#📬 [ kitty is typing... ]

[iluvyoutxt-moved]

just begun

summary: a simple cloned grunt is picked out of the crowd for an unknown experiment. unbeknownst to them, this is just the beginning of project-834.

part 1 of idk how many

word count: 1115

tw: mentions of hospital-esque settings, surgery, and pain, descriptions of severe distress and implications of memory loss

a clone's first few weeks out of the tube isn't typically too eventful. with the agency mass producing them, it was a simple process with a simple routine afterward, typically followed with the grunt dying in combat soon afterward. that or from a horrible accident.

there are some, however. every once in a while. the ones that, instead of combat, are chosen for experimentation.

project #834 was one of these unlucky few.

their first week was business as usual. it wasn't until halfway through week 2 that a scientist arrived with an agent and pulled them from their training. 

fear settled in their chest as they were pushed along, hardly spoken to aside from the agent repeatedly telling them to keep it moving. the scientist was typing on a tablet, but the grunt was unable to see exactly what was on the screen.

"so you sure the boss wants this one?"

the scientist hummed in confirmation, "i'm as confused as you are, but what he says goes i suppose."

the agent scoffed. 

self consciousness joined the feeling of fear.

they didn't know how long they'd been walking, how many doors they'd gone through, how many turns they'd taken when the scientist finally stopped walking and double checked the tablet.

"this is the room."

they input a code that the grunt was unable to see on the keypad and opened the door, gesturing into the room.

the grunt stood there for a moment before they were shoved from behind, tripping over their own feet and almost falling down. they turned around to see the door swinging shut, hearing the lock click into place.

panic filled them and they ran to the door, attempting to open it.

grunts were supposed to be too emotional - they were supposed to be the perfect toy soldiers, willing to sacrifice themself, to fight, to do anything for the sake of the agency.

834 did not fit this ideal.

tears welled up in their eyes as they pulled on the door, begging to be let back out, that they'd do better, they'd fight, they'd kill, they'd die.

soon realizing it was fruitless, they backed away from the door and looked around. the room was void of furniture. 

they trotted over to the corner and sat down, hugging their knees. 

they didn't remember anything after that.

pain.

pain was the first thing they felt.

a sensation of burning fire blossomed from their abdomen to their entire body. their head was filled with static. they couldn't feel their fingers. their entire being felt heavy.

the clone grunted, struggling to open their eyes. their head lolled to one side as they looked around as best as they could, the room blurry.

they appeared to be in a pitiful attempt at a bedroom - however, set up beside their bed was a heart monitor and IV, the former of which was emitting a gentle beeping noise. 

as the clone took a deep breath, a sharp, unnatural pain emitted in their chest, leading them to whimper and grasp at the area. looking down, their entire upper body was wrapped in bandages. they hissed through their teeth as their hands began to shake. 

what happened to them?

at this moment, the door swung open, and what looked to be a scientist walked in with a tablet. he looked up from it momentarily before double-taking, realizing that they were alert.

"oh! you're finally awake! excellent, excellent… experiment has been a success in one way so far," he typed something on the tablet as he walked over to check the monitor, as well as a seperate monitor that they hadn't noticed before.

the clone turned their head, blinking a few times before speaking.

"what is this? who are you?" 

they swallowed dryly.

"who… am i?"

the scientist was quiet for a moment, focusing on the information written on the screens and typing things on their tablet.

"you are project #834. i am the one managing this experiment. you'll find more about it soon, but for now just focus on healing."

experiment?

the scientist seemed done with the conversation, but 834's mind was buzzing with questions.

why couldn't they remember anything?

why were they covered in bandages?

why were they in so much pain?

their only memories were things that seemed built into any grunt - hank wimbleton is the enemy, loyalty to the agency, etcetera.

other than that, there was a blank space. 

"alright, looks like you're recovering fairly well. better than expected."

"recovering from what?"

"don't mind it. you'll find out soon. maybe."

collecting a few papers from in front of the monitor, the scientist stuffed them under his arm and turned back to the door, walking out.

834 could do nothing but watch as the door clicked shut, auto-locking.

they let their head flop against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. 

for the remainder of the day, things were simple. someone would come in to give them meds. scientist would check in. a grunt would bring them food. scientist would check in again. meds again. 

they fell in and out of consciousness all day until they finally fell asleep for the night.

"hm, this is unexpected," the scientist muttered under his breath, staring again at the monitor. 

834 looked towards him, but didn't make a sound.

"you're making a faster recovery than we thought," he stated, typing on his little tablet again, "must be a side effect of the device. better good side effects than bad ones…" he mumbled the last part, but 834 still heard him.

it had been about a week now since their operation, and after the first couple of days they were permitted to get out of bed and walk around their room. the agency had been 'generous' enough to leave some forms of entertainment in their 'bedroom', so they were able to occupy themself through their boring days.

the pain had lessened substantially even when the medication wore off, which they were thankful for. it still hurt like hell when someone had to come in and help change their bandages, revealing the massive healing scars tracing their abdomen and chest.

to hear they were recovering faster than expected should've made them feel glad, but there was something that prevented them from being able to feel so.

"what happens after i'm healed up?" 834 mumbled hesitantly.

"you'll see."

he'd said that before. they still didn't know the answer despite how many times they'd ask.

the possibilities were killing them.

"are you sure? i know they've healed up fairly quick and i'd like to get this experiment going as soon as possible as well, but don't you think it's a bit too soon?"

…

"...understood. we'll move forward with the experiment first thing tomorrow."

[iluvyoutxt-moved]

i crack and out i pour

pairing: king again [king/beatrix]

word count: 2,186

content warnings: hurt/comfort, some mentions of alcohol/drunkeness in the beginning, vague self deprecation, mentions of injury + blood (not descriptive, its just there), mutual pining but painful

synopsis: beatrix realizes their own feelings for king and instead of dealing with them, they push them, and their friends, away. meanwhile, king deals with his own feelings for them.

"hey, captain," king sighed as he put down his now half empty mug of ale, "d'ya think i did something to make bea mad?"

the boar's hat tavern was empty, save for king and the captain of the seven deadly sins and boar's hat owner, meliodas.

the blonde man paused pouring his own drink, looking at king with his typical curious eyes. 

"they haven't mentioned anything to me, so i don't think so?"

"why would they mention something like that to you? i thought they hated-" hiccup, "your guts?"

meliodas grinned, chuckling, "d'aww, they're just exaggerating. gale even told me, hehe,"

"well i wish gale would tell me-" hic, "about how they're feeling… they've been avoiding me like craaaazy and its driving ME crazy!" king splayed his upper body on the wooden table, creating a loud thunk!

humming, meliodas' eyes turned upwards thoughtfully. 

"come to think of it, i think they've been a little more closed off than usual. they might just be having a bad week, though."

king mumbled incoherently, a whine emitting from his face-down body. that makes no sense, he was thinking, if it was a bad week, they wouldn't still be doing this to me after a month!

"i think that might be enough drinks for tonight, buddy." meliodas laughed, walking around the bar with his own full cup. he put his mug down with a hard thud and leaned on the table, peeking into king's own mug to see how much he had left.

"uggghhh fine, lemme just finish this one…" the fairy lifted his head, his face looking pitifully downtrodden. he grabbed the mug and took a heavy swig, chugging until it was gone.

meliodas took a slow sip, tapping the table with his free hand's index finger. "y'know king, call me crazy if you'd like, but," he lifted his hand and leaned his cheek into it, "if i were going to guess anything, i'd say they've got something going on in their head that might relate to you."

king looked at the man, his vision vaguely beginning to blur as he blinked. "huh? whassat supposed to mean?" 

"i mean," meliodas took another sip, "i think they're dealing with some emotions, and i think they may have been caused by you."

"what makes you say that?!" king exclaimed, "does that mean you DO think they're mad at me?!"

meliodas laughed, "i dunno! you're their best friend, aren't you? maybe stop getting drunk and whining about it and actually talk to them, you dork."

in that moment, there were footsteps outside. king perked up, looking towards the door. it opened to reveal beatrix themself, returning from their walk with gale. when beatrix pulled down the hood of their cloak, revealing their soft expression, king felt a tug at his own heart. 

"h-heyyy bea! welcome back! i got cut off, but d'ya wanna join us?" king said with an awkward laugh, trying not to overthink the feeling.

when they turned to him, their expression turned into a familiarly distant and stony one - though if his eyes weren't tricking him, king swore he could see a slight red tinge in their cheeks.

"hey king, meliodas. i was actually gonna turn in for the night, sorry. also, you know i hate alcohol."

king's smile wavered, before he raised a hand and waved it in a way of telling them its fine, "oh, that's okay. goodnight then!"

"goodnight bea!" meliodas chimed in, leaning back in his seat to crane his neck and watch them ascend the stairs, their companion following closely behind.

"nighty."

silence fell over the tavern once again, and king's brain began to shift into overthinking mode as he stared into the empty bottom of his mug. he must've been doing that for longer than he thought, because soon enough meliodas was waving his hand and trying to get his attention.

"yooo king, you doing okay?"

king paused, his heart beginning to pound as his brain formed a single thought.

"i think im in love with them."

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

beatrix didn't necessarily mean to come across as so distant and closed off. it was a mask they'd simply gotten used to wearing - one that still seemed to persist despite being in a safe environment, where they felt they had friends they could trust. 

the sins (along with elizabeth) were all fantastic friends to bea, managing to break through their toughened outer shell and reveal the soft and damaged core they held within them. they became attached, feeling like they could trust the team and wanting to fight as best as they could in an effort to help their side.

it was only when they began to feel a spark of something different for someone within the group that their walls began to rebuild again. 

this is so dumb, they'd think, many times, why did my heart have to go and get so stupid? 

and it was all his fault.

the grizzly sin of sloth, king.

undeniably their best friend within the group, the one they seemed to gravitate towards the most -- which made it all the more surprising when they began to keep their distance.

the once in depth, late night conversations about how they felt about their lives, discussions about their adventures, fun stories, shared laughter that had them both crying, talking about their families and friends…

it all had almost disappeared overnight, as if king was suddenly shoved out the door and locked out. as if they suddenly didn't trust him enough anymore. 

which wasn't true. they trusted him, they trusted him so, so dearly. despite this trust however, there was still a nagging voice inside their brain that if he found out about their feelings, he would never be as close with them again.

it was all too much for beatrix to handle. admittedly, bottling up their feelings and turning cold to their friends again wasn't the best way of dealing with their feelings. then again, the last time they felt this way towards someone, he left one day and never returned. 

"gale," beatrix mumbled, face squished into their pillow, "can i talk to you?"

'is it about king again?'

"yeah."

the dog sighed heavily, 'you know, it really isn't healthy to do this. not for you OR for your relationships.'

there was a pause as bea shifted to lay on their back, reflecting on the words. "yeah," bea muttered, "yeah, i know."

'then why do you do it? why do you put yourself through so much pain?'

they stared at the ceiling, their throat tightening. "i just," their voice came out as a whisper, "i just don't want him to hate me. besides," they put their hand up in the air, palm facing upward as if trying to grab the ceiling, "he's… he's clearly in love with diane. hell, they've known each other for hundreds of years… i've only known him for what, three? i can't destroy that with my own feelings."

gale stood up from his bed on the floor, walking over to their bedside and putting his chin on the blanket and letting out a sharp whimper.

'you can't continue to torture yourself like this.'

bea turned their head to the dog, eyes glossy. they began to pet his head, his soft fur grounding them. in a swift motion, he climbed onto the bed and curled into their arm, letting out a huff. 

'for your sake and his, please do something to fix this. you can't continue to run from your feelings.'

bea closed their eyes, leaning their head into gale. 

"i know."

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

it continued on. even when bea seemed to be willing to open up again, the door snapped shut. and yet, despite this, king's own feelings began to grow stronger. 

it wasn't until a few weeks later that the both of them would hit their breaking point. 

with gentle, shaking hands, king wrapped a cloth bandage around bea's knee as they sat on their bed. his face was twisted into a worried frown, his eyes focused on their injuries.

"why would you get into a fight like that, with none of us around no less? that guy's power level was at least twice your own! you could've-- gods, bea you could've been killed!"

beatrix heaved a sigh, staying silent, staring through the window to the left of them.

"it's like," king laughed, an awkward, fearful giggle, "it's terrifying, bea. i don't know what i'd do if gale came back and said you were dead instead of just injured."

"move on."

king froze in his tracks, his head jolting up to look at them, horrified. "wh--" king shook his head violently, "what? why would you say that?"

beatrix bit their lip. "i don't know."

king hesitated, before resuming his movements. he moved on from their knee, taking a wet rag and pausing. 

"bea, you don't have to, uh, look me in the eyes, but… could i touch your face?"

bea nodded weakly. their entire body burned.

king gently gripped their chin, floating upwards and tilting their head to face him. their eyes met his, and king's heart suddenly began pounding. 

if this were under other circumstances, he'd probably ask to kiss them.

steadying his hands again, he pressed the rag to a patch of blood on their cheek, wiping gently. as he wiped away the blood to reveal the actual injuries, his worried expression returned.

"i hate seeing you like this." he mumbled, almost as if he just meant to think it.

beatrix looked away again. "im sorry."

king's eyes widened slightly, before his frown deepened, "no, it's not something to apologize for. i don't know what's been going on with you, but," he paused, adjusting the rag and moving their hair out of the way to wipe their forehead, "you can talk to me. i won't be mad, or hate you, or turn you away."

something seemed to snap in them hearing those words, and their lip began trembling. tears formed in their eyes, and the wall began to crumble. 

king pulled back, shocked, before putting the rag down and placing his other hand on their face. "wh-what's wrong? did- did i say something bad? i was trying to be encouraging, i'm so sorry,"

bea let out a pained laugh, "no, it's nothing to apologize for. i'm sorry for everything. if i-" they inhaled sharply, "if i hadn't gotten caught up in my own stupid feelings i would've been able to- to realize i was hurt- hurting you too."

king floated down to eye level with them, shifting a hand to wipe tears from their eyes. "what? what do you mean?"

with a shaky hand of their own, bea took a deep breath and placed it on top of one of king's.

"king, i'm in love with you."

the fairy's eyes widened, a deep blush dusting his cheeks, heart pounding once again, echoing in his ears. 

"and, and i know you probably don't return the feelings, but-"

"can i kiss you?"

bea paused, bruised cheeks turning their own shade of pink. they nodded, and king moved forward, placing a delicate, nervous kiss on their lips. beatrix's arms moved to circle around his neck, gently pulling his floating form closer. after a few moments, bea pulled away, taking a few breaths. their eyes were wide, staring into king's own, as they both sat red-faced. 

bea smiled at him, genuinely, for the first time in what felt like forever, and king feared his poor heart was about to stop entirely. he returned their smile with one of his own, his eyes almost sparkling. 

bea tugged him closer, leaning their forehead against his. mirroring his own words, they uttered, "can i kiss you?"

king nodded, and they kissed once more, bea leaning back onto the bed and taking king with them, giggling into the kiss.

"am i interrupting something?"

the two broke apart, heads smacking together as bea sat up with a start. they grabbed their battered forehead with a groan and squinted over to the now open door.

"meliodas, what the fuck?!"

meliodas giggled, leaning against the doorframe. "well i was trying to get you guys to come down and eat, but i can see you guys are busy, so i guess we'll be enjoying ban's cooking without you~!"

"shut the-- wait, ban's cooking tonight?" bea looked at king, eyes sparkling, "finish dressing my injuries and let's get the hell down there."

king, already almost having forgotten the task they'd been there for, sputtered for a second before nodding furiously.

meliodas grinned as he turned to walk back downstairs. "well, i guess i'll see you lovebirds there!"

king finished cleaning and bandaging bea's wounds, a smile replacing his once worried expression. as he applied the final bandage on their right arm, he placed a delicate kiss on the back of their hand. 

"there. all finished."

holding their hand, he helped them stand up. bea stretched carefully, the pain panging in their body ever so slightly dulling by now. 

they grabbed his hand once more, intertwining their fingers with his own and smiling warmly.

"let's go eat. i'm starving."

[iluvyoutxt-moved]

new tag dump. lolz

[iluvyoutxt-moved]

normal

summary: moth's normal hasn't truly ever been "normal". but they'd found a new normal in their newfound housemate, and they enjoyed it deeply. it felt like nothing could possibly disrupt their new, peaceful normal. until...

notes: sorry in advance LOL. metal virus scenarios my beloved and detested

life for moth could never be called normal. sure, it had become normal to them, but to an average person, it'd sound made up.

for example, moth could describe living with a reformed war criminal who used to want them dead as… interesting. 

he wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they couldn't help but admit that they'd grown attached to him.

infinite - or fin, as they'd begun to affectionately refer to him as - had changed a lot since they'd found him half dead in the woods outside their house with a gaping hole in his chest. the hole had since healed, replaced by a large, almost star-shaped scar. at least he didn't have to wear bandages over it all the time now. he still felt compelled to wear his mask a lot of the time, despite its run-down state. mostly in public. he didn't trust many others aside from moth to see his true face. 

the time they spent together after the war had become almost comically domestic. after a couple weeks of arguing and tension, they began to find middle ground knowing that fighting with each other served no purpose to either of them, despite how stubborn infinite was when faced with receiving genuine help.

now, however, they'd planned a day to go into moth's hometown for some groceries. as they walked into town, a few people who recognized moth sent them a friendly wave, but faltered after seeing the currently masked infinite. despite him coming into town often with his mask on… the townsfolk were still, understandably, a little weary of him.

moth sent a wave back, shaking infinite's hand they were holding just a tiny bit. getting the memo, he hesitantly raised his hand in greeting as well.

moth gave his hand a squeeze and smiled at him warmly.

"you're doing great, fin."

"...thank you." infinite mumbled in reply, an unseen blush spreading across his face.

the two continued to quietly converse as they walked, mulling over if they'd forgotten to add anything to their grocery list.

they soon arrived at the little store and began to browse.

-

"can you reach that for m–"

infinite cut moth off and plucked it off the shelf that had been just out of reach, handing it to them.

"thank ya hon," they giggled, scribbling the item off the list. 

soon enough, they'd picked everything up (plus a little extra) and had gotten all checked out, ready to head back home.

-

the two were laughing over a moment from a couple weeks back when they heard something strange.

a scream.

infinite's ear twitched and moths tail instinctively wrapped around their own leg. 

"what was that…?"

the two turned in the direction of the noise.

"fin…"

infinite grabbed moth's hand tightly. "...we need to go. now." 

the two started to sprint towards the woods, back home.

-

the door slammed behind them as they ran inside.

"what…" moth panted, "was that…?"

"i don't know. but it didn't look good."

"they… they all looked… so lifeless! like– like—"

"zombies?"

"yes!"

"...this has to be the doctor's doing. i just have that feeling."

moth sighed, "when is it ever not?"

infinite shook his head, taking his mask off and holding it in one hand.

"it looked like it was spreading fast from what i could see. i don't know if any of them managed to follow–"

infinite was interrupted by a loud bang on the outside of the house. moth gasped, jumping back.

"f-fin, fin, get away from the door." they said, urgency in their voice. infinite turned around and backed up towards them, looking at the door. 

there was a shadow through the window, hovering around.

then a bang on the door.

and another.

infinite gripped onto moth's hand and pulled them towards the back door, pulling his mask back on.

"wh-where are we going?"

"anywhere but here."

the two raced out the back together, moth just barely pausing to wake up their chao chammie and get them to come along.

infinite paused for the slightest second, turning to moth and hauling them up into his arms. they squeaked in response and held on tightly.

"hey, hey, hey–!"

"your legs are going to get tired. I don't want you to fall behind."

moth blinked, a soft smile forming.

"thanks, fin," they mumbled, "now, we should probably go find sonic…"

-

it all happened so fast.

the two - three, technically - had long since joined up with sonic and co. and had been caught up to speed on everything going on. they both immediately volunteered to help in any way they could. infinite insisted him and moth stay together, though. 

"safety in numbers," he'd said.

so they'd been sent out to one of the many cities in need of help to get the remaining survivors out. infinite took to watching out for zombots while moth and chamomile helped guide survivors to the rendezvous point. 

however, as smoothly as things had been going at first…

"moth, behind you!"

moth turned, but barely registered what they saw before they were yanked forward into the jackal's arms. 

"oof–!"

they looked up to see a crowd of zombots beginning to approach. one of them had missed them by a hair.

their heart pounded in their chest, breath becoming uneven. their eyes flickered around and infinite began to back up with them.

"moth," he grunted, hand gripping tightly onto their shoulder as he looked at the crowd. "run."

"what?"

"you need to go. go bring the rest of the survivors to the truck. I'll hold them off."

he slipped his mask off and pushed it into their hands.

"are you insane?" moth scoffed.

"just," infinite's grip tightened. "go!"

he shoved them towards the only remaining exit. they tripped into one of the last few civilians, who caught them.

"infinite, what are you doing?!" 

infinite turned back, sending them a small smile. "repaying you."

"INFINITE!"

they began to scream, cry, kick and desperately try to break free of the grip of the multiple civilians attempting to corral them towards the direction that chammie was leading them in. they watched as he disappeared into the crowd. they held tightly onto his mask. 

"is this everyone?"

they couldn't remember anything after that.

-

"chao!"

"moth! hey! where's…" 

amy looked at them, their arm draped over a random civilian's shoulder, glasses askew, face blank and wet with tears. they clutched the mask against their chest tightly.

she raised a hand to her mouth, the other one to her heart.

"oh, no, moth…"

"hey, we gotta get goin'!" sonic's voice rang out from the top of the truck. 

amy quickly took moth from the stranger, thanking them and ushering them onto the truck before guiding moth into the passenger's seat.

they curled into themself, hugging the mask tightly. their eyes stared blankly at the floor.

they could hear someone trying to talk to them, but they couldn't respond.

they couldn't think.

they could hardly breathe.

moth just wanted their normal back.