when you felt his sharp canines press on your neck.

“What did you miss about me?” He asked smugly. “Did you miss my lips?” You hummed and he smiled against your skin. Wonwoo trailed his lips up to your cheek before whispering in your ear. “I missed yours around my-“

“You’re getting real bold, Jeon Wonwoo.” You said after putting your hand to his mouth. “You really think you can switch things around?”

“Let me show you a good time, love.” He said and held your hand, dipping your index and middle fingers on his warm mouth. He looked straight in your eyes as he swirled his tongue around them, sucking them while hollowing his cheeks after and releasing them with a smirk on his face at the sight of your expression.

“Fuck,” you mumbled. “Now I’m not sure if I want to fuck you or if I want you to fuck me…”

We could always do both, but I’m leaning towards the latter for now. You can fuck me all you want the next rounds.”

“You missed me that much that you want to go all night long?” You teased and he smirked leaning to bite your neck again.

“You have no idea how much I dreamt about you around me, baby. I’ve been wanting nothing more than you bouncing on my lap and hearing those pretty sounds you make.” His tongue lapped at the bite he had made.

“Wonwoo…” you gasped softly as he grabbed you by the hips and placed you a little higher, your breasts finally uncovered.

“Tell me, baby.” He said before his lips trailed down to when his finger did a few minutes ago. He looked up to see your eyes staring intensely at him, waiting for his next move.

Wonwoo smirked before licking a strip up your chest before engulfing your right nipple on his mouth. You gasped at the sudden contact, his mouth sloppily sucked on your bud while making sounds of contentment.

“Ah, I’ve missed your mouth so much.” You sighed and looked back down. Your boyfriend’s eyes were closed as he devoured your breasts, while sucked on one his rough hand kneaded the other. He used his index finger to tease your hard nipple and his mouth detached from your other, the skin around his mouth matched yours, glistening with his saliva. He groaned and switched his tongue to the bud that was being teased ny his finger, instead of sucking on it like he did to the other, he poked his tongue and teased the bud with the tip of it.

His mouth mimicked that of how he kissed you on the skin of your chest. His hand slowly moved up from your breast to your face, his fingers taking advantage of your open mouth to dip inside. Wonwoo placed his index and middle fingers on your tongue, your mouth quickly closing around them and sucking on them. He groaned against your skin at the feeling of your tongue swirling around his fingers, wishing it was swirling around a lower area of his body.

Looking up to see your face, he groaned loudly once more, the sinful scene before him causing his hard-on to jerk up and hit your entrance again.

“I want to fuck you so bad, baby.” He whispered near your ear before softly biting your earlobe.

“What’s stopping you?” He didn’t even wait another second after you were done speaking before he clashed his lips with yours. His hands cupped your face as his lips feverishly kissed your own. Your hands came up to set on his strong chest, levering yourself as you felt dizzy from the touch of his plump lips.

“You are so beautiful.” He groaned against your lips. “Please say you’re mine.”

“I’m all yours, baby. Only yours.” You gasped when he lifted your hips and felt something slide over your wet lips.

“I’m all yours, too, baby.” He groaned again. “Fuck, that feels good.” He said when your lips attacked his neck, leaving faint bite marks on his sweet spots.

“What are you waiting for?” You asked again, as he kept teasing your entrance but never dipping in.

“I’m scared I’ll cum too fast. It’s been so long and you are just so hot, I can’t hold it in.” You let out an airy giggle before replacing the hand holding his cock with your own. He shut his eyes and goosebumps raised on his skin at the feeling if your soft hand.

“I don’t care if you cum quickly, we have all night. But I really really want you inside me. Now.” You kissed his lips and lined him up with your entrance.

“Holy fuck…” he gasped as you slid down his length, your warmth engulfing him in the most delicious way possible. His head was thrown back and his chest rose at a quick pace. “It feels so good, baby.” He whined.

“You fill me up so well, love.” You moaned and leaned in to kiss his neck, your hips not stopping.

The water splashing against your skin as you moved mixed with the soft sound of the music and the soft moans coming from your boyfriend’s lips. Kissing his soft milky skin was one of your favorite things to do, it felt so soft against your lips that you swore it would melt at any moment. You felt his hands make their way to your ass, cupping your cheeks and softly squeezing.

“So perfect.” He groaned deeply as he lifted his head to kiss your lips. You tried pushing your tongue into his mouth to play with his, but when you did, his lips caught it, sucking it softly. The feeling and sight of Wonwoo sucking your tongue was almost enough to throw you over the edge. He hummed in contentment before letting it go and quickly sliding his tongue over your lips.

“Fuck you.” You moaned and he chuckled.

“Be my guest.” He replied smiling, his lips coming up to kiss yours and you took the opportunity to return the favor.

The groan that resonated on his throat as you engulfed his tongue in your mouth was the sexiest thing ever. Your mouth quickly let go of his when he thrusted up particularly harshly, causing a loud whine to leave your lips.

“I need to hear you, baby. Please, be loud for me.” Even though it was hard not to be loud when he fucked you, he always wanted more. “Ah fuck- you’re so wet for me, angel.” Oh how had you missed hearing that nickname.

“Wonwoo-“ you whined and he smirked, knowing exactly what that nickname arose in you.

“Yes, angel? You want me to fuck you good?” He murmured and kissed your jaw. “It’s been a while since I fucked you dumb, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, it has…” you moan and tried sneaking your hand to circle at your clit but his strong hands grabbed your wrists, keeping your hands in front of your chest. “Baby, I need more.”

“You do? Does my angel need me to fuck her harder?” The way words rolled out of his tongue had you going crazy. His sexy groans and the way his cock felt inside you was also driving you insane. You whined as your hips kept moving, trying hard to relieve the burning pit in your belly. “Look at you, so pretty bouncing on my cock.”

He stared at your face, mouth agape and eyes shut. He loved looking at your fucked state, he loved hearing his name fall out of your lips like a mantra.

“I want to fuck you harder, but I need to see your pretty face, angel.” He let go of your wrists and cupped your face. “Do you want to move to the bedroom?” He kissed your lips before biting the bottom one softly.

“I thought you were tired.” You teased and he chuckled.

“I always have energy to make you feel good, baby.”

“Do you? What if we move it to the bedroom but you let me play with you for a while?” Smiling you leaned forward to kiss his neck, feeling the vibrations of a groan on your lips.

“I already told you we can do that later, but I really need to fuck you, baby.” One of his hands on your face moved to play with your clit, making you whimper. “Don’t you want me to fuck you hard? Hmm?”

“Yes…” you gasped when he applied more pressure to your bundle. “Please.”

Wonwoo smiled against your lips and removed his hands from your body, a groan leaving your lips at the sudden lack if touch. The tall man helped you get up and turned the shower head above the tub on, getting rid of the soap remaining on your bodies before turning it back off and carrying you. His hands grabbed at your ass and your hands latched around his neck as he moved to the bedroom. His plump lips attacked your own in the most delicious way possible.

He dropped you on the mattress, your wet bodies dampening the sheets without a care. His lips are quickly attached to your skin, starting from your neck and down your chest. The hotness of his breath sent shivers up your spine, the exposed skin of your chest flushing and buds hardening.

“So soft,” he breathed out as his hands engulfed your thighs. “I’m gonna make you feel so good, angel. Nobody will make you feel this good.”

“Only you.”

“I will ruin you, baby.” He tapped his tip on your clit before gliding it over your folds. “You’re so wet, love.”

“Wait, can I suck you off first?” You asked softly, giving him the cutest begging eyes, or at least that’s how he saw them.

“But baby, I want to feel your pretty pussy.” He said caressing your face.

“Pleaseeee,” you whined and batted your eyelashes. “Pretty please? I want to taste you.”

He couldn’t resist to such a pretty voice asking for such a dirty thing. Plus, it’s not like he wouldn’t get to fuck you after.

“Fine…” he feigned annoyance as he rolled his eyes with a smile. “If you insist…”

“Oh, I do.” You said and pushed him off to stand up then push him on the bed. You stood in front of him, parading your pretty and wet tits in front of his face.

“Such a pretty girl…” he said before pressing kisses around the skin of the valley of your breasts.

Your hands reach to cup his face, pulling his head slightly to kiss him sloppily. His own circle your waist and bring you close to him, right before snaking one hand to cup your ass and give it a squeeze. His warm tongue felt so nice against yours that you completely forgot what it was that you had wanted to do—until a harsh slap to your ass made you gasp and look at him.

“You are so perfect.” He groaned and squeezed both cheeks again.

Kneeling in front of him, you rested your face on his thigh, face centimeters away from his dick.

“Such a pretty cock…” your fingertips trailed up his shaft and your boyfriend tensed up. “I wonder if it still fits in my mouth.”

“We’ll make it fit, angel.” He strained out when your lips kissed the tip of his cock.

“Mmm, tasty.” a soft satisfied moan resonated from your throat, after your tongue lapped at the tip.

The man before you intently stared through low lids and long lashes as your tongue poked out just above his head waiting for a drop of saliva to touch his skin. He let a loud groan once it did, your mouth engulfing his length but not going all the way down just yet.

He loved seeing you struggle to make it fit, teeth slightly grazing the skin of his shaft—but who doesn’t like a little pain. Squirming on the floor, you clenched around nothing as you tried going further down, cute little moans leaving your throat as you stared up at him with doe eyes, mouth full of his sex.

As he stared down at you he couldn’t believe the scene before him, never in his 26 years of life did he ever think he’d actually see his many wet dreams about you come true. Neither did he think you’d love him as much as you did—and he loved you too.

You felt drool starting to form on the side of your mouth as his tip reached the back of your throat.

“F-fuck…” he breathed out and you continued to move your head up and down his veiny shaft.

Your left hand stroked the skin you couldn’t fit and your right went down to play with your own wetness.

“Mmm, baby… just like that.” He moaned and threw his head back. “Such a good girl…”

As you came up for air, his hands cupped your face to kiss you again.

“Come on, angel. I need to feel you…” he said between kissed and lifted you iff the ground, ignoring your protests.

He kissed your belly before standing up and pushing you down the mattress.

“I’ve missed you so fucking much,baby.” You felt his hands in your hips as he moved you up the mattress and positioned himself close to your heat. “Look how pretty you look, so pretty for me…” he kissed your inner thighs before hovering over your center, his warm breath hitting your sensitive spot.

His tongue poked out to lick a stripe up your folds, humming at the accumulated wetness after sucking him off. His mouth soon found your clit to suck it in, the harsh feeling making your bach arch.

“Oh fuck!” You moaned and gripped at his wet hair. “Feels so good!”

“Hmm, does it baby?” He asked before kitty licking your clit, making you scream. He left your center just to spit at it and going back to devour it.

Your pants got louder once you felt 2 fingers enter your heat. They moved at the slowest pace possible, the knuckles folding up every time they were completely inside. The feeling of his fingertips curling up felt absolutely amazing, the added sucking on your clit and the sound if his moan were an overwhelming combination.

“Wanna cum, angel? Do you want me to make you cum, sweetheart?” He mocked when he looked up at you, his fingers still pumping in and out of you.

“Yes!” You said and reached to pull his head in but he refused, making you whine.

“Yes what, baby?” He cooed. “You can’t expect me to just do something like that…” and his fingers stopped moving.

“Please! Please, make me cum, baby… I need it…” you begged.

“Good girl.” Dipping his head back down with a smirk plastered on his face, he sucked harshly at your sensitive bud and picked up the pace of his fingers.

Your moans and pants became strained and loud, your belly visibly tensing and breathing hitching—letting him know you were very close to releasing all over his fingers. Which is why he removed them and replaced them with his tongue, his thumb now circling your clit at s fast pace.

“Fuck-ah, baby!” Your legs jerked in, almost crushing his head but he just loved it. He loved knowing you were enjoying his mouth—and so he lapped all of your juices until you were pushing him off your with your feet.

He chuckled deeply before standing up and hovering over you, his hand quickly caressing your cheek softly. He couldn’t help but stare at your flushed face and parted lips still heaving from your orgasm.

“Such a pretty baby…” he kissed your nose. “Always so good to me.” He kissed your forehead. “I am so in love with you.” he kissed your lips.

“I’ve missed you so much, baby.” You said and he left your lips, his warm breath hit your top lip as he tried to adjust himself. “I missed your lips and your kisses, and your hands, and your big- ah!”

You grabbed unto his biceps when he entered you. His lips pecking yours swiftly as he began to pick up his pace.

“I missed you more, baby. I’ve missed you so much, the whole of you.” He groaned. “Fuck, you feel so nice around me. I swear you were made for me and me only.”

“Was I?” You asked and swallowed a moan.

“Or maybe I was made for you. Maybe I was made to devour you and make you feel just right, angel.” His lips pressed softly on your neck. “Do you like that, love?”

His hips moved at an insane speed, his tip hitting your g-spot with every single thrust. You could feel the vibrations of his grunts and moans on your neck—his head still hidden between the crevice of your jaw and shoulder.

Your nails gripped on his broad back, holding him close as if he were to disappear if you didn’t. Your mind was blank, every single though replaced by the man on top of you. All you could think about was how hot his moans were and how delicious his cock felt inside of you.

“Let me hear you, angel.” He groaned and bit your neck with enough force to leave a faint mark. “Be loud for me, baby, let me know how good I’m making you feel.” He smirked at the soft moan that escaped your lips. “Do you like that, kitten?” He cooed and kissed your cheek softly before looking up to see your eyebrows knitted up and bottom lip between teeth.

“Ah! Wonwoo!” A particularly sharp thrust made you scream out, a string of whimpers and incoherences following right after.

“Such a pretty girl, look at you. I could stare at your beautiful face forever.” He said and sweetly kissed the tip of your nose, but you know the intentions behind his words were far from sweet.

“Baby, I’m cl-close…”

“I know, baby.” Your boyfriend exhaled roughly and lowered his head to latch his mouth to your naked breasts. His mouth sucked on your sensitive buds as satisfied sounds left his throat.

“Oh, baby! Keep doing that, it feels so fucking good!” The knot in your belly felt like it was going to come undone in any second, the warm and fiery feeling traveling up your body until your ears started ringing and your mouth couldn’t stop mumbling your lover’s name and telling him how good he was. “I can’t hold it, baby, I’m gonna cum!” You cried out and he drilled him hips unto yours with much more force.

His lips left your nipple with a loud pop, the skin of your areola red from all the friction. He rapidly played with his tongue on your swollen nipple before moving to the other and biting before sucking it in. His hand fleeing to pinch and twist your red nub.

“Cum for me, angel.” He groaned and moved his hand on your nipple to rub circles on your clit. The friction pushing you over the edge as you came undone again with a loud scream.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck-“ his mouth hung open, a loud moan falling out, when he felt your walls squeeze his shaft, the suction making it harder for him to last any longer. “Holy shit, baby. I’m not gonna last any longer, angel.”

His face flew back to your shoulder blade, sharp canines biting down on the skin.

“Cum inside me, baby. Fill me up and fuck your dripping cum into me.” Your soft voice saying such dirty things were enough to make him cum. You inhale sharply at the feeling of his teeth biting even harder while his throat produced such loud and raspy groans. His warm cum filled you up and just like you asked, once he left your hole he admired your creamy juices mixed together. As they oozed out of you, he pushed two fingers, scooping his cum up and fucking it back inside.

“You look so hot, love.” He said before smirking and bringing his fingers up to your face, your mouth instantly hanging open to clean his cum off his fingers as he groaned.

“And you said you wouldn’t last…” you giggled once his body gave back into your embrace. You felt his body shake as he silently laughed with you.

“Believe me, I wanted to cum the second I entered you.”

“We should go back to the shower. You left me all sticky.” You said as you felt his cum drying out on your thighs as well as the patches of saliva all over your skin. “And look what you did! My nipples are all swollen!” You whined playfully.

“Hey, you asked for both things. I was just following instructions.” He said, smile wide as he made a cute face towards you. “Plus, how could I resist such pretty boobies? I’ve been wanting to put them in my mouth since we came home.”

“Ah, such a pervert…”

“I’m not a pervert!” He gasped and feigned offense. “If you could feel them in your mouth, you’d get it… just magical.“

You chuckled at his words before he kept talking.

“I still cannot believe you’re here with me.” He confessed softly. “I know I tell you this every day, but I am so happy that I got yo meet you. And also that you snapped me into my senses because if you hadn’t confessed to me I would probably still be silently pining after you.” Wonwoo chuckled and kissed your forehead. “I’m just so happy that you’re here with me. You make me very happy.” You copied his smile and snuggled closer to him with a happy sigh.

“I love you.” You whispered after some minutes of comforting silence. “And I am very happy you’re here with me, hopefully forever.” You heard Wonwoo sigh lovingly before feeling his lips press of your cheek.

“I love you more, angel.” His voice rasped out and eyes went wide. “Oh no… my voice!”

“Hah! And you can’t blame me, I didn’t do anything.” You chuckled at his panicked face. He was moaning and groaning too loud because of his own doings, you hadn’t even top him.

“Well, I am still blaming you.” He smiled cheekily and kissed your neck softly.

“If you are going to blame me, then I might as well give you a reason to.” You said, pushing him off and climbing on top of him—a stupid smirk on his face and cheeks blushed.

You walked hand in hand into the building, the young girl at the front desk greeting you.

“Hey _____! We have missed you so much!” She squealed and you reached to hug her. “How’s your pre-tour vacation going?”

“Pretty good! I have rested lot, so that’s great.” You smiled and she did too.

“You work too hard!” She mentioned and you laughed. “And hello to you too, Wonwoo!”

Your boyfriend smiled and waved, not wanting her to hear his fucked up voice. She slanted her head and looked at you.

“Vocal rest. We start recording sessions today.” You said and she nodded before sending you both off to your studio.

“Would you look at that… Mr. and Mrs. Jeon are actually on time!” Jeonghan joked and greeted you both.

“Thanks for taking care of him, ____.” Seungcheol said and smiled.

“Actually, about that…” you scratched your neck and the boys sitting around the studio laughed out loud.

“Hello~” Wonwoo rasped out and sent him an apologetic smile making Jihoon sigh in despair.

“One thing. I asked you for one single thing. When will y’all two learn to keep it in your pants, huh?“ he scolded both of you and the men laughed even louder.

“It was not my fault!” Wonwoo croaked out.

“Hey! You asked for it!” You retorted.

“I did not!” Your boyfriend bickered back, making you gasp dramatically.

“You did it all! I didn’t even do anything!” you said. “If anything, when I did, I held back.” You whispered the last part but it was enough for some of the guys to hear, causing Jeonghan to to whistle.

“Ayeee, good job, _____!” You shrugged proudly and high-fived him.

“I need a vacation…” Jihoon said before taking a seat at the console.

“We have two weeks, Hoon.” You rolled your eyes and sat next to him. “Although my birthday is coming soon, so I can’t promise anything…”

“I am locking Wonwoo up.”

NEOYUNO 2023

[bradshawsbaby]

Elder care nurse here—worked a really hard shift, had really uncooperative patients in the Memory Care Unit, so any soft thoughts would be awesome—pardon me while I reread your fics and pass out—

Oh no, I’m so sorry! That sounds like a really tough day! I hope you’re able to get some rest! How about a soft drabble about Bradley comforting you after a hard day with the kiddos?

“Honey, I’m home!” Bradley called out as he walked through the door of your apartment, kicking off his shoes and leaving them on the rack before he stepped further into your home. “Honey?” he called again, puzzled when he didn’t hear a response from you.

“I’m in the nursery!”

He winced at the sound of your voice, guilt piercing him when he heard how exhausted you sounded. He’d had to leave for work even earlier than usual that morning, and while he had promised that he’d come home on his lunch break to help out with the kids, Cyclone had ended up pulling him into a meeting that he couldn’t get out of.

But that meant you had been left alone all day with two-year-old Goose, who was on the tail end of recovery from a small cold and still feeling a bit cranky, and four-month-old Lydia, who was currently going through a sleep regression.

Hurrying to the nursery, Bradley stopped in the doorway and took in the sight of you standing near your daughter’s crib, rocking the baby in your arms and murmuring to her softly. You were wearing an oversized T-shirt covered in food stains and baby spit-up, your hair wasn’t washed, and your eyes were drooping from severe fatigue.

In Bradley’s eyes, you had never looked more beautiful, but he also knew that you needed rest, stat.

“Hey, baby, I’m so sorry,” he apologized, stepping into the room and immediately reaching for Lydia, who was still being fussy and squirmy. “There was this meeting and I couldn’t say no, but I know I promised you that I’d be here and I—”

“It’s okay,” you told him, your voice strained as you yawned and wiped a hand down your face.

“No,” Bradley murmured, rocking Lydia in his arms as he stepped closer and dropped a kiss on your forehead. “It’s not. You look exhausted.”

“I finally got Goose in bed a little while ago,” you said, leaning against his side and stroking Lydia’s back. You wanted to close your eyes and sleep for 48 hours straight. “He fought me through all of dinner and bath time. This cold is really kicking his butt and it’s making all of us miserable,” you sighed, looking at your daughter. “And this little one refuses to sleep ever.”

“Honey, go to bed. I’ll handle everything for the rest of the night, okay? And I promise that I’ll be here tomorrow during my lunch break so that you can get some more rest,” he murmured, gently nudging you towards the door.

“No, babe, you worked all day—”

“So did you,” Bradley said firmly, shooting you a pointed look. “I mean it, Mrs. Bradshaw. You march that hot butt of yours to bed right this minute.”

You couldn’t help but laugh slightly as you leaned over to press a kiss to your daughter’s soft head, and then to your husband’s lips. “I love you. Good night.”

“Good night, baby. I love you, too,” he whispered, giving you a few more kisses for good measure.

It took another two hours before Lydia finally fell asleep, going down in her crib without incident, much to Bradley’s relief. When he tiptoed out of the nursery and into your bedroom, he smiled at the sight of you burrowed deep under the covers, fast asleep. He changed quickly and then slipped under the covers beside you, wrapping an arm around your waist and tugging you closer to his chest.

“I love you, honey,” he whispered into your ear, kissing your cheek. “Never forget how amazing you are.”

[babyboiboyega]

The Study Room Pt. 3 (HBCU!Shuri x Black!Fem!reader)

HBCU!Shuri x Black!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 6.9k (wHEW)

Content: fluff, a little profanity, angst, slight violence, shit is getting real lmao

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A/N: HELLO! I did change some things in the first part. Instead of Queen Ramonda calling Shuri, Okoye is the person who calls her! Mainly because I kind of changed my mind about bringing Ramonda back to life for this series. I love her character literally so much...but I think its important to stay with the storyline of how her death affected Shuri. I think that's all I have to say. OH! This series will have another name sooner rather than later! With the plot I have in my mind, "The Study Room" doesn't really fit...but we'll see!

Other than that...enjoy the third part! 

TRANSLATIONS:

Ikumkani wam: my queen

Ukumkanikazi: queen

Ngoku: now

******

Recap: 

“Okay. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

The smile on Shuri’s face radiated fondness and a softness that no one else on campus had seen as she watched your breaths even out. Even as she was sure that you were asleep, she continued to rub your hand, the motion that had put you to sleep relaxing her more and more.

You weren’t awake to hear her words, but she spoke them nonetheless into the darkened room.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

**********

You didn’t know how long you had been sleeping when you were awoken by your phone buzzing on the bedside table next to you. It had been so tempting to ignore it, but then the memory of recent events flew to the forefront of your mind. The only people you could think of that would call you at such a time of the night were close family members, Imani, and Imani’s parents. After the night’s events, it wasn’t surprising when you picked up your phone to see Imani’s mother calling you.

Quickly sliding out of bed, you quietly walked into Shuri’s bathroom, closing the door softly behind you.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Y/N. It’s Mrs. Byers.”

It was easy to keep the fatigue at bay for the meantime, especially as you figured that she was only calling because of some kind of update on Imani. However, you couldn’t stop your eyes from closing, one of your hands reaching up to rub at them.

“Hey, Mrs. Byers. How’s Imani? Is everything okay?”

The both of you spoke quietly on the phone for the next few minutes. She told you of the small update they had been given in the middle of the night, and how the update meant that they’d be able to take Imani home first thing in the morning. She had even asked if you were okay and if you had found a place to stay for the night, to which you replied with a rather vague confirmation that you had indeed found a place to stay. 

After asking her to have Imani call in the morning, if she was up for it, the call ended with both of you bidding the other goodnight. Almost immediately after hanging up, the stress that had been seizing your body during the entire ordeal dissipated. Mrs. Byers’ confirmation that her daughter would be perfectly fine prompted that exhaustion from earlier to smack into you, this time, completely unbridled and without the influence of stress and worry. 

You didn’t waste another second stepping back into the darkened room, intent on crawling right back into Shuri’s bed and resuming your sleep. Your steps came up short as you saw Shuri’s shadowy figure sitting up on the edge of her bed, facing you. She reached over, fiddling with something on the bedside table, and then there was a soft, purple glow emitting from some kind of crystal/rock. 

“Everything okay?”

Despite being dead tired, your exhausted brain still held enough energy to start racing at the sound of her groggy, raspy voice and how it was full of worry. She moved to stand up but you quickly held out a hand, walking towards her.

“No, it's fine. Everything’s good. That was Imani’s mom and she was just letting me know that they’ll be able to take her home in the morning.”

She nodded, rubbing at her face. In the dim lighting of the room, you could make out a small smile on her face. 

“That’s good. I’m glad. So…you comin' back to bed?”

Her question quite literally rendered you speechless, and it was solely because of the innuendo her words held. The question was one that most would expect to hear from their partner…not their friend that they had surely grown feelings for and who they had to share a bed with.

Not to mention the light and hopeful tone in her voice as she asked the question, almost as if she wanted you to get back into bed. As if she wanted to share a space that could certainly be seen as intimate in some settings with you. 

“Y/N?”

“Huh? Yeah! Yeah, I’m coming back to bed.”

God, were you thankful for the dim lighting of the room. If not for it, she would have surely been able to see your face and the way you had to bite back a giddy smile as you walked back to your side. She held the covers up as you slid back into your space, and only once you were laying down did she pull the covers over the two of you after turning off the lamp.

It felt natural getting back into the same position you two had initially gone to sleep in. The only difference this time was that, instead of Shuri reaching for your hand and tracing shapes, you reached for hers. This time, you traced idle shapes into her skin, letting your eyes shut and letting sleep once again claim you both. 

*************

Waking up just a few hours later was a little different. As the first signs of consciousness reached you, the various reminders that you weren’t in your own bed once again confronted you. 

For starters, where the sun usually streamed through your window, beaming directly into your face in your dorm, the opposite could be said for Shuri’s. There were nice, blackout curtains covering the windows of her room that you hadn’t noticed the night before (presumably to provide her a good enough sense of privacy), and the same crystal that had given off the soft, purple light last night was on. The relaxing aura it gave off reminded you of the woman it belonged to- the same woman who was missing from her own room. 

Slowly sitting up, you fixed your bonnet, surprised to not find it on the other side of the bed (or room). Your eyes, still a little heavy with sleep, looked around the room for the one person you wanted to see only to come up empty. They closed again, your head falling to the pillow as a sigh left your mouth. The urge to grab the cover and pull it right back over you continued to grow the longer you laid there, but your attention was soon drawn to the door of Shuri’s room as the sound of keys being inserted rang out. The door swung open right as you sat up, eyes instantly finding the princess herself.

“Oh, good morning. How’d you sleep?”

She carried two paper bags in her hand that she sat down on her desk while she shed her coat, exposing her t-shirt and sweatpants, the clothes she had worn to bed.  Kicking off her shoes and turning to you, she walked in your direction, picking up the bags.

“I slept pretty okay. How’d you sleep? Also I’m sorry for waking you up last night.” Shuri proceeded to grab a tray-like item, setting it on her bed in front of you. She set the bags on the tray before crawling back into bed, sitting beside you.

“It’s totally fine. I’m just glad your friend is okay.” There was a smile on her face as she glanced at you before reaching into her bag. Your eyebrows furrowed as she motioned for you to do the same, and upon leaning closer, the smell of food became apparent. 

“Thank you- did you get us breakfast?”

To answer, she unboxed her food, showcasing it to you. She held a bagel topped with cream cheese and fruit out for you to see. It looked delicious, and you found yourself actually wanting to try it; that is until you remembered that she had gotten you your own food.

Reaching into your own bag, you pulled out a sandwich item wrapped with parchment paper. The mouth-watering smell grew, and as it did, you could feel it tugging at a familiar part of your brain. Opening the paper showed that your breakfast consisted of a croissant that was stuffed with what looked and smelled to be nutella and slices of fruit. You immediately recognized it as your go to order from one of your favorite cafes on campus. 

You looked up, ready to thank her generously for breakfast, but then you realized not one, but two things. The first realization was that Shuri’s dorm wasn’t the closest to the cafe, having to be at least a 10 minute walk. The second realization came after you looked closer at Shuri and saw little droplets of water in her curls. Eyebrows furrowing, you leaned forward without thinking, catching a drop of water that had been getting ready to fall off of a curl and right onto her face. You quickly pulled your hand back, though, at the way Shuri froze, her eyes softening at your actions.

“Shuri…don’t tell me it was raining and you walked to get breakfast.”

Once again, instead of answering, she simply shrugged with a knowing smile on her face. She raised her bagel to her mouth, taking a bite as she gazed at you.

You gawked at her, eyes wide in disbelief. She let it go on for a second before she motioned to your food in your hand, her eyebrows raising.

“You need to eat before it gets cold.”

She somehow sounded both teasing and demanding at the same time, and the thrill that it sent through you made you lose all words you were going to say. Wordlessly, you lifted the crescent to your mouth, taking a bite. You couldn’t help the small, satisfied sigh that left your mouth at the taste of your favorite breakfast item. 

It had admittedly been a while since the last time you had it, due to things just being a little extra hectic lately. Winter break was approaching which also meant the arrival of finals, something you had gratefully finished the week before. But even after finishing your last exam, going to your favorite cafe hadn’t been on your list of priorities, unfortunately. But leave it to Shuri to provide a reminder of why and how much you loved the cafe.

A minute or two of you both eating in content silence passed until you broke it. You spoke softly, not wanting to disrupt the air of tranquility.

“Can I ask what kind of lamp that is?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the crystal lamp still providing a little bit of light before turning back to you. 

“It’s quartz crystal infused with vibranium from Wakanda. Given to me as a ‘going away’ present by a friend.” She smiled fondly as she spoke, but then she motioned to something behind you.

“I have two. One on this side, and one on your side.”

The only thing that distracted you from possibly overthinking her usage of the words ‘your side’ was when she placed her food back on the tray and leaned over. She rose onto her knees, reaching over your lap to turn the lamp on. She was close enough for you to smell the hair products in her hair, undoubtedly activated by the rain outside. They smelled natural and soothing; nothing like the chemical filled products often found in the states. 

You set a hand behind you, leaning back on it to give her more space, no matter how much you wanted to lean forward. Her hand landed on the other side of your lap, propping her up as she leaned over, fiddling with the lamp. You watched as the same light emitted from it only for it to change into a soft, blue color. 

Leaning in the same direction as her, you looked closer at the light, taking the time to truly admire it. The only word that could be used to describe it was…enchanting. You wouldn’t call it magical; there was something much deeper about its appeal to call it simply ‘magical’. 

“So the quartz reacts to the vibranium, making it glow like that.” You assumed, eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity. “I’m assuming it was your genius addition that makes it possible to change the color.” 

Your words were said with a smile as you turned your head to look at her only to finally realize how close you two were. She nodded, her gaze unwavering from where it connected with yours. Her voice was soft as she responded.

“Yeah…I developed a way to alter the smallest bit of irradiation inside of the crystal, which makes it change colors.” 

The answer was simple enough, but you still couldn’t help staring in awe at her. She had taken an already scientifically advanced item and further advanced it. It wasn’t a surprise that she could do it, but it was still something to be in awe of.

“It…it makes sense. It’s also not surprising that you made it better.” A breathless laugh left your mouth, making her laugh softly. She propped herself up more which only brought her face closer to yours. It was obvious how your heart sped up if your quickened breaths were anything to go by. 

“Is that what you think? That I make things better?”

Was this really happening?

Shuri’s eyes unabashedly looked down at your lips, and the next breath you took in stuttered slightly. Her movements were slow as she leaned closer, drawing her face closer to yours until the air from her next words could be felt on your lips.

When she spoke, her voice was rough around the edges, as if she were straining herself back from doing more and trying her best to get them out. Her free hand raced, tracing a path from the tips of your free hand up to your elbow, which she used to pull you closer. You didn’t offer any resistance, essentially a pile of puddy in her hands. Your name left her mouth on a  breathless exhale.

“Tell me to stop…if you don’t want this, tell me to stop.”

You couldn’t possibly make your voice work right, so you settled with shaking your head. Her movements paused in their entirety; she stopped drawing you closer and her tracing stopped.

“I need to hear it.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” Your voice was merely a whisper, almost getting stuck in your throat as you forced them out. The breathlessness of your voice made a crooked smile appear on Shuri’s face as she leaned forward once more. She lifted her hand, using it to tip your chin back.

Your body felt as if it were on fire as she paused again, simply observing the position she had you in. The spots where her skin came into contact with yours were the hottest, though it felt as if molten lava flowed from those spots and through your veins. She still had that damned smile on your face, and you wanted nothing to kiss it right off. You could feel something close to defiance entering your mind, spurred on by the way she continued to tease you, even in the slightest. It made you clench your jaw, lifting your chin more as you hardened your gaze where it connected with hers…and she immediately recognized your look for what it was. 

Her eyebrows rose in a mixture of surprise and amusement, and then she was finally about to close the gap, her lips skimming just the surface of your bottom lip-

Only for you both to quickly separate at the sound of 3 heavy knocks landing on her door. It quickly shattered the air surrounding you; the tranquility, the vulnerability, the tension.  It didn’t get rid of it in its entirety, for it still simmered right there on the surface, turning more into a need than a want. 

A quick glance Shuri’s way showed her rubbing a hand down her face in frustration and turning towards the door. She quickly scooted to the edge of the bed before pausing, sending a look over her shoulder at you. The attraction that had been in her eyes mere seconds ago was still there, but it almost seemed masked now. You couldn’t find an ounce of regret in her eyes, but the sudden change had your heart beating quickly, and not in anticipation. More so in nervousness.

“*Ikumkani wam…I know you are in there. You know I have no reservation about kicking this door down.”

Shuri’s eyes widened almost comically as she turned back to the door, quickly making her way towards it. As her back was turned, you took the chance to place a hand against your chest, willing your heart to go back to its regular pace. 

“Okoye? What are you doing here?”

She swung the door open, only enough to speak to the person outside- Okoye, she had said. The name sounded familiar, though you were seriously questioning your own judgment at the moment.

Okoye. Okoye.

Connecting the name to the multiple stories Shuri had told about the stoic, intelligent, and deadly General of Wakanda’s army made you scramble to get out of bed. You had no idea what you would do, but for some reason, being caught in Shuri’s bed by the general of an army seemed to be at the bottom of the list of things you wanted to go through so early in the morning. 

Flinging the covers to the side sent your phone flying and bouncing off of the wall. A few events happened in the span of a few seconds, effectively turning the morning into chaos. 

Your foot became caught in the comforter as you hurried to reach for it, causing you to follow its path and land in a heap on the floor. Shuri quickly turned at the sound just in time to see you go over the side of the bed, and the door was pushed out of her hand as the general quickly stepped in.

Hand closing around your phone, you managed to right yourself and grabbed the bed to pull yourself up. You came face to face with something metal and something so sharp it almost became invisible as you pulled yourself back up. Your body tensed so quickly and so much that it wasn’t a surprise when a painful tweak went through your back, though you didn’t dare move. 

Eyes flickering from the edge of the weapon to the face of the newcomer, the damn General, you slowly and shakily raised your hands. You didn’t even blink, too afraid of doing something that could even potentially be seen as threatening. 

“Okoye, wait!”

Shuri’s voice seemed like the damn voice of an angel as she quickly rushed forward, placing a hand on Okoye’s arm. She spoke slowly but firmly.

“She’s a friend, not a threat. You brought a spear in here?”

Your gratitude undoubtedly showed on your face as you looked at Shuri, because she nodded assuredly, giving you a small, tight smile. At Shuri’s actions and words, Okoye retracted her spear, tilting her chin up as she assessed you. When she spoke, her voice wasn’t unkind…but it wasn’t kind either.

“Oh, I can see that. And I brought a spear because I felt the need to.” Her head turned to face Shuri and you almost immediately sagged in relief, though your eyes widened as her spear retracted into a small, hand sized pole. 

“You felt the need to bring a vibranium spear to a college campus, and then threaten my friend with it-”

“Shuri, we need to talk. It’s important.”

There must have been something in Okoye’s voice that spoke to the seriousness of the situation because Shuri paused, stepping closer to her. Her eyebrows furrowed and the typical playful Shuri you knew quickly disappeared, a more regal version of her appearing. 

“What is it? What’s happened?”

Assuming that the two of them would have just forgotten about you while discussing, presumably what would be Wakandan business, was a little foolish of you. So when Okoye didn’t respond, instead choosing to look expectantly in your direction. She raised an eyebrow, and you immediately got the message. 

Once again, you found yourself rushing to stand to your feet. You were able to do so without incident this time, quickly snatching your phone up. You nodded in understanding.

“Oh! Yeah, of course. I’ll go-uh, do something and let you two talk.”

Nevermind the fact that you had no idea where you would go. You still had on your pjs and bonnet and it was raining outside…but now Okoye was staring at you, waiting for you to leave. Her attention only made you move faster. 

“Wait, no, wait.” Right as you reached for your shoes, a hand landed on your arm, effectively pausing your actions. You spoke before Shuri could continue, placing your hand on top of hers. 

“It’s okay. If it’s important then I probably shouldn’t be here. Especially if it has to do with…Wakanda. I’ll go get us some lunch. Just call me when you’re done.” You sent her a smile that was surprisingly easy to muster up, especially in the face of all the chaos and confusion that had just happened.

She looked at you for a few seconds, undoubtedly trying to see through your words and to see what you were truly thinking. When she was seemingly satisfied with what she saw, she sighed in resignation. Nodding, she squeezed your arm gently before letting it go. 

“Alright. I’ll call as soon as we’re done.” 

You nodded, leaning down to put on your shoes. Once you grabbed your coat, you made your way to the door, pausing to awkwardly nod a goodbye at Okoye. She had the heart to give you the tiniest, strained smile before nodding back, and then you were closing the door behind you. 

The second the door closed, Shuri was whirling to stare incredulously at Okoye, mouth agape. 

“I have to say, Okoye. I’m both surprised and not that you’d barge in while I’m at school and then basically order my friend to leave.”

“We both know that’s not just your friend.”

Okoye rolled her eyes, stepping around her and in the direction of the covered windows. She pulled a curtain aside just enough to peek outside before letting it fall back into place. Shuri opened and closed her mouth, looking for a response. Before she could find one,  Okoye  turned to face Shuri, letting out a sigh.

“You’re being watched.”

Shuri tensed, her body freezing at Okoye’s words. She was being watched? Who would follow the sitting queen of Wakanda? Who would risk getting in trouble with Wakanda because of their stalker tendencies?

At Shuri’s silence, Okoye stepped closer. She brandished her kimoyo beads and then they were both looking at projections of pictures…pictures that consisted of Shuri in different parts of the campus they were currently on. There were some of her walking between classes, eating in the dining hall, even when she had studied in the library. 

Instead of feeling fear or nervousness, she felt irritation. Annoyance. Leave it to some person without boundaries on campus to make her college-going experience weird. Her irritation showed on her face as she looked at Okoye. 

“It’s probably just some weirdo here on campus.”

Her words trailed off as Okoye shook her head, her eyes widening to convey the seriousness of the situation.

“You don’t understand, Shuri. They sent these to the Doras who are assigned to you. They knew who they were and what they were here for and managed to send pictures to them. Not only that, but we are unable to trace where they came from as of right now. Whoever they are…they know how to cover their tracks.”

Shuri’s mind raced slightly as she turned away, her fingers fidgeting. What the hell did they want- what were they hoping to achieve by sending those pictures? Was it a scare tactic? A threat of some kind? A demand?

“**Ukumkanikazi, I think it's best if you come back to Wakanda. At least for the time being, and until we can figure this out.”

Shuri instantly hated the idea of letting this nameless and faceless person, or people, put her life on pause. Sure, she had a life in Wakanda, but that life was one full of royal duties and inheritance. She quite enjoyed this life she had made on her own; she had gotten into college on her own, picked out her classes, made friends…all on her own. And now this…creep felt entitled enough to insert their unwanted and stalker-like personality into it. 

She felt as if she were running, despite the fact that she had already planned on going back to Wakanda for winter break. That was the only reason she wasn’t giving Okoye such a hard time right now, but she’d make sure to carve time out of her schedule to do so later on. 

“I had already planned on coming back for break. I…can’t just up and leave now. Let me at least talk to my fri- to Y/N, explain what's going on.”

She wouldn’t even entertain the thought of leaving without explaining herself to you. Even if she were to do something like that, she had a feeling that you wouldn’t be…too mad at her, especially in the face of a situation like this. You’d want her to do exactly what Okoye said, especially if it meant that she’d be away from the people surveilling her.

Okoye sent her a knowing look, one that let Shuri know that she knew exactly what had been happening at the time of her arrival. She sent one back that let Okoye know that she wouldn’t be leaving unless she spoke to you.

Finally, after a brief staredown from the two hard-headed women, Okoye let out a resigned sigh. She waved a hand, turning towards her door.

“Fine. Call your little…friend. And then pack your things and meet me on the roof. I don’t want to have to come and find you, Shuri.” 

She copied Okoye’s actions, raising a hand and half heartedly waving in agreement as she sought out her phone. Her hand closed around it right as she heard the door shut, and it took her less than a few seconds to find your name and click on it. 

As it rang, she moved around her room, taking note of the things she’d end up packing. It wouldn’t be a lot; she had everything she needed and more already in Wakanda…but she wanted to take her posters and the little trinkets she had acquired during her time in America. Maybe she’d have time to come back and get them once everything calmed down-

No. Why was she thinking as if she’d never be able to come back? She’d make sure she’d be able to come back, so she would leave those posters and trinkets. Okay, maybe she’d take a few of them. 

The phone continued to ring, making her eyebrows furrow. She pulled it away from her ear, hanging the call up only to call right back. She tried not to let the nervous feeling in her chest grow, but the longer the call rang without being answered, the more it became apparent. 

She continued to listen to the ringing as a series of knocks landed on her door. She barely registered the knocking, even as she went to open the door. There had been a small, hopeful feeling that your face would’ve been on the other side of the door, but instead it was Okoye once again. Upon hearing your voicemail answer instead of your voice, she let out a sigh.

“I’m coming, Okoye. I’m still trying to reach her-”

“Shuri, you need to see this.”

The urge to tell Okoye to just wait a second died instantly as she caught a glimpse of what she wanted her to see. She had more pictures projected from her kimoyo beads, all of them still showing Shuri, but she wasn’t the only one in them this time. 

Shuri’s heart dropped as she stepped closer, her eyes focusing on the other face in the pictures; the only person she had been seen with on campus.

You.

She quickly looked at Okoye, worry clear as day on her face. That worry that had been gnawing at her nerves turned into a violent pang that wracked through her body as the pictures continued to change, all of them consisting of you and her. As she continued to watch, she dialed your number again, internally pleading that you’d just answer the phone.

“For Bast’s sake, answer the phone. Please-” Her words cut off abruptly at the last picture in the stack. 

If it hadn’t been taken by some threatening stalker, the picture would have been sweet. Perfect, even. But no, because of the circumstances, the moment captured became tainted. It became…scary.

The picture showed the two of you leaving the library after one of your many study sessions, right as you two bid each other goodnight and went your separate ways. You both were faced the opposite direction of the other, hands up and undoubtedly waving bye. 

On the back of the last picture, crudely scribbled in red ink, were the words:

DONT YOU UNDERSTAND THE SAHDE IN HER HEART

BE GRAETFUL DEAR  OUR UNION IS FATED

DELIVERANC DEMANDS YOU DO YOU PART

The lack of punctuation, the scribbling, the typos, the message itself said enough about who this person was, and just how unhinged they were. The projection allowed her to see how the word “HER” seemed to be worse than the other words, almost intelligible…and scribbled right over where your face was on the other side of the picture. 

“When did you get these?” 

The look on Okoye’s face didn’t help the situation at all. In fact, it only made it harder for Shuri. She to take a deep breath around the tight feeling in her chest, though the feeling didn’t go anywhere. 

“Ayo received these 10 minutes ago.”

Shuri cursed loudly, quickly walking around Okoye and towards her door. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation as she stepped into the hallway, Okoye hot on her heels. 

“Shuri, we have to have a plan!”

“The plan is to find Y/N before anything can happen!” 

There wasn’t room in Shuri’s voice for any negotiation as they burst into the stairwell and flew down the stairs. Okoye could only follow, speaking into her kimoyo beads to the assigned Doras who were placed on campus. She gave them your description and stressed how important it was to find you.

Shuri, on the other hand, only thought about how she would literally go through anything and anyone to get to you. 

**********

You literally hadn’t known what to do the second you stepped out of Shuri’s dorm building, so you had picked a direction, and simply started walking in it. It didn’t take long for you to realize that you were walking in the direction of the library. You hadn’t brought your bag with you, so you didn’t have your computer, but maybe you could find something to do while there. 

Of course and unsurprisingly, as you walked, hood up and trying to shield your face from the rain, your thoughts strayed to Shuri and what she and Okoye had to talk about. You hoped it wasn’t anything too worrisome, for you knew exactly how much Shuri cared for her home country. She’d drop any and everything in a heartbeat to go and deal with whatever needed to be dealt with.

Making this conclusion made you come to the realization that…any and everything included you. You honestly couldn’t fault her; she was queen of an entire country. There were more important things she’d have to worry about- things a lot more important than you two meeting in the library and eating things from the cafe together. More important things than…than whatever had happened in her room. 

You let out a heavy sigh, one full of acceptance that there’d probably never be a time where you’d be considered above her duties- nor did you expect to be. 

You pulled out your phone, glancing down at it for a quick second, looking for a call from Shuri that you knew hadn’t come yet. That one second was enough for you to practically run into another person, so hard that you stumbled back a few steps.

The other person, also with a rain jacket covering their body, their hood up, simply rushed past you. Your head turned to follow their retreating figure, eyebrows furrowed and your lips twisted.

“Excuse you. Damn…I thought we learned manners at a young age.”

You placed your hands back in your pockets, turning to continue your walk. The interaction was instantly pushed to the back of your mind as you thought of maybe picking up lunch for the two of you. But you two had literally just had breakfast, not even an hour ago. There was nothing wrong with an early lunch, right? Maybe you could call it brunch?

Or maybe you’d ask if you could take a nap. Maybe it was the rain and dreary skies making you feel a little tired, because you hadn’t felt so…heavy and slow moving when you had left Shuri’s dorm. 

The feeling persisted, and it only occurred to you that something was wrong when you felt as if you were running out of breath. It was impossible; you’d only been walking. Then came the feeling of being hot despite seeing your breath leave your mouth in a white cloud. The cold rain couldn’t offer any reprieve.

Something was wrong. 

The next step you tried to take felt too heavy, too clumsy. As soon as you managed to lift it and bring it down, you felt your knee go out. You couldn’t do anything but allow gravity to take over, your body coming into contact with the brick walkway. You tried to catch yourself with your hands, though the second you settled your weight on them, they flew out from under you.

Your tongue felt like lead in your mouth, too numb to move. The feeling of your heart speeding up was concerning and honestly the scariest thing you had ever been through. You could feel your heart beating, but it felt too violent- like it was trying to burst from your chest. 

Your actions weren’t your own as you ripped your jacket off, rolling to lay on your side. The fact that you were laying in the middle of the walkway didn’t cross your mind; the only thing you could focus on was the feeling of your body burning from the inside out. 

Your phone had flown out of your hand as you had hit the ground, and in a distant part of your mind, you could hear it ringing. You didn’t have the strength to reach out and find it. 

Your lips formed words but your throat was too dry to push them out. Just the effort of trying to call out for help was painful, but you continued to try, nonetheless. Your pain-addled brain kept thinking only one thing. Only one name continued to form on your lips as a threatening and malicious darkness seeped into your vision. 

**********

“Have they found her yet?”

Shuri’s voice was firm in her questioning, but anyone who knew her could hear the thinly concealed panic in it. 

Her and Okoye had raced outside before picking a direction. It wasn’t just any random direction, it was what Shuri had thought of. Her reason for picking the direction was because it led straight to the library, one of your comfort spots. Where else would you go after being unexpectedly kicked out of her dorm?

Okoye barked a question into her kimoyo beads as they ran, but the answer they received back only made Shuri’s footsteps quicken. She had to remind herself that with her recently acquired…abilities, she could now outrun Okoye, so she tried her absolute hardest to keep pace with her.

“Get the talon in the air and locate her. ***Ngoku!”

She heard Okoye’s orders, but they seemed to go in one ear and out the other as soon as Shuri looked ahead. If she thought her heart dropped earlier, that was nothing compared to what she felt as she saw a figure lying in the middle of the walkway, still. Too still.

The gasp she let out was ragged as she recognized the jacket you had walked out of her dorm with. It was easy to completely forget Okoye as she sprinted to your side, instantly dropping to her knees. 

Her hands hovered, not knowing where to touch you… not knowing what was wrong with you. She hastily pulled her kimoyo beads off of her wrist, placing them on your chest. She sucked in a sharp breath at how cold your skin was and prayed that it was only because of the cold rain. 

“Griot, what are her vitals?”

The beads projected your too slow heart rate above your chest, the sight making Shuri’s hands shake as she placed them against your cheeks. 

“She appears to be suffering from bradycardia as a result of some unknown substance. Life scans show a small puncture wound on the inside of her right elbow.”

A quick glance at the mentioned limb proved the AI’s words. There was a small circle, almost imperceptible, in the crook of your arm. There was a bead of dried blood near the site, probably having dropped at the time of the injection.

“Your highness, she seems to be slightly gaining consciousness.”

Shuri leaned over, shielding the rain from falling into your face and calling your name softly. In response, you let out a low, hoarse groan, the action physically hurting you. 

“We’re going to get you help, okay? I’m not going anywhere. Can you hear me?”

Your eyes wouldn’t open, but you didn’t need your sight to know that it was Shuri leaning over you. Your lips once again formed her name, though you couldn’t tell if sound escaped you or not. 

“I’m here. You think you can stay awake for me? That’s all I need you to do- just stay awake.” You were too out of it to hear the way her voice shook. It was hard to distinguish anything when your body was in a constant state of crippling pain- a pain you had never experienced before. 

Shuri could see your lips moving slightly, and she had to lower her head to hear you whisper her name. It gave her a little solace that you were able to tell who she was, though she wouldn’t calm down completely until you were stable and back to your regular self. 

“The talon is here. We’ll put her in the cradle and stabilize her.” 

Okoye spoke quickly, glancing up as the aircraft arrived and hovered over them. Shuri didn’t dare look away from you, her eyes flickering between your projected vitals and your face. 

She’d have to confront her fear and panic at the idea of losing you later; right now, you needed her and she needed to keep a clear head in order to help you. She still didn’t know what you had been injected with, which meant she didn’t have a cure. She didn’t know how to help you, and that thought alone made her chest seize. 

She lifted your upper half onto her lap, wiping away the tears that had unknowingly leaked from the corners of your eyes. Seeing you, someone who was usually so lively and who always made her laugh, in such a state of pain was all it took for her to take the situation more seriously. 

This person had targeted you; an innocent. Your only mistake was befriending her, and she didn’t need to think hard to assume that you thought the same thing.

Shuri’s gaze stayed on your still figure, willing you to open your eyes or say something else; even as the talon’s levitating technology carefully pulled them inside the ship. The second the ship’s entrance closed, she was pulling you into her chest and placing you in the cradle: the technology used to stabilize and treat the injured until they could get back to their lab. 

“Griot-”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Stabilize her vitals. Take a blood sample and analyze it for familiar properties, and then compare it to every cure we have in Wakanda.”

She put her hands flat on the cradle as you were slowly sealed inside of it, as if she could reach through the glass and heal you yourself. Bast, she wished she could. Anything to help you. 

Even after her AI had done everything requested of it, she stayed in the same spot. Even after she was alerted that you were stabilized for now, she stayed in the same spot. She’d be damned if she left your side after you were hurt because of your connection to her. 

“General Okoye.”

She appeared by Shuri’s side almost instantly, eyebrows furrowed and eyes questioning.

“I want you to lead the search for the person that did this.”

They had both known that Okoye would lead the search, as it was her job. But hearing her agree to it calmed the smallest portion of Shuri’s nerves. It reassured her that someone she could trust and someone she knew would get the job done was working on it. 

“Of course, Ukumkanikazi. We’ll find them.”

Shuri lifted her eyes, meeting Okoye’s hard and confident gaze, and nodded once in thanks. 

She knew that Okoye would beg to differ should she hear her inner thoughts, but this was no longer about her being surveilled. This was about them targeting a woman who she cared immensely for…all to get to her. 

Oh, she’d find them. By any means necessary.

Sorry for the little cliff hanger and...ya know...the whole “we nearly kissed but got interrupted” trope. I love slow burns with palpable tension, but with circumstances that keep them apart LMAO

Hope you all enjoyed this part! I'm really excited to continue this series, and once again, I'd like to thank you all for the continuous love and support y'all are providing.

Stay safe, y'all! <3

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