#Blue Dart Bike Transport

[uzumaki-rebellion]

"King Killmonger: The Golden Jaguar Chapter 10"

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"Listen, there are waters Hidden from us In the maze we find them still We'll take you to them You take your young ones May they take their own in turn But by our lives be we spirit And by our hearts be we women And by our eyes be we open And by our hands be we whole…"

Sweet Honey in the Rock – "Testimony"

N'Jadaka guided the hover bike above the stern, placed it in neutral, and helped Yani climb down safely onto the houseboat. Afterward, he jetted up toward one of the stinger aircrafts above them and gave a final instruction to their security detail. He returned and parked the bike in its rack and covered it with a pale blue tarp. Yani already had a glass of the Chilza's white wine and finished off the last of it. It was a strong batch and she already looked intoxicated.

She followed him to the upper deck to watch him program their next destination. They cruised downriver, and where the split in the river came that led to Umbono Lake, Yani patted his hand.

"How about we go see Warrior Falls first and then loop back around to the lake?"

"We can't switch up now."

"Why not?"

"Well, I pre-arranged to have the lake closed off to the public so we could have it for a week to ourselves. If we go to Warrior Falls first, we'll have to share the lake with too many citizens on the return, and we won't have any privacy. Okoye won't like that. Too many variables again."

"You're the king and I'm the queen. We can just switch the schedule."

"Baby, it took a lot for me to get these dates of closure for us in secret. We'll see the Falls in a week."

Yani chewed on her bottom lip and her eyes darted toward the water.

"What's the matter? Why do you want to go there sooner?"

"I just heard so much about it from the Chilzas that it got me excited about getting there faster."

"There's no need to rush. All in due time. Besides, we have a lot of fishing to do, and snorkeling. We can go diving in the cove…"

Something was wrong. Her tipsiness didn't hide a tension in her voice and in her body. Yani was worried about something.

"You're right," she said while spinning around and using the steps back down from the engine room. "So much to see and I'm rushing it."

She stopped near the covered hoverbike.

"You know what I'd like you to do while we're on the lake?" she said.

"What?"

"Teach me to ride this on my own. I've ridden motorcycles and Jet Skis back home, and I need to know how to enjoy this by myself. My goal is to learn how to do something new before I go back to Zana. I'll ride the hoverbike solo…I'll fish for the first time. Imagine me living on an island growing up and never picking up a fishing pole! I'll bake yam cornbread the way Umama does and so much more."

Something was definitely wrong. The hoverbike frightened her with any thought of using it on her own. She rode on them with him because he was so good at it. But by herself in the sky?

"I thought solo riding on the hoverbike scared you."

She waved her hand and patted the covered transport.

"Ekuqaleni made me feel brave, like I can do anything because I witnessed the magic of that place. In fact, I want to learn how to fly the Royal Talon Fighter just like you. A queen of Wakanda should be able to do what the king does…in fact…maybe I should be the Black Panther since you are the Golden Jaguar!"

She twirled around and giggled, plopping down on a plush deck chair that overlooked the tranquil river. He smiled. She was definitely lit from the wine. Whatever tension he sensed in her voice and body went away as she gazed at the water.

"One thing at a time. We'll start with the hoverbike," he said.

She clapped her hands and lifted the bottle of wine from the table next to her seat.

"Finish this off, I'm going to get another bottle of champagne that's been chilling and make us mimosas!"

She scurried off with a little skip in her steps.

He grinned and surveyed the landscape. Cloud coverage rolled in on the balmy weather and that would be good for their fishing. The light rain would knock insects into the water and on overcast days, fish tended to cruise more for food. His mouth already watered at the thought of catching fresh chambo and grilling it up with a seafood gravy on top. Their galley had a supply of the best cuts of meat and plenty of seasonal vegetables to create all sorts of gourmet meals.

Yani returned with champagne flutes filled with a blood-orange mimosas. She handed him one and they toasted.

"Slow down with the drinking, we'll be fishing soon. I can't have you stabbing your fingers on the hook with our bait," he said.

"Look who's talking? With that big drink in your hand."

"You had more than me already."

She sipped her drink and he enjoyed the taste of his. He downed it quickly and she unfastened her wrap-around dress. Totally naked underneath, she pranced around for him before settling onto the plush seating again.

He put down his glass and dropped to his knees, pushing her legs apart. Yani laughed and pretended to try and get away, but she rested her head back and parted those thick thighs for him. He wiggled out of his trunks and lifted a pillow from the seating and placed it in front of Yani to protect his knees. Dropping down in a comfortable position, he kissed all over her vulva and licked each one of her piercings with an artful tongue. He spelled out his Wakandan name on her clit with just the tip, and his wife let out a passionate moan. Yani stroked his hair and kept eye contact with him.

He pressed his lips against her inner labia and hummed, allowing the vibration to flow across his beard too. Yani was wet and puffy in her tender parts. He wouldn't push for penetrative sex to give her body a rest. They fucked so much in Ekuqaleni that even he had to slather his dick with a rejuvenating lubricant from all the friction that went across it. Facing her vulva, he looked at it like it was an expensive painting, enjoying the color and the way it glistened with her arousal. Yani touched her clit, rubbing it gently while keeping her gaze on his face. He slid his hands up her torso and held her breasts. Her nipples were big and stiff and tweaking them with his fingers caused her opening to throb. Yani's pussy lips always looked so wide open and welcoming. So pretty. He licked around her clit making sure to touch all of her sensitive spots without using his fingers. She locked her knees around his neck and he grabbed them, wrestling with her thighs to let him push them back onto the seat. He slapped the underside of her rump and Yana shoved his head into her vulva and soaked his beard.

N'Jadaka licked his way up her midsection and sucked on her nipples, taking turns on each one until he gave butterfly kisses along her collarbone. She slid her tongue across his lips to taste the sweetness between her legs. He traced his index finger in soft circles on her clit, mindful of the sensitivity there from their past intimacy. Aligning the head of his dick in front of her opening, he stroked himself while staring at the slick pink that beckoned him to enter her. It took all he had to prevent himself from penetrating her again. He squeezed and rubbed all over his tip, spreading pre-cum all over it. Yani's lips puckered. She kissed her pinky finger and teased it along his slit. He grunted softly and hot streaks spurted, drenching her entrance until he couldn't see the pink anymore. Tilting his dick at another angle, the rest of his cum streaked across her stomach and spilled back into her belly button.

N'Jadaka leaned down and kissed her forehead. Yani lowered her legs and ripped out a loud fart. She started laughing hysterically and N'Jadaka reared back laughing with her.

"At least I didn't fart when you were eating me out!" she cackled.

He waved his hand as the odor reached his nose.

"No more eggs for you this week. That was atrocious," he said.

"No worse than you funking up the bed with your stink bombs after eating up all the plantains last night. Didn't even save me any."

"I did! I tucked them in the fridge with all that candy you bought."

Yani lifted and kissed his cheek.

"Take a shower and then we can break out the fishing poles," he whispered in her ear.

"Don't need a shower," Yani said.

She jumped up from her position and dashed off the back off the boat. Her body dived in the water with a perfect arc.

"Yani! Crazy girl!" he shouted.

The houseboat kept moving away from her and he ran to turn the engine off. They hadn't reached their destination yet. The boat had barely entered the split in the river that led to the lake. Yani swam at the mouth of it.

The houseboat slowed to a halt and N'Jadaka ran back down to check on the position of his wife. Yani tread easily, watching his expression with amusement.

"All clean!" she shouted.

N'Jadaka dived in after her. Yani was an exceptional swimmer, but she had been drinking. He reached her quickly and tugged on her hand to guide her back to the stern. She held onto the ladder attached to the back and pulled herself up. He pushed on her rump to help keep her from falling back. Soaked all over, she shook off her body like a mischievous puppy.

"Be right back," she said.

She traipsed up the stairs that led to the upper deck. He pulled on his shorts and wandered into the galley to grab the container of bloodworms he would use for bait that were stored in a separate fishing cooler. He pulled out their fishing rods and leaned them against the the west side of the boat. Yani returned wearing lime-green shorts and a matching bikini top with yellow topsider slides on. She smothered sunblock on her arms and face.

"Ready," she said.

N'Jadaka opened the container of worms and their moist slithery bodies forced a grimace on Yani's face.

"Watch how I bait mine," he said.

He handed the container to her and she stuck her tongue out and squeezed her eyes shut in an exaggerated fashion.

"Pay attention, silly," he said.

Yani watched him hook the worm at the top of its body and slide it up, then curl it around the hook in two places before stabbing it in the tail, securing it. The worm did a wiggle of its impending death dance and Yani threw a hand over her mouth.

"That is so gross!"

"You want fresh fried chambo with gravy and rice?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, it's your turn," he said.

He took the container from her hand and she stared at the writhing mass of dark red worms.

"Do it for me," she said, hopping up and down.

"Nah, you gotta do it yourself Ma. Like how Grandpop taught me."

Yani whined and reached for a worm.

"Oooh, yuck…oh, it's so gross and squishy!"

"Big baby," he said.

She finally lifted a fat one from the container. N'Jadaka closed the lid on the others and set the container down on the side table near them. He handed her the hook on her rod.

"You are more freaked out by this than when I taught you how to shoot a gun," he said.

"A gun is not a living creature I'm impaling on a…oh yuck, N'Jadaka! It's guts came out…it's all slimy on my hand!"

Yani flicked the hook away from her fingers and jumped around waving her hands about. The hook swung out and N'Jadaka stopped it from piercing his skin where it hit him.

"C'mon girl…you got the first part in."

Yani pressed her lips together into a line and wrapped the wiggly mass twice before stabbing it again with the hook.

"See? It's that easy."

"I have worm guts on my fingers!"

"Take your pole, and watch how I toss my line out," he said, rolling his eyes at her.

He lifted his rod and slid his finger around a bit of line and flipped the reel open, showing her every step.

"Give yourself about two to four feet of line before casting out…see?" he said.

She nodded, keeping her eyes steady on his fingers.

"Step back and just let it go with one fluid motion…"

He cast his line and the worm flew across the water, plopping down in the perfect spot.

"These worms are big and heavy enough to not need extra weights on the line. Try it," he said.

Yani lifted her rod and followed all the steps. She cast out a good line and squealed when she got the hang of it on the first go. She wound the reel handle dragging the line back with the still moving worm and practiced tossing it out a few times.

They reeled back in their lines and rested their rods against the side of the boat.

"Lemme go move the boat into the lake. I don't think we'll do so good in this midway point," he said.

He returned to the engine room and set them back on course manually, easing the houseboat onto Umbono Lake. The fishing map he checked showed him an ideal spot at the entrance of the lake they could try first. There was a small marshland area he wanted to avoid and moved the houseboat further into the lake, heading toward the center. A lake patrolman on a hoverbike zipped past them, clearing out other last minute boats that hadn't gotten the memo that the lake was off limits to the public. N'Jadaka had any and all indicators that their houseboat belonged to the Udakus taken off. Many nobles had boats just as luxurious as theirs but anyone passing by wouldn't know the king and queen of Wakanda were the reason the lake was closed off. Wakandans were very good about keeping their natural environments protected, so it wasn't unusual for lakes and other waterways to be temporarily closed for eco-management tasks. In this case Umbono Lake was rescheduled for an earlier shutdown to accommodate the king's honeymoon and none would be the wiser. It just meant the occasional sighting of a few lake preservationists doing water testing and wildlife management onshore while the Udakus floated in peace.

They anchored a mile away from Umbono Cove. N'Jadaka made sure that all the boat's windows were in tinted mode to ensure their privacy. If Yani wanted to sunbathe nude, there would be no worry about peeping Toms. He joined her carrying an empty white bucket. Yani watched him dip it into the lake and fill it three-fourths full.

"Dump whatever you catch in there," he said.

He brought over two bar stools for them to sit on and they started fishing, keeping their voices low. Above them, the sky was the color of an old penny that had bits of pale green malachite on it. Cloud coverage draped over the lake only letting in streaks of bright light when the sun broke through periodically. The air itself remained muggy, like walking through a never-ending sauna. A bit of a breeze would've helped them not sweat so much. He handed her a cold cider beer and popped one open for himself.

"Bored?" he asked after twenty-five minutes of nothing happening.

"No…I think I see something floating out…there! See it…ooh, something bit my hook!"

Yani jumped off her seat and reeled in her line too soon. Part of her worm was gone.

"What a sneak!" she gasped, staring at him with disappointment.

"You have to let the fish nibble a bit until it actually swallows the hook," he said.

She tossed her half worm back out and fifteen seconds later, her line was dragged deeper in the water.

"Oh, gosh! I got one! I got one N'Jadaka!"

"Bring it in easy…he's hooked on there tight…dassit…slow and easy…"

Yani yanked her catch out of the water and it went flying behind her hitting part of the boat's roof. The fish was a little over seven inches in length with silvery-gray scales. It had a fat and healthy body. N'Jadaka guided Yani in carefully unhooking the fish and she tossed it in the waiting bucket with a proud grin on her lips. He noticed his pole bending from the fishing rod holder mounted on the hull. He reeled in another fat chambo and quickly released it and dumped it next to Yani's bewildered catch. She added fresh bait to her line and he helped her secure sinker weights on it.

"It'll go down deeper and maybe we can catch bigger ones," he said.

He did the same for his pole and they spent a lazy and very serene afternoon fishing. They were able to toss some fish back into the lake because the pickings were good and they didn't have to settle for anything they caught. Within four hours they had amassed a bounty of ten sizeable fish. Five plump chambo, three catfish, and two large Wakandan species of lake salmon. He laid out a fire-proof pad facing the water and proceeded to build a fire inside the portable iron grill/firepit. After placing a protective iron screen over the flames, he joined Yani in the galley to prepare their evening meal. They were both hungry even though they ate huge curried chicken salads for lunch while fishing.

Yani began cooking white rice and started gathering ingredients to make the gravy and vegetables they wanted. He cleaned and filleted all five of the chambo, and wrapped the other fish up to sit in the freezer for another day. Yani handed him fish seasoning after he washed his hands and rinsed the fish again. He sprinkled enough seasoning to make the fish spicy and squeezed lemon on them. Sliced onions, yellow peppers, and oranges were layered around them in a grill basket to add more flavor to the fillets while they cooked.

His task complete, Yani followed him to the grill and lifted the covering for him. They sat around the fire and cooked the fish for about four minutes on each side. Removing the fish and placing the covering back over the grill, they returned to the galley where Yani had a giant skillet on the stove already filled with a simmering gravy of onions, chopped carrots, green peppers, curry spice, and a light fruit chutney. He added the fish and covered them completely in the gravy, letting them sit in the pan simmering for five minutes.

Yani scooped them rice and crispy fried cabbage, and they both salivated when N'Jadaka placed the chambo and gravy over the rice. They ate their fill by the outdoor pit/grill and sipped on white wine. The sun had set and the evening cloud coverage painted the water around them dark and mysterious. It began to sprinkle after their meal, and the air grew cooler. N'Jadaka put out the deck fire and started a new one in the living room section of the boat while Yani cleared their dishes. There were blankets already stacked on the overstuffed couch. They snuggled together with Yani lying on his chest and stared at the flames and also out of the wide windows that let them see the lake in the evening stillness.

Once again, N'Jadaka experienced peace. His wife rested on him. Their bellies were full and they had nowhere to be but with each other. Yani started snoring as a heavier rain poured down outside and he opted for them to stay there and sleep. The couch was wide and soft enough for two and their cozy blankets secured warmth he wanted to enjoy all night. His eyes became drowsy at the pitter patter sounds. A clap of thunder rumbled and lightening lit up the outside for a moment. Yani slept through it and soon enough, he did too.

Another crack of thunder woke him up.

The reddish-orange glow of burned down embers in the fireplace gave him the only light in the room. Yani whimpered on his chest, her fist balled up and shoved against her cheek. Still asleep, her eyes moved back and forth under her lids and her body trembled.

"No!" she cried out.

Her body shot up and the glow of the fire made her eyes look feral and frightened.

"No…" she murmured, glancing around.

"Baby, you're okay. Just a nightmare," he said, soothing her trembles with his large hands rubbing her back.

Her eyes wrenched from the dying fire and latched onto his steady gaze.

"What is it? Can you remember what you dreamed about?"

Yani pulled away from him and curled her legs under her backside. She ran a nervous hand over her fade and her fingers shook. He sat up an put an arm around her.

"Yani?"

Her eyes darted back and forth, searching for something and she burst out crying.

"Hold on," he said, leaving her side.

He quickly padded into the galley and grabbed a cup, filling it with room temperature water from a pitcher.

"Here, drink…" he said.

She took the cup and drank all of the water.

"I was in a cave…a cavern of some kind. I could hear water lapping, and there was light on the walls…firelight…and it was hot…so hot. I walked on sand and then it grabbed me, like quicksand and then I felt hands dragging me down…I couldn't…I couldn't get out of it and I could hear voices…and someone was angry with me. There was no one else there, but I could feel an anger pulsing all around me…"

She stood and paced in front of him, wringing her hands and touching her face like she was making sure she was fully awake.

"Yani, sit down. You can calm down better without all the pacing."

She stopped in front of him.

"I don't want to keep secrets from you. I think my dream was a warning."

"A warning of what?"

She cradled is face with her hands.

"I could lie to you…or tell you something important. But if I do, it might wake up…"

She paused, smashing her lips together suddenly.

"It might wake up who, baby? I'm not understanding what's scaring you."

She shook her head and knelt before him, resting her arms on his thighs.

"Bast. Bast scares me because I have to do something important, but I can't say too much because it'll wake her up inside of you."

N'Jadaka did an internal check. Neither Bast nor Ogum stirred.

"Talk to me," he said, stroking her cheek.

Yani shook her head and rose up on her feet. Turning, she let the mild heat of the embers warm her body. She rubbed her arms and then her right hand drifted down to her stomach.

"Yani…come here."

She glanced back at him and slumped to her knees in a dead faint. N'Jadaka rushed forward and gently lifted her from the floor. He placed her on the couch again and checked her pulse with his kimoyo beads. Her breathing returned to that of a deep slumber once more. Whatever bothered her frightened her back into sleep. He pulled the blankets over them both and leaned on his side to watch her. The sun would be up in a few hours.

If he wanted, he could tap in with the gods that rested in his body. However, he chose not to in order to spare his wife more fear. He wanted her to tell him whatever she needed in her own time. His skin cooled with the flush of creeping dread. The look in Yani's eyes told him that she wanted to reveal something immense…something that concerned him. Bad dreams had never affected her like that in the past.

N'Jadaka watched Yani sleep until the sun rose. The vibrating hum of two stinger aircraft patrolling the lake for them went across the boat and he turned off the tint in the windows so that sunlight could awaken his love. Her return to consciousness was slow, but her eyelashes fluttered and she tossed an arm around his waist and burrowed deeper under the blankets.

"Welcome back," he said.

She kissed his chest and he rubbed her shoulder.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Yani stretched and peeked over his shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Ten."

"You let me sleep in that late?"

"That nightmare you had got you up for a minute. You actually fainted when I was talking to you about it."

"Nightmare?"

"You don't remember?"

She touched her forehead and thought for a minute.

"Maybe all the wine and beer messed me up. I can't remember waking up."

"You were shook up pretty bad, girl. Said your dream was a warning of something."

She nested in the crook of his arm, the nightmare not even registering in the comfort of his closeness.

"I'm hungry, but I don't want to get up yet."

"Still tired?"

"Just not fully awake."

"I'll make us some breakfast and you chill here until I bring it to you. What would you like?"

"Pancakes and chicken sausage…lots of syrup and butter."

"Luckily we have all of that."

He kissed her forehead and left her side, humming to himself as he washed his hands in the galley sink and gathered up the ingredients. The pancake mix was pre-packaged and only required water added to it. He popped sausage patties in a fast-cook oven and had their morning meal prepared in under twenty minutes. Yani sat up on the couch when he entered carrying a tray with their food and orange juice.

"There you go," he said presenting her a full plate with her favorite sliced apples added.

She appeared famished as she cut pieces of her pancakes and dipped them in extra syrup. Her stomach looked bigger after finishing her meal and he teased her about getting chunky already like the old women at the river market encouraged.

He cleared up the dishes and Yani took a shower. She returned when he finished cleaning up wearing a short yellow babydoll house dress. Plopping on the couch, she pulled the blankets back over her shoulders.

"Thought you wanted to learn how to ride the hoverbike," he said.

"I do, but I'm feeling lazy right now. I'll do it later after lunch. No rush."

He nodded and wandered off to wash up and trim his beard. While grooming himself he thought about what he would cook for their lunch and dinner. He liked the idea of doing nothing all morning. A late lunch of shrimp pasta salad and steak stir-fry for dinner seared itself in his brain menu. Their staff made most of their food pre-prepped for easy cooking and he was grateful that he didn't have to do too much for their meals on the boat.

He rubbed his skin down with coffee and cocoa butter and joined his wife on the couch. The air was cool and the perfect weather for blankets and more cuddling. Yani turned on a viewscreen above the fireplace and binged an American comedy series about an elementary school and their humorous teachers. She laughed a lot and he chuckled a few times.

"That's how you were with me," she said, pointing out a lead character's longing looks at his crush.

"No I wasn't."

"You used to stare at me like that when I walked around the compound. You didn't think I saw you, but I did."

"That dude looks thirsty."

"Like you weren't?"

"I was checking you out."

"You were grinding on me by your third day."

"I was not. Fourth maybe…"

Yani reached back and closed his lips with her fingers.

"Stop lying through your mouth."

"You were doing the same thing to me," he said.

"I had to watch you because you were a bad guy. Auntie always warned me about mercs and their sly ways. You could've been a rapist. I was in a vulnerable position all the time around you."

"Nothing was going to happen to you with me around. That still holds true today, Yani."

He lowered his lips to her neck.

"My protector…always," she said.

He kissed the back of her neck and she turned onto her back to see his face. Her lips were soft and inviting as he pressed his mouth against them. She turned back to watch the show and he curled around her, fondling her nipples through her dress. They were taut and poked through the material. He touched and teased, occasionally dozing between four episodes. She unfastened the ties on the top of the dress and he cupped a breast, allowing her to watch the show as he enjoyed the fullness resting in his hand. She pushed her backside into his groin and he lowered his shorts and lifted up her dress to her waist. He sandwiched his hardening dick against her ass, and her cheeks spread accommodating the thickness pushing against her skin with a light friction. Moving slowly, he acted like a horny teenager afraid of being caught and humped on his wife. His warm breath chuffed against the nape of her neck. She kept watching her sitcom and he continued humping and spilling pre-cum on her heavy rump. Yani whispered titillating things to him.

"You like how it feels on your dick?" she crooned.

"Mmhmm…"

"I know you do…it's all big and soft…your dick is so hard against it. If you're a good boy later, I'll let you fuck me nice and slow."

"Yessss, baby…"

He huffed out a rough breath, the pleasurable sensations rippling all across his dick and balls.

"You want to cum in my pussy again?" she said.

He bit her shoulder and groaned from the bottom of his chest. His nutsack throbbed in anticipation. Her voice became breathy and seductive.

"Fill me up with all of your hot cum…you'd like that, huh Daddy?"

He pushed the covers down to look at his dick against her ass. It was already coated with pre-cum and shiny. The slickness reduced the amount of friction he was able to get rubbing against her. Yani's soft sighs aroused him more, and he continued rubbing against her faster, satisfied with the sensation of his hot dick enveloped in the warmth of her ass cheeks. The softness of her breasts pleased him, their round fullness making him feel proud to have her next to him. She was the mother of his children. Would become the mother of another child in time. Her titties would get even bigger, as big as they had been in St. Thomas when he first met her jiggling around in over-sized t-shirts that couldn't hide the twin blessings he now caressed in his hands. Oh how he missed those afternoon sessions of lying in her lap and sucking milk out of her nipples. Her pussy would be so wet afterwards, hot as lava when he pushed deep inside of her. To be with her from start to finish the next time she got pregnant excited him.

He'd heard from married men back in his navy seal days that pregnant sex was something special. They said their wives hormones were in overdrive and they would be horny as fuck after that first trimester. All he could imagine was palming extra big tits and fucking Yani with a baby inside of her. Some of the most intense sex they had was right before he left her in St. Thomas, and she had been pregnant then carrying their son.

Yani gasped as he dropped his hand down to touch her clit. It was slippery from all of the wetness pouring out of her. Her inner labia were wide open and slicker than oil. She turned her head slightly and he met her lips again, their tongues sliding together amidst groans coming from them both. He fingered her clit like he was strumming an upright bass, plucking mewling sounds from her throat. Gripping his dick, he started beating it against her ass, the hardness exciting him as it smacked against all of her lush rump. He wanted to fuck the sense out of her, but would stretch that need for later in the day. They had all the time in the world to fuck as they wished. To tease as they wished. To indulge in their bodies however they wished.

God, she was soft and warm and pliant in his hands. She would do anything for him sexually and that knowledge made him shout as he came all over her ass.

"Fuck…Yani…baby…"

He squeezed his eyes shut as another thick load pushed through his pulsing tip. His balls throbbed so hard. He had more in store for her.

Yani turned toward him with a frown on her face.

"I'm supposed to cum first. That's the rule," she said with a pout curling on her lips afterward.

"Sorry, baby. That ass was too much for me."

"Lick and kiss my pussy to make up for your insolence," she said.

She didn't have to tell him twice. He burrowed his face between her legs, throwing them over his shoulders as he licked pleasure into her. His lips were glazed with her wetness in seconds and he pushed his entire face against her vulva. All of his fondling and slow caresses on her body had her primed and it only took him fifteen seconds get her off. Her legs shot straight out and she yelped his name. He grinned and crawled across her torso, stroking his dick and aiming it at her face.

"All this pipe belongs to you," he gasped.

She cradled his balls and squeezed them gently and he spurt semen all over her face. He dropped back down and kissed her pussy lips, drawing the kisses into a line all down her ass, before tonguing her asshole. She jerked at the sudden penetration and lifted her legs high so he could get all in it. He paid careful attention to the outer nerve endings. The area was puckered tight and he groaned.

"Can I fuck you in your ass?"

She noticed the begging tone and smirked.

"You didn't follow the rules about eating my pussy first before you came, so no….you can't fuck me there."

She was being playful, but he needed to be in her ass. Her body was splayed out on the couch with her dress bunched up in the perfect sexy way showing off wet pussy waiting to be plundered. Two succulent breasts sat there waiting to be bounced from ass fucking. Denying the king of Wakanda what belonged to him? The fuck?

He asked nicely again.

"Can I please fuck you in the ass right now? You lookin' too fine right now for me not to nut in that ass Yani."

She could see that hard meat waving at her between his thighs.

"No."

She reached across the table next to the couch and plucked out a few moist towlettes and wiped off her face and backside, tossing the used ones aside to throw away later.

"Look at this dick," he said.

"Later. I'm planning to give you a nice treat for teaching me how to use the hoverbike safely."

"Whatchu plan on doing?"

Yani rose up and kissed his dick.

"Making you feel real good."

"You can pre-pay me now. Trust… it will be appreciated even more."

She laughed.

"Such a greedy man. I'm going to change clothes and make us sandwiches. Then we can go riding."

"I was going to make us lunch."

"I got it," she said, bouncing away from him in a cheerful mood. She grabbed the used towlettes

"Baby, don't leave me like this. You know my shit ain't like no average dude."

Yani tossed the dirty tissues in a wastebasket near the stairs. They both heard the mechanism inside that incinerated all trash in the blink of an eye. She returned to stand in front of him.

"Greedy," she said in a sultry tone.

She tapped his shoulders, motioning for him to sit down. She knelt before him and tugged on her dress top so that her breasts were fully visible. Lifting them with her hands, she lovingly placed his dick in between them and slowly titty fucked him.

"Fuck yes!"

He spread his legs wide and she nestled in like the pro she was handling his length. Her lips bunched up when he plucked at her nipples.

"Ohhh…bay-bee…big titties all over this dick…shit you got this dick brick hard. Every goddamn time…fuck!"

She stuck her tongue out to tickle his slit when his dick rose up slightly between her cleavage. Yani had some nice big tits that fit nicely against his girth visually, and watching them slide up and down his meat had him panting as the build-up to release crept on him. He stood up to control a premature ejaculation and his nuts hung for her to lick and suck while she looked up at him the way he liked. She was such a good submissive, and that made him her servant for life sexually. He could think he controlled and dominated his woman, but that gorgeous wife on her knees sucking all over his balls and drawing a huge nut out of him again ruled his soul. She had good pussy, a hot nasty mouth, and an asshole that could bend him to her will. Niggas prayed they had a woman like that. Every time she was on her knees sucking him off, he couldn't think of another woman he had fucked who could do it better than she did. Yani was the whole package. She made porn stars look amateur.

"You promise to fuck Daddy good later?"

"Mmhmm," she hummed on his dick.

"Gon' let me nut as much as I want in your ass?"

A loud popping noise came from her lips as she released his dick to answer. She sucked him so sloppy that saliva ran down her chin.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Lemme fuck that tight little pussy too? Oh fuck! I can't wait to cum inside you. Stretch that pussy and nut all night…nasty little bitch. Keep sucking that dick, yesss, just like that. Good little slut…with them big ass titties…"

His voice had gone up an octave. She was twirling her tongue all around the head and teasing his frenulum. He sat back down quickly and forced her to fuck his dick with her tits again. Fuck! She was doing that shit she did where she pretended to not know what she was doing like some innocent virgin. It never failed to work on him because it brought out the beast in him., like he wanted to spank the shit out of her for playing games with him like that because he knew good and well she could turn a nigga out in seconds like she had done to him over and over and over and over….

"Yani!"

His hips bucked and he ejaculated thick ropes on her neck. White cream decorated her breasts too. More spilled out of his slit in a lazy stream that ran down the length of his dick. He lightly slapped her.

"Clean off my dick with your mouth."

She did so meticulously and spoke nasty things that made him moan. He told her how deep he was going to be inside her and how hard he was going to spank her ass while he fucked her. When she finished, he was so ready to pirate her away to their bedroom loft above.

His chest heaved and he let out a long sigh of satisfaction.

"I'll clean myself up…yet again…and get those sandwiches ready," she said.

She switch her ass in a sassy strut away from him.

"I am one luck man," he muttered.

Instead of going into the second bathroom on the upper deck to clean off, N'Jadaka chose to dive off the back of the boat and swim nude. Backstroking with confident strides, he stared up at the overcast sky and wondered what his children were doing. Umbono lake was wide and vast, almost feeling like an ocean except for the mountain that jutted out in the far distance that led to the inaccessible parts of Wakanda by foot or boat. Eyeing the houseboat, he noticed Yani waving at him.

"Come eat!" she shouted across the water.

He butterfly-stroked back to stretch out his back muscles. Yani wore pink shorts and water sneakers with a pink hoodie jacket. They sat at the back of the boat and ate thick turkey sandwiches with cranberry honey mustard dressing.

Her eyes were shiny with excitement as he uncovered one of the four hover bikes the family kept stored on the boat. He showed her the basic controls she was familiar with and had her sit in the front of it while he held onto her from the back. Yani started the bike up and slowly hovered them above the boat and across the water about fifty yards away. She kept the bike about three feet above the water. Like a jet ski on water encountering buoyant force or a battering of waves, Yani became accustomed to her rides buffeted by air turbulence.

"You got it. Go ahead and shift gears and try out a little more speed," he said.

She did well gliding them across the lake at ten miles per hour.

"Go higher," he said, squeezing her waist and giving her confidence at how well she did.

There was a little hiccup with her gear shifting into more height, but the engine didn't sputter as it adjusted. Twenty feet in the air and she was cruising them like she'd driven one her entire life. She practiced going up and down, hovering in one spot and landing on the water, as well as taking off from water. Once she practiced using the cruise control and turning on the protective rain cover and force field features, he hyped her to go even higher. She rose up to thirty feet and no more. They had gone off a far distance from the boat. It was a speck on the horizon from where they floated in the air.

"Ready to try it alone?"

"I think so…"

He dove off the hover bike before she could protest and made a big splash in the water. She stayed in one spot looking down at him.

"Meet you back at the boat. I'll grab one of the other hover bikes and we can check out that rock island over there," he said pointing to an islet a mile away .

She nodded and flew at a snail's pace. When they were halfway back to the boat, she went a little faster…and higher. Happy with her confidence, N'Jadaka picked up his swimming pace. Yani floated next to the boat and waited for him to join her. He grabbed hydration packs and a couple of snack bars from a bin. Handing a pack to Yani, he eventually started his bike and they took off at a slow pace five feet above the water. The sun broke through the clouds and by the time they neared the lake islet, they could finally enjoy the brilliant hue of the pale greenish-blue water sparkling below them.

"You good over there?" he asked.

Yani nodded and they curved around the island to catch a better view. The islet had a few skinny trees on it that followed along the right triangle shape of the gray rocky formation.

"It's so cute," Yani said.

There wasn't a decent flat space to land the bikes for exploration, but there was plenty to see floating above it. He glimpsed a school of yellow fish swimming close to the surface. The king tapped his kimoyo to identify the species.

"We should move the boat over here, those fish are supposed to taste good in a stew."

"I can make some fish soup with them then," Yani said.

They flew across another section of the enormous lake following along the shoreline. Nature's beauty energized them both.

"Race you back," Yani said.

He grinned and took off before she could countdown. Despite the sunlight appearing, another light drizzle fell on them and they both put up the protective covers to keep from getting too wet. Yani caught up to him and he slowed down so she could beat him. He kept their speed below twenty miles per hour and she zipped ahead reaching a speed of thirty. She could now cross hover bike riding off her list of new things to learn.

He fastened both bikes into their travel racks and covered them up. Yani went to use the restroom and he headed up to the loft bedroom and flopped down on the big bed there. He fully embraced every moment of their day. His wife joined him in bed and they snuggled down for a nap.

"I don't know why you were so scared of using the bike. You did great, baby."

"It's the height and I would feel nervous using it in the city," she said.

"Not everyone flies high and you can always go out to the bush or head to the rivers to ride without a lot of people around."

"I guess so."

He rested his head on her chest and she stroked his locs.

"The kids are going to have a blast out here. Can't wait to see them enjoy all that we've had a chance to do," he said.

Yani lifted herself away from the bed and stripped from her clothes.

"Lay back. I want to give you a little taste of what you're going to get later," she said.

N'Jadaka eased himself flat on his back and she squatted above his face in reverse so that she faced his feet. All he could see was her beautiful vulva. So inviting.

She dropped her ass down and smothered his face and he groaned with happiness. She lifted up again and then began a steady bouncing on his face, letting her ass and vulva nearly suffocate him.

"Drop it on me again," he grunted, feeling his dick stretch in size inside his shorts.

Yani gave him what he wanted, riding his face until he nutted in his shorts.

Good boy.

Sex was going to be the tool Yani had to use to keep N'Jadaka preoccupied so that she could wear him out for a good night's sleep. All day they stayed active and did things that kept him from focusing on her too closely. That seemed to work and it helped her not to act weird in front of him worrying about plotting her escape to Warrior Falls in time to receive Mama Wati's message.

N'Jadaka was so happy that morning and afternoon. She was also happy that she could maneuver the hover bike safely. It was less difficult to control than she had imagined. She was terrified of heights, and riding a machine that held a lot of power scuttled her nerves for the first hour of N'Jadaka's lessons. Luckily that nervousness covered up the other nervousness of plotting a sneaking away in the middle of the night. She would need at least four hours to reach the Falls by hover bike and perhaps another hour to find the Mama Wati statue. To stay safe, she allotted herself six hours, that meant she had to leave the house boat by midnight.

After their return from hover bike riding, she cleaned herself up and used face-riding her husband to keep him sexually drowsy. Some men just had a thing for a woman with a large derriere slamming it on their faces, and N'Jadaka was no different. Before she dated Chez back at her old home, she had an older boyfriend that liked for her to pound her ass in his face. She didn't know why they found it so pleasurable but she did it for her husband and watched him cum through his swim trunks. So far he had ejaculated four times that day. She would make love to him in his favorite position after feeding him a good supper, and then indulge him in smoking some homegrown weed she grew in a part of the royal garden no one ventured into much.

With his belly full, dick drained, and tucked into bed by ten, he'd nod out for hours. All she needed was a large enough head start before he or Bast realized something was amiss.

Guilt shrouded her mind.

She didn't want to deceive him, but Bast couldn't stop her from doing something to protect N'Jadaka and her children.

Yani sat on a stool as N'Jadaka fixed their dinner of stir-fried steak and fried cream cheese puffs. He prattled on about cooking more in the palace once they returned and she sipped on honey wine listening attentively. Piling steamed rice on her plate she held it up for him to cover it with the steak and veggies cooked in a light teriyaki sauce.

"I think we should attend the West African Summit in November," he said, adding rice to his own plate.

They sat across from each other with the galley's table island between them. Digging into their food, Yani nodded and agreed with him.

"If we go to the summit, will Ramonda attend too?"

"She'll be too busy back in the states."

Yani considered how long the summit would be and made a mental note to organize her social calendar in her personal office for the rest of the year.

"You want more?" he asked, offering up the wok he cooked with still filled with food.

"I'm good," she said.

"There's ice cream and pie for dessert."

"Can't eat another thing."

She helped him clear up dishes and put leftovers away. They wandered outside to look at the sunset. The overcast day had given way to a clear evening that doused the last sun rays in dark blues and a small patch of dark orange that reflected on the water. Yani lit up a joint and shared it with N'Jadaka. She made sure not to inhale deep to prevent smoke from going all the way in her lungs. Getting completely high was not on her agenda to execute her plan. Her husband toked and savored the transition into intoxication. He lowered his head to kiss her and she accepted the affection while holding her internal emotions in check. A high N'Jadaka was a less cognitive functioning one and Yani felt secure in luring him to the bedroom. They undressed on the way up and he kept slapping her ass cheeks as she took the stairs seductively, tooting her backside out for him.

She pushed him onto the bed and crawled up his body, joining their lips for slow kissing. N'Jadaka held her face with both hands.

"You make me so very happy, Yani," he said.

She turned on some music and they cuddled, touching lips every now and then.

"I feel like all we do is eat and sleep…and fool around," he said.

"Heaven," Yani insisted.

"What should we do tomorrow? Snorkeling or hiking around part of the lake collecting mushrooms for our next dinner?" he asked.

"Hiking," she said, answering quickly so that her facial expression wouldn't reveal anything false. If her plan went accordingly, she'd be miles away by the time he woke up.

"Okay…turn that down, I want to listen to the night birds call to each other," he said.

Yani turned off the music and listened for the red-throated loons to sing. There…a distinct yodel and a few tremolos that carried across the wide body of water. The bird song enchanted N'Jadaka and he wrapped his arms around her. He smelled so good, like early summer and fresh cocoa butter. His handsome face loomed above hers.

"Tell me you love me," she said.

"Always…I'll love you always, girl."

He was such a beautiful man. His warmth. His spirit. He saved her from an uncertain life and she had to do the same for him.

She trailed her fingers along the side of his shoulder and up along his neck. Fine ass. Plush lips always ready for kissing her. His nose septum gave him a lethal look. The longer locs were tied up in a knot. His feral eyes were narrow from the weed. Yani opened her legs and played with her clit, tugging on her ring piercing. He watched her fingers swipe over plump folds and he licked his lips. She concentrated on pleasure and pleasing him. He reached down and took over fingering her pussy. Tasting the essence from her on his fingers, N'Jadaka smacked is lips and continued his ministrations on her vulva to illicit heartfelt sighs from her.

His lips twisted in that mean way it did when he was ready to fuck. Her pussy sounded sloppy wet and she already knew it was able to accommodate him with a tight grip. She pushed him back and he sat up against the headboard.

"Let me take care of you, Killmonger," she uttered with a calm sultriness that rendered him docile.

Yani threw her leg over his hips and adjusted her position above his already hard dick. He propped it up for her at an angle to help her slide onto him with the best view of his wide dick head stretching open her entrance. Her inner labia gripped the naturally lubricated tip and she added extra clenching to make him feel the good pussy sliding down his length. His mouth dropped open and he let out a shuddery breath. Winding her hips, she gave her husband a special start to her lovemaking prowess.

"Relax, love. I got this," she whispered in his ear, letting her heavy breasts brush against his chest.

N'Jadaka reached out and gripped her ass cheeks, needing to hold onto something as she went up and down letting him feel all of her love. Leaning forward, she continued whispering sweet words in his ear as he watched her ass bounce.

"Fuck me Yani!"

His eyes rolled back and she rocked his shit, listening to him pant, groan, and plead with her to keep going. She wiggled and arched her back so he could see her breasts knocking together from her efforts. That man loved him some big tits and he gazed at the wonders bouncing in his face. He started sucking on her nipples and she slowed down, giving internal squeezes with her walls that made her man weak. His eyes glazed over full of lust and desire, wanting her to go all night. The weed had him locked under her complete control.

Yani kissed his forehead and rubbed her nose against his as she made love to him. Her husband could no longer speak. He held her against his chest and gazed at her ass cheeks. She leaned back and let her breasts cover his face. The girth of his dick tugged on her clit and the wings of her labia stretched around him. He felt so good. So strong. Powerful inside of her. He made her feel powerful…made her feel like a queen.

Yani threw her head back and rode out the wave of tension that sent tingles up and down her spine. N'Jadaka fondled her breasts with tender hands. She peered down at his face and he studied her every expression, the reverence for her fully apparent.

A change came over his eyes. The potency in the gaze revealed the oncoming of his release.

Not yet.

Yani shifted gears and crawled above his face, squatting down to drown him in the taste of them. He moaned against her flesh and she shivered, thrilling to the sensation of the sound vibrating across her vulva. She slid back down his dick again, giving in to the pull and pressure of his fullness inside of her.

"Cum on my dick, baby…cum for me…." he moaned.

Yani fell apart on his dick and N'Jadaka delighted in witnessing her release. She collapsed on him and he rubbed her back with gentle hands.

"You're so beautiful when you cum," he whispered in her ear.

She moved next to him, lifting a leg and he gripped his dick and guided it into her ass. He huffed and grunted while pushing in slowly, checking to see if she was comfortable with his progress. She held onto a large pillow and he covered her vulva with his hand, needing to feel the warmth there as he took her with purposeful strokes.

"…fucking this ass…feels so good on this dick…" he muttered.

She knew it got real good to him when he began shouting her name again, cursing the sensations tugging on his dick.

"Dammit!"

He lifted her leg and pumped faster, crying out to Bast as his dick swelled and ejaculated a gusher of cum. Yani accepted his orgasm with soft sighs. She reached back and stroked his forehead, reassuring him that she was with him in the moment.

Gasping for air, it took N'Jadaka a few minutes to pull out of her. The girth of his dick appeared to not want to go down any time soon. His reflexes were slower and she helped him detangle himself from a hunched over position that put his full weight on her.

"That was so fucking good…goddamn Yani…goddamn…"

She cuddled onto his hot sweaty chest and listened to his breathing become less erratic. He threw an arm around her and she kissed his lips, cooing his deadly nickname until he fell asleep.

Yani stayed next to him for a couple of hours, listening to the steady breathing and watching the rise and fall of his chest. Checking the time, she had an hour to prepare her departure. She showered on the lower deck and changed into a light hoodie and comfortable hiking pants with light hiking shoes. Grabbing a hydration pack and a few snack bars, she pulled it over her shoulders and then uncovered two hover bikes. She programmed one to go remote from her kimoyo beads. She climbed on the other. Stopping for a moment, she listened for any noise from above. N'Jadaka was comatose.

She rode away from the boat five feet above the water and headed toward the shore. If she stayed low and near the land, the Doras above wouldn't pay much attention there, especially when she dispatched the other hoverbike to go around the perimeter she set as a decoy. They would think the king was out riding late at night as he did in Ekuqaleni. She would make sure the inclement weather covering was up so they couldn't tell right away that no one was actually riding the bike around the lake.

Yani's hands shook when she turned off her tracking bead. She focused on safe riding until she reached shore. There was no full moon and the stars looked dull and bored in the sky. She set the other hover bike loose and watched it float away from the houseboat in the opposite direction. Confident that she programmed it correctly, Yani rode low to the ground under the trees to stay hidden from the Royal Talon Fighter and the stinger aircrafts securing their privacy.

Eventually she had to leave the trees behind and follow the Ibukun River. The further south she went, the rougher the dark water looked churning below. Her travel screen mapped the way to Warrior Falls and she finally turned on the headlights of her bike to illuminate her path. Her hover bike was far enough away to not attract attention. She reached a cruising height of twenty feet and kept her speed just under her comfort level. Her heart rattled so hard in her chest that she seemed on the verge of passing out from fright.

Did humans have the right to thwart the future destined for them?

What if N'Jadaka's parents had the chance to do the same? She might've missed her chance at a life with him. She wouldn't have her son, or Joba. She would never have become a queen. As painful and tragic as that past was, Yani was grateful that she could have her husband. What if her unborn child's future had to happen under Bast's watch? Would she inadvertently prevent that child the happy life she now had as an adult?

Yani slowed down the hover bike and let it float in one place. It wasn't too late to return and slip back into bed next to him. She could let the future unfold as is. Skip the day completely and the oracle would have to lose the message. Blinking away tears in confusion, she tried to calm herself. She had to know. Life could follow infinite paths, but she was in a uniquely divine position. It wouldn't hurt to simply listen. It didn't mean she had to act on whatever was in store for her on the other side of Warrior Falls.

She rode on.

One hour ticked by, and then another. She had to pee but was afraid to stop and relieve herself less someone spotted her and reported her wheareabouts. The Queen of Wakanda was not supposed to be sneaking off in the dead of night riding a hover bike above a mighty river. Yani squirmed in her seat. Her bladder had needs. She scouted a spot on another islet in the middle of the river that could hold her bike. Guiding the bike down, she secured it behind a small grove of trees. Relieving herself, she took time to drink water and stretch her legs. She hopped back on the bike and froze. A patrol ship cruised near the islet. Yani was sure they were searching for her, but she noticed a small fishing boat with an old man and a male teenager inside of it floating near the islet. A patrolman used a bullhorn to scold the two and they quickly pulled up a fishing net.

Illegal fishing.

Yani stayed hidden until the patrol boat took off and the fishermen had paddled away before she rode on. She didn't let down the inclement weather protector because it made her feel like she was driving a small car and not a flying bike. Safer that way. She kicked into going faster and felt the wind resistance buffet her course. Keeping below thirty miles per hour, Yani pointed the bike in the direction she wanted. There was nothing she could do to prevent wind drag, so she pushed on.

Another hour dragged by. Still another.

Fatigue set into her arms and legs, but she persevered. One by one the stars faded away. The angry roar of the giant waterfalls were hard to ignore, and Yani hovered below trying to figure out the proper direction to get past them. Tall like unimaginable giants facing each other in battle, the falls dumped tons of water that crashed into gigantic curtains of glowing white liquid against the last of the darkness. Going around either side of the cliff sides they fell from would eat up a chunk of her time and she would miss the rising sun lighting the way from the statue she hadn't even found yet.

Yani was scared to ride high above and over the falls. She didn't think hover bikes were designed to go that high and it was foolish to risk death testing the bike's limits. The cataract and plunge pool at the bottom of the falls looked too dangerous to fly through, even with the protective shield covering the hover bike completely. Her body was drained from riding all night and her mind couldn't shake the fear of what was beyond the thunder of water.

Keep going.

Her own voice in her head pushed her to move along.

She would see how high the hover bike went.

N'Jadaka dreamed he walked through a cavernous room in the palace filled with books containing the history of his people. He was inside the public palace library that housed a magnificent view of Birnin Zana at night. Stars twinkled outside the floor-to-ceiling window and he kept a steady gait moving between shelves stacked with ancient texts. The dream blended into another and he found himself overlooking the Ibukun River at night also. His body felt floaty and out of his control, so he floated in a nebulous cloud of lucidness and a dreamstate.

"N'Jadaka!"

His Wakandan name was spoken with an otherworldly tongue that wasn't human. He turned his head and a tall shadowy figure rose above him, making him seem small and insignificant.

"N'Jadaka…find her…stop her…"

A pressure shifted in his chest and the shadowy figure moved closer to him despite him being unable to make out its features clearly. Upon closer inspection the figure with the disembodied voice was nothing but gray smoky tendrils of dust held together by the will to capture his attention.

"N'Jadaka! STOP HER!"

N'Jadaka gasped out loud and woke up from the sensation of oncoming dread. He reached out next to him.

Yani wasn't there.

He tumbled out of bed with a shaky body and reached for the lights.

"Yani!"

She didn't answer.

He checked his kimoyo. She was nowhere on his tracking app.

"Yani! Baby! Where are you?"

He ran around the houseboat searching for her and checked the lake last. The sky had softened the darkness. The sun would come calling soon.

Yani wasn't taking an early dip in the water. He tapped his kimoyos.

"Okoye…do you see Yani anywhere on the lake?"

He couldn't keep his voice from sounding frantic. His dream still lingered in the corners of his mind and that voice that demanded he look for his wife was Bast. If a god woke you up, something horribly wrong was going on.

"Kumkani, Queen Yani…hold on a second. Security team four has spotted one of your hover bikes, it's heading back your way," Okoye said.

"Thanks, Okoye," he said.

N'Jadaka sighed with relief. She probably wanted to practice more without him so they could ride together later in the day. How she was able to get up at five in the morning after good weed and sex must've been a testament to her youth compared to his. He wanted to crawl back into bed.

Watching the horizon, he spotted the hover bike going along at a good speed. She rode it smooth and he smiled. Tapping his kimoyo again he spoke with a bubbly morning voice.

"Practice makes perfect, huh, baby? How long you been out here?"

He frowned. His kimoyo beads didn't connect to hers and his voice went nowhere. The hover bike zipped past the boat without stopping. He scanned it.

Remote.

She wasn't riding it.

Panic set it in.

"Okoye! Stop that hover bike! Yani isn't riding it. I don't know where she is. Scan this area in a ten mile radius and find her!"

The Royal Talon Fighter shimmered into view five minutes later and used the gravity beam to pull the bike into the aircraft. Stinger ships zipped back and forth across the lake.

"Kumkani, we have widened the search for Queen Yani. She is not within the ten-mile security checkpoint.

"How the fuck did no one see what happened to her? I went to bed with my wife last night and she disappears from under your nose?"

"Kumkani, there appears to be another hover bike missing from your vessel," Okoye said.

The Royal Talon Fighter floated down alongside the houseboat. A ramp was dropped next to it and Okoye ran out with Ayo and Aneka by her side, their spears gripped in their hands.

"No outside intruders broke through our security, and Queen Yani has special clearance to move about freely, so no alarms would alert us to her moving about, kumkani. Perhaps she left on her own?" Ayo suggested.

"Leave? Leave and go where?!" he blasted.

"Kumkani, the hover bike we picked up was pre-programmed to travel around the lake for six hours. The only person who could do that while you were asleep…was the queen. Only your royal codes can be used to run the equipment. I think Queen Yani used one hover bike as a decoy to fool us," Ayo said.

"Fool us for what?"

N'Jadaka took a deep breath and reverted to Killmonger mode. Cool, calm, collected. He paced on the Talon Fighter ramp. Yani had been acting odd the day before, but she was back to her normal self. They had a fantastic day together, made love and made plans to have more fun that morning. Where would she go that would make her program a hover bike to fly around on remote to trick them?

The color on the water changed. Morning had arrived.

He turned and looked toward the mouth of the Ibukun River.

Warrior Falls.

She wanted to go to Warrior Falls.

Bast sent a rush of cool air at the top of his head where she roosted. Her presence was a tremendous pressure on his brain, forcing him to act.

Stop her.

That's what Bast wanted him to do. Stop her from going wherever she snuck off to. His hunch was the Falls. She'd mentioned Bast in her nightmare. Told him in a frightened hysteria that she had to do something that Bast wouldn't like. He'd forgotten about it because the rest of their time had been normal and carefree, as if she never had a nightmare.

"We need to go to Warrior Falls," he said.

He ran back onto the ship still naked as jaybird. In his haste to find Yani, he hadn't bothered to put on clothes. The Doras didn't care. They were used to him being naked at any time when it came to him and his wife traveling or on vacation.

He showered and pulled on a tunic and comfortable pants. When he returned to his Doras they studied his face with questioning looks.

"Warrior Falls, kumkani?" Okoye asked.

"Yani talked about going there first and I denied her from doing so because of the lake schedule. I think she went there in search of something. I don't know what…but my gut is pushing me in that direction. She turned her beads off, so we'll have to search for the hover bike."

Okoye moved to look at the two other bikes. She scanned them with her beads.

"The hover bikes have trackware on them. I've found the code for the one she is riding. As long as it's turned on, we can find her…got it," Okoye said.

She looked at N'Jadaka.

"We'll find her, kumkani. Do not worry," Okoye said.

He followed them into the Royal Talon Fighter.

"Baby, what are you looking for?" he mumbled under his breath.

Bast touched his mind.

Stop her.

Yani rode the hover bike back the way she came for one hundred yards, creating space for her to ascend over the waterfall. Her first two attempts had her aborting and almost crashing into a wall of water. She checked her flight control algorithm and the sensory input from the hover bike's A.I. calculated the correct speed and trajectory point for her ascent. The bike's top speed was forty-forty-five miles per hour. She would have to maintain stability the higher she flew, since the falls were practically mountain ranges in her eyes.

One glance over her shoulder varified the direction the sun would raise itself. The sky was lighter than before.

Blowing out a strong gust of air from her mouth, she psyched herself up and shifted gears with her foot and twisted the throttle hard.

"OhGodOhGodOhGod!"

Yani yelled inside the bike covering and aimed the bike up.

Higher and higher she rose until the first sprays of water struck the covering on the front half of the bike, shoving her out of alignment with her trajectory path to fling herself over the top and keep her there. She overcorrected and commanded the A.I. to take over maneuvers for her to reach safety.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she yelled as the bike clipped a portion of water wall that had a jagged part of the cliff hidden behind it.

Yani fell fifty feet and the hover bike quickly shifted gears and jetted her like an erratic slingshot over the last section of the falls before falling into the outer edge of the plunge pool. She struck something hard and the hover bike stopped working.

Nothing but angry whitewater touseled her about at the bottom of the falls. The drag of a mean current beneath her threatened to suck her further down, but she ejected her seat. Thrust up at a fast speed, she broke the surface and swam for her life to break free from the plunge pool's powerful drag.

Using the last of strength she had, Yani lunged for the bank along the continuation of the Ibukun River. Gasping and falling onto her back, she shivered from the cold dunking, but thanked God that she was alive. Pain shot through her left wrist. She had smacked it against a boulder under the plunge pool. It was definitely fractured. She awkwardly and with great difficulty took off her hydration pack. Every pack contained a first aid kit and pain killers. She gulped down two pills and her wrist stopped throbbing. It took her a minute to wrap it with synthetic smart bandages that stabilized her wrist and enabled her to keep functioning until she could see another doctor who could do a better assessment at the true damage.

"Fuck," she muttered, noticing she lost one of her hiking shoes. She reached into her pack and pulled out a pair of walking sandals she had tossed in there in case it got too hot on their trip.

Dumping the saved hiking boot on her other foot into her pack, Yani set off to find the oracle once more. She calculated the time from the last time she checked it on the hover bike before it was lost. Forty minutes left to find the statue.

Grateful that the natural trail along the river was flat for the most part, Yani picked up her walking speed and kept an eye out for rocks and other debris. She snacked on a protein bar and drank water from the pack directly. There was supposed to be tributary split heading southeast that would be her signpost that she was headed in the right direction.

The sun began its grand entrance by heralding pastels of soft pink and powdery light blue in the sky first. Yani started running as if she were some desperate vampire seeking shelter before the sun completely showed its face.

She saw the first positive indicator.

A large manta ray statue curved out of the water from its cement base. At least twenty feet high its silvery-black coloring didn't have the chance to show off its grandeur as she hustled by it. She had to find Mama Wati's statue in twenty minutes.

Yani kept her hurt wrist close to her body and listened to the sound of her own pants from all the running she did. Those pants soon turned to ragged exhales of exhaustion. The temperature on her back changed as the warmth from the first rays of light touched her.

Where was it?

Did she miss another turn somewhere that she missed trying to memorize the mapping before the bike went down?

Tears sprung to her eyes and she fell to her knees after curving around a sharp turn that led to a wide pool of water. Yani received her first look at Mama Wati's statue.

It was massive.

The size of two Statue of Liberties stacked on top of each other, Mami Water loomed above the tributary in her seagreen and vibranium blue glory. Manta Ray wings sprouted from her back with a horned crown that matched the color of her seagreen form-fitting dress. Her face was pure Wakandan-birthed glory etched within ebony stone mined from the heart of the River Tribe territory. Her arms were draped at her sides and she looked off into some unknown distance as if she'd been waiting for Yani for thousands of years. Behind her another giant mountain dripped gallons of water from several cracks that fell down its side like joyous tears.

"Show me…please show me the way…" Yani whispered, waiting for the sun to strike the statue. Only Mama Wati could reveal the direction she had to go next.

Sunlight struck the base of Mama Wati's bare feet and inched up her dress minute by minute. Yani kept her eyes glued to the statue, waiting for any directional hint that would lead her to the oracle.

She thanked God that the day was shaping up to be warm and sunny, relishing the increased warmth on her wet clothes and hair. The glint from the statues shine in the sun dazzled Yani's eyes. Mama Wati was maginificent…there! There!

A beam of sunlight struck the center of Mama Wati's crown and a strong ray of light fell at an odd angle toward pale green trees. Yani fretted. The trees were on the other side of the enormous pool. She would have to swim in the water…no!

The light actually struck the side of the mountain rock and hit something shiny and round that bounced the light in a different direction on her side of the pool. Thank goodness! Swimming again was the last thing she wanted to do again in unfamiliar waters.

The light struck another object and Yani headed that way. The light beacon stayed visible for five minutes and disappeared.

"Oh, shit! Shit!"

Yani ran forward faster. Wasn't the light supposed to stay visible until she reached her destination? Even if it wasn't designed to do that, the direction it pointed still wasn't something she could decipher with the density of trees that all looked the same. Had she been too late in getting there?

Fretting and becoming scared that she had failed her family, Yani heard rustling in the trees to her left.

"Who's there?" Yani called out.

She checked for the Mama Wati statue again hoping sunlight would reveal the path again to help her figure out which trees to search for.

More rustling.

She pick up a big chunk of a fallen tree branch and wielded it like a baseball bat hoping to hit a home run.

"I will fuck you up if you try something funny. I'm the Queen of Wakanda!"

Two older men draped in bright forest green robes approached her from behind one of the trees. One was bald and the other had soft white 'fro. The bald man spoke to her.

"Kumkanikazi…forgive us for scaring you. We received the signal from the statue that you had arrived. We've come to fetch you for the oracle. She is waiting for you. Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

His kind eyes stared at her bandaged wrist.

"I had an accident coming over the Falls. It's fine for now. I was so afraid that I had lost the path to the oracle," Yani said.

She exhaled in relief.

"You were on the right path. That light path on her crown was for you and us. It helps you keep going in the direction where we can find you," the bald man said.

"What are your names?"

The bald man smiled.

"I am Uyakhusela, and he is my husband, also named Uyakhusela."

"Your names mean He Protects?" she said.

"Correct," they said together.

"Come Queen Yani, follow us please. The oracle is waiting," Fro man said.

She walked behind them as they passed through trees and traveled further into the base of the mountain. Yani glanced back at the Mama Wati statue. She could only see part of the lower half.

"This way kumkanikazi," Bald man said.

They entered the opening of a cave. Yani stopped walking. Her nerves started to prick up. She could feel a vibration emanating from the cave entrance, a humming in lower decibels that her ears could feel.

"What you are sensing is the birth canal, my queen. You are about to enter the womb of the world. Do not be frightened. Mama Wati would not bring you this far to see harm come to you," Bald man said.

"How many have come here before?" she asked.

"Just you, my queen. The oracle rarely interacts with outsiders. This is why we send emissaries to summon those she wants to see in person out in the world. But this time…this time you will have the special privilege of stepping all the way inside. We will ask you to bathe first and will provide you with something to wear in her presence," Fro man said.

"I'm ready," Yani said.

They entered the opening and the sweltering heat inside felt like a womb. Two young women sat near the entrance with drums between their legs and beat out the rhythm of a heartbeat. The old men led her to the front of three sections of water falling from an opening in the cave roof.

"Beyond these birth waters is the path to your future Queen Yani. We wish for you peace and prosperity," they said in unison.

"Wait, you aren't coming with me?"

"We are not allowed to come with you on this journey. Beyond those waters is a bathing pool. Cleanse yourself and put on the robes left there for you afterward. You will know where to go when you are finished."

"Thank you, Uyakhusela,"

Both men lowered their heads and backed away from her.

Yani took a deep breath and stepped through the birth waters.

Chapter 11 HERE.

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[baileys-writing-desk]

Don’t let Rulie near the Master Cycle

…or he will hit a tree.

Wild learned this the hard way.

(a gift for dalemon-99!)

Wild’s Hyrule, like many others, has a Faron Woods. And it’s the perfect place for the Champion and the traveler to take a walk together, away from the rest of the Chain.

Hyrule has taken quite a liking for mushrooms. The reddish ones are called Hylian Shrooms, Wild taught him once, and the green ones Stamina Shrooms. Each time they come across one, he kneels down to examine it, running his fingers along its smooth surface and wondering if it’s edible. It has to be, as Wild eats things like this all the time.

But the Champion seems to have another idea, as he stops at a small clearing and pulls out his Sheikah Slate.

“Do you want to see something cool?” he asks, grinning.

Hyrule’s brow furrows in confusion. What?

“Um…sure. I guess.”

Wild presses a few buttons on the slate, and soon magical blue trails of light circle nearby, not much different from the ones they see upon teleporting at a Sheikah Tower. A strange object materializes next to the two Hylians, with what looks to be two wheels and…

“What is that??” Hyrule exclaims, eyes wide.

The Champion giggles. “This is called the Master Cycle. A piece of Sheikah technology I got from beating the shit out of a monk. As you can see here-“

“Wait, hold on.” Hyrule interrupts. “ You got it from what??”

“Yeah…long story, Rulie. It’s quite amusing, remind me and I’ll tell you later.”

Knowing Wild, the traveler can’t say he’s surprised. But still. Maybe if he finds this…monk and beats him up, he can get one of these things too?

“Anyway, as you can see it has a seat, handlebars for steering, think of it as like an electric horse. It’s a new mode of transport that we call a ‘bike.’ Maybe when we’re done inspecting the shrooms here, I can demonstrate for you?”

“Yeah!!” Hyrule’s heart skips a beat, unable to contain his newfound excitement. A mode of transport? He has never seen anything like this in his life! And a thought burns into him: I wanna try!!

And oh, he wants to try so desperately. But he knows Wild wouldn’t let him.

“Ok, sounds like a plan.” The Champion smiles again before walking up to a group of Hylian Shrooms. Hyrule can barely take his eyes off the Master Cycle in all its glory. It’s as if the bike is speaking to him, asking him to come over and ride it.

Another few minutes pass as they study the clearing, with Wild taking pictures on the slate for Flora, and Hyrule has come up with a different plan. He beams from ear to ear like a young child, positioning himself in front of the Champion and close to the bike.

“Hey, see that mushroom over there?” The traveler points to the green Stamina Shroom at the base of a small tree. “Walk over and grab it, then throw it to me. I wanna try something.”

Wild briefly narrows his eyes. “…Why?”

“Just trust me on this. I’m gonna try to catch it in my mouth.”

“Rulie…” Wild sighs, but pauses when Hyrule widens his eyes like a begging puppy. “Hmph. Fine.”

The Champion turns around to fetch the mushroom. Ok, he’s distracted. Go!

Hyrule locks eyes on the bike and darts over to it, quickly hoisting himself up with legs straddled like he saw Wild do earlier. Shit. How do you start this thing??

“Hey! Rulie, no!”

Wait, yes! The right side! He slams his foot on the small piece of metal underneath it and suddenly the bike is speeding forward. “WOOOO!!” he shouts, fluffy hair whipping in the breeze as the loud whirring noise of the bike overrides whatever the Champion is yelling. Laughing out loud, Hyrule rides in a straight line through the woods, making sure to follow the path. This is AMAZING!!

His grip on the handlebars remains strong. All he needs to do is just keep the bike upright. Easy!

“HAHA! YOU CAN’T CATCH ME, WILD!!” he shrieks. “TRY TO STOP ME!”

He’ll ride all the way out of these woods, maybe through the field and back toward camp. He has the power now, he’s carefree!

…Until a large tree looms in front of him, blocking the path.

Shit!! He doesn’t know how to turn! Oh no. Oh, fuck me.

Hyrule barely has time to think as the tree draws closer; at his current trajectory he will slam right into it. I can stop, right? Just-

Wait.

He also doesn’t know how to stop.

FUCK!!

In a frenzy he jerks the handlebars to the right, hoping the bike will follow. He hasn’t thought this through, but he doesn’t have the time to with the bike still speeding faster than a dragon. Just narrowly missing the tree, he manages to turn the bike…

…smack into another tree.

Hyrule yelps as the bike crashes, and next thing he knows it is…gone?? Shit!! Now without anything to sit on, he is flung forward, crying out in pain as he hits the tree before being tossed to the ground.

He can hear Wild’s shouting coming closer as he lies there, dazed, arm throbbing from taking the brunt of the blow. Somehow he had managed to shield his face, but Hylia, that aches too. Everything hurts.

Okay, that was a BAD idea.

“HYRULE!!”

He turns his head to see the shocked Champion running to his side. “Hyrule! Are you okay?? My god!”

Bad, bad idea.

“Mhm…” he groans, rubbing his forehead. “Where’d it go…?”

“What- oh, it disintegrates whenever you crash. Learned that the hard way once too.”

“So I…broke it?” Oh no. His eyes widen as he glances up at Wild, now standing over him. “I’m so sorry-“

“No, you didn’t break it. That’s what it was made to do,” the Champion explains. “But I digress. Why in Hylia’s name did you want to ride it with no supervision!?”

Hyrule sighs. “I…I thought it would be fun.” With a grunt he pushes himself up to sitting, despite the pain in his arm. “And- it was.”

He smiles weakly at Wild, who still looks less than pleased.

“Oh, Rulie…what am I gonna do with you?” He slowly shakes his head in disbelief. “Here, can you heal yourself? Or I think I have a fairy.”

“It’s okay…I can do it.” If Wild uses his fairy on something as stupid as this…no. He won’t let that happen.

“Well, well.” Wild smirks as the traveler begins to prepare his healing magic. “I can’t wait to see the old man’s reaction when we get back!”

Hyrule gasps. “No, please- don’t tell Time! He would kill me if he finds out-“

“I mean, you’ll still be a bit drained…he might ask why. And so I can deliver.” Wild’s voice is taunting, as the Champion keeps his cheeky smile. The horrified look on Hyrule’s face must be amusing.

“Please…I can’t stand a lecture from the old man,” the traveler whines. “I’ll speak for myself…”

Just like he did before when getting Wild to agree to his little trick, he gazes up at the Champion with his puppy-dog eyes.

“Okay…fine.” Wild luckily gives in. “This can stay between you and me. But you have to promise to never pull a stunt like this again.”

Hyrule huffs. Aw, man. He loves messing around with Wild…but he would rather escape the wrath of the entire Chain and their lecturing. Especially Time.

“Yes, I promise.”

“Good.” Wild gestures to Hyrule’s injured body. “Now heal yourself up, Rulie.”

With a sigh, the traveler closes his eyes as he feels the familiar warm glow of his magic, slowly placing his hands on each of his wounds to close them. Soon the pain fades away and strength returns to his body.

[carbikemovers-com]

Bike Transport in Bangalore for Long-Distance Moves: A Comprehensive Guide

Bangalore, known as the Silicon Valley of India, is not just a bustling IT hub but also a city of diverse cultures and lifestyles. Whether you’re relocating to another city or exploring new opportunities in a distant location, transporting your bike efficiently and safely is crucial.

https://prateekthakur.wixsite.com/carbikemovers/post/bike-transport-in-bangalore-for-long-distance-moves-a-comprehensive-guide

[onyxblackcar]

Beat the Traffic: Smart Transportation Choices for Dallas Concerts

Introduction

Dallas, Texas, is a vibrant city known for its diverse music scene and a thriving concert culture. Whether you're a local concert enthusiast or visiting Dallas for a live music event, one of the challenges you'll face is dealing with traffic congestion. Navigating the city's bustling streets to reach your favorite concert venue can be a daunting task. However, with careful planning and smart transportation choices, you can beat the traffic and make your concert experience more enjoyable. In this guide, we will explore some of the best Concerts Transportation in Dallas, helping you avoid the stress of traffic and arrive at the venue hassle-free.

Dallas Concert Scene

Before delving into transportation options, it's essential to understand the Dallas concert scene. Dallas hosts a wide variety of concerts, from large-scale stadium events to intimate club shows. Some of the most popular concert venues in Dallas include the American Airlines Center, The Bomb Factory, House of Blues, and the Dos Equis Pavilion. The choice of venue and location can significantly impact your transportation decisions, so it's crucial to check the details of your concert in advance.

Public Transportation

Dallas has a robust public transportation system operated by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Utilizing public transportation can be a smart and eco-friendly choice for getting to concerts. Here's what you need to know:

DART Light Rail: DART offers a convenient light rail service that connects various parts of Dallas, including popular concert venues. This can be an excellent choice if you live near a light rail station or if your venue is accessible by rail. Check the DART schedule and routes to plan your journey.

DART Buses: DART also operates an extensive bus network that covers a wide area of Dallas. If your concert venue is not directly accessible by light rail, buses may be a viable option. Be sure to check bus schedules and routes in advance to avoid any delays.

Ride-Sharing Services

Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are widely available in Dallas and offer a convenient and flexible transportation option for concertgoers. Here's why they can be a smart choice:

Convenience: Ride-sharing apps make it easy to request a ride to and from the concert venue. You can track your driver's location, estimate arrival times, and pay through the app, making the experience hassle-free.

Avoid Parking Hassles: Using ride-sharing services eliminates the need to find and pay for parking, which can be a major headache at crowded concert venues. It also reduces the risk of getting stuck in long exit queues after the show.

Carpooling: Consider carpooling with friends or fellow concertgoers to share the cost of a ride-sharing service and reduce your environmental footprint. Many ride-sharing apps offer carpooling options.

Biking and Scooters

If you're looking for an eco-friendly and efficient way to beat traffic, consider biking or using electric scooters. Many Dallas concert venues offer bike racks or scooter parking, making it easy to combine exercise with transportation:

Bike Rentals: Dallas has several bike-sharing programs that allow you to rent bicycles for short-term use. You can pick up a bike near your location and drop it off at a designated station near the concert venue.

Electric Scooters: Electric scooters have become increasingly popular in Dallas. You can find them scattered throughout the city and use smartphone apps to rent them. They are a convenient and fun way to navigate traffic and reach your concert destination.

Plan Ahead

Regardless of the transportation option you choose, it's crucial to plan ahead for your Dallas concert experience:

Tickets and Timing: Make sure you have your concert tickets ready and arrive at the venue with plenty of time to spare. Dallas traffic can be unpredictable, so giving yourself a buffer is essential.

Know the Venue: Familiarize yourself with the layout of the concert venue, including entrances and exits. This will help you navigate the venue efficiently.

Traffic Updates: Stay informed about traffic conditions in Dallas by using navigation apps like Google Maps or Waze. These apps provide real-time traffic updates and can suggest alternative routes to avoid congestion.

Parking Alternatives: If you decide to drive to the concert, explore parking alternatives such as off-site parking lots or garages. These options may offer lower rates and shorter exit times.

Conclusion

In conclusion, beating the traffic and enjoying a stress-free concert experience in Dallas is entirely achievable with the right transportation choices and planning. Public transportation, ride-sharing services, biking, and scooters all offer viable alternatives to driving yourself to the venue and dealing with traffic and parking hassles.

The key is to consider the location of the concert venue, your personal preferences, and any environmental concerns you may have when selecting your transportation method. By planning ahead, staying informed about traffic conditions, and arriving with plenty of time to spare, you can ensure that your Dallas concert experience is both enjoyable and memorable. So, the next time you attend a concert in the city, consider these smart transportation choices to beat the traffic and make the most of your musical journey.

[carbikemovers-com]

Top 10 Benefits of Using a Bike Parcel Service

In today’s fast-paced world, convenience and efficiency are paramount. When it comes to sending packages, especially if they are time-sensitive or need special handling, bike parcel services offer a range of benefits. This blog will explore the top 10 advantages of using a bike parcel service, shedding light on why it’s a smart choice for both personal and business needs.

https://carbikemoverss.blogspot.com/2024/08/top-10-benefits-of-using-bike-parcel.html

[bluedarttrackingkr63]

Logistics Excellence at Your Doorstep: Blue Dart's Nationwide and International Delivery Network

Logistics Excellence at Your Doorstep: Blue Dart's Nationwide and International Delivery Network

In today's fast-paced world, where seamless logistics and reliable delivery services are critical, businesses and individuals rely on efficient and trustworthy logistics companies to ensure their shipments reach their destinations safely and on time. Blue Dart, a leading logistics provider in India, has built a reputation for its logistics excellence with its extensive nationwide and international delivery network. With a commitment to service excellence, advanced technology, and a dedicated workforce, Blue Dart ensures that logistics solutions are delivered right to your doorstep.

Blue Dart's nationwide delivery network is unmatched in its coverage and reach. With over 35,000 locations across the country, Blue Dart can connect businesses and individuals in even the most remote areas of India. The company's vast network of service centers, hubs, and delivery routes ensures efficient and timely pickups and deliveries. Whether it's a bustling metropolitan city or a far-flung village, Blue Dart's nationwide network enables seamless logistics connectivity, facilitating the movement of goods and documents across the country.

To further enhance its nationwide delivery capabilities, Blue Dart operates its own fleet of vehicles, including vans and bikes, which are strategically deployed for last-mile connectivity. This extensive infrastructure allows the company to ensure that shipments are efficiently transported from the nearest hub or service center to the final destination. Blue Dart's fleet is equipped with GPS tracking and advanced routing systems, ensuring that deliveries are made through optimized routes, minimizing transit times and enhancing overall efficiency.

Blue Dart's commitment to logistics excellence extends beyond its nationwide network. As part of the DHL network, Blue Dart seamlessly connects India to over 220 countries and territories worldwide. This affiliation provides customers with access to a truly global delivery network. Blue Dart leverages DHL's extensive international infrastructure, customs expertise, and specialized services to offer reliable and efficient international shipping solutions.

With its international delivery network, Blue Dart facilitates the seamless movement of goods and documents across borders. Whether it's importing products from overseas suppliers or exporting goods to global markets, Blue Dart's international logistics solutions ensure that shipments are handled with care and delivered promptly. The company's international services include express delivery, freight forwarding, customs clearance, and supply chain management, providing end-to-end logistics solutions for businesses of all sizes.

One of the key strengths of Blue Dart's nationwide and international delivery network is its use of advanced technology and tracking systems. Blue Dart has invested heavily in cutting-edge technology to monitor and manage its operations. From online booking systems to real-time tracking and delivery updates, customers can easily track the progress of their shipments and stay informed about the estimated delivery times. Blue Dart's advanced technology also enables seamless integration with e-commerce platforms, allowing businesses to streamline their order fulfillment processes and provide customers with accurate and up-to-date tracking information.

Furthermore, Blue Dart's commitment to logistics excellence is reflected in its dedicated and skilled workforce. The company employs a team of logistics professionals who are trained to handle various aspects of the logistics process, including order processing, packaging, transportation, and delivery. Blue Dart's employees undergo rigorous training programs to ensure that they possess the necessary skills and knowledge to handle shipments with care and efficiency. Their expertise, combined with Blue Dart's advanced technology and infrastructure, ensures that logistics solutions are delivered with utmost precision and reliability.

Customer satisfaction is at the heart of Blue Dart's logistics excellence. The company understands the importance of delivering a seamless and hassle-free experience to its customers. Blue Dart's customer service team is available round the clock to assist customers, address their queries, and provide personalized solutions. Whether it's providing information on shipping options, resolving issues related to customs documentation, or offering support with special handling requirements, Blue Dart's customer service team ensures that customers receive the highest level of service and support throughout the logistics process.

Blue Dart's logistics excellence is also demonstrated through its

[carbikemovers-com]

How to Get Bike Transport | Bike Courier Service | Bike Parcel

Discover the hassle-free process of bike transport with our comprehensive guide. Learn how to choose reliable bike courier service, understand the bike parcel procedures, and ensure safe and efficient transportation for your motorcycle. Navigate the logistics with ease and get your bike delivered smoothly.

[anneitsnobigdeal]

Arriving at this new island without the Plantars had compounded with the stress of Anne’s last day in Amphibia to keep her going for far longer than she should have been- the girl needed some rest. She’d come a long way from being a lazy kid wrapped up in the ephemeral drama of teenage life, but this shift had perhaps gone too far in the opposite direction. Far as she knew, she’d be completely wired 24-7 until she found out how to solve every problem on her plate, and that suited her just fine. It’d just mean she would fix everything in a shorter time, and how was that anything but a win?

Of course, she wouldn’t be spending all her time with her nose in a book on interdimensional travel or handing out “Have You Seen This Frog?” posters. She knew she’d need to take a break every now and then to recuperate- how else would she be able to get back to sorting out every incredibly upsetting thing she had to get through in order to make things safe for everyone she cared about? It just made sense. Getting the lay of the land in each ward was something like a rest, right? Plus it’d go by a lot faster than her journey to Newtopia, given she had access to public transportation a lot faster than a giant snail. She loved Bessie, but a premiere taxi service was not the kind of travel the old girl provided. Right now, though, Anne was riding a bike she’d rented from Archimedes’ transportation service. She had a thing for feeling the wind on her face, breathing in deep as she was able to look around as freely as she wished, redirecting right for wherever she-

SKRREEEEK!

Anne had suddenly squeezed the handbrake with all the force a panicking varsity tennis player could muster, nearly throwing herself head-over-heels past the handlebars in the process. Her eyes darted to where she saw that flash of fabric- a long blue cloak, white fur adorning the shoulders.

Is that...?

Instantly she veered toward the figure, legs pedaling with so much greater force than she’d used before. Fast as she was racing, though, her mind raced faster through the past- when she’d first reunited with her friend outside the gates of Newtopia, all the adventures they had together, their tense encounter in the throne room, that look in her eyes when she...she was...

Another slam of the handbrake as she was well within distance to catch up on foot. Her foot swiftly deployed the kickstand before her other leg swung over the chassis so she could sprint and close up the distance between them. She let her energy wane as she was just a couple of meters away, slowing to a jog, then a couple of stumbling steps forward before she stopped. Though her chest heaved with every breath, she managed to get the words out just fine to call to someone who just had to be who she thought it was...her friend, one who she thought she may have lost just seconds before disappearing in a flash, yet now stood completely fine, talking to somebody quite enthusiastically outside Tempus Museum.

“Marcy...? Is...is that really you...?”

@riddleranger​​ liked x for a starter!

[lockefanfic]

Business Trip: Part 40 - Ride

Tokyo was one of those cities that seemed to go on forever.

It never seemed to end. An endless sprawl of concrete, glass, and steel, extending out into the horizon and beyond in every direction, a testament to the history of Japan itself - soaring skyscrapers built with the very latest in structural and engineering knowledge stood next to temples that had endured centuries of history and would probably endure centuries more. Housing and commerce and recreation, all bound together by a network of roads and streets that functioned like the circulatory system of a living creature, transporting its ten million inhabitants like veins might transport blood. 

It seemed, sometimes, like Tokyo was a living creature in and of itself, breathing in and out, always on the move - never sleeping, never resting. Each building was a cell in a living creature, each with its own history and character, each with a story to tell.

But from the back of a motorcycle, it all looked like a blur.

Perhaps it was mostly because you were preoccupied with holding on for dear life. It was one thing to be the one actually operating the vehicle; at least then you knew that you had full control over it and could at least dictate, to some extent, your own fate. But today you were merely a passenger, holding on with a tight grip on the operator’s waist, your life quite literally in her hands.

Park Jihyo drove the bike like she were in a race with only one participant, weaving in and out of Tokyo’s rush hour traffic as though she were behind the wheel of a sports or rally car and not a comparatively flimsy sport motorcycle. In other circumstances you would have welcomed the opportunity to wrap your arms around her voluptuous frame from behind; today you were too busy trying to keep your lunch inside your stomach as Jihyo whipped around corners and sped down straightaways.

Two days have passed since your team landed in Tokyo. The first couple of days were preoccupied with settling down into your accommodations, with everyone aside from Sana and Momo checking into the same hotel. Sana, of course, had an apartment in the city and had invited Momo to room with her. She’d invited you as well, but you politely turned her down, not quite ready to face the prospect of daily living with the two girls given their history with you, and the drama that would likely arise as a result. 

For now you were happy to let the two spend some time together, even if you knew that the “best friends forever” mask that Sana wore around Momo only remained in place so long as you weren’t involved. Once you were, you knew she wouldn’t hesitate to take the gloves off. Sana shot you a suggestive wink as she piled into the cab with Momo, and you resolved at that moment that you’d have to deal with her feelings for you sooner rather than later.

Yesterday was spent mostly formulating a plan of action. The rest of the team was to reach out to their contacts in the city to see if there was any sign of Seulgi, Yeri or Irene. Jihyo and Nayeon had several law enforcement contacts and colleagues they decided to meet. As the team lead, you decided to join Jihyo as she met with the commissioner of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

You had expected to hop into a cab that would bring you to the Metropolitan Police HQ building in the Kasumigaseki district. You weren’t expecting Jihyo to rent a sports bike, toss you a helmet, and tell you to hold on.

Thankfully you eventually made it to the Metropolitan Police HQ in one piece - even if you weren’t entirely sure that your stomach had made the trip. Jihyo turns into a parking garage opposite the large, imposing structure of the police HQ, ascending a few levels until she found an empty parking spot in a corner. 

“Fuck, that was good,” she says as she leans the bike on its kickstand and removes her helmet, her hair falling down her back in a dark chocolate waterfall as she shakes her head free of it. Her tone sounded a bit like someone who had just had sex, given her heavier than normal breathing, and the droplets of sweat slowly dripping down the side of her face - she looked like she was about ready to light up a post-coital cigarette. You found yourself only reluctantly releasing your arms from around her waist.

“We’re taking a cab next time,” you say with a groan as you remove your own helmet.

“Oh, come on,” Jihyo says, half turning to you as she makes no movement to turn off the bike’s engine, “you can’t tell me that wasn’t fun as hell.”

“It was fun for like the first twenty seconds - which is about when my stomach decided to check out.”

“Aww. You’re saying it didn’t get you going? Shame. For me, riding a bike is like shooting guns - it always gets me in the mood.”

“Mood for what?” you say, your interest suddenly piqued.

“Shut up, you know what for,” she replies, dropping her helmet to the floor with a dull thud. She takes your own helmet from your hands and drops it next to hers, before she finally gets off the bike, swinging one leg over the front end of it. She takes only a moment to unzip her black leather jacket and slip it off, the heavy outerwear joining your helmets on the floor before she gets back on the bike - this time facing you.

Her hands reach for your face, and soon she is crashing her lips against yours.

Sex with Jihyo was always so refreshing, for lack of a better world. There was no drama, or feelings, or romance involved here; only a recreational activity between two people. She enjoyed sex the way others enjoyed sports, or video games, or any other activity people did for fun. It was to be had and enjoyed, nothing more, nothing less.

You would be lying if you’d said that sex with the young, voluptuous detective atop a still-running motorcycle didn’t excite you, especially after the rather dangerous ride through the streets of Tokyo that she’d just taken you on. The loud, vibrating hum of the motorcycle between your legs, the warm, tight body pressed against yours, and the passionate, warm, wet kisses you were sharing - novelty aside, it was a fucking turn on.

Jihyo is the first to open her mouth and slip her tongue inside yours, exploring your lips and teeth before finding its counterpart willing and able to duel with it. Your hands are not idle - hers wrapping themselves around your neck and running through your hair, yours wrapping around her torso and enjoying the feel of her naked upper back, moist with sweat.

The detective was wearing a blue tube top and a black leather skirt, which made her look a little bit like she was doing a cosplay of Jill Valentine from Resident Evil 3. It was an outfit that did little to hide the curvy appeal of her chest, putting her large, round breasts on proud display beneath its low cut. You are unable to resist for long, diving into the writhing Korean girl’s neck, nuzzling her soft, warm skin with soft kisses before latching on to the warmest spot you can find and sucking. Jihyo lets a soft moan escape her lips, muffled somewhat by the loud running of the bike beneath you both - her hands tighten their grip on your head, her fingernails digging almost painfully into your scalp.

You eventually break off from her neck, the satisfaction that you’d left a mark there bringing a sly smile to your lips. You slowly lower the path of your kisses downward, until you are leaving a soft trail with your lips on her collarbone. Jihyo leans back as much as she can given her awkward seated position, letting you go further down her body, devouring her soft, perfect skin with your lips and tongue.

Jihyo stops you in your tracks with a palm on your chest. You lock eyes and find hers half-lidded in lust as she raises her back off the bike and reaches behind her. As she undoes the zipper at her back the blue tube top sags a little against her chest, almost revealing her completely - until Jihyo finishes unzipping it, pulling it down with slim fingers until she strips it off, dropping it on the floor to join your helmets and her jacket, and leaving her topless.

The sheer lust and audacity of the situation - of having sex atop a running motorcycle in a foreign city’s parking garage, with a detective, no less - drove you insane with need. A part of you wanted to take it easy, savor the feel of this young woman’s body; but the desire to indulge in the newly unwrapped present in front of you was too great for you to resist.

You almost immediately feast on her breasts, cupping both of her large, perfectly shaped mounds in your hands, squeezing them and massaging them, eliciting a long, drawn out gasp from the girl’s lips that you hear with perfect clarity despite the loud, clanking motor beneath her. You capture her swollen nipples with your index fingers and thumbs, tweaking and teasing the stiff nubs with your fingertips until her light, airy moans turn into long, drawn moans.

“Fucking suck on my tits,” she hisses.

You didn’t need to be asked to do so - but the lust dripping from every syllable that left Park Jihyo’s mouth is impossible to resist. You dive into the needy Korean girl’s chest, cupping her left breast with your right hand from beneath before latching your mouth atop the stiff peak of her nipple, capturing it between your lips, your tongue quickly darting out and tasting the sweet saltiness of her sweaty skin on your palette.

Jihyo moans, her entire body writhing and quivering atop the bike as you suck on her large, round breast, drinking your fill of her body as your tongue plays in random patterns on her nipple and your lips close around it, sucking deeply. Not wanting to leave her left breast unattended you do the same to it, latching on to her stiff peak, sucking deeply, licking relentlessly.

You’d known for a while that Jihyo had the most sensitive breasts out of anyone on the team. From the steadily increasing volume of her moans and the way she quivered and shook atop the bike you knew that the pleasure you were creating in her body was far and above the pleasure the other girls received when you did the same to them. Jihyo needed her breasts to be played with during sex; and it was a need that you were happy to fulfil.

For a few more long, glorious seconds you continue to feast on the young woman’s chest, drinking deeply from her large mounds and enjoying the feel of her taut nipples under your tongue or between your lips. Jihyo moans and gasps and hisses her pleasure, the volume of her lustful chorus rivalling that of the still-running engine. Her legs wrap around yours, her firm thighs on your hips - the bike would have tipped over were it not for your feet, flat on the floor, stabilizing it on either side. She leans back atop the machine, wanting to give you full access to her body as you devour it with a hungry mouth.

Eventually Jihyo raises your head from her saliva-drenched breasts, her eyes, drunk on lust, staring directly into yours.

“I want you inside me now.”

You stand, unzipping your jeans and pulling them as far down as you can, thankful for its stretchy, flexible cotton construction. You pull your boxers down far enough to let your stiff shaft, already dripping with pre-cum, to spring from them. 

Likewise, Jihyo reaches between her spread thighs to pull the short hem of her leather skirt up, revealing a thin pair of panties beneath that is near translucent with her juices. With two fingers she pulls the drenched cotton aside, revealing her moist, dripping lips; the combination of the hair-raising bike ride, having her breasts sucked on, and the heavily vibrating motor between her legs was getting her off.

“Fuck me.”

You aren’t one to resist such a demand, and so you bend as best you can, bringing the tip of your aching, leaking cock to Jihyo’s moist pussy, the round head of your cock parting her slick lips and finding her needy entrance. Gripping your shaft by the base, you swirl the thick head around Jihyo’s moist folds, her wet lips drenching your tip and eliciting deep moans of pleasure from her throat. You want to tease her a little longer, but the wet, hot, pink tunnel of her pussy beckons, and you are powerless to resist.

With one deep thrust you enter her, and the moan that Jihyo releases as she is filled temporarily overtakes the volume of the bike’s motor. You fill her to the hilt, delighting in the feel of her walls clenching around yours, drenching it with slick juices, grasping it with tight walls. Giving her only a few seconds to adjust to the sensation of being filled, you withdraw your cock halfway out, delighting in how absolutely drenched it was in her wetness - before you thrust back inside. Soon you are fucking Park Jihyo atop the loud, vibrating bike, filling her needy pussy with long, hard thrusts of your cock.

Jihyo seemed in a state of euphoria - the adrenaline in her veins, the vibration of the motor beneath her, and the thick meat filling her needy pussy again and again combining to drive her quickly to the very edge of orgasm, where she lingered for a few moments before quickly toppling over it. It surprised you, having her cum so quickly after what seemed like only a few minutes of fucking - but given her state of need after the bike ride and the way she was getting off on it, you suppose you probably shouldn’t have been surprised at all.

You slow down your pace, but only slightly, enjoying the feel of the detective’s pussy clenching and tightening and pulsating as you enter and exit her body. Each thrust sends delicious shocks throughout her tight frame, her large breasts bouncing erotically up and down, stiff nipples still tight with pleasure, still glistening with your saliva. It’s only with a great amount of effort that you tear your gaze from her bouncing breasts to between your bodies, where between her spread thighs the wet, slippery lips of her pussy are taking you in and out, in and out, in and out.

As delightful as the feel of her pussy was, you are unable to giving attention to her bouncing breasts for long. You give her a hard thrust, eliciting a surprised yelp from the girl as you bury yourself inside her to the hilt. Licking your lips, you bend over her frame and grab her left breast roughly with your right hand, cupping and squeezing the firm mound, pressing your thumb over and around her stiff nipple. 

When she moans in lustful pleasure you capture her taut peak between your thumb and index finger, twisting and pinching the bud until Jihyo is moaning and gasping almost uncontrollably. She squirms and grinds on the seat of the bike as the pleasure causes her to lose control of her body, her tightly grasping pussy moving deliciously around your buried cock as she does so.

“Oh, fuck!” she gasps, unable to say much more, unable to keep her lungs filled with air for very long, so often is she exhaling in an unbroken chain of moans and sighs. She grasps the back of your head and almost crushes your lips with her own in a torrid kiss, her tongue slipping fearlessly into your mouth. You pinch her nipple in response, and your mouth is filled with her exhaled moan.

You tear your mouth from hers, and you bend as best you could, cupping and lifting her breast from beneath until you are able to bring your mouth to her nipple. Jihyo arches her back to give you better access as you suckle deeply from her breast once again - this time while you are buried balls deep inside her. After spending a few delicious seconds sucking tightly on her breast you return to her warm neck and re-commence fucking her, thrusting in and out of her tight body once more.

After awhile Jihyo presses a palm flat against your chest and pushes you away - and for a moment you are afraid you’d hurt her by how roughly you are treating her chest or how hard you are thrusting into her pussy. She slowly dismounts both the bike and your cock before turning around, mounting the bike the right way again, her back facing you.

Wearing only a short leather skirt, drenched panties, and knee-high leather boots, Jihyo bends over the front of the still-running bike, draping her upper body over the handlebars. The cheeks of her ass sandwich each side of your glistening cock with soft, warm flesh as she grinds her lower body against it, rubbing your sensitive shaft on either side with her full, round cheeks. You are content to watch the show she was giving you as you thrust your cock between her cheeks for a while, delighting in the way Jihyo moved her body - until she reaches over and spreads her cheeks apart to reveal her absolutely dripping pussy and her tight, pursed asshole. She looks over her shoulder at you, eyes half-lidded with lust.

“Pick a hole and fuck it until you cum in it.”

The very thought of teasing her, of making her wait, didn’t even cross your mind. Likewise, you’d already had her pussy - and as wonderful as her pussy felt wrapped around your cock, the thought of turning down an opportunity to fuck the young woman’s ass didn’t cross your mind either - especially when she wanted you to cum in it.

You grasp the cheeks of her ass, your hands joining hers in spreading her firm, round mounds apart. Gathering your saliva on the tip of your tongue, you spit a thick rope of it between your bodies, landing right on the tight ring of her ass. Taking your aching cock in your right hand and pressing the slick head against her tight opening, you slowly enter her inch by inch, until you finally slip inside her ass. Jihyo was no stranger to anal sex, and certainly not with you - the ease with which she was able to take you inside her rear entrance spoke of both her experience and her desire.

You would later admit to being embarrassed by how quickly you came - but just as Jihyo was so turned on by the situation that all she needed was a few minutes to get off, you were similarly brought to the edge by the audacity of it all. Fucking a beautiful young woman in the ass on a still-running motorcycle in a foreign city - it all seemed so ridiculous, so unbelievable, like some fever dream of sex and lust that could only exist in fiction.

But Park Jihyo’s tight, clenching hole convinced you that it was all very real. Her moans of pleasure reach a new level of volume as you drill again and again into her ass, each thrust into her body pressing her sensitive pussy against the vibrating seat of the bike. Her ass clenches tightly around you, less wet than her pussy but so much hotter and tighter. You bend over her frame and clutch her shoulders from behind as you fuck her tight little hole, not even worrying that you were hurting her - you needed something to hold on to, something to anchor yourself as you pumped again and again into her ass, searching for the inevitable peak of pleasure that was so very close. Jihyo arches her back, her spine creating a delicious looking curve, her caramel skin moist with sweat.

“Fuck, Jihyo, fuck, fuck, fuck, I-”

“Insidemeohgodfuckfuckfuckohfuckfillmyass!”

The words, if you could call them that, spill from Jihyo’s mouth in a barely understandable jumble of lust. Her tight little body quivers with each thrust, her ass cheeks ripple with each impact of your hips against hers, and her tight, hot little hole drives you right to the edge; except she tumbles over it first.

Time had a way of becoming abstract during sex. It might have only been a few minutes. But for you it felt like hours. Hours spent pumping away at Jihyo’s ass as the needy, mewling girl orgasmed once more, the vibrating seat of the bike against her pussy and the thick hard cock drilling into her ass quickly overwhelming whatever remained of her self control, her juices drenching the seat of the bike in slick, clear fluids as she willingly tumbled into orgasmic bliss.

When you cum soon after it takes you by surprise. Usually you saw your orgasm coming, and could prepare yourself for it. Not this time. Not while Jihyo’s ass clenched hard around your cock, so tightly that you almost couldn’t move. Not while she moaned so loudly she almost drowned out the running engine. And not while your cock spasmed and sent thick, hot semen deep inside her ass. The wordless moan that Jihyo gives when she feels you fill her with cum echoes loudly throughout the parking garage, drowning out even the loud noise of the running bike motor.

Time became an abstract concept once again, your pleasure-addled mind unable to comprehend or make sense of things. Eventually, some indeterminate amount of time later, your cock softens enough to slip from Jihyo’s well-fucked asshole, followed closely by a flood of thick white semen that flows down to join the slick patch of pussy juices gathered on the bike’s seat.

At some point - and it might have been just seconds or hours later, you couldn’t tell - Jihyo turns her head to look at you. 

Neither of you were quite sure how to react to what just occurred - and so you both begin to giggle at the audacity of it all, neither quite ready to believe what you both just did.

The stupid smiles and odd giggles continue as Jihyo and you eventually clean yourselves up enough to actually meet with the TMPD’s commissioner. Satisfied that you were as ready as you would ever be, you both make your way into the police precinct for your scheduled meeting -  even if you couldn’t help but smile at knowing you did so with Jihyo’s ass full of your hot, thick cum. 

---

Your meeting with the TMPD turned out to be a bit of a waste of time; aside from providing general reassurances that they would be keeping an eye out for Seulgi and Yeri, the commissioner seemed uninterested with what he deemed to be a Korean affair involving Korean citizens and crimes committed on Korean soil. He assured Jihyo that she and Nayeon, as law enforcement officers, would have full freedom to execute their search as they saw fit, but was unwilling to assign any Japanese officers to actively participate in the hunt, nor would he provide them with access to any significant amount of TMPD resources. 

His one concession was his assignment of a Japanese liaison officer, who would provide liaison services as well as assistance with translation, logistics and other local, on-the-ground needs. You tried to explain that you already had three Japanese members of your team and neither translation nor logistics were likely to be a problem, but the commissioner insisted he assign a liaison officer nonetheless, likely only for appearance’s sake and so that he could tell his superiors he was doing something about the case. It was obvious to you and Jihyo, however, that a liaison officer was the bare minimum that he could have done to assist your team.

After exchanging the necessary platitudes and what you and Jihyo both knew to be empty promises of full cooperation, the commissioner ended the meeting and instructed his assistant to introduce you to the liaison officer, who worked on a different floor.

The three of you found the liaison officer at her desk in an isolated corner of the floor, eyes furrowed in concentration, appearing deep in thought. With a large pair of headphones on her head and her fingers working furiously at her keyboard and mouse, she looked to be hard at work at some important casework. She appeared young and quite attractive, if a little slim and small to be a police officer; not that physical size kept police officers from doing their jobs well, if Nayeon was any example to go by.

When she didn’t reply to your initial greeting, the assistant had to walk over and tap her on the shoulder to get her attention.

“Aish!” she exclaimed in annoyance, glaring at the poor assistant before realizing that there were two visitors nearby. Embarrassed, she quickly removed her headphones, dumping them on her desk before standing and offering deep bows to the both of you.

Her headphones, still on full volume, revealed that she wasn’t working at all - instead, she was likely deep into some first person shooter computer game, if the constant gunfire and loud Japanese announcements of what were probably killstreaks were any indication. 

On her desk is a nameplate with her name and the division to which she belonged: Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department - Recordkeeping Department. It suddenly became painfully obvious why this particular officer was the one assigned to you and Jihyo.

“This is your liaison officer,” the commissioner’s assistant states wearily, before excusing himself and leaving the room. The liaison officer smiles, cheerfully, before extending a hand to Jihyo and then you.

“My name is Miyawaki Sakura,” the officer states, “hajimemashite!”

---

The rest of the team apparently shared a similar lack of success. When you met as a group later than night in one of your hotel’s meeting rooms, none of you could report much progress - aside from Nayeon.

“I met with a contact I have in Tokyo PD’s organized crime unit,” she announces as she cracks open one of the canned coffees that Dahyun was passing around. “Apparently there’s a high class cocktail party going on in town in a couple of days. Public advertising says it’s an international fundraiser for a new hospital that’s being built - lots of people from overseas flying in for it. But my contact thinks it’s all just a cover for some international high roller crime bosses to get some deals done.”

“Is there any connection to Seulgi, Yeri, or Irene?” Momo asks.

“No, but it’s at least a start. We could go and ask around if anyone’s heard of any fugitive Korean girls entering the country on the down low.”

“What are the chances that anyone at that party could know anything about Seulgi, Yeri or Irene? Surely they’ve got more on their plates than two random runaways and their prisoner,” Mina states.

“Seulgi and Yeri must have come to Japan for a reason,” Nayeon counters. “They could have gone anywhere else in Southeast Asia, especially countries where it might be easier for them to disappear. Japanese law enforcement has international links - it would be a little more difficult for them to stay under the radar here.”

“I dunno,” you start, “the police commissioner Jihyo and I met today seemed like he couldn’t have given less of a shit about those two. He thinks Red Velvet is a Korean problem, not a Japanese one.”

“Maybe the cops here don’t give a damn,” Jihyo adds, rubbing her chin, “but that doesn’t mean organized crime wouldn’t care. They might be especially interested in Seulgi and Yeri given that they used to be pretty high up at SM. I think a lot of unsavory types would be interested in what they know. There might also be some people who Red Velvet crossed in the past, and who are out for revenge.”

“Which is why it’s interesting that they fled here,” Nayeon continues. “Why come to Japan if it would attract attention, possibly from enemies they’ve made in the past? They must be here for a reason. Maybe they have a safehouse in Tokyo, or maybe someone who can help them - or someone who can help them get rid of Irene.”

“Or her body,” Chaeyoung states, grimly.

The team takes a moment to consider Nayeon’s point.

“Alright, we should go - but I don’t think we all need to be there,” you begin. “Maybe a couple of us on-site, two or three running support. A group of foreigners suddenly showing up to a cocktail party full of gangsters might look a little fishy. I’ll go, with a date.”

“I’ll go. I clean up well, and I’m sexy as fuck,” Momo says quickly with a smirk in your direction, “I won’t have any trouble getting men to talk.”

“Too bad your Japanese is terrible,” Sana quips. “I should go. I’m the cutest one here and we all know these hardass gangster boys can’t hold up to a cute girl in a tight dress. And I can speak the language, unlike some people.” Her tone is that of a lighthearted jab towards Momo, but there is a hint of edge to it that only you picked up on.

“He’ll go with me,” Mina interjects with a tone of finality, “he’ll want a classy date. One that all the people there will be falling head over heels to impress. And you both forget...”

Mina swings her glance over to you, although as she does so her gaze passes over Chaeyoung - who blushes furiously.

“...there could be women there that we need to talk to, as well.”

Next to you Nayeon lets out a loud sigh - on purpose. 

“Whichever one of you goes on-site, I’ll come along in the van. Tzuyu, you’ll take care of transport and on-site logistics. Dahyun, you can run surveillance remotely from the van,” she states to nods of understanding from the two younger girls.

“You’ll probably need to show up in a fancy car if you want to blend in,” Tzuyu says. “We can’t exactly drop you off in the van we rented. I’ll need to find a Ferrari or something we can borrow...”

You suddenly remember the liaison officer assigned to you from the TMPD, and you reach into your jacket to retrieve her business card, which you pass across the table to Tzuyu.

“Reach out to this officer,” you explain, “she’s the liaison assigned to us from Tokyo PD. She works in their Recordkeeping Department, so she doesn’t have a lot of field experience - but she can probably at least track down a car for us. If nothing else she can go with you to the rental car place to translate. Heads up though, she seems like a bit of a slacker and I’m pretty sure the Tokyo PD commissioner only assigned her to us to get her out of the office.”

“Got it, boss,” the young woman says, picking up the card and looking it over. “You should probably dress up nicely, too. We can go-”

Before she can finish her sentence, a loud ringtone erupts from Dahyun’s laptop - causing everyone in the room to cover their ears.

“I-I-I’m so s-sorry!” Dahyun says as she frantically turns down the volume. “It’s a video call. From Seolhyun back in the Seoul office.” She looks to you for further instruction.

“Bring it up on the screen, Dahyun,” you order, motioning to the large LCD screen mounted to one wall of the meeting room. You were anxious as to what Seolhyun could possibly be calling about - a small part of you feared that Jeongyeon, who was still in the hospital, might have taken a turn for the worse.

Dahyun connects her laptop to the screen, and in a few moments a window with Seolhyun’s face is up on the screen.

“Hello everyone,” Seolhyun says, a nervous look on her face, as though she had just received some news and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Everyone in the room nods back, or gives her a short bow.

“What’s up, Seolhyun?” you ask.

The young woman takes a moment to compose her answer. Her brows furrow, and she bites her lip.

“Everyone, it’s about Irene,” she states, pausing to choose her next words carefully, “she’s still here. In Korea. And we have her.”

---

There is a single spotlight above Bae Irene’s head. The rest of the room is dark. The wobbly, shaky camera work indicates that the video was likely taken with a smartphone, by people in a rush.

When Irene raises her head, she reveals a bloodied lip and a gash above her right eye lid. The blood drips down the side of her face, leaving a crimson streak over pale, snow-white skin. There is the start of a bruise forming on her jawline. The past few hours had not been kind to her.

“My name is Bae Irene,” she begins. “I am the leader of Red Velvet, a division of SM Korea. These are my crimes.”

Irene turns her head and begins to read a list that was clearly held off camera by one of her captors. With each offense you watch as a small part of her breaks. Gone is the haughty, dangerous young woman that was the subject of so much of your team’s work over the past year or so. This woman was broken. 

Around the table the girls on your team react similarly - some bringing hands to their mouths in disbelief, others with serious or disgusted or otherwise negative emotions scrawled all over their faces. 

It seemed almost surreal, in a way. Unbelievable, as though it weren’t really happening. Was this really the same Bae Irene that had tormented you and your team for so long? Was she really finally in custody? You’d long dreamed of this moment, and now that it was happening, it was almost difficult to believe.

When it is over, Irene returns her eyes to the camera, looking directly at it.

“I deserve to be punished for what I did,” she says. “I deserve it all.”

Irene lets her head drop, but not before a single tear falls down her cheek. The video cuts to black.

---

“They found her in a washroom at Incheon International,” Seolhyun continues. “She was gagged and bound. She had that video in a USB drive in one of her pockets. As you can see Seulgi and Yeri roughed her up before they left her there.”

“She’s lucky she’s not dead,” Momo says, “Seulgi looked like she wanted to kill her.”

“Where is she now, Seolhyun?” you ask.

“Seoul PD has her in custody. Once she’s received medical treatment they tell me she’ll be prosecuted for the crimes she confessed to in the video.”

“SM’s lawyers will argue, probably successfully, that that was a coerced confession,” Mina observes.

“Inform JYP. Keep us updated. Get on-site and make sure she’s processed fairly and that everything is done by the book,” you order. “Bring all the data and other evidence we’ve accumulated to ensure Seoul PD has proof to confirm everything she confessed to.”

“Roger that, boss,” Seolhyun replies.

“Keep us informed, Seolhyun. If anything at all happens, I want to know about it.”

“You can count on me,” she replies, before signing off on the video call.

There is a moment of silence as your team digests this new development. You were all prepared to continue the hunt for Irene, but her capture was certainly an unexpected twist.

“So how does this change things?” Sana asks, a confused look on her face.

“It changes nothing,” you answer. “Seulgi and Yeri are now the primary targets, just as they were when we arrived. Even if they’ve delivered Irene to us, it doesn’t change the fact that they attempted murder on two people in this room, and one back in Korea - even if one or more of those incidents was accidental. We continue the search for Seulgi and Yeri, starting with that cocktail party. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning to start planning.”

The team gives nods of approval before each gathers their things and leaves the meeting room. Momo stays behind.

“Irene will argue that she was coerced into doing what she did because of YG,” Momo says in a hushed tone, once the others have left the room. “Don’t forget, she only did what she did because YG threatened to harm Seulgi and Yeri - and Red Velvet’s families.”

“I know,” you admit. “YG could still be out there. If I were them I’d want to shut Irene, Seulgi, and Yeri up, and make sure they don’t get a chance to talk.”

“We need to find them before YG does,” Momo states. “If we know Seulgi and Yeri are here in Japan, chances are they do too. They could be in-country as well.”

You nod and rub your head. You could feel a headache starting.

---

At that moment, at Haneda International Airport, a private jet touches down. After taxiing to a private hangar in a secluded corner of the airport, the door opens and the stairs leading to the cabin unwind.

Out step four girls. Each is wearing all black and sunglasses, despite the fact that it was late into the evening. 

The first has an air of haughtiness to her, as though she felt she were above it all. She would have been attractive and cute, were it not for the seemingly permanent frown on her face. From the way she led them out of the plane and from her overall bearing, it was obvious she was the leader of the group.

The next is a slim Korean girl with pale blonde hair, slight and wispy thin. She has a smirk on her face, and features that looked equal parts charismatic and dangerous. She thanks the jet’s pilot and crew with an Australian accent, although it was hard to tell whether she was being genuine or sarcastic.

The third is a foreigner - the only non-Korean amongst them. Her wildly dressed hair and loose, rock and metal inspired outfit mark her out as a bit of a rebel, although there is still a charm to her face and eyes that make her seem almost approachable and kind.

The fourth, if appearances were indeed an indicator of personality, appeared gentle and pleasant. Like the Australian she offers her thanks to the pilot and cabin crew, but unlike her teammate her words seemed genuine. She has soft, beautiful features, but there is a barely noticeable sadness in her eyes, as though she did not want to be there at all.

They step into a waiting limousine that will take them to Tokyo.

---

Author’s Note: 

Two chapters in two weeks? Wtf who am I? lol I got super motivated after the conversations I’ve had with readers recently, so I pumped this out real quick to capitalize on it.

Firstly, I want to thank the anon that gave the idea in an ask awhile back that outlined generally what happens to Irene in this chapter - the more I thought about it the more it made sense. It let me write Irene out, although given the recent news of Red Velvet’s comeback maybe she’ll be back to the story sooner rather than later. :)

Next I want to thank all the readers. This is part 40! I never in a million years imagined I’d be writing this for so long. It still amazes me that people actually want to read the shitty filth I put out. I appreciate all your kind words and hope you’ll continue to support me in the future. 

Stay safe and be kind to one another, y’all. <3

[irwintry]

the air before a storm

Warnings: just a bunch of good old fluff, swearing, alcohol

Author’s Note: yes this takes place in the outer banks no u are not allowed to mention the show—they are nothing alike. anyway i’m back :) hi

Summary: Y/N and Luke are neighbors in a beachside town where tourists are annoying and tropical storms aren’t rare. And they just can’t stop flirting. 

Word Count: 5.6k 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pelican Perch was a dead-end street.

It was well-wooded, wax myrtles and river birch kissing sandy chunks of pavement while homes too small for the average nuclear family were nestled behind thick, invasive vines. Quaint homes designed to keep the rain and the bugs out. Local homes. Each had their own shimmering windsock hung out front that was already tattered from storms, gifted to them by the neighborhood community last spring. Personalized homes. Beach homes that shared every aspect without even trying. Almost every shingle had been defaced by weather damage throughout the years. And the air always smelled of hot gravel and honeysuckle on breezy days. Homes on this road were loved.

You loved yours most of all.

With a front porch stuffed full of plants—ferns, strawberries, tomatoes, the lot—and knick-knacks you had collected throughout the past year, it was easy to love and call home to something that had once been temporary. The baby blue bike perched against a yaupon bush was proudly your preferred mode of transportation. Snuck far up the driveway sat a rusting 2005 Toyota Corolla with sand painted across its rear, and it was not well-loved, though it had been well-lived. The windsock hung off of your porch matched the color of your bike.

The last house on the street never put their windsock up. That house was right beside yours.

He had been there longer than you—you weren’t entirely sure how long, but your arrival prior to last season was greeted with his kind smile. A kind smile, gentle words, and eyes that melted into the ocean, far beyond the whitecaps where the sky touched the sea. All of that beauty, and you never caught his name.

For months on end, you watched him when he wasn’t looking. He left for work during your kitchen stumble for cold brew, nothing but a plain white tee and mesh shorts as he climbed into his jeep, sunkissed and sleepy. Minutes later, you would bike to work and find his Jeep along the way. He worked at the Island Rescue Squad, a small building that held more responsibility than being a simple motel receptionist. He paid his bills by saving lives; you paid yours by telling guests that they couldn’t swim naked in the swimming pool.

You didn’t know him beyond the sights through your kitchen window. But the evenings you crossed paths were treasured.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he’d ask, a nonchalant smile gracing his cheeks before darting his gaze the other way.

After some time, you found enough confidence to reply, “Not bad—you?” as you knocked out the kickstand on your bike.

He was always in the middle of hoisting a backpack over his shoulder. And then he would shrug, smile never fading, and say, “Not bad,” right back. That would be it.

You knew that his blond curls were your favorite thing before you even knew his name. But you also knew, in good faith, that the latter half was going to change.

That was why you should at his door late in the evening in July, a saran-wrapped plateful of coconut macaroons in your hands while your eyes scanned the details of his front porch. A white surfboard beside the front door had experienced its fair share of weather discoloration on the tail. At the end of the deck, withered plants were lined up along a wooden shoe bench. The doormat beneath your feet had nylon paw prints stitched in beside the welcome lettering. When you knocked on the door, a heart-stopping voice called out, “Just a minute!”

You tucked your ankles inward as his face appeared behind the screen. His smile was bold and bright, and from up close, you could hardly breathe.

“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked in his normal fashion, opening up the screen door so he could step outside with you. His gaze fell to the plate of macaroons while he leaned up against the door. “You’re kidding—did you make those for me?”

Six more words than the usual conversation; you were off to a successful start.

“Yes,” you said, fingers brushing his beneath the ceramic plate when you passed it over to him. “I had to figure out a good way to come over here and formally introduce myself. A whole year later. Better late than never, I guess.”

He smiled along to your words and nodded. “These look so good. Thank you.” He held out one of his hands for you to shake.

His name was Luke. He was only a few years out of school. Taller than any man you knew and flirtatious with his grin, and he kept his eyes locked on you as you spoke. He shared information through little words yet maintained a steady conversation. Talking to old friends was harder than this.

It was difficult to stomach—the way his quiet chuckles and wide smiles were decidedly the best things in the world and how your heart was a concrete block in your chest. It occurred to you, after waving goodnight on your way down the porch steps, that his smile never died. But you pinned it all on his kind heart over anything else.

Life between the two of you felt cyclical. Until one morning he caught you on your way to work.

“I’m gonna be up in Manteo,” he began, tossing a duffle into the backseat of his Jeep with a quiet grunt. “Just a few days. Some ridiculously boring conference that could probably be summed up in a Skype or whatever. Better than leading rope rescue trainings again though.”

Your lips pulled down into a playful frown. “You’re leaving me?”

Luke’s responsive laughter was a good start to your morning. “I’m sorry. Promise I’ll be back. They’ve got us all in some four-star inn. Free wifi and breakfast.”

“Oh, look at you. Living like a king.”

“Right? I’m tired of paying for my own Cheerios.”

It was nice to have someone to talk to, you thought, but you knew you were searching for more than a friend in him. Your heart was warm under his company. You didn’t know how, but it felt easy with him.

“Would you be able to do me a favor?” he asked as he leaned against his car. He kept his distance, his driveway to yours while the patch of dry grass between you watched with intrigue.

“Anything but mowing the lawn, yes.”

Luke cracked a grin. “I’m not that mean. No. Could you—uh, could you water a few plants for me out front? Just once or twice. I’d pay you back in macaroons, but I’m a shit baker.”

“No worries,” you said and situated your bike against your thigh. “I’ll water your plants. But that just means you’ll have to make up for the macaroons somehow. I’ll let you think on it.” You started off down the driveway before he could answer.

“Hold me to that!” he called after you. You sent him a smile in response and sped off toward the main road.

Later that evening, you found that Luke had left a note beside each potted plant on the shoe bench. Betty – allow to dry between waterings next to the Begonia, Calum – keep moist for the Caladium, Tom – water twice a day for the newly planted tomato plant, and Babe – water sparingly for Basil. Each note was signed with a smile and a heart.

—

The next time you heard from Luke, he wasn’t alone. Four days plus a hankering for human interaction—aside from tourists that asked for restaurant suggestions every hour—had left you craving a different kind of intimacy. An intimacy that didn’t require physical touch but was only fulfilled through his presence. Just knowing that he was next door comforted you in ways you couldn’t explain. You didn’t know him, but you knew that he was someone you could rely on.

You heard his car door slam before anything else. Through the window of your kitchen sink, you peeked out into the darkening night, searching for his lanky figure only to find a small animal instead. A dog. You forgot that you had been staring when Luke came into view. His wave tore you from your gaze.

You cracked the window open before you could hesitate. The overwhelming buzzes and clicks of cicadas were immediate to greet you.

“Are you gonna introduce me?” you called out to him, grinning wide as you pressed your elbows down onto the window sill. With the edge of the sink digging into your abdomen, the position was less than comfortable, but you didn’t think about it.

Through the waxing darkness, Luke’s smile was bright. “Only if you come give her a head scratch—then she’ll fall right in love with you,” he said.

You were outside within a few seconds. The side screen door slammed behind you as you hurried over, knees meeting the rough grass so the lovely lady could easily bound over to you. She nestled her nose into your palm and let out a snort. Above you, Luke chuckled at the sound.

“Name’s Petunia,” he said, bending down beside you to pet Petunia’s bum. “A friend of mine is moving ‘cross country—couldn’t keep her. I love the damn girl, so I immediately wanted to take her in. How’re the plants doing?”

“She’s the sweetest,” you mumbled. To him, to yourself—it didn’t matter. You were captivated. “And Betty, Calum, Tom, and Babe are great. The names, by the way? Genius. You have a talent. I’ll have to get you to name my plants. So far, I just have Candace and Big Mama.”

“Big Mama?” Luke’s short giggles filled the air. “I think you’ve got the talent, too.”

Petunia leaned into your scratches before turning back to Luke. So, you stood, brushing sandy dirt from your knees, and Luke soon followed.

“If you ever need someone to take care of her,” you said, “I’m always around. And I won’t make you bake anything. I’m a big dog person, so that’s already enough. I mean, I’m not opposed to a few cupcakes every now and then.”

A lopsided smile grew on Luke’s cheeks. “Red velvet?”

“It’s like you already know me,” you gasped out. “How was Manteo? That’s where you were, right?”

“Well, nothing beats free Cheerios in the mornings, so it wasn’t too bad,” he told you as he wrapped Petunia’s leash around his wrist. She nudged herself between his legs. “Manteo actually has a real downtown, so that was kinda nice.”

“You better not be thinking about leaving me.”

“Leave you? Never.”

Your heart fluttered in your chest.

“Besides, tourists down here are the reason any of us even have a job.” He scratched the corner of his eye as he spoke. “I’d rather not be saving drunk middle-aged men from rip currents, but I’d never leave Hatteras.”

The corners of your lips twitched upward. “Good, cos’ if you leave,” you said, pointing to your other neighbor’s house, “then I’m stuck with Judy and Ted. You can’t do that to me.”

“Oh, God, no.” His eyes widened as he shook his head. “I’d never do that to you. Or I’d just make you come with me.”

Now, your heart was on fire. You raised a brow in reaction to his statement, and his eyes widened again. The words had slipped out—that was easy to understand, but he couldn’t take them back. You wouldn’t want him to.

“Um, yeah—” Luke placed a hand on the back of his neck and backed away toward his home, Petunia following in tow. “Thanks for watering my plants. Expect cupcakes soon.”

“Don’t you dare.”

His grin reached his eyes. “Goodnight,” he said.

You were certain that you were a fool.

—

NC-12 was worse on Saturdays. The highway was congested with incoming and outgoing travelers, some careless and some too careful. On the way to work, you were among its passengers. Your baby blue bike was swallowed up whole by the minivans and SUVs that occupied the road. Somehow, you made it out alive every time. All it took was a spontaneous sharp turn from a truck to send you rolling onto the pavement.

It was a miracle you ended up with a dozen scrapes and a sprained wrist. The medical bill wasn’t worth missing a few days off of your paycheck, no matter how horrible the weekends could be. A few members of the rescue squad had shown up at the scene of the minor accident—you were glad that Luke hadn’t been with them. But you also wished that he had.

When you powered through the pain as you pedaled home, you weren’t sure if you wanted to see him. You weren’t sure if you wanted to see his reaction—mild injuries and all, and you weren’t sure if you wanted him to buy out all of the cupcakes on the island to make you feel better. Nevertheless, you didn’t have a choice. He was already getting out of his car once you pulled up.

He waved and smiled, and then his eyes grew wide. The scrape on your left cheek told all.

“Shit, love, you okay?” he said, walking towards you slowly. He kept his movements careful and calculated—he had seen the tears fill your eyes before you realized they were there.

“I’m dandy,” you replied breathily, waving your hand to shake off the emotions. The faux smile you put on only faltered, and the skin beneath your eyes stung.

Luke looked horrified. You could see the twitch in his hands, the way he almost reached out for you as he approached, but he held back. And you could see it in his eyes—all he wanted to do was make you feel better.

“You don’t happen to have any cupcakes, do you?” you asked with a sniff. Your smile wavered, and a small tear slipped down your cheek.

When he chose not to hold back—when he chose to pull you in close, then you decided not to hold back either. With his arms circled around your waist, you didn’t care about soaking through his t-shirt with your tears. You didn’t care that your breathing had picked up to near hyperventilation. You felt safe and warm, so you couldn’t care.

The hug lasted until your quiet sobs calmed. Luke’s chin pulled away from the top of your head as you wiped your cheeks with the back of your wrists.

“What happened?” he said, voice soft.

“Dumb vacationers—” Sniff. “—can’t use a fuckin’ turn signal.”

Luke let out a quiet sigh.

“I’m fine, I just… hurt.”

He glanced at his home over his shoulder and then back at you. “Would you wanna come over? I don’t have any cupcakes, but I have frozen pizza. And Petunia misses you.”

You could hear the unspoken words in his voice. I miss you.

This was what happened when you finally learned someone’s name.

You didn’t know how to explain it, but his living room looked like him. Light blue, wooden walls with collected posters unevenly nailed onto the panels. An old couch was the centerpiece, tan and woven with Petunia snuggled onto it with a blanket beneath her. Bookshelves full of CDs and vinyl records stood on either side of the room, but they had been untouched for some time. The home smelled like him, as strange as it sounded. Warm, woodsy, and comfortable.

From the couch, you sat up straight once the oven door shut. You counted each smell beep as the timer was set. Luke walked into the living room a moment later.

“You sure you don’t want some Advil or something?” he asked. “Or—I dunno—a beer? Maybe? I don’t have a lot, but—”

“A beer actually sounds good,” you said to him, folding your hands over your lap. “It’s been a bit of a shit day.”

He continued talking to you as he headed back into the kitchen. The home was small enough for any voice to carry, and you were glad he could maintain a conversation. That alone told you how much he cared. Despite how long you had lived on the island—a year and four months—and despite how long it took you to know him, it mattered greatly to you that he cared. You cared about him, too. It would be hard to see such a friendly face every day and think otherwise.

“Where’d they take you to get checked out?” he called to you from the next room over.

“Urgent care in Nags Head.”

“You’re kidding.” The sound of bottles clinking on the counter followed.

“Wish I was.”

Pop tops landed into a quiet clatter as he said, “how long were you there?” He joined you in the living room a few seconds later and handed you a bottle of Corona.

“Six hours.”

“Six hours?”

You nodded, sharing your best laugh before taking a sip of the fizzing liquid. “You better believe it. All for some cuts and a sprained-frickin’-wrist. And I’ll bet you my bill is gonna be chewing me up for the next year.”

Luke furrowed his brows and kept his gaze low. He appeared to be thinking about something else. “Did they call my squad?”

“A few guys showed up, yeah.”

He bit his bottom lip. “Dunno why they didn’t call me. I would’ve just took ya home.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t know that everything he said made your heart race pick up. If your day hadn’t been so long, then your nerves would’ve eaten you alive by now. You were lucky, for the katydid calls outside masked any hint of tension between you.

“Thanks for the drink,” you said, words heavy in your throat. Thinking about your nerves only made them worse. And being around him only made you want him more.

He had called you love earlier; it had to mean something.

Luke’s smile was small, but it said enough. “Anytime.”

Although the pizza was cold in the middle and the taste of your drink had gotten old, what mattered to you was the company. Not the sprained wrist that ached with each movement. Not the tight bandages that tugged at your skin because you shifted a certain way. Nothing about the day mattered because it brought you to this.

His laughter was hypnotic—intoxicating almost—and it took away your breath every time. Making him laugh was addicting. Getting to see those few moments when his eyes light up with joy put shame to the ocean only a mile or two away. You wondered how on earth it had taken so long to know him.

And still, you didn’t know him. Just a name, a face, and a dog named Petunia.

“So, the rescue squad, huh?” you teased at one point as you situated yourself closer to Petunia. You learned that her nickname was Piggy and that, while she was cute, she also had the stinkiest farts—according to Luke. Nevertheless, you pressed your face close to hers and smacked a kiss to her forehead. She rolled over to give you access to her tummy. “What’s it like?”

Luke’s soft smile was etched into his skin. “Fuckin’ stressful,” he answered. “But great. It’s like a family.”

“I can imagine it’s not the prettiest job.”

“No.” He shook his head, and his smile fell. As he spoke, he twirled his bottle on the edge of the coffee table. “It’s not. A lot of tourists just don’t pay attention to the ocean, y’know? We put a million signs out there, and they just think that it will never happen to them. Suddenly you get waves going different directions, and you’re floating out with the current. You never know what’s gonna happen.”

You furrowed your eyebrows as you listened. He took his job seriously; some people didn’t.

“It’s just—uh, s’just terrible to see it,” he continued, keeping his head down low. “When you save someone from the surf, but they’re not breathing… and then their families are there—their fuckin’ families are screaming and crying. They just wanted a fun day on the beach. And you gotta make sure that no one dies. I’m just lucky to not have seen it much.”

“It’s horrifying.”

He hummed. “Yeah. And I don’t like it when people call us heroes. Cos’ we’re not. I’m not. We’re doing our job. We wanna keep people safe. We wanna make sure no one has to go through that. B-but when it comes down to you, and you have someone’s life in your hands—” Tears pricked at his eyes, and he swallowed thickly before continuing. “—how the hell are you not gonna try to save them? People over-glorify hero moments. We’re all just trying to take care of each other so we’re not mentally scarred along the way.”

“I’ve seen it.”

“You have?”

“I used to vacation here as a teen with my family,” you said, “before I officially decided that tourists are the fucking worst. I just wanted to live here and be on my own. And you’re right—about the screaming and crying. The families stand there to break your heart. I bit my tongue until it bled when I saw that jet ski go out on the water. It doesn’t happen every day, so I just never assumed it would happen around me. Didn’t think forty minutes would pass with nonstop chest compressions. Didn’t think anyone would give up either. Maybe ‘hero’ isn’t the word, just ‘good people’.”

Luke’s eyes were glassy, but he smiled through it. His fingers twitched in your direction on the neck of his bottle. “So—” He cleared his throat. “—what do you do?”

“Oh, it’s my turn now?” you said, biting back a smile. “Just you wait until you hear about all of the trauma I get from being a motel receptionist. I’ll have you beat.”

Once again, his laughter filled the room. All you felt was warmth.

The house rocked after then, lights flickering with the gust, but the wind quickly died. You and Luke shared uncertain glances.

“I’m guessing it doesn’t usually do that.”

Luke shook his head. “Not usually.”

An empty bottle of Corona sat between your palms, moisture growing on the surface from how he made you feel. You asked yourself it was normal to feel this way, if it was something more than the sudden admiration of a mysterious neighbor. You liked him, but how much?

You wanted to spend every moment with him to figure it out. But the last thing you wanted was to overstay your welcome.

“Thanks for this, by the way,” you said, ducking your chin. “For the pizza and stuff. Maybe you’re not a bad neighbor after all.”

Luke smirked. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Your knees creaked as you stood, bones still aching from the impact of the pavement. You wondered how many bruises would appear on your body by morning. Luke stood along with you, towering high but keeping his presence small. He had to know how much he affected you.

“Love you, Piggy,” you mumbled to Petunia with a quick scratch behind her ear.

She huffed in response.

Luke laughed. “She said I love you, too.”

“I’m gonna have to learn how to bake doggie treats for her.”

“But then she’s gonna love you more than she loves me.”

You smiled over your shoulder on your way toward the front door. His eyes had already been burning the back of your head. “That’s the goal,” you told him with one hand on the doorknob. “See you tomorrow?”

He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded. You swore you could see a hint of pink tint his cheeks. “See you tomorrow.”

—

A tropical storm was set to hit two days later. It became a hurricane overnight. Category 1. Category 2. It finally settled on 3, its path set for the Outer Banks before it was meant to swing up the East Coast. A mandatory evacuation was set in place by the next morning.

The air was thick, trees restless and wind loud as it picked up. The sky was a permanent dark gray, and the clouds looked like something one would see in a disaster movie. It wasn’t your first time dealing with tropical storms and hurricanes, but they never failed to make your heart race. The unpredictability—the fate of your home, your belongings, and so on—always scared you.

You loaded as much as you could into your Corolla. The wind didn’t care about your disheveled hair or how high it blew your shorts. It didn’t care that it was tossing sticks off of trees, down onto the roof of your home. You said a quick goodbye to the shingles while you were at it; a few were bound to end up in Pamlico Sound by the end of the week.

As you shut the car door, another door opened behind you. Luke rushed out of his home with Petunia toddling behind.

“You okay?” he called to you. He had two bags over his shoulders, another in his hands before he tossed them into the back of his Jeep. “Know where you’re headin’?”

“Think so,” you said over the wind. “Can’t wait to pee my pants in traffic. Any of the guard staying?”

Luke nodded as his curls danced around his chin. “They’re gonna be spotted up and down the coast. You stay safe out there, all right?”

“Yeah, you too.”

It wasn’t the preferred way of saying goodbye, but the hot, stale air trapped itself in your lungs. You were ready to greet the clicking air conditioner of your broken car like an old friend, and then one turn of the ignition turned into two, three, four, and many more. The headlights flickered off and on, yet the light never stayed long. You hit the steering wheel with the base of your palms in frustration.

A sudden knock at your passenger side window took all of the frustration away.

Luke opened up the door and said, “come with me.”

That was how you ended up beside him, stuck in two-hour traffic while you thought about the way his lips molded around words. Soft rock played quietly on the radio as you sat without making a sound. But it was comfortable silence. Thankful silence. The air before the storm disguised the thick tension.

Petunia wandered around the back seat, on occasion whining before flopping back down onto her blanket. Every so often, you would lean back and scratch her head, and Luke would smile at you. Unspoken words were better than no words at all.

“Tell me about yourself,” you said after a while. With the Bodie Lighthouse to your left, the ocean to your right, the wasn’t much else to keep you occupied. “Not like, childhood trauma stuff, but basic stuff. Favorite color, favorite food—that stuff.”

Luke had one hand on the wheel, the other pressed against his chin while he leaned on the car door. He faced the road yet had his eyes trained on you. “Well, what if I really wanna open up about my childhood traumas?” he asked playfully.

“Hey, I’m all ears. We’re gonna be stuck in traffic until the mainland.”

He chuckled and rubbed beneath his lips. You didn’t know that such a small action could make your cheeks flush. “Favorite color? Hm. Blue, I guess. Favorite food has gotta be those damn macaroons you made me. They were absolutely delicious, babe.”

Your smile lit up the car.

“If you wanna know everything about me, all you gotta do is check out my mum’s Facebook,” he said. “Liz Hemmings. She posts every photo I send her and talks about my love life when she’s bored.”

“Love life, huh?”

He huffs quietly. “Her profile has been a little dry lately then, I guess.” When his eyes found yours, a small smile grew on his lips. “She’d love you. I’ll have t’let you know when she comes to visit next.”

“Oh man,” you said. “I’m already meeting my neighbor’s mom.”

Luke chuckled. “Uh oh. I didn’t push it too far, did I?”

“Didn’t know we were there yet, s’all. But I’d be happy to meet her.”

He set his hand down on the gear shift. Inches away from yours. “She’d just wonder what the hell you’re doin’ around me. Tell you that you’re too good for me. Stuff like that. I mean, it’s true.”

“Just tell her that I can’t afford to move, so I’m stuck with you.”

“Aw, you don’t mean that.”

“Unfortunately, no. I don’t mean that.”

“Good,” he mumbled, glancing out the window. “Cos’ I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

—

The hurricane made landfall at two in the morning. The hotel walls of the Quality Inn shook and rain pattered hard against the window. The alarm clock beside the bed turned black. From across the room, you could barely hear Luke stir in his own bed. And despite the storm, your heart still tugged at the thought of him there with you.

The wind was the worst thing of all. You thought about your home, the plants you dragged inside, and the windsock you forgot to take down. Maybe Luke would let you borrow his. But all that mattered, in the moment, was the voice calling your name through the pitch-black night. Somehow, it carried over the storm, over the howling wind and the rain coming down in sheets. It pulled your heart right out of your chest.

Your eyes were heavy with sleep as you said, “Luke?

You could hear him turn over in bed, but through the dark, you could only make out the edges of his figure. You hoped he had turned to face you.

“Hey. You okay?” His voice was soft, and you felt the storm slowly slip away.

“Can’t sleep” you answered. “Not a big fan of storms.”

He was barely awake, quiet words of “wanna come over here?” floating in the air-conditioned air. Your own words were stuck in your throat. So you didn’t answer. You rose from your bed instead, feet padding to the opposite side of his bed before crawling under the sheets beside him. His warmth radiated off of him.

Luke’s hand was right beside your hand. You swore you could hear his breaths over the wind. If you were able to see his features so close to yours, you would cease to exist. Your heart had found a comfortable home in your throat.

Fingers wove in between yours, gentle and warm like they were barely there, but they were all you could feel. Rough in the right places. Luke’s hand rested on yours, his pulse beating low and steady.

You knew that words would steal the moment away.

As his fingers traced your skin, the heat in your chest grew. It was normal. It was beautiful. And it was yours. So you held his hand right back.

When his forehead met yours, you knew you were done for. The storm completely faded from your mind. Noses touched and breaths fell into sync, but your heartbeat was loud in your ears. All you could think about was the feeling of his lips brushing yours. You couldn’t remember when your eyes closed. The last thing you felt was Petunia nudging your foot at the end of the bed, and then you fell asleep in Luke’s arms.

The kiss was nothing but a dream.

You were allowed back on the island three days later. Unsaid things invaded your mind on the ride down the coast, but you couldn’t bring it upon yourself to say a word. Luke was busy humming along to every song that came on the radio. That was all you needed to hear.

Pelican Perch road was covered with leaves and natural debris, but the homes were well intact. As the car neared the end of the street, you caught a glimpse of your windsock swaying in the breeze. It was a miracle it hadn’t blown away.

Luke helped you with your bags in silence, a small exchange of smiles and brushing hands to fill in the empty space instead. This wasn’t how you wanted it to be. Yet, you never said anything.

Once the night crept in, you could no longer distract yourself with streaming movies through overused cellular data. The power was still out on the island. Everything in your fridge had gone bad, and your phone was near death by ten o’clock. And the winds, despite the long-gone storm, carried on.

You slipped on a pair of flip-flops—never mind the wet, sandy dirt caked around the edges—and walked over to Luke’s. The bugs were especially loud that night. There were no lights to guide you, no way of knowing where you were stepping, and then something hit you. Someone.

“Jesus,” he muttered, gripping your elbow to balance you.

“Luke?”

“It’s me.”

You set your hand on his arm just to feel him. His hold on you never left. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Well—” His hand slipped down to your wrist as he chuckled. Beautiful. “Comin’ to find you, I guess. You okay?”

“I’ve got a hankering for ice cream, but it’s all melted,” you said. “But I don’t suppose your freezer is working anyway. I just didn’t wanna be alone.”

“Me either, darling.”

“Darling. That’s nice.”

“Yeah?”

“I like it.”

He stepped closer to you, slow hands finding yours.

“Coming to find me, huh?” you asked.

Luke hummed and set his forehead on yours. Now, you didn’t know what to say. You figured it was best to not say anything at all. You leaned into the kiss and allowed his lips to mold against yours. Every moment you were apart was replaced with another kiss, excelling in desperation and satisfying any need through its touch. It was heavenly and full of heat and desire.

He cupped your cheek, pressing himself closer to you as he deepened the kiss one last time. You were breathless and cold without him near.

“I still owe you cupcakes, don’t I?” he asked quietly. You could see his smile through the night.

“At least two dozen by now.”

His chuckle filled your heart with warmth. “Anything for you, love. Would you like to come inside?”

You tightened your grip in his hand. “Gladly.”

—

hey! thanks for reading! since i haven’t been in the game for a while, i’m gonna tag a few ppl, if that’s ok! @goth5sos @irwinkitten @sublimehood​ @softforcal​ @cxddlyash​ @wildflowergrae​ hi y’all <3 

[hansolmates]

jjk; angel’s trumpet [07]

summary; one second, your life is flashing before your eyes and the next, you’re transported into a world exactly like your own. but the jungkook you meet in this world isn’t a renowned singer or your former almost-lover, in fact he has no clue who you are and why you know him so well. as you work to find your way home lost and confused, you conclude that you’re either dead or in the middle of the most wicked drug trip of your life. pairing; idol!jk x reader (f), alternatively film producer!jk x reader genre/warnings; fluff, angst, supernatural, idol!au, non-idol!au, alternate universes, themes of fate, language, alcohol consumption w.c; 3.5k a/n; the beginning of the end! like my mama said while i was cleaning my room, it has to get messy before it gets clean! that being said this is a series for @btsghostiewritersnet​ BGW Bingo Bash! now that we’ve gotten this far, would you say our heroine has truly lost her mind? 

[06] [07] [08] -> masterpost

Something is off and Jungkook doesn’t know exactly what, and therefore he has no way to approach it. 

HIs knee is bobbing uncontrollably as he throws his phone back and forth from one palm to another. He’s in a recording studio downtown, in an unfamiliar area that made Jungkook thankful that he decided to leave an hour early. He hears some hushed voices from another room, and he tries not to fiddle around too much as the chair in the waiting area is rickety and on its last limb. 

You texted him this morning with your usual pleasantries, saying you had a fun lesson to teach today and you couldn’t wait to set up your classroom. You’re also equally excited for Jungkook’s first recording session, and you urge him to “knock the socks off this producer guy.” 

But since that night you slept over, you haven’t brought up the tears you shed in his sheet. You’ve been painfully amicable, insisting that you’ll tell him when the time is right. 

Jungkook wants to be patient for you, and he will be. But he doesn’t know how to help you, help the two of you move forward without any context. He gets that the memories that are holding you back are painful, but he wishes to help ease that burden. Jungkook’s head starts to spin at all the possibilities that he could get you to feel comfortable enough to talk. 

“Hey,” Jungkook’s reverie shatters when a small guy in all black comes up to meet him. Jungkook shoots up, hand immediately darting out to shake the older one’s hand. He chuckles, “Jihoon sent me your demo last week. You have some killer vocals.” 

“Thanks,” he replies bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m Jungkook, by the way.” 

“Right,” the producer nods, gesturing for him to follow him down the hall. “I’m Min Yoongi.” 

Jungkook nearly trips over himself. He’s heard that name before, he’s sure of it. He tries to wrack his brain for the memory, something he’s brushed to the side after so long.

“Jungkook!” you cried. He was paralyzed when you first met, a frazzled woman shoving herself on him like you’ve known him his entire life. He didn’t know why you were trying to hide him, but you looked so terrified he couldn’t formulate a quick enough response. “Kook, what the fuck? It’s broad daylight, you can’t be out like this without a mask! Where on earth did you hide that bike? Dispatch will have your ass and the devil Min Yoongi’ll kill you again for sneaking out—” 

“Uh, Yoongi?” the pair step inside his little studio, neat and monochromatic. There’s a comfy couch in the corner, and Jungkook seats himself there while Yoongi slides into his rolling chair. “Do you by any chance know someone named y/n?

Yoongi shrugs, too busy going through his computer files to take notice of Jungkook’s wheels turning. “No, should I?” 

“Guess not,” Jungkook mutters, “what about Dispatch? Are you involved with them?” 

The older one swirls around in his chair, knuckles nestled in his milky cheeks. “Is this an interrogation?” 

Suddenly feeling hot, Jungkook shakes his head. “Sorry.” 

“But to answer your question, thankfully no,” Yoongi leans back in his seat, staring at the ceiling, “thankfully they’ve been smoked out ever since they got sued for defamation against that SNSD member, among dozens of other women. That was what, two years ago? But my artists are always squeaky clean.” 

Jungkook grapples the pieces in his brain, feeling the sudden itch to text you. 

“You’re askin’ a lot of weird questions, kid,” Yoongi says simply, “but since you have the voice of a fuckin’ angel on Cloud 9, I’m willing to overlook it.” 

The younger one nods wordlessly, letting Yoongi go on a tangent as he describes the song he has in mind and how he wants to approach it. He tries to focus, and intermittently fails as he falls in and out of thought, always coming back to you. 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

“Hoseok, I feel it.” 

“Feel what, nausea? Heartburn, indigestion? Upset stomach? Diarrhea?” 

“Is that supposed to be a joke, Noona?” Bogum is sitting next to you on the picnic blanket laid out for the both of you. Today was supposed to be Hoseok’s off day, but Bogum’s mom offered Hoseok a pretty penny to take Bogum for the day while she had to attend a last-minute work project. 

“Yes, Bogummie. Although it was a terrible joke,” you admonish, sending a playful grin to Hoseok. 

“Do you like my new shoes?” with the attention span of a squirrel, Bogum hops up and jumps up and down on the grass. His new Elmo sneakers light up and make little squeaking sounds, “isn’t it cool! My shoes talk while I walk!” 

You giggle, “Yeah, now we’ll never lose you when you go off to the bathroom,” you reach for his sippy cup and instruct him to drink water, “go play on the slide, we’ll watch you from here!” 

Bogum immediately agrees, shuffling away with rhythmic squeaks from his sneakers as he bumbles over to the small playground on campus. Without the presence of children, you feel Hoseok’s eyes train on you as you try to formulate a response. 

“I don’t know, I woke up this morning and I felt a little too… settled?” you taste the word on your tongue, hoping it matches with the turmoil going through your brain. You continue to stare at Bogum, not a care in the world as he goes down the slide for the nth time, “my life isn’t moving forward anymore. It’s so, peaceful?” you nod at your question, then turn to smile sadly at Hoseok. 

“This might be the last time we see each other.” 

While you don’t know the rules and regulations of whatever fate or magic that brought you here, you always knew that this time had to end. You feel like you’ve experienced enough in this small lifetime to feel this kind of contentment. Any further into this life and you could change it however way you wanted to. 

You didn’t want to do that. You wanted to go home. 

Hoseok’s smile is equally sombre, but he plays it off with a scoff. “I guess this is the part where you leave me and I have to go on with the rest of my life questioning whether these past two months were real or a crazy drug trip while I spend nighttimes TL;DR-ing our story on Reddit.” 

You break into laughter, clutching your stomach as you try your hardest not to think too heavily of this moment. “Hobi, you won’t be alone in this. I’m going to tell Jungkook tonight,” you confess, “I don’t know how he’s gonna take it, but try to be there for him. For me?” 

Hoseok tilts his head to the side, “In your world, were me and Jungkook close?” 

You hide your grin by taking a sip of your water bottle, “Very close. He sobbed himself a river when you wanted to quit the group.” 

“Hm, maybe we’ll be close someday too.” 

“Maybe,” you pull out your phone, instructing Hoseok to do the same as he waits for whatever you’re about to send him. 

Hoseok phone pings and he opens the document you just shared with him. His brows knit at the neat notes, zooming in the small font. “What is this?” 

“For when the other me comes back in my place,” you lean over him to point out the details highlighted in light blue on your digital document. There’s addresses, student details, lesson agendas, even the money you spent while you used the bank account. “it’s in her drive, but I think she might… freak out regardless. If I really got hit by that oncoming truck, I don’t know what she’s going to be feeling. At least this is a quick cheat-sheet, so she can catch up on the past two months and continue on with her life.” 

You try to tamp down the guilt that you feel, knowing your alter-self could be in a far more dangerous situation than you right now. 

“So if you can stop by the apartment tomorrow—Taehyung and I changed the keycode a couple days ago, maybe bring over some coffee so you two can talk it out?” 

“Of course, don’t worry about us,” and Hoseok starts to get teary, which makes you get teary as he says his next words, “once you go back, I want you to be happy, okay? We can’t exactly text or—or F-Facetime like we always—oh shit,” he shoves the sleeve of his hoodie in his eyes, “w-why does it feel like you’re dying or something?” 

You throw your arms around him, letting him cry on your shoulder. You sigh into his amber bangs, his long fingers digging into your wrist but you don’t care. Knowing letting go was going to be hard, you’ve emotionally prepped yourself since this morning, but it doesn’t hurt any less when you’ve become so close with Hoseok. 

“Who knows?” you run your fingers through his hair, in an attempt to soothe him, “maybe I’ll have another taste of that angel wine. You’ll show up in my dreams or something.” 

He shakes his head, “Hell no. What if Jungkook really decks you with his motorcycle the second time around?” 

“True,” you say, “I’ll miss you, Hobi.” 

“Do me a favor when you get back, yeah?” he breaks apart from your embrace, squeezing your shoulders. “Go find me and try harder to be my friend, alright?” 

You deflate a little, “But you’re so cool, I’m a little intimidated. It’s different when you’re surrounded by kids like a mama duck.” 

“I know I’m cool, but just try,” he says, “and I’ll try to be your friend again, too.” 

The two of you hug again, this time not saying anything. At this time Bogum waddles up to the two of you, sweaty and damp as he collapses onto the blanket. The two of you laugh as Hoseok presses a paper towel to the boy’s head. 

Bogum scrunches his nose, “Why are you crying?” 

You sigh, reaching to lightly pinch his forearm. “I’m going to be gone for a little bit. So take care of Hoseok while I’m gone, okay?” 

Bogum frowns, but puffs his chest out and nods, “When will I see you again?” 

Instead of you answering, Hoseok cuts in for you. “Soon,” he says with finality, eyes darting between you and a satisfied Bogum. He looks at you and mouths, we’ll figure it out. 

This time around, you know you don’t have to worry. 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

“Jungkook’s waiting in your room,” Taehyung jabs a thumb in the direction of your shared hallway. “Probably passed out and took a nap.” 

“Oh?” you check your phone, “he’s early then.” 

Taehyung shrugs, the strap off his backpack sliding down to his elbows. “Looked a little frazzled. Maybe he had a long day.” 

“Yeah, he said he had his first recording session. Maybe it was overwhelming.” 

Taehyung nods, moving past you to get to the door. “I gotta go back to the studio,” he grimaces, slipping on his loafers, “literally don’t give two fucks about Tiffany’s seniority. Her fashion taste is complete garbage and I’m ready to spend the rest of the night fighting her for it.”

“Good luck,” and in your haste, you wrap your arms around his waist. 

Taehyung’s surprised by the sudden bout of affection, but he returns eagerly as he squeezes you back. “See you in the morning, we’ll go finish that Kim Seokjin drama we started.” 

You force a smile back, “Yeah, see you.” 

You don’t leave the little space by the door until you’re sure that Taehyung is completely gone from your vicinity. Relaxing your shoulders, you pull off your layers and bag and place them on your corner of the living room. 

Padding quietly, you take your time in turning the doorknob to your bedroom in case Jungkook is still sleeping. 

To your surprise Jungkook is not sleeping, however. He’s hovered over your desk, looking up at you from your yellow notebook. 

“Y’know,” he says, tone sharp, “you really shouldn’t just leave your stuff laying out here like this. Anyone can read it.” 

You bristle, shutting the door behind you even though Taehyung was already long gone. Maybe you wanted to contain everything in your room, hoping Jungkook wouldn’t run away at the story you had behind this. 

“Usually people don’t come into my room to read stuff off my desk.” 

“What is this?” he asks, “some sci-fi novel you’re concocting? Why do you have so much information about me?” 

Over the course of your two months, you’ve added more and more to your logbook. It was the little things at first, like the differences between the Hoseoks and the Jimins. But then you felt like you were starting to forget your life back in W1, so you got to writing memories. Stupid, little tidbits about your relationship with Jungkook. Or the brands of wine you and Sehlyung would fawn over during your nights out. 

But Jungkook is pointing to a particular page in your notebook, fingers digging so hard that his nails are turning white. You step further into the bedroom, taking slow steps as you approach your desk. 

One sleepless night, you took it upon yourself to write the lyrics to Still With You. The lyrics are written plain as day, glittered with star and moon designs and a little air conditioner decorating the margins.  

Your heart drops as you see the hurt marring Jungkook’s features. 

“I haven’t told anyone about the songs I’ve written,” he says, pain dripping from his voice, “not even Yoongi. How on earth could you have found my song? How could you have known that I wrote it one night against my air conditioner?” 

You feel like cotton is blocking your throat, “Jungkook, I wanted to tell you tonight—” 

“What, that you really are a crazy stalker?” he steps back, whirling around so now he’s the one in the direction of the door. He takes two steps back, closer to the exit. “That I’ve been so dumb to believe your lies? That I should’ve left you on the street? That you still see me in whatever Jungkook you once knew and now you’re taking it out on me?” 

“Jungkook, please listen—” 

“Because now I know you and I can’t work out,” he spits with finality, hands finally finding the doorknob, “we will never work out—” 

“I know!” you finally scream, and Jungkook falters. You’re shaking, but not erratically. You’re sobbing, shoulders wracking as you let your body collapse against the desk chair. This conversation feels startlingly familiar, as if you’re back to square one. “Dammit Jungkook, why won’t you listen? I knew we would never work out.” 

Jungkook itches to hold you, and comfort you. Instead he sticks by the doorknob, feeling true to his findings. After all, the evidence is all in your notebook. While hard to decipher, it’s clear as day that you always knew a lot more than you’ve led on. He wants to ask more, but he’s far too hurt to continue tonight. 

“I’m sorry, y/n,” he whispers, and slams the door to your bedroom shut. 

Your body gives out, and you feel two tons heavier as you sink into your uncomfortable desk chair. Jungkook’s gone. Your heart’s not so much broken, but you feel awful for getting him mixed up into this. Seeing the betrayal and pain in his eyes is heartbreaking, especially coming from you, someone who doesn’t even belong here. 

The whole room seems to be suffocating you, swallowing you whole. A shelf filled with medical textbooks and science jargon. A corkboard filled with pictures of your friends and family, all memories that don’t belong to you. This isn’t your life. 

You need to get out of here, now. 

•━━━━━━»•»💮💮💮«•«━━•••

W1, four months before. 

Namjoon is sitting between Jungkook and you, like two children and a parent having to intervene. Only this time, you two are being child-like adults and Namjoon is taking up all the leg space sitting in the middle of the back row. 

Jungkook feels like he’s being squeezed through the open window, Namjoon refusing to adjust to his equally large size. He glares over his shoulder, finding you are paying no mind. He scoffs when he sees you nuzzled up against Namjoon’s blazer, babbling like a brook because you’re too wasted to form coherent sentences. 

“What were you going to achieve by doing that, huh?” Namjoon’s voice is devastatingly low, not bothering to look at the younger man. 

He sighs, letting the night breeze tickle his loose strands as he recalls what he did do. It’s all too clear on his end. Entering the bar was easy, after a few rounds with the gang Jungkook decided it was time to mingle. It doesn’t take long for a pretty girl to slide up next to him, with practiced ease finding her way to slot herself between his stretched out legs. And he let her. 

And you? You were livid, of course. He could practically feel the burn of your gaze singing at the back of his head. But you weren’t going to cause a scene, instead you favored Taehyung’s inability to relent and inhiberation to the highest degree. 

Which is why you’re all going home early, before it got too messy. 

Jungkook doesn’t answer in the quiet car, but your soft sobs do. 

You probably haven’t even registered that Jungkook is in the same vehicle. After all, they had to haul your deadweight into the seat because you could barely walk. 

“Why, wh-why Joonie?” your voice is muffled by the thick fabric of Namjoon’s tweed overcoat, nails digging into the seams. 

“Why what, bub?” 

“Why doesn’t he want me?” 

Jungkook’s throat clenches. 

“He’s just stupid,” Jungkook feels dumb, listening to Namjoon and you speak as if they’re all not pressed up against each other like skinny sardines in a too-hot van. “Not to be intrusive, but the two of you are in a complicated relationship.” 

You hum in agreement, your previous drunkenness mellowing out and turning into a tired haze. When you finally arrive at the apartment complex, Namjoon doesn’t hesitate to be the one to carry you upstairs. He barely gives Jungkook the opportunity as he sweeps you into his arms, making the way to your room. Jungkook follows the both of you like a stubborn duckling. 

When Namjoon manages to get the door unlocked, he turns to Jungkook. “You should go up with everyone else. Don’t bother coming in here unless you’re gonna apologize.” 

The door is wide open, and Namjoon straightens up as you float away to your bathroom, insisting you can wobble your way to get your makeup and clothes off. Jungkook tries his best to look confident in front of his elder, steeling his features. 

“I’ll apologize, you go up first.” 

Namjoon pulls his wristwatch out, “You got fifteen minutes. You can’t stay here tonight.” 

Jungkook flinches when he coolly brushes past him, slamming the door on his way out. He then busies himself in your small kitchenette, finding your favorite Hello Kitty mug and pouring you a glass of water. He places aspirin and the water next to your bedside table, ready when you need it. 

It’s been ten minutes since then, and he’s running out of time. Standing in front of your bathroom, he makes a move to knock. No answer. He can’t hear the water running, or faint lo-fi hip hop that you always liked to listen to before getting ready for bed. 

Taking a chance, he turns the knob only to find it unlocked. You’re sitting on the floor, knees hugged and only in a long t-shirt. 

“You can go,” you mumble into your knees, not wanting to make eye contact. “I’m fine.” 

Instead he fits himself into your bathroom, sitting next to you. You don’t bother to move and make room, so Jungkook has to squish himself to fit. “Listen, pretty girl–” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

He sighs, “I’m sorry. I was being a dick and you don’t deserve that. I disregarded our feelings and that isn’t fair to either of us.” 

“I said it was fine,” he sees how hard you’re glaring at the tile on your wall, nothing interesting but your eyes are ablaze. “I know why you did it.” 

He stays silent. 

“You want to push me away before we get hurt,” you state, “but you don’t get to decide that on your own, Jungkook. I’ll give you time, but don’t wag yourself in front of my face like I’m some shameless puppy begging for attention,” you get up shakily, and you hold out a hand in refusal to Jungkook’s immediate reaction, “it’s either all of me or none of me.” 

And for the second time that night the door slams in Jungkook’s face, forcing himself to make a decision.