#But alas I was interrupted during beginning sleepy time

[curiousorigins]

Most days I’d rather be asleep. Probably going to end up watching another sunrise. I’ll have you know I was mildly, but nothing important, productive today.

[spicyfloaty]

Give & Take | Chapter 9

pairing: kacchako

genre: slowburn/fluff

words: 4.5k

summary: Ochako's grades are slipping. Bakugo is dangerously nearing suspension, or worse, expulsion. A certain twist of fate pairs them together for tutoring sessions. He teaches her math. She keeps him from getting suspended. A simple exchange, but what if this only brings them closer than necessary?

header credits: @alexbenedetto

[READ ON AO3]

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine: Mornings with Bakugo

Ochako was a morning person, the kind who purposefully wakes up before the sun does just so they could witness the day start. She had always loved early mornings back at home since it gave her the chance to cook her parents breakfast and see them off to work soon after. Getting a head start to a new day was a principle and routine she had stood by before her father got hurt on the job. 

Ever since her father’s injury, Ochako somehow morphed into the night owl she never thought she’d become. Despite this, the only reason you would catch her up late at night was either because she just got off of work or because she was finishing up some homework, both being tasks she was not too happy to do. She rarely got the chance to enjoy being a morning person, since late nights would require late mornings, which were much different from the early mornings she used to love.

Today was a blessing. Ochako had spent her entire Sunday holed up in her room to study for all her subjects, finishing all of her homework early on before it gets the opportunity to steal away precious hours of sleep later at night. Those precious hours, she made sure to spend them wisely by actually sleeping early that time.

Ochako takes another crunchy bite of toast, looking over to watch the first rays of sunshine spill from the rows of tall, glass windows. A soft, honey, morning glow bathe the dorm’s kitchens, tables, and common area. She takes a deep breath, basking in the comforting silence of the empty dining hall. She closes her eyes and groggily smiles into another sleepy bite of her toast, It’ll be awhile before I get a time like this again.

“Hey.” A familiar voice huffs.

Ochako drops her toast and almost jumps off her seat, a surprised squeak escapes her as she whips her head to see Bakugo standing beside her. He had both hands tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants, red eyes peering down at her waiting for a response. 

“God,” Her whole body sags in relief as she brings a hand up to her chest, “You almost gave me a heart attack.” She breathes out.

His eyes narrow, the rest of his expression unchanging, “What’s the derivative of cosine?”

Ochako tilts her head as her eyebrows knit together in confusion, “Good morning to you, too?”

“You’re still not answering the question.” He says impatiently.

The cogs in her mind have yet to completely wake up in order to fully function and comprehend what’s going on. Bakugo doesn’t usually wake up until much later so why the sudden change in schedule? Ochako rubs her tired eyes to double check if she’s seeing things right, but alas, Bakugo was still standing in front of her, proving that she was in fact not hallucinating.

“Wait, what is this again, exactly?” She asks.

His lips curl in disdain, “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m obviously quizzing you.”

“At six in the morning?” She hears the morning rasp in her voice. How, where, and when did he get the idea of doing this on the earliest crack of dawn and on top of that, how is he managing to not sound or look like someone who just woke up?

“So?” Bakugo prods, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m barely awake, Bakugo.” She says hoarsely, her words slow and steady much like how a person still coming out of sleep would sound like.

Two seconds hardly pass after the last syllable of her sentence when Bakugo swiftly leans towards her until their faces are mere centimeters away from each other.

“Hey!” Ochako yelps, hastily leaning back before their noses could touch.

“You look pretty awake to me, round face.” He deadpans, the space between their faces still a finger’s width apart.

She places both hands on his chest to push him away, which unfortunately didn’t do much since she might as well be trying to move a statue, “Okay, jeez, I get it!” Her face turns to the side to hide the deep shade of red flooding her cheeks. “Personal space, Bakugo, have you heard of it?”

“Answering the goddamn question, have you heard of it?” He fires back, finally stepping away to give her some room to recover.

“Fine,” She drags her fingers through her unkempt hair, Ochako’s self-consciousness wasn’t awake enough for her to care how haggard she looked in front of him, “What was the question again?”

Bakugo folds both arms across his chest, “Derivative of cosine.”

Ochako looks away for a moment, squinting her eyes in concentration as the tiny Ochakos in her head scurry about in her head rummaging for an answer. Her eyes find their way back to his expectant ones once she has the right one, “Negative sine.”

Bakugo nods, walking away to head for the kitchens. A sigh of relief escapes her lips as she thanked her lucky stars that she somehow managed to give the correct answer without being a hundred percent sure of it.

She picks up the piece of toast on her plate, taking another bite while her eyes follow Bakugo’s movements as he moved around the kitchen, grabbing some items from the fridge and cupboards. His back was to her as he settled in front of the stove, grabbing a pan in preparation to cook a meal.

Ochako’s thoughts wander to more obvious questions such as why Bakugo was up this early in the morning when he usually wakes up around the same time Kirishima does, which was much later than now. Bakugo was the type to sleep early, so maybe he had coincidentally woke up and got hungry the same time as her today? Did she somehow mess up her alarm’s volume, accidentally setting it off on full blast, thereby waking Bakugo up since they’re on the same floor? No, that’s not it, she would have woken up the entire fourth floor if that were the case.

She drops the thought soon after, deciding that it was none of her business. Her eyes shifted to Bakugo once again as she took another crisp bite of her toast. From afar, Ochako notices the dampness of his hair, its usual explosive nature had it spiking through every direction, but now they were more down than up. He must have just gotten out of the shower before he got here.

Ochako’s gaze drop to the shape of his back, his muscles flexing as Bakugo reached for one of the spices on the top shelf. It was easy to look at since his tank top left the skin on his arms and most of his back bare. She wonders how much of his free time was spent training since it would certainly take a lot of time to sculpt and tone muscles like his.

Her eyes widened as she realized how inappropriate her thoughts were getting. She shakes her head free of those unnecessary thoughts, bringing her attention back to her breakfast and calls out to him, “So was that the last question or...?”

“No.” Bakugo says, setting his spatula aside, “I’m quizzing you the whole damn day, round face.”  

“The whole day?” She sputters in disbelief. Ochako had thought that this was just something he planned on doing this morning.

“What did I just say?” He bites. She doesn’t need to see his face to know that he was frowning, she could already hear the scowl in his voice.

“When?”

“When I say so.” He says with finality. Bakugo turns around, holding two plates of the meal he had just finished cooking. She had expected him to move past her to sit at one of the tables behind her, but instead, he places his meal beside hers and takes the seat on her left.

“Um, Bakugo?”

“What.” He asks through a mouthful of rice.

“Why are you sitting next to me?” Her question was out of genuine confusion and had no intention of sounding rude, but it seemed to come off that way nonetheless.

“The hell kind of question is that?” He bites, shooting her a nasty look, “You got a problem with me being here?”

“No!” She shakes her hands nervously, “It’s just that, um, you usually sit over there.” She says sheepishly, pointing to the tables behind them.

Bakugo’s eyebrows draw together, his lips twisting to a frown, “I can do whatever the hell I want and I--” He scoots his chair nearer to the table in protest, “feel like sitting here.”

“Why--”

“What’s the derivative of negative cosine?” He interrupts.

“Sine.” She instinctively answers.

“Good.” He says, returning to his meal. Ochako chooses to do the same since he had made it quite clear that he wasn’t answering any more questions from her. She thinks about how Bakugo could have done this whole quizzing thing of his during their sessions instead of breaking off of their regular tutoring schedule. Come to think of it, Bakugo and her don’t usually interact that much outside of their sessions, so him eating breakfast with her is definitely something new.

Ochako hears a strained yawn coming from the staircase and sees Kaminari stretching his arms in the air. He walks past the kitchens, eyes widening to the size of saucers when he spots the both of them. Kaminari’s face morphs to that of someone who had  just uncovered the holy grail, his mouth forming the beginning of a sentence only to be interrupted by Bakugo.

“Keep walking, Dunce Face.” He hisses, eyes not leaving his plate.

Kaminari turns to Ochako and she shrugs as if to say, “I don’t know what’s going on either.”

He walks towards the couches, wide, questioning, eyes still trained on both of them, “That’s all your gonna eat?” Bakugo asks, pointing his chopsticks to the piece of bread on her hands.

“Yeah?” Ochako’s breakfast had always consisted of the cheapest alternative, but it’s not like she was starving herself. She thinks back to days when she’d be eating costly food like tuna and salmon whenever she’d receive an especially good tip from patrons the day before. Ochako’s mouth waters at the memory.

A pair of chopsticks place a helping of fish on her plate, “Tch, You’re an idiot if you think that’s gonna last you through the day.” Bakugo sneers.

“Oh, you don’t have to.” She quickly tries to decline, that is very expensive looking fish.

His eyes stare daggers into her soul, “Do you really want to argue with me about fucking fish?” He snaps.

“No, but--”

“Then just take the damn thing already, Jesus.” Bakugo grumbles.

Ochako hears a faint squeal coming from behind them. She turns to see Mina with Kaminari peeking from the couches, both of them whipping their heads back to the television as soon as she catches them staring. When did Mina get here?

She directs her attention back to the meal before her, unwrapping the spare chopsticks on the table before starting to pick the fish apart.

“You’re doing it wrong.” Bakugo suddenly bites, his face scrunching up at the sight of her work.

“No, I’m not.” She protests. She was just preparing it just as she’s always done before and as far as she knew, there was nothing wrong with it.

“Yes you fucking are.” He argues, “You start here and work your way to the tail.” Bakugo's arm brushes over hers as he leaned towards her, pointing to the back of the fish’s head to its tail. He turns to her, “Got that?”

“Yeah” She mutters, ignoring the slight contact of skin. Ochako does as she’s told, working her way to the tail. She takes her first bite of fish and her eyes widen twice her size, “This tastes amazing.” She takes another bite before turning to him, “How did you do that?”

She knew he could cook, but she didn’t know he was this good at it. She scarfs down another couple bites of his cooking, her taste buds bursting with joy and delight.

“Why the hell do you look so surprised?” Bakugo’s face scrunches up in confusion, “It’s basic ass seasoning.”

Ochako can’t help but close her eyes and smile as she savors every single bite with gusto, “Weirdo.” Bakugo mutters with a bewildered expression on his face.

She starts to debone the rest of her fish under Bakugo’s guidance when she hears another strained squeal from behind them, this one being louder than the last. She turns to see that the couches  were now occupied by Kaminari, Mina, Kirishima, and Sero, watching them as if they were a newly opened attraction at the zoo. Kirishima slaps his hand to his mouth as four of them whip their heads back towards the TV.

She feels Bakugo bump her shoulder, “Focus.” He snaps impatiently, “You’ll end up choking on a fucking bone if you don’t do this properly.”

Both of them eventually finish their breakfast, with Ochako making a conscious effort not to get distracted by their peeking audience. Bakugo collects his empty plates, standing up from his seat, red eyes landing on hers.

“What’s the derivative of tangent.”

Ochako sighs, “Secant squared.” I almost forgot about that one.

---

“You two have gotten really close, Ochako, ribbit .” Asui observes, sitting beside Ochako’s desk, Hagakure in tow. She didn’t notice her approaching since she was preoccupied with a practice question on her textbook. Yes, I study during free periods in between classes, sue me.

“Who?” She asks.

“Bakugo.”

“Oh no, not really.” She replies dismissively, “We don’t really do much other than argue and study.” She chuckles nervously. She wasn’t lying, the only reason why they seemed so close was the fact that they were studying together, no more, no less.

“He literally ate breakfast with you!” Hagakure squeals, her uniform bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Come on, Hagakure that doesn’t mean anything.” She looks away, her hand scratching the back of her neck.

“It does when it’s Bakugo!” Hagakure insists.

“She’s right,” Asui agreed, “Bakugo usually sits alone during breakfast ribbit.”

Ochako shakes her head in response. It was just breakfast, there was no subliminal message between two people eating together, plus Bakugo probably just sat next to her so he could do his little quizzing plan with ease.

“You should see the way he looks at you all the time!” Hagakure adds, her skirt vigorously swishing from side to side.

“With annoyance and distaste?” Ochako quips. She couldn’t exactly recall a time when Bakugo had looked at her fondly or even longingly, so it's puzzling for her to be hearing such claims from her friend.

Before Ochako could add to her argument, she’s startled by a voice that booms from the back of her seat, “Oi.”

She whips her head to face the frowning blond behind her, “You have got to stop sneaking up on me like that, Bakugo.” She exhales.

He squints his eyes at her, ignoring her remark, “The limit of one over x.”

Ochako narrows her eyes right back at him. This was the eighth time, probably more, that he had come up to her unannounced to randomly quiz her. He wasn’t even asking questions at this point, it was just an unfinished statement waiting for her to fill in the missing blank, “X is approaching what?” She asks.

“Zero.” He continues to stare her down, as if to pressure her into spitting out the wrong answer.

She lifts her chin, immune to his intimidation tactics, “The limit doesn’t exist.”

Bakugo nods and wordlessly heads back to his seat. Ochako only then notices the dumbfounded looks on their classmates’ faces.

“Is this a new kind of flirting I haven’t heard about?” Kaminari asks, eyes shifting back and forth from her to Bakugo.

“I don’t know, looks pretty hot to me.” Mineta shrugs, leaning against Kaminari’s desk.

“You’d think a lamp post was hot if we put a skirt on it.” Kirishima retorts, giving Mineta a genuinely concerned look.

The purple-haired student crosses his arms in mock offense, “Oh shut up, I have taste.”

Boisterous laughter erupts from Mina and Jirou, both girls’ arms grabbing at their sides as Jirou almost falls from her seat, “He says he has taste!”

Thankfully, the spotlight shifts to Mineta, away from her and Bakugo, as he continues to defend himself. She glances at his direction to see that his eyes were already trained on her, an unreadable expression hanging on his face. Ochako quickly turns away to face her friends once more, sputtering a new topic for them to talk about. Despite this, Hagakure’s words still echoed from the back of her mind.

Ochako had definitely seen the way he looked at her.

---

The resounding ring of the lunch bell marks the end of fourth period. Ochako put away her books and started to make her way out of the classroom when Midnight suddenly calls her to the teacher’s desk.

“Yes, Ms. Midnight?”

“Uraraka-san, would you please be a dear and bring these papers to Aizawa,” she gestures to the stack of paperwork bundled in her arms, “I have to rush over to a meeting with Principal Nezu in five.”

“Of course!” Ochako takes the papers off her hands without hesitation, a bright smile stretching over her face, “I’ll bring it to him right away.”

“Thank you so much, dear.” Midnight purrs. Ochako gives her teacher another warm smile before heading outside, “Fabulous job on your essay by the way!” She calls out from the classroom.

Ochako looks back at the grinning brunette, “Don’t tell anyone, but I gave you an A plus!” She adds, bringing a manicured finger to her lips as she winked at her.

She chuckles at this, Midnight had said that quite loudly for someone who meant for it to be a secret, “Thanks, Ms. Midnight.”

Ochako rushes to the hallway to catch up to her friends. She nudges Iida with her shoulder since both of her hands were occupied as of the moment, “Uraraka! There you are!”

“You guys can go ahead without me,” she gestures to the bundle of paperwork she was carrying, “I’ll be at the teacher’s lounge for a bit.”

“Sure, we’ll be waiting.” Deku says, offering her a small smile.

She musters an awkward, tight-lipped smile before heading towards the other direction. Ochako had only gotten a few steps in before feeling a tap on her shoulder. She turns to see Bakugo, fierce, red eyes zeroing in on her once again.

Ochako was somewhat glad to know that he had learned to not sneak up on her anymore.

“Cosine of pi.” He says flatly.

Her lips curl into a smirk, “Negative one.”

“You guys are the weirdest couple ever.” Kaminari announces as the rest of Bakugo’s friends caught up with him and as if on cue, both him and Ochako objected.

“We’re not a couple.”

“Aw, they’re so in sync!” Kirishima gushes, “You sure you didn’t rehearse that beforehand?”

Bakugo sends a spine-tingling glare to the redhead’s direction, “Kidding, kidding.” He says, laughing nervously.

Ochako turns to Bakugo, “Got anything else you want to ask?” She urges. He might have another question ready to throw at her for all she knows.

“Yeah, what the hell is that? ” He barks, gesturing to the stack of papers in her arms.

“Let me rephrase,” She began, “Got anything else you want to ask nicely?”

Bakugo rolls his eyes, “What’s that?” He asks through grit teeth. All three boys behind him bring their hands to their mouths to stop themselves from laughing, “Shut the fuck up.” Bakugo hisses at them.

“Some papers for Mr. Aizawa,” She smiles, satisfied with the change in his tone, “and speaking of, I gotta go.”

She turns to Bakugo, “If you have any more questions, you know where to find me.”

Ochako quickly waves them goodbye as she briskly walked towards the faculty room’s direction. It wasn’t a long way from where their classroom was located, but the journey felt like forever because of the weight on her arms. This was a heavy stack of papers.

She finally reaches her destination when she feels another tap on her shoulder. Ochako half expected to see Bakugo’s frowning face again, but she turned to see a tall, lanky boy with a seemingly crooked nose smiling at her, “Uraraka, right?” He asks.

Her eyes shift to the shorter, pudgier boy beside him, then back to the lankier one, trying to recall if she knew them, “Yes?”

“It really is you!” The shorter one beams at her.

Ochako smiles nervously, “Can I help you?” Her eyes were still shifting back and forth between the two boys, her mind trying to figure out why they looked so familiar. Had she seen them before at the sport’s festival? Or maybe walked past them in the cafeteria one time?

“This is Shintani,” The tall one gestured to his friend, “And I’m Kai.” He turns to her, still smiling, but something about the glint in his eyes tells her that he had something else up his sleeve.

“You’re in Class 2A, right?” Kai continues, “With Katsuki Bakugo.”

Bakugo? She thought to herself. Why bring him up all of a sudden?

“Yeah, I am.” She replies cautiously, the first signs of suspicion snaking its way to her gut. Ochako still couldn’t put her finger on where she had seen them before, but now with the  sudden mention of Bakugo, she had all the more reason to stay on alert.

“Must be tough being classmates with someone like that, huh?” Shintani says sympathetically, like he felt the need to console her as if she had been dealt the worst hand of cards in a game.

“What are you talking about?” She asks quizzically.

“Oh, come on,” Shintani sniggers as if she had told him an inside joke, “You know how that animal gets.”  

Kai nods in agreement, “A borderline savage, if you ask me.”

“But nobody asked you.” Ochako retorts, blinking back her shock afterwards. She hadn’t meant to say that, but a couple of strangers badmouthing Bakugo was getting on her nerves.

He turns to her, the kind smile on his face slips into a smug, lopsided grin, his facade instantly crumbling to partly show her what his true colors really were, “See this?” He asks, pointing to his nose, “That bastard did this to me.”

Ochako’s steps back, eyes widening in realization. The students from Class 2C. That’s why they looked so familiar. They were the ones she saw in that fight with Bakugo.

“I don’t even know why this school still lets him stay in the hero course.” Shintani adds.

Kai laughs before turning to her once again, “He only gives the rest of us a bad image, don’t you think so?”

Ochako’s grip on the stack of papers tighten as she takes a step towards them, “If both of you think that I’m going to join in some petty rant about Bakugo, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

She attempts to walk past them, but Kai steps aside to block her path, “You were matched up with him during last year’s sports festival, weren’t you, Ochako?”

“He was truly out of line treating you like some ragdoll he can throw around so easily.” Shintani adds.

Ochako’s face twists in annoyance, “First of all,” she begins, turning to Kai, “Do not call me by my first name.”

“Second,” She turns to Shintani, “He was fighting me seriously. That’s what you do in a competition.”

“And a piece of advice,” She steps closer to Kai, shoving a finger onto his chest. She didn’t know where she had gotten the strength to be able to carry the weight of Ms. Midnight’s paperwork with one hand, but it was there. “Don’t talk about someone like that when you don’t know the first thing about them.”

“And you do?” Kai challenges.

“I may not know Bakugo from head to toe, but I have enough decency in me to not walk up to random strangers to badmouth somebody I don’t know.” She bites back venomously before turning the other direction.

Before she could get any farther, Kai grabs her arm, his ironclad grip almost making her wince in pain, “Hey!” She protests.

“Come on, just hear us out--”

In a blink of an eye, Ochako is suddenly pulled away from his grasp. A tall, looming figure stood in between them, shielding her from both students.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Bakugo growls.

Ochako stares at him, wide-eyed. Bakugo’s back was to her, his shoulders rising and falling along the furious rhythm in each of his breaths.

Kai and Shintani fall back, fear and surprise flashing in both students’ eyes. Despite this, Kai nervously grins and takes a brave step forward, “Speak of the devil!”

“Shut the fuck up and piss off while you can still walk.” Bakugo snarls, his voice seething with malice.

Shintani follows in his friends footsteps and also steps towards Bakugo, “You’re all bark and no bite.”

“Walk away or I break your nose next .” He threatens. Ochako places her hand on Bakugo’s shoulder, her grip firm, “Bakugo, let’s just go.”

Bakugo doesn’t move, his body still rigid with rage, “You heard your girlfriend!” Shintani calls out.

“Unless you want to hit me again, I’ll show her what a real man looks like!” Kai taunts, making sure to look behind Bakugo to give Ochako a suggestive grin.

She feels him tense up even more under her palms as he begins to pace towards them. Ochako takes his hand and for the first time, Bakugo looks back at her, his expression livid, “They’re not worth it.” She warned, adding weight to every word she spoke.

Ochako holds his gaze as she gives his hand a gentle squeeze and for a moment, the anger in his eyes subside.

Kai takes another step forward, ready to hurl another insult at him when the door to the faculty’s office opens, “What seems to be the problem here?” Aizawa asks, hooded eyes flickering between Bakugo and the two students from 2C.

A bright smile works its way back to Kai’s face, “Nothing at all, Mr. Aizawa!” He beams, “We were just about to leave!”

Kai paced towards Bakugo, pausing so that he was directly beside him. “One of these days, when you least expect it, you’ll get what’s coming to you, Katsuki.” He says, barely above a whisper, but loud enough so that only Bakugo and her could hear it. Cold eyes still aimed forward, Kai walked away, Shintani in tow.

Aizawa turns to Ochako, his tired eyes dropping to Midnight’s paperwork, “Those must be from Midnight, bring them over here.” He instructs, walking back inside the office.

She feels Bakugo let go of her hand as he walked away, not even giving her the chance to talk to him. Ochako’s hand fold inwards as she stood there with a million questions swarming in her head.

“Uraraka.” Aizawa calls out from inside.

“Coming!”

[spiderlingss]

You Don’t Have To Be Alone

Author: @spiderlingss Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader Word Count: 3295 Warnings: Themes of death, fluff and slight angst Summary: You’re working on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming when you get a call from home that means that you briefly need to abandon your responsibilities on set. When you return Tom tries to make sure that you know that you can trust him.

A/N: Okay so this took me ages to get out and it has low-key driven me freaking crazy… It would be amazing to complete any requests that you guys may have and I love to get feedback, so please don’t worry about sending things for me to improve on. I’m really not sure about this one but alas I hope you like it.

Today was your first day back on set since flying back to the UK after you were informed that your cousin had been rushed to the hospital. Your mother didn’t want to worry you, but you knew that things weren’t good, you could sense it in her voice when she called. When she put the phone down the adrenaline took over and you immediately booked the next flight out of Atlanta back to London. You called Jon soon after, realising that you couldn’t just leave without informing him. You can’t exactly remember what you had said, your memories clouded with trauma, only hearing the response he gave you in return, telling you to take all the time you needed to be with your family. You managed 10 days of being at home before you couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to fly back to Atlanta as soon as you could. 

You had been messaging the cast in the group chat whilst you were away, but none of them really knew the full extent of what had happened. There were multiple times while you were alone, not able to sleep, back in London when you really wanted to confide in Tom, but you couldn’t bring yourself to selfishly distract him whilst he was living his dream. From the moment that Harrison introduced you to each other you had hit it off and found yourselves getting closer over the course of filming. The feelings that you were developing were beginning to consume you, and they only grew stronger after you lost Alfie. Tom was the only other person alive that you had ever bonded with over the same things that you had done with Alf. You decided that you desperately needed to go back to work in order for you to gain control over your life again.

So here you were, doing the coffee run with Harrison, trying to regain some of the normalcy in your life. He was the only other person that you could bring yourself to tell, half because he needed to take on a double workload whilst you were away and half because you just needed a friendly voice of comfort. Over the course of the week, as you found yourself deteriorating into a state of anger and depression, Harrison was the one that had reminded you that those feelings were normal after losing someone and that sometime in the future the sting of those emotions would fade.

“How are you holding up?” He placed his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into his side, his grip momentarily tightening before softening again to express his concern.

“I’m just trying not to think about it, you know?” You spoke quietly, the corners of your mouth curving up lightly at his actions. “I decided to come back because I knew that it’s what I needed. Plus, Alf would have killed me if I messed up this opportunity.” You laughed morosely, a twinge of pain interrupting the dull ache in your chest and your brows furrowed slightly. Harrison gently guided you over to the nearest shopfront, to make sure that the both of you weren’t blocking the crowded sidewalk before pulling you fully into his supportive hold, squeezing you tightly.

“You are so strong Y/N.” He pulled away, his hands gripping onto each of your shoulders as he looked deep into your clouded eyes, wanting to make sure that you knew that he was there for you. “Look, if you need more time to adjust you don’t need to worry about me, I just want my friend to focus on herself. A little more time might help.” 

“I felt bad leaving you, don’t get me wrong Haz, but I promise that I am back because I want to be. I need the routine.” You smiled back at him, genuinely. For the first time in a week, you had managed to smile without having been reminded of bittersweet childhood memories, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to make new ones. “I am so lucky to call you my friend.”

“And as am I with you.” He smiled sweetly and you both continued walking down the street in a comfortable silence, making sure to run the orders in your head again so you didn’t forget them.

The fact that the workday had gone so quickly completely contrasted the way time shifted when you were home. It was nice to be able to rush around and escape your thoughts, even just for a short while as you dashed around alongside Harrison to make sure everyone was happy. Everyone was glad to see you back and much to your relief they weren’t asking any questions, making it so much easier to get on with your daily duties.

Jon did pull you aside when filming had wrapped up for lunch, making sure you were definitely ready to be back at work and offered his condolences. He had been checking up on you while you were away and even tried to convince you to stay home for a little while longer when you said you were returning. He also mentioned that he and Harrison made the decision to not tell everyone why you were away in order to give you the time and space to decide when to talk to the others about it.

The talk made you think back to when you first arrived on set. Even you, with your relaxed approach to new people, were anxious to be a part of the crew. Once you had finally arrived, you knew that there was no need to worry. It made you happy to know that you were part of a family whilst working on the production. For some reason, you thought that you would be considered a nobody whilst on set, especially since you were hired to double up with Harrison to aid his assistant duties. Assistants stereotypically don’t receive the best treatment in the workplace and the thought of running around pandering to the whims of people who didn’t even care if they knew your name worried you. You have never been so happy to be proven wrong.

As you lie in your trailer thinking over all of these things, your mind keeps drifting back to all of the memories you have made with the young cast. The nights out, exploring the cities that you travelled to while filming, drunken nights in trailers and meals in fancy restaurants. All things that shouldn’t be available to a small town kid like you, yet you’re here living the dream. All of the memories were created because of Alfie and if it wasn’t for your excitable, film student of a cousin you wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed in a morning, let alone come up with a CV and practice relentlessly for the interview that he helped you receive. He’d previously worked on the set of Civil War during his year in industry and when he received an offer to work on the film introducing Spider-Man into the MCU he put your name forward instead.

He was in his final year of studying so he decided that it wasn’t the right time for him to commit to something so time-consuming due to the fact that he needed to focus on final projects and complete his dissertation. He knew that if he was missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity, then he was going to make it his sole mission to get you on that set instead. He was aware that you weren’t experienced enough to do what they had asked of him, but he still practically begged them to give you work experience on the production.

He knew that it was a long shot, so he didn’t tell you until he knew that it was close to becoming a possibility. The last thing that he wanted was to raise your hopes only for them to be shattered. Since he had impressed many people during the time he spent working with them on Civil War, Jon agreed to the idea and was happy to have you on board, providing you impressed him during an interview. Which you did. Alfie was so proud of you, despite the fact that you would tell him it was only because of his hard work and negotiating skills that you got the job.

The thought that had haunted you since the second you found out he was in a coma was the fact that if he had taken the job, he’d be here instead of you. Alfie should be in Atlanta living the dream you were currently experiencing and the fact that the decision he made cost him his life was killing you inside. It physically hurt to know that you would never properly be able to thank him in person for everything that he had made possible for you. You couldn’t help but keep torturing yourself, wondering if different decisions would have changed the outcome. You cursed yourself for not calling him or managing to delay him from driving that night. Questioning if there was anything that could have stopped him from being on the road on the same night as the reckless drunk driver that left him alone to die. Wishing that it could have been you instead of him. You began trembling as desperate tears continued to form in your eyes but you didn’t have the energy to try and fight them anymore, so you caved in and allowed yourself to cry for the first time since the funeral before falling into a deep sleep.

You were awoken by a familiar knocking pattern coming from the metal door of your trailer. Both Tom and you had decided to come up with a knock that only the two of you would recognise in order to help tell when the other was around. You padded drowsily over to the door, wiping the sleep away from your eyes, before unlocking the trailer door to let Tom in. You avoided eye contact in your tired state, gesturing for him to enter. Once you had shut the door behind him, you desperately tucked yourself into his embrace, causing his lips to curl up at the sides.

“Hello sleepy girl, you missed dinner. You alright?” He asked into your hair, worry lacing his words as he played with a piece of loose thread that he found on your hoodie.

“Yeah, jetlag’s a bitch.” You smiled weakly, before pulling away to take in his appearance. His hair was tangled and windswept and tiny beads of sweat were resting on his forehead, which told you that it was likely everyone had been out enjoying a game of football. “So what have you been up to?”

“Preach it,” Tom joked, his brown eyes glinting as he flashed you a toothy grin. “Went for food and then played a good ol’ game of footie. We tried to call you but we obviously couldn’t get a hold of you.” You nodded your head softly in response, before running to the small kitchen area in the trailer and pouring a drink for each of you. Tom was always extremely polite and would never ask for anything when he visited your trailer, despite the fact that the two of you were extremely close.

“Thanks, love.” He spoke when you passed him the glass of lemonade, his fingers brushing past your own when he did causing a rose tint to fall across your tired, puffy cheeks. He picked up on it and the thought made his heart flutter, but he knew better than to push it, sensing that something wasn’t right. “I’m worried about you, y/n. We all are.” 

His words were what you needed right now. You placed your drink on the small coffee table and you found yourself motioning for him to sit down on the small sofa, if you could even call it that. You sat first, your back to the arm of the chair while you brought your knees up to your chest before resting your chin in the perfect nook that they had formed. Tom followed, taking a huge gulp of lemonade before setting his glass next to yours. He sat as close as he could get, his thighs resting on your sock hidden feet. His arm was resting on the back or the seat beside you as his fingertips comfortingly brushed your shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me, but I need you to know I am here and that I have noticed that you’re not yourself. I don’t want you to think that I don’t care because I do.” He sympathetically continued and despite his words, he really hoped that you would open up to him. Tom felt that this was the right time to show you how you made him feel. He found himself pulling you into his lap to cradle you in his arms before he rested his forehead against your cheek. You were positive that he would be able to feel the heat radiating off them as you eased into his embrace.

“I just don’t know how to tell you.” You croaked, already feeling the lump in your throat swelling, causing you to clutch onto his hoodie for support as you shook the idea away. “I can’t bring myself to tell you, Tom. I haven’t had to physically say it yet and I don’t think I can.”

You both sat there for a short while as you tried to figure out how you could say it. You were glad that he was here because he made you feel safe and you found yourself bringing your hands up to his hair in order to play with his chocolate curls which left a soft smile on his lips. At that moment he wanted to tell you so eagerly about how he felt, how he had fallen for you and that he found himself dreaming of being with you and never letting you go. 

Just as he was about to speak, you beat him to it, softly humming into the air, “Do you remember Alfie? My Alfie.”

“Yeah, how could I forget! I thank him every day, in my head because he’s the reason I met you.” Tom spoke aloud, softly pressing his nose against yours causing butterflies to form in your stomach at the contact. The two of you had always been extremely comfortable with each other, but the small changes in body language and the intimate touches like the last told you that you both felt the same way about each other. You felt relaxed under his hold, but couldn’t help but feel the dull ache in your chest rise as Tom unknowingly talked about Alf as if he was still here. You came to the conclusion that he thought you were trying to avoid the distressing topic. “Plus he worked so hard on the Civil War set and from what I saw of him on the job, he’s really talented.”

“He really was.” You choked out, moving so that you were now straddling his hips in the least sexually motivated way. You nestled your face into in the crook of his neck and slowly began to sob. Tom couldn’t believe what you were saying but he didn’t hesitate to gently rest his head on yours as he continued to grasp you safely within his embrace. You didn’t think that he could have gotten any closer but he somehow managed to. The two of you stayed like that for a short while as you bawled into his chest, listening to his staggered breathing and rapid heartbeat as he rocked you.

“I’m so sorry Y/N.” His voice cracked and it took you a short while to notice but when something wet dropped onto your cheek, you realised that he was crying with you. You looked up slowly, your eyes red and puffy, to meet Toms eyes slightly bloodshot, holding back his own tears as best he could.

“It’s not your fault Tom.” You tried to comfort him with your words. He knew that you were right, but he couldn’t help but feel like he had let you down, that he should have called you more or read in-between the lines. His brows knitted together and you found yourself trying to meet his gaze, but he wouldn’t let you as he wrinkled his eyes shut.

“I should have realised. I should have checked Facebook or something Y/N.” He furiously began shaking his head, wishing that he could turn back the clock and approach this differently. “I should have been there for you when you needed me the most.” You placed your petite hands on either side of his face, so that that you could get him to look at you. 

“You couldn’t have known Tom and I… I didn’t want to scare you away.” It was true, the last thing that you wanted was to throw your emotions at Tom and have him run in the opposite direction. He was a busy man, especially whilst filming and he no doubts had his own problems to deal with. You needed him now more than ever but you had just been worried about how you were going to be able to go about it.

“I know my angel, but you know me better than that. Your problems are my problems and I am here for you to talk to. No matter what.” He brought his hand so that it was nestling under your chin so that he could lift it up in order to get a better look at you. You brought a hand to his and gave it a huge squeeze, tears still loosely cascading down your chapped cheeks. “You can trust me Y/N.”

“I know Tom.” You smiled and lovingly rested your forehead against his, causing his breath to hitch slightly as he brought his hands to cup your damp cheeks, brushing his thumbs over the apples of your face. “God, I would love to kiss you right now.” You sniffled slightly, causing Toms lips to curl upwards into a cheesy grin.

“I thought you’d never say,” He breathed, looking into your eyes before slowly bringing your lips to his. It was soft and passionate but it wasn’t desperate, no, it was reassuring. Tom pulled away before bringing his lips to your nose. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that love. I’m sorry that I didn’t get the hint until now.” He smiled weakly and you engulfed him in your embrace. 

“You are here now when I need you the most Tom, I don’t see that as a bad thing.” You reassured him, your voice as smooth as silk and music to his ears.

“You are the most amazing woman that I have ever met and I would love if we could give ‘us’ a shot. Every day on set I find myself anticipating the moment that you will walk through that door. Your smile instantly makes me feel like I could take on the world. I don’t know what I would do without you, love and it’s about time I’m honest with you about that.” He exhaled deeply, his coffee tinted eyes boring into your skin as he nervously fiddled with the drawstring on your hoodie.

“I would love that Tommy.” You smiled softly as you peppered kisses all over his face, setting yourself back down in his lap with an anxious smile resting on your lips. “I’m ready to talk about what happened if that’s okay?”

“Of course it is darling, I’m all yours and I am here to listen and help you as best I can,” Tom reassured, brushing your hair away from your eyes before bringing his lips to meet your forehead softly. “You will never have to go through something like this alone ever again.”

[withasideofeggsy]

Hwarang :: Sam Maek Jong x Reader :: Part III

Hi hello sorry this took me forever to write. I wrote this over the span of the past few months so I hope it flows okay. I had a lot of trouble concluding this series as the show ended. I was at war with myself to add more details of the drama or how I imagined the drama to end so here it is! I hope you all like it regardless. I know the Hwarang hype died but I wanted to finish this for you guys :) so I hope you read it nonetheless! I also added a little sexy time for yall so please enjoy! See ya in my next fic!

Read part 1 and part 2 here!

“Mother.”

The room’s temperature dropped and the tension got thicker by the second, the faceless King finally made his appearance. Mustering up the last drop of strength I had left I look up to see the long awaited King, only to reveal Ji Dwi.

“Mother! Just this once, won’t you allow me to be happy?” he cries out, startling everyone in the room. I couldn’t process anything in my throbbing head, all I could make out was that Ji Dwi, the man who I was dotting after for the last few days was calling the Queen his mother. “Sam Maek Jong…I’m protecting you! Her dangerous mentality will get you killed,” the Queen explains with as much frustration. Sam Maek Jong? I couldn’t ponder on what the Queen called Ji Dwi as what left his lips next practically stole my last breath. “If a dangerous mentality will get anyone killed here, it will be you Mother. If you dare touch a hair on her head again…I can’t even imagine the things I will do. I will kill, and I will show you how dangerous I can be.” With that calm threat he sheathes his sword, “Now leave.” The Queen lowers her sword, “I know you too well, to know that you are only all talk, Sam Maek Jong.”

It was too fast for Ji Dwi to register, I fell watching him as he screamed. I felt pain as my body collided into the ground, knocking the air out of my burning lungs. Only with enough strength to control my eyes, I lock them with Seyeo who had pushed me out of the way, he gives me a small smile in contrast to his usually cocky smirk. “Seyeo…” I breathe staring at the long blade sprouted from his shoulder. “Let me protect you one last time, my Princess.” “No…no…no…” I mumble reaching out for him. It all happened so fast, I could only focus on the blade sliding out from his shoulder causing more blood to seep into his dark hanbok. There was so much yelling from Ji Dwi and the Queen but I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t even hear my own sobbing as I engulfed Seyeo into my arms, despite his serious injury he still managed to pull my hanbok back onto my shoulders and helped me tie the front, “You are still the Princess, I know you like Ji Dwi but you can’t be showing him your body this soon.” “You are so dumb, you are hurt and you care about that?!” I scream applying pressure onto his wound, in which he shrugs. “This isn’t as bad as that time you impaled me by accident during training three years ago.” I cracked a smile despite the hot tears running down my cheeks, “Shut up will you? You’re hurt I can’t have you bleeding out on me. That’s an order.” He nods, “I can’t disobey you so I guess I won’t die on you today.” I scoff pulling him into a tighter hug, “I’m sorry…I couldn’t protect you.” In which it was his turn to return the scoff, “I should be saying that to you. You’re a mess your blood is soaking through your hanbok and your face is smeared in it.” A soft cough gained my attention. We both looked up to Ji Dwi who held the most irritated expression I’ve ever seen on a person. He kneels down to our level and clasped his hand onto Seyeo’s wounded shoulder, “Are you alright?” to which Seyeo nods, “Yeah this is nothing.” Ji Dwi then turns to me and his expression softens significantly, “I’m sorry for not being able to protect you.” He places a hand on my dampened back from all the blood, “I’m so sorry.” I look up at him through hooded eyes, I was getting sleepy, slowly craning my neck I pressed my lips against his, “There’s nothing to apologize for. Thank you for saving us...your Majesty.” He holds me against him gently so that he wouldn’t cause any more pain to my injuries, “I love you,” he whispers against my forehead. “Alright, let’s go before the Queen comes back and decides to stab me again,” Seyeo interrupts getting up from my lap with surprisingly no difficulty for someone who just got impaled. “I love you too,” I bashfully smile looking anywhere but his face. He places a chaste kiss onto my blooded forehead before scooping me up into his strong arms. I suck in a sharp breath as my clothes scrape against the broken skin on my back, “You’re a good girl, please be strong for me. Don’t fall asleep.” I nod, gripping his shoulder with one hand. I was starting to feel light headed but I couldn’t fall asleep for his sake, “(Y/n) please stay awake, for me okay?” “Okay…” I mumble holding him even tighter so that I wouldn’t slip away. Seyeo retrieves the discarded swords on the ground before quickly joining our side. With one hand pressed against his shoulder he angrily waves the sheathed swords in his other hand, “This stupid sword stabbed me twice, I’m going to throw it away. It’s bad luck.” “That’s my favourite sword, I’ll throw you away,” I manage a soft giggle snuggling into Ji Dwi’s chest.

The walk back to the Hwarang house was slow, it felt like years has passed.  “Ji Dwi?” I mumble against his neck, “Yes?” he responds back softly. “So…you are King Jinheung? Do I address you as that? Or Sam Maek Jong? Or Ji Dwi?” He nuzzles his nose against mine, “You can call me Jagi.” I smile as I hear a slight gagging sound come from Seyeo who lagged behind by a few steps. “I like that…Jagi?” “What is it (Y/n)?” “I’m getting sleepy,” I mumble with closing eyes, “Be good for me, keep your eyes open just a little longer okay?” I nod quietly, forcing my heavy eyes to open just a crack, “Okay for you.”

Shortly like he said we finally made it back to the Hwarang house. Seyeo insisted that Ah Ro treated me first but it was evident to everyone in the room that he was bleeding out quickly, so much to his protests Ah Ro treated him first while Sam Maek Jong combed his fingers through my hair soothingly while I waited for my turn. When Seyeo was all patched up Ah Ro smiled at me and brought her kit over to where I sat. “Alright time for you guys to leave, she needs to strip of her clothes.” Seyeo gets up obediently when I nod for him to be dismissed however Sam Maek Jong was more reluctant to. “It’s alright, you can go I’ll be okay,” I assure him with a small nod and he shakes his head, stubbornly continuing to be planted onto the floor. I turn towards Ah Ro and shrugged in which she glares up at Sam Maek Jong and she shakes her head disapprovingly, “Ah no such respect for a woman’s privacy. Who raised you? Aish!” I quietly snicker at her bad mouthing the King of Silla, if she only knew whom she was lecturing at. “You’ll need to completely take off your top,” Ah Ro says and I nod untying the belt of my hanbok. She gently peels the blood soaked fabric from my skin and I cringed as I hear her sucking in her breath when the wounds were revealed. “Is it really bad?” I ask with squeezed shut eyes, the only response I got was Sam Maek Jong patting my head softly as he pulls me into his lap. “Ah okay! Let’s…start…somewhere…” Ah Ro mumbles fumbling with her tools. She begins by wiping at the cuts with a wet towel and I accidently whimpered out loud causing her to stop in shock. “I’m so sorry it’s going to get worse from here…” she confessed placing a soft warm hand on my shoulder in which I nod to, “Y-Yeah it’s okay. Please continue Ah Ro.” She nods with her lips pulled into a tight line. I slowly look up at Sam Maek Jong and his eyes never left my scar littered back until I slipped a hand into his and gave it a tight squeeze. His warm chocolate orbs met mine and he pulls me flush against his chest despite my nudeness. “I’m going to start stitching up the deeper cuts okay Princess (Y/n)?” I nervously nod and squeezed his hand tighter. In response he combs his fingers through my sweat soaked hair trying to soothe my pain, “Keep your eyes on me, okay?” I nod again whimpering as I felt the needle sink into the skin of my back. He coos encouraging words to me, but by the fourth stitch I started to feel even more faint. I squeezed onto Sam Maek Jong’s hand tighter if that was even physically possible. I was grateful that he didn’t seem to mind too much that the circulation in his hand has stopped completely. He continues to stroke my hair in comfort as Ah Ro tried her best to be as gentle and as quick as possible. The ringing in my ears got louder, and I knew I was going to pass out soon due to the pain, and ultimately the feeling of safety made my adrenaline run dry, draining my body of energy. I didn’t realize I broke my promise to Sam Maek Jong of staying awake until I slipped into the darkness.

-

“You’re awake,” A low voice calls out. I blink away my blurry vision until I see my favourite person hovering above me. “Ji Dwi?” I mumble, from underneath the covers. “Ji Dwi?” He inquires with a raised brow and I gave him a questioning look in response. His lips pull into a firm line, “You don’t remember what happened yesterday?” I purse my lips, racking my brain for anything important that I might’ve forgotten and alas everything flooded into my head. I throw a hand onto my forehead due to the overwhelming rush of thoughts that I whacked myself on my head injury. He chuckles, “What will I do with you, you idiot?” I shrug with more caution to the stitches in my back, I was definitely not prepared to go back for more stitches anytime soon. A cute shy smile tugs at his lips and he leans down to press them against mine. Mustering up some strength, I raised my hand from under the cover so that I could cup his cheek. He closes his eyes peacefully and leans into my touch causing me to smile. “I’m at war with myself,” the male confesses under his breath. I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of that if it weren’t for the uneasy expression on his usually stoic face. I frown pinching his cheek gently, “Why?” He cracks open his tear brimmed eyes and tried for a smile, however it wasn’t very convincing due to the wavering. “Are you safest by my side or back home in Goguryeo?” His shoulders started to shake and quickly his tears bubbled over and streamed down his face. Using the pad of my thumb I caress his tears away, in which he expresses his gratitude by pressing his lips against my wrist. I take in a deep breath and smile up at him, “I think you know the answer to that,” he nods closing his eyes again and I giggle, “And I’m sure you also know my thoughts on that as well.” “I know, and it worries me that you would rather be by my side than be safe,” he groans in annoyance. “Even though being back home would be the logical choice, I feel safest by your side, Sam Maek Jong. And nothing can change that.” I took the opportunity of his shock to wrap my arms around his neck so that I could pull him into a hug, “I love you, and nothing can change that either.” Sam Maek Jong cups my cheek as I did to him earlier and brings himself down to gently plant a kiss onto my lips. He pulls back with a soft smile, “I love you most, and nothing will ever change that either. If you will have me, I wish for you to be at my side every step of the way.” I smile, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

*Mild smut warning*

Sam Maek Jong returns my smile and sits up right, “I almost forgot why I am in here.” He sighs and starts to pull down my covers, it was then that I realized that I wore nothing but a pair of loose pants and bandages around my chest. Sam Maek Jong shuffles closer to me and pulls me up into a sitting position as well. Even though he was extremely gentle I could feel the stitches pulling at the swollen skin. Sucking in a sharp breath I could feel the tugging of the broken skin as he starts peeling away the bandages from the sticky wounds. “I need to change your bandages okay?” As he unravels the bandages I stared to feel bashful, even though the situation was nothing but innocent I couldn’t help but feel shy as I become more naked by the second in front of him. As the bandages fell away from confining my breasts I hug my front to shield them away from Sam Maek Jong. “Why are you embarrassed? It’s not like it’s my first time seeing you naked. This is my…hmm…third actually,” he nods almost as if he was content with himself, “When I saved you from my mother, when you got your stitches, and today.” “Sam Maek Jong!” I gasp turning around to slap him. He flashes me a sly smile, evading my hit with much experience. “Hold still for me, my Princess,” he coos ringing out the warm wet towel to blot clean the wounds. I hated being addressed as Princess or any title of royalty but whenever those titles left his perfectly plump lips I knew he was teasing and it made me feel strange. Like a warm feeling pools in the lower portion of my stomach and I didn’t know how to deal with such new and foreign emotions. He pulls away the wet cloth and to my surprise replaces the lingering touches with his plump lips. I gasp at the new sensation of his soft wet lips trailing up and down my back. “W…What are you doing?” I whimper as his hands snake around to my front to cup my breast. He gives them a light but firm squeeze causing a moan to escape my lips. I could feel him smirking against my back. The male sits up right and pulls my back flush against his front. He leans forward so that his long hair tickled my bare skin, dipping his head into my neck where he suckled the skin gently. I groan, bringing my hands to cup his that continued to fondle my breasts, “What got into you?” I whimper with swallow breathes in between each word. Sam Maek Jong chuckles deeply and I could feel the rumble against my back, “Sorry, I got a little carried away,” he chuckles again and I blush meeting his dark gaze. “Forgive me,” his breath fans over my face as he nears closer to mine. I watch him carefully with hooded eyes, a small smile was fixated onto his features and he presses his lips against my partially agape mouth. He pulls back slightly before quickly diving back in with such passion and force I accidently let out a whimper of pain. “Sorry, we shouldn’t be doing this until you are completely healed,” he apologizes, pulling away with a pout. I frown evidently more upset than he was and he completely knew that as he lets out a chuckle. He gives my breast a final squeeze earning him a lewd mewl in which he smirks at. “If you continue to make such cute sounds I won’t be able to control myself,” he warns and I nod shyly, covering my face with my hands, “Sorry.” He hums as his way of accepting my lame apology while he bandages me back up with no funny business of any sorts. “Although you did start it,” I breathe under my breath. “What was that?” He raises a brow and I grin, “You heard me, my King.” He rolls his eyes, which was a reoccurring habit that he had whenever he was teased, frustrated but not frustrated enough to have a verbal or physical smack down with whoever was unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his hot headed temper. “You are honestly testing me,” he sighs getting up from his seated position, “I’ll be back with something for you to eat.” I shake my head causing him to raise a brow, I pull onto the sleeve of his hanbok as I carefully lower myself back into the soft warm mattress. “I’m not hungry…can you just stay here with me while I rest?” He smiles softly, “Of course.” Sam Maek Jong lowers himself from his seated position and slipped under the sheets joining me. He pulls me close to his body and I sighed contently. It was very warm and overall very relaxing due to the security his presence always provided without fail for me. The silence was definitely comfortable but I couldn’t stop myself from asking him this, “Were you ever going to tell me that you were the King?” He raises his head so that he faced me, “Of course, I just couldn’t find the right time to tell you,” he confesses with knit brows, worry evident on his features. “I just…thought that you didn’t trust me or something,” I timidly giggle. “That’s stupid though,” he nods with a chuckle of his own, “That is really stupid.” I raise a brow for him to continue, in which he does with a grin, “I trust you more than I trust myself. If you told me to close my eyes and walk blindly into war I would, because you told me so.” I slap him playfully on the shoulder, “Now don’t you get dumb on me. There’s only enough room for one of us to make bad choices and that’s me, got it?” “Wouldn’t it be more fun if both of us made bad decisions together?” At the proposal I mock ponder for a second, “Then I would really have to rethink of our marriage. If we are to rule both Silla and Goguryeo it would definitely be trouble.” Sam Maek Jong nods in agreement, “We will keep each other grounded. And stop each other from making bad choices. But I assume that would be you making the choices and I would be there saving you from them.” I gasp offended, just slightly, I push him over onto his back and I sat on his stomach victoriously. “I would be protecting you from all those elites who want you dead. I would chop them down.” He chuckles at that, “Don’t be silly. You are a peaceful soul. You won’t harm a fly.” Using my index finger I boop his nose lovingly, “I will do anything to protect my man!” “You are the cutest,” he says breathlessly, pulling me into a kiss.

We spent most of the morning like that, snuggled into each other and enjoying the quiet blissfulness it had to offer after yesterday’s eventful evening. I was curled on my side with his warm chest pressed softly against my back. His arms wrapped around my waist and his chin was propped on top of my head comfortably. I really wondered how I ever slept peacefully without him by my side. I didn’t want to scare him away, so I didn’t vocalize this but I was extremely excited for the day we would get married so that I could start and end my day like this in his arms. He softly hums, the soft rumble in his chest resonated into my back, “I look forward to having this everyday once we get married.” The man had no shame and was so blunt about his feelings I really didn’t know how to handle it. The blood rushes to my cheeks, a rather reoccurring thing that happened whenever anything leaves his mouth. I stutter shyly, “I was just thinking the same thing.” Sam Maek Jong shifted from his lying down position, “Oh? We are soul mates aren’t we?” he cheekily grins gazing into my eyes. I bite my lip, trying to hide an enormous bashful smile, “Stop saying those things Maek Jong…” “Why are you getting shy when I only speak of the truth?” He teases causing me to playfully slap him upside the head, “Sam Maek Jong!” He hums with closed eyes, “I love it when you say my name. I wonder how I’ll react when you start calling me King Jinheung.” His dotting behaviour was too much to handle right in the morning, I groan shoving him off of me, “What are you? A pervert?” He ponders hard for a minute with knit brows and pursed lips, “Yes. Just a little bit though,” he confesses with a bright grin that showed off his pearly white teeth. “What have I gotten myself into?” I mutter under my breath, and much to my dismay he had extremely good hearing, “Marriage to the said pervert.” “Aish! Okay I had enough of you,” I exclaim getting up from under the covers. Sam Maek Jong pouts and rolls onto his back, “Where are you going?” I stare at him dead in the eyes, “Back to Goguryeo.” He sits up quickly with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. I roll my eyes at his reaction, “Don’t be stupid, I’m just kidding. Sword practice is going to start soon.” He lets out a sigh, “Of course I knew that,” he says rolling his eyes but I could see the relief washed over his features, “also you should be resting,” he adds. I smile picking out a clean hanbok to wear, “I’m alright, besides I need to help Han Sung.” He gets up from the mattress and walks over to across the room to where I stood skimming through my pile of clothes. “No you aren’t,” he says stubbornly pulling me into his chest as he rests his chin atop of my shoulder. “He needs the help,” I explain looking over my shoulder into his huge doe eyes, “Besides I promised him, and I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound.” He chuckles lightly, “You aren’t fooling anyone, come on.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me along to practice where Seyeo was already standing under our usual shaded spot. He quickly made his way towards us and instantly pulled me into his chest, “Why aren’t you resting?” he mumbles into my hair. I scoff, “Why aren’t you resting? You’re the one who got impaled.” Seyeo sarcastically laughed and rolled his shoulder, “I’m fine. Let’s get you settled down,” he suggests planting a soft kiss on my forehead. Sam Maek Jong clears his throat, catching my attention. “Oh you’re still here,” I muse causing him to roll his eyes. He quickly dips down to my height and presses his lips firmly against mine as his hand held the back of my head. I started to get flustered as whistles and hollers erupted from the Hwarang who watched the scene unfold. “Oh gosh…” I mumble covering my face missing the sly smirk he flashed to Seyeo who just rolled his eyes in return. “Okay just go to practice you!” I scold shoving Maek Jong towards the rest of the men who already had their swords in hand.

“So you got the hots for the King huh?” Seyeo teases breaking the comfortable silence. “And you were dumb enough to get kidnapped huh?” I poke back. He sighs, rolling his shoulder, which was obviously causing him discomfort much to his denial. “In my defense I was easily taken because they told me that they had you.” I raise a brow at that, “Really?” Seyeo smiles softly and ruffles my hair, “Well duh. How else would they have gotten me to go anywhere against my will without a trail of dead bodies?” I giggle at his statement which made absolute sense. Of course they blackmailed him, he has easily one of the best swordmen I’ve ever seen in my (y/age) years of living. “Also it’s my job to care for you and to protect you, so no need to give me a lecture saying that I don’t have to put my life on the line to protect you. Because I actually do, not that I’m complaining though,” he adds with a gentle assuring smile, “But who would’ve thought that he was the King.” I laugh along with him, “I know right? I never thought that this trip would actually succeed in its purpose. I came here to marry the King and apparently I really am. And I’m actually really excited.” Seyeo smirks, “It’s even more amusing seeing before this trip you had no intention of marrying anybody, instead using this trip as some sort of vacation. And not only that, you accused the King to be some huge stuck up jerk with, I quote, not a silver spoon, but a huge gold spoon about the size of a ladle to be so stuck up his ass that you can see it exiting from his mo-” “Okay!” I interrupt smacking his injured shoulder, effectively shutting him up instantly. “I wonder how this will all pan out though, seeing that his mother wants me dead and half the nobles want him dead.” “It’ll work out.” “I really hope he doesn’t die though. Apparently that ‘battle to the death’ thing is really going to happen.” “It’ll work out.” “I’m-” “It’ll work out, now shut up and stop over stressing.”

Like promised, Sam Maek Jong helped Han Sung in his training which he was super excited about. So excited that Han Sung ran over to tell me the great news, “I heard you aren’t feeling too well so Ji Dwi will be helping me out today! If you are sick you should go see Ah Ro! She’s very good and kind. Oh and I knew it!” Han Sung exclaimed pausing to pull my hands into his chest, “You like Ji Dwi! Is it because of his beautiful glittery eyes or his charming smile?” he adds batting his eyelashes cutely. “Aish! Just go train Han Sung!” I scold shoving him away playfully in which he flashes me a wide grin in return before hoping back to Sam Maek Jong.

-

“Thanks again for helping Han Sung with his training,” I say for the umpteen time that afternoon. Maek Jong smiles casually with a shrug, “It’s nothing really. It’s nice to see him finally improve.” “Right!?” I excitedly exclaim causing him to chuckle. He slips his hand into mine, intertwining his slender fingers with mine. “I sometimes wonder if you love Han Sung more than me,” he playfully pouts. I giggle at that, squeezing his hand tightly, “I love you, you dummy.” He leans down to press a chaste kiss onto my lips, “Is that anyway to speak to the King of Silla?” he teases pulling away with a smile. “Just because you are a King it doesn’t excuse you of being stupid,” I truthfully answer causing him to smile fondly. “I am so in love with you it’s quite embarrassing.” “It’s alright, you are always embarrassing yourself anyway. Picking fights with Sun Woo…occasionally Ban Ryu. And apparently Seyeo, wow you are on a roll huh?” He humours me with a blank expression, staring unmovingly into my eyes. Somewhere looking like a dead fish. “Alright I take it back! Just stop staring into my soul!” I dramatically exclaim with the back of my hand pressed against my temple for effect. Maek Jong pulls my arm away so that he held both of my hands in his. He leans forward, so close that our noses with practically touching, “I can see into your mind…and…I see nothing but emptiness!” “Wow!” I yell directly into his face causing him to flinch back, “Oh wait…I see something. A temper shorter than Ban Ryu’s!” I pulled back with a mock hurt expression in which he responds with a mock grimace himself, “That’s too much huh? No one has a shorter temper than Ban Ryu.” giggling at that I could’ve sworn I heard Ban Ryu sneeze in the distance.

Walking aimlessly we ended up back at our usual place, behind the Hwarang house and at the small lake. Being alone I finally managed to ask him about the worry that was nagging at my brain the entire day. “What’s going to happen tomorrow?” Tomorrow was the battle to the death event that Princess Sookmyung kindly put together, and for whatever that was going to go down tomorrow I don’t think I could ever be ready. Maek Jong paused in his steps and turned me to look up at him and he said what he always said, “It’s going to be fine,” he told me again. “I know,” I lied again. I couldn’t bear to watch the Hwarang put their lives on the line for nothing but shear entertainment of the royal family. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” I mumble and he nods in compassion. With tomorrow coming so soon he couldn’t find it in his heart to lie to me saying that no one was going to get hurt, instead he pulled me into a tight warm embrace.

-

Saying that I had a restless sleep was an understatement. I spent majority of the night pacing in Seyeo’s room complaining about everything and anything until he had enough and picked up his sword, “Okay that’s it. Let’s go fight this out of your system.” He always knew how to make me feel better. The harsh clacking of wood caused some of the Hwarang to wake up, considering if they could even sleep a wink with the events coming in the morning. “Sorry did we wake you up?” I asked stopping momentarily in our heated sword fight. Most of the group shook their heads, “We couldn’t sleep anyways,” admitted Han Sung. I smiled softly at him, combing his messy long tresses behind his ear. “Also you shouldn’t be moving Princess (Y/n), Ji Dwi said that you were feeling ill.” “That’s right,” Maek Jong interjected causing me to grin awkwardly. “Um it’s just that…I couldn’t sleep. I was worried about you…all of you actually,” the Hwarang stayed silent some with soft smiles adorning their lips, “I…whatever happens tomorrow…just do something you won’t regret. If you want to hold back your attacks do so, if you want to attack full force then by all means do so. Just don’t regret it and remember that this isn’t the real fight.” The air around us was physically buzzing, however I wasn’t sure if it was exactly comforting, it was just sparked and alive fueling the group of young men. “Everyone got that?” and a chorus of hollers erupted them, most likely waking up any of the remaining Hwarang that were actually sleeping, “Very well then, go back to your rooms and try to get some sleep. Whatever happens tomorrow I hope to see all your faces happy and well the following day. Dismissed.” Han Sung managed to beat Maek Jong in approaching me first, “Wow that was so cool!” he excitedly mused causing embarrassment to rush through my body. I didn’t know what got into me to be honest, I almost sounded like my mother when she was giving pep talks to our soldiers back home. “Get some sleep Han Sung,” I stutter shyly in which he nods, “Not before a kiss good night right?” “Wha!” I gasp in shock but before I could give a proper reply Seyeo threw his arm around Han Sung’s shoulder, “Of course not.” Seyeo jokingly kissed Han Sung on his cheek effectively causing the poor child to scream in disgust as he was dragged away back to his room by my always reliable royal guard and friend. “If that kid survives tomorrow I’m going to kill him myself,” Maek Jong breathes out in annoyance. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or scold him so I did both simultaneously, most likely coming off looking like a crazy person. “Let’s get you some rest, I’ll tuck you in my Princess.” I blush with a small nod. Even though it was his big day tomorrow here he was spoiling me like usual.

“You know if it’s too much for you, you don’t need to come tomorrow to watch it,” Maek Jong softly says caressing my cheek. I look up at him from my lying position as he sat comfortably beside me. “No it’s alright. I’ll watch, I need to be there if things get out of hand.” He was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, “My mother will be there.” I nod knowingly, “I’m aware.” “Aren’t you scared?” The corners of my lips pull into a small smile as I lean up to press them softly against his, “There’s nothing to be scared of when you’re here.” He reciprocated my smile and gently brought me into another kiss, “That’s right my Princess.” He looked into my eyes with his warm brown ones and continued to stroke his long slender fingers through my hair. “And don’t forget that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” I add resulting him to chuckle. “How could I ever forget? Sometimes I feel like you are more capable of protecting me than I am of you.”

I reach out to cup his cheeks, bringing him closer. His broad chest was flush against mine as I gave him a longer kiss. He softly massages his lips against mine as his hand skims down my waist and into the knot of my flimsy nightwear. A soft moan escapes my lips when I felt his cold digits teasingly scratch at my stomach, travelling lower and lower, “Maek Jong…” I breathe. He chuckles deeply, connecting our lips again before reluctantly pulling away. I frown at the lost of contact and he mockingly pouts as well with a shake of his head. “Be good for me, I can’t control myself if you keep being so cute (Y/n).” I sit up with a soft groan to grab his hand, “Then don’t control yourself…” “(Y/n)…” Maek Jong groans with a small shy smile, “You are hurt, this can wait until you are better.” I cast my gaze down still holding his hand tightly and he knew what was bothering me instantly. “I’ll be okay, trust me. I’ll be extra careful to make sure that my, you know, doesn’t get damaged in the fight,” he chuckles and I couldn’t help but to giggle along with him. “Even if I end up losing both of my hands tomorrow I’ll find a way to pleasu-” “Okay!” I cut him off as all the blood in my body rushed to my cheeks, “Okay…I got it…” I timidly smile at my lap, “You’re such a pervert you know that?” He hums kissing the back of my hand, “Try to get some sleep, I’ll see you in the morning alright?” I nod watching him get up. He pauses by my door before turning around to flash me a smile.

-

I managed to sleep for a few hours before the sun seeped into my room. And right on cue a knock was heard on the wood of the thin paper door. “(Y/n), you should go visit Ah Ro to get your bandages changed before it starts.” I sit up with much less difficulty compared to yesterday, “Okay, thank you Seyeo.” I look at the stash of clothes I packed and I couldn’t decide which one to wear on this eventful day. I usually wore black or dark colours but I feel like it would be too ominous, and with that, it cancels out half of the clothes I brought. White feels the same, red could symbolize blood…and that left me with the last hanbok I had in my pile, a soft pink one. I didn’t remember packing this or even owning such a hanbok at all…so probably mother snuck this in. I smile, stripping myself of my silky white nightwear to envelop myself with the soft material. I don’t know if this was at all possible just by the clothes I had on my back, but I felt like a good omen.

Walking out of my temporary room I see Seyeo at his usual spot in the morning, leaning on the pillar closest to my door. He raises a brow with folded arms across his chest, “Well that’s new…and quite refreshing actually.” I slap his arm, I would like to say gently but that was never the case with Seyeo, “Is that what I get for getting that for you?” he asks rubbing his arm and I look up at him dumbfounded, “You got this for me?” “Are you stupid? Was it there for the past few weeks? I got it made for you considering what’s happening today. I doubt you would want to wear what you usually wore since it screams funeral,” he adds indifferently as if he didn’t just go through the trouble in getting me new clothes just to make me feel better. I pull him into a tight hug, “Thank you.”

With Seyeo by my side walking from Ah Ro’s office and into the tournament was a lot more bearable. Before walking up in the viewing area I tried my best to delay that and Seyeo noticed it too. So he suggested that I went to wish the Hwarang good luck. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t everyone be watching?” I ask quietly in which he shrugs, “Then give them something to look at. These sickos are here to watch these guys shed blood for entertainment. I wouldn’t care much of what they think.” I grin, that’s my best friend right here. Pursing my lips I nod slowly, “Yeah I think I’ll go do that.” I jog up to the Hwarang and enveloped the closest one I could get my hands on. “Good luck!”

By the tenth Hwarang I finally reached Maek Jong, and I lost my ability to speak. He smiles warmly and pulls me into a hug, “You look different,” he says pulling away and I nod, “I’m wearing pink! It’s a good omen!” I blurt out in a frenzy causing him to chuckle, “Alright, alright, go wish Han Sung good luck before he explodes.” “Okay...see you after? In one whole piece?” “Of course, and I’m keeping my promise, I will protect my…” “Aish! I don’t want to hear it! Bye Ji Dwi!” I could feel his gaze on me as I walked away to see Han Sung who huddled in the corner of the field with his brother close by his side. I nod at his brother who returns the gesture before I focused on Han Sung, “How are you feeling?” He pouts pulling me into a tight hug, “I’m kind of scared.” I pat his head gently, “It’s normal to be scared, just don’t freeze up during the fight okay?” He nods against my shoulder and I pat his back before puling away. “I’ve seen you improve with my very own eyes. You’ll be just fine.” He nods with a wavering smile, if something were to happen to him today god have mercy, I will tear this place apart. I lean up to place a quick chaste kiss onto his cheek, “For good luck,” I pull away again with a smile and he nods enthusiastically with a bright boxy smile of his own. Suddenly the gate doors opened and entered the Queen, signalling for the tournament to finally start. My heart hammered against my ribcage but thankfully Seyeo was there to place a hand on my arm pulling me along towards the seating area. He practically had to drag me up the steep set of stairs as my legs started to feel like lead, “Get a hold of yourself,” Seyeo whispers in my ear and it finally snapped me out of my daze.

I walked up to the seated Queen and I bowed, “Your majesty.” I look up from my long lashes to see her curtly nod, “Princess (Y/n), take a seat here beside me.” The request was a bit nerve racking considering that her own daughter was seated a fair distance from her and how I was to be seated a little too close to her for my own comfort. But nonetheless I nodded with a smile, “It would be an honour to, your majesty.” I slowly lower myself on the hard wooden chair with only slight discomfort as the ridges in the slats of the backrest started to dig into the closing wounds. The Queen leans towards me and looks straight into my eyes with a small knowing smile, “Does it hurt?” Of course she wanted me to sit right beside her and on this chair of all the damn chairs in Silla, the detailing in the backrest was protruding into next week for reason but for aesthetics and for my discomfort apparently. “Why would it hurt?” I politely ask leaning further into the chair with a smile of my own. The sour expression doesn’t leave her expression as she leans back into her own, much more comfortable looking I must add, chair as she nods, “Good.” Seyeo stood closely behind me as his hand gently rests on my shoulder comfortingly before returning to his side.

When the tournament started I wasn’t at all fazed of what went down. The Hwarang refused to go through with a proper fight. I bit my lip refraining from grinning proudly as Soo Ho and Ban Ryu, the two who were constantly at each other’s throats refused to harm one another. What fazed me was that Princess Soomyung stood up in anger and shouted for blood to be spilt. That’s when one of the elders suggested that his personal swordsmen should join in the fight against the Hwarang since they refused to hurt each other. And of course, it had to be “to the death” with these people. My gaze wandered over to Han Sung’s shocked but evidently terrified face before it travelled over to Sam Maek Jong who was having some intensive staring contest with his mother. I should’ve spoken up but the hand on my shoulder stopped me from acting brashly. “I get to choose the Hwarang,” says the elder who I recognized to be Ban Ryu’s step father, also known as the key player to trying to get the King out of the picture. I then looked over to the Queen who had her lips pulled into a thin line, “Alright.”

My heart hammered violently as I watched the set up of the field change, and to my surprise Sam Maek Jong wasn’t called out. Instead it was Ah Ro’s brother, Sun Woo. I furrow my eyebrows together in thought as I realized what had happened. The Queen has been using Sun Woo as a coy for Maek Jong to be safe. Although evidently the love of my life would be safe I couldn’t help but feel anger coursing through my veins as an innocent had to play bait. Sun Woo stood in the middle with the swordsmen, ready for the fight to commence. “But, do you know what would be even more entertaining?” The Queen began and the elder raised a brow. “To show the Hwarang that a fight means a fight, there is no holding back no matter who you are.” I couldn’t follow along her proposal until I realized that I was being dragged to replace Sun Woo.

I could barely process the events flying by before my very eyes until I stood right in front of the swordsman. I guess the Queen really wanted to get rid of me by the end of this week. I stretch out my back and I could feel the stitches starting to tug at the swollen skin, the Queen is smart I’ll give her that. If my health was at its peak, practically nothing could take me down but considering that I almost died a day ago I didn’t see any good chances that I would make out of this “life or death” showdown. Seyeo stood beside me and unsheathed my two swords at his hip, all the while casting a worried gaze my way. “Don’t forget your morals, but also don’t forget your own safety.” Basically summarizing that I shouldn’t go full out crazy and kill the poor swordsman but instead try to make peace and parry the blows. I frown looking up at the swordsman who’s face was void of any emotions, then to the left where Han Sung held a concerned expression, and Maek Jong who held an even more concerned one. I tap the floor with one of my swords, gaining his attention. “It’s okay,” I mouth and he nods. He was trying to be nonchalant about everything but I could see the stress and worry etching across his usual poker face. The Queen’s loud voice booms across the courtyard, “Hwarang! When I ask you to fight you fight. I don’t care who you are or who your parents are. Take example of (Y/n) who will fight to the death because I said so.” I swallow thickly and tightened my grip on my swords.

A gong suddenly echoes into the deathly silent air, signalling for the fight to start. Almost immediately the chosen swordsman lunged forward with his blade. Taken aback slightly by his quick advance I barely dodged the blade as it skimmed across my ribs. The familiar trickle of warmth filled me as I rolled my wrist that held the offense sword. Okay, focus (Y/n), one sword offensive and one sword defense. Advancing quickly, I used the technique that always worked, keep pushing the pace with light swings until your opponent gets tired and deliver the final strike. The only difference today was the uncomfortable tight tugging felt on my entire back with each swing I made. His stamina was no doubt impeccable, but so was mine. Once he lost his rhythm slightly, I wasted no time to let out a frustrated cry, lunging at him. As the sword neared his neck I flipped the blade causing the cool blunt edge to glide across his throbbing jugular. The swordsman drops his sword and gazes upon the ground in defeat. I remove the blade from his neck and dropped both of the swords in my hands. Walking over to the hunched over male, I bent down to pick up his discarded blade before holding it out for him to accept. “I don’t believe in killing for entertainment. So I’m sorry to disappoint,” I announced while moving my gaze from the man to the royal audience above, “However, it is obvious that this man would’ve been dead if I followed through. Which means theoretically, there is no opponent for the Hwarang to fight, so that concludes the tournament.” I couldn’t help the cocky grin from spreading across my face as I watched the Queen’s stoic gaze ever so slightly crack. After basking in the hard earned victory of the Queen’s little game I turn towards the group of Hwarang with a nod. “You’ve done well today, take the remainder of the day off to spend time with your families or go treat yourselves at the Okta!” The familiar hollers resonated throughout the Hwarang house as they made a break to freedom. But unsurprisingly a few of the men lagged behind. “That was so cool!” Han Sung practically swoons before engulfing me in a tight embrace. “I’m glad you thought so! Aren’t you relived that you didn’t have to fight?” I tease nudging him in the side causing him to childishly giggle, “Yeah! Thank you Princess (Y/n) for taking one for the team!” I roll my eyes with a shy smile, “Yeah, yeah, I know. Now run along kid.” He pouts, “I’m not a kid! I’m a grown man!” he whines but obediently runs back to his older brother who stood nearby. I sigh with a smile as I turn towards Maek Jong who stood there with a small smile himself. I took a step towards him but I didn’t get far before an extremely worried Seyeo threw himself in front of my line of vision, completely blocking Maek Jong from my view. I gasp in shock as he quickly pressed his hands on my cheeks, giving me a quick once over. He tilts my head side to side, back and forth, “Are you hurt in any way?” he inquires, repeating his examination. I shake my head and used my hand to swat his away, “I’m okay I’m okay! But my head is going to fall off if you don’t quit doing that!” He let’s out a big sigh, “Oh thank god. Okay you may proceed to see your husband.” I blush at his embarrassing ways, “Aishhh why must you tease me like this? He’s barely ten steps away! He could totally hear you, you idiot!” I scold as Seyeo casually whistles strutting away from the scene he caused. “Come here then my wife,” the smooth voice I’ve came to love teases, “Oh gosh not you too,” I mumble under my breath as I close the space between us. I stood right before him, I could feel the warmth radiating off from his body as it seeped into mine. “I’m glad you are okay,” he says holding me tightly against his chest. “I’m glad you are okay too,” I smile against his neck as his hold tightened. “If I didn’t respect your wishes, I would send you home in an instant. You aren’t safe here. At this rate you are a bigger target than me in Silla with my mother after you,” he grumbles against the crown of my head. I let out a quiet chuckle, “I know, but I’ll say this again. I can take care of myself.” Sam Maek Jong lets out a frustrated groan, “I know you can but I just want you to be safe. Always safe, and I want to take care of you okay?” I’m not sure if it was the heat, or the fact that we had this conversation multiple times already, but nonetheless it ticked me off. “I don’t need you to take care of me okay? I proved that today haven’t I?” I groan challenging his frustration. He sighs while shaking his head gently, “I’m well aware, my love. But isn’t it natural for one to wish an easy worry free life upon those they love?” I cast my gaze to the ground while pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I felt bad for snapping at him. I nod in agreement as he plants a soft kiss against my forehead despite my skin being sticky from sweat. “I’m sorry for getting angry,” I mumble against his red Hwarang uniform. He chuckles light heartedly, “Nothing to be sorry about, if anything I am to apologize. You are strong, brave, and intelligent. And I am well aware of that but yet I still try to protect you from everything and hide you away. It’s obvious you can take on the world by yourself unlike someone like me, the face less king, who all he does is hide.” I knit my brows together in confusion while hearing out his self-degrading confession. I raise my hand to give him a good whack upside the head, he sucks in a sharp breath and I nod, “Aish that is the last time you say and think about such things okay? Next time I will hit you ten times harder!” Maek Jong nods rubbing his head, slightly dumbfounded by what happened in the short time frame. “We will work together from now on okay? No more hiding, we fight the battles we cannot avoid and give whenever possible. We will protect each other. And…besides I kind of like it when you want to protect me. I think it’s refreshing and very…alluring to say in the least.” He raises a brow cockily, “Oh?” I look up at him shyly, “Oh?” I echo and he smiles down warmly at me. “It seems that everything I do these days is suggestive to you, my Princess.” I roll my eyes, gently pushing him away, “You are testing me are you not?” He chuckles with a casual shrug.

-

After the tournament it has been a pretty relaxing week in the Hwarang house. So the recovery process was clean and fast, however the peace and quiet didn’t last long seeing that this is Silla after all. Baekje, another neighbouring Kingdom of Silla initiated war. With the Queen’s ruling there was a lot of poverty in the outskirts of the capital, forcing the citizens to hunt on Baekje’s land. If this happened on their other neighbouring Kingdom, Goguryeo, it would’ve been fine. Seeing that my Kingdom was rather peaceful and fruitful with the vast amount of land we were fortunate of ruling. However, it had to be on Baekje’s land, causing a whole uproar with the notorious Prince who practically was born from the bloodshed in a battlefield. Now this led to where we are today, in the present where volunteers are asked to accompany Princess Sook Myung as a peace offering tribute.

“I’m coming too!” I argue gripping onto the collar of Maek Jong’s hanbok, practically screaming at his face. He places his hand on top of mine and squeezes back softly, “No you’re not, we talked about this,” he hums patiently as my adrenaline ran high. Maek Jong chuckles quietly when he realized that my lower lip was trembling as I fought back the tears from overflowing, “Don’t go…” I choke. He leans down to give me a long and soft passionate kiss, “It’s my duty to go to make things right for Silla,” he says pulling back with a gentle smile adorning his lips. I shake my head childishly, biting my lip to keep the tears at bay, “No! It’s your duty to stay here, by my side where it’s safe. Where I can protect you.” He lets out a heavy sigh, gathering me into his arms, “Now that doesn’t sound like the Queen of Goguryeo I’ve grown to love.” He was right, the real me would tell him to hurry up and fight for what’s right, no running away, and protect his people with pride. Was it my emotions that are getting in the way of the possibility of never seeing him again? Or was it the fear I felt knowing that he is stepping up to the blood thirsty Prince of Baekje, and I wouldn’t be there by his side. “Go fight with pride and protect your people…” I trail off focusing on the floral patterns in the fabric of his hanbok, “It’s just that I’m worried. Seeing that you will be confronting the Prince of Baekje. You know how he is…” Sam Maek Jong caresses my cheek softly with the pad of his thumb, “Of course I know how he is, that’s why I can’t allow you to accompany me on this journey. He will cause bloodshed regardless of the situation and I don’t want your eyes to see such a thing. And importantly, he would want such a beautiful, strong, and intelligent girl like you, and I can’t have that. He can have my blood by not you, never, not even over my cold dead body.” He had a point, however I was famously stubborn and I had a point as well. “If I go... I can stop all of this without anyone getting hurt.” “Anyone but you, love. I will never let him lay a finger on you let alone look your way.”

With only three kingdoms making up our land, practically all royal families knew of each other, perhaps a little too well. The Prince of Baekje liked destroying things, especially living things. He would find much pleasure in breaking strong headed people into small submissive toys for him to play with. I knew that, Sam Maek Jong knew that, everyone knew that. If I went as a peace offering it would be without a doubt successful. No one would get hurt, besides just one person, me. But here was the peaceful soul that was Sam Maek Jong who would not even consider the proposal just to protect one person, rather than the greater good of his people. “Maek Jong…I can stop a war from ensuing. I can prevent hundreds upon hundreds of meaningless deaths.” He sighs shaking his head to clear his thoughts, “For you to breakdown because of someone like him, or anyone for that matter…I would rather have someone rip my arm out of its socket and beat me up with said arm than for you to endure anything of that sort. I can’t have him see you, because he will want you, and he search everywhere for you until he can have you and I can’t have that, I really can’t,” my heart hammers against my chest at his confession, “I also have an important job for you to do while I’m gone.” I nod for him to continue so he does, “I need you to go back to Goguryeo and inform your people about this. If Silla were to fall Goguryeo would be next.” He looks intently into my orbs for a moment before I nod, “Yes, understood.” No matter how selfish I wanted to be, if it were to put my people in danger I had to step up to fill the shoes my mother entrusted to me, that’s something he knew and I hated him for that. “I will prepare men to station along Silla,” I propose and he nods, “If you can that will be great, however I’m concerned that your men will question as to why they are protecting their neighbouring Kingdom instead of their own.” I chuckle at that, “Well we are to get married soon no? Should we not treat Silla and Goguryeo as one, my King?” His mouth opens slightly to only close again, he was at a loss of words it seems. Sam Maek Jong simply nods with a grin stretched across his beautiful features, “Yes of course, that is right my Queen.”

I understood my role, however I was still reluctant to leave his side, especially as I watched him pack his belongings for the three day long trip. It was great that he was finally stepping up to this royal title however, if it wasn’t for me…would he have been safe instead of taking on such roles to prove his worth? One promising thing out of this entire mess was that the Hwarang who volunteered to accompany Princess Sook Myung on this trip were the most talented individuals that caught my eye on the first day I stepped foot into the house. I woke up from my daze as Maek Jong plopped down beside me on my futon, “When are you setting out?” he softly asked. I tilt my head slightly so that I could gaze into his soft brown eyes, “In tomorrow’s time, shortly after seeing you good bye.” He chuckled deeply shaking his head, “This isn’t good bye, you know that.” No I didn’t know that for sure, and that’s what scares me. “Promise me you’ll come back,” I whisper as the corners of my eyes started to bubble with hot tears. He nods with a soft smile, “I promise to return to your side in a few days time (Y/n).” There it was, another lie. I smile up at him regardless and in turn he leans down to place a gentle kiss upon my lips. “Get some rest, it’s going to be a long ride back home tomorrow,” he suggests while getting up to retire to his room. He makes it to the sliding paper door but before he could exit I ran up to him and embraced him tightly from behind. “Don’t leave me.”

~NSFW kiddos~

I roughly turn him away from the door to face me and slipped my hand into the knot of his hanbok. I look up at him dumfounded as he laughed out loud, “Ahh you are too cute…” he sighs placing his hands on my hips as I groan, leaning up against him to give him a kiss, “It’s supposed to be sexy you idiot!” I whine as he hushes me while carding his long slender fingers through my silky locks, “I don’t think you are capable of that (Y/n), you are too adorable. “ Blood rushes to my cheeks at his flustering words, as I roughly slam him into the paper door causing the poor wood to creak. “Aishhh my Princess, you are so rough…do you want me to fall through this door and have everyone see and hear us?” he teases causing all my intentions of having him right here and now to fly out the breaking door. I frown turning around to make my way back to my futon. I plop down into the soft cushion and wrapped my blanket around myself ready to retire for the night. That annoyingly sweet chuckle of Maek Jong filled the room as he made his way towards my reclined form. He pulls the covers off my body as I whine in protest, “I’m sorry for teasing, come on my love,” he laughs as I giggle in response to his fingers dancing up and down my ribs. “That’s my girl,” he breathes as his fingers untie my hanbok, allowing the silky material to slip open. He hums peeling away the material open from my front causing a soft gasp to escape my lips as the cold night air bit at my exposed flesh. As my hanbok fell open I felt extremely bashful as Maek Jong’s eyes started to wander. I pulled my hanbok closed again causing him to smile, “Now you are feeling shy? After trying to strip me huh?” I playfully slap his bicep and he took this as an opportunity to pin both of my arms above my head. My heart hammers against my chest as a sweet smile sweeps across his face, “I’m going to mark you as mine.” I nod wanting every bit of him as his dominance took over. He guides my hands into his hanbok where it easily slipped through the loosening material, thanks to my eagerness earlier. I could feel his milky smooth skin beneath my fingertips as they ran up and down his toned front. His breath hitches in his throat when my nails accidently traveled a little too low and grazed the top of his pelvis. He smirks, shaking his head lightly, kissing the top of my head, “Let me take care of you first, okay?” I nod shyly while carefully watching him as he slips the fabric away from my body, leaving me completely naked and feeling slightly vulnerable being completely bare before his eyes. His eyes rake over my body and I bit my lip nervously a waiting for his reaction. “Mmm so beautiful,” he hums with a bright smile. I felt lightheaded with the amount of blood continuously rushing into my head in the past few minutes. “Do you want to stop?” he inquires and I instantly shake my head causing him to chuckle. “I…I’m just nervous is all,” I confess throwing an arm over my breasts. Maek Jong lets out an airy laugh and shakes his head with a smile. Instead of providing me with comforting words he swiftly strips himself of his own clothes instantly putting my nerves at ease seeing that he was completely bare for me to see as well. I gingerly lift my hand that was cupping my breast to touch his hot smooth skin causing a low rumble to erupt in his chest. His hand in return reaches out to knead my breast into his large palm. I let out a small cry as his lips met my other breast where he nibbled gently at my nipple before lightly suckling the bud into his mouth. The coolness of the night air mixed with his hot mouth latched onto my breast and his warm hands exploring my body caused endless shivers to run up my spine. I bashfully let out a lewd mewl as warmth filled my lower belly. The tension in my stomach grew as his long slender fingers rubbed at my core. I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening to my body but the new sensation was exciting. I sigh out his name encouraging him to continue which he willingly does. His wet kisses trail down my ribs, stomach, hips, and my thighs. A sharp gasp escapes my parted lips as his warm lips met with my core. “Maek Jong…” I cry out as I feel his wet appendage prod into my opening. He lets out an airy chuckle causing blissful vibrations to stimulate the sensitive region. I felt over stimulated with the amount of attention he gave me. One of his hands held my thigh down while his fingers rubbed circles into my skin soothingly, his other hand kept busy by teasingly prodding into the hot tight cavern while his mouth latched and suckled on my swollen bundle of nerves. I whined loudly before I could catch myself. Maek Jong, rather content with himself, pulled away with a smug grin. “Do you really want the entire Hwarang to hear, Princess?” I wasn’t sure what got into me, but the spark of confidence he gave me when his head was between my legs allowed me to say such lecherous words, “It’s Queen to you, and did I give you permission to stop?” I barely had time to cringe at my statement before Maek Jong slides his slender fingers out of me and into his mouth all the while maintaining eye contact. He pulls his index and middle finger away from his mouth with a pop and he grins, “A King does what he wants no?” I gasp, not from his sexual innuendos however. I sit up to face him directly, “Excuse me?” his orbs suddenly widened and his mouth gapped as his hands waved around the air frantically, “I-I’m just kidding! I was just talking dirty jagiya...and you ruined the mood.” “Oh,” I bashfully add causing him to roll his eyes with a smile, “Oh,” he mocks earning him a well deserved smack on his head. His smile never wavered but the atmosphere thickened once again as he lowers me back onto the futon with himself hovering above my frame. “I’ll make it up to you,” he huskily states, burying his nose into the crook of my neck. “Just…do it already!” I say rather impatiently making him let out a cute breathy chuckle, “Do what?” I couldn’t believe he’s making me ask for it. I stared at him with a raised brow and he blinked innocently in response, reluctantly with a blush I shyly mumble, “Y-You inside of me.” I could literally slap a gayageum into my face and kill myself right here and now. Sam Maek Jong couldn’t just put me out of my misery, instead he pretends to ponder about the sit\uation, “You need to be more specific jagiya.” I roll my eyes with flushed cheeks, “Of course I mean your-” I cut myself short when my eyes started to wander and they just so happened to land on his tall standing member. My gapping mouth twitched, I can’t believe I didn’t notice until now how large he was. Taking no opportunity to miss he strokes his thick girth of his length with a low groan. His thumb smears the pre cum beading at its tip along the throbbing vein running underneath his erection. My heart hammered against my ribs as I watch him guide his member near my opening. I eagerly spread my legs wider for him and he delivers. Rubbing the soft skin of his erection’s head along my slit lubricated the tip allowing him to teasingly prod in and out. Whining impatiently at the growing and dissipating coil in my stomach I clutched onto his shoulder doing the last thing I ever thought I would do, beg. “Please, please just put it in!” I hiss causing him to smirk. My eyes roll back as he pushes his thick length in, stretching and filling my core. He moves his hips slightly causing a sharp gasp of pain to leave my lips, he leans down slowly to place a kiss on my sweaty forehead. “Ah I’m sorry my Princess,” he coos placing another kiss on my nose. He stays still, comfortingly rubbing patterns into my hips with his fingers while he waits for my body to get used to him. After a few moments I squeeze his bicep signalling him to start moving. He kisses me again before pulling out slowly and thrusting his hips back, the feeling was much more enjoyable as my body adjusted to his size. I let out a soft moan raking my fingernails along his back to encourage him to continue. He rocks his pelvis against mine rhythmically building up the tension in my lower belly to coil once again. Breathing seemed to get more difficult as his pace quickened to the point where the sound of skin slapping against each other filled the room. I started to pant as his thrusts came more irregular and more desperate, clawing at his broad back as he slammed his hips relentlessly into mine. His name stringed with a fury of incoherent cries left my parted lips as my body shuddered against his. The creaking of the floorboards was utterly shameful but that didn’t slow down his thrusts. The coil in my stomach reached its limits feeling his erection twitch inside. I clench my walls around his length while my thighs hug tightly around his waist. “I’m not going to last…” I pant lightheadedly and he nods burying his face into the crook of my neck where he bites and sucks the skin harshly as if he was desperate for one more touch. He lets out his own breathy cries when the clenching mixed with my own thrusts that met his got too much for him to bear. With a loud moan he pulls out quickly before he could release within me. “T-That was close…” he pants as small starting squirts of hot liquid met my inner thigh. Hastily I grabbed his member and guided him back into me. “What are you doing?” he cries out in surprise as I pull him on top of me once more. “If…if tomorrow is the last time I see you…I want this,” I confess watching his confusion turn into admiration when he finally understood. He nods, picking up from where he left off until his high was met again. He groans out my name spilling his hot seed within me. My arms move to wrap around his chest allowing me to hug him inhumanely tightly while he rode out his orgasm. I was so close to finishing so I was slightly disappointed that it ended so soon. “We aren’t done yet Princess,” Maek Jong pants with a sloppy grin. His fingers found my bud of sensitive nerves working his index and middle finger relentlessly, speeding up my high exponentially. He watches my expression intently as I felt over stimulated. My eyes roll back and my walls clamped around him as I came mixing my warm fluids with his all the while his name left my lips at volumes that I’m sure everyone in the Hwarang house heard. Sam Maek Jong lets out an airy laugh at my dishevelled state, I gaze up at him with unfocused vision as he pulls slowly pulls out allowing his sticky warm seed to dribble out and onto the futon. “Ahh what a mess,” he chimes disappearing from my line of vision. Before I could sit up to see where he left to I felt his familiar soft warm lips on my core where he places butterfly kisses up along my slit to the swollen bundle of nerves. “Maek Jong…” I whine reaching out with grabby hands. He chuckles vibrating my womanhood one final time before pulling away to lie down beside me. I brush away his long silky hair that surprisingly failed to get dishevelled from his face. I giggle placing a kiss on his cheek causing a bright cheeky smile to bloom across his face. I snuggle against him resting my head flush against his neck while I tangled my limbs with his. The air was sticky and thick with the smell of sex and sweat however it was pleasant knowing that it was the result of lovemaking. I also couldn’t be bothered that probably the entire house heard of our nightly activities, especially my next door neighbour Seyeo who would most likely give me an earful the following morning. I simply didn’t care, I was worried, terrified even with the events of tomorrow coming so fast as I bask in this moment.

~End of sexy time~

Shivers run up my spine as Maek Jong’s warm fingers rake across the healing scar tissue littered across my back. The night air was biting harshly tonight but I was glad that I had Maek Jong beside me to provide one more warm safe night where I could close my eyes without a single worry. “I love you,” I hum closing my heavy eyes. He chuckles kissing the crown of my head, “And I love you most.” With a tired airy laugh I embrace him tightly, “I’m going to miss you.” “I’ll be back before you know it,” he whispers against the top of my head. I pull back slightly so that I could face him and look into his eyes, “You promise?” “I wouldn’t leave you for the world,” he confesses with a smile, “Besides…if your little intention works out…I can’t leave our child either.” I shyly smile biting my lip as he easily read through me, “I just want a piece of you if you didn’t come back.” “To remember me by?” I shake my head hastily, “Of course not! I would never forget about you…it’s just that…it’s like a safe keeping.” His contagious eruption of giggles filled the room, “I’m just teasing, I know (Y/n)…” his smile suddenly disappears from his face and the air in the room turned almost bitter, “I’m going to miss you my love. Please take care of yourself…and everyone.” I shake my head with hot tears threatening to bubble over, “Stop talking as if you won’t make it back!” I yell hugging him tightly. He sighs, “I’m sorry, to be honest with you…I’m nervous about the coming events.” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, if there is any slight hiccup in the peace offering plan all hell will break loose and war will ensue, however not before the heads of the treaty group are sent back to Silla as a present to the Queen. I knew all too well about the reality of things but I had to stay positive, or others would call this being completely mad and in denial but I was never one to care about what others thought about me. “I’ll see you again. This isn’t good bye,” I choke out between sobs, “It can’t be good bye! I don’t want to live waiting for you each day to come back home but you never do!” Sam Maek Jong brushes away the matted hair covering my face so that he could get a good look at my violent crying that racked my entire body, “This isn’t like you (Y/n).” I balled up my fist, angry at his words, “For once let me be just (Y/n) the girl who is madly in love with you. I don’t want to be Queen if I don’t have you by my side!” I scream plummeting my fist against his bare chest. He catches my fist in his large palm, “I don’t want to lie to you. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I need you to be strong and keep making this shitty world a better place. I need you to make things right if I fail tomorrow. I need you to fight and win the battle I couldn’t. I need you to never lose that fiery aura around you that burns everything in your quake. I need you to be alive.” I lie there in silence basking in his words and in the finality of them, as much as I hated to admit it he was right. “You are the Queen everyone has been waiting for, don’t let them down or me. But importantly, don’t let yourself down.”

-

The morning came too fast. I didn’t even realize that I fell asleep while listening to Maek Jong’s final words. I watch him from afar as he stood tall beside his horse, ready for departure at the gates. We haven’t exchanged any words since last night and I felt utterly speechless in saying one final good bye. Do I say good bye? Is that a bad omen do I say see you again? Or does that just completely ignores what he said yesterday? I snapped out of my internal war instantly when I heard Princess Sook Myung’s voice boom in the courtyard, “Let’s go!” No this can’t be it, not yet. I sprint up to him ignoring the dull ache in my hips with my sword clutched tightly in my hand. I take him my surprise as I threw my arms around his neck in a final desperate embrace. I pull back slightly embarrassed at the scene I caused, feeling all the eyes in the proximity to fall upon me. I cough to clear my throat, “Um here take this with you,” I murmur indifferently holding out my most prized possession before him. I close my eyes and held my head up high a huge attempt to hide how broken I felt inside. I only cracked open one eye slightly when his familiar chuckle that I’ve grown to love echoed in the courtyard. He takes my sword and straps it against his hip, once secured he casually asks “I’ll see you soon?” I roll my eyes, folding my arms across my chest, “I’ll see you if I see you, if I don’t then bye I guess,” I huff with puffed out cheeks. I catch a glimpse of his grin before he pulls me flush against his chest, “I love you,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. I wrap my arms around him tightly nodding as tears streamed down my face, “I love you.” With a final lingering kiss he left.

-

And he never came back.

-

Just kidding.

-

I sat at my throne back home in Goguryeo, it’s been almost a week since he left. And to say I was getting restless was an understatement. I groan flopping on side with one leg sticking up and over the arm rest while the other stayed planted on the ground. It was an unpleasant sight for anyone who walked into the throne room to witness but I could care less at the moment. Anytime today I would receive a letter from Sam Maek Jong, or not but I didn’t want to think about the latter. A familiar voice, a very very annoying voice I might add chimes in the large empty room. “Wow what an unpleasant sight.” “Shut up Seyeo, if you don’t have any good news regarding Maek Jong leave me alone,” I groan shaking my leg impatiently. “I leave you for a week and his is how you greet me? Really (Y/n)?” My eyes widen to unnatural sizes as I see the man I’ve been restlessly waiting for stand beside Seyeo who looked utterly done but the relief and happiness on his features was easy to spot. I literally rolled off my throne and flew down the set of stairs and into Maek Jong’s awaiting arms. “I’m sorry I took so long to get to you, I was supposed to send you a letter but I thought it would be a better surprise if I came here myself.” I was ecstatic but also extremely angry, “You made my wait for this?!” I yell hammering him in the chest with my fists. “Ahhh that’s my cue to leave,” Seyeo whistles indifferently striding out of the room as if nothing happened. Maek Jong chuckles, “I had some things to work out. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting my Princess,” he apologizes holding my hands. I tried to frown but I failed seeing how extremely happy I was at the moment, “Well it better be for a very good reason!” He laughs, “I worked everything out with Mother. I’m officially King of Silla and I’m here to ask for your hand in marriage as I’ve seem to have gotten her blessing as well. Is that good enough of a reason for keeping you waiting?” My mouth hanged open like a dead fish, there was no other way to describe it. I gapped for a bit while his grin never wavered. After a long moment of silence I finally answered, “Yeah okay I guess.” “Yeah okay I guess I went through all that trouble for such a reaction,” he teases hugging me tightly to his chest. “Yeah okay I guess,” I hum mockingly in which he says, “Yeah okay I guess that’s okay since I love you.” I smile against his shoulder embracing him just as tightly, “Yeah okay.”

End.

[laurabelle2930]

Forever at Odds: Part 2~Forever out of Place

So after some encouragement from @wherethereissmoak and @tdgal1 I’ve chosen to take the weekly Olicity Hiatus Fic-a-thon prompts and, use them to continue this fic. It should be fun challenge so thanks again to @thebookjumper for organizing this weekly event! 

So here’s my entry for this week’s prompt Out of place! 

Read it here or on AO3

Part 2~ Forever out of place

“I can’t believe you sold me like a common whore,” Felicity roared as the doors behind her slammed darkly.

Her mother’s ice cold eyes sneered at her daughter’s chosen defiance. She crossed the room and, reached for the only book Felicity had ever bothered to read more than once from cover to cover. The aged leather binding cracked beneath her mother’s skillful hands. “We have a job to do or have you forgotten the vow you took when you turned eighteen?” her mother warned almost somberly as she threw the book towards the center of the oval shaped room. The red and, black curtains whipped about the walls while the elder witch used the still air of the stale room to create a funnel at the base of the dome shaped ceiling. 

Felicity watched unimpressed while her mother swept her hands wildly until the funnel cloud began to take it’s cylindrical shape. The book remained frozen at the center of the cyclone hovering innocently while a foolish woman used her gifts to throw a tantrum.

“If you think I’m going to be scared into agreeing you’ve forgotten I’m next in line,” Felicity snarled as her own fingers flew towards the raging storm.

Her mother’s eyes darkened, “Yes next...” she growled before she forced the invented storm to rage outwards towards her daughter’s waiting form.

Felicity blocked the deadly lightning strike with a flick of her beautiful blue eyes. Donna’s lips fell in shock when Felicity then raised her outstretched palms and cried darkly towards the turbulence above their hands, “ENOUGH!” The roaring thunder and drizzling rain vanished. The dark hardwood boards of the ceiling returned to view as the elder blonde stood before her daughter flummoxed.

“How?” she mouthed a bit proudly.

Felicity tilted her head towards her outstretched hand, the hovering book flew towards her waiting fingers. Her satisfied smile grew when she innocently replied, “Some books I didn’t need to read more than once...”

Donna’s frozen eyes began beaming with un-caged pride. “You do understand what we have to gain don’t you? You’ll be apart of history if I succeed.”

Felicity shrugged while she calmly flipped through the aged pages of a book that had been around since the first union between a vampire and, a witch was ever used as a tactic to protect human life. “You and I are the last of the original bloodline mother. We’re the only ones who remember the original pact that the Queen’s made when they first ventured towards our sleepy little hamlet. I’m also the only one that knows you’ve secretly been killing off the other clans for hundreds of years.”

Donna’s dark black robes dragged along the marble floors of her throne room while she moved towards the over-sized bay windows that overlooked the rocky shoreline of the island they’d chosen to call home. “So you let that vile woman capture you to force my hand?”

Felicity’s brow rose a fraction of an inch once she’d finally found the paragraph she’d been searching for, “Yes I was hoping that my capture would tell you it was time to intervene but, alas my plan failed when you sold me into an arranged marriage with.... there it is!” she squealed with childlike delight.

Donna pushed up the latch on the window and, smiled as it swung open. The cool breeze drifting off the frigid waters flowed through the tension filled room as she sighed, “Oh for heaven’s sakes Felicity what are you prattling on about now?” Choosing to ignore the barb she announced proudly, “I’ve found the passage that makes your deal with the bloodsucker null and void!”

Donna shook her head in humor which left Felicity confused as she stood with their family history clutched to her heaving chest. “Let me guess it states the witch has be willing?”

“Yes...” Felicity answered carefully. “It states the witch has the right to break the agreement...”

Donna’s eyes flickered with an ounce of sadness as her heavy, aged voice filled the otherwise silent room. “Baby you’re father was a vampire that rule only applies to one who wouldn’t be compatible with a true born vampire.”

Felicity felt her heart crack at the mention of her true parentage. “You made the deal because the spell that keeps me human is nearing it’s end didn’t you?”

Her mother’s hand fell towards the marble ledge. “Once you’re true nature is revealed my love his family will be the only one’s capable of protecting us from you...” she admitted shamefully. “You’re a coven leader, you’ve been alive for nearly four hundred years and, that boy is the only one capable of controlling the storm that will soon dominate your soul.”

“So you did this to save my life?”

Donna’s resigned sigh made Felicity’s heart bleed. “I did it to keep the Accords intact. I killed your father to keep the Accords intact and, now you’ll be asked to do the same.”

Felicity’s body shuddered, “What if the marriage works? What if they stop culling the human population for food? What if he’s strong enough to control me?”

Her mother’s eyes never left the now invisible horizon line, “Then when the time comes I’ll be forced to kill you too.”

Oliver’s palm felt heavy over her growing womb. His thumb was absentmindedly drifting across her belly button while his eyes danced beneath his weary lids. She brushed his furrowed brow with her fingertips and, smiled at his sleeping face. Four months into their marriage Felicity discovered through one of their many games of twenty questions that Oliver had never known the pleasure that comes from sleep. She smiled at one of their early moments and, wondered if she should have told him the truth before she’d gone and, fallen in love with him.

“What do you mean you’ve never slept? I mean you sleep all day don’t you?”  

Felicity was truly perplexed. She’d been alive for over 400 years. She’d been taught to hunt, kill and, even how to charm a vampire. She knew almost everything about them and, one of those facts clearly stated that vampires slept during the day and lived only during the night. Her husband however seemed bound and, determined to poke yet another hole into her many theories.

Oliver was sitting on the bed in front of her with his legs crossed and, his hands folded across his lap. She was sitting in the same position about an inch away. She could smell the blood from his dinner on his breath while he could detect the slight scent of a ham sandwich that she consumed about twenty minutes before they’d begun the game. It seemed odd to his court but, they’d agreed to boundaries. She had her own bed across the massive room with a private bathroom and even a private entrance. The space between them held a massive sitting space with two couches, a small table and a built in entertainment center. Oliver had remained on the other side but, often invited her to join him during the evening hours for what he called a fireside chat. She at first had been hesitant but, eventually she’d begun to pine for the hours they’d spent innocently sitting atop his king sized bed.

His eyes always twinkled when she showed any genuine interest in him. Tonight was of course no exception. “I told you Lissy I was born a vampire. Unlike others of my kind I wasn’t made therefore...”

“The normal rules don’t apply,” she interrupted in quick realization.

He grinned broadly, “Right so I’ve never slept. Once you drift off for the night I usually venture towards the lower levels of the house in search of John for our nightly workouts,” he quipped as Felicity’s knees grazed against his own.

“But during the day you’re in this very bed with your eyes closed!” she pointed out almost a bit too loudly.

His smile grew and despite her reservations she admitted silently that his carefree smile was breathtaking. “I do it so you’ll feel comfortable,” he admitted feebly.

Felicity’s eyes widened as her lips fell and, her shocked words flowed forth, “You mean for the past four months you’ve been wasting your days in this damn room so I’ll feel more at ease?”

Their knees brushed once more when he shrugged in mild embarrassment, “Well usually I spent my days alone since the rest of my court minus Thea does sleep during the day so... this really wasn’t that hard to do...”

She shook her head shamefully, “No you did it so I wouldn’t be afraid. You did it to make me feel at ease at least during the daylight hours since I spent my night time hours hiding in this damn room out of fear towards the house's other residents.”

“You’re not mad are you?” he asked her shyly.

She lifted her shameful eyes and smiled at him sweetly. “No I’m just sorry that I didn’t realize it sooner,” she admitted as their knees once again brushed but, this time she didn’t immediately pull away. She let their bodies remained connected as she timidly bit her bottom lip. She caught the flicker of surprise but, ignored the brilliant blue hue of his eyes and, opted instead to ask another question in order to relieve what she thought was her guilt ridden heart. “So would you be interested in sleeping?”

Oliver’s brows rose in interest, “Felicity Queen are you offering to use a spell to help me experience the mortal pleasure that is sleep?”

Something in her heart clenched when he called her Felicity Queen. The first time it happened she knew the troubling emotion was anger but, now in this moment she wasn’t sure why her heat was so rapidly fluttering. “Well yeah,” she hiccuped nervously. “If you want...” she added almost too quickly.

She saw his fingers stretching out along his knuckles. She too felt her own twined fingers beginning to yearn to be free. She smiled when his eyes fell to his hidden feet. “I think I’d like to spend my days awake with you,” he whispered gently.

“And then perhaps we could try spending our nights asleep together as well?” she whispered in shock.

His affected, “I’d enjoy that prospect as well,” made her entire body burn with warmth. She glanced at his hopeful eyes and, smiled brightly as she slid her free hand towards his bent knee.

“I think I’d like it as well,” she gulped as her thumb grazed over his kneecap.

She felt a shiver of electricity flow through her skin when he finally stroked his thumb softly against her knuckles...

The full moon’s pale light made his cold skin glow with the light of a thousand faceted diamonds. She shook her head as he lumbered toward her in his sleep. She let him rub his forehead along her growing stomach as his soft snores vibrated over her skin. She lazily stoked her fingers through his hair as another memory ran through her fractured heart.

“So what did you have to tell me?” Sara spat with hurt feelings and, perhaps even a bruised ego after Felicity had told her not three hours before that they had a relationship out of requirement and, certainly not friendship.

Felicity caught the hurt in her friend’s soft yet angered tone. “Sara I was upset, I didn’t mean any of it,” she proclaimed as her left hand began to shake. “But I’d just learned about something that could destroy my marriage and, for once I’m not okay with that...” she realized awkwardly.

Sara tilted her head but kept her arms crossed defensively across her chest, “Okay and that would be what exactly?”

Felicity held the positive test in her shaking hand, “I’m in love with him...” she spat back in shock. She glanced down at her still taut stomach and, smiled almost happily as she gently stroked over the flat surface. “I’m in love with him...” she repeated. “I’m completely and hopelessly in love with him...” she nearly giggled while her blonde nemesis stood before her looking shocked and confused.

“Umm Lissy not to interrupt your moment but what does any of this have to do with me?”

Felicity’s eyes flew back to Sara’s confused stare. She swallowed another elated giggle and, then immediately squared her shoulders. “Well quite a bit actually,” she gulped uncomfortably. “You see,” she hiccuped, “I’m pregnant...”

Sara’s eyes blazed as Felicity lifted her shaking left hand with the positive test clenched within her tight grasp. Sara’s labored sounding, “How is that even possible?” was drowned out by Felicity’s hammering heart.

Sara instantly reached for her stomach and, Felicity let her. She let her softly stroke her fingers along the miracle she’d managed to create with a man who’d never been told the truth. Felicity placed her hand over the back of Sara’s and plead with tear rimmed eyes, “Sara I’ve done something unforgivable...”

Her bodyguard and sometimes friend gently cupped her cheek rasping softly, “Lissy what haven’t you told him?”

She sobbed almost silently, “Everything...”

The clock on what used to be her side of the room chimed lightly. It was 3am. The rest of the house would be coming back home soon. The sounds of their laughter would soon fill the lower levels with conversation and, joyful spirits as each fought over who would get to name the baby.

Felicity’s soft smile was replaced by a firm frown when a hollow knock interrupted her peaceful reverie. She recognized the knock as Sara’s. She whispered a layered, “he’s asleep,” allowing the blonde haired protector to enter the room with a degree of caution. Felicity’s sleeping spell was strong but, Oliver’s desire to protect their unborn child was proving to be stronger. Before they’d become intimate he’d sleep soundly for eight hours and, only woke once she’d gently kissed his brow. The first time they had sex the spell weakened so she suggested that it didn’t have to be dark outside for them to be close. That worked but the moment he found out she was pregnant the spell was all but useless. She so much as fluttered against his chest and, he’d be awake searching for the cause of her unease.  

Tonight was no exception. They’d made love, she’d let him feed off her as she done so many times before while he slowly ingested the potion she’d created so he could sleep. She thought he was out when she went to meet Sara and, her latest lover Nyssa in the clearing. Sadly the moment she left his arms he awoke and, began searching for her.

Sara approached the bed carefully with a lecture at the tip of her tongue, “His soul is yours Lissy. He about tore apart the castle looking for you,” she scolded as she rummaged through her messenger bag.

Felicity kept running her fingers through his hair slowly, “And mine is his but, Sara I have to know will she accept the agreement?”

Sara removed the parchment Felicity had sent to her mother from the bag and, let it fall over her lap. Oliver’s nose was touched by the faded paper but he never once stirred. Felicity glanced over the broken seal and, sighed in heartache, “What are her terms?”

Sara’s grimace made the demon inside her yearn to be free. “Felicity were you really born a vampire like Oliver?”

“I see she did more than read…”

Sara’s lips formed a scrunched up oh as she cringed in agreement, “She was curious let’s just put it that way?” she offered as a question instead of an answer.

Felicity’s fingers flew over the coiled paper as her chest sagged, “Yes,” she admitted softly. “My father was like Oliver a born vampire who met and, fell in love with my mother a coven leader.” Felicity glanced at Sara’s crestfallen face. Her soft eyes encouraged her to unburden her heavy soul. “He couldn’t control his hunger so months after I was born she had him killed to protect the accords.”

Felicity could see the lingering questions bouncing through Sara’s eyes. “Oh just ask already,” she scolded while the other woman began to focus her thoughts.

“So that spell you’re under I’m guessing isn’t really an aging spell is it?”

Felicity placed her free hand over her stomach and hiccuped in sorrow. “The spell was meant to keep my vampire side dormant. I was raised as a witch, I was trained as a coven leader and, I was put into this family to keep the accords intact.”

Again intrigued Sara asked for more, “So that’s why you and our would be King over there were really able to conceive a child then?”

Felicity felt like a broken record as she scratched beneath the player’s dull needle. “Yes. We’re compatible and, the spell allows me to live like a human but…”

“You can’t change your genetics,” Sara mused aloud.

Felicity grumbled in forced agreement. “No I can’t and, if I hadn’t gotten pregnant in about 20 years my true nature would have taken control and, I like Oliver would have become one of the most powerful vampires in the world.”

“Wait what do you mean if you hadn’t gotten pregnant?”

Felicity wanted to slam the heel of hand against her forehead for letting that small fact slip, “The pregnancy is weakening the spell so by the time our child is born I’ll be back to my true state.”

“So why not just wait until…” Sara’s words died on her tongue when she replaced them swiftly with, “You wouldn’t survive the transition would you?”

She shook her head sullenly, “No. I’ll die like Moira did the moment my child tries to feed.”

Sara hearing those words suddenly pushed for more, “Felicity you have to tell me why she really chose you.”

Felicity’s wide eyes sparkled with the truth before she could form the words. “The spell can’t be redone,” she croaked.

Sara’s lip quivered with a muddled, “Why not?”

“Because it requires the blood of both my parents and, well she’d didn’t remember to save a vile of my father’s blood before she had him killed,” she breathed in anger, “I’m going to become a vampire, but unlike all of you I’ll have the powers of a fully trained witch. In short she sent me here to destroy the oldest clan in history and then myself.”

Sara gulped, “How were you planning to do that?”

Felicity glanced down at her husband lovingly, “I managed to convince him to taking a sleeping potion Sara, how hard would it be to poison all of you in your sleep once I had the most powerful vampire in history under my control?”

She could tell Sara was shocked. They all assumed that she’d offered him the chance to taste mortality out of kindness not out of spite. None of them assumed it was apart of a grander plan, no one assumed that she could truly be that cold. What shocked Felicity was what she had assumed… she assumed she’d never fall in love with a monster, she never assumed she’d realize he never was one. Sara’s pained breaths brought her back to reality. “His mother was a witch...” she croaked. Felicity waited for the pieces of her mother’s plan to fall into place. “He’s like you...” she realized almost numbly. “He’s the only one strong enough to control you isn’t he?” she finally asked in disbelief.

Felicity nodded, “See Sara my entire life I’ve been out of place. I’ve never truly belonged anywhere until I fell in love with him and, now...”

“Two true born vampires are about to bring a child into the world. The mother is a trained witch and, the father is the oldest vampire still alive after the first culling,” she breathed in disbelief.

“She knew I’d fall for him,” Felicity rasped painfully. “She wanted us to kill the clan. Then once he was the sole survivor she’d offer to spare his life and, mine if we agreed to work for her,” she managed to mutter as Sara’s body went limp before her.

“Are you beginning to understand why I was so adamant that he turn me?” she asked softly.

Sara’s sad eyes glowed in remorse. “If he breaks the spell you’ll be sired to him... because you’ll belong to him?” she guessed as Felicity nodded.

“Sort of,” she replied then began to dive into the longer explanation, “If he breaks the blood spell that’s kept me human then my true nature will be allowed to bloom thus forging another blood bond that not even magic can break,” Felicity explained as Sara fought to understand.

“So it’s basically breaking one blood bond by forming another?”

Felicity nodded, “Yes that’s why I’ve encouraged him to feed on me. I needed to make sure I could tolerate the venom in his bite.”

Sara’s nose wrinkled when she realized when Oliver would have chosen to feed. “Oh gross he feeds on you when he’s about to come doesn’t he?”

She couldn’t hide the smile of pure satisfaction that raced across her suddenly elated face. Sara’s now wrinkled brow made Felicity muse aloud, “While I enjoy when he chooses to feed on me it’s been done to prepare me for what it will feel like when he actually turns me.”  

Felicity could tell that Sara’s head was swimming so she glanced at that almost forgotten parchment and, asked her very gently, “If you’re asking all these questions then I’m guessing my mother will allow him to change me but the price will be steep won’t it?”

Sara tapped the parchment, “She offered to remove the spell before baby’s born but, Felicity her price is steep...”

Felicity croaked in controlled anger, “She wants the baby doesn’t she?”

Sara couldn’t answer. Her sad eyes showed the heartache her soul was under. Felicity didn’t push she simply frowned as the rolled parchment laid between them.

Sara’s lips parted a few times but, nothing ever came out. Instead of prolonging the moment she simply began to slip towards the door. Her silence was the only answer Felicity truly needed. As the door shut the room once more was flooded with darkness. Felicity felt Oliver’s lips moving along the side of her stomach as her mind began to shake with fear. “I’m not giving her our child Felicity,” he yawned as she began to shuffle down towards his open arms.

“Then you know what you’ll have to do...” she sighed.

He kissed her brow slowly while she molded her body into his. His last words made the demon within her flicker slowly with untamed delight.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect our child Felicity I promise.”

Felicity finally fell into a fitful sleep knowing that once again she was out of place and soon she feared she’d also be out of time.

Tagging: @emmaamelia95 @pleasantfanandstudent @coal000 @memcjo @lesanchea @mrsbubblelee @olicitylovemaking @miriam1779 @love2luvyyou @almondblossomme @diggo26 @rivaroma @vaelisamaza @befitandchase @pimsiepim @andjustforthismoment @anonymiss118 @thelockpickingvictorian @yet-i-remain-quiet @lexi9515 @kathrynelizabeth89 @marniforolicity @marytagus @cjjingram @myhauntedblacksoul @myuntetheredsoul @blondiegrl00 @independent-fics @felicity-said-just-in-case @relativelyobsessedfangirl @i-m-a-fan-world @mel-loves-all @danski15 @green-arrows-of-karamel @malafle @emilyp05 @oliverfel4 @alemap74 @vicky-vale @charlinert @hope-for-olicity @missafairy @arrows-4ever @jaspertown @sweetzcupcake @captainolicitysbedroom @nalla-madness @smoakingarrow19 @bwangangelic @ccdimples88 @lalawo1 @ireland1733 @quiveringbunny @scu11y22 @detbensonsvu1 @tdgal1 @cinfos @xxliveyourlife @onceuponarrow @supersillyanddorky06 @wherethereissmoak @olicityinmyheart @all-things-olicity @bitchwhwifi @thebookjumper @missyriver @olicitysmoaky @olicityhiatusficathon 

[s-ephiroth]

Silver Birdcage [Chapter 21]

Ah, this feels like a filler. But it’s a fluffy filler, so it’s probably ok?

Alas. Let’s get onto it.

[From The Beginning] || [Current Update] || [Ko-fi]

Cloud woke up to warmth on his side and a hand running just gently through his unruly hair. A hand that retreated quickly once his awareness was noticed. He watched through his drowsiness as those eyes, devoid of cruelty but full of regret, stared elsewhere to avoid his.

“My apologies. I didn't mean to wake you up,” Sephiroth said quietly, somehow hoping for Cloud to go back to sleep, just so those little signs of weariness would vanish from his face at once.

“It’s okay. How are you feeling?”

“Not good. But not really bad either. Just… really sore all over.” He closed his eyes, as though he either intended to sleep some more or simply regretted leaving the room right after waking up.

He had explained to Cloud, once they made it back there, that seeing the walls all around him when he’d come back to his senses filled him with the urge to leave as soon as possible, to seek an open place away from anyone else so he could breathe without feeling that weird tightness in his chest. But with that came the realization he most likely didn’t deserve what waited him outside, while at the same time he couldn’t run away to somewhere… beyond, couldn’t obtain the sort of punishment and release he thought was right.

Never once during that conversation he noticed the way he reached a hand to his throat, the way he tried to keep his neck from view.

Sephiroth didn't realize he was doing it again, either. At least not until Cloud gently pried his hand away, turning it around to entwine their fingers. Until he reached out with his free hand to brush a few silver strands away, while Sephiroth simply allowed him, not wanting to cause any further alarm.

“You keep reaching for your neck,” Cloud noted with a certain worry, “Is there anything you need to talk about?”

He hesitated for a moment, opening his eyes and trying not to focus too much on the hand resting on his cheek or on the thumb tracing small, slow circles there or on the face of the one before him.

“I have a question,” Sephiroth decided at last, much as he’d guiltily done earlier, when he asked Cloud to stay close to him, even though a part of him wanted to send Cloud far away from himself, even though part of him wanted to run away at the thought of Cloud lying down near him in reaction to that request. He watched as silent encouragement for him to ask it came. “Was any part of... Jenova near me, recently?”

He felt that hand holding his own tightening a little.

“Rufus brought the remains in a box. I set it on fire.” Cloud couldn’t help but notice the hint of a smile on Sephiroth’s face at the very last thing he said, though it quickly vanished.

Sephiroth’s eyes closed again, his voice down to a near whisper as he said, “She made her way inside, one last time. I’m not sure how, I only know that she tried to…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it, couldn’t bring himself to even think about it. Not that it was really needed for Cloud to put the pieces together and freeze there for a few moments. “I can’t help but think that she was right.”

“...About what?”

“That it’s my fault, all of it,” he whispered with a sigh.

“Even if it is, you can’t undo any of what happened by punishing yourself.”

“I know. But it feels… wrong. To do nothing about it.” Sephiroth looked pained when he stared at him again, that entire dilemma clearly causing a mess in his head.

“Maybe living through your regrets and trying to do better than you did in the past is already your punishment,” Cloud offered with a sad smile, “And I wouldn't mind helping you with that.”

“I will never be able to repay you.”

“You don’t need to. Look, we… suffered enough already. I think I just want that to stop.”

Sephiroth was about to say something about Cloud’s suffering but was interrupted by a little cat figure walking into their room. He remembered Cloud calling it Cait Sith, just like the black and white one that usually accompanied the party, but due to the circumstances, he had yet to be properly introduced to the cat.

And it didn’t look like that would be the time for it, given the quick announcement that Cloud had a call waiting for him, causing him to excuse himself for a moment.

He left in his absence food for thought and an intriguing sensation where his hands had touched.

The rest of their day was spent on a certain degree of effort, comforting words and a particular instance of “It’s alright, Cloud, I can take a bath by myself,” followed by Cloud having to help him anyway, as a few steps after his body was torn between soreness and trying to heal, struggling to fix the problem as soon as it was possible for someone enhanced such as he was.

It made him ache in ways he couldn’t recall aching before.

The warm water against his skin brought him some relief, though it couldn’t solve the issue in its entirety. So did the soup they both ate for dinner, warming him up inside without being too aggressive to his body; without reminding him of those monthly visits to that lab that he once considered a normal part of his routine, despite their various side effects.

He could’ve dozed off with that gentle warmth alone, right after dinner. Instead he caught himself observing Cloud, who had made himself comfortable on the chair near his bed, finding a small source of relaxation in a pair of needles and a ball of yarn. Sephiroth thought at first that if the warmth and comfort didn’t do it, the clicking of the needles against one another would eventually make him fall asleep. But the more he watched, the more entranced by all of it he became; the rhythmic little noises, the focus Cloud had on that task. The way he held himself, as if not expecting a nuisance to interrupt his moment of peace any time soon.

He looked so… domestic. (From what he understood of it, of course.) It was strangely pleasant to see.

It also made him want to—

“Cloud,” he called, catching Cloud’s attention before he could think twice. Maybe it was sleepiness that had him asking something like that so freely, without much of that heavy layer of guilt and self-judgement that had been haunting him. Maybe it was the time he spent practically alone making him crave contact. Regardless of the reason, he asked, “Can I kiss you?”

It was different from simply kissing him and having him react to it. And it caused the last of Cloud’s attention still focused on any other thoughts to shift fully to him; caused a blue gaze to be averted as color bloomed on soft cheeks. Cloud considered it for a moment before nodding at last, anxiously. He moved from his chair to the bed, sitting on the edge of it and reaching out a hand to touch Sephiroth’s cheek as he leaned down, allowing himself to be close enough for Sephiroth to close the distance between them, welcoming all the gentleness that came when he did; the softness of it as they both drew it out just to bask in the feeling of it a little longer.

They didn’t talk much afterwards, but it was a silence that they could both appreciate, especially as it led to Cloud lying down near him under the covers, his hands busy with long, silver hair, and his presence soothing.

Maybe, at the very least, they’d sleep well that night.