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thisbeatchachinglikemoney · 3 years

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Moonlight

Part 1 of the Boys with Luv series

Pairing: Yoongi x reader (eventual), Yoongi x BTS, dom!Yoongi x sub!Taehyung x sub!Jungkook

Summary: One night when Yoongi is out for a moonlit stroll, he finds a girl dancing in the park all alone. When he approaches her, his whole life changes forever.

Warnings: There is some mention of mental and physical abuse in this chapter, as well as some a theme of depression and mention of self-harm.

Tags:@calling-dips-on-j-hope, @fic-recs-by-moon, @luvtaeha, @aretha170, @xicanacorpse, @kookieebangtan, @fangirl125reader, @seoul9711, @channiespup, @lindsayjoy444

Part 1 | Part 2

Y/N POV:

He was drunk. Again. This time it was worse than the others though. The other times he was drunk enough that he was tired and could not stay awake long enough to actually hurt me anymore than a couple of hits poorly aimed and a handful of harmful words thrown at me. But it was enough for me to fall further into a deep, black void that seemed to have no way out. It was inescapable. I could hear him banging and shouting to himself downstairs. I was in our room, pretending to be asleep. I rarely slept when he was around, scared of what he would do to me when I was unaware.

That was why I slept while he was out during the day, and then would sneak out at night once I knew he was sleeping. I would go to a park nearby and just sit there and collect my thoughts. Sometimes I would let myself taste the sweet release that I got when I danced, but that was very rare. He banned me from dancing, saying it was like I was cheating on him by showing off my body to other people. And of course, I believed him.

I guess the only good thing was that he wasn’t my soulmate. Everything was still black and white and all the shades of grey in between for me. But I just couldn’t find the courage in myself to get help to leave him. When I was in the park, I loved to listen to BTS to help myself find the courage to get through the next day. Just enough that I would want to survive. But that didn’t stop the want to die from slipping through some cracks. Small scars littered my wrists. They all looked almost silver to me, but I knew that if I could see colour, they would be red. The colour of blood.

He laughed when he found out. Said I deserved it. Said I should do it more and maybe, just maybe, if I was lucky I would cut deep enough to end it.

I could hear his footsteps thumping up the stairs now. I gulped and nestled under the blankets, trying to even out my breathing and slow it down to give the impression I was asleep. I almost flinched when I heard the door open, but I managed to stay still.

“I know you’re awake.” He said, his voice dangerously calm. His footsteps grew louder until I could feel his breath fan over me. It stunk of cheap whisky and other alcohol. He scoffed. “Of course you’d ignore me. Stupid bitch!” He slapped me across the face, causing me to jolt forward and gasp in pain as red hot sparks shot across my face. I curled into a ball, protecting my face with my arms. “Worthless, good for nothing slut.” He pulled me off the bed and kicked me in the stomach, making me cry out in pain. I began to back away from him, pushing myself along the floor with my hands and feet as he walked towards me.

My heart was pounding in my chest, my breathing erratic. I was scared. He could kill me. He lifted his foot as if he was going to stamp on my outstretched leg, but I rolled away just in time, earning myself a kick to the side. I whimpered and stumbled to my feet. I looked around for something, anything I could use as a weapon, as something to defend myself. My eyes zeroed in on a lamp. It was a gift from my mother; a metal base that had little knots of the material jutting out from the sides. I knew it was heavy. I knew that it could possibly knock him out.

I ran over to it and picked it up, yanking the plug out of the socket. He walked closer to me, scoffing. “You think you can hurt me with that?” He chuckled. “Sweet,” He began to undo the buckle of his belt and was about to pull it from its confines when I swung at him with the lamp. It was as if the gods were looking down upon me when the metal end connected with his head, knocking him out cold.

I stared down at his unconscious body, breathing quickly. I tried to calm myself down as I grabbed my phone and shoes, quickly disabling my location services. I had to leave him. Next time, I may not be so lucky. I looked around and stuffed some clothes into a backpack, grabbed a charger and my toothbrush and ran out of the house.

I didn’t have a car. He never let me, since he was under the impression that I could get away with it. Guess he forgot I had two legs and could walk. I shivered slightly, wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to warm me up. I was only wearing a light hoodie, not realising how cold it was.

But I’d be fine. I could just huddle up underneath some of my clothes - use them as a blanket. I didn’t have any friends I could go to - he had made me get rid of them as well. I suppose it was safer for them; he could have threatened to hurt them to get me to do anything. I looked up at the sky, seeing the moon glowing a bright white light, the beauty of it making me feel calm. The moon was full and round, the streets being illuminated by the moonlight as I made my way to the little park that was my safespace.

Yoongi POV:

“No, no, no, no!” I groaned as my computer froze, the coloured pinwheel spinning around as if to mock me. I slammed my hand down on the desk in frustration, knowing that there was a good chance that all my hours of hard work on this song would be deleted.

I pushed my chair back harshly and got up, kicking at the chair in annoyance. “Stupid thing. Can’t even work properly.” I glanced at the screen, letting a small sliver of hope through, hoping that the work had been saved and that it was still there, almost at the point of completion. My heart sunk, the screen was black. There goes eight hours or more of hard work for nothing.

I picked up my phone to check the time. It was almost midnight. There was a miriad of texts from my hyung and dongsaengs, urging me to come eat. Hobi had said he had come to get me but I clearly didn’t or wouldn’t hear him so he left. There was food for me in the fridge and Jungkook was waiting up for me. Of course he was, the boy could not sleep without knowing that everyone was in the dorm.

All seven of us were in a relationship with each other, yet we were not soulmates since it was not allowed between people of the same sex. Stupid homophobic system. But if Kookie was waiting for me, I guess I should stop working now. The boy would force himself to stay awake, which would make him grumpy the next morning. Sometimes he acts like a baby, but who can blame him? He is the maknae after all.

My phone dinged, signalling a text for Taehyung.

Tae ❤️:

Hyung, when are you coming backkkkk? The bed is empty and I’m colddddddd. Pleaseeeee hurryyyyyyyyy

I love youuuuuu

But hurryyyyyyy

I shook my head and chuckled at Taehyung’s cuteness. I decided I would not text him back, but rather call him as I collected my stuff. I clicked on his contact name and put the phone against my ear as I shut off the computer and walked out of Genius Lab, locking the door behind me.

“Hyung! When are you coming back?!” Tae asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

“Tae, baby. I am on my way, okay? I’m just a bit stressed though, so I may have to have even more cuddles.” I said. Even though I never showed it, I loved having and giving hugs to the members. But only behind closed doors. I could never do it in front of the cameras. It would ruin my bad boy persona.

“Cuddles!” Tae gasped. “Yay. Hurry, please, hyung.” He pleaded, dragging out the end of the ‘please’, making me chuckle.

“I’m just getting in the car now baby boy. I’ll be back soon. Give me five minutes.” I said as I unlocked my car and got in, throwing my stuff over to the passenger seat.

“Okay, hyung.” Tae said, smiling. I could hear it in his voice. “Oh, and hyung?”

“Yes baby?” I said as I set the phone in its holder and put it on speaker so I could start driving.

“I have a surprise for you.” He sang, giggling after. “I think you’ll like it a lot.”

“Oh, I look forward to it, baby.” I said as I reached a traffic light that was just outside the building. As I looked around, I caught a glimpse of lace stuffed by the seat. I frowned and reached over, pulling at it to get a closer look at what it was. I smiled and shook my head as I realised that it was a pair of Tae’s panties. He had obviously hidden them in here, seeing how they were strategically concealed.

Wearing lingerie was something Tae loved to do. He wore it all the time, not that any of us complained. He looked so cute, but so beautiful and breathtaking at the same time. My personal favourite was when he wore one of my oversized shirts with a pair of panties underneath, the lace framing his ass perfectly. Tae was the subbiest out of all of us, with Jimin and Jungkook a close second. Jin would sometimes sub and sometimes dom, but me, Joon and Hobi were the doms. I wondered if this is what his surprise would be.

“Oh, baby, I have something of yours.” I said.

“What is it?” Tae asked curiously. I could hear the duvet covers moving around as he shuffled on our bed. Each of us shared a room. It was me and Tae, Jimin and Hobi, and Joon, Jin and Kookie. Some nights, there would be more of us sleeping together, and some nights we would all sleep with each other. That was usually if one of us was really stressed or really upset and needed comfort from everyone. I wouldn’t need that tonight. I knew Tae would be able to cuddle away all my worries. I would be able to make it up tomorrow. I could get one of the others to help me.

“I’ll let you guess, baby. It was in my car and they are lacy.” I hinted. I heard him swallow before he took a deep breath.

“Am I in trouble?” Tae asked, his voice a lot quieter. “I’m sorry, I put them in there as a just in case, you know how you like to rip them off me.” He added quickly.

“I’m not angry at you baby boy.” I said, keeping my voice calm. “It was a nice surprise.”

“It was?” I could hear the smirk in Tae’s voice. “Then you’re going to like what I have for you here in bed... Master...”

As soon as he said this, I felt what could have been all my blood rush to my dick. “I’m almost home, baby.” I said, clearing my throat and palming myself to relieve the feeling I had. I let out quiet and breathy moan.

“Are you touching yourself, master?” Tae asked. “Are you getting your big cock nice and hard for me?”

“I want you ready for me when I get in, puppy.” I said as I pulled the car into the driveway of the apartment complex where our dorm was.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Master.” Tae said excitedly, ending the call.

I turned off the engine of the car and sat there for a few moments, trying to calm myself down slightly. I would give him a slight punishment - he knew not to leave things in the car, no matter how arousing it would be for me, and he had also teased me slightly.

I walked into the house and spied Jungkook sat on the sofa, mindlessly flicking through the channels on the TV. So, he had waited up for me. Might as well if he wants to join in the fun with me and Tae.

“Kookie, baby.” I said, walking over to squat down in front of him. As I came into his line of vision, a bunny smile formed on his face.

“Hyungie, you’re back.” Jungkook flung his arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.

“Hey, bunny.” I stroked his hair and turned my head to kiss his lips gently. “Baby, TaeTae and I are going to be having some fun in a second. Do you want to join us?”

Jungkook looked at me, his chocolate eyes sparkling. He hummed in agreement and nodded his head. “Bunny wants to help please Master and TaeTae.” He said, instantly slipping into his subspace.

“Okay, bunny.” I said, standing up with him still wrapped around my neck. He whined when I tried to push him off so I could walk upstairs. “Do you want me to carry you?” My cute little bunny nodded eagerly, so I picked him up and carried him towards mine and Tae’s bedroom. “Alright, bunny, let’s go say hi to TaeTae. Master has to punish him a bit though, first. You can go freshen up first if you want.” I suggested.

Jungkook nodded before leaning forward to kiss me. I reached down and squeezed him through his sweatpants, causing him to let out a shaky whine. “Master, please.”

“Go freshen up baby. When you’re done you can come straight in.” I said, setting him on his way with a pat to his bum.

I pushed open the door to Tae’s room and saw him kneeling on the bed. But what really took my breath away was what he was wearing. It was a lace bodysuit that had bows decorating it. I couldn’t see his ass, but I already knew that there would be nothing covering it. There were small bows fastened to the tops of his thighs, holding the bodysuit in place. To top it all off he had a collar fastened around his neck.

“Fuck, puppy. Look at you. So beautiful for me.” I said, walking over to him and tracing his lips with my finger. “I believe these belong to you.” I pulled the lace out of my pocket and tossed it at him. He caught it with one hand and smirked at me.

“Did you like your surprise, master?” He asked coyly, looking up at me. I moved my hand to hold his face in place, cupping his chin.

“I love it, puppy, but you know the rules. You don’t leave things in my car, do you?”

“No, master.” Tae looked down in shame. “‘M sorry. I just wanted it to be there as a backup.”

“Puppy, do you wanna know why I rip them off you?” I asked, kneeling down in front of him. He tilted his head at me in confusion. “Because I love the idea that you are wearing nothing beneath your clothes and that if you have one slip up, you would be exposed.” I trailed my finger down his chest and circled it around his tip.

“Master, please.” He begged. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. It was a mistake.” I could see that he was almost fully hard, his cock was straining against the fabric of his bodysuit.

“You wanna make it up to me? Turn over and on my knee.” I ordered, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, master.” Tae leant across my lap, his stomach resting on my knees. I smirked when I saw his exposed ass, all round and ready for me.

“Now, puppy. Kookie will be joining us soon, so we’d better make your initial punishment quick.” I said, kneading the globes of his ass. It wasn’t as big as Jimin’s, but Tae definitely had a beautiful ass. “How many do you think you deserve, pup?”

“At least 20, master. I was naughty.” Tae almost moaned out.

“Yes you were, puppy. Very naughty. You also teased master when he was coming home.” I sighed. “But, I guess my puppy likes being punished, doesn’t he?” Tae was silent. I smacked his ass hard, causing the flesh to jiggle. “Doesn’t he?” I repeated.

“Yes, master.” He said after he had yelped. I could feel how hard he was pressing against my thigh.

“I think I may give you 25, how does that sound?”

“Good, master.”

“And after each one, you thank me. You need to learn to obey, don’t you puppy?”

“Yes, master. I do.”

“Count, dumb pup.” I began to slap his ass. Each time he counted and thanked me. At 25, he was sobbing in pain and pleasure, rutting against my thigh. I pulled him up so he was straddling my lap. “Such a good boy, taking your punishment so well.” I praised him, making him smile at me lazily. “So I think my puppy deserves a reward?” Tae nodded excitedly so I pushed him down so he was kneeling on the floor.

I stroked his hair out of his face. “I want you to suck me off, pup.” I said, tugging on his hair gently. His hair was always curly and floppy, always soft to the touch. I stroked my fingers through it lazily as he played with the zipper on my pants, before tugging at them to pull them down. I quickly stood up and allowed him to pull them down with my boxers before I sat back down.

His eyes widened when I came into his eyeline, his mouth instantly watering. His hand cautiously reached out and wrapped around me, giving me a few strokes. I inhaled sharply and hissed at the feeling of his calloused palm wrapped around me. “No hands, baby. Just your mouth.” I said after a few seconds, batting his hand away.

He set his hands on my thighs and sat up a bit so he was level with my dick. His mouth opened eagerly and before I knew it, the tip of my dick was engulfed in his warm, wet mouth. I tilted my head back and groaned, fingers tangling in his hair and tugging, earning some quiet moans from my puppy.

I looked down and saw his big eyes staring up at me as his mouth took more of me in. “Fuck, you look so pretty baby.” I cooed, tracing his lips that were stretched around me. “All stuffed full of my cock. I know you can take more though.” I gently pushed at his head, making him take more of me in until my tip hit the back of his throat. He gagged slightly as tears sprung from his eyes. “Now, you can stay just like that until Jungkook comes and then your real punishment can begin, hmm?”

Taehyung nodded, choking on my dick as it went further down his throat. “Careful pup. Don’t hurt yourself.” I said, wiping away the tears that were trailing down his face from the intrusion in his throat. He always looked so beautiful like this.

After a couple of minutes, Jungkook came into the room, his mouth opening slightly as he took in the sight in front of him. “Hey bunny.” I said, beckoning him over. “Doesn’t TaeTae look so pretty?”

“TaeTae always looks so pretty, master.” Jungkook said, his voice barely a whisper.

I took Jungkook’s hand and pulled him on the bed as I pushed Tae off of me. “Okay, here’s what is going to happen. Tae, puppy, you are going to sit on the other side of the bed and watch as I play with Koo until I decide that you can join us.” Taehyung nodded and scrambled to the other side of the bed, his cock hanging heavily between his legs, begging for release. It was a dark colour, signalling how desperate he was for release, but I wasn’t going to let him have it. Not yet. He got himself comfortable and was about to start stroking himself when I added the next part. “And no touching yourself, pup.”

Tae’s bottom lip started to wobble slightly. “Oh, please, master. Please. I need to cum so bad.”

I looked at him and smiled as I helped Kookie undress. “No, dumb pup. You’ve been naughty. You need to prove that you deserve it.”

Tae looked like he had been slapped. “O-Okay, master. I’ll be good.” He said, trapping his hands between his thighs and the mattress. Once I was sure that he wasn’t going to disobey my orders, I turned my attention back to a now naked Jungkook.

“Look at my beautiful boy.” I smiled as I stroked my hand down his chest, feeling his abs, before travelling down to his thighs to squeeze them gently. It was known that Jungkook had a thigh kink. He would always have to have his hands on someone’s thighs, squeezing them and sometimes sucking at them if we were having fun with each other. “He has such big thighs.” I bent my head down to suck at them, causing a whiny moan to spill from his parted lips.

“Master, please.” He looked at me with his doe eyes shining.

“Please what, bunny? Do you want master to touch you here?” I traced my finger along his dick, earning a quiet groan from him. His dick was long and pretty, the mushroomed head a darker shade than the rest of it. It twitched as I traced the vein along it. I trailed my finger down to his ass. “Or here?” I circled his hole, earning a moan and a breathy yes from him.

I hooked his legs over my shoulders and wrapped my lips around his hole, stroking my tongue over his puckered hole, making him jolt forward slightly. “Ah, Master.” He moaned as I licked at him. He tasted musty and his shower gel and something that was distinctly Jungkook. I prodded at his hole with my tongue before pushing it into him, licking at his walls, coaxing high pitched whines and moans out of him. “Master, I’m so close.” Jungkook cried out, so I pulled away, leaving his hole shining with my saliva.

“Bunny, do you want me to stretch you out first, or can you take me?” I asked, as I kissed him, slipping my tongue into his mouth so he could taste himself on my tongue.

“I can take it, master.” Jungkook said eagerly. I nodded and kissed him again as I pushed my dick against his hole. The head pushed past the ring of muscle with some resistance until I was fully sheathed inside of him. “Ah,” Jungkook had his mouth open in pleasure, beautiful sounds spilling out of me as he adjusted to my size. “You’re so big master. You stretch me out so good. Feel so full.”

He was so warm, wrapped around me, and so tight. He was always tight no matter how often we fucked him, or with how many dicks he was fucked with at once. I moved my hips back before snapping them back in, causing the both of us to moan. Each thrust got faster and harder until Jungkook was a moaning mess, writhing around beneath me.

There was a whimper from next to us and I looked up to see Taehyung, watching us while tears poured down his face. “Yellow.” Tae hated to be left out when he was in his subspace. He always had to be doing something and not just watching. “Master, please.” He begged when he saw me watching him. “Please, I’m sorry. Just let me join in.”

I looked at Jungkook who had been watching me and him carefully. “Shall we let him join us?” I asked the boy underneath me. He nodded eagerly.

“I wan’ him to ride me.” Jungkook requested. “While you fuck me.”

“Okay, bunny.” I said, stroking his hair. I pulled out of him carefully to get Tae and comfort him. “Hey, puppy, you’re okay. You took your punishment so well. Master is so proud of you.” I said, hugging him tight. “Such a good boy.” I kissed his lips gently as I wiped away his tears. “Especially for telling me you didn’t feel comfortable anymore.”

“Thank you, master.” Taehyung smiled at me, his eyes still slightly teary. I reached down and pumped him a bit, smearing his precum around his dick.

“Look how wet you are, puppy.” I cooed as he crawled over to Jungkook. He leaned forward to kiss Jungkook. While he did this, I squirted some lube on my fingers and pushed two into him, making sure he was properly stretched out. I thrusted them into him for a bit before adding a third. Once I was sure he was ready, I nodded at him. “Go sit on Kookie’s cock baby.” I said. He lowered himself down slowly, causing both of them to moan loudly. Once Tae was fully seated, I pushed myself back into Kook, making him moan again. “How are you feeling, bun?”

“Feels s’ good.” Kookie said, looking kind of spaced. “Please, ‘m green.” I began to move inside him, making him grip onto Tae’s thighs and moan out loud. Tae began to bounce on his dick, moans coming out of his mouth. I reached around and started to stroke Tae’s dick in time to my thrusts inside Jungkook. Tae’s moans got louder and louder, signalling he was getting very close. I could feel my lower stomach tightening, signalling I was about to come.

“Master, I’m so close.” Jungkook whined, earning a noise of agreement from Tae.

“You can both come.” I allowed, stroking Tae even faster. He began to shake as Kookie began to buck up his hips due to how close he was. I knew Tae would come extra hard if I talked dirty to him, so I did. Jungkook was already close to cumming, but as soon as Tae came I would finish so I didn’t want him to be overstimulated by it all.

“Tae, puppy. Get off Kookie a second.” I said, tapping his bum which was now starting to bruise. Tae looked over his shoulder at me, looking as if he might cry. “You still get to come, puppy. I just wanna see you. Get back on Koo facing me.” I explained. Tae nodded and got off, turning himself around before lowering himself back down. I caught sight of his beautiful face, his mouth open and eyes squeezed shut as Jungkook’s cock split him open. “Now lie down so your back is against Koo’s stomach.” Tae obeyed and let him lie back. “Koo, bun, lift up his legs so I can see your dick going into his pretty hole.” Kook obeyed, wrapping his arms around Tae’s thighs and almost folding him in half. I almost came at the sight in front of me. Tae’s hole was so stretched around Jungkook’s cock, making it become slightly swollen.

I smirked at Tae before stroking around his hole and Kook’s dick with my thumb. “So pretty, puppy, letting bunny stretch you out like this. I bet you can’t wait for him to fill you with his cum, painting your insides white. Or maybe you’d like both of us in there. Imagine how it would feel, both of us splitting your pretty hole open, gaping you out so much all our cum would just come back out of you. Both of our cocks rubbing against your walls.” I reached out and began stroking his cock, seeing his face scrunch up and his body tense. He was right on the edge. “I bet it would make you come instantly. We’d have to maybe put a cock ring on you to stop you cumming too early. But you’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, master. I’d love it.” Tae was breathless. “Oh, I’m so close.” He whined, letting his head tilt back on Jungkook’s shoulder.

“But we’d have to stretch out your little hole even more.” I smiled, pushing my thumb into his hole alongside Kook’s cock. Tae let out a scream, his body going still.

“You sound so pretty, TaeTae.” Kook said, stroking up and down his thighs. “Bet you’re so wrecked down there.” He reached down and pushed one of his fingers into Tae, next to mine. “Master, can we plug my cum inside him?” Kook asked.

“Of course we can bunny.” I said. “But we need this puppy to cum first.” I looked at Tae, whose body was jerking. “Aww, look at him. He’s going to come so hard.” I stroked him even faster before leaning down and taking his entire length into my mouth. I sucked hard, hollowing out my cheeks. Tae let out a silent scream as he came hard, his body shaking with the force of his orgasm.

I swallowed some of his cum, loving the salty tang of it before leaning over him to kiss Kook, transferring some to his mouth. Kook moaned at the taste, making Tae whine. Of course he wanted to have some. I moved to kiss Tae, transferring the last of it to his mouth. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“You’re such a cumslut, pup.” I chuckled, now starting to thrust hard into Kookie, chasing my own orgasm. Kookie’s breaths started coming out as short, high-pitched moans as his own orgasm drew nearer and nearer.

“I’m gonna cum, master.” Kookie warned as his hole clamped down on me, making me unable to move. The pulsing and constant contracting of his walls made me spill into him as he spilled into Tae. Both of us moaned as we released. I fell forward and leant my head on Tae’s stomach as I caught my breath.

“Both of you did so good.” I said as I carefully pulled out of Jungkook. “Koo, do you want a plug?” The boy nodded so I moved over to my bedside table and pulled out one of the four plugs I had in there. One for each sub. I walked back over to the pair who were still connected to each other. I pushed the trail of cum that had come out of Kookie back into him and pushed the plug into him.

“And me!” Tae exclaimed. I chuckled and got his out of the drawer.

“Alright, baby. Let’s get you off Koo, hmm?” I gently pulled him off Koo and pushed the plug into him. “How are you both feeling?” I asked, looking at both of them.

“Tired.” Tae replied.

“Good.” Jungkook replied at the same time. He had a sleepy smile plastered on his face.

“Okay, that’s good. Tae baby, you gotta stay awake for a bit longer. I need to clean you up, and put some lotion on you.” I said, gently stroking his hair as he looked at me with his eyes half shut.

He whined slightly, moving so he was sat on my lap. I could feel the plastic of the plug nestled between his ass cheeks pushing into my thigh. “Can I have a bath?” He asked, his head laying on my shoulder.

“Sure baby.” I said. “Do you and Koo want to have one together?” I looked at them both as they nodded their heads. “Alright babies.” I stroked Tae’s hair gently. “Let’s take these plugs out of you, okay?” Kook nodded and bent over slightly so I could pull it out of him. He hissed as his hole stretched around the bulbous plastic, followed by the dripping of my cum out of him. “Okay, KooKoo, why don’t you go and start the bath and I’ll get Tae ready.”

“Okay hyungie.” Jungkook pressed a quick kiss to my lips before padding into my adjoined bathroom and starting the bath.

“Okay, Taebaby, I need you to stand up.” I said softly to the sleepy boy on my lap.

He groaned and looked up at me, his eyes narrowed. “Why?” He asked.

“I need to take your plug out, love.” I said. “It’s going to hurt you later otherwise.” He opened his mouth to protest but I pressed a finger to his lips. “No buts baby, I’m taking it out.” I laid him down on the bed and gently pulled it out of him, allowing Jungkook’s cum to spill out of him.

“Want some.” Tae whispered, looking at me. I sighed and swiped some of the cum onto my fingers and let him suckle it off.

“Now, bath time.” I said, pulling him up so he was standing on his own two feet and leading him into the bathroom.

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A few hours later, we were all cuddled up in bed. I had had trouble falling asleep - the stress from losing all my work was still looming in the back of my mind. I had told my manager, but he must have been asleep when I sent the message.

Tae hummed in his sleep as he curled into my side even more, Jungkook spooning him from behind. They both looked peaceful as they slept, not a hint of worry on their perfect faces.

My phone began to buzz, cutting through the silent atmosphere like a hot knife through butter. I unwrapped Tae from around myself and sat up answering the phone. “Hello?” I asked in a hushed voice as I disentangled myself from the blankets.

“Yoongi-ah? I need those tracks by 8am in the morning. You’re going to have to keep working on them.” My manager said, sounding quite annoyed. My heart began beating faster as I felt the stress and anxiety begin to build back up inside of me. “You should have stayed later and fixed your mistake.” I slipped out of the room and closed the door.

“My mistake?!” I was pissed. It was not my fault that the systems crashed and deleted everything. Do I control all the computers at the company? No! If anything they should be badgering IT to see if they can recover some of the files. “The computers crashed as I went to save it. Can’t IT recover them? That is eight hours of work lost!”

“No they can’t. That’s why I’m calling. I need you to come in right now and try to redo them the same.” He requested. “I’m sorry about this, but I just need those otherwise you will miss the deadline and your mixtape will have to be delayed further.”

“I think we need to get better computers. Those ones are getting kind of old and slow.” I said.

“Don’t blame the machinery Yoongi-ssi.” He said shortly. “Come in now or no mixtape this year. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint ARMY, would you?”

I scoffed. Now he’s guilt-tripping me. “I’ll be in in about half an hour. Let me get changed and get my stuff together.” I said.

“Okay, I’ll be waiting.” He hung up the phone and I let out a noise of frustration before going back into the room, closing the door as quietly as I could so I wouldn’t wake up the sleeping babies. I looked over at the bed and let a fond smile ghost over my face. Taehyung’s hair had now flopped in front of his face and his arms were outstretched to the spot where I had previously been sleeping.

I felt bad for leaving them alone, but I really didn’t have a choice. I walked into my wardrobe and pulled out a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants and quickly changed into them. I pulled on a beanie and grabbed my lyric books before grabbing a pair of shoes and sliding them on.

I must have been a bit too loud because there was rustling in the bed and I saw Taehyung patting around with his hand. He sat up and squinted at me sleepily. “Hyungie? Where you goin’?” His voice was heavy with sleep. “What time is it?”

“It’s early, love. Go back to sleep. I need to go in to the studio.” I said, walking over to him to kiss him goodbye. “Come on lie back down.”

“But you were there all day yesterday.” He complained, whining slightly.

“I know, baby, I know. But all my work got deleted so I need to go back in to redo it.” I said. “And if I don’t meet the deadline then my mixtape will get pushed back even further and that wouldn’t be fair to ARMY.”

“But these songs aren’t even for your mixtape! They’re blackmailing you!” Taehyung exclaimed. “I wanna come with you.”

“Baby, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” I said, pushing his hair back out of his face.

“No it is! I could help you, and you always say two brains are better than one. We can get it done faster.” He argued, sounding determined. “And we can tell Kookie so he won’t get confused when he wakes up. We can leave him a note. Pleaseeeeee.”

I sighed. “Okay, fine. But get dressed quickly.”

Y/N POV:

I shivered under some of the clothes as I lay on the bench. I was too scared to sleep. He could appear at any moment and drag me home to give me the beating of a lifetime, and this time he could actually kill me.

Every time I heard footsteps I would freeze and not move, hoping that it wasn’t him, and that if it was, he wouldn’t see me. It was getting colder though, and I knew I would have to move in order to keep myself from getting hypothermia.

I knew there was one thing that would be able to calm me down, and it would also keep me warm. I rifled through my pockets, trying to locate my headphones. My fingers wrapped around the wire and pulled it out. I groaned. They were all tangled and knotted. I began to pick them apart, finally freeing the individual earbuds. I plugged it into my phone and scrolled through my music until I picked a song that I wanted to dance to. Spring Day. It cheered me up a lot, and I loved the dance.

The notes flowed through my body, twisting and turning to the tips of my fingers and the ends of my toes. My body moved like the waves in this ocean of music, bending and stretching at the crests and troughs. I loved it. As I danced, I allowed my thoughts to

I had started dance when I was three. My mother had insisted that I was going to be a prima ballerina, or a professional dancer in a company, so she had me enrolled in any kind of dance you could think of. Baby ballet, baby tap, baby jazz, baby contemporary, baby street dance, baby modern, baby music theatre. Most of my life was spent dancing. As I got older, she put me into singing, art and drama classes. I dropped some of the dance classes: tap, modern and jazz. I was happy.

Then came the arguments. My mother and father started arguing over the amount of money that was being spent on me. We were quite a well-off family, both of my parents has respectable jobs with a decent salary. Income was good, and there was even some wiggle room for nice holidays. That was, until my dad became addicted to alcohol and spent all of our savings on the drink until there was barely anything left.

My mother had to put some away secretly just to be able to pay for bills and my extra curriculars. But he found out, and that’s when the arguments started. I was eight at the time. He would accuse her of not trusting him, and she would accuse him of being an alcoholic and how that wasn’t a good environment for me to be in.

The arguing would last for at least three hours each night and would end with one of them storming out the house. Most nights it was my father - probably to get even more drunk. My mother would slam the door to their bedroom and dissolve into tears. I would hear her sobbing herself to sleep, but I was too scared to comfort her.

One day, after a year or so, my father stormed out that door and never came back. My mother said it was for the best; in my mind, though, it was my fault. I was the one who had all the dance lessons and singing lessons and drama lessons and art lessons. I was the one who was using all their money. He liked to tell me that when my mother would storm out. He also liked to hit me. When my mother found the bruises and cuts, she lost it. That was what caused the arguments to get worse.

Things got better after he left. My mother got happier, found a new boyfriend. He was nice, buying me the latest iPhone or laptop. We were all happy.

And then I met him. He was the perfect boyfriend: kind, loving, everything you would want. But that’s the thing about love. It’s blind. It would be a few months before I realised who he was behind the mask he put on everyday. I should have realised that the relationship was moving too quickly. He asked me to move in with him after we had been together for just three months. As soon as I set foot inside that house, the door locked behind me, and the key hidden somewhere I could never find it.

After a couple of weeks, the verbal abuse started. The name calling and insults and threats over something unimportant, like slightly burnt potatoes. I brushed it off as something normal. After all, it was my fault. I was the one who turned the oven up too high.

Then came the physical abuse. At first it started off as slaps and small beatings, but it eventually lead up to him getting out his belt and whacking it across my face every night before beating me up with his fists. I don’t know what exactly caused him to do it. Sometimes he said it was me looking at another man, and other times it was just because of my presence. Either way, it was my fault and I deserved them.

I tried to leave him. But he caught me, and I almost ended up in hospital from the force of his beating. My skin was mottled blue and purple for weeks. It was then I started self-harming. It was my fault.

I twirled as the song came to an end, catching sight of a figure standing in the shadow of the trees. My breath hitched in my throat. Had he found me? If he had, he was going to kill me for sure.

Yoongi POV:

Just as I had thought Tae had fallen asleep on my couch, bundled up in my hoodie about an hour after we arrived at the studio. We had already retrieved the majority of the songs though.

He had got to work immediately, perching on my lap as he sang the demo song over the backing music, which thankfully I had saved. I loved Taehyung’s voice - it was deep and sultry, which was actually something that contrasted greatly to his personality he showed in private. After we’d been working for about fifty minutes, he began to yawn, curling up and leaning against my shoulder, watching me put together the backing tracks and the vocals and moving things around to create the songs. His favourite was ‘Black Swan’.

“‘M sleepy, hyungie.” He mumbled against my collarbone.

I reached up and stroked his hair gently. “You can go and sleep on the couch. I’m almost done, baby.” He looked up at me through sleepily squinted eyes.

“You sure? I think I can stay awake a bit longer?” He said, yawning again. When he yawned he sometimes looked like a baby puppy.

“No, baby, you’re tired.” I said, rubbing his back. “Go on, do you want my hoodie?” I asked.

“Mhm.” He nodded his head. He slid off my lap and made grabby hands at my hoodie. I pulled it off, leaving me in my white v-neck top, and handed it to him. He pulled it on and lay down on the couch, closing his eyes and almost instantly falling asleep. I smiled at him fondly before turning back to my work.

I only had one song left to do - my solo song on the album. I searched through my files, only to realise that my work on it had all disappeared. I groaned and saved everything before shutting my computer down. I needed to go for a quick walk to clear my head. I turned to look at Tae, who was curled on the couch in a deep sleep. The park I would go to to clear my head is only a five minute walk away from here. I would be thirty minutes tops. He wouldn’t wake up hopefully, and if he did, I was only a phone call away.

I grabbed my extra hoodie and pulled on my jacket, gently closing the door to my studio. I walked out of the building and made my way to the park.

It was cold outside. The air bit at my exposed cheeks and nose as I walked. I pulled a mask on to insulate them. The park was calming and whenever I went there, it was quiet and if there was anyone there, they were elderly and didn’t know who I was.

I walked through the gate of the park, pushing the squeaky barrier open. It appeared deserted, which wasn’t surprising considering that it was four am. But I still kept my guard up; you never know what crackheads will be around.

I was walking through the trees towards my favourite thinking bench when I saw her. She was dancing to some very familiar choreography. I stopped in my tracks. She was a beautiful dancer. I watched, awestruck as she flawlessly twirled and flipped and turned. It was then I recognised it. It was Jimin’s choreography in Spring Day. She must be a fan. She twirled one last time and stopped, facing me. Her face twisted into a look of terror as she ran to gather her things. On the bench I noticed, was a backpack and a pile of clothes.

“Wait!” I yelled after her, chasing her to talk to her. It was clear that something was troubling her, and I wanted to help her, not caring that she was an ARMY. “Let me help you! Please!” I caught up to her at the bench, where she had slightly calmed down. As soon as we made eye contact, something strange happened. All the greyscale colours in my world that I had grown used to melted away. My eyes were filled with dark greens and blues, clearly because of the darkness, but the moonlight shone down on her.

She was breath-taking. Her hair was a shiny, vibrant, Y/H/C, and her eyes shone like Y/E/C gems. She was holding her breath in surprise, probably recognising who I was.

“You’re Min Yoongi.” She said. “You’re my soulmate. This can’t be happening.” She was shocked and confused.

But I didn’t know what to do. Now that I had found my soulmate, did that mean I had to leave the others? We had never discussed the possibility of this happening. I looked at the girl in front of me and decided that I couldn’t leave her. Not like this. She looked scared, and from the looks of things, she was homeless. I had to look after her. And I swore to myself that I would. Until the end of time.

#angst #fluff #yoongi x reader #moonlight #soulmate au #bts poly #bts ot7 #lil meow meow yoongi #switch!jin #dom!yoongi #dom!namjoon #dom!hoseok #sub!taehyung #sub!jungkook #sub!jimin

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ga-yuu · 3 years

Text

~Yoshitsune~Main Story Chapter 5~Part 2

Part 1

--------Part 4-------

Yoshitsune: "The moon looks beautiful tonight. Whether you see it's from Hiraizumi or Kamakura, it's just as beautiful."

(By the way, I was thinking....)

Yoshitsune-sama's words suddenly reminded me of the time we met.

Yoshino: "You said you came to Kamakura alone, right?"

Yoshitsune: "Yeah. But if Benkei finds out, he'll keep nagging me."

(Benkei-san.....he's that scary person, right?)

(So unexpectedly, he seems overprotective....)

Yoshino: "So what's the actual reason for coming to Kamakura?"

Yoshitsune: "Well..."

I felt that the Yoshitsune-sama's eye color grew darker for some reason.

There is a small silence between gasps and a slightly lower voice echoing in the wind.

Yoshitsune: "I wanted to take one last look at the town before it gets destroyed in the war."

(For the last time...)

Yoshino: "So you have lived in Kamakura, before?"

Yoshitsune: "Yes. It was when I was under Yoritomo. I had a certain affection for Kamakura, but....Soon after the Genpai War, I was banished my Yoritomo."

Yoshino: "So that's it...."

(To be banished by your own brother out of all the people....is heart breaking.)

Yoshitsune: "That's why I've come here, to make my last appearance. ....This town and its people. It's just how I remember."

His face casted a variety of emotions and I'm sure he's the only one who knows how that feels."

(But...I feel like I was able to touch Yoshitsune-sama's heart just a little bit.)

When, both of us, stopped talking, and let ourselves be consumed by silence-----

???: "Hey, are you there?"

(I just heard a kid's voice....?)

A little boy emerged from the trees.

Boy: "....Why? Why isn't he here?"

Yoshino: "What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?"

Boy: "Ah!"

The boy noticed us and comes running in our way.

Boy: "Have you seen my brother, big sis? He's was wearing a dark blue kimono...."

Yoshino: "No, I haven't."

Boy: "Oh..."

Yoshitsune-sama looks at the boy who is in daze and opens his mouth.

Yoshitsune: "Did you and your brother got separated?"

The boy's shoulders shook for a moment at the quiet question.

Eventually, he started getting scared.

Boy: "Yeah....we had a fight and he ran off."

Yoshino: "Oh, that worries me."

(Already the street is crowded with people, so its' hard to find someone once you get lost....)

Boy: "It was my fault. But, maybe he shouldn't have ran off like that......I searched for him a lot, but I couldn't find him...

The boy squeezes his little hands together and tears well up in his eyes.

Boy: "I'm sure he doesn't like me anymore...."

(That's right....when you have a fight, you can't help but feel anxious.)

Yoshino: "Don't worry----"

When I opened my mouth----

Yoshitsune: "No younger brother can hate his brother that easily."

-------Part 5--------

Yoshitsune: "No younger brother can hate his brother that easily."

(Yoshitsune-sama....?)

The boy also blinked at Yoshitsune-sama's words.

Boy: "You think so....?"

Yoshitsune: "Yes."

Gently, he placed his palm on the little boy's head.

Yoshitsune: "But from now on, get along okay? Because one person can't stay on the same path forever."

(Ah......)

Yoshitsune-sama's face illuminated by the moonlight, was kind of sad.

(I've never seen anyone look so sad.)

Though, his outer expression is completely dead....

My heart clenches at the emotions that are quietly wavering behind his eyes.

(Why do you have such look?)

I was irresistible curious, but....

(......Now, this child and finding his brother is more important.)

I looked at the boy and opened my mouth.

Yoshino: "If you don't mind, can I help you find your brother?"

Boy: "You will?"

Yoshino: "Of course!"

Yoshitsune: "Okay, let's find him together."

Yoshino: "You're coming too!?"

Boy: "Thank you! Thank you very much."

(But...)

I gently asked Yoshitsune-sama.

Yoshino: "Are you sure? What if someone sees your face?"

Yoshitsune: "You're right, but also....No one would even imagine me attending a festival with a woman and kid."

Yoshino: "Oh, I get it..."

Yoshitsune: "And if somehow, someone recognize me, I can make my own escape."

(He's looks so confident.)

Yoshino: "....If you say so."

Yoshitsune-sama stands up and looks around.

Yoshitsune: "We were here for a while now, but we haven't seem any kids. Let's go and check the town."

Yoshino: "You're right. The festival lights might lure him out."

I stood up and offered the boy my hand.

Yoshino: "Want to hold hands with me? It's better not to get lost in the crowd, right?"

Boy: "You're right!"

The boy takes my hand with a big smile.

Then, the boy boldly offers his hand to Yoshitsune-sama.

Boy: "Big brother, you too!"

Yoshitsune: "....!"

(Eerrmm....)

Yoshino: "Umm....big brother is...um..not really that kind of person...."

Yoshitsune: "Okay, let's hold hands."

(Ehh)

Yoshitsune-sama took the boy's hands who asked plainly.

Boy: "Mm! Let's go, let's go!!"

Yoshino: "Wait...slow down!"

The boy started walking happily while pulling both of us along the way.

(....This is weird. I wonder what we look like to people who sees us.)

(A family? No, no, no. No onw would be that dumb to think that.....right?)

As I saw the festival lights coming closer and closer, my heart started pounding.

(What does Yoshitsune-sama think of this?)

When I looked at him to see what he was thinking....

(Of course. He's expressionless. How could I forget?)

........................

The town was filled with more people than before.

Yoshitsune: "He doesn't seem to be here.....let's check elsewhere."

Yoshino: "Okay."

(I hope we can find him soon...)

Boy: "....Look!"

Yoshitsune: "...! Did you find him?"

~~~Because I Know Your Sorrow. (Normal Story)~~~

Yoshitsune-sama and I were walking around town in search of a little boy's younger brother, who we met by chance.

Yoshitsune: "He doesn't seem to be here.....let's check elsewhere."

Yoshino: "Okay."

(I hope we can find him soon...)

Boy: "....Look!"

Yoshitsune: "...! Did you find him?"

Suddenly the boy stopped as if he noticed something.

Boy: "Look! That pinwheel...! Isn't it pretty?"

Yoshino: "True. It's so colorful!"

Boy: "I don't see those every day. Isn't festivals cool!"

Yoshitsune: "Do you want one?"

Boy: "....Ah! You'll buy it for me? But...I feel bad for letting you buy me..."

Even as the boy says this, his eyes were fixed on the pinwheel.

Yoshitsune: "Wait here."

(Eh?)

Yoshitsune-sama goes to the store and buys two pinwheels. He comes back and presented to the boy.

Yoshitsune: "You should give one to your brother when you see him. It's to help you two to make up." (To be honest, when I first played this route, I thought he bought one of the pinwheels for Yoshino....because, you know she's so underaged.)

Boy: "...Thank you, big brother!"

(.....Yoshitsune-sama is so kind towards children.)

I can't help but smile at the two of them.

Yoshino: "Good for you! I'm sure your brother will be very happy too."

Boy: "Yes!"

The boy carefully puts the pinwheel on his obi with great care.

..............

Yoshitsune: "He doesn't seem to be here too. Let's check elsewhere."

After searching the area for some time, we decided to check the next area, when-----

Boy: "....!!! Wait! I think I heard my brother!"

Yoshino: "Really? Where?"

We cut through the crowd and went a little further.

Boy: "There!"

Younger brother: "nnn....uh....brother.....nnn..."

(Is that his brother....!)

We saw a small child in a dark blue kimono crying on the side of the street.

Yoshitsune: "Is he your brother?"

Boy: "Yes!"

The boy instantly released his hands from ours and rushed to his younger brother.

Boy: "HEYY!"

Younger brother: "!!"

With his face full of tears, the younger brother hugged his older brother.

Younger brother: "Nn...I'm sorry....I'm sorry for running away!"

(I think he was really scared that he and his brother had a fight and got separated.)

Boy: "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have done that.... But, I'm glad you're safe..."

Yoshitsune: "Our job is done here."

Yoshino: "Yeah....!"

The boy turned to us with a big smile.

Boy: "Big brother, big sis. Thank you for helping me! From now on, I'll be a friend to my brother!"

Yoshitsune: "Of course."

(!!)

Yoshitsune-sama's face shows a faint smile. So faint that you'll miss it if you won't pay attention.

Yoshino: "Be careful on your way home, okay?"

Boy: "Don't worry! Our house is close by."

The boy gives one of the pinwheels to his younger brother and smiles at him.

After watching the two brothers walk away happily hand in hand, I turned to Yoshitsune-sama.

Yoshino: "I'm happy that they made up."

Yoshitsune: ".....Me too."

(Yoshitsune-sama...?)

Yoshitsune(expressionless): "...................."

Yoshitsune-sama amethyst eyes shined while watching the backs of the two boys.

(What is Yoshitsune-sama thinking right now....?)

(I thought I had touched Yoshitsune-sama's heart a little, but I still don't understand.)

I felt far away from him, though we were standing next to each other.

Yoshino: "......Okayyy, looks like, it's time for me to go home."

Yoshitsune: "Same here."

....................................

We walked slowly together and before we knew it, we reached the street on the other side of the Imperial Palace.

Yoshitsune-sama's shadow suddenly stopped in the middle of the bridge.

Yoshino: "Yoshitsune-sama?"

The next moment, I looked at Yoshitsune-sama.

Yoshitsune: "I'll stop here. I don't want to come close to the Imperial Palace. Can you go from here, Yoshino?"

(Aha...)

Yoshino: "Soooo, when did you decide you'll walk me home, Yoshitsune-sama?"

Yoshitsune: "----While you were busy looking around Kamakura.

With his eyes downcast, Yoshitsune-sama smiled faintly.

(You could have just left me behind in the streets like that....but, you didn't.)

Once I started living in Kamakura, I heard many scary and inspiring stories about Yoshitsune-sama

I also know that the closer he gets to the Imperial Palace, the more dangerous it is for Yoshitsune-sama. But still, he was sweet enough to bring me here without saying a word.

Yoshino: "....Thank you very much!"

(I still can't bring myself to believe that such a kind person....is an enemy of Yoritomo-sama.)

There must be a severe reason for this.

With all the courage I could muster, I opened my mouth.

Yoshino: "Umm....what does Yoshitsune-sama think of Yoritomo-sama?"

Yoshitsune: "....................."

---A gust of wind passes between us.

Yoshitsune(icy glare): "I hate that man."

Yoshino: "!!!"

I hold my breath when I looked at the murderous glint in his eyes.

There was a feeling of anger and sadness in the air.

I knew I couldn't ask him anymore, so I stopped myself.

(But....it doesn't look like you entirely just hate him.)

--------FLASHBACK-------

Yoshitsune: "No younger brother can hate his brother that easily."

............

(His words sounded like they were referring to 'someone'.... And that someone has to be....)

(....Not only Yoshitsune-sama!)

.............

Yoritomo: "We may be brothers, but our upbringings were different."

Yoshino: “Really? Then, when did you both first meet….”

Yoritomo: “When I was raising an army against the Heike. Yoshitsune came all the way with a small force to join us. For a brother, he has never met, he was ready to help just after receiving my message.”

Yoshino: “But, why would….Yoshitsune-sama suddenly rush to your aide?”

Yoritomo: “—–I don’t know. Well, it’s true that he’s made the fight a lot easier.”

------FLASHBACK ENDS-----

(I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think Yoritomo-sama didn't really hate Yoshitsune-sama either.)

(If that's true then.....)

Yoshino: "Is there no other way but to kill each other?"

Yoshitsune: "This is the fate we chose."

Yoshino: "But----"

Yoshitsune: "But what?"

My words were interrupted by the voice of Yoshitsune-sama.

Yoshitsune: "Why do you care so much? You just got involved in all of this, right? Whether Yoritomo and I hate each other or kill each other....why does it matter to you?"

Yoshino: "Even so---."

(I......want to know more about Yoshitsune-sama.)

My heart was warm as I felt so many emotions rushing towards me.

Yoshitsune: "Yoshino."

Yoshino: "Ah...."

His hand suddenly reached out to touch my cheek----

Yoshitsune: ".....Sorry."

Squeezing my hand finally, he turned and walked away.

(Yoshitsune-sama....)

His figure gets smaller and smaller and all I could do was to stand there and watch him disappear.

Chapter 6

#ikemen series #ikemen genjiden #ikemen genjiden yoshitsune #ikemen mc #otome #cybird #cybird ikemen #cybird otome #main story translations

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monkeydluffy19920 · 4 years

Text

I also noticed he’s wearing the circles like Nami does. Is there a reason for those circles?

——————————————————-

Greetings @icantthinkof1posts and many thanks for the submission :) I’ve never paid attention to this detail while watching Heart of Gold-tv special before so thanks for pointing this out! Now that I look at the jacket pattern it surely reminds me of Nami’s skirt and jeans’ circles and after browsing her outfit gallery in One Piece fandom wiki it seems like these circles appear in many of her outfits:

The reason how those circles ended up in Sanji’s jacket in Heart of Gold probably remains a mystery forever but it indeed is a nice detail from the perspective of shipping. However, I think it is partly a coincidence, they both enjoy fashionable clothings and maybe they like same clothing brands. An interesting topic and for example my fellow shippers @pernanegra [x] and @sanjiafsincedayone [x] have written nice thoughts about clothing related to Sanji x Nami for Sannami week- event.

But in general, it’s actually pretty interesting to notice that Sanji and Nami indeed do seem to have some similarities and/ or “parallels” when it comes down to their style and clothing. For example in the following cases there seem to be something:

Sanji’s Alabasta’s outfit

First one might be very far fetched but I admit when I first saw the desert outfit after a long while, the sun on his sleeve reminded me of the logo of the Sun Pirates and guess who was part of the Sun Pirates? Arlong and then who was working under Arlong? Nami!

It’s hard to say did Oda-sensei mean any foreshadowing in this but now to think about the connection to the Sun Pirates came up later in the story line when Jinbei revealed to be close to Arlong.

Sanji knew about Nami’s backstory because Nojiko told it to them earlier when Nami struggled to fight against Arlong’s terror. She didn’t know Sanji knows so she was probably surprised why it was difficult to Sanji to face Jinbei’s confessions.

Actually the Nami’s backstory that returned in Mermaid Island arc turned unexpectedly into a parallel at the latest in Zou arc where Nami became the one who learned about Sanji’s backstory (well there was also Brook and the others but the point is, they both know their backstories)

A bit similar pattern in shirts

Before the Strawhats arrived to Alabasta, Nami wore this colorful heart-patterned shirt and later she changes it to the black/blue bikini top. Sanji also switches his outfit in Skypiea to this red-shaded and flowery patterns too that are a bit similar to Namis (who knows, maybe the same brand?)

Punk Hazard style

Sanji’s winter outfit after the main adventures in Punk Hazard is stylish and has Nami’s colors and those S-patters partly resemble Nami’s iconic pinwheel tattoo. Her jacket instead follows a bit of Sanji’s suit jacket style (with 6 buttons)

Of course those swirls in Sanji’s jacket and in Nami’s could also represent the symbolism behind their names. My fellow shipper @eleamaya wrote a interesting analyze about their names: Sanji = whirlpool // Nami = Wave both things are linked to swirls.

The swirls can also be symbolism for Sanji’s curly eyebrows and now to think about, the symbol of the Arlong Pirates reminds a bit of a whirlpool if one looks quickly.

wearing blue and orange

There are obviously dozens of outfits Nami has worn but one thing that crossed my mind after browsing the One Piece’s fan gallery was that she wears a lot of blue, either the top or the bottom part which is nice because blue is a nice color.

(and yes I am color blind, I can’t distinguish blue and purple-ish well *laughs*)

Also Sanji likes to wear blue but also he has worn a lots of shades of yellow/orange. Shipwise this is an interesting thing to notice because their theme colors are blue and orange. Eleamaya linked it to the colors of the sunset which has these two very colors and she also pointed out there the common link in their names (related to the element of water).

(btw @sanjiafsincedayone‘s post about orange and blue sums ups well this theme)

ties

Both Nami and Sanji have been seen wearing ties both in canon and in Color Spreads, if we return into a earlier subject, Nami wears blue again in Water 7.

Offering the suit jacket to the lady

Sanji is a gentleman so it’s natural nice gesture for him to offer his jacket. First time he offered it to Nami when they survived the ordeals in Little Garden. Nami’s reaction was annoyed.

Later he gave his jacket when they were freezing in Punk Hazard’s cold side. Then Nami’s reaction was more friendly (she seemed actually be surprised about him doing it again). This is most likely because they’ve known each other for a longer time in Punk Hazard arc.

Number 3 in clothing

There has been great analyzes about this topic but to sum it a little bit: Oda-sensei has given each Straw Hats a “theme”number that is based on their birthday and names, Sanji’s is 3.

He has worn number 3 in his outfit in Whole Cake Island arc in flashbacks when he was a child, mostly so their father and his minions could distinguish Sanji and his siblings. Nami as well has worn number 3 in Water 7 arc. Actually Luffy has also worn numbers in the flashback arc. but they are linked to his own birthday as far as I remember, Nami is only strawhat who has worn numbers “just for fun” so far but correct if it’s false.

Of course it might be that since Nami was the third one to join the Straw Hats, her number also is therefore 3 which could be the reason why Oda-sensei made her wear that in Water 7.

clothing details in official art

@sanjiafsincedayone also wrote posts about the colors blue and orange and how they appear in One Piece. Oda-sensei likes to share his official One Piece art in Color Spreads between the chapters and in art collections (Color Walks) and once these are published, we fans then enjoy to find details that match to our OTP.

Here are some of the stylish details that has been pointed out in Sanji x Nami posts about official art:

- similar/matching accessories

One thing Sannami fandom has pondered together is that they like to wear accessories, for some reason there has been a couple of drawings where the accessories are very similar to each other

(the picture below with giraffe theme is from Color Spread chapter 357 and the picture below with similar flowery necklaces is from Color Walk 5)

(They both seem to really enjoy wearing necklaces)

(and who knows, maybe that necklace that appears in Color Walk 4 could be the same as in chapter 357)

When it comes down to similarities, there has also been same styled wristbands in chapter 878′s Color Spread

and sunglasses in the Color Spreads of chapter 941 and 835

Sanjiafsincedayone pointed out also that Nami seems to like to wear blue colored kimonos in Color Spreads

A couple of times Sanji and Nami either wear the same patterns in their clothes (i.e chapter 507)

or one wears swirls and the other rings (Chapter 937)

- character shirts, a (far fetched) foreshadow?

In chapter 692′s color spread Sanji wears a shirt where there is a character who l1ooks very much like Nami (with all the bikini top-style and curly hair)

Nami has actually worn character shirts as well, in chapter 578′s Color Spread. If the theory would be far fetched then we could imagine that picture in her shirt could be referred to Alabasta arc (because of the cactus and desert) where he referred himself with a codename Mr Prince.

If we wanted to put this thought of this even more trickier we would think about Sabo’s background as a noble who never wanted to be a noble and ran away, just like Sanji did so that picture on her shirt could be also a parallel

but since the guy looks more like Sabo perhaps it was more likely foreshadowing to Dressrosa when the Luffy’s long lost brother made a comeback.

And now to think about, Nami’s outfit in chapter 771′s and 588′s Color Spreads could have foreshadowed the upcoming art since Sanji also wore ruffle-styled shirt before the tea party? (and actually, Nami’s WCI arc dress had ruffles too).

fun fact: Robin’s outfit in that Alice in Wonderland themed Color Spread was very close to what Sanji wore in WCI)

sweet escape

The gingerbread theme in chapter 902′s color spread was cute and as a shipper the view of Sanji and Nami sharing the same pattern icing/frosting/topping is cute (there were other Straw hats too in that picture but their patterns were different).

Movie 2 Clockwork Island

Last but not least in the list is One Piece’s second official movie. Yes, it’s a movie and therefore it’s non-canon but I find it interesing that out of all outfits and characters, Nami and Sanji are dressed as they could walk to the wedding aisle any minute. What makes it even more amusing is that Usopp and Zoro are dressed more traditionally and could bless their union *laughs*

And after the Whole Cake Island’s and Thriller Bark’s events and marriage theme that is quite a parallel in total (first Nami being the damsel in distress who needs to be saved from a forced marriage and then later Sanji being forced to marry because of his father’s policies) the more funnier the link between the arcs and movie 2 feels (since there is too Nami being kidnapped and almost forced to marry someone she doesn’t want and the movie’s promo picture includes a bridal carry)

When it comes down to the concept of the word canon, It really depends on the shipper which is counted so called shipwise-material. For some everything is potential but dor some, only manga as canon counts and therefore everything else like side stories (fillers, movies), merchandising (ads etc.) is shipwise just so called “nice extra” (like some of these examples mentioned before) since these filler-stories and movies are still mostly handwritten and directed by someone else than the main mangaka. Obviously Oda-sensei is the main supervisor and is very strict about what should happen and what not and he might do these detail things just for fun and it’s us reading it as signs for OTP. So all in all, as always said,

as much as we like to seek for details to support the ship, it’s all about interpretation ;)

#one piece #nami #sanji #sanami #sanji x nami #sannami #otp #mellorine #long post #luffy #zoro #usopp #nakama #submission #analyze #//sorry got carried away *laughs*

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brideofcthulhu10 · 4 years

Note

Could you do a reaction where the lost boys are hanging out with their S/O at their house. It’s 3 am and s/o falls asleep. They hear a crash down stares so the boy investigates, his face all vamped out. They find the s/o younger sibling in the kitchen who is around 4 yrs old with their hand in the cookie jar. The sibling sees them with their fangs and runs over to them yelling “Kitty”! The next night their s/o tells them they are tired because their younger sibling Made them look for a cat.

Okie doke, super specific but I think I did a damn dandy job on it if I do say so myself lol. Well, I hope you enjoy it!

The Bats Being Cats

Lost Boys × fem!S/O fluff with little brother

David

It was a rare occurence when David slept outside of the hotel, but with the numerous break ins he didn't feel comfortable leaving you alone. You insisted you weren't alone!

"Having a stray neighborhood cat you feed doesn't count as protection," he retorts, arms crossed.

"No that's not what I mean-"

"-Just let me keep any eye on you, kitten. Please?"

Being asked please by David just made your heart ache. Pleasantries were partially limited as it was but David was not one for saying please. You sighed, taking his hand in yours. "Fine, but please don't kill anybody. My parents would be pissed if someone got blood on the carpets."

All had been going pretty well, you managed to cook him up a home made meal for once having to repeatedly remind yourself absolutely no garlic, and after a slashers marathon on TV you were ready for bed. It was only 2 am! David was far from tired, but at your behest he obliged under protest. Being the nocturnal vamp he was, he just laid beside you while you slept enjoying the peace and quiet. Beds weren't exactly his forte so it didn't make him any less awake. Too squishy. The loud banging coming from the kitchen didn't exactly serenade him into slumber.

An intruder huh? Well, you did say not to kill them… but you never said anything about mmaiming. Besides, he had to skip a blood meal to be here, might as well have some fast food while you were off in dreamland. David gently scooted himself off the bed as best he could without disturbing you and pulled the blankets over. Watching you burrow against the pillow made him smile softly, pushing your hair out of your face. Slowly he leaned in for a tender kiss, after all he wasn't in a hurry. "Sleep tight kitten, I'll be right back."

Carefully he slunk down the stairs with ease. Sure enough a stream of light trailed off from the dining room. The closer he got the more he continued to hear rattling within the kitchen. Drawers slowly rumbling as the were slid open, the cabinets squeaking, the… chairs being scraped across the floor?

Okay so they were a very short burglar, whatever. Turning the corner with fangs ready to tear into whatever pitiful mortal thought it wise to enter his mate's home- who the hell is that?

Rather than a short man dressed in all black, he had come to find a small boy sitting on the counter in a red race car t-shirt with matching race track print shorts elbow deep in a dog-shaped jar labeled "COOKIES". Currently the tiny pastry thief was smeared with chocolate chips and crumbs, half a cookie sticking out of his mouth. There was such a heavy awkward silence and they both just stared at each other until the boy finally gasped. "Wow you're a big kitty!"

"Ki-?" Immediately David became flustered as the little one scrambled off his kitchen chair ladder and HUGGED HIM. David immediately scrunched his body together as if it could make him smaller. He hardly hugged anyone other than you, the sensation was almost so foreign he nearly rejected the crumb coated tyke who was smearing chocolate on his jacket. Grrrreat.

"Uh.. Yeah sure, kitty, let's go with that," he quickly dismissed the kid, awkwardly patting his head. "Kitty says off to be or I'll tell-"

"You can't tell Y/N! She'll tell mummy when they can't back!"

Mummy? Go figure you forget to mention you had a little brother! "Well then we better go to bed then, huh? Otherwise we'll both get in trouble. See, your sister doesn't want me getting lost around the house showing off my teeth. So we gotta keep that a secret, got it?"

The boy quickly nodded, pretending to zip his lips shut. Watching David put the cookies higher that the chair could help him reach. With cheeks puffed up he stomped away, whining under his breath that the mean kitty was no fun. David rolled his eyes, sinking away his fangs back into his mouth. With dawn approaching he debated his options, quickly scribbling down a "sleeping in here, do not open" to tape on your closet, using a wadded up towel to seal up any cracks. Not ideal, but better than being burnt to a crisp. Once the sun went down again, he came out to see you utterly disheveled. How were you tired you slept half the night, if anything he should be tired! Well apparently your little brother B/N insisted he found a giant, bossy kitty cat "with a dumb hair cut" in the house and demanded you spent all day helping him find it. David hadn't the heart to tell you, although the chair cut line made him tempted to scare the little turd. Maybe not, so he just shrugged it off suggesting perhaps the kid was sleepwalking.

Dwayne

Well Dwayne had a fair share of handling children before, but this was ridiculous. It seemed like a cute little suggestion, spending the night at your house. He wouldn't exactly get much sleep. Still, he didn't mind cuddling with you in your bed, get the opportunity to maybe look around your room and get some better insight about who you were before he met you. Besides, any opportunity to sleep in a real bed again that wasnt caked in cobwebs was a golden opportunity in his eyes.

You certainly were a trooper, you insisted on staying up as late as you possibly could. After ordering from a pizza shop he opted just to devour the barbecue wings while you nibbled down on classic pepperoni. You insisted there was no garlic, but he wasn't going to risk anything spoiling tonight. When his hunger couldn't be satiated you offered him the uncooked beef shoulder your mom was saving for dinner next week. It was disgusting, wringing it out like a sweaty sock, watching your juice pitcher fill up with red juices. When you struggled to squeeze out anything else, Dwayne straight up dug his teeth into the partially dried hunk of meat until it started to turn grey. The entire process was gruesome. You couldn't help make a face, although you were still glad he had some sort of blood.

"What's animal blood like anyway? I mean, usually you drink human right? Is animal like… vampiric vegetarianism?"

Dwayne pondered the inquiry, wiping the red from around his mouth. "I guess the best way I can describe it, it's like junk food in a way," he explained, polishing off the last bit and smearing his mouth on his jacket sleeve. "It fills you up okay, but not as well as human blood. Eventually it won't be able curb the hunger for very much longer."

"Hm. So it's like having potato chips for dinner," you asked, going to rinse out the jug before he had the chance to lick up the remainder.

"Pretty much."

After dinner, you settled on the couch watching the IT miniseries on tv, sharing a bowl of popcorn. Half way through the three hour series you had dozed off, head lightly nuzzled beneath his arm into his chest. Gently he swept you up into his arms, carrying you down the hallway into your room. Just as he laid you down he heard a bunch of clanking around in the kitchen. Looking back at you he pushed your hair out of your face, stealing a gentle kiss. "Don't worry princess, I'll handle this one," he whispered against your lips. Guess he was going to get that human blood after all. With fangs bared he swept through the hallways with ease, slinking into the dark kitchen ready to strike, and then the lights flipped on. Standing beside the fridge was a young child, couldn't be more than 4 or five sitting on the floor with a handful of pinwheel cookies. Literally caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the bits eyes turned to saucers. "KITTY CAT!"

Dwayne flinched when the crumbly toddler hugged his waist. Alright so you had a brother. That was new. Carefully he lifted up the toddler, balancing on his hip like he had done with Laddie. "Well hi. I wasn't expecting a cookie thief tonight."

"Are you Y/N's kitty? You're really big!"

"No, I'm a big ol' panther. I usually eat all the bad kids who stay up past their bedtime," he teased with a fanged grin. "Know any?"

The boy rapidly shook his head. "Nope! Uh uh! I was uh, sleepy walkin'!"

"Oh well, then I guess we should get you back to bed then, huh?"

Laddie used to pull the same thing all the time. They always put him to bed around 4:40 am, sometimes he could push it to almost 5, but then Dwayne would catch him sneaking around the tunnels at 6 am. Except with Laddie he would just hang upside down with him or go back to Star. He couldn't exactly do that with a four year old human. Instead he shuffled his boots through scattered toys, kicking them out of the way as he tucked the little boy in bed. Out like a light. Boy he was good. Softly he tip toes back into your room and laid beside you until the sun started coming up. He snuck into your parents room with their dark, heavy curtains drawn and wedged himself into their walk in closet just to be safe. Thank god your dad hates sunlight too. The entire day time he could hear your little brother shouting "Kitty?! Mr. Kitty?!"

Cue your groans as you lazily followed him, shooing the boy away from where Dwayne was currently sleeping.

"B/N, you were probably just sleeping after you ate all the freakin' cookies and dreamt there was some big dumb cat."

"No no no, honest Y/N, I saw him, I did I did! We jus' gotta keep lookin'!"

Dwayne chuckled, he'd have to apologize to you once the sun came up.

Paul

Yes! A sleep over at Y/N's place! Finally! He never got to go over there because your parents were such fuddy duddy same-old! Now with them gone for a weekend trip to San Diego, he had you all to himself! Oh he was so giddy when he jumped through your doorway. Wow. Fancy! Two stories, a big ol' tv in the living room with one giant wrap-around couch?! Is that the new Sega system?! There's a freaking pool in the backyard! He's just geeking out!

"Dude, babe, why didn't you tell me your parents are loaded," he exclaimed, jumping over the edge of the couch onto the cushions.

"I mean the stuff is nice I guess," you shrugged, sitting next to him. "Honestly I just love being with you guys in the hotel. I hadn't really thought about it."

Paul raised his brow. "So, you're gonna give all this up?"

"Well, eventually whenever I decide I want you to turn me."

Cuuute. Paul just snickered, nibbling on your neck. After that, you were up almost all night. Getting high in your bedroom, concocting bizarre stoner munchies down in the kitchen, video game competitions on the giant television, making out when you were supposed to be watching a scary movie… making out when you guys are skinny dipping in the pool… whole lot of heavy petting. Finally you had tuckered out in his arms, burrowed beside him with his jacket draped over you. Oh god you were so adorable. It was only 3:45 in the morning, so he had a few hours before the sun came up.

"Okay sleepyhead," Paul huffed, lifting you up in his arms ", bedtime!"

You groaned some half mumbled whine about not being tired which only made him chuckle. "Shhh, chill out kitten. Time to crash. I'll still be here tomorrow night, mkay?"

It was hard for him to put you down. Not that he didn't want to- you wouldn't let go! You kept clinging to his shirt and whining until he had flopped on the bed with you. "Can't get enough of me, huh baby? Eh, I can't blame ya."

You mumbled something along the lines of "shut up" then went back to sleep. Still adorable. Well he got cozy, gently rolling you off of him once he was sure you were asleep. That's when a loud crash came from the kitchen. A break in?

Paul sat up- and was immediately yanked back down! "Fuck meee," he groaned, looking over at you. Really?! You were holding his HAIR?? "Ugh, babe you suck."

In a frenzy he managed to untangle the chunk of his blonde hair caught in your vice grip. Carefully he peeked around the corner of the hallway. It couldn't be your parents, he would have been able to hear their car perfectly. No this was down in the kitchen.

Raccoon, burglar, hobo squatters, whatever he was, it was a little past midnught but he could still go for a snack.

There was a light on in the kitchen just barely illuminating the living room adjacent to it, Paul could see some sort of shadow shifting around, clinking sounds of glass were, the fridge opening. He tore around the corner, fangs ready to dig into his newest treat. Apparently, someone else was craving a snack.

There was a breakfast bar hanging off the counter top by the sink in the center of your kitchen, and happily wedged in a tall bar stool was a mop top kid sporting batman pajamas with a big ol' glass of milk and the jar of cookies with the lid off.

"Whoa!"

"Oh! Shit- uh, hey kiddo," Paul stuttered.

"Shit," the kid questioned, making Paul choke. Crap!

"Oh crap-! I mean fuc-! I mean-," he smacked his forehead in frustration just so he'd shut the hell up, plunking his butt in the stool trying to process what to say.

The boy was still staring at him, then with a firm hand, pointed right at him. "You're a really tall cat!"

"Yeah? I like to this so." Paul chuckled, snatching a cookie from the jar, not even waiting to finish chewing before he asked him "What's your name kiddo?"

"B/N," he answered. "You're not gonna tell me sister right? I saw you wrestling with here earlier. Are you like a lion or something?"

Again, Paul nearly choked on his cookie, knocking back the milk. Fuuuuck that kid saw you guys on the couch. "Uh, yeah! You're sister is trying to be a lion tamer, so I'm helping her!" Leaning his cheek on his hand he gave him a sneaky smile. "And I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me and your sister. Your mommy and daddy wouldn't be real happy if she let a big ol' lion in."

B/N nodded firmly as if he was given the most intense secret mission of his short life. Paul just spent a few minutes with the oddball talking about video games, the best cartoons on nowadays, showing him how to stick up some devil horns and head bang. Kid was a natural! Tongue out and everything! With snack time over he shooed the boy back to bed, tucking him in awkwardly.

"Good night Mr. Lion. You're awesome," he yawned, snuggling into bed. Paul felt a twinge of guilt, knowing one day he'd have to take this kid's big sister away… maybe they'd wait just a little longer. Wedged happily inside Y/N's closet atop a pile of her unmentionables with plenty of clothes and some duct tape courtesy of said lovely babe, he couldn't help but hear the boy burst in with excitement, jumping on her bed.

"Ugh, B/N it's like 9 am, what is it," you groaned from your bed, trying to roll back over under a pile of comforters.

"You wouldn't believe it! I hung out with a lion last night! He was huuuuge!"

"Yeah? I met he smelled like kitty litter and weed," you half mumbled.

Oi!

"Nuh uh! Don't you remember? He was the one you were wrestling with in the jacuzzi!"

You sat up straight, your face bright red. "You little twerp, you supposed to have been in bed by then!"

Paul had to stifle a laugh, rolling over. He'd explain it later. After all, lions weren't morning cats.

Marko

When you mentioned your parents flying to Florida to take care of your granny, he couldn't resist the urge to spend the night with you. At first you seemed opposed to the idea. You weren't supposed to have guests over! If your parents caught you home with a boy of all people, they'd kill you then dance on your grave.

"Pretty please baby doll," he'd hugged, nuzzling his nose into your neck. He wiggled his arms around your neck, teasing beneath your ear with sweet kisses until you practically melted. "I'll be good. Honest, baby girl. No one else is gonna see me, it's not like you'll get caught."

"Well…," you'd hesitate. Well, of course all it took was those bonnie blue eyes, Marko pouting out his bottom lip. "Okay fine, but only if you don't cause any trouble."

"When do I ever?"

You were sure to stock up on snacks for the night. Chips, soda, three types of gummies. You two were the dynamic duo of sweet tooths, if it weren't for his hyper healing he was sure his fangs would've rot out by now.

But you were determined. Tonight had to be a perfect sleepover for you and your boyfriend. Later in the afternoon you managed to sneak into the blood drive going on at the beach and steal a cooler of AB negative. After all, it was a special night.

In regards to the sun, you had made up the guest room with heavy curtains tightly taped to the wall to prevent any light. You even made sure the closet was cleared if that wasn't enough.

You were so excited once he arrived, practically jumping into his arms. Marko gushed over how cute your room was. Posters, plushies, a plethora of reading material along a wall-height bookshelf, although once he spotted your bed there wasn't much talking left over. When you two were all done having a good ol' time doing the Devil's tango, you insisted on him having a home cooked meal for once.

"Don't you ever get tired of greasy, soggy chow mein," you ask, sauteing a pan of teriyaki soaked beef.

"It is not soggy," Marko insisted, feigning offense.

"You didn't say it wasn't greasy though."

After you two fattened up on a sundae making contest, you crashed on the couch with him, laying comfortably on top wiggled tightly in his arms. Even Marko grew drowsy slurping on the end of a blood pack. You were just so sweet and soft, he couldn't resist the allure of the perfect cuddle partner. Eyes were drooping, almost dozing off.

The sound of clinking glass in the kitchen jolted him awake. You two were supposed to be alone, or so he thought.

It was nearly impossible to wiggle out from underneath you. When he began to move you verbally whined, holding onto him. "Shhh she it's okay baby girl. I'll be right back," he cooed, lifting you up then laying you back down on the couch. Draping his leather jacket over you, his heart nearly kickstarted again when you snuggled up against it with a weary smile. "Oh you're gonna bring me back to life just to kill me, babe."

Again that loud thump in the kitchen drew his attention. Someone must've either been real stupid or had some twisted death wish to break into your house. With teeth bared he stepped in, swinging the door open.

Oh! At first he thought maybe it was a raccoon, but following the trail of candy wrappers led him right to the culprit. A guilty six year old covered in chocolate.

"Well, hey there," Marko chimed, crouching down to look at him. "Where'd you come from?"

"My room," the smart mouth retorted, trying to hide the candy behind him. "Are you some sort of cheetah?"

Marko burst out laughing, the light glinting off his set of fangs. "Heck yeah I am. And who are you?"

"I'm B/N," he mumbled. "Is that why you and my sister were having a roaring contest earlier?"

It was hard not to laugh at that, biting on his bottom lip. "Yeah, but you gotta keep it a secret, okay? It's official Cheetah business, I'm sure you understand."

B/N was a tricky one, Marko could definitely see the family resemblance once he asked

"What do I get if I'm quiet?"

Tricky little bugger wasn't he? That smirk was so familiar it was almost weird. Kudos to this kid for playing the hustle. Bad judge of character though. Marko leaned close and grinned, baring his fangs again. "Well, for one I won't eat you."

The boy gasped, but instead of crying he just laughed. "Okay, deal. Throw in a candy bar?"

"Hm.." Marko tilted his head still squatting in a frog position with his hands resting on his knees. "Well I can't argue with that. You got a deal, kiddo."

Escorting the boy back to his room, Marko crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorway. "You're pretty smart, kiddo."

"Yeah, Y/N always say never get played for a sucker," he sighed between yawns. Typical. He was nearly hustled by a 6 year old. Waltzing back to you he lifted you up still wrapped in his jacket and laid you in your room. If you had been alone he probably would've kept you in the guest room with him. But somebody had to watch the little punk. So wearily he slunk into the quiet room, locking the door for extra measure so no nosey kids came bursting in. He hadn't heard much while he was sleeping that day, but when he came our again you were frazzled after putting your brother to bed around 7pm. Apparently he insisted there was a talking cheetah in the house with a bad attitude who wanted to eat him. "Nah," Marko insisted, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk. "I hear punk kids are too tough and chewy for cheetahs to eat."

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mikauzoran · 4 years

Text

Lady Noir/Platonic Alyadrien: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Six

Read it on AO3: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Six: The Confession

“Your girlfriend is trying to call you,” Plagg noted lazily from his comfy nest in Adrien’s sock drawer.

Adrien stopped in the middle of practicing Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 in F major to look up curiously at his kwami. “Marinette is?”

Plagg had been teasing Adrien about Marinette supposedly being his girlfriend almost as long as they’d known her, and Adrien had long ago given up on getting Plagg to stop.

“No,” Plagg replied disinterestedly. “The other one.”

Adrien blinked, momentarily confused. At first, he thought Plagg was being sarcastic. It took his brain a second to process that Plagg really did mean the other one.

“Wait. What? Ladybug?!” Adrien rose from the piano bench hastily, nearly tipping it over backwards. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I’m saying something right now,” Plagg yawned, giving a decidedly feline stretch, arching his spine before settling back into the sock pile.

“Sooner,” Adrien groaned. “Plagg, transform me.”

The call had already gone to voicemail by the time Adrien’s transformation sequence ended, but he wasted no time in calling her back.

“Sorry. Plagg didn’t tell me you were calling right away,” he spit out in a rush. “What’s wrong, My Lady? Akuma?”

“Oh,” Ladybug’s voice came out startled and uncertain. “Sorry. No. Nothing’s wrong.”

Chat Noir frowned, picking up on her unease and nervousness. “Are you sure? You sound a little flustered, Buguinette.”

“What?” she laughed awkwardly, her tone sounding forced. “No. I’m not flustered. I just…”

Chat could swear he heard someone in the background whisper, “Deep breath. It’s just Chat Noir. You’ve got this.”

“Ladybug, is someone there with you?” His thoughts swung rapidly between “kidnapper” and “another man”.

“Sorry,” Ladybug sighed and then made herself inhale slowly. “It’s just my friend. Look. I’m really sorry to bother you, Chat Noir, but are you busy? Would you be able to meet up and talk for, like, twenty minutes?”

Chat looked back to his piano and smiled bitterly, knowing no one would be in to check on him until it was time for breakfast at the very earliest.

“No worries, My Lady,” he assured, injecting a warmth into his voice that dispelled the chill of his empty room. “I can meet up. Just say where.”

Ladybug bit her lip, considering for a moment before tentatively inquiring, “Do you remember a long time ago that night you planned that romantic rooftop picnic surprise for me?”

Taken aback that she even remembered, he didn’t reply right away. When he did, his voice was soft and a little unsteady. “Sure. Yeah. I—uh—yeah. I remember. I’m surprised that you do, honestly.”

She pursed her lips and looked down at her spotted feet. “I’ve never forgotten that night,” she replied sadly. “See you there in a bit?”

“Yeah,” he promised. “See you there.”

When he arrived ten minutes later, she was pacing the rooftop in question, talking to herself and gesticulating wildly with her arms.

“Practicing a speech?” he chuckled fondly as he soundlessly touched down on the railing.

Ladybug jumped, squeaked, and would have fallen over backwards if she hadn’t pinwheeled her arms to somehow regain her balance.

“Ack!” she squawked, eyes round like marbles.

He couldn’t help an affectionate laugh at her expense as he shook his head at her antics.

She cleared her throat and attempted to reclaim some semblance of an air of dignity. “Sorry. Yes. I was practicing a speech…in a way.”

Chat nodded, easily accepting her vague response. “I’m sure you’ll do great when you give it. So. What’s up? What was it you needed to talk to me about?”

Ladybug took what was probably her tenth deep breath of the evening.

“I’m in love with you!” came out with the exhale, shrill and squeaky and not at all how she had intended to broach the subject.

Chat’s luminescent eyes went wide in shock for a moment before settling into abject confusion.

Meanwhile, Ladybug clapped both hands over her mouth, emitted a high-pitched noise, and stared at him in terror.

“Sorry,” he replied carefully. “What did you say?”

That seemed to break the spell, causing Ladybug to groan and look away.

“I am so sorry,” she quickly apologized to the roof shingles. “That is not what I meant to say. Ignore me. I’m sorry. I’m such a mess.”

“It’s okay,” he granted magnanimously, trying to contain the confusion and pain and elation bubbling up inside of him. “Just…start over. Please.”

She sighed gravely. “I was talking to a friend of mine, and she made me realize I’d screwed up, Chat Noir. I’d really, really screwed up.”

“Mistakes can be fixed,” he comforted, lowering himself off of the railing and onto the roof proper. “Tell me about it. Maybe we can figure this out together.”

She held out her hand to him, and he crossed the roof, readily taking it and giving it a squeeze.

She tugged him down to sit on the roof with her and shot a brave smile his way.

He returned it patiently, revealing no external sign of the maelstrom of emotions he was feeling inside.

“Chat Noir, you know you’re one of the most important people in my life, don’t you?” she started softly, searching his face.

His emerald eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t look unduly surprised.

“I knew I was pretty important to you,” he confessed. “I mean, you’ve told me before how much our friendship means to you and that I’m irreplaceable, so I knew I was important, but I was never vain enough to think I could score a top spot.”

She gave a little snort. “Please. You’re easily top five.”

“You do me a great honor, My Lady,” he chuckled, giving her hand another squeeze. “I’m happy to say that you made my top five too.”

It became easier for her to smile at that. “Thanks, Chaton. So…you know I care about you deeply and that I’d never hurt you on purpose.” There was a hint of a question in her voice as she glanced up at him for confirmation.

“Of course,” he affirmed.

She took a breath and blew it out, her brow crinkling in disquietude as she looked down at their joined hands. “I was talking to a friend tonight, and she brought it to my attention that even though I’ve been telling you for years that I could only be friends and partners with you, I may have been unintentionally leading you on with my actions.” She looked up at him again. “Chat Noir, have I ever done or said something that made you think that I had changed my mind about just being friends?”

This time, he looked away, forehead furrowing, cat ears flattening. “I…No…. I…”

“Please be honest with me,” she begged. “I kind of need to know if I’ve done something to give you the wrong idea. I never meant to play with your feelings like that.”

“I know,” he sighed softly, training his eyes on the little row of chimneys not far off in the middle distance. “I know you didn’t mean it, but…yeah. Your friend was right,” he begrudgingly admitted. “It seems like every time I’m about ready to give up on you for real, you’ll do or say something that gives me just enough hope to make it another couple weeks, another few months, another year.”

She inhaled audibly, a sharp little gasp, and her grip on his hand tightened. “I am so, so sorry, Chat Noir,” she breathed, seemingly struggling to draw air into her lungs. “I didn’t mean—”

“—No,” he cut her off, turning to meet her gaze intently. “Ladybug, don’t. It’s not your fault. You explicitly told me about the other guy and how you only felt platonic love for me. I’m the idiot who took the things you said and did the wrong way even after you were extremely clear about where we stood with each other. Don’t blame yourself, Buguinette. This is on me,” he assured, gently, smiling with warmth, affection, and clemency as he raised her hand to his lips. “Don’t worry about it. I always knew deep down that you didn’t have feelings for me. It was stupid to let myself think otherwise for even a second, but…you know me. Always thinking with my heart rather than my head.”

She couldn’t help the way heat rose up in her cheeks unbidden at his touch, staining her face red like a sunset.

Her heart flipped as his lips brushed the back of her hand. Even though the pressure was much too light to be felt through the suit, it tingled all the way up her arm.

She swallowed hard. “About that…”

He quirked an eyebrow, waiting patiently for her to go on.

She bit her lip, prefacing, “I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

His eyes narrowed slightly in puzzlement. “…But…?” he prompted.

She gulped again. “I don’t see a future for us as a couple with things the way they are, and you can’t change my mind about that, so don’t even try. There are so many reasons we can’t be together right now; plus, I’m still in love with the other guy, and I think I’m finally about to make some progress, so…”

His features became more and more perplexed as she went on and he struggled to follow where the conversation was going. “…So?” he urged her to continue.

“So we can only be friends while Papillon is at large and we have a job to do, secret identities to protect,” she summarized, gathering up her courage to reiterate what she had initially blurted out at the beginning of the conversation. “And I don’t want us putting our lives on hold until this is all over. It’s not fair, and it’s not healthy. We deserve happiness and love now.”

Chat nodded in agreement, remembering what Alya had told Adrien about letting go of his feelings for Ladybug and moving on so that he could live life to the fullest in the present.

“So, what are you saying?” he inquired curiously, still not sure what exactly they were talking about or why.

She looked at him with determination burning in her cornflower eyes. “I’m saying that I do have feelings for you,” she revealed, voice gentle and warm.

He inhaled long and slow as his eerie green eyes went wide, stretching the edges of his mask along with them.

“I realized it about six years ago,” she explained wistfully. “You’re wonderful, Chat Noir. You’re one of the best, most amazing people I know. How could I not fall for you?” she laughed at herself.

His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, half-formed questions dying on his lips as new ones sprang forth and withered in rapid succession.

Ladybug shook her head sadly. “I love you, Chat Noir, and I’m afraid my feelings have been slipping through the cracks, even though I’ve tried so hard to keep them hidden. I’m afraid I’ve been giving you false hope because, even though I love you, Chat Noir, nothing can ever come of it.”

His brow furrowed with choler, and he opened his mouth once more to protest, but she gave him a pleading look and squeezed his hand.

“Not now. Not like this,” she entreated. “Not with secret identities in the way. Not while a romantic relationship could get in the way of our teamwork and affect our performance.”

He paled as the logic behind her words set in.

She smiled lachrymosely. “I’d like to think that we’d be perfect romantic partners and never fight or even have disagreements, but…I know that’s not realistic, and I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to set personal matters aside in battle. I’m scared we’d let our romantic relationship distract us, and we’d be a split second too late in reacting. You know how split seconds often make the difference between victory and getting blasted off the plain of existence. We can’t risk it. Not while we’ve still got a job to do, people’s lives depending on us.”

He dropped his head, his shoulders, ears, and tail drooping in defeat as he let out a weary sigh. “I wish I could say something to change your mind, but…deep down, I know you’re right, My Lady,” he grumbled in emotional exhaustion. “I already let my feelings distract me in battle enough as it is; I know being in a relationship with you wouldn’t do anything to help the problem.”

He looked up at her with baleful, watery eyes. “This just sucks so much because we would be epic together.”

“Yeah,” she laughed through her own tears, giving his hand a squeeze in solidarity. “We really would be…. Maybe we will someday.”

His eyes widened, his breath catching as hope flowed back into him. “You mean…?”

“Maybe, when this is all over and I’m just me and you’re just you…maybe we’ll both be single, and maybe it will finally be time for us,” she replied, giving the thought form and sending it out into the universe.

“Yeah,” he whispered, praying that that day would come soon.

She took a deep breath and seemed to regain her composure. “Until then, though, we shouldn’t cheat ourselves out of the present moment.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as if pulled suddenly out of a dream.

“I mean, we should try to be happy, give other people a chance.” She shot him a teasing grin. “Like that girl you talk about sometimes? Your cute, compassionate friend?”

“Oh,” Chat chuckled, cheeks turning crimson around his mask. “Yeah. My one friend has really been pushing the idea of me asking her on a date. I guess my crush really isn’t all that subtle, is it?”

“Nope,” she snickered. “You’re obviously into her, and she sounds like a good person. If it can’t be me, I want you to be with someone who treats you right and makes you happy. She sounds sweet.”

“She is,” he affirmed with a smitten grin as he averted his eyes, thinking of Marinette’s laugh.

“Ask her on a date, then,” she urged, nudging his arm playfully with her own.

“Okay. But what about you and your mystery guy?” he pressed, reasoning that turnabout was fair play. “Are you finally going to tell him how you feel? I want you to be happy too, Buguinette.”

She bit her lip, mentally going over her recent decision to give up on Adrien…for what was probably the fortieth time.

“I don’t know,” she responded pensively, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. “I’m pretty sure he’ll tell me he just sees me as a friend, but…I’ve wasted so much time fretting and planning elaborate scenarios with which to confess my feelings…maybe I just need to go up to him and say, ‘Hey. I like you. Would you want to go on a date and see how it goes?’ It seems stupid to give up without ever telling him, and it seems pointless to waste any more time stressing, so…”

“So, walk up to him, tell him he’s hot, and ask him to go get coffee with you,” Chat coached. “No big deal.”

“No big deal, he says,” Ladybug snorted.

“It isn’t,” he stressed. “You’re the one making it into this seven-year-long soap opera of unrequited love and evil twins and aliens and all that garbage. Tell the guy you’re interested and move on if he says no.”

She arched an intrigued eyebrow at him. “Do you watch soap operas?”

Chat rolled his eyes, grumbling, “Plagg watches trashy TV, and I’ve picked up some things.”

She gave a snort of amusement. “Tikki likes rom coms.”

“Can we switch?” he begged, giving her the sad kitten eyes. “Please?”

“Pft. Nope. My kwami is objectively better.” She stuck out her tongue playfully.

He contemplated crossing his arms and sulking, but that would necessitate letting go of her hand, and he was not keen on the idea.

“Mean,” he accused petulantly instead.

She giggled, and he shortly thereafter joined her, their combined laughter creating a lovely duet.

The moment eventually passed, leaving them smiling contentedly at one another, hands still joined, hearts feeling much lighter.

“…Is it horrible of me?” he tentatively broke the silence. “I want you to be happy and loved, of course. You deserve that, but…I’m really hoping that we defeat Papillon in the next year or two and that you won’t be in a relationship at that point. I’m so selfish,” he scoffed at himself, averting his eyes in shame and starting to pull his hand away.

She squeezed it tighter as she leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. “It’s okay to be selfish sometimes,” she assured as she pulled back, smiling like a lighthouse beam in the fog.

He stared at her for a moment in wonder before a warm smile spread across his lips once more. “Thanks.”

“…Are we okay?” she asked, suddenly unsure. “I’m sorry to spring all this on you, but…when my friend told me earlier I had been leading you on, I felt sick, and she convinced me to put my cards on the table and clear up the misunderstanding. I would have lost my nerve if she hadn’t made me call you then and there.”

“No worries.” He waved away her concern with a genuine grin. “This was good. A lot, but good. Necessary. It was good for me to get some closure and real hope instead of all of the uncertainty of the last few years.”

She winced, guilt hitting her all over again like that construction worker whose arms had been turned into wrecking balls when he’d been akumatized the previous summer. “I am so sorry I did that to you.”

“No worries,” he repeated, leaning in to give her temple a whisper of a kiss. “It’s all in the past…but mind telling me who this illustrious friend of yours is so that I can thank her personally? I feel like I need to get her a nice gift basket at least to express my eternal gratitude.”

“O-Oh.” Ladybug stiffened, her ears beginning to turn rosy. “Well…um…Alya Césaire.”

He blinked, completely taken aback that she had actually told him. He’d mostly been kidding, but… “Wait. Like…Alya from the Ladyblog?”

“I accidentally got a little drunk last week and crashed into her balcony on my way home, and she was really cool about it, so now we’re kind of friends,” Ladybug rushed to explain in a single breath.

Chat Noir continued to blink in surprise.

“I don’t know. Just, today, she kind of pounced on me out of nowhere about me leading you on, and she was adamant that I tell you the truth so that you could make peace with your feelings for me and move on. So…yeah,” she finished lamely with a helpless shrug.

“Oh,” he replied loquaciously.

“Yeah,” she repeated.

“Cool,” he added, sensing that his previous response had not been adequate.

He tried not to think about what the odds were that Alya would randomly, apropos of nothing, tell Ladybug to clear up the whole leading-Chat-Noir-on-situation shortly after Adrien had admitted to Alya that Ladybug had been leading him on for years.

Mentally, Chat cursed in French, English, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Italian.

Italian didn’t go very well because he wasn’t completely clear on what exactly the words he knew meant, only that the person being sworn at in Italian had not done an adequate job according to Gabriel Agreste’s standards.

He figured that was close enough for his purposes at the moment.

“Alya’s cool,” he elaborated. “Very trustworthy.”

“Definitely,” Ladybug chuckled with a fond smile, and Chat calmed down somewhat, deciding to worry about possible secret identity exposure later.

Then and there, he was with the woman he loved, and she loved him in return. True, things weren’t perfect because they couldn’t be together just yet, but a new sense of hope and optimism that he hadn’t felt the equal of in years welled up within him, letting him enjoy the moment.

He gave her hand a squeeze and scooted in close to rest his head on top of hers as they sat there together, peacefully gazing up at the heavens.

Alya was just finishing up her article when a tentative tap came at her balcony door.

She frowned and grabbed her phone, thinking that she’d missed a text from Marinette.

She’d called as soon as she’d gotten home from talking to Chat Noir, and they’d spent nearly an hour picking through all of the details, returning again and again to the romantic way the two heroes had held hands the entire time.

“It was so wonderful, Alya,” Marinette gushed. “Just having that connection, feeling like he was my lifeline and we were in this together.”

There were no texts from Marinette announcing her intention to pay Alya a visit.

Eyes narrowed in apprehension, she grabbed the lamp off of her desk and slowly approached the sliding glass door.

She threw back the curtain and came face to face with a rather surprised-looking Chat Noir, his hand raised to gently knock again.

Alya blinked.

Chat Noir returned the gesture, and then his eyes went to the lamp in Alya’s hand. His eyebrow slowly gained elevation.

He cleared his throat uncertainly. “Um…Good evening. Sorry to startle you?”

Alya smiled sheepishly, setting the lamp down and unlocking the door. “Chat Noir. Hi. Sorry. Just…never hurts to be cautious.”

“Were you expecting a burglar on the fourth story?” he couldn’t help but wonder.

“Usually, it’s an akuma,” she sighed, stepping out of his way and beckoning him in.

“Oh,” he whispered as the lamp suddenly seemed less ridiculous. “Sorry.”

“No worries,” she assured. “Come in.”

He hesitated, toing the floor of her balcony nervously with the tip of his boot. “Actually…I don’t think I need to come in. I don’t want to take up much of your time, but…Ladybug and I had a talk earlier tonight, and she said that it was at your insistence, so I really wanted to thank you, because I cannot even begin to describe to you what it means to me to have that kind of closure, so…”

He bit the inside of his cheek, mentally chiding himself to stop rambling. “Sorry. I’ll get to the point. I was just wondering if you knew…?” He tipped his head to the side, struggling to summon up the words. “Earlier, did I accidentally…?”

Alya watched him fidget for a moment before it finally dawned on her what he was on about.

She smiled affectionately and rolled her eyes. “Adrien…get in here.”

“Oh,” he squeaked. “Shoot.”

She gave her eyes another roll, took him by the elbow, and forcibly manhandled Paris’s second favourite superhero into her bedroom. “Get in here you adorkosaurus and tell me about your romantic rooftop heart-to-heart with Ladybug,” she chuckled, pulling him in and tugging the curtain closed behind him.

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?” he sighed, letting his transformation drop.

She gave him “the look” and then motioned for him to flop down on her bed. “Cupcake, I’m not even going to tell Marinette,” she snorted as she went back to her desk.

“How did you figure it out?” he sighed, collapsing into Alya’s throw pillows.

“It was the fact that you knew Ladybug well enough to confess your love and be turned down by her over the course of several years…and then I may have interrogated her about people who had confessed their undying love,” Alya summarized.

“Well played,” Adrien granted. “Ladybug is going to be so disappointed in me.”

“Don’t tell her,” Alya instructed, cutting the Gordian knot.

He started to argue. “But—”

“—Just don’t,” she interrupted. “I’m not telling anyone. I’d cut my tongue out first. You’re safe. Paris is safe. Ladybug is better off not knowing.”

“I like her,” Plagg snickered, floating over to land on Alya’s desk next to her mousepad. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

Alya blinked at the flying cat demon. “I’m guessing you’re his kwami? I’m Alya. Nice to meet you.”

“Plagg,” Plagg supplied. “Charmed, I’m sure. Do you have any cheese?”

“Plagg,” Adrien groaned. “You are the worst houseguest.”

Five minutes later, Plagg was happily distracted with the remnants of a wheel of Brie that Alya was fairly certain no one was planning on eating, and Adrien and Alya were free to continue their discussion.

“Just. Don’t. Tell. Her,” Alya reemphasized.

Adrien frowned uncertainly. “Do you really think that’s okay?”

“It’s for the best,” she assured. “Trust me. I care about you, Sunshine, and Ladybug is my friend too, so please believe that I have the best intentions in my heart when I say just don’t mention it.”

Adrien pursed his lips, weighing his options. “Well…if you’re the only one who knows and you don’t plan on telling anyone…I guess there’s no real harm done.”

“Precisely. And I’ve already been helpful to both you and Ladybug because I knew your identity, haven’t I?” she coaxed. “This is a good thing.”

A bright, sappy smile broke out on Adrien’s lips as he thought back to his Lady’s confession. Warmth and a sense of lightness again flooded his chest.

“I can’t find it within myself to disagree,” he confessed with a giddy laugh. “Thank you, Alya.”

“Hey, us bros look out for one another,” she chuckled, saving her article and shutting down her laptop for the night before swinging around in her desk chair to face Adrien.

“Soooo?” she prompted, drawing out the vowel. “Last time I checked, bros gush about their romantic encounters with their crushes. I’m waiting for all the spicy details about your rooftop rendezvous with Ladybug. How was her love confession? Tell me all about it. None of it leaves this room, I swear.”

Adrien gave a trill of glee, hugging Alya’s throw pillow to his chest as he enthusiastically exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, Alya, it was the best!”

#Lady Noir #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Chat Noir #Ladybug #Plagg #Alya Césaire #Adrinette #Adrienette #Ladrien #Friendship #Talking #Honesty #Fluff #Love Confession #Mikau's Writings #Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.

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gryfon-spanish-werewolf · 4 years

Text

So You Can Always Find Me

Couldn’t disappoint @elsa-agdardottir when they’re such a great enabler. Unfortunately the fic in which I want to put the astronomical ring isn’t quite ready to be published yet, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging, especially when you asked so nicely xD. Soft inspired by @vago-art‘s piece here also.

Rating: M

Tags: Blood and Injury, post-Frozen 2 derivative

Words: 4,119

Characters: Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven, Nokk, Gale, Earth Giants, Bruni

Hook: “Now we can’t fail,” Kristoff jokes, trying to ease the tension. “He’s counting on us. Literally.”

“And so is Elsa.” Anna looks out into the forest that yawns before them, then digs the ring out of her pocket. She holds it out before them like a compass needle, the flickering hues of her sister’s magic leading them on.

Wind whips past Anna’s cold-numbed ears as Sven picks up speed, galloping across the snowy trail. They couldn’t risk traveling by lantern light, so she and Kristoff were picking their way through the darkness by the gleam of a blue-glowing bauble - a ring with an expanded center that whirls like a pinwheel as they race headlong into the night.

“Stop Kristoff, right here!” The little glint of magic in the center ring has just swung wildly to the left, leaning away from the delicate chain being gripped firmly by Anna’s hand.

She swings herself out of the sleigh before Sven even stops moving, catching herself with one hand on the ground. The magic pulses, dimmer this time.

“Anna?” Olaf’s voice is weak, so unfamiliar in comparison to his normal jubilance. His little stick arm waves above the rail of the sleigh. “Are we here? Did we make it?”

“I... I think so Olaf,” Anna calls back, palming the ring and putting it into her travel cloak.

“Then I’m coming too,” Olaf says, and she hears him trying to get up.

“Whoa whoa there,” Kristoff warns, laying a hand down into the sleigh. “You stay here. Someone has to make sure Sven doesn’t wander off.” He chucks a thumb over his shoulder and Sven grunts what he thinks about that comment.

“He’s right Olaf, you need to rest.” Anna approaches the side rail, heart squeezing in her chest.

Olaf had started flurrying hours ago.

They’d been preparing for bed. Olaf was picking out a book to read and was reaching above his head, one hand holding his other arm up way high, when he suddenly dropped the book and more came tumbling down after. Anna was about to shake it off as typical Olaf clumsiness when the snowman didn’t immediately burst out of the pile with a laugh. Instead they had to unbury him, and when they did Anna had grabbed Kristoff’s shoulder hard enough to bruise.

She couldn’t do this again.

Olaf’s snow had turned the color of roadside slush, tossed up by carriage wheels and horse hooves. He did sit up, but slowly, gently, as though he were exhausted. Little snowflakes sloughed off his form and twinkled in the candlelight. Olaf and Anna exchanged a wordless look and Anna had bolted upright, digging in the nightstand drawer for the ring.

The one heavy as a lodestone in her pocket.

She leans over Olaf and kisses him on top of his carrot nose. “You sit tight, we’ll find her,” she sniffs, smiling through her tears. “We’ll be back so quickly you won’t even notice we’re gone. Ten minutes, tops.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Olaf smiles back. Then he started counting backwards from six hundred.

Anna turns away and wipes at her eyes. A warm arm falls over her shoulders and pulls her in for a hug. “Now we can’t fail,” Kristoff jokes, trying to ease the tension. “He’s counting on us. Literally.”

It had been a gift from Elsa. She’d commissioned it ages ago, soon after the Great Thaw, but the right materials had to be procured, the right master craftsman located, and the right price named. The last part had mattered the least, but the rest were very normal, worldly things and as time passed Elsa had worried the perfect gift would somehow not arrive on an auspicious enough occasion. In the end it was meant to be a birthday gift, but with the events occurring in the third year of their reconnection, Elsa could really see no better time like the present. Elsa had bestowed it on Anna after her coronation ceremony, the castle asleep, Olaf and Kristoff making sure everyone had gotten home for the night. She had hidden it behind her back in a charming black box lined with velvet.

The ring was gold, carved with Arendelle’s famous crocuses and the sunflowers Anna loved so much. Immediately Anna had insisted she put it on, but Elsa stopped her. “Open it,” she said, guiding Anna’s fingers to the multiple, overlapping edges. With a quick flick the ring popped open in the palm of her hand, revealing a free turning, miniature astronomical globe made of smaller, concentric gold rings. They were also engraved: marking signature constellations, runes, and star signs. “And one more thing.” Elsa tapped the ring and Anna saw beads of her magic coalesce to one point, drawn from the metal like rolling beads of water. Elsa stepped to the side, then further away. Anna sat transfixed as the glowing blue orb shifted along golden curves, skipping between rings as it tracked Elsa around the room.

“So you can always find me,” Elsa had said as she placed the ring and its accompanying necklace over Anna’s head.

Now, Anna rebinds the chain around her wrist, the metal cold against her skin, hoping against hope that Elsa had spoken the truth.

This part of the Enchanted Forest is unfamiliar. Dark trees stretch and claw at the overcast sky. Snow crunches underfoot, louder than it ought to. Anna keeps a close eye on the ring, watching for any new signs. Elsa’s personal snowflake spins slowly in the center, silent. They walk without speaking, the quiet around them stifling.

After a few more minutes Kristoff nudges Anna’s shoulder and points ahead. A faint shimmering is coming from the trees a short distance away, winking in and out like fireflies. They dash ahead, coming to an obstacle of unwelcome familiarity. A mist wall billows before them, an opaque curtain taller than the peaks of Arendelle castle, nebulous and shifting with each draft of bitter wind. Anna checks the ring and her heart drops. The magic still urges them onwards, but now their path is blocked.

“What’s all this?” Kristoff nudges a snowdrift with his boot. Footprints are scattered in every direction, twigs are snapped and dead leaves poke through large indents in the snow, as though something warm had lain there. Though it must have been only briefly, because all the footprints led away from the wall, many of them in a hurry. Even more curious was the strange gap between the wall and the prints themselves, as though some force had pushed whoever had been here away and not let them closer.

“I don’t know,” Anna replies, “but I don’t like it. These aren’t Northuldra shoes, they’re too heavy.” A chill went down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

“Elsa was able to get through this before,” Kristoff scratches the back of his head, “but she’s on the other side now.” He puts his hand up to the mist, not deep enough to bounce back, just enough to let it coat his gloved fingers. Anna understands his frustration. Family - the weird, lopsidedly happy thing they’ve made over the last few years - is beyond this wall, and behind, fading away in a sleigh, both far from home. And they’re helpless to do anything about it.

“She just,” he makes a whooshing noise while his hand skates upward, “and it lifted. I really hope it wasn’t some spirit thing because I wouldn’t even know where to start trying to find the others.”

“Maybe,” Anna gazes upwards. The edges of the wall dissolve into the clouded night sky, seeming to go on forever. “Or maybe that’s exactly what we need.”

She tentatively pushes her hand forward, cautious of the repulsion effect that seemed to sling things out as quickly as they were slung in. A smile burst forth when, incredibly, the wall didn’t immediately reject her. An opening appears, not as tall or grandiose as the first time, but enough of a tunnel for her to walk through.

“Anna…” Kristoff breathes, voice low in wonder. “How did you do that?”

Anna shrugs sheepishly. “I’m half spirit? Blood related to one? A bridge has two sides?” she offers, but then shakes her head. “I’m not really sure, it was just a feeling. I remember how you and Olaf were repelled by the first wall, but I never actually got to touch it. Elsa did, and the whole thing opened up for us.”

“Well I’m glad it did.” Kristoff extends his arm and gives her the lead, “We should move.”

Anna takes his hand and they enter the tunnel single file, the entrance closing behind them.

Time disappears. They could have walked for seconds or hours, but there was nothing around them that indicated that the outside world as they knew it existed at all. The tunnel continued before them at the same rate that it ended behind them. Then, a blue glow shone from Anna’s cloak. “The ring!” Anna fumbled with cold fingers to pop the device open, and when she succeeded it cast an eerie glow on the walls around them. She holds it up with both hands; it’s brighter than before, and the snowflake spins just a little faster. “Elsa must be close,” Anna says, and takes a step forward.

A section of the ceiling falls like a stone, landing between them in a plume of vapor.

“Kristoff!” Anna whirls, already feeling the skidding of her feet as the mist pushes her away. She sees it pulling at him too, his body already obscured by thick vapor, but in the opposite direction.

“Find her, Anna!” Kristoff yells, trying to cut through the barrier with great scoops of his hands, but to no avail. His voice fades as the distance grows larger and he cups his hands to his mouth, “Bring her home!”

More mist descends and the force is stronger, shoving her along as Anna tries to keep her balance. The ring bobs ahead of her, turning the mist into a galaxy of stars, whistling past her ears. Her journey ends abruptly when Anna is thrust back into the forest at high speed. She takes a moment to steady herself, and puts the ring on her finger, before looking around.

Her throat closes up.

If the forest had seemed dark and full of shadows before, then this was a nightmare.

Large ice walls loom overhead, their edges windswept and sharp. Entire tree trunks are frozen mid-snap, suspended by the thick ice that encases them. Swords, hatchets, lances, and crossbows litter the ground, bolts are buried in trees and ice, and broken against the side of boulders. Helmets sit upturned and waterlogged, banners drip with the acrid smell of seawater. Weapon sheaths, coats, and boots hang from the uppermost branches of trees, wayward and wild in their adornment.

“A fight? Here? And whatever it was,” Anna says, stunned, “it must have been something for the spirits to react so… violently.”

Her pulse has been pounding since she first saw evidence of battle, but now it kicks into high gear because everything: every water trail, trough of upturned dirt, scattered debris, and far flung ice bolt, radiates from a common center, and she knows who she’ll find waiting for her.

“Anna,” she says. “You came.”

And it’s crazy how, after everything she’s seen, after everything she’s been through, what halts Anna in her tracks, freezes her in place the way being an ice statue never did, is the sight of her sister covered in her own blood, on her knees in the center of a clearing of her own making.

Elsa is not well. Her eyes are clouded and she cradles her middle. Her dress bleeds red, the hems sodden with it. Between her arms are tiny rivers of her life, slipping across her forearms and pooling at the crooks of her elbows.

Anna sprints forward, skidding to a halt on her knees before Elsa, kicking up snow and dirt. Her hands hover everywhere and nowhere, unsure where to begin.

“How did you know where to find me?” Elsa lifts her head, and it takes effort. “The mist wall… the spirits… We couldn't find a way out after the- the fight.”

Anna, breathing hard, mind racing, rips the ring off her finger and shoves it close to Elsa’s face. Her fingers tremble as she undoes the clasp and the astro-globe unfurls. Elsa’s snowflake shimmers into existence, but flickers like a guttering candle flame. The edges of the ring become blurry from tears.

“Ah,” is all Elsa says after a long moment. She clutches herself tighter. “I should have known.” Then she smiles. Beams. Pain gives her eyes new creases. “Not exactly how I thought it’d be used, but I’m glad it worked.”

“That’s all you have to say for yourself!?” Anna can’t keep her voice down, even when it makes Elsa flinch, but she tries. “What even happened here?”

Elsa’s breathing is shallow and erratic. “We were… I was… attacked. Ah-!” She grips her abdomen, fresh blood leaking between her fingers. She bows her head, face shielded by her hair.

“Alright okay, know what? I know I asked but tell me later.” Anna shifts so she’s at Elsa’s side. “I need you to lie down, can you do that for me?”

Elsa nods slowly and lets her head be guided onto Anna’s knees. Her skin is flushed and feverish, radiating heat even as Anna retracts her palm in surprise. Elsa’s pulse thunders in her throat, and while normally that would be a good sign, Anna knows it’s wrong. She’s seen her share of cuts and scrapes, most of them on herself, but this was something else.

And the smell…the wound had already started to turn.

Anna shucks off her cloak and begins folding it lengthwise.

“Anna,” Elsa croaks. “No, you’ll freeze.”

“Save your breath Elsa,” Anna replies quickly, looping the garment under Elsa’s back, “and… lift your arms when I ask.” She tries to stop the shaking in her hands. She needs to be precise. “Now.”

And she… doesn’t look. Her hands work by themselves, wrapping and tugging and bundling it all up into a knot on Elsa’s left side. Elsa gasps and her eyes shut tightly at the new pain and pressure but Anna can’t risk making the bandaging too loose.

“Can you stand?” Anna supports Elsa with a hand on the small of her back. Elsa’s legs tremble as she attempts to put weight on them, and Anna has to catch her when she barely makes it halfway up. Elsa stares at the ground between her legs, panting.

“No, I... ,” she shields her eyes with a hand. “My head is… hot.” Goosebumps form under Anna’s fingers as Elsa actually shivers.

It’s bad. Real bad.

“Where are the spirits?” Anna asks.

“On guard. Waiting. Looking for a way out.” She senses Anna’s confusion. “When I was injured, there was a great sound from above, and the mist came from nowhere to shove the enemy back. I think it was Ahtohallan.”

“It trapped you in here?”

“Unintentionally, but yes. It sensed that I was in danger, but not the cause.” Elsa winces as she shivers again, grabbing Anna’s shoulder for support. “It knows that I still am, but not… the nuance. But you, you seem to have gotten here just fine.”

“It pushed Kristoff away, so it might still give us trouble.” Anna bit her lip, thinking, “But we need to get you out of here, now.”

“Call them Anna,” Elsa says, her voice low. “They will listen to you.”

“How?” Anna chokes because she’s never seen Elsa look so weak. She’s leaning on Anna almost fully now, her eyes half-lidded.

“You already know.” Elsa’s head falls to Anna’s chest, and Anna can feel her rapid breathing like it’s in her own chest. “Just… wish, and they will come.”

And Anna doesn’t know how Elsa makes it seem so effortless, so natural and elegant, because the only thing she can think of to do is slam her hand into the ground and beg.

Nokk bursts out of a standing puddle of water a few meters away, whining and bucking with fervor, it’s nostrils flared and head tossing. Gale descends from the clouds and whistles around them, the leaves and snow in it’s form comforting as it caresses her face. She feels the giants long before she sees them, but they emerge above the trees, craggy faces downcast and concerned. Anna casts her gaze about for the telltale magenta-purple flames of Bruni, but he’s nowhere to be found. A shame, because while she can’t think of a practical use for his talents at the moment, he never failed to bring a smile to Elsa’s face.

Anna addresses them. “I’m bringing her back to Arendelle, she needs medical attention and I need your help to get her there.” There was a pause. Gale bobs in a somber vortex, Nokk’s tail flicks back and forth, and the giants look at each other. Then they all advance at once, each trying to pick Elsa up or move both women from the ground in distinctly unskilled or uncoordinated ways. “Wait, stop!” Anna cries, and they cease immediately, backing up. “You have to be gentle,” Anna says firmly. “She’s hurt. Badly.”

This time, they wait for her direction, and Anna’s voice rings out so confidently commanding that it almost sounds foreign. “Gale, can you lift Elsa up and put her on Nokk’s back? We’ll travel back to the others and get her onto something more solid.” She turns to the giants, “I want you to look for the people who did this. Gale will help you pick up all the- well, everything here. I don’t want it to stay in the woods and become dangerous for the wildlife. You’ll have to wait until we’re further away though, since your footsteps shake the earth and will jostle Elsa.” Their faces fall and Anna summons her warmest smile. It came easier than she expected, knowing they genuinely cared. “I know you want to do more, but I promise, your job is very important.” Her eyes sharpen with her tone. “They can’t get away with this.”

Gale, who has been hovering over Elsa while Anna spoke, finally lifts her off of Anna’s legs, so slowly and tenderly that Anna almost starts crying again. Nokk presents it’s side, watching with it’s imperceptible gaze as Elsa is lowered onto it’s back. Elsa’s eyes are closed but when she is nestled against the horse’s neck she stirs, frosting the water horse below her into a solid form.

She meets Anna’s eye and smiles softly, a little more light in her eye than before.

They begin walking to the mist wall, stepping carefully around trees, ice barriers, and weapons buried in the snow. Anna keeps her hand on the Nokk’s flank, trying to judge the sway of the ground beneath it’s hooves and steady Elsa when necessary. Gale drops objects from the trees behind them, and every clatter of metal and muted thud of cloth and leather widens the scope of the attack for Anna.

“There were so many of them,” Anna remarks. She looks down at her sister, “I’m sorry you had to fight, Elsa.”

“I don’t know what else they expected,” she replies, a tired half smirk on her lips. “I could understand not knowing about the spirits, but the whole Ice Queen thing has been public knowledge for three years.”

“I… can’t believe you’re cracking jokes right now,” but Anna smiles back nonetheless. It disappears just as quickly. “I’m serious though Elsa. I know you,” she hesitates. “I know you never want to use your powers like that. Against people.”

Elsa looked down at Anna’s cloak around her middle. Anna’s heart skips a beat when she realizes a small but growing patch of red has started to appear. “They didn’t give me a choice.”

She extends her arm towards Anna, limp against the Nokk’s side. Anna shifts her hand on the horse’s flank to take her sister’s. She fights the shudder of revulsion that snakes up her arm; Elsa’s hand is slick with her own blood, but Anna can’t deny her, or herself, the comfort. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Elsa says quietly.

Pride and remorse clash between Anna��s ribs. If anyone could beat back an unknown number of assailants while still barely putting a scratch on them, it was Elsa. But Anna regretted that being the case at all. Not for Elsa’s sake, who she knew would lament even one ounce of hurt, but for the ones who dared to even think about harming her family.

They deserved much, much worse.

She was going to need more boats to punch people off of. Though others had told her later that Hans had gotten off easy, attempting to slay royalty and really only getting a black eye for his troubles.

Elsa’s thumb running across the back of her hand reeled back her train of thought. “One thing kept me going though, through the madness of it, even after I got hurt.” She flinches and her other hand presses delicately against the red fabric. She clutches her sister’s hand, “I told myself to be brave, just like you Anna.”

“You mean to tell me you weren’t afraid?” Anna’s laugh is stilted.

Elsa breathes for a moment. “Were you?” she asks quietly, “When you were freezing to death on the fjord, and running across the dam?”

Anna squeezes back and her voice shakes. “I was terrified. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not trembling in fear. It just means you have the resolve to stand up and keep going.”

“...I was so scared,” Elsa whispers, a single tear falling down her face. “I'm still scared.”

“I know,” and this time Anna’s voice breaks. She presses a kiss to Elsa’s temple. “I know Elsa, and I’m so sorry. Please hold on just a little longer.”

“Anna, I’m so tired,” she says faintly, the wind liable to steal the sound completely. “Please, may I sleep?”

“O-Of course.” Anna combs hair away from Elsa’s face, her own slick with tears. “Rest, Elsa, you’ve been through so much already.”

Elsa shudders through an exhale, her forehead pinching up as even the simple need to breathe inflicts pain. “Be there… when I wake?”

Anna couldn’t help herself now. A sob bursts from her chest and she clutches Elsa’s hand like a lifeline. “Always. I’ll always be here, Elsa.”

The barest trace of a smile turns the corner of Elsa’s mouth up. Then her whole body goes slack. Her hand loses its grip and for a full, heart-pounding moment Anna thinks she’s lost her, but then she sees Elsa’s chest rise and fall and knows she’s alive, just unconscious.

She cries all the way back to the sleigh.

Kristoff meets up with her after clearing the mist wall, which disappears as soon as they finish crossing. He pulls her in for a hug so fierce she can scarcely breathe, but she needs something solid right now and let’s him even though it aches. Bruni chirps sadly on his shoulder, pattering this way and that to get the best look at Elsa he could. Kristoff explains that he found Bruni outside the wall, huddled under a rock. An apple-sized singe mark on Kristoff’s chest speaks to how the little spirit was when he found him.

Anna had tried her best to ignore it, but when Kristoff’s face goes pale she has to check and see how much worse it’s gotten. Somewhere along the trek back blood had started to seep into Nokk's body, like drops of sickness in pure water. They snaked deeper into the horse’s belly, meandering red tendrils suspended and animated with every movement.

The moment Gale lifts Elsa off Nokk it crashes to the ground, no longer solid, splashing loudly into the snow and ice. Anna feels Nokk go and sends her thanks, even as it leaves a red trail behind. Elsa is laid next to Olaf, who reaches, “...2...1…” and then opens his eyes. “Elsa?” he says softly.

Elsa’s eyelids flutter as she wakes. Her eyes are still clouded, but brighten just a little when they catch sight of Olaf. Her voice strains then she speaks, “You’re still here.”

“I’m still here,” he nods. “Can’t… get rid of me that easy.”

As Anna gets into the sleigh to keep watch and Kristoff snaps Sven’s reins, she sees Elsa reach across the small space between her and Olaf. His twig hand meets her halfway and they hold each other like that, both weak and exhausted. They drift off almost immediately, which Anna is grateful for, despite how it also ties her stomach in knots.

The trip back home is long and silent.

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impala-dreamer · 5 years

Text

I’m With You

SPN FanFic

~When Dean kicks Castiel out of the Bunker, you're furious and rush off to find him, to be there for him, and maybe...bring him home.~

Castiel x Reader, Dean.

1,652 Words

Warnings: Angst, PG13. Kissing. Implied Smut. Feels. All the feels.

A/N: This fic has been on my mind for about 2 years. Inspired by Avril Lavigne's song, "I'm With You". It will also stand as my "Fallen!Cas" square for @spnkinkbingo 19. I hope you enjoy...

The bridge was slick with rain and your tires spun like pinwheel in a breeze. You never understood the warning signs: “Bridge may freeze before road”, but there you were: spinning out after finding black ice the hard way.

Strange how such a fast paced evening was now rolling by in slow motion. Maybe your brain was shutting down with panic, maybe this is what they meant by your life flashing before your eyes, but whatever it was, the centrifuge that was your little stolen Toyota was spinning in ultra slow motion. Your fingers felt strange upon the wheel, unable to grip anything, unable to react. Your foot slid right off of the brakes; boots gave no traction.

In the rearview, a sullen man in a red hooded sweatshirt watched as your car flew by, doing donuts on the bridge, narrowly missing the guard rail no less than four times.

“How could you do that!” you screamed, throwing your hands up, wildly gesticulating at Dean’s weary form to get your point across. “We just found him and you’re kicking him out? What’s wrong with you!”

Dean sighed, not out of aggravation at your outburst, but defeat. “I didn’t have a choice,” he whispered, looking anywhere but your eyes.

"Didn't have a choice? You didn't have a choice!" you mocked, voice echoing through the Bunker halls.

Dean grit his teeth and threw up his hands to try and calm you. "Lower your voice, please."

For Sam's sake, you did, but your biting whispers were just as harsh. "How could you kick him out like that? He is family! He needs us right now and you kicked him out with nothing!"

"I gave him some cash!" Dean growled, guilt and exhaustion filling his voice. "I'm sorry, OK? I...it's complicated but I had to do it."

"Why?"

"What?"

You crossed your arms and stood firm. "Tell me why. You've been weird since Sam got released from the hospital. Tell me what's going on."

He floundered, eyes looking to the void for an answer. He chewed his lip, shook his head, shifted from left to right.

"I can't tell you," he said finally. "But I promise I did what I had to do."

Tongue in cheek, you gave him a sarcastic laugh. "There it is. Dean Winchester, king of doing what he had to do no matter who or what it fucks up."

"Y/N, please…"

"No." You spun on your heel and walked to the door, giving up on Dean, doing what you had to do for once.

"Where are you going?"

"To clean up your mess."

When the wheels finally caught and the world stopped spinning, you clawed at the door and somehow managed to open it, tumbling out as your stomach churned.

Wet footsteps came towards you, rushing through puddles on the asphalt.

You swallowed a mouthful of bile and looked up, eyes welling at the sight.

"Cas!"

His face was in shadow, body haloed by the street lamp overhead. He laid a heavy hand on your shoulder as he knelt down.

"Are you alright?" His voice was rough, eyes worried as they looked you over.

“Yeah, Cas, I’m OK.” Your eyes met his and tears began to form. He looked a mess, cold and lost, crestfallen. “I can’t believe I found you.” You smiled and he returned it, a bit smaller but he was happy to see you too.

“I’m glad you did,” he said, helping you to your feet carefully, “but I wish you’d drive more carefully. You’re not Dean.”

Hearing the Winchester’s name made your throat tighten with rage. You bit your tongue and closed your eyes as the stars began to spin again. “I...I’m sorry he made you leave, Cas,” you growled. “I gave him Hell for it, don’t you worry.”

Castiel smiled and shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. “That really wasn’t necessary.”

“What? Cas, he kicked you out!”

The ex-angel signed. “I’m sure he had good reason to.”

He looked down and away, kicking the toe of his sneaker against your back tire.

“Cas… he…” You wanted to scream, to punch something, mostly Dean, but Cas’s calm surrender broke your heart. “I’m sorry.”

He looked back up at you and smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

“Will you? Where will you go? What are you going to do?”

Cas shrugged, shoulders high as he cast his gaze to the sky. “Nowhere? Everywhere? Explore a bit? I honestly don’t know.”

“You sound so calm,” you whispered, chest filling with every emotion, threatening to choke you. “How are you OK with this?”

He pulled a hand from his pocket to rest on your cheek, oddly warm against the cold night air. “It will work out, somehow.”

Disbelief washed over you. He was so sure even through his sadness. “How?”

“I have no idea.”

When standing on the bridge became ridiculous and the heat from your panic had dissipated, you talked Cas into letting you drive him somewhere. At the very least, he needed a meal and a bed; you could do that for him before you left. He had refused the very thought of going back to the Bunker, so you did what you could.

You ate burritos from the gas station, the only place still open, and checked into a room at the motel next door. One sad little bed in a sad little room, but Cas insisted it was more than he needed.

“I don’t feel right just leaving you here,” you said, looking around the ugly room. Even the painting of wildflowers above the bed looked sad. It wasn’t right. He had to come home.

You turned, ready to fight him, beg him to come back with you. Cas was there, closer than you though, just a touch away, looking down at you with pure blue eyes and a soft smile.

“I’ll be fine,” he promised again. “So will you.”

Blood rushed in your ears making it hard to think. “Maybe I can stay with you, get you settled…”

He shook his head and grabbed your hand, pulling it close. “Dean needs you.” He took a leap and lifted your hand to his lips. “Sam needs you.” He kissed your knuckles.

“And you?” you asked, voice heavy with tears but softened by his kiss. “What do you need?”

His answer was silent but true, drawing you closer with his free hand, wrapping his arm around your waist and leaning down. He kissed you sweetly, just a test, lips pressing into yours with a gentle pressure that said all he wanted to say. He was leaving, going off to try to live some kind of life, but he needed one night to remember you by.

“Cas…”

Heartbreak rang out but he kissed it away, dipping his tongue between your lips before you could draw your next breath. You melted into him, amazed by his touch, the warmth, the care. His hands were strong, holding you to him, helping you stand even as his lips made you dizzy.

He laid you down on the small bed, kisses covering your mouth, your throat, and beyond. It was slow and delicious, the way he undressed you, careful fingers peeling away the rain-damped layers; blue eyes wide with lustful awe as he saw your flesh revealed.

If ever you’d dreamt of him, it hadn’t been like this. Not in some cheap motel room off the highway, not in the middle of a rainy night after a fight with Dean. Not with so many tears, so much pain in every kiss. Still, you kissed him back, needing him to know how much you cared, how much it killed you to see him so adrift, without that familiar glow of purpose in his eyes.

It was raw and fast; sweat glistened on his chest as he worked, and you ran your hands over the firm muscles so often hidden by layers of suit.

There was no earth-shattering end, no explosion of colors that brought your world to a halt. It was just you and Cas alone in that sad motel room, legs and lips pressed together, eyes filled with tears and unspoken goodbyes.

“Well?”

Dean barely looked up from his phone as you walked in, boots clunking loudly on the metal staircase.

“Well, what?” you sneered, still angry and now a little broken.

He looked up and frowned, seeing the tears in your eyes. “Did you find him?”

You nodded and took a deep breath, willing the tears to leave you alone. “Yeah.”

“And?”

One last droplet fell down your cheek, rolling off the cliff of your jaw and landing, never to be seen again, on the tile below your feet.

“He’s gone.”

Cas waited until you were asleep, heavy breaths passing over his chest, your fingers still locked in his but relaxed and limp.

He kissed your forehead as he slipped away, dressing in silence and leaving before the sun cracked the dark.

He wanted to wait, to watch as sleep faded from your face, to see life take over once more, kiss you awake, but he couldn’t. He had to sneak away, take off before you could track him again.

Without his Grace, he was no good to anyone. He wasn’t a warrior anymore, he was a mortal man with seven dollars in his pocket and an old sweatshirt he found in the back of Dean’s closet. He wouldn’t do any good sticking around even though it just about killed him to close the door.

He left a note on his empty pillow, words scratched in blue pen on the back of the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. You found it a few hours later, stretching as you woke, panicked to find his side of the bed cold.

“Damnit, Cas!”

‘Don’t worry about me,’ he’d written, tiny letters a mess, ink smudged in the corner. ‘We’ll all be fine.”

2019 Forever Tags:

@akshi8278 @amanda-teaches @arses21434 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @because-imma-lady-assface @burningcoffeetimetravel @colagirl5 @cosicas-cuquis @cosmicfire72 @courtney-elizabeth-winchester @covered-byroses @crashdevlin @dean-winchesters-bacon @deansenwackles @deansgirl215 @deanmonandnegansbitch @dolphincliffs @dubuforeveralone @emilyshurley @emoryhemsworth @ericaprice2008 @eternal-elir @feelmyroarrrr @flamencodiva @focusonspn @gayspacenerd @hella-aj-the-trickers-son @herbologystudent252 @hobby27 @ilsawasanacrobat @justcallmeasmodeus @katymacsupernatural @lastactiontricia @maddiepants @mariekoukie6661 @meganwinchester1999 @missjenniferb @mrswhozeewhatsis @mysticmaxie @onethirstyunicorn @our-jensen-ackles-love @peridot-rose @pisces-cutie @risingphoenix761 @roonyxx @roxyspearing @sandlee44 @shadowkat-83 @spnbaby-67 @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @spnficgirl @supernaturaldean67 @supernatural-took-me-over @thehardcoveraddict @thehardcoveraddict @wegoddessofhell @winchesterprincessbride

#spn fanfic #cas x reader #castiel x reader #spnkinkbingo #one shot

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psychologymajor226 · 4 years

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Drafted: Chapter 2 Preview

I know it’s been months since I’ve posted anything on any story, but I wanted to let you know I’ve got almost-ready drafts of Engines, Between and Drafted. As an apology for my absence, here’s a gratuitous portion of the beginning of chapter 2 of Drafted for you to read until I finish things. (A reminder: Drafted takes place after the events of part 1 of Fray, and follows Logan’s life during the mutant-human war.)

Thanks, all. Especially for the readers who haven’t given up on me. ❤️

Chapter 2: To Lose

(Pinwheel Universe: Original Timeline, March 2017)

Logan knew what it meant to feel a heart stop beating. His own had, more times than he could count. He’d fucking survived without a heart at all, wiped down to just a fucking skeleton, and he had, only hours later, stood up a whole man and walked off without a mark on him. But while he’d felt his own heart shudder and still, that wasn’t the only heart he’d witnessed end. He’d felt many hearts cease, not only hearts he’d intentionally stopped, but others, too. He knew what it meant in that moment when somethin’, call it a soul, call it somethin’ else, left. The body settling. The will of life…just gone.

He had faint memories, ones that might make themselves more vivid in nightmares, of death being more familiar to other folks, too. Back when it happened more often. Famine, disease. His mind groggily pulled words forward like consumption and scarlet fever. You saw death. Children died. Families lessened. You’d wrap a black band on your arm, women would drape themselves in the color. Back then, there was a certain respect, Logan understood, about grief. A knowing. A recognition. A moment people took to pause.

But then, his memories had revealed the obvious. Vaccinations for Polio. Smallpox. Shit got easier. People lived longer. Children died far less often, to the point where families started having less of them. Death, in a temporary sense, evaded. And it stopped appearing in the streets. It stopped being in the homes. He watched, as folks began seein’ death for what it wasn’t instead of what it was; in one word: commonplace.

What did it mean, anyway, to be alive? Was a sense of self, a consciousness, enough to constitute a life? He’d seen men without souls walk and talk and command the deaths of thousands. He’d killed Nazis, after all. But he’d also seen the last breath leave the lungs of kind and gentle souls to the point where the body wouldn’t quite stop, confused somehow, pining, maybe, for why it had been abandoned.

To die. To sleep.

He’d read Shakespeare. He’d read everything. It’s what you did, back then. You wanted entertainment outside of a woman’s thighs and the bottom of a booze bottle? You read. And he’d read them all. Faulkner. Joyce. Walker. Hemingway. Woolf. Fitzgerald. Tolstoy. The ancients, too. Aristotle. Plato. Odysseus.

But Shakespeare, that sonofabitch sometimes would stick with him. He’d forgotten it all, after Alkali, but in the months of the waning year of 2015, the year he’d found her and lost her all over again, his memories, along with memories of all the stories he’d read, came back to him. To die, to sleep. No more—and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to—‘tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

To die, to sleep.

Jesus fucking Christ, how many times had he wished for it.

Death had a way of coming ‘round though. Another year after her death. Then another. In the field he’d witnessed slaughter after slaughter. The jet would take him to places like Mongolia, Russia, Brazil, but everywhere it was the same. Mutants bein’ rounded up. Internment camps more common. Torture. Greif. The face of death, returning. You never stopped the fuckin’ wars for long. Humans were always keen on killin’ one another.

To die. To sleep.

Another life, sugar. A better one.

North Point though, it remained, and the temporary shelter the X-Men had taken up became more permanent. As Logan’s grief steadied, as he shoved down the fucking torment and heartache of it all, he’d been reestablished as lead of all team missions, but, more imporantly, Storm and Logan had made it a monthly resonisbility to oversee the rations and wellbeing of North Point. It was something, from that fateful windy day he’d escaped from the bowels of the place, he’d relearned. Sustainability, too, had found its way into the commune. Working sanitation systems. Plastic partitions instead of tents and lean-tos. Furniture in places, a community area to live and work. In the summer, community gardens and a small farm on the edge of the property, shielded by tech that had been put in place. In a sense, a semblance of a life. Storm served on the board of community members dealing with grievances, but Logan, he’d stayed in the shadows, much more apt to stalk about the place, checking in on the people he’d grown fond of, the people that had helped him get through the worst.

A warm hand on his naked shoulder, for one. He shot upright, after a short, quaking nightmare of his mother with a shotgun pointed at her temple, one of his oldest memories he suspected and feared was real, when he felt her warm naked body move closer even as he reached for his clothes.

“Already?” she asked simply. He jerked his head back to her face, the bright white of her hair partially covering the angry dark green lines of scarred skin mimicking the “M” that had been carved along her purple eyes years ago. Her thin arm of paler green skin that graced her entire body slung around his body that he gently moved aside. She had been one of the most abused at Two Rivers long before he had met her, beaten and tortured mostly, for having a complexion so different. A damn shame, because she was so fucking beautiful.

“Sorry, sweetheart. Been here too long as it is. Didn’t mean to fall asleep after,” he murmured, but upon sensing her grief, he turned to her once more, murmuring a “hey,” briefly running a sturdy, heavy hand along her delicate jawline, which she leaned into and closed her eyes in response. It was a somewhat false intimacy, they both knew it, but it was the respect they felt they both owed one another after the sex they both so desperately craved, but rarely received, except for in these stolen moments slipped between plastic partitions of the mutant compound in the middle of the night.

“Ok,” she whispered, pulling her naked form more into itself. “Ida will be up soon anyway,” she said, running a hand through her long thick hair, throwing her purple irises across the room to another plastic partitioned space, where her daughter, also brutally maimed across her right eye with the same green skin slept.

“You get the extra provisions I sent you, baby?” He asked, even as he pulled on his military grade cargo pants, and she looked up to him meekly on the mattress on the floor and military grade blankets, offering him a small smile.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “But the Pepsi was too much.”

Logan only smirked oddly at her, and winked.

“Kid’s gotta have some luxuries. I nearly lost my neck on that raid,” he said as he finished pulling on his boots, sitting in the one chair at the card table of the dwelling.

“She was bouncing off the walls because of the sugar,” the woman said, rolling her eyes and clutching her blankets tightly. Then, her smile fell as she knowingly looked up to him again.

“How long this time?” she asked through a quiet grimace. Logan immediately frowned, even as he shrugged on his jacket.

“Months, kid. They’re sending me to Antarctica,” he muttered, walking back to the mattress and the woman on the floor.

“Why there?” she asked hesitantly.

“There’s a mutant compound that’s thrivin’. Chuck’s gonna have us try to form an alliance. If we do, it could mean a lot better life for you all here,” he muttered, kneeling once more on the mattress to lay a hand on her thin shoulder.

“You, always running off to save the world,” she smiled coyly, but he only snorted in jest.

“Just tryin’ to survive, baby. You know that,” he responded, now glancing at the other partition where he knew the little girl slept with a soft brown teddy bear Logan had managed to procure for her, who she had deftly named “Fable.”

“You and Ida gonna be alright?” he asked carefully, sullen hazel eyes looking to the woman, even if he already knew the answer.

“You know we will,” she murmured knowingly, and then he leaned into kiss her simply, delicately, like the relationship they shared with one another. After that, he stood back up, eyes on the door. But he could still feel her watching him.

“Don’t die,” she said simply.

He turned back to her for the last time, an odd smirk on his face.

“Not possible for me, kid. Take care, alright?” She only nodded, once more accepting his absence and the immense loneliness that would most likely accompany it. And then he was gone, along the winding row of the compound, one hand in a tight fist at his side, his eyes on the exit, on the next thing to keep surviving.

#wolverine #logan #drafted

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degenerate-perturbation · 4 years

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Chapters: 9/? Fandom: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Amell/Female Surana Characters: Female Amell, Female Surana, Anders, Velanna, Nathaniel Howe Additional Tags: Established Relationship Series: Part 2 of void and light, blood and spirit Summary: Amell and Surana are out of the Circle, and are now free to build a life together. But when the prison doors fly open, what do you have in common with the one who was shackled next to you? What do you have in common, save for the chains that bound you both?

“Things sure have changed.”

At first Yvanne wasn’t even sure if Anders had meant that comment for her or for the birds. They’d been standing on the same parapet, not talking to each other, for an uncomfortably long time.

There were rather a lot of things she wanted to say to him. “Yeah,” she said instead.

By now the Keep was well on its way to being rebuilt, although there would be months to go before it was anything like its former glory. Still, it felt bigger now than before. The new recruits had swelled the Order’s ranks, and while before Yvanne had known everyone’s name and where they’d come from, these days she could barely keep track of who was who.

Anders was staring off into the cold afternoon sky. He looked wistful, with the faintest hints of fury buried deep beneath. Mostly he looked a bit tired.

She made an attempt: “Bit of a far toss from back when it was just a couple of childhood friends charging around the countryside, fresh out of the Tower."

He acquired a ghost of smile. “And Oghren.”

She snorted. “Yeah. And Oghren.”

“And the Seneschal.”

Unbidden tears came to her eyes. She hadn’t expected to miss the old man this much. “And the Seneschal,” she agreed, throat tight..

He nudged her. “Getting sentimental on me, are you?”

Startled out of her rising grief, she laughed. “Oh, shut up.” She shoved him on the upper arm, and he made a big show of pretending to almost fall off the parapet, pinwheeling his arms.

Suddenly the tension between them that had persisted in the past weeks evaporated, and it was almost like old times. They reminisced, joking and trading barbs. For a blessed portion of an hour, the fact that things were different now didn’t seem so tragic.

But all things ended.

He chuckled. “I remember when there were so few of us we had to do everything ourselves.”

Yvanne smiled, watery. “And having Nate join up was this big thing, let alone Sigrun and Velanna. Maker, it felt like such a risk. I mean, what if we didn’t get along?”

They both laughed, but not very hard this time, and not for long.

“Do you even know all the recruits names anymore?” he said.

“I used to,” she said wistfully. After the incident with Rolan, she had removed herself as head of recruitment. She didn’t trust herself with that job anymore. “I still know most of them, I think.”

He paused, then, “Do you know those three fellows who have been hanging around Rolan lately?”

“Oh, hm.” She stiffened a bit. Rolan had kept his distance from her and she had been too ashamed of herself to mind what he did. But it was still her job to know. “One of them’s named Conner, I think. He’s local. Used to be a farrier. The ginger’s an ex-mercenary from Starkhaven, William or something like that.”

“The big guy. Yeah. And the wiry fellow with the accent?”

“I think he’s originally from Nevarra. I can’t remember his name. Starts with an A.”

“You don’t think there’s anything funny about them?”

“No. Why would I?”

He paused. “They’ve been talking a lot, the four of them.”

“So they’re friends. Good for them,” she said, annoyed. “So what?”

“They’ve been talking privately.”

“If they’ve been talking privately, how would you know about it?”

“Never mind,” he muttered. “I’m just saying it’s suspicious, is all.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “It’s suspicious that four men are friends?”

“It’s not just that they’re friends, alright?” he snapped. “I think they’ve been keeping an eye on me. Lately no matter where I go, it seems like one of them’s there, too.”

“So you think they’re what, spying on you?”

“Not just me!” He leaned in closer, looking around as though someone might be listening in. “I think they know about Justice. I heard them talking once, and ever since then they’ve been more careful.”

“That’s troubling,” Yvanne agreed. “If true. But we’re working on it."

"Working on it? They're still here, though."

"What am I supposed to do? Throw them out of the Wardens on the vague suspicion that they might know about the possessed corpse we keep on staff?” Even if she’d wanted to, and a large part of her did, Loriel wouldn’t have agreed.

“Look, can you at least rotate me off patrol with those guys? I don’t know who Rolan’s bribing to keep getting assigned to my squads, but I’m sick of it.”

She shrugged. “Sure, fine. If it’ll make you feel better, I guess.”

“Thanks.” There was an awkward silence. “But you don’t believe me.”

The tension was back in full force.

“I don’t know,” she said eventually.

“I knew it. You think I’m crazy.”

“I never said that.”

“But you were thinking it."

She threw her hands up. “Look, I’m sick of being paranoid. I’m tired of it, alright, Anders? I’m tired! I don’t want to be watching my back all the time, afraid that someone is finally going to get me if I let my hackles down for even a second. I mean—Andraste, we’re not Circle mages anymore, we’re Wardens! Shouldn’t we act like it? Shouldn’t we stop being afraid?

“Sounds peachy,” he said acidly. “I’ll just get right on that, shall I?”

She set her jaw and looked away.

“Can't you talk to Loriel about this?”

“Talk to her yourself," Yvanne said stiffly. "You know where her office is.”

“She’s hardly ever in there anymore," Anders protested. "You don’t get it. She doesn’t listen to us. It’s like talking to an extremely polite brick wall. She smiles and agrees to everything and then it’s like she doesn’t even remember the conversation.”

“She’s got a lot on her mind."

“Yeah, well, we all have a lot on our minds. But she listens to you.”

“What exactly do you want me to tell her? That four men are friends? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You know that’s not what—”

“No,” she said, turning around. “I’m done talking about this. I don’t always understand Loriel’s decisions, but I support her, always and completely. So you can go ahead and quit using me to try and get to her. Talk to her yourself. Or don’t. But leave me out of it.”

“Fine,” Anders said. He could have frozen Kinloch Lake with the ice in that fine. “Things really have changed, huh? I remember when you gave a damn about something besides yourself and your own comfort.”

Yvanne snorted. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I remember when you actually bothered to stick your neck out for other people," he went on, yanking her by the shoulder so that she was obliged to face him. The damn beanpole had several inches on her. They glared at each other.

"The Yvanne I used to know would never have put up with this. She would have shouted. She would have been swinging. She would have made damn sure that the whole world knew that she wasn’t content."

“Yeah, well,” she said, drawing in on herself. “The Yvanne you used to know got the shit beaten out of her every other week. And what did she ever accomplish?”

“Fine, whatever." He gave a bitter snort, crossed his arms and went back to staring out at the grey landscape. “Didn’t realize you were giving up on all your principles.”

“Principles!” she said, scornful. “Principles! Since when have I ever claimed to have principles? I used to be an angry, miserable, vicious child, and now that I’m not that child anymore, you want to get mad at me? Real fine of you to get on your high horse about principles at me when you’ve spent your whole life being the exact same selfish, careless asshole that I used to be.”

“Maybe I’ve also changed. Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” he said. “I wonder what Justice would think about that. You remember Justice? Our good friend, the literal embodiment of justice, who you seem perfectly willing to throw under the wagon?”

“Is that what this is about?” A new flare of anger rose up in the pit of her gut. She cared about the spirit. “I've been meaning to talk to you about him. You really need to stop feeding his... complex. He’s not an embodiment of justice, he’s a person. A person uniquely bad at existing in this world, and you’re not making it any easier for him. Neither of you are good for each other.”

He gave her a brief, close-lipped smile. “You know, given the company you chose to keep, I would think that you would be the last person to lecture anybody about who’s good for who.”

It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about. And suddenly her hot, unhappy anger purified and crystallized into a clear, cold, unbothered pit of pure ice.

“You don’t know a fucking thing you’re talking about,” she said smoothly. “And if you’re going to say things like that, you may as well not speak to me at all."

As she stalked away, she regretted it, a little. Anders was an old friend, and you couldn’t exactly replace those, even if he did say phenomenally stupid, ignorant, wrong things some times.

But their friendship had weathered worse. It would probably weather this.

—

The door to the Commander’s office slammed open.

“I have some concerns.”

Loriel slowly closed her book with a sigh. She was getting rather tired of having her office barged into. Maybe she ought to spend more time in her lab, which nobody knew about except Yvanne. “Hello, Anders.”

“Don’t you ‘Hello, Anders’ me, this is serious!”

“Yes, I can see that,” she said.

“I don’t know,” he said acidly. “ Can you?”

“I’m listening very carefully to you, Anders.” She folded her hands on the desk. “What’s this about?”

“I’m talking about how this Keep is clearly infested with Chantry spies and you’re not doing a damn thing about it.”

“Ah. You’re referring to Rolan.”

He huffed. “ Yes, I’m referring to Rolan. I swear he’s been watching me, him and his little gang.”

“I see." She nodded. "While I can’t prevent him from doing what he wishes during his off-duty hours, I can ensure that you are not placed on concurrent duty.”

“But it’s not just me!” he said. “They’re trying to get at Justice, too, and probably Velanna. They were sent here to watch us, because we’re free mages!”

Loriel pursed her lips. “Do you have any evidence of that?”

“Evidence?! What evidence could you possibly need? Use your eyes! I mean, Andraste’s knickerweasels, it’s hardly a bold leap of conjecture, is it?”

She took and released a steady breath. “While I am happy to take steps to ensure you are not forced to work together if you are uncomfortable with his presence, I hardly see how this is evidence that the Keep is ‘infested’ with Chantry spies.”

His jaw dropped. “You can’t possibly be skeptical of conspiracies after the last one! You’d have to be out of your damn mind to deny you have enemies!”

“I am fully in possession of my faculties, thank you,” Loriel said in a clipped tone. “I’ll note that I’m not the one shouting my head off in my immediate superior’s office.”

“Forget it,” he said bitterly. “I can see it’s just going to be a waste of time with you.”

That stung, unexpectedly. She’d known she’d lost Anders’ good opinion even before she decided to spare the Architect, but they’d still been friendly. Maybe even friends, for a bit. She remembered the surprise wedding reception, how she’d danced. He hadn’t done it for her, but...

She let some of the hurt show on her face. Just enough to maybe make him regret saying it. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

He huffed and looked away. “And what about Justice?” he said instead of apologizing. “They’re after him, too, you know! You said you were going to do something about him, and he’s getting corpesier by the day.”

“Yes, I’ve spoken with him,” she said, although she barely had. She’d been keeping the spirit at arm’s length ever since Drake’s Fall, but then, she’d been keeping everyone at arm’s length for the past couple months, besides Yvanne.

It wasn’t that the spirit had been noticeably any colder to her since Drake’s Fall, the way Sigrun had. But she hadn’t been able to forget how close it had come to violence between them. She simply couldn’t trust him anymore. There were times when Loriel thought that she understood Justice better than she understood any mortal. He had a duty as innate to him as breathing—not that he breathed. It wasn’t that Justice wanted to bring justice. It was simply what he was. Nobody else in the Wardens understood that the way Loriel did.

“And?”

She cleared her throat. “We agreed that it would be prudent that he take more assignments away from the Keep for now.”

“That’s it? That’s your solution?”

“It’s the best I can do in the current circumstances. So for now, yes.”

“And for later? When Kristoff’s body really starts falling apart?”

“We discussed other possibilities." She sighed. "Justice does not wish to go back to the Fade. I hope to respect this choice.”

“What do you mean, hope?” Anders sounded on the edge of panic.

“I mean, finding an alternate host may prove problematic,” Loriel said. “Justice is, well... just. After his experiences with Aura, he doesn’t want to possess another corpse. And even if he did, that would simply be delaying the problem.”

“So he needs a willing host.”

She shook her head. “Even with a willing host, possessions are always unpredictable. I’ve known possessed mages who apparently experienced no adverse effects, but most possessed people are—” she considered, “—unstable, at best.”

“Because they’re possessed by demons,” Anders protested. “Justice is a spirit!”

“Yvanne seems to think that difference is not as important as commonly assumed. It isn’t clear to us yet what exactly makes for a successful possession. It would be irresponsible to ask anyone, even a willing host, to take such a risk when we know so little about the consequences. Returning to the Fade may be his best option. Yvanne has been looking into ways to banish him safely.”

“How can you say that?” Anders burst out. “Justice is our friend, and you’re going to banish him?”

She gave him a piercing look. “Hm. You are good friends,” she noted.

“Yeah, we’ve been talking, so what?” he muttered. “Don’t change the subject. You know Justice doesn’t belong in the Fade anymore. He’s changed.”

Maybe nobody belongs anywhere, Loriel thought absently. “We all change. It’s for the best.”

“Oh, the best,” he said scornfully, a cruel curl to his lip that she had seen before, on a few select occasions. She’d never thought to be on the receiving end of it. “Is that what you think you’re doing? Watching out for everyone’s best interests?”

She stared back, unfazed. “Yes, Anders. That is what I think I’m doing.”

“Well, you have a unique way of going about it, I’ll say.”

“And what exactly do you mean by that?”

“I mean you’re bloody scary!” he snapped. “Do you even realize, how scary you are? I get that you don’t listen to anyone anymore, not even your own damn wife, but really, do you have any idea? Draining the life out of people, paralyzing their lungs, and then inviting a bunch of Templars for high tea, as though they aren’t going to notice that?”

“Contrary to your apparent belief, Anders, I actually am aware that magic tends to be viewed with fear and suspicion, yes. Or do you forget that we were imprisoned in the same tower?” She fought the urge to stand up, assert her powers, escalate the conflict. It wouldn’t have helped. He was a solid foot taller than her.

No, better to stay seated, in control. Let him get emotional. “But I don’t suffer from the illusion that some types of magic are somehow subject to a lesser degree of bigotry.”

“So you really don’t see any difference between healing the sick and stopping the hearts of a dozen people at once?” he said sardonically.

“Oh, please,” she said, irritated despite herself. “That’s what you’re going to fling at me? Those people had every intention of killing me. My men were going to try their best to kill them no matter what happened. I simply expedited the conflict, to spare my men pain and injury and possibly even death, because what is the point of magic if you cannot use it to help people? Just because it didn’t feel very fair doesn’t mean it was wrong.”

“That isn’t the—”

“I am simply finished being ashamed of myself,” she said primly. Then, the finishing blow: “I would have thought a fellow mage would understand as much.”

That shut him up. He glared down at the rug. Suddenly a memory struck her—the three of them in this very room, huddled on the floor, a mahogany box between them containing their phylacteries. How they’d all held hands and smashed them together, Kinloch alumni turned Wardens freeing themselves together. Yvanne had brought in the rug to cover the stain that was probably still there. Anders had loudly said it was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, and Yvanne had punched him on the arm.

She sighed. “Anders, wait. I’m—”

“Save it,” he bit out, turning on his heel. “I’ve heard enough.”

The door slammed. The vibrations from it nearly rattled the inkwell off Loriel’s desk. After that she tried to go back to her book, but it was no good concentrating up here. She would retire to her private laboratory space, she decided, and hang anybody else that wanted to talk to her til nightfall.

—

When she finally emerged she had gotten precious little done. Her mind still ran with echoes of what had been said in her office, unsettling her just enough to wreck her concentration. The longer she forced herself to try and focus, the worse it got, so after a time she was obliged to simply give up and go upstairs.

Yvanne sat cross-legged on the bed wearing a formless shift, a volume open on her lap. “Productive day?” she said.

“Approximately.” The shift, far too big for her, was slipping off her shoulder. Almost mindlessly, Loriel kissed the shoulder and pulled the shift up before shedding some outer layers herself. “Any luck with that spirit lore?”

“Some. The problem is that most of what I’ve got is Chantry sources.” Her nose wrinkled. “And it’s increasingly obvious that a lot is being left out. There’s all sorts of spirit traditions being talked around here. Avvar, Chasind, Rivaini...it’s hopeless figuring this stuff out without doing some legwork.”

“I’m sure you will, though,” Loriel said distractedly. “You’re very capable.”

Yvanne’s eyes flicked up to her. “I heard you had it out with Anders today.”

Loriel stiffened. “Oh, please, we did not have it out. He simply had some concerns, which I addressed.”

“Really. And here’s me remembering distinctly how a door slammed so hard this afternoon that the hinge was damaged and will need replacing.”

Loriel winced. “That bad, was it?”

Yvanne smiled slightly. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He’ll get over it soon enough, and things will go back to normal.”

“You really think so?” Loriel fiddled with a piece of her hair. It had grown long again of late. “I don’t know. I think he hasn’t seen me the same way since he first saw me use blood magic. He thinks I’m—”

“Well, he’s wrong, then, isn’t he? Oh, come here.” Yvanne tossed aside the Chantry-approved book of spirit lore and carded her fingers through Loriel’s hair, getting the tangles out. “You don’t really think he’s right about any of it, do you?”

“No. I think I’m doing the right thing.”

Yvanne put her hair into a loose braid, destined to come loose in the night. “Then trust in that. I do.”

“Thank you, Yvanne.”

“Wish you’d stop thanking me for stuff like this,” Yvanne sniffed. Dissatisfied with the braid she’d made, she undid it and started another, more complex one, fated to unravel even faster.

“I think I should go visit Avernus,” Loriel said, all in one breath. Then, before Yvanne could reply, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I have my reservations, but I don’t think the letters are doing it. There’s some elements to his research that I think I need to see in person if I want to make any progress on the calling within the decade.”

“Oh,” Yvanne said. “You’ve been exchanging letters with Avernus?”

“Hm? Oh. Yes. I have.” Loriel blinked. “You didn’t know? It wasn’t a secret, I wasn’t hiding it, or anything.”

“No, I know you weren’t,” Yvanne said distractedly. “It must have just slipped one or both of our minds.”

“Right. So will you come with me? It isn’t far to Soldier’s Peak, we’d be back within a few days.”

“I don’t know,” she fretted. “The Keep is a little—socially fragile right now. Is it really wise for both of us to go?”

“Oh. Yes.” Loriel glanced down. “No, you’re right, of course. You mind the Keep, I’ll go alone.”

Yvanne’s fingers tightened in Loriel’s hair. “Alone?” Loriel could tell they were thinking of the same thing. The assault on Amaranthine. The siege of Vigil’s Keep. Drake’s Fall. “No, no, no, that’s even less wise. Please... please don’t do that.”

“If you ask it of me,” Loriel said mildly. “But...it would really help the work along. And I’m sure you could find something in his collection on spirit lore, besides these useless Chantry-approved books. We could help Justice.”

Yvanne started another braid. This one, sloppier. “I suppose you’re right,” she said eventually. “Yes, alright, I’ll come with you. I’m sure Garahel can keep things running for a few days without the Vigil burning down.”

—

Yvanne and Anders still weren’t on speaking terms when she left with Loriel for Soldier’s Peak. It made her a bit sad—she was already regretting being so harsh, but remained too proud to apologize—but she doubted it would last forever. Give it a few weeks, she figured.

Besides, a little trip could be like a vacation. Even if it was to visit the mountainous frozen wasteland of a demented old blood mage with only the loosest understanding of regular human morals.

She quipped as much to Loriel, who gave her a reproachful look. “He’s not demented. He’s doing really very remarkable things.”

“You going to start sacrificing the least capable recruits to your dreadful experiments, too?” Yvanne joked.

Loriel didn’t find it particularly funny. “He doesn’t do that anymore,” she said. “He keeps complaining in his letters about how slowly everything’s going without human subjects.”

“Yes, well, I suppose we’ll find out if he’s telling the truth about that.”

“That’s the other reason I wanted to visit,” Loriel said darkly.

They took a coach, because the roads were peaceful and well-maintained these days, and why not go in some degree of comfort? Maker knew that they’d had enough walking across the whole breadth of Ferelden.

When they arrived, two days unhurried travel later, Levi Dryden and his brother Mikhael had the run of the place. As far as either of them knew—or would admit, anyway—the mage Avernus, who had quarters in the upper levels of the castle, was a perfectly ordinary Warden mage, experimenting chiefly on himself with the approval of the Warden-Commander. Who was, essentially, the only authority that mattered.

That was Grey Wardens for you. Bloody secretive lot. Apt to keep a secret blood mage in a castle and not ask too many questions.

Loriel seemed to only vaguely remember who Levi was, let alone his brother, but that was why Yvanne habitually said the names of their contacts aloud when she greeted them. It was funny to remember, sometimes, back in the Tower when Loriel was the socially adept one between the two of them. Yvanne got the report of how Soldier’s Peak was coming along, how trade and lines of communications were running, whether there were any problems that needed seeing to by the Warden-Commander—or realistically, the Warden-Lieutenant. Yvanne was vaguely hoping that there would be, but for once everything was running smoothly, and there didn't seem to be anything for her to do.

The lower levels of the fortress were certainly looking better than the last time they were there, when it had been overrun with demons and walking corpses. People were living there now, not themselves Wardens but Warden-adjacent, curious to get a glance at the legendary Warden-Commander.

Avernus still lived where he’d lived for the past two hundred years, in his tower. If he was aware of the living fortress below him, he didn’t let on about it. Did he even need to eat, Yvanne wondered? Probably not. Probably just sustained his body with blood magic, somehow. She briefly imagined what that would be like, and shuddered.

“Hello, Avernus,” she said. “Good to see you’re still alive, or whatever passes for alive. Still being a creepy old blood mage, I see. Good for you. I trust you’re well? Sacrificed anybody recently?”

Loriel nudged her disapprovingly, but Avernus didn’t seem to have registered anything she’d said.

“About time you came to visit me, Commander,” he said instead. “I knew you would, sooner or later.”

As far as either of them could tell, the Warden mage had been telling the truth when he promised to keep his experiments 'ethical'. At least Levi hadn’t reported any mysterious disappearances or anything else particularly irregular, and Loriel had intentionally not announced her visit ahead of time, just in case. Everything seemed to be above board.

On the subject of being a creepy old blood mage shut up in a tower doing dreadful experiments that would make a Chantry Mother faint dead away, Yvanne was nominally ‘pro.’ There had been a time when all her dearest fantasies involved gleeful slaughter of Templars, apostasy, illegal magic—the whole bit. If she’d met Avernus as a seventeen-year-old, she probably would have thought he was a hero just for existing.

And technically, she still felt that way. Nothing wrong with a bit of bone-chilling illegal magic. Some light demon summoning, that was fine, too. Even Uldred’s rebellion and its consequences hadn’t changed her mind. Admitting that the Chantry was right about the danger magic could pose meant admitting it could be right about other things. About mages. About what was to be done to them. Yvanne would sooner set herself on fire than come within spitting distance of admitting that. She figured, in principle, if the Chantry proscribed it, it was somebody’s moral duty to do it as hard as possible.

But she was realizing that she didn’t particularly want that somebody to be Loriel.

So Anders was right about her. So she didn’t have any principles. So what? Was that so bad? Her principles had only ever made her miserable. Why was she obliged to hold on to something that only ever hurt?

Yvanne tried following Loriel and Avernus’s discussion about blight and blood and poisoned lyrium, but she quickly lost track of it. It had gotten highly technical very quickly, reaching into concepts that Yvanne was only vaguely aware existed. No wonder Avernus wasn’t interested in talking to her. She was completely out of her depth.

Instead she perused the extensive library, looking for anything on spirit lore. It was no easy task. Many of the books were so moldy that they were little more than damp bricks of wood pulp. Others were so badly charred that their titles couldn’t be made out. Some were mostly intact, but written in such old, obscure dialects that even Yvanne’s classical education in ancient languages couldn’t help her. Some were written in scripts that she couldn’t even recognize.

One tome was written in a mostly-understandable form of ancient Tevene, and seemed promising—but was nearly as high as a man, and bolted to the table besides. Yvanne sighed and went hunting for a dictionary to cross-reference it with and take some notes.

When she couldn’t stand to stare at the unnecessarily elaborate script anymore, she spent time amongst the lower levels of the fortress, making sure that there really wasn’t anything urgent or difficult that somebody needed done. Something. Anything.

So passed the days. Yvanne found out some interesting things about spirit lore. Two times a day she pried Loriel away for meals and sunlight, which usually succeeded on the second or third try. All the while a vague anxiety grew in her, like she had abandoned her Keep, and every hour that she remained away from it was dangerous.

It was frustrating. When had she become such a homebody? Didn’t she used to crave freedom, adventure, and the wonders of the whole world?

She started gently suggesting to Loriel that perhaps they ought to think about heading home. They nearly done, Loriel assured her. Tomorrow they’d go home. Or the day after, certainly.

And so a visit of a few days stretched out into nearly a fortnight.

On the thirteenth day since their departure, Yvanne climbed to the highest tower of Soldier’s Peak, determined to lay down the law--but needn’t have bothered. When she arrived Loriel was in the process of loading her collection of reagents back into her travel box.

“There you are,” Loriel said, brushing some greyish residue off the sleeves of her rope. “I think we’re about done.”

“Oh,” Yvanne said. “Well, good. Figured lots of things out, then?”

“Ah—yes,” Loriel said distractedly, peering at a label of an opaque bottle of brown glass. “Yes, I’ve a lot to test out, when we get home. Much to do.”

“Yes, yes, I look forward to hearing of your results,” the old blood mage said, scribbling something in the margins of a leather-bound tome.

“Great. Yeah,” said Yvanne, feeling her mood lift at once as Loriel snapped the locks shot on her trunk of vials. “Here, let me get that. You haven’t eaten yet today, have you? You probably should, I’ll get things ready for departure.”

Loriel smiled. “How foolish of me to even contemplate the notion that I could get by without you.”

“Too right,” Yvanne said. “Come on, then.”

The scratching of Avernus’s quill paused. “Ah—I nearly forgot. What did you end up using my little concoction for? I can tell that you didn’t bother to drink it.”

Yvanne stared in blank incomprehension. But understanding was dawning in Loriel’s eyes.

“Nothing in particular,” she answered.

“Threw it away, did you?” the old blood mage snorted. “Thought as much.”

“No...no, I still have it.”

“Hm,” sniffed the blood mage. “Perhaps not quite so foolish, then. I was quite proud of that recipe.”

Loriel blinked, sowly. “Oh...interesting. I’ll take a look, perhaps.”

“But we’d really better be going,” Yvanne said loudly, although she needn’t have bothered. Avernus was no longer paying attention to either of them.

It was too late to depart that day, so they instead left first thing in the morning. All that night and following morning, Loriel’s mind was somewhere else.

“Productive fortnight, then?” Yvanne said, breaking the growing silence.

Loriel started, lifting her cheek from her fist. “Hm? Oh. Yes. Yes, it was.” She sounded like she was about to elaborate, but trailed off. “I do wish I’d had the wherewithal to ask about what that concoction in the vial was actually supposed to do. It just caught me so off-guard, I’d completely forgotten about it. In a future letter, I suppose…”

Yvanne blanched. “You’re not actually thinking of drinking it, are you?”

Her eyes glinted with amusement. “As I recall, you were the one that dared me to drink it in the first place.”

“I was bloody well joking! Maker, Loriel—”

“Oh, calm down,” she laughed. “It isn’t that serious.”

“You’re cruel and wretched,” Yvanne complained. “I don’t know why I ever married you.”

The rest of the coach ride passed uneventfully. They were making better time on the way back, for which Yvanne was glad. A few hours in, she dozed off against Loriel’s shoulder, then in her lap, falling into a sticky state of half-dream and half-waking.

Only when the coach suddenly stopped did Yvanne realize that she’d fallen entirely asleep, and that it was hours later. “What’s going on?” she mumbled, drowsy.

“I don’t know,” said Loriel.

The coach door opened. It was Garahel, pale-faced. So they were back.

And something was wrong.

“Commander,” he said, bowing his head. “It’s good to see you back. We’ve been watching the roads for your arrival. We thought…something’s happened.”

“What’s going on, Garahel?” Yvanne demanded.

“You had better come see.”

—

In the growing dark, it was hard to see the blood. It appeared not red but black, though not all of it had dried yet; much of it had mixed with the mud and the dew. It was more readily smelled than seen, the distinct reek of iron tingeing the far stronger scents of human waste and rot. The bodies themselves were easier, though not a one of them remained in tact. A limb here, part of a torso there, something still recognizable as a head there.

They’d seen worse. The darkspawn did worse, in greater numbers. This was only four men, four Grey Wardens. They’d seen battlefields strewn with hundreds, witnessed horrors beyond mortal ken.

Nothing had ever sickened Yvanne so much in her life.

“Anders did this?” she said numbly.

“We believe so,” Garahel said. “He was on patrol with them.”

“I thought I ordered them not to be put on patrol together,” Loriel said sharply. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, Commander. But we have multiple witnesses attesting that he was last seen with them. I have men looking for him. No success yet.”

“Is there anything else I should know about?”

Loriel had meant it sardonically, but it seemed Garahel wasn't done delivering bad news.

“Kristoff’s body was found in the courtyard a few days ago.” Yvanne took her eyes off the carnage to look up at him. “It was already in an advanced state of decay. His ashes have been returned to his widow.”

“I see,” Loriel said coolly. “We’ll investigate this, Garahel. Please leave us for now.”

If he found the order strange, he didn’t show it. He bowed, and departed.

Yvanne was still staring at the carnage. Loriel touched her gently on the arm. “Yvanne, I am... so sorry. This is entirely my fault. If I hadn’t held us up, if I’d agreed to leave Soldier’s Peak when you wanted to, this would never have happened. I don’t know what to say. If you’re furious with me, I understand.”

Yvanne produced a dry, ugly bark of a laugh. “You know, love, one of these days you’re going to have to realize that you aren’t responsible for every horrible thing that happens in this world.”

“Maybe I am,” Loriel said. She’d meant it as a joke, but it had some out a little manic and unsteady. Yvanne didn’t respond. She tightened her grip on her arm. She needed to fix this, somehow. “I haven’t been studying necromancy recently, but I know a few rare spells. It might not work, but I think I can raise one of these corpses, ask it what really happened—”

“Stop it,” Yvanne said, shaking her off. “Just stop it! No necromancy, no corpse interviews, none of that! This is already awful enough as it is. What’s the point of dragging some poor sod out from whatever rest he’s made it to just so he can confirm what’s obvious enough?”

“ Is it obvious?” Loriel said softly.

“I should damn well fucking say so,” Yvanne said. “Seems pretty clear to me. Our Anders got himself possessed, dragged poor Justice into it, lost his damn mind, and tore apart a handful of innocent boys because his paranoid fucking ass couldn’t handle life on the outside of the tower walls.”

Loriel winced. “You really think he’d do something like this?”

There was a moment, and both of them were aware of it, even if later they both pretended not to be. In that moment they both thought, no. That Yvanne’s explanation was plausible, tempting, and wrong. After all, it didn’t take much inventiveness to generate an alternative version of events, one where Anders’ paranoia was entirely correct, where he had no choice, where he acted in self-defense.

But if it were true, that thing that they both were thinking—if it were true—then it meant that this really was Loriel’s fault. That she had known about everything, about Anders’ fears and Rolan and Justice, and had let it happen anyway. Had simply gone off to Soldier’s Peak on her own business and ignored it. And it meant that Yvanne had known, too, and closed her eyes and trailed after Loriel like she always did. Because that way she could take the path of least resistance, and still call herself virtuous. Devoted. Reliable.

If it were true, it would tear them apart. Maybe not right away, but someday visible on the horizon. After all, who could live with that self knowledge?

If it were true.

“Maybe not the Anders I knew,” Yvanne said eventually. “But we’ve both changed. Maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did.”

“Oh, Yvanne…” Loriel sighed.

Yvanne inhaled, closing her eyes. “Can we please just burn these corpses and go home? Maker, I’m going to have to write their families, aren’t I?”

“I’ll do that,” Loriel told her, rubbing small circles into her shoulders. “I’m the Commander. It’s my job.”

“Doing that now, are you?” Yvanne muttered. Loriel ignored that, because she was hurting, and didn’t mean it, and anyway, she was right.

Maybe, she thought desperately, maybe Yvanne was right. Maybe they really were just innocent boys. Anders really did have a tendency for paranoia. Who was she to say?

The most difficult part was gathering up the limbs. Some had been flown well out of the clearing. There was probably no danger of anything possessing a body so dismembered, but corpses were to be burned. It was proper.

They could have had their men do this for them, but magical fire burned hotter and brighter, and this way it was over quicker. A few weeks from now, this clearing would heal. It would be green and peaceful again.

Yvanne remembered the time she had shown Justice the sparrow’s nest. Was that spot around here, somewhere? She felt like retching all over again.

When the pyre had reduced the remains to nothing but ash and memory, they doused the embers.

At some point, Loriel took Yvanne’s hand, and she didn’t shake her off.

“What are we going to do about this?” Yvanne said hollowly.

“I don’t know.”

“Should we look for him? Send men to bring him in?”

“We could do that.”

“And what would we do even if we found him? Execute him?”

“Is that what you want?” Loriel asked.

Yvanne sniffed. “No. Of course I don’t.” She rubbed at her eyes. “But he could hurt someone. We’d be responsible.” She was aware of who she sounded like, and was already busily hating herself for it.

“You saw what he did to those men,” Loriel said quietly. “If we send more after him, they’ll likely never come back.”

The thought of sending actual Templars after a boy they’d both grown up with was so vile that it didn’t even brook mentioning.

“So we cover it up.”

“We’ll make up a story. Something about secret Warden business.”

“What about Garahel?”

“Do you trust him?”

“I want to say yes, but…”

“Then I have a spell for that.”

“Alright. I suppose...alright.”

Loriel hugged her, squeezing tight. “I’m sorry this happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Then, very quietly: “He was my friend. They were both my friends.”

What could she possibly do but hold on tighter? “It’ll be alright, love. I don’t know how, but it will.”

And it was. For a time.

#dragon age #femslash #dragon age: awakening #amell #surana #please read my wizard lesbian fanfiction

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tanoraqui · 5 years

Text

2 extra bits for Men at Arms

“Whatever you do, don’t touch it!” Vimes warned.

“Why not? It’s only a device,” said Carrot. He picked up the gonne by the barrel, regarded it for a moment, and

somewhere in the darkness, a monster coiled, made of smoked and blood and the smell of oiled metal. The gonne whispered, “Hold me. Keep me. Kill for me.”

“No,” said the figure it surrounded in the darkness--who was golden, who was incandescent, who was a King.

“I can give you everything. I can help you make the world right.”

“You brought destruction to my city. You killed innocents people for fun. You nearly made my Captain dishonor his badge.”

The gonne screamed as the king blazed brighter with each word, tearing the darkness to shreds and

then smashed it against the wall. Bits of a pinwheel rolled away.

“One of a kind,” he said. “One of a kind is always special, my father used to say. Let’s be going.”

- -

Walking the world as a vengeful spirit was, it turned out, incredible boring. Perhaps because Cuddy was not walking the world so much as the edge of this vast black desert, stretching out beneath a moonless sky. He could have started walking across it. The more not-time passed, the more he wanted to. Felt that he had to, that it was the right thing. But one of the things even dwarves know dwarves are known for is their stubbornness, so he stayed right where he was. He couldn’t go back, but he wouldn’t go forward. Not quite yet.

Death hadn’t seemed concerned about this vow. He had simply said, “MANY DO NOT, IMMEDIATELY. PARTICULARLY DWARVES. TAKE YOUR TIME.”

It was very difficult, actually, to tell time in this place. So Cuddy wasn’t sure whether it had been a couple hours or a couple days or maybe a couple centuries when, finally, three objects fell out of the sky. They were a little ghostly at first, but solidified in time to land at his feet.

This was not entirely unexpected, in that he had definitely been waiting for the axe - his axe, refurbished and sharpened and better than new. Cuddy scooped it up with a glad cry, and then used it to poke one of the other objects - a device that looked like a long tube attached to a crossbow trigger, which he had seen a flash of in a dark alley and a careful sketch of in a notebook.

The gonne did not explode. It did sag a little, as though it had been broken and then put together again but not quite properly.

Axe ready to strike, as though this was a snake rather than a mechanical weapon, Cuddy bent down and poked it with his finger this time.

The gonne sagged a little further. It did not speak. It did not aim itself.

(It turns out that even a terrible weapon that should never have been is not quite powerful enough, not quite a self enough, to have a ghost. This is incredibly much for the best.)

Cuddy left it for the moment and poked at the satchel - just as hesitantly, just in case. It was a completely ordinary satchel. The papers inside were less ordinary, and he ended up sitting down on the black sand to read them all, and think a little harder about the events of the last few days of his life, and what might have happened afterwards.

Then he went back to the gonne hand with a few knocks from the travel hammer and tongs in his pocket, had it good as new. There was enough of it left for him to set it against his shoulder without thinking, aim it at the sky, and cock it with a very satisfying click. Cuddy grinned.

Then he made sure his axe was secure on his back, and slung the satchel over one shoulder to boot. Information could be a terrifically valuable weapon.

“All right, any demons and devils that are probably not out there!” shouted Constable Cuddy (promotion made official posthumously, though he didn’t know it.) He made that satisfying click again, and started out across the desert. “Go ahead, make my day!”

#discworld #ankh morpork city watch #carrot ironfoundersson #captain carrot #lance constable cuddy #my fic #sam vimes #terry pratchett #k but now i'm utterly delighted by the idea that just as vimes has the Beast in the dark alleys of his mind #carrot has a King - maybe not in dark rainy alleys so much as shining open walkways (same city though)#and kept in check by very much the same watchman #who watches the watchmen? they watch each other and they watch themselves #carrot and vimes and vetinari and that 'three hands clasped in the center' meme and the center is the good of ankh-morpork #and words that come from 'polis' (meaning 'city')#i hope cuddy has hte time of his ghost life and a truly epic adventure where the information comes in as useful as the gun and axe

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talinexa · 5 years

Text

Young and Thoughtless - One Shot?

Takes place during BbS but has slight spoilers for the end of KH3! I wouldn’t mind doing a part 2 of this...

I laughed with my arms folded. “I told you you’d eventually get caught sneaking in,” I said.

Isa coughed and sat up. “Very perceptive,” he grumbled. Lea rolled onto his back and sat up so he was facing the castle. After a moment he picked himself back to his feet. Isa stood as well. I chuckled as they dusted themselves off.

“C’mon, you two. Ice cream is on me,” I said.

The boys followed me back to the ice cream stand. I bought us each an ice cream stick—sea salt being the best—and we all found a quiet spot in the square to sit on the cobblestoned ground and eat it. Lea and Isa were quiet and thoughtful. Characteristic of Isa. But not Lea.

“What happens when you guys sneak in?” I asked. “What are you looking for?”

The two of them glanced at each other.

I sighed. “Okay. I get it. I’m the one who’s not a best friend. I don’t get to be trusted that much yet. I get it.”

“It’s not that,” Lea put in quickly.

“You just… won’t believe us,” Isa added.

“I've watched you two get up to some crazy shenanigans. I’m sure I’ll believe you,” I remarked, licking some ice cream before it could melt onto my hand. Isa took a bite of his.

“Alright. We’ve met another friend in there. A girl. We don’t know her name. She’s… she’s being used as an experiment. A lab rat if you will. We’re trying to rescue her,” Isa said.

I nodded. “I believe that,” I said. “You’re good boys.”

Isa rolled his eyes in irritation at the compliment but Lea puffed up his chest with a satisfied smile. I smiled at both of them. They were good kids—if they were mischievous and got into trouble—and I was happy that I’d made friends with them. Thanks to Lea and his habit of “picking up stray puppies,” as Isa always put it. He’d picked up me, a stray puppy myself I supposed, and I’d made friends to both of them.

“Don’t patronize us,” Isa said quietly, munching on his ice cream.

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m complimenting you. You idiot.”

Lea started laughing. “You’re too cute,” he said, ruffling my hair. I shoved him off.

“Heeey!” I protested with a giggle.

We laughed and used our free hands to shove at each other before Isa pushed himself between us and sat down. “Enough, you two,” he snapped. “You’re causing a scene.”

I glanced around the square. “There’s no one else here,” I said.

“Not out and about, but the curtains are moving in many windows.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

We went back to eating our ice cream in silence.

Which was broken when I was nearly done with mine by a voice shouting my name. All three of us looked up from our ice cream sticks and around. The shout of my name echoed down the streets again. I sighed. “It’s my mom. I gotta go,” I said, finishing off my ice cream and throwing the stick at Lea. “Throw that away for me, would ya?”

“Sure thing,” Lea said.

“See you at school tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

I nodded to them and jogged off, wiping my mouth to make sure there were no traces of blue ice cream on my lips.

I intercepted my mom before she could make it to the square. “Hi Mom,” I greeted.

“Where have you been, sweetheart?”

“Just walking around,” I said. “The castle grounds are beautiful this time of year.”

“By yourself?” Mom asked.

I nodded. She and my dad would never approve of the fact that my two best friends were both boys. They were under the old-fashioned impression that boys and girls couldn’t just be friends. “Yeah. I like having time with my thoughts.”

Mom hummed in thought. I started heading for home and she had no choice but to follow me if she wanted to keep pressing for details.

“Sweetie, I think you need to make more friends,” Mom said.

“I have plenty of friends.”

“You have three.”

Five.

“And you’re not particularly close to any of them.”

“You know me, Mom. I’d rather stay at home with a book than go out and hang with people.” I shrugged as my shoes clicked on the cobblestoned street of Radiant Garden. “I have enough friends for the way I am.”

“You just seem to be always alone.”

I’m not. Isa and Lea... they’re here for me all the time. But you won’t understand that... I thought.

“I like it that way. Most people are obnoxious,” I said.

“How do you ever plan to get married with that attitude?”

There it was again. Marriage. Mom had been talking to me about very little else since I turned fifteen. It was always about my introversion and shyness and how I ever expected to find a husband if I thought people were annoying. I couldn’t introduce her to Isa and Lea because she’d start trying to push me into pursuing a romantic relationship with one of them.

I shrugged again. “Maybe one day I’ll meet a boy who isn’t annoying and who doesn’t feel draining to be around. One who’s... more like me. Quieter and calmer than most of the boys my age that I see at school.” Like Isa—but not Isa because Isa was just a friend.

And either way he’d never struck me as the type to fall in love. Maybe that was just because we were young and thoughtless about such things, but he didn’t seem to indulge in feelings too often.

Mom didn’t seem to know what to say to that so she was quiet for the rest of the walk back to our house.

*****

Clack! Something struck my window softly. I got up from where I’d been reading and went over.

A redhead and a blue-haired boy were walking past my house down the street, pretending like nothing happened. Isa and Lea.

A small pebble was on the roof in front of my window, with a small piece of paper tied around it. I opened my window and picked it up. Crawling out onto the roof, I sat on the shingles and opened the folded paper.

Meet us tonight in the square by the ice cream stand. There’s going to be a meteor shower. -Isa & LEA

I smiled. Of course Isa wrote the note. Lea’s handwriting was more disastrous than mine—which was saying something—but Isa’s was gorgeously neat.

All I had to do was bide my time, make a pillow dummy, and climb down the rain pipe. I’d done it often enough.

Giggling, I opened my closet and found a book on a shelf that I could lay on the floor, face-down with the pages open and slightly bent like it had fallen off when I went to sleep reading.

I took it down to dinner so that Mom would see I was reading it. Set it on the table next to me.

After dinner, I went back to my room and sat pretending to read on my bed, waiting for the time I could sneak out. I was excited. I’d forgotten about the meteor shower. I knew about it because Isa mentioned it at school a while ago but had forgotten.

It took several hours before the house had gone to sleep for the night. My sister’s door was the last to close down the hall. Slowly I situated my pillow dummy and book. Then I crept out of my open window and slid it shut behind me.

Sliding down the rain pipe was relatively quick and simple. Once my feet were on solid ground, I ran barefoot down my street. When I was around the corner I slid my shoes on and took off for the square.

When I got there, Isa was struggling to boost Lea up onto the roof of the ice cream stand. I snickered, ran across the square, interlaced my fingers, and scooped up Lea’s other foot, shoving skyward to help him up. He cried out in surprise. “You came!” he exclaimed quietly.

I giggled. “’Course I did. Wasn’t going to miss the meteor shower!” I replied. “Hop up, Isa.”

“I’m taller than you. Shouldn’t I help you up so Lea can can pull you up?” Isa protested.

I shook my head. “Nope. C’mon. Trust me,” I said. Isa sighed but put his foot on my interlaced fingers as I pushed up. Lea caught his hand and pulled him up onto the roof. Once Isa was safely up, both boys extended their hands to catch me. I smiled and got up on the counter of the stand then pulled myself up onto the sturdy metal fixing behind the sign before sliding effortlessly onto the roof. “I got it myself, boys. Thanks.” I giggled as Lea nudged me in the arm with his elbow.

“This girl never needed us,” he joked to Isa. “Look at her. All fancy and independent.”

“Nah just figured it’d be easier to get up this way without having to rely on my own hand strength,” I said. The three of us snuggled down on the roof to watch the meteor shower.

“So you make it out okay?” Lea asked.

“Yeah. I know how to sneak out,” I said.

“What an unfortunate way to live,” Isa remarked.

“Well if I were watching this meteor shower with literally anyone else, I wouldn’t have to. But my parents don’t like the idea of me being friends with boys. My mom would assume I want to marry one of you.” I put my arms behind my head and stared up at the sky.

“Hmm,” Lea hummed. “That’s weird.”

“I know,” I said.

A bright light streaked across the sky. “It’s starting, shh!” Isa hissed. I shuffled in my place, putting one arm to my side and leaving the other thrown behind my head. Above, the stars twinkled with silent grace, watching others fall.

“Wow...” I breathed as several meteors flashed across the sky in unison. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Lea agreed.

“Indeed,” Isa added.

We stayed on the roof of the ice cream stand for a long time—until the meteor shower started to die down. It was getting late. “I should get home,” I said. “We still have school tomorrow. And I don’t wanna get caught outside after curfew by any guards or my mom will kill me.” I moved to the edge of the roof and peered down. Getting up was easy. Dropping down was harder.

“Here,” Isa said, climbing past me. He jumped off the roof and landed quietly. “I’ll guide you down.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I started to pick my way down, letting Isa’s voice guide me to my footholds. I set both feet on the counter when Lea started climbing down.

He stepped on my fingers, still on the sign fixings.

“Ouch!” I hissed, letting go on instinct. “Whoa—whoa!” I fell backward, arms pinwheeling like it might save me from falling. My feet left the counter.

Isa caught me, one arm catching my knees and the other my waist. My ears grew warm fast and I knew I must have been turning bright red. The heat spread up my neck and across my face.

Immediately he set me down.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he replied.

“Sorry!” Lea whispered, jumping down the last few feet. “I thought you were down.”

“It’s okay. It was an accident.”

“Who goes there?!” a guard’s voice called.

“Oh no,” I whispered. I grabbed both boys by the hand and yanked them down a street. We ran down cobblestoned paths that we’d walked our whole lives—Radiant Garden wasn’t that huge of a town—until we were far away from the square. “Think we lost him?” I asked, panting.

“I should hope so—with you taking corners like that,” Isa panted.

Lea started snickering. “That... was awesome!” he whispered.

“No it wasn’t! If that guard had seen me and told my mom, I’d be dead!” I retorted.

Lea waved dismissively. “Oh lighten up. He didn’t see us.”

“It sounded like the same guard who found us in the castle,” Isa mused.

“All the more reason for us to get inside. Now,” I said.

“Well, lucky for you, you stopped right on our street,” Lea said, gesturing down the street.

“Still. Perhaps we ought to see her home safely, Lea,” Isa put in.

“No. If my mom catches you with me all three of us are dead,” I said, shaking my head. “Goodnight guys. I’ll be fine.”

“Night,” Lea said.

“Goodnight,” Isa added.

I nodded to them. “See you tomorrow.” I slipped my shoes off, tied the laces together, threw them over my shoulders, and ran off down their street in the direction of my house. I waved at them as my bare feet made little sound on the stones.

They waved back right before I turned a corner and they disappeared behind the houses.

*****

Waking up for school was difficult, but getting through the school day without falling asleep was even more difficult.

At lunchtime, I fell onto the seat next to Isa in the cafeteria. “You guys exhausted too?” I asked. Lea’s droopy eyelids answered for me, but Isa looked sharp as ever.

“Enough,” he answered thoughtfully. “Not as sleepy as you, I imagine.”

“I don’t know how you do it, Isa,” I muttered, pulling my sandwich out for lunch but staring at it blankly, pondering taking a nap during lunch break instead of eating. “I swear the later we stay up, the more energized you are.”

“He’s powered by the moon,” Lea grumbled. “The way the rest of us are by food.”

“You, on the other hand, get more exhausted the later you stay up. You’re powered by the sun,” Isa retorted to Lea. “Like a plant.” Lea just waved the chip he was munching on vaguely with a slight groan and planted his forehead on the table so his hair stuck straight up in the air like a red-orange cactus.

I laughed at both of them. “Seriously, Isa, how do you do it?”

“I calculate my sleep cycles so that I wake up at the end of one. Helps me be more rested.”

“Yeah I can’t do that,” Lea said.

“Hey guys? Thanks for reminding me about the meteor shower and letting me watch it with you. I loved it,” I said.

“Get it memorized—we’re your friends. You can’t get rid of us that easily,” Lea mumbled from the table.

I giggled. “Thanks. I’ll have it memorized for next time.”

“You’d better or else I have to hear him say that again,” Isa muttered.

Lea sat up. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

Isa smirked. “It means you’re obnoxious.”

“Tell us something we don’t know about Lea, Isa,” I teased.

Isa snickered while Lea protested, “Hey!” He leaned past Isa to smack me in the arm playfully with the back of his hand. I laughed.

Isa leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. “Alright. So Lea is powered by the sun like an oddly-colored plant, I am powered by the moon like a lycanthrope... so what about you?” He turned his sharp green eyes on me.

I leaned back in my chair too, throwing my arms behind my head and interlacing my fingers. “Hmm... well I’m tired today so you’d think I’d be powered by the sun but I... I like to think I’d be powered by the stars. The light and hearts of other worlds giving me strength and reminding me there is more love in the universe than hate.”

“Huh,” Isa grunted.

“You would say that,” Lea commented playfully. “Little Miss Optimist.”

“Shut your face, you funky-looking cactus,” I snapped.

Lea started laughing—and even Isa chuckled. I smiled and giggled.

“Sorry Lea. I won’t call you that again,” I said.

He shrugged it off. “Nah. Don’t worry about it. It was funny and applicable to the situation.”

“Well thanks for not being offended.”

“Puh-lease,” Lea said with a dismissive wave.

The conversation died down a little. We discussed my being powered by the stars a little more while we ate but Lea’s head was back on the table and Isa seemed to be falling into thoughtful silence so we ate more than spoke.

When the bell gonged over the school building to signal us to go to class, we all got up and headed off. Isa and I split off from Lea since our next class was together and Lea’s was in the opposite direction.

“Would your mother actually assume you wanted to marry one of us if she knew we were friends?” Isa asked.

“Yeah. She and my dad think boys and girls can’t be friends without something romantic inevitably developing. So if she knew I was friends with you guys she would think that it’s because I want something romantic from one of you. Or both of you maybe. I don’t know.”

“Do you?” Isa asked.

“Isa!” I protested. “What kind of question is that?”

“A genuinely curious one.”

I sighed. “The honest answer is no. I don’t want anything romantic from either of you. Even if I did, I know for a fact that neither of you would ever see me that way.”

“Is that a fact? Or are you just making assumptions?”

“Lea’s friendly, not flirty. And you’re... not the type to fall in love. No offense.”

“None taken.”

We sat down in class and fell silent. I peeked at Isa out of the corner of my eye. He’d pulled a book from his bag and was reading it. “When did you get your ears pierced?” I asked from nowhere.

“Long time ago. Why? Don’t tell me you never noticed until now,” he replied. His last sentence was laced with sarcasm.

“No I noticed. I just never gave it much thought. Are those meant to be the moon?”

“Yes indeed. Though the weight often makes them fall to resemble a grin instead.”

“Huh. I like them. They look nice.”

“Thank you.”

“Alright class! Pipe down! We got a lot to do today and not a lot of time to do it!” the teacher called.

*****

I stopped at the entrance to the cafeteria, looking for Isa and Lea. They weren’t in our usual spot. Normally it wasn’t difficult to spot two boys with bright blue and vibrant red hair, but in the cafeteria it tended to be a little harder.

I wandered the tables for two minutes, trying to see them.

They were nowhere in sight. My other three friends never ate in the cafeteria—choosing instead to hang out by their lockers—so I went in search of Isa and Lea elsewhere. If I couldn’t find them, I’d go find my other friends and sit with them.

That continued for several days. Isa didn’t show up to class and he and Lea weren’t in the cafeteria. They always beat me there. I tried sitting in our usual spot alone, waiting for them to show up.

Neither did.

The problem was I couldn’t tell my mom why I was feeling down. The feeling of rejection was sinking in—but also worry. Were Isa and Lea okay? Did something happen? Did they die?

Light, I hoped not.

Finally, I told my mom I was going for a walk and went to their street, knocking on a few doors before someone could tell me which houses the boys lived in.

I went to Isa’s house first since it was closer.

A tall woman with Isa’s hair and eyes opened the door. “Hello there. May I help you?”

I smiled my best, friendly smile. “Yes. Um, I’m friends with Isa and Lea and both of them stopped showing up to school the other day and I just... wanted to make sure they’re okay,” I said.

“Are you the girl he talks about?”

My initial reaction was to say yes—but then I remembered the girl in the castle they snuck in to visit. I hesitated instead. “Um...”

“The one who watched the meteor shower with them?”

“Yes ma’am.”

She smiled at me and opened the door wider. “Why don’t you come inside? Have a seat.”

I stepped over the threshold and slid my shoes off. I followed her into a living room and sat next to her when she patted the cushion next to her. She looked so remarkably like Isa that I had to assume she was his mother. I wondered if he’d gotten any physical characteristics from his father.

“Isa and Lea became apprentices in the castle and formally withdrew from school in order to pursue apprenticeship with Ansem the Wise,” Isa’s mother told me seriously.

I blinked and thought for several moments, processing that. “O... oh,” I said. “Wish they’d given me some warning.”

“They didn’t give us much warning either.”

“Well... I’m grateful they’re alive,” I offered. “When they didn’t show up for school, I started to fear the worst.”

“No, no. They’re alright.” She smiled at me. “Y’know, Isa talks about you a lot. Lea too when he’s here. Which is often. They both really love you. I’ve been hoping to meet you for a while now. Just to put a face to the stories.”

“Sorry. My parents are strict about me being friends with boys so I can’t really ask to hang out at a boy’s house,” I said.

“It’s alright.”

“So... are Isa and Lea living in the castle?”

“Yes. They are.”

“Oh. Okay. Thank you. For... everything. I should go before my mom wonders where I am. But yeah—thank you. I’m happy to hear they’re safe.” I got off the sofa and stepped to the door, slipping my shoes back on.

“Feel free to stop by any time. Any friend of Isa’s is always welcome here.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said, ducking my head in a respectful nod. I left the house.

I didn’t have time to stop by the castle, but I did have time to grab a stick of ice cream. Which I did. I ate it on my walk back to my house. Unfortunately, Lea and Isa weren’t leaned against the side of the stand, eating their own ice cream so the hope of finding them there was dashed.

*****

The guards at the castle door were glowering at me. They’d seen me before—I was the girl who hung out in the castle gardens and waited for Lea and Isa to either reappear after an adventure sneaking into the castle, or get thrown out. They knew I wasn’t a troublemaker, but I associated with the troublemakers and that made the guards distrust me.

But I approached them with my head up, shyness shoved deep in the back of my mind. “Are Lea and Isa here?” I asked, trying to keep the quivering out of my voice. Why couldn’t I be confident like Isa and Lea?

The guard on the left—a tall man with black hair, extreme sideburns, and a lance—narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you want?”

“I’d like to see them. They’re my friends,” I said.

“We know,” the lancer guard grunted.

“Dilan,” the other one—a slightly broader man with wiry rust-colored hair and a strange axe—chided. “She’s never caused any harm. Or trouble.”

Dilan didn’t change his skeptical expression. “We’ll have someone fetch them for you. Aeleus, escort her to a conference room,” he ordered the guard with the axe. Aeleus. Who nodded and opened the door. He led me through the corridors to a conference room.

“Wait here.”

“Yes sir.” I had no intention of going anywhere. If they were bringing Lea and Isa to this room, then this room was where I was going to say until my friends were here.

I sat at the head of the table nearest the door and waited for it to open.

I picked at my nails while I waited. If I knew it was going to take this long, I’d have brought something to entertain myself with. As far as my parents were concerned, I’d gone on a walk to the castle gardens and maybe to the library or ice cream. They trusted me to be on my own since Radiant Garden was a relatively safe place and I was a good kid so they wouldn’t worry if I was gone for a while as long as I was back before dark.

The door opened.

I leapt to my feet.

The boy with blue hair who entered the door was not Isa. He was younger. Smaller. His hair was darker blue and completely covered his right eye. He was... somewhere between ten and twelve probably.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“A friend of Isa and Lea’s,” I said.

The boy stared at me. “I’m Ienzo,” he said.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Hm.” He blinked—finally, that was getting unnerving—and turned and left.

“O... ‘kay,” I muttered, sitting back down and crossing my legs to wait. I’d picked up on the way Lea and Isa sat and subconsciously started to mirror it.

After a few more minutes, Ienzo opened the door and let Isa and Lea into the room.

“You’re here!” Lea exclaimed, pushing past Isa to throw his arms around me. I hugged him back. Isa gave me a rather solemn nod that I returned. “I’m so happy you found us!”

“Took a little sleuthing but yeah.”

“Can’t wait to hear that,” Lea said. I smiled. We sat down. I told them how I found out where they were, which gained me nods of approval—especially from Isa, which surprised me. When my story was done, Lea was looking at the conference room table. “Sorry. We wanted to tell you but we couldn’t find a time. We’re here ‘cause... we’re gonna rescue that girl we’ve made friends with.”

“That’s a worthy goal, guys. Just wish you’d warned me beforehand.”

“As do we,” Isa put in. “It just happened fast.”

“Right.” I nodded. “I should go. I need to get home before it gets dark.”

“Meet us at the ice cream stand this weekend. Midday. We’ll be there,” Lea said.

I nodded. “’Kay.” I smiled.

“We’ll escort you out,” Isa said.

“Thanks. I’d get lost otherwise. Don’t think Ansem the Wise would appreciate some random kid wandering his castle.”

The boys chuckled.

*****

Midday on the weekend found me alone at the square by the ice cream stand. I sat on the cobblestones, sea-salt bar in hand, and started to eat my ice cream without them.

Two hours passed. My ice cream was long gone and the stick thrown away, but still I hung out in the square. Waiting. Hoping Isa and Lea just got backed up with work and would be there any second now...

But nope.

Two hours turned to three and still I found myself alone.

I sighed and got to my feet. Shaking my head, I turned in the direction of home. “Figures,” I muttered.

I went home. On my way, I let a few tears fall from my eyes.

Rejection really sunk under my skin. They chose the mysterious girl in the castle over me.

Why was I not surprised? I was always the second choice—or even lower.

Shaking my head, I wiped my eyes and pushed open the door to my house.

“Hey sweetheart. I thought you were gonna be out all afternoon,” Mom said. I glanced out the window.

“I kinda was,” I said. “My feet just got sore from walking. I’m gonna go read.”

“Okay. How were your friends?”

I’d told her that I was going to see if I could walk with my other three friends—all of whom were girls.

“They were all too busy to go for a walk,” I said, going up the stairs and then shutting myself into my room.

I waited ‘til night and then snuck out my window. I went to the castle. The guards were missing. I stole forward and tested the door. It was probably locked...

Click!

The door opened.

Apparently it wasn’t locked. Weird.

I slid inside and shut the door behind me. Clinging to the wall, I slipped down corridors, looking around for dormitories or laboratories. This was too easy. Why was the door unlocked? Why was everything dark? Where were the guards? The other apprentices? That little boy with the hair covering his eyes—Ienzo?

A door gave way under my hand when I brushed it.

A large room with some sort of machine was before me.

It was completely trashed.

I gasped. “Isa! Lea!” I hissed.

Silence. My own whispers didn’t even echo in the oppressive silence.

I searched as much of the castle as I could. Most of the rooms had been turned over. Someone was searching for something. My friends’ names were whispered into the darkness and answered only with silence and my heartbeat in my ears.

Maybe... they hadn’t rejected me. Maybe something bad had happened. Both options absolutely terrified me, but the relief at not being rejected eased out my anxiety. I took deep breaths. It wasn’t because of me that they didn’t show.

I have it memorized, Lea. You’re my friends and you wouldn’t abandon me, I thought.

That didn’t stop me from worrying about what happened to them. Where had they gone? My sun and my moon...

Something creaked behind me. I gasped and whirled around.

Something heavy struck me in the head.

I dropped like a sack of bricks and everything went dark.

*****

“This one is an intruder who doesn’t belong here,” Xemnas said, looking at the other seven he’d amassed so far for his Organization.

Numbers Six, Seven, and Eight all blinked in surprise at recognizing the girl on the ground, her forehead bleeding from where she’d been hit. Xemnas noticed the surprise on their faces—Seven and Eight in particular. He smirked.

“See to it she’s removed before we depart,” he ordered, looking at Seven and Eight. They nodded—somewhat reluctantly. Xemnas smirked in satisfaction. Seven and Eight came forward and scooped her up. “Saïx, Axel, as Nobodies you feel no guilt. No pain. No love. Don’t bother wasting your energy acting kind to one you no longer care for.”

The teenagers nodded. “Yes sir,” they said together. They carried the limp form of their friend out of the room, and from there out of the castle.

“Do we take her home?” Lea—no, Axel, he reminded himself—hissed.

“Xemnas said not to waste our energy,” Isa—Saïx—replied. “And we don’t have time.”

Axel stared. “How can you say that? I thought... I thought you liked her!”

“There’s nothing left of any emotions I might have once felt for her,” Saïx replied. “I don’t feel anything. I remember feeling affection but... now it’s just empty. Let’s leave her in the garden on the bench and return.”

Axel sighed. “Fine,” he said.

They took her outside, set her on a stone bench as gently as they could while still being fast, and ran back to head inside the castle. “We should be grateful Lord Xemnas didn’t ask us to kill her,” Saïx remarked. Axel glanced at him in alarm as they approached the door. Then he sighed.

“You’re right,” he relented.

Saïx nodded. “Indeed. Come on.”

“Wait. Let’s leave something with her. So she knows we’re alive,” Axel said.

Saïx blinked—then nodded. He lifted his hands and removed his crescent moon earrings. She had pierced ears but never wore earrings.

“Whoa. Your earrings?” Axel asked quietly.

Saïx nodded. “I can always get new ones. The shape of these get caught in my hair anyway,” he replied. “And she mentioned she liked them.”

Axel nodded as well. “Yeah...”

Saïx slid the earrings into the pocket of her jacket while Axel pulled off a leather bracelet he’d worn that day and wrapped it around her wrist. His name had been carved into the back of it in his own handwriting. He didn’t need to be LEA anymore. He was Axel now. Might as well get rid of the reminders.

Once their gifts were safe with her, they ran inside.

They returned to where the other Organization members were waiting. Xemnas looked smug upon their return. Axel’s blood boiled. This guy was crazy for knocking out an innocent teenager and making her friends dump her unconscious body outside. Fire crackled in his chest and threatened to break free. He fought to control his breathing and calmed himself down.

Xemnas’ smirk broadened—he knew Axel was as angry as an emotionless Nobody could be. “Come. We have work to do,” he said.

An oval of darkness appeared. Xemnas stepped through it. Xigbar followed. The others filed through by number, leaving Axel at the back with Saïx. They glanced at each other and back at the door before stepping into the darkness.

*****

I woke with a blistering headache and a sore spine. I was damp and stiff.

“What the...?” I muttered, sitting up.

Morning dew clung to my skin and the hairs on my arms. I was on a concrete bench in the Radiant Garden castle’s garden. The skin of my forehead was sticky and my fingers came away where I touched it with reddish brown flakes.

Dried blood.

Memories rushed back.

I leapt to my feet—muscles aching and head pounding in protest—and ran to the door to the castle.

It was locked.

I hissed in frustration.

How did I end up outside? The last thing I remembered was getting struck in the head.

Someone must have locked it after throwing me out. But who? The castle had been empty! Trashed!

I put my hands on my head—

And froze.

That bracelet wasn’t mine. I owned approximately three leather bracelets and none of them were embossed with a fiery—

Lea.

I’d seen Lea wear it sometimes. I popped the snap that held the cuff around my wrist. Sure enough, carved into the soft leather on the back was his name in his all-caps writing. LEA. I bit my lip.

He was here. He must have... brought me to safety.

I put the cuff back on and shoved my hands into my pockets as I stared at the castle. “Thank you, Lea—huh?” My fingertips brushed something in my pocket.

Small and elusive, it took me several moments to pull two pieces of metal out of my pocket.

Isa’s crescent moon earrings.

I smiled. He must have been with Lea. They gave me some of their accessories to let me know they were okay.

I wondered what happened. Why had I been knocked out? Why had they brought me outside? Was it for safety? What was going on?

*****

I searched Radiant Garden for several weeks for clues whenever I had free time. Going so far as to occasionally pop by Isa and Lea’s houses to ask their parents if they’d heard from them. Apparently not.

Rumors were whispered through the town. Ansem the Wise—the scientist who worked in the castle—had gone missing. And so had all his apprentices. No one knew how or why. No one knew what happened. No one could get into the castle—the security system was too advanced.

After over a month of trying to find answers, I got swamped with schoolwork and sorrow over losing Lea and Isa and gave up my search. They were gone. They weren’t coming back.

I never explained to my mom where my moon earrings and fiery leather bracelet came from and, thankfully, she never asked. I was the kid who occasionally spent some munny on strange accessories and had a particular affinity for odd jewelry that looked just different enough that I didn’t look exactly like everyone else. Radiant Garden didn’t have a huge market for things like that but Mom knew I always found something unique, if a bit odd.

More time passed. Years. I finished school and found a tiny apartment over a bakery to live in and work downstairs. I made new friends. I even went on a few dates.

But I never forgot Lea and Isa. I wore their accessories every day so I had no choice but to never forget them. Sometimes I had to sit and remember them, just to make sure I still had them memorized.

My family and I fled Radiant Garden with other refugees when it was consumed by darkness, staying in Traverse Town—a whole other world. I found more work in a flower shop. My family was in Traverse Town with me, but I did my utmost to be away from them as much as possible. I’d gotten used to my independence and being away from my parents’ rules. No way was I going back.

We stayed in Traverse Town for quite a while before getting word that Radiant Garden was back—under the moniker of Hollow Bastion. And some former citizens were returning to it to restore it.

I jumped on that chance, returning home and joining the Restoration Committee. Lea’s bracelet was scraped from years of thorny flowers scratching at it and Isa’s earrings were wearing out, but still they were my trademark accessories.

Before I knew it, I was looking at a ten-year anniversary of losing my two best friends.

And then a few more years passed.

*****

I sighed, leaning against the wall of the ice cream stand where we’d spent hours hanging out. “I miss you guys,” I muttered, twisting Lea’s bracelet around my wrist.

“I don’t believe it,” a familiar but slightly different voice said. “You still have them?”

I whirled.

The man standing in the center of the otherwise-empty square was heart-achingly familiar. Taller than I remembered, with longer hair, but I’d know him anywhere.

I dropped the just-finished ice cream stick. It clattered to the cobblestones.

“L... Lea?!” I breathed.

A familiar crooked smile graced the man’s face. “Still got me memorized, I see,” he said.

Ignoring the entire rest of the world, I ran to him, jumping off the ledge to the dip in the square. He opened his arms and let me crash right into him, throwing my arms around him. I started crying. “I... I looked for you,” I said, voice quivering. He held me tight to his chest.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why... why did you never come back?”

“I... I couldn’t,” Lea said.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s... a really long story.” He pushed me away just enough that he could look at me. He reached up a gloved hand and wiggled one of Isa’s earrings. “And... you wouldn’t believe most of it.”

“What... what are you wearing? And where’s... Isa?”

Lea shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m looking for him. As for the coat... I’ve worn it so long I’m just used to it,” he said with a shrug. I hugged him tight again. “I assume you haven’t seen Isa either.”

I shook my head. “Nope. When did you get this much taller than me?”

Lea scratched the back of his head—a nervous gesture he hadn’t grown out of. “I... dunno. Sometime in the last ten years, I guess,” he said.

I whacked him playfully in the arm. “You tree. Still powered by the sun like one?”

“You have no idea.”

“I’ll help you find Isa.”

“No!” He grabbed my shoulders so fast that I gasped and recoiled.

Lea seemed to realize he scared me because his grip loosened and he hung his head.

“No. It’s too dangerous. It’d be... an icky job to say the least. Just... trust me on this and keep doing whatever it is you’re doing here.” He pushed some of my hair out of my face. “I can’t believe you’re still wearing those things we gave you.”

“It was the only real reminder I had of you,” I said. “I tried not wearing them for a while when I missed you so much that it got to be overwhelming, but when that happened I started to wonder whether I’d imagined you guys. So I put them back on and never took them off.” I put my hands on Lea’s upper arms and gave them a squeeze. “Have you been home yet?”

Lea let me go completely. “No. I... I can’t. I gotta... I gotta find Isa and I can’t... I just can’t.” He moved to leave.

I caught his wrist. “Lea!” I exclaimed. “What’s going on with you?”

“I can’t face them, okay?” Lea snapped.

I blinked and took a step back, still clinging to his wrist. “Lea...” I shook my head. “What happened to you...?”

He shook his head. “If I told you, you wouldn’t be looking at me the way you are now,” he said. “And I couldn’t bear that. I’m sorry.” He pulled out of my wrist and ran from the square.

“LEA!” I shouted, running after him.

I tripped on a loose cobblestone and lost him as he ran around a corner. By the time I caught up, he was gone.

“Drat,” I muttered. Slowly I plodded back to the square and picked up my dropped ice cream stick. I threw it away and sat heavily on the ledge that led to the lowered center of the square, dangling my legs. Ten years I’d missed him and the moment he was back in my life he vanished again in minutes.

I leaned back on my hands and looked at the beautiful blue sky.

“Oh Lea...” I whispered, shaking my head. “What happened?”

“If he told you, you wouldn’t believe him,” said a voice.

I snapped to attention and looked around.

“Isa!” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and rushing at him. I stopped short of a hug. He was in the same black coat Lea had been in, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. “Isa... what happened to your face?”

My old friend reached up and touched the X-shaped scar over the bridge of his nose. He was about the same height as Lea had grown to be and his hair had grown a lot longer than Lea’s. Of course, his laid flatter. Lea’s was inclined to spike out. “Time,” he answered.

“Isa,” I warned, reaching up as though to brush my thumb over the bottom tip of the X.

“Don’t.” He caught my wrist and forced it down. “Please.” His gaze flicked to my ears. “You... kept them.”

“Of course,” I said. “Isa... your eyes...!”

He closed them and turned away. His ears still bore earrings—simple silvery circles—but the tops were pointed. “My changes are none of your concern,” he mumbled.

“Isa!”

“Don’t call me that!”

I recoiled, ripping my hand out of his grip and stepping away. “What happened to you and Lea while you were gone? Why are you both suddenly so secretive and resentful?” My voice was full of hurt. “I don’t see you both for over ten years and when I do neither of you act like you’re happy to see me! At least Lea gave me a hug!”

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you!” Isa—or whatever—snapped.

“Try me!” I retorted. “At this point I’ll believe anything!”

I heard my mom shouting my name.

“Oh shoot. Hide me!” I hissed on reflex, moving to go hide behind the ice cream stand.

Isa grabbed my wrists and pulled me to his chest. Darkness swallowed us.

When the light came back, we were somewhere else. “What in the world...?”

Isa glanced around. “My apologies. I believe I overshot,” he said.

“Is this... Traverse Town?” It didn’t really look like Traverse Town—but it most certainly wasn’t Radiant Garden either.

“Close. It’s Twilight Town.”

“Uh...”

“Another world beyond Radiant Garden and Traverse Town.”

“O... oh. Why here? How did you—?”

“Let’s not get into the details of how. I meant to merely step across Radiant Garden but overshot.”

“To another world?”

“It was on short notice.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “There we go. I knew my Isa-moon was in there somewhere.”

He closed his orangey-amber eyes and shook his head. “The young and thoughtless Isa you knew is long gone.”

“He doesn’t have to be!” I grabbed my friend’s shoulders. “You’re right here! I see you. Whatever happened to you... It doesn’t have to be permanent! You and Lea can come back! I... I missed you both. Tremendously.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew all the things we’d done.”

“Lea said something like that too,” I said. “Do neither of you have any faith in me?! I loved you, Isa! It broke my heart when you and Lea disappeared! You were my best friends! I spent over ten years wishing with all my heart that you’d come back to me!” I shook his shoulders lightly. “Did you never trust me?”

He reached up and wiggled the crescent moon earring in my right ear the same way Lea had. “Nothing like that. Of course I trusted you. But Lea and I... we’re not the same people who left Radiant Garden all those years ago.”

“But, I... I, uh...”

He refused to meet my eyes. “I’ll return you home now.”

“No, wait, Isa—” The darkness swallowed us again. I reappeared in the Radiant Garden castle gardens—but I was alone.

Frustrated, I wove through the streets to the square to hopefully find my mother, wondering why she was searching for me.

Several more months passed before I saw them again.

When I did, they were laughing together at the ice cream stand. The black leather coats were gone. Lea had on a dark plaid shirt with a short-sleeve black jacket over it, black skinny jeans, and black boots. Isa wore a knee-length jacket with a high collar and gray camouflage stripes down the arms—with a moon emblem on the chest just like the one he wore when we were kids.

“Lea! Isa!” I shouted from across the square, already running.

I heard my name shouted from both their voices and two sturdy, tall bodies smashed into me. I wrapped one arm around each torso.

“Are you guys... for real this time?”

“We’re for real. We were hoping to find you,” Lea said.

“We’ve agreed it’d be best to tell you everything that happened while we were gone,” Isa added, running a hand down my hair.

“Hope you like long stories,” Lea remarked.

“If it’s from you guys, I’m up for anything,” I said with a smile. I met Isa’s eyes. “Your eyes are green again.”

“Yes. It’s part of the explanation,” Isa said.

“Isa also has something he wants to tell you,” Lea put in, quick and playful.

“What? Lea—no!” Isa protested.

“C’mon. That one thing you never told her from when we were kids,” Lea prompted.

I laughed. “Lea, play nice. You only have to tell me what you’re ready to tell me,” I chided, nudging Lea in the side with my elbow. “If Isa’s not comfortable—”

“Ihadacrushonyouwhenwewereteenagers,” Isa rushed out, so fast I couldn’t make out individual words very well.

“Pardon?” I asked.

Isa cleared his throat. “I... had a crush on you. When we were teenagers,” he said, ears turning red. They were rounded again.

“No way!” the blond teenage boy who had been standing near them by the ice cream stand exclaimed. “Saïx had a crush on someone?!”

“Saïx?” I asked.

“Uh... yeah I guess we better explain,” Lea said.

“You’d better,” I agreed. I reached up and wrapped my hand around the back of Isa’s head, pulled him down to my level, and kissed his cheek. “I had a crush on you too. But, like I said, you never seemed the type to fall in love.” My whisper was only heard by him.

“That’s my fault for acting in such a way that you would believe that. I hope to remedy that in the future.”

“I hope so.”

“Okay. Ice cream first. Then story,” Lea said. “Oh, by the way, this is Roxas, and that’s Xion.” He gestured to the blond boy first, then a small dark-haired girl I’d noticed but not given much thought.

“Hi.” I gave them my name in return. “I’m an old friend of Lea and Isa’s.”

“Ooh. Can’t wait to hear about them from when they were young,” Roxas said.

“Hey! We’re still young!” Lea protested. I laughed.

“Oh Roxas. Have I got stories for you. But first, I want to hear yours.”

“Yeah. Let’s get some ice cream and then we’ll tell it,” Lea said.

Isa took my hand gently, pulling me to the back of the group. “Just... try to remember us as we were. Not what we became,” he murmured quietly.

“Isa... nothing you could say will ever make me look at you differently.” I smiled.

“I pray that’s true.”

“C’mon. Let’s catch up.” I squeezed his hand and dragged him forward. He jogged next to me till we were at the back of the line for the ice cream stand. He brushed some of my hair behind my ear.

“I can’t believe you kept those.” He tapped the crescent moon.

“I needed them. To remember my Isa-moon and my Lea-sun. Keep ya memorized.”

Isa snickered and shook his head. “You two always got on like a house on fire.”

“Part of our charm,” I joked.

We all got our sea-salt ice cream and went to the castle gardens to sit and eat it and talk amongst the flowers.

“Okay boys. Time to tell me everything.”

They nodded. Roxas and Xion were slightly farther away from the three of us, talking in hushed tones, but I barely paid them any attention. I was too focused on my best friends—home after so long.

“Okay. So it started the day you came looking for us in the castle,” Isa began.

“The day we didn’t make it to ice cream...” Lea added.

#kh3 spoilers #Isa #KH Isa #Saïx #Lea #KH Lea #KH Axel #Axel #Axel Imagine #Axel FanFiction #Kingdom Hearts #Kingdom Hearts Imagine #Kingdom Hearts FanFiction #Isa Imagine #Isa FanFiction #Saïx Imagine #Saïx FanFiction #Tal writes

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