#Gil catches her before she can hit the floor

[softquietsteadylove]

there can't be enough thenamesh reunion fics!

may i ask for more?

Gilgamesh yanked the Warrior back by the shoulder. She tried to regain her balance but he slammed his fist against her head, creating a gust strong enough to rattle the ship windows. She went down softly.

"Oi!" The Mind Reader was quick to respond to his fallen comrade. They all had a sense of togetherness that Gilgamesh admitted he found absent within his own team (himself, the Soaring Eternal and their Prime).

Ikaris took advantage of the team's sense of protectiveness. He grasped the Speedster's armour collar with his hand, using her as a shield against the puppeteer. He fired his eyes into the dark haired one's armour, sending him through the wall. Then, the Speedster was nothing but a burden.

Gilgamesh winced as she was thrown headfirst to the ground. Ikaris wasn't stronger than him - he knew that for a fact - but he certainly acted more brutally.

"Come on," he muttered in his accent, dragging the body of the Speedster behind him as he floated over to retrieve the Mind Reader as well.

Gilgamesh stared down at the Warrior Eternal. Her body was also limp, but he could feel the Cosmic Energy thrumming within her veins. He could practically feel the rhythm of her heart, if he let himself imagine it. He didn't know what made them so different, according to Arishem.

"You want a hand with 'er or what?" Ikaris snarled at him, piling both of his catches under his arms to bring back to Ajak at the helm of the ship. He was probably just going to sling her over his shoulder, or worse, drag her.

"Go ahead," Gilgamesh grumbled, kneeling down to her. She was his defeat, and his responsibility. Ikaris floated ahead, even banging the Mind Reader's head against the door frame in his lack of care.

Her face looked so peaceful.

Gilgamesh caught himself trying to move her hair away from her face before sighing. He slipped one hand under her arm and shoulders, and the other under her knees. She folded into his grasp so easily he wasn't sure if she weighed anything at all.

"Gil."

He stared down at her, ready for another fight if she was waking again. But as he drew his arms in, all she did was relax against him--him, the enemy. He couldn't imagine why.

But her head rolled to the side, and her tiara even met the cold, hard shell of his chest plate. And yet she had a little smile on her face, as if there were no place she would rather be. He adjusted her a little before making the trip to the head of the ship as well. He did have the courtesy not to smack her head against the door, at least.

She kept calling him Gil.

No one called him that. He didn't even think of himself like that. His name was Gilgamesh, and he was the Strongest Eternal, sent by Arishem to retrieve rogue Eternals who had been tainted by the Deviants of Earth. He had never met this woman before.

But his heart ached in his chest as he carried her.

He felt conflicted fighting her. He had felt awful knocking her out. And he had felt so protective at the thought of Ikaris laying a single hand on her.

"There he is."

Gilgamesh walked in with the Warrior Eternal in his arms. He held her gently, just briefly looking at the other two piled on the floor like litter.

"Well done," Ajak said, observing the difference in technique between him and Ikaris. She waved her glowing hands.

Gilgamesh stepped back slightly as the woman in his arms floated up out of his embrace and upright. The lines of her energy signature formed around her, creating a golden cage in a sense around her.

"These will hold them until we arrive at the World Forge," Ajak clarified as the three bodies floated to their places around the statue of Arishem.

Ikaris joined Ajak again at the front window, discussing their strategy. Those two seemed close but also at odds, in a weird way. Gilgamesh turned away from them, back to the blonde.

She was beautiful.

He wasn't a traitor just for thinking so. He walked closer, looking up at her floating just off the ground. The signature of her Cosmic Energy was weaker, but he could swear he still felt it calling out to him. It was like they were cut from the same cloth.

He reached up, tucking some hair behind her ear and out of his way. It felt familiar, in a terrifying way. Her eyes didn't even flutter. Not that he wanted her to wake up.

Gilgamesh looked back at his teammates, but they were whispering among themselves. They weren't any more concerned with him than he was about them. And that was just fine. They were a team, not some cobbled together family unit.

He looked up at her again. Thena. That name had been pulsing in his head since he saw her. He wasn't sure how; she was the Warrior Eternal, deadly and traitorous. That was all he knew about her. Except her name. And that she had a sweet sounding laugh. It echoed through memories he didn't have.

He hadn't even realised he was reaching up until his fingertips met her cheek. He didn't know what he was doing. He had no explanation for it to himself, much less to his team, let alone the woman herself. Her skin was soft.

It seemed impossible, but he could have sworn to all the stars in the sky that she leaned into his touch, however much she could. He didn't press his palm to her skin. That felt...wrong--like he had no right. Just looking at her felt like a betrayal of some kind. "Thena."

The Warrior's sandy coloured eyelashes fluttered. Maybe she was stronger than Ajak had assumed. She couldn't open her eyes, but he knew they were green (somehow). "Gil."

That name again. It made his whole body burn, like his chest was on fire. He stood back from the Warrior calling for him--someone. He didn't know who she was calling out to, but it wasn't really him.

"Gilgamesh."

He turned towards his Prime, and his fellow Eternal at the window. It seemed so cold over there. He nodded, walking over silently. Only when he was further away did he realise he had been holding the Warrior Eternal's hand.

"Are you prepared to hand them over?" Ajak asked.

He frowned, "why wouldn't I be?"

Ajak was silent, but Ikaris freely scoffed at him, "y'seem awfully soft on the traitor. There's no need for the gentleman routine with faulty scum."

Gilgamesh clenched his fists at his side, but he forced himself to remember his place. "I'm curious, but I'm not confused about the mission."

"Good," Ajak concluded, ending the conversation for both of them.

Ikaris let out one last laugh at him before floating off again. Did he have to fly everywhere just for the sake of it? He could walk just fine.

Gilgamesh tried not to seem like he was watching keenly as Ikaris walked by the prisoners again. Ikaris also looked up at the Warrior Eternal, and Gilgamesh tried not to yell at his teammate to keep his distance from her.

But Ikaris kept moving, and Gilgamesh wasn't eager to admit that his chest loosened. His eyes left the figure of Thena floating limply. He blinked, finding Ajak staring at him. "What?"

She looked back at the Warrior Eternal and then back to him. "You know her."

He shook his head. "We were briefed on all of them. She was a better fighter than I could have imagined. I think that deserves some respect."

Yes, he had respect for his fellow Fighter. She seemed very much his equal, all agility where he was sturdiness. He wanted her to be treated with respect and honour, just like any good warrior.

He wanted her to be handled so delicately a flower would weep with envy.

"I agree," Ajak sufficed to say. She gave him one last look before leaning closer, "keep your mission in mind, Gilgamesh. Whatever the traitors try to whisper in your ear...remember their deception."

"I will," he assured his team leader before she too departed. He stayed at the window, looking into the vast nothingness where eventually the World Forge would come into view. He looked over his shoulder.

It wouldn't be long until he could ask her why she called him Gil.

[taran-chan]

Look, all of the prompts are amazing, but can I get “please kiss me” and maybe “I will never get enough of you” if it doesn’t trouble you at all?

Happy Smutty Sunday!!

3. “Please kiss me” 15. “I can’t get enough of you”

The thick and humid summer air wafts over her like a liquid, even at night time. Sweats run along her back, tickling her skin and her hair sticks to her neck. They’ve been partying since midday, celebrating their latest victory and the birth of a new kingdom, with their chosen king. The room is crowded and loud, too loud; their family, and king and knights and nobles. And yet, when he puts his mouth against her ear, all noises drowned out like they’re underwater and alone in a bubble.

“I can smell you.”

She shivers, involuntarily lets out a gasp. She’s been wanting him since she woke up this morning with his cock buried inside her and hasn’t stopped. He can tell. It’s a game between them, to see who would last longer. She knows she does a number on him today with her looks and subtle brushes along his arm, and of course, showing off in the battle. She can hear his ragged breaths, see the lust in his eyes mixed with love and admiration, feel the heat radiating from his body in waves. Now it’s clear that he also knows what he does to her, snapping the neck of that Deviant with one hand, and later using that same hand to catch a few locks of her hair between his fingers and kiss them in an intimate and worshiping manner that all these little humans can’t even fathom.

“Can you?” She smirks, taking an agonizing step back to stretch their distance, but he catches her by her waist and draws her to him before she can turn away. Their chests collide and Gil lowers his head to touch his forehead to hers.

It’s unbearable. The thought of letting her slip away again tonight. He’s done playing.

“Please kiss me.”

“Finally,” Thena growls. She slants her lips over his, allowing him to drink her in like he’s about to die of thirst. He makes a sound like a sob, lifting her off the ground.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” she purrs when they part for air.

Their room is too far away, even with Eternal speed. He finds an empty room on the first door he tries, barely closing it when she pushes him against the wall and starts to climb him like a tree. He switches them and her back feels the chill of stone, but not for long before he squeezes his hands in between, rubbing his warmth to her skin.

“Let me see it,” he says between kisses. She bites his lower lip as her clothes fall off layer by layer. He nips at the small patch of red skin just below her collarbone, the mark he left on her when they made love this morning. The one she left on him is much lower.

“It’s fading,” he says.

“Maybe I’ll let you leave another.”

“Spoiled me rotten, aren’t you?” He grits his teeth when she manages to pull his cock down, hot and pulsing and ready. He’s still fumbling with the last layer of silk wrapping around her hips.

“Rip it,” she grinds at him. Nothing sounds better than the tear of fabric at that moment. He’s always so careful with her clothes that it annoys her at times like this.

She moans loudly when he enters her, tightening her legs around him.

“Baby, if you want this, you have to be quiet,” he whispers, keeping his strokes steady.

“Do I?” She asks breathlessly.

“Someone might pass this hall.”

“Then make me,” she wraps her arm around his neck. He grabs her chin and kisses her, weaving their tongues together. She rocks her hips in tune with his, her arousal dripping heavily onto the floor. Her lewd sounds are muffled by his mouth. He presses her deep into the wall and the position makes his cock hit her cervix, shaking her body with the force of each thrust.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he tears his lips away from her to start sucking and licking her neck.

“Harder,” she pants, her orgasm within her grasp. Just then, Gil hears footsteps and laughter heading toward them. He doesn’t stop, slipping two of his fingers into her mouth. As the feet are right behind the door, he feels Thena coming, quivering and sucking at his finger deliriously. Her eyes are hooded and the normal emerald green nearly turns into moss green, dazed by want and ecstasy. He groans into her cheek, pulling her closer as he rides out his pleasure.

She releases his fingers from her mouth but holds his hand and rubs her face on his palm lovingly. She’s incredibly adorable after a good orgasm and it makes his heart swell with love. The humans have long gone without a clue of what’s going on in this room.

“That’s new,” he can’t help but tease, “You get off on thinking other people might hear us?”

“Shh…” She nuzzles his neck, smelling his soothing scent. He smells like home.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Huma x reader (mainly showing Harry x reader) - slowburn oneshot - brand new

wattpad version (smut included)

Ao3 version (smut included)

=

-This is a smut oneshot(edit; turned into a slow burn oneshot that goes into smut cuz I can edit2.0; this tumblr version doesn’t have smut in it, it is hinted at but otherwise its not written but I will link to the AO3 and Wattpad versions that will have the smut posted) because im trying to practice writing it and (y/n) is written with she/her pronouns and has female body parts because, again, im still practicing on smut and want to get used to writing my own…body type before I branch out to attempt to write any other type anyways LETS GET TO IT-

Your leg bounced as you stared at the wooden swing doors of Ursula's chip shop. Harry had left to do some errands two hours ago, and usually he got those particular errands, collecting payment for the protection of shops and territory, done within two hours.

But it had been a whole two hours, you glanced at the clock again, and two minutes. Something burned in your gut, telling you something was wrong. You wouldn’t dare voice your concern in front of the crew and the chip shop customers, you would be cackled at for even entertaining the idea of worrying about someone, even if it was Harry.

You and Harry weren't close, you were just a simple crew member on Uma’s crew, you had joined after their adventure to the isle of the doomed so you didn’t have the bond that the crew had after going through something life-threatening. You were pretty sure Harry didn’t even know your name!

But that never stopped the butterflies in your head and stomach when you heard him laugh, never stopped the heat creeping up your neck when he smirked, never stopped the fuzzy feeling in your head when his ever so bright ocean blue eyes lined with black liner scanned the crew, never once locking onto you but that didn’t stop your heart from beating faster than a hummingbirds wings…whatever hummingbirds were but Gil had rambled about them one day after he found a bird fact book and that particular fact stuck in your head.

Besides, Harry practically had every vk at his feet, hell you were pretty sure Uma liked him too, and he liked her, with how they looked at each other it was a wonder that the entire isle didn’t ‘gossip’ about them.

And you were nothing compared to Uma, who in all honesty, was fucking gorgeous, so you could never blame Harry if he chose her out of all his “suitors” because who were you compared to Uma? You were just the daughter of simple thieves who had unfortunately been sent to the isle.

You looked at the clock again and frowned, it had only been another two minutes but that didn’t stop the pit in your stomach from growing. If Harry wasn’t back by 8:30, which was a bit less than a half-hour from now, then you would go looking for him…well if Uma didn’t send anyone out to look for him first, but she trusted him so she might not send anyone out at all.

But like you, Uma nervously glanced at the doors and clock every few minutes, like you, she also felt something was wrong but had to keep her usual calm demeanor in front of the crew.

You made eye contact with her after looking away from the clock again, Uma raising her brow in curiosity as you felt your ears burn and you looked to the doors quickly.

You counted down the minutes to 8:30, your fingers tapping rapidly against your tray of food and the heel of your boot hitting the leg of your stool in time.

It had been two and a half hours after Harry left for his errands, and you had finally had enough, you made eye contact with Uma as you stood and she nodded, glancing towards the doors then the sword check then back at you.

You somehow understood each other and you nodded back, heading towards the doors quickly as you snatched your cutlass from the sword check and raced out the chip shop in search of Harry.

-

You hopped over a rusted metal fence and landed on your toes; your eyes wide with caution. you were now just along the lines of territory a rival gang that had been attempting to take Uma’s territory for the past couple months. After you had gone to all the areas that Harry was supposed to go for his collecting route, Dizzy, bless her little heart, had nervously told you about Dylan, Clayton’s son, and his gang had ambushed Harry just a bit after he had finished up at Dizzy’s and kidnapped him and stole all the money he had just collected.

So you went to go collect the pirate and the money they had stolen, they were probably going to keep him for ransom against Uma, but what ransom would they have if there was no pirate or money?

You may have been the daughter of two ‘simple’ thieves but….then again, they were simple on the isle, not in Auradon.

Your lip twitched as a bout of cruel laughter echoed out from the building, you sprinted forward silently as you noticed one of the gang members on lookout duty starting to come around the corner to your right. You took a leaping step, catching yourself on an open window ledge and pulling yourself up swiftly, jumping up the three feet gaps between the windows as the guard passed below you not even knowing you had been where he was walking just a moment ago.

You thanked whatever god was out there for your (dad/mom) teaching you how to free run when you were younger. You peeked into one of the dark floors of the building, pursing your lips a bit as you remembered that their gang site was in an abandoned parking lot. Not much room for error, or hiding places.

You hopped through the window and landed silently on your feet, stopping as another bout of laughter echoed below you.

They kept to the lower floors then, which was good to know, it also meant both an easier and harder escape once you had Harry. Easier because less distance between Harry and the exit, harder because less distance between the exit and the gang.

You ran over to the stairwell; glad you had decided to wear your shoes with no heel as it made running quietly much easier. You grinned as you stepped into the stairwell, no door. hopefully, the other floors didn’t have them either, or else if they squeaked both you and Harry would be in for some shit.

You glanced at the faded number on the wall.

The seventh floor, wow you had climbed quite a bit, hadn't you? You shook away the thought, swiftly yet carefully climbing down the stairs, scanning each floor as you arrived to check for the gang.

Finally, you arrived on the third floor, the only floor with any light coming from it. You moved to stand flush against the wall next to the doorway of the floor, peering in as best you could without anyone seeing you, glancing every now and then to the stairway for any other gang members.

You huffed quietly as Dylan pushed at Harry's limp head, cackling and muttering to himself as he circled Harry like a bloodthirsty shark. You grit your teeth as you got a good look at Harry in the dimly lit area he was in. he was tied to both a structural beam and a folding chair, blood dripped from the side of his head down to his jaw and off his chin, he was starting to bruise on his face, neck, and possibly his torso and wrists, but those weren’t visible at the moment so you settled for guessing his injuries.

His right ankle was also at a VERY worrying angle…you might have to take some drastic measures to get Harry out of this parking garage.

Dylan was muttering something about how Uma would bow to him when she found her ‘precious’ first mate all bloody and beaten, and how he would finally have command of the wharfs.

“not on my watch” you muttered, quickly coming up with a plan and digging into your thigh bag, pulling out a handful of mini smoke bombs that your (dad/mom) had made forever ago in case one of the three of you needed them. You took out your lighter and lit the fuses, chucking them into the room and smirking as they landed right beside the gang members, luck seemed to be on your side today.

“what the hell-HOLY-“ Dylan let out a high-pitched screech as smoke burst from the nozzle of the smoke bombs and quickly filled the room, for being the size of ping pong balls they sure packed a wallop of smoke.

Pulling up your bandana to prevent any smoke inhalation you dashed into the room, running towards Harry but was stopped as a foot came arching your way. You held up your arms in front of your face and blocked the kick, stepping back quickly as the gang member started swinging at you, grunting with effort as you dodged and misdirected his punches.

“WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!” Dylan yelled, you smirked under your bandana, you weren’t really a known member of Uma’s crew, liking to keep to the shadows and out of sight.

You took the moment of disorientation from Dylan’s yell that caused the gang member to slip up and ducked under his next swing, one arm grappling around his next ant clasping with your other hand, your right foot going behind his ankle and pulling him forward flipping him over and slamming him into the ground with a loud crack.

He was out for the count, now, you looked up and around you, through the smoke you could see maybe 9 members left, including Dylan. Should be easy enough, you glanced at Harry, frowning slightly as he started to cough, but you would have to work quickly so Harry didn’t get all the smoke in the garage in his lungs.

You threw yourself back as another lackey of Dylan’s threw a punch at you, you decided to make quick work of them and grabbed their wrist, pulling it up and back towards them, smirking at the sickening pop that sounded from their shoulder. They screamed and dropped to the ground in agony, yelping as you leaned back from a sweeping air kick and slammed your hands onto the floor, using the momentum and lifting your legs back with you.

Your foot slammed into the next lackey's chin and he fell back, his skull slamming against the floor with a crack. You rolled back into a summersault and stood on your feet, catching the leg that was aimed at your chest and pulling the lackey towards you, kicking them twice in the stomach then throwing them over your shoulder with a twist of your torso and a spin of your feet.

They crashed to the floor just next to Harry, who was just barely coming to consciousness and jumped at the loud noise. He squinted through the smoke and dimly lit area, eyes widening as he spotted the spray panted symbol of Uma’s crew plain on your jacket sleeve.

Dylan watched in shock as you easily took out his gang members, and when the final one fell, he could feel the smug grin you had when you turned to face him.

Dylan let out an intelligible yell and rushed at you, only for his world to go black as you stepped to the side, grabbed his arm, turned your back to his chest, and swung him over you using his momentum.

Dylan and his gang were out for the count. And with Dylan knocked out the smoke finally cleared and all that was left was the dimly lit floor, the unconscious bodies of the gang, and an injured Harry.

You let out a soft sigh and pushed down your bandana, walking towards Harry and flipping out your pocket knife, kneeling next to Harry and cutting the ropes around his wrists and legs, then the ones around his torso keeping him to the beam. “woah-“ you pressed your hands against Harry's chest gently as he tried to rush out of the chair. “-hold up, you’re really hurt” Harry looked down at you, and you winced as you saw his swelling eye and bleeding nose for the first time, his lip was busted too.

“who-“ Harry slurred, trying to ask for your name or your rank in the crew but was unable to get the words out still being very much out of it from being jumped and beaten.

“im (y/n), im a regular ol’ crew member, and I got worried about you and came looking, come on, there are still some members on guard duty and we need to skedaddle before they come up” Harry gave a slow nod and with your help got to his feet, letting out a yelp as he put too much pressure on his broken ankle.

“um, okay” you quickly thought up a plan and had Harry lean on you almost completely, cursing Dylan for making the main part of his hideout on the third floor, now you had to get Harry down three flights of stairs just to get him to the doors. You and Harry froze at the sound of heavy footsteps running up the stairs, you let go of Harry's hand and lowered him to the ground, quickly jumping into a fighting stance and glaring at the stairwell doorway.

You felt Harry's eyes on you as did so, but you did your best to ignore him and the butterflies that swarmed in your stomach. You slumped as Gil’s concerned face popped above the stairs, his eyes widening as he looked at Harry “holy heck, what happened?” Gil asked, walking over to Harry and checking him over.

“Dylan wanted him for ransom for the captain's territory, I took care of it” Gil gave you a look, you were never one to take initiative in the crew, well he didn’t either but you always stayed in the background, always seeming too scared to do anything about…well anything.

So for you to go out of your way to save Harry made Gil want to scratch his head. It clicked for him a moment later when he remembered how you always stared at Harry, with a look he could never put his finger on. Yes, Harry was the first mate and any of the crew members should put their life on the line to rescue him if needed but you didn’t do this as a crew member, you did this out of your personal feelings.

Gil, for once, didn’t think aloud, just hoisted Harry into his arms, ignoring Harry's protests and light smacks against his shoulder, and walked down the stairwell, you taking a moment to collect Harry hook that had been attached to one of the lackeys and running after them.

-

You stood awkwardly at the door frame of Harry's room as Gil set the injured pirate on his bed, you had never seen his room before, it was…a decent size, but you forced yourself not to memorize it for…reasons.

“I’ll tell Uma” you muttered aloud, walking away from Harry's room as you saw Gil nod, not seeing Harry strain his body in an attempt to keep his eyes on you.

When you arrived back at the chip shop and quietly informed Uma of the situation, she cursed and looked to the clock, she wasn’t off till midnight and it was only 9:15, she had another two hours and forty-five minutes before she was off and then she still had to clean!

“just-have Gil take care of him” she muttered back, pushing you back towards the chip shop doors “there's a medical kit in my quarters, under the board just left to the door, it'll jiggle when you step on it, give that to Gil and he’ll know what to do” you nodded and ran back to the ship, not wanting Harry to suffer for any longer than he was.

You went to Uma’s quarters, whistling a bit at the size of the room, and turned to the left, flipping up the loose board and taking out the large duffle bah with the red plus symbol on the side. “this has to be it” you muttered, standing and walking out of the room, closing the door behind you and making your way to Harry's room. you peeked into the room, frowning at the sight of Harry's very swollen turning very red and dark purple ankle. You knocked on the door frame and stepped into the room, handing the duffle bag to Gil.

The boys seemed to realize exactly where the bag was from and looked at you apprehensively, gosh sometimes you forgot how protective of Uma they were, even if it was a simple item. “she gave me permission to get that, I'll be out of your hair now” you spun on your heel and speed-walked out of the room, ignoring the butterflies in your gut as you felt Harry's eyes on you again.

-

It took Harry almost two months to heal from his injuries, his ankle still had ways to go so he was forced to be on the bench for crew activities and his usual errands until he could walk without his ankle being at a weird angle or him wincing in pain every time he took a step or shifted his ankle.

Gonzo and Bonnie took over his usual errands as Gil took over as temp-first mate until Harry was all healed up.

During those two months, you had noticed something….new.

Harry and Uma had taken to staring at you…a lot…like a lot a lot.

At first, you thought you were imagining things, the feeling of eyes constantly on you, then you thought that maybe some of Dylan's gang members had found out you were the one to sabotage his plan and were spying on you.

Those thoughts went out the window when one day you turned to look over your shoulder and saw Harry and Uma staring directly at you, Uma leaning on the long table on her elbows as Harry covered his mouth and some of his nose with his chin resting in his palm. You snapped your head back around and curled in on yourself, willing the heat growing up your neck to go away.

The next odd thing to happen was Uma beginning to actually…use you for crew things? Usually you just kinda…sat back and watched as everyone else did stuff, not of your own violation or laziness, it's just that Uma and Harry never seemed to…have anything to do for you?

But now it seemed like Uma was actually trying to include you in pirate activities, even once assigning you to her when the ship needed some maintenance on its ropes. She also started to either keep close to you as you trained in combat with the crew or sometimes even training you herself.

Which led to some…situations, you see, while you were pretty much an expert in hand to hand combat you fucking sucked with swords so once in a while you fumbled with your sword and…Uma while not being a PDA person, well unless it was Harry but even then, would walk toward you and correct your grip, stance, your free hand for balance, and even lead you in some sort of weird dance to help you learn your footwork.

It was like she was…sizing you up, if that was the best word, always keeping her eye on you, asking you random questions, making you help out in the chip shop, and just…having you be around her more than you used to.

Then there was Harry, after two months of just staring at you, he started talking to you, first “thanking” you for saving his ass from Dylan, aka he made you a bracelet and tossed it in front of you with a nod and a mutter of  “thanks”. Gil had muttered next to you that Harry liked to make people stuff as a way to thank them, and held up his own bracelet that Harry made for him when they were younger “it's just one of the ways he shows appreciation!”

Then it moved to small conversations about random things, they weren’t long, just…small talk when you ended up in the same place as each other or when you were both on nightshift guard duty. The staring hadn't stopped, but you didn’t mind it as much as you used to, knowing it was Harry and Uma keeping their eyes on you, for whatever reason, but it made you feel….safe? you didn’t know the feeling that came with them watching you but you knew it wasn’t scared or threatened.

One day Harry asked you to practice some knots with him, setting up two crates and making you sit across from him. As you worked on learning how to make a round turn and two half-hitches knot, Harry stared at you, watching you ever so carefully, drifting his gaze from your concentrated face to your swift and calloused fingers as you successfully pulled the knot together, looking up at him with a shy grin, seeking his approval.

He smirked and nodded, patting your knee and beginning to instruct you on how to do other knots, in a softer voice than before. Next, is something that took you a pretty long time to notice but, they started to get physically closer to you when they could. Like when the crew crowded around the table for mealtime at the chip shop. In the beginning, you always sat at the farthest end of the table, always keeping to yourself and trying not to bother anybody.

But as time went on, you were slowly being pushed towards the middle of the table where Uma, Harry, and Gil always sat, or sometimes you would sit in your usual seat and Harry or Uma would be away from their seats and closer to you. You didn’t notice any of this until your shoulder was in line with Harry’s, his jacket brushing against your arms and legs knocking into yours.

They both seemed to also attempt to get you into conversations more, Uma’s hands ending up on your arms or shoulder when she talked to the crew if they weren’t on Harry's shoulder, Harry leaning in close to you when you had your little conversations, Uma staring intently as you trained with the crew.

Most of this you didn’t notice, being the oblivious and overthinker person you were, you brushed off the thought of a possible connection with the two and thought they were just doing what captain and first mate did, have a good relationship with a crew member was essential.

What you didn’t see was the crew smirking as Harry stared at you, snickering when Uma rested her hand on your shoulder, whispering to themselves as their eyes always flashed over to you when you walked through the doors, gossiping when Harry sneaked his own food onto your plate.

Even Gil, who was admittedly a bit airheaded, could see what was going through the minds of his two oldest friends. He just grinned and leaned back, knowing he had started it all when he had told Uma of his “theory” of you possibly having feelings for her first mate/kinda boyfriend.

She at first just wanted to size you up, to see if you were “worthy” of her best friend, she and Harry had an open relationship, if either of the others wanted to get with someone else as long as they talked it through and got consent it wasn’t a problem. Uma just wanted to see if you wouldn’t hurt Harry.

She didn’t expect to catch feelings for you. It was something that boiled beneath the surface of her skin as it developed, she didn’t even notice it happened. The feeling of sparks dancing across her fingertips when her hand touched yours when she fixed your grip on your sword, the burst of warmth beneath her skin when she locked eyes with you, the flutter in her gut when you laughed at one of Gil’s stupid jokes or Harry’s dumb stunts.

It was all the same feelings she got when she was around Harry, but it took only one moment for her to realize she had fallen for you. It was just supposed to be a regular Sunday on the isle, it was her day off so she decided to spend it with you meandering around the marketplace, not particularly looking for anything just browsing.

Their time at the market had been shortened by the arrival of Dylan, taunting Uma and getting in her face. “come on shrimpy!” he snickered, his gang behind him cackling loudly “too scared to go against me-GUk” Uma snapped her head around to look at Dylan as he suddenly gasped for breath and her eyes widened in shock. Dylan was on his back, holding his gut as you stood in front of Uma, tilting your head dangerously as the gang took a step back.

“not a good idea to disrespect the captain, Dylan” you growled, sending a shiver down Uma’s spine, you weren’t much a talker, and when you did it was soft, but now? There was a thick tension to your voice, almost reminiscent of Harry's low growly tone when he got angry.

Dylan slowly sat up and glared at you, eyes widening as he realized who you were “you’re-you’re the bitch that” he paled at the smirk on your face.

“that kicked your asses? All on her own? Yeah, I’m that bitch, now back the fuck up before I snap your teeth with my boot” Uma swallowed around the rising heat in her neck, rolling her shoulders to get rid of the uncomfortable tension that was growing inside her.

Dylan let out a snarl and snapped his fingers, three of his lackeys running towards you, all yelping as you took them down with ease. Uma smirked as the lackeys landed next to Dylan, who then stood quickly and bolted the other way.

Dylan stood and looked behind him, freezing as he noticed almost all his gang had abandoned him, the only one left was his right-hand man, who stared at you with wide fearful eyes. Dylan slowly turned as he heard you crack your knuckles and squeaked as you gave a sharp smirk “this is the part where you run away~” you giggled, holding in a loud laugh as Dylan and his last lackey turned and ran with their tails between their legs.

You rolled your shoulders with a sigh and turned back to Uma, feeling your cheeks burn as she stared at you with wide eyes “uh…captain?” Uma snapped out of her trance and smirked at you.

“and here I thought Harry lied to me about your fighting skills~” her smirk softened as you tugged at your shirt. “come on, let's finish up here”

It was only when you returned to the ship and Uma got a moment to herself, that she realized what those feelings were in the market, they were the same feelings she got when she looks at Harry.

She liked you…a lot. Uma let out a low groan and sunk into her chair in her quarters, now she had to deal with feelings for her chaotic dumbass first mate and the oblivious yet badass crew member.

She went from just checking you out to make sure you were good for Harry to now fucking liking you…what a trope huh?

Harry on the other hand, had realized his feelings from the start, they were very small to start with, he hadn't even known your name before the fateful day when you saved him from Dylan.

It felt like his heart was jumpstarted as he locked eyes with you as you flipped Dylan over your back, sparks running across his skin when you undid the ropes around his wrists.

First, he was impressed, you had gone out of your way to save him and then took down almost an entire gang, some of the members easily overtaking you in size and strength but you took them down as if they were nothing. Then you had been so protective of him as you tried to make your way out of the parking garage with him, even getting ready to fight Gil before you knew it was Gil.

As you walked out of Harry's room after giving Gil the medical pack, he had asked Gil what your position on the crew was. As Gil told him about you, he remembered when you told him your name and he quietly muttered it, smiling slightly as he decided it fit you perfectly

Then he was amused, you were much shyer than he thought you would be, you were always by yourself in a corner, keeping to yourself and never talking to anyone. As he moved closer to you during meal times, he enjoyed the little sarcastic comments you muttered to yourself as you listened to whatever the crew was talking about. He giggled to himself at the look on your face when he dropped the ‘thank you’ bracelet in front of you, mentally dancing in excitement when he saw you wearing it the next day and then never take it off,  he didn’t know why he mentally danced in excitement but he brushed away the implications of it.

Then he and Uma started to attempt to get closer to you, well Uma was doing…her own thing while Harry was trying to get closer. First, he started with having you learn and help him tie the ropes around the ship, watching you as you at first fumbled with any type of rope he attempted teaching you, his heart fluttering when you finally got it and looked up at him for approval, a shy grin on your face.

He watched enraptured as you trained with Uma, chucking as he could imagine the steam coming off your face as Uma placed her hands on your hips and hands and corrected your stance. He cackled when you knocked Gil to the floor on a hand-to-hand combat training day, falling to his side as you leaned over Gil's dizzy self with your hands moving about unsure of what to do.

He watched you interacted during the quiet moments of the night when you would both be on night shift watching the ship, your shy nature seeming to melt away under the cloudy black sky as you rambled about whatever you were thinking about. He never really noticed himself leaning ever so close as you talked, only able to focus on you.

He noticed the crew teasing him and Uma pretty early on, though they were easily silenced when either him or Uma glared at the crew.

One day, he realized he was smitten with you. The crack of your voice when you got nervous, when you fidgeted with your rings, the smirk on your face when you flipped one of the crew members over your back, the laugh that spilled from your lips when you finally got the hang of using your sword, when you rubbed your thumb against your lips as you zoned out, it all made him feel warm inside, the same feelings he got around Uma.

He had to tell Uma about his feelings for you, they were in an open relationship but he wanted to make sure she was alright with you before he pursued anything with you.

One night after Uma finished up at the chip shop, she arrived to her quarters to see Harry sitting on her bed, playing with the curve of his hook as he waited for her. “Harry?” Uma groggily asked, she was exhausted but Harry never seeked her out after midnight, so something was up “what's going on, what do you need?” she closed the door to her room with her foot and slipped off her boots and hat, walking over to harry and flopping down on the bed next to him. “um-“ Harry stuttered, the red in his ears creeping down to his cheeks “yeh know (y/n)?” Uma perked up at that, pushing herself up with her hands and staring hard at Harry.

“yeah?” Uma’s heart sped up at the mention of the girl she had fallen for, god she hoped Harry wasn’t going to say he didn’t like her, and then Uma would feel like shit and she’d never be able to kiss the shit out of you till either of you couldn't see straight. “what about her?”

“I-um…I-…I like ‘er…like I like yeh” Harry’s face was almost crimson now, staring down at his lap as he played with the loose threads on his pants. “and-and I was wonderin’ if I-I could…um, invite ‘er into our relationship?” Harry's voice cracked at the end, oh so nervous and scared for what Uma was going to say.

“thank fuck I thought I was the only one” Harry snapped his head around to look at Uma, his mouth dropping open slightly “god fuck isn’t she so fucking pretty?!”

Harry let out a small sigh of relief and fully turned to look at Uma, sitting up on his knees “YES! Fuck she so pretty I just wanna smoother her in fucking i-gaaah ya know?!” he lifted his hands in front of his face and clenched them in an odd motion of frustration from (y/n)s prettiness. Uma laughed and nodded, grabbing onto Harry's hands and gripping them tightly.

“I do know, and I would be a hundred percent down for inviting her into our relationship, but!” Uma held up her hand as Harry gave her a wide grin, he deflated a bit and tilted his head “we need to make sure she's gonna be okay with this” Uma motioned between her and Harry “hell we don’t even know if she has feelings for us” Harry looked hurt at that, just wanting to drag you into bed with him and Uma already so he could smother you with cuddles and whatever couples did with their adorable significant others “I know, but we need to play this safe, I don’t want to scare her off”

Harry gave a slow nod, he wanted to do what he always did, rush into an idea with no real plan and just hope he didn’t die. But he would listen to Uma on this, she was a lot better with relationships then he was…well the logical part of them, he was better at feelings and physical stuff.

So the two talked into the night, deciding in the early morning that they would tell (y/n) about their decision on Sunday when Uma was off work.

Their talk happened on Wednesday, by Saturday afternoon Uma was off the isle, having dived through the barrier just before it closed and swimming to Auradon in search of revenge on Mal and to free the vks still on the isle.

It was only after she left that you realized you had fallen for Uma alongside Harry. The piercing feeling in your chest and gut every time you thought about your captain or even just being on the ship or chip shop slapped you in the face as you realized you fucking missed Uma, more than you should have.

You knew Harry missed Uma too, he had shut himself in his room soon after Uma disappeared at cotillion and refused to come out even when Gil asked. It wasn’t till his sister Harriet stormed onto the ship and dragged him out of his room that he seemed to be a little more like his usual self, he also started to hang around you more often and on the nights where you were on night guard duty he would join you, even when he didn’t have to anymore now that he was captain until Uma’s return.

Your mind was a maze, just trying to maneuver your feelings for both Uma and Harry, the feelings you had for Harry had multiplied for Uma, and now you couldn’t even think about either of them without heat rushing up your neck or butterflies rushing around your stomach.

Great, you had a crush/probably in love on the two people who were already “dating” each other, and both of them were so.damn.pretty. You groaned to yourself, covering your face and sinking to the ground in a crouch. Yeah, you had no fucking chance.

On the bright side, it did seem you were getting closer to Harry? So unrequited love aside at least you were getting a friendship out of it? The two of you started hanging out together more often than not, as you had mentioned before Harry joined you on night guard shifts, the two of you continued rope tying practice, started hand to hand combat training, he took Uma’s spot in teaching you how to use a sword, and sometimes the two of you would just…chill, hanging out in the bird’s nest drinking and eating whatever snack or food Harry had found, you leaning against his legs in the cramped space.

About five months after Uma had left the isle, the crew, aka Bonnie and Drey, decided to have a “bonding” night, forcing everyone into the chip shop after closing time, surrounded by rum and leftover food from the day to play truth or dare/seven minutes in heaven.

The rules were if you didn’t want to tell the truth or accept the dare, you had to spin the bottle and play seven minutes in heaven with whoever it landed on, and if you refused to play that, you'd have to take a shot of Desiree’s strongest liquor.

Bonnie, being the one who made the rules, went first, pointing to Gil and asking him truth or dare.

“Truth!” Gil chirped, already halfway through on his fries. Bonnie hummed for a moment and tapped her bottle of beer, trying to think of something good since Gil did tend to blurt out everything.

“who do you have a crush on?” Bonnie finally asked with a teasing smirk, laughing a bit as he pointed at Harry. “yeah, okay we knew that”

Harry blew a kiss towards Gil and Gil grinned and caught it, smacking it on his cheek and going back to his food as the crew burst into laughter. Gil tossed a fish stick into his mouth and looked around the group, pointing at Gonzo.

“truth or dare Gonzo” Gonzo let out a low hum and shrugged.

“dare” he muttered, thinking that Gil wouldn't be able to think of anything that bad. Oh, boy was he wrong.

Gil gave a nasty grin and stood, walking over to the kitchen and rummaging in the fridge for a few moments “oi what the hell are you doing?” Harry yelled, pouting as Gil didn’t answer.

Gil returned with something in his fist, his other hand keeping the unknown object hidden from sight. He stood in front of Gonzo and opened his hands, showing a snake egg. “eat up!”

“OH HELL NO” Gonzo yelped, smacking the egg out of Gil's hand, Drey and Jonas screeching as it smashed against the floor and black goo spread from the destroyed egg. Half the crew scrambled back from the egg, its rancid smell already beginning to spread around the chip shop

“ah Gonzo come on!” Emanuel complained, diving behind Gabe, the two pushing each other away and towards the egg in desperation to get away from it and doom the other to the smell.

You covered your mouth as you held in your laughter, falling to your side a bit and your head hitting Harry's shoulder as he cackled. “okay okay Gil, clean it up, Gonzo, either spin the bottle or drink” Gil begrudgingly cleaned up as Gonzo pouted at Harry.

Bonnie held up the empty rum bottle and wiggled her brows at Gonzo. He glared at her and snatched a shot glass from Desiree and took the shot, gaging a bit as it went down his throat “holy shit that’s strong” he shivered, the rest of the crew booing as he handed the shot glass back to Desiree.

Since Gonzo had forfeited the dare and seven minutes in heaven, Gil went again, this time picking Drey and the girl chose to do truth. “Ummm okay…uh, ever give a blowjob?” the crew whistled and hollered at the speedy turn towards the sexual end of questions and Drey snickered, shaking her head and holding up her hand to her mouth, only her pointer and middle finger around her lips as she winked and stuck her tongue through. “I’ll take that as a no” Gil laughed, taking a sip of his rum and leaning back on his elbows.

“your turn Drey” Bonnie called, stealing a crab cake from Zhao and laying halfway down on the floor, resting her chin in her palm. Drey tapped her chin, looking around the crew before her eyes landed on Yamato, who quickly leaned behind Gabe but was too late.

“Yamato, truth or dare” he kept behind Gabe for a moment longer before he sighed and leaned back to sit straight and looked at Drey in surrender.

“dare” he muttered, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and chin in his hands. Drey gave a wicked grin and looked around, trying to find something that would best work on Yamato.

“oh! I got it…lick Gabe's foot” the crew yelled out in disgust as Gabe laughed and pulled off his boot, shoving it towards the disgusted Yamato.

“NOPE gimme the bottle, GIMME THE BOTTLE ID RATHER MAKE OUT WITH ANYONE ELSE THAN LICK HIS FOOT GABE GET THAT AWAY FROM ME OR WE WILL THROW HANDS” Yamato shoved Gabe away from him, the cackling pirate falling on his back holding his chest.

Bonnie cackled and pushed the empty bottle of rum into the middle of the circle, Yamato sighed and leaned over to spin it, sitting cross-legged as everyone stared at the bottle in both excitement and anxiety.

Finally, the bottle slowed and landed on Zhao, the crew cheered and the two boys laughed, Zhao biting his bottom lip, squinting his eyes, and raising his brows.

“Alright come on Zhao les make out!” Bonnie stood and ran over to the closet that she had declared “heaven”  the two boys joining hands and swinging them as they walked into the closet and Bonnie closed the door after them.

“have fun~ Gonzo set the timer!” Gonzo leaned over the took the timer/stop watch from where Bonnie was sitting and set it for seven minutes “im so glad that thing is basically soundproof I do not need to hear Yamato moaning” the crew snickered at that, Harry rolling his eyes and leaning towards you.

“five bucks Zhao gives Yamato a handy” you felt your cheeks burn at his low-toned voice and laughed a bit, nodding as he grinned at you.

“you’re on” you whispered, biting your lip as Harry patted your thigh and sat up straight again.

“who’s next?” Jonas asked, taking a swig of his rum and glancing about the room.

“I’ll just go again and when Yamato comes out hell go” Drey waved it off and looked around the room, pointing at Gabe “Gabe truth or dare!”

“Dare” Gabe snickered, falling off balance a bit as Drey pointed at Gil.

“sit in Gil's lap till someone picks you again” Gabe sighed and stood, plopping in Gil's lap and crossing his arms.

Gil didn’t seem to mind, reaching his arm over Gabe's waist to grab his food tray. “all right, Gonzo truth or dare!” Gonzo groaned, having only gone a couple of turns before but chose truth this time “have you ever given head before, doesn’t matter girl or boy just head” Gonzo tilted his head then nodded. the crew, minus you and Harry, wolf-whistled “yooo who!?” Gonzo grinned and shook his head.

“hey, I only had to answer if I have given it before not to who” Gabe pouted and leaned back into Gil.

“party pooper” Gonzo perked up and looked around the group, eyes landing on you, smirking as you shrunk into yourself in an attempt to make yourself invisible

“(y/n) truth or dare” you tugged at your shirt, trying to decide what to do, go with truth, and possibly reveal your crush on Harry and Uma? Be dared to do something embarrassing? Play spin the bottle? Or take a shot?

“um, truth” you squeaked out, Gonzo looking up at the ceiling as he tried to figure out what to ask you. Finally, he snapped his fingers as he looked back at you, having found the perfect question.

“Have you ever had sex? Or been with anyone for that matter?” you shook your head, you were a virgin through and through, you haven't even kissed anyone before. “huh, all right your turn”

You looked around the group, finally landing your eyes on Desiree who had been untouched the entire game “Desiree” she looked up at you, mid-sip on her rum “truth or dare?”

“Dare” she answered immediately, smirking as the crew ‘oooh’d at her. “gimme your best shot (nickname)”

“umm” you had never really…dared anyone to do anything before…this was gonna be tough. “lick the bottom of Bonnies boot” the crew stared at you for a moment as Desiree looked between you and Bonnie wide-eyed “what?”

“holy shit I thought you were gonna like, I don’t know, make me eat twenty crackers or something! But I’ll do it” the crew cheered and Gabe leaned over to give you a high five.

Bonnie lifted her boot into the air and cackled as Desiree just went for it, going sole to toe “AHHHH” Bonnie cackled, falling backward and holding her leg in the air. Desiree backed into her spot again and shook her head, hanging her tongue out of her mouth as she made gagging noises.

“tha’ wath stho groth” she gagged, grabbing a paper towel and scraping her tongue of the taste of Bonnie's boot. after a few moments of the crew laughing at her, along with the timer of Zhao and Yatamo’s seven minutes in heaven beeping, the two coming out of the closet with Messy hair, bruised lips and Zhao’s pants unbuttoned.

Harry pouted at you and took the five out of his wallet, placing it in your hand as you gave him a smug grin. “yeh won tha’ one lass” he laughed quietly, freezing as Desiree locked her eyes on him.

“Harry, truth or dare” Harry kept a staring contest with her, trying to predict what she was going to do.

Finally, he sighed “Dare” Desiree let out a cold cackle, Harry freezing again at it.

“let Gil give you a haircut” Harry immediately shook his head, Gil had cut his hair once before and he ended up with the worst patchy hair cut he had ever had, he only trusted two people with his hair, Uma, and Harriet. “alright then spin the bottle!” Harry sighed, he had a lot of work to do in the morning so drinking wasn’t the best idea so he took the bottle from Bonnie and spun it, mentally crossing his fingers that it would land on you.

You watched as the bottle spun around, pulling your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them. You did want the bottle to land on you but at the same time you hoped it wouldn’t land on anybody so you wouldn’t be going behind Uma’s back or so Harry wouldn’t be kissing someone other than you or Uma.

You felt the heat climb up your face as the tip of the bottle landed directly on you, the crew whistling and cheering as you buried your face in your knees. “wooooooo come on you two! Get to the closet.” Harry glanced at you and while he really wanted to go into the closet with you, he felt bad as you had completely turned into a ball of embarrassment.

“come on guys she obviously-OI” Gonzo and Jonas grabbed Harry's arms, carrying him to the closet and tossing him in, Drey and Desiree grabbing your hands and tugging you in after him.

They closed the door behind you, Bonnie going the extra mile and locking the door “Have fun~ seven minutes!” Bonnie’s muffled voice yelled through the door before it went silent.

You pressed yourself into the wall and sunk to the floor, holding your face in your hands and pulling your knees to your face. “(y/n)?” Harry quietly asked, kneeling in front of you and cupping your face with his hand, pushing your chin up to make you look at him “are yeh okay?”

“I-I just-“ you buried your face again, if you looked at him anymore you would throw your moral compass out the window and just kiss him silly.

“do yeh not like meh?” he asked, feeling a pit form in his chest at the thought of you not liking him in ‘that’ way, he blinked in surprise as you shook your head and looked back up at him.

“no-its, not that, it’s more…I like you…like a lot…more than I should, a lot” you whispered, biting your lip as Harry stared at you, not noticing him glancing at your lips “but you’re with Uma and I don’t want to ruin anything between the two of you even if it's just a dumb game and I don’t want to ruin our friendship with my dumb feelings even though I just blurted out every-“ you were stopped by a soft pair of plush lips,  and in the dark of the closet you saw Harry very very close to your face, his eyes closed and hands gently cupping your jaw.

You decided to just let yourself enjoy the next seven minutes and closed your eyes, pressing back ever so gently back into Harry…your brain reminded you that Harry was your first kiss and you smiled, helluva first kiss if you did say so yourself.

Harry pulled back slowly and you fluttered open your eyes, biting your lip as Harry gave you a soft smile “yeh wouldn’t be ruining anything between Uma an’ I, we both like yeh and actually” Harry let out a nervous chuckle “we were goin’ ta ask yeh ta’ join our relationship a couple months ago but…Uma left before we could tell yeh…we were planning ta ask yeh the weekend that ended up filled with all the beasty boy stuff…” Harry hoped that you wouldn’t reject Uma, he loved both of you and he didn’t want to have to lose one to keep the other.

“I…Uma-“ you leaned forward, burying your face in Harry's shoulder “I like Uma too” you whispered into his shoulder, squeaking as Harry picked you up by your thighs and pushed you against the wall, his hips pressing into yours.

Harry smiled at you, pressing another kiss to your lips “good, we can have fun when she gets back okay?”

You whimpered into the kiss, nodding as he pulled back “okay” The two of you spent the next seven minutes exchanging kisses and feeling the room heat up as Harry continued to press his hips into yours.

You were soon interrupted by Bonnie yelling through the door “Times up you two!” Harry groaned and set you back on your feet, letting you hang on to him as you balanced on wobbly legs.

Harry knocked on the door, Bonnie quickly unlocked it at that and swung it open, giving the two of you a smug grin before her shoulders dropped

“oh come on it's like you didn’t do anything!” Harry rose his brow; he had bitten your neck and dry-humped you did it really seem like he did nothing? He turned to look at you, raising his brow as he realized you had quickly fixed yourself up and the only evidence to your heated time in the closet was your heated cheeks. “All right come on, Zhao’s on a dare right now and Gabe drank a shot”

You and Harry glanced at each other then back at the crew, walking out of the closet and taking your previous seats next to each other, Harry's arm now resting behind your back.

Things changed after that, the small conversations at night turned intimate, faces always close together and bodies touching, breath mingling, and Harry's lips pressing against your lips or neck every so often. Practicing knots went from sitting across from each other with Harry instructing you to you and Harry sitting so close your knees touched the inside of his thighs, his hands ever so gently guiding your fingers through the motions and his voice soft.

He started to pull you away at random moments to a hidden corner and curl himself around you, pressing his lips to yours with the others oblivious to your recent activities.

The two of you hadn't gotten to resume your session from the closet, leaving you frustrated and needy. You honestly just wanted Harry to ravish you until the sun came up.

What you didn’t know was that Harry was feeling the same way, frustration building in his body every time he looked at you, eyes burning into your lips and body, just wanting to drag you to his room and show you a whole new world. He thought of you every night, almost stomping to your room and taking you but holding himself back.

It was just getting too much for both of you, so one night, when Harry knew neither of you had anything to do the next day, snuck to your room and knocked gently on your door, not wanting any of the crew to hear knowing you wouldn’t want everyone to know your business.

“Harry?” you whispered, looking around the dark halls of the ship as Harry stared down at your lips, your body barely covered with only a loose shirt and some sweat pants “what's wrong? It's like, 2 am?” Harry leaned in and pressed his lips to yours passionately, curling his hands around your face and humming into it as you pressed back needingly.

He pulled back, just enough for your breath to mingle “darling” he purred, enjoying the way you squirmed at the tone of his voice “do yeh want to continue our little session from the closet?” he grinned as your eyes went wide and you nodded erratically. He pressed a quick kiss to your lips and grabbed your hand, pulling you out of your room and closing the door, the two of you sneaking back to his room.

That night was filled with heated kisses, whispered confessions, and bruised hips.

Everything changed again after that, the soft hidden kissed behind corners turned to heated make-outs, you still had soft kisses but more often than not it was passionate. You slept in Harry's room more often than not, not to have sex but simply because you liked being with him and him you. Your midnight talks being shoulder to shoulder turned to you being engulfed in Harry's arms and sitting between his legs as you talked about whatever you wanted. The practice tiring ropes became teasing, Harry sneaking kisses whenever he could

Harry went deeper into himself, and you learned almost everything from his favorite drink to his deepest fear, and he told you about Uma as well, letting you get to know her through another and you fell for both Uma and Harry more each day.

And you told him what you could, from your favorite color to your most embarrassing moment, it was…bliss, well as blissful a relationship could be on the isle.

About a year after the two of you got together, you watched as Harry and Gil dove through the barrier just as it was closing after the core four and Celia, messing with your bracelet nervously as you watched Gil and Harry fight with Carlos and Jay. Harry forced a blue gem out of Mal's hand and it soared over the water, Mal letting out a small scream before a turquoise tentacle reached up and caught it.

Your breath caught and you let a grin grow on your face “Uma” you whispered out, bouncing on your feet as Uma rose out the water, looking even more beautiful than the last time you saw her. Harry looked directly at you, the same feeling you had at seeing Uma swimming in his eyes.

Uma was back.

After Uma submerged into the water and sent a tunnel of water up and splashing the vks, she reappeared on the other side of the bridge, holding up the glowing gem Mal had been holding.

A few minutes of negotiating later, with Mal being stubborn as always, the vks were off to do whatever they were off to do, you didn’t know, the most you had heard was Mals muffled scream of ‘no’

Uma suddenly glanced back, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at you. You gave her a grin and waved back, you guessed Harry had told her about the two of you and you hoped to hades that you would see them again and be able to kiss Uma finally.

-

Only a day later, in the early morning, Harry and Uma stepped into his room, Harry gesturing to his bed where you were sleeping curled up in one of his shirts and his blankets.

“aw,” Uma cooed, walking over to you and caressing your cheek, flinching back as your eyes snapped open and you sat up, a bright grin growing on your face as your vision refocused and you saw Uma.

“Uma~!” you squealed, launching yourself at her and tossing the two of you onto the ground, Uma chucking underneath you as her head was pinned to your shoulder. “you’re back!”

Harry smiled as you and Uma hugged on the floor “so Harry tells me you like both of us? And want to be with both of us?” Uma asked, sitting up with you in her lap.

Your face burned slightly but you nodded, smiling as Uma cupped your cheeks “good, but just so you know I will always choose sea ponies over both of you” you and Harry burst into laughter, a smile growing on Uma’s lips as she watched two of her three favorite people laugh.

“Harry already told me that part of the contract” you teased, leaning in and pecking Uma’s cheek, snickering as she froze and stared at you “what? I can’t kiss my girlfriend~?”

Harry chuckled and kneeled next to you and Uma, wrapping his arms around you and whispering in your ears “I think Uma’s bed is a bit better to fit all three of us eh?” you grinned, Uma’s face burning as she saw Harry wiggle his brows.

“I leave a virgin first mate and a shy oblivious crew member and come back to two horndogs…Christ remind me to never leave yall alone again”

“noted” you and Harry sang in unison, Uma laughing at it and shaking her head.

“Alright come on, let's go to my room.” you and Harry grinned, your arm going around Uma’s and grabbing onto her hand as Harry tossed his arm around her shoulder and the three of you walked into Uma’s room.

To which Uma was very VERY glad her room was soundproofed a long time ago.

-end-

side note with the smut, this was 50 pages and 15,676 words, without the smut its 32 pages and 9943 words which is still a lot but woza, like, 16 pages of the fic was dedicated to smut XD 

permtaglist

@queer-cosette @sephiralorange (thank you for beta reading the smutty version don worry ill link the full version lol) 

@lunanight2012 @daughter-of-the-stars11

@musicarose @rintheemolion

@jatp-rules-my-life @verboetoperee

@thecaptainsgingersnap @random-thoughts-003

@remembered-license @imtryingthisout

and because you asked me too since i used the crew names you created @askauradonprep​

[just-horrible-things]

Day In The Life : Liv (Just Acting)

At 8:00AM the alarm clock breaks into cheerful chiptune.

At 8:04 a narrow, brown arm snakes out from under the covers, gropes around on the cardboard bedside box table, dislodges an errant toothbrush, and hits snooze.

At 08:09 the chiptune resumes at twice the volume. Three little hatches in the underside of the clock snap open with a loud click, and spring-loaded wheels pop out. Blaring merrily away, the alarm clock propels itself off the side of the box and onto the floor. It teeters on a single wheel after hitting the carpet, lurches, rights itself, and disappears under the bed.

Liv groans and tumbles out of bed.

It takes her three further minutes to pull enough boxes out from under the bed to create a space that will fit her, squirm into that space, locate the clock, turn it off, squirm back out, and replace the boxes where they belong. By that point she has to reluctantly concede that she is awake.

She wedges a bundle of laundry into the space between said boxes so that the clock can’t pull that little stunt again.

By 08:35 she is out of the door, still bleary-eyed, with a thermos full of coffee in hand in lieu of the water bottles most other joggers carry.

It's a lovely morning, so her usual 15-minute circuit turns into a 35-minute tour down the riverside and through her favourite park. The pigeons are too lazy to flap further than a couple of metres out of the way of her feet. One of these days she's going to catch one, just to see if she can. 

She closes her front door behind herself and strips out of her sweaty clothes. It's too warm for clothes indoors. She cracks open a window, smirking to herself at the thought of some executive in the office building opposite glancing up from his desk and spotting her naked body, then retreats to the relative privacy of the lounge for her morning yoga routine. 

Gil calls it pointless posing, but she values her balance and flexibility.

Her Firefly is coming along, and she works on some easier arm balances to help herself train for it. Destroyer of the Universe is tragically still well out of reach, but she's working up to it. 

She finds a kind of trance in a deep forwards fold, and it's well after ten o' clock before she gets up to shower. She takes her time under the hot water, singing 90s pop hits at the top of her lungs as she lathers up with her new favourite strawberry pavlova shampoo. 

Clad only in a soft, fluffy towel, she flops down across the sofa to check her emails. She's glad she does, because Matt wants her to pick up his shift this evening. 

Sure thing, she sends back, but you owe me one. 

Lunch is a lazy affair of buttered bread, cut fruit, supermarket olives, and an obscenely sugary latte, taken half-dressed sprawled out on the carpet in the warmth of a broad sunbeam.

Next she brushes and pulls back her hair, then adds to the comfy black leggings she's already wearing a sky blue halter top, a simple black choker, and a slim zirconium-studded watch. She keeps her makeup simple – a dark lip tint, a hint of blush for her cheeks, a little eyeliner, and a white waterline.

Gil has impressed upon her the importance of sensible footwear enough times that it's unfortunately starting to sink in. With a regretful sigh she sets aside the sparkly pumps that do tend to fall off her feet. Instead she laces on a cute pair of ankle boots with a subtle black-on-black leopard print. They're only a week new and still wearing in, but the fit is perfect and they're well on track to becoming her new favourite shoes. 

Buses are a great place to people watch, and Liv rarely feels the need to get out her phone. Almost everyone else is engrossed in theirs – which on the one hand means they aren't up to much of interest, but on the other means they don't notice Liv studying the minutiae of their expressions. A pair of cute kids at the front of the bus are arguing energetically about the plot of some cartoon they both watch. A young couple are giving each other the cold shoulder, sitting almost comically angled away from each other. In stark contrast, the pair directly behind them are leaning comfortably on each other's shoulders and one of them is almost asleep.

An older fellow in the back takes notice of Liv's scrutiny, so she bats her lashes and flutters her fingers in a little wave. He returns her smile toothlessly, and for the rest of the journey Liv swaps occasional flirty glances with him. She blows him a kiss when the bus stops at her stop, and deliberately sways her hips all the way down the aisle to the door. 

Last week's Friday rehearsal was called off due to work being done on the lights, so of course today everyone is full of hugs and kisses and gossip as if they'd been separated for months instead of a single week. Tess compliments Liv on her hair even though she hasn't done anything special to it, and Mig gathers her into a tight hug before planting both hands squarely on her ass and grabbing so hard he all but lifts her off her feet. 

"We're in public, you degenerate!" she mock-squeals, laughing. "Okay, okay," he grins, "I'll be good, give me a hug." As soon as Liv lets him pull her close again, he tries to slide a hand down the back of her leggings. She swats his hand away, and the other one tries to climb up under her shirt. "You pervert," Liv scolds between giggles. “Libertine! You, you debauchery!” He keeps trying until they’re both in stitches.

"Break it up, break it up!" Conchi commands, clapping her hands. "Get inside! Everyone inside the building, please!"

For warm-up they focus on walks, copying one another around the room. By now they each know each other's mannerisms like second skins, and they soon grow bored of natural gaits and start playing around with it. As a follower, Liv picks Ed Hallidger's punk shuffle to imitate, then Tess's very convincing bow-backed old woman. As a leader, she puts on a masculine, wide-legged swagger of her own, then a nervous, halting tiptoe, then a stripper stru – that of course attracts Ed Werner from across the room.

Ed is a massive, broad-shouldered bodybuilder of a guy, and his feminine sashays are to die for. The whole group end up giggling, the other guys trying to capture the comedy gold that Ed puts into every swing of his hips, up on tiptoes as if wearing invisible stilettos. Liv has a great deal of admiration for Ed Werner's physical comedy. 

Then rehearsal begins in earnest, and three hours vanish into the repetition of lines and directions over and over in the endless quest to meet Conchi's exacting standards.

If she's going to pick up Matt's shift like she promised, Liv won't have much time to work on Gil’s latest exercise. She checks her watch – she ought to be able to catch the mark on his way out of work, if she hurries across town.

Mr. Milligan's office supposedly empties at around five thirty, six o' clock. She gets there at 5:40. He could already be gone. But… a little frustration is part of the job. She sets up on a park bench with a good view of the front of the building, and pretends to browse on her phone while her eyes skim the crowd of suits. 

This is the third day of watching, and she's starting to think this approach might be a dud.

At 6:13 she's checking her watch and tapping her foot when she finally spots Milligan. His shock of bleach-blond hair isn't so very distinctive, but it's enough to catch her eye, and she’s studied his pictures enough to recognise his face. 

He's talking animatedly with a colleague, and rather than go their separate ways at the bottom of the broad front steps, the pair dally there to continue the conversation. Liv's a bit far away to get a decent photo but she studies the woman's face intently. 

Five minutes verge into ten and Liv wills them to get on with it. At this rate she'll be late to work. 

But finally they shake hands and separate, and as Milligan crosses the street, Liv gets up casually to tail him into the car park beneath the park. 

His car is a silver Jaguar with vanity plates reading “5PD B05S”. Of course. It’s barely worth taking photos, but she snaps one just to prove to Gil that she's done the legwork. 

Then she hurries to the nearest taxi rank. She doesn’t have time to stop home and change her makeup, so she borrows some from Hanna as soon as she gets to Remedy. The low light of the club demands a more striking look. Working fast in the staff bathroom she gives herself a bright red lip, smokey shadow and a straightforward cat eye. Her work jacket – a leather sleeveless crop with denim at the collar – is in the back room, and she’s ready to roll.

"Sorry about the time," she apologises as she rejoins Hanna behind the bar. "Don't worry, it’s not a surprise," Hanna returns. "Matt told me you were taking his shift." "Well, ouch." "Late is practically your middle name. Grab those glasses for me."

The floor is already busy, and Liv can already tell she’s going to be run ragged tonight. She doesn’t mind, she loves the work. But it’s a good excuse to make Matt pay through the nose for his favour. She’ll have fun thinking up ways he can pay her back.

[rosemochi]

16

16. Daybreak.

"How much for a room?"

The innkeeper stares. Zack stares back. He knows he's getting blood all over the floor, but it's not as if he can help it, and if the man declines to help him, then the puddle will just get larger. Finally, the innkeeper sighs, and Zack's shoulders sag in relief. "Hundred gil. Only got single beds, though."

He limps towards the desk. It takes a great deal of effort to grab his wallet, considering Cloud is still slung over his back. "That's fine." After a pause, he says, "Sorry about the mess. I'll clean—"

"Don't worry about it." The innkeeper hands him a key. "Room charge includes a cleanin' fee."

Their accommodations are filthy, but it's still better than the lab. Zack sets Cloud down on the bed, strips him of his wet clothes, and covers him with as many blankets as he can find. He still looks uncomfortable — because anybody would've been uncomfortable on such a thin mattress — so Zack takes his own pillow and shoves it underneath Cloud's head, leaving his own side bare. Finally, he collapses into a nearby armchair and watches Cloud with half-lidded, heavy eyes. "What are we gonna do?"

Cloud doesn't answer, of course. The only noise that greets Zack is the sound of the slums outside the window; the bustling crowds, loud, inhospitable, naturally wary of broad-shouldered men in sleeveless turtlenecks. It was a miracle that he'd even managed to find this inn, considering most people in Sector 7 avoided him like the plague. "We'll figure it out." Zack's voice is light, airy, confident; the opposite of what he feels inside. "It'll be fine."

---

It's not fine.

The next day dawns. Zack counts out his remaining gil. There's only enough for a week's worth of food, and that's if he stretches it. Going to the hospital isn't an option, and it's far too late to take a potion, so he eventually resorts to digging out the bullets in his torso with a pocket knife. They make a strange kind of music as they hit the bathroom sink, clinking against the porcelain, accompanied by the steady drip, drip, drip of Zack's blood. Cloud sleeps through Zack's grunts of pain, which he's grateful for — he doesn't want Cloud to see him like this.

As Zack bandages his wounds, he thinks back to the encounter that gave him all of these injuries to begin with. He's pretty sure Cloud didn't get hit by anything, but it's not as if he's conscious enough to say otherwise.

"Sorry, buddy," Zack says. "Gotta do this."

He lifts the blankets up. Cloud's torso looks fine — other than the keloid scar in the center of his chest, stark against his pale skin, and the frightening way his ribs stick out from his body, made thin by five years of stillness and artificial nutrition. Zack doesn't look for very long, because it feels weird; he's oddly flustered by the time he finishes his pseudo-examination.

Once he's finished, Zack goes to sit on the side of the bed and misses it entirely. He slowly sinks to the threadbare carpet, his shirt catching on the rough comforter as he goes down. His head is pounding, as if somebody's hammering on the insides of his brain with a hammer. "Good," he murmurs, relieved. "Just me, then."

---

Zack wakes, his head still aching, and hastily dresses in the only outfit he has. He wants to run his errands before the slums awaken, but Sector 7 is full of early birds... that are naturally wary of Shinra-issued super-soldiers. Zack arrives at a grocery store, dressed in his infamous uniform (sans pauldrons, though it doesn't help much), beelines for the produce, and promptly gets spat at over a bushel of carrots.

"I'm an ex-SOLD—" Zack sighs. The old Wutain woman walks away, muttering curses under her breath. "Nevermind."

He heads to a nearby clothing store and spends far too much money (five gil) on a new set of clothes. The turtleneck, belt, and pants find their way into a nearby dumpster. Now incognito, Zack quickly buys some necessities — food, water, more bandages, a bar of soap — and races back to the hotel room, eager to check on Cloud.

"I'm home," he announces. Cloud doesn't respond. Zack sits on the side of the bed and rifles through the grocery bags, emerging with a container of fruit. "I bought blueberries." He hastily covers his mouth with his other hand as he coughs, his chest burning from the exertion of running up the stairs. "Your—" Another cough. "Your favourite."

---

Could he be a mercenary? He doesn't see why not, really, other than the fact that somebody might recognize him (when he's supposed to be dead). Could leveraging his ex-SOLDIER status help drum up more business? Is it worth the risk? He'll figure it out in the morning, he decides. Zack lies his throbbing head down on the mattress and falls asleep, dreaming of the painkillers he'll buy with his mercenary money.

The fourth day comes. Zack opens his eyes and hisses in pain; the sunlight feels like it's burning a hole through his skull. He flips onto his stomach, seeking darkness, and hears an unfamiliar groan.

It takes him a moment to recognize the sound.

Zack leaps out of bed and immediately sways on his feet. Something is wrong, terribly wrong, but he can't let whatever it is stop him — Cloud needs him. He grabs a bottle of water, brings it to Cloud, and holds his head up so he can drink it.

As soon as the bottle's empty, Cloud asks, "Where are we?"

"Sector 7," Zack says. "The slums."

Cloud's eyes roam up and down Zack's bare torso, pausing at the blood-stained bandages. "I remember the cliff," he croaks. "I thought I dreamed it."

Zack lays back down on the hard mattress. He laughs, but there's no humor in the sound. "I wish."

The mattress squeaks as Cloud turns to face him. Zack carefully looks at him, emaniciated but animated, taking in all of the features — sunken eyes, sharp cheekbones, dry lips — that display his illness, equivalent to Zack's own sorry state. Still, there's something about the sight of Cloud that Zack finds strangely wonderful, something that makes his heart race — a feeling made stronger by the fact that it's him, awake, present, right beside him.

"We're alive," Cloud whispers in wonder.

"Yeah." Zack smiles. "We're alive."

---

Though Zack might not stay that way for long.

Day five. The morning sun burns his eyes like acid. Whatever's been plaguing Zack has grown infinitely worse, and he suspects it has something to do with one of his bullet wounds — whatever's making his bandages stain yellow rather than red. Or perhaps it's because he sat in soaked clothes for hours upon hours as he hauled Cloud to Midgar, frozen to the bone in the frigid December weather.

Or perhaps it's both.

The reason doesn't matter, really, because that's not the point. Isn't he supposed to be immune to these sorts of things? What on earth was the point of his augmentations if he still gets things like colds and infections?

Zack ventures back outside in search of medicine, for things he hasn't taken since he was a child in Gongaga, fighting against strep throat and bronchitis. He heads to the nearest pharmacy, because he still can't afford a doctor. Unfortunately, he finds out he can't afford basic remedies either.

"You got wounded?" The pharmacist says, eyes wide. "How long ago?"

"Five days."

"Way too late for a potion," he murmurs. He looks Zack up and down, then rifles underneath the counter. "I'm not supposed to sell these without a prescription, but..." He rings up the antibiotics. "Two hundred gil."

Zack grimaces. "I have fifty."

The pharmacist directs Zack to the veterinarian next door: somebody who sells drugs under the table for cheap. Zack pays ten gil for a bottle of canine antibiotics (which is still too much, but he can't take care of Cloud if he's dead himself) and stumbles back outside. His head swims as he wobbles down the street, knocking shoulders with Sector 7's many residents. He hits one woman particularly hard. "Sorry," he slurs.

The black-haired woman whirls around to face him. She gasps. "Wait—"

"Sorry."

The woman says something else, but Zack rushes forward, eager to get back to Cloud. He makes it back to the inn (though he's not quite sure how), tears his way back into the room, and promptly rushes for the toilet. The bile tears through his esophagus as it comes up, leaving his throat raw and scorched in its wake.

Something crashes in the bedroom. Zack looks over the rim and sees Cloud crawling towards him, a blanket tangled around his legs. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing," Zack insists, though he's sure he's not doing a very convincing job of it. He flushes the bile away. "Got meds."

Cloud hunts around for the bag that Zack dropped on the floor. Exhausted, he leans back on the bathroom cupboard, rips the bag open, and inspects the bottle. "This says 'for Fido'."

"He said something about 'equivalent doses'," Zack groans. "No idea what that means."

Somehow, he musters up the energy to pull himself up to the sink so he can brush his teeth. Cloud crawls up with him, using the counter as leverage. The image in the mirror is a frightening sight; Zack can barely recognize himself. Cloud reaches up and pulls a sweat-soaked strand of hair from Zack's temple. "When was the last time either of us showered?"

Zack grimaces as he thinks back. "Five years ago?"

It's a good thing they decide to shower together, because they end up having to hold each other up. Cloud doesn't have the dexterity to unbutton his own pants, so Zack does it for him; Zack doesn't have the strength to lift his arms above his head, so Cloud hooks his arms underneath Zack's shirt and pulls. They take turns scrubbing each other clean, trying to make up for each other's deficiencies. Zack's bandages get soaked, but he simply doesn't have the energy to care. "Bend down," Cloud says. "I'll get your hair."

The hot water doesn't last long. Strength spent, they end up on the floor, gasping for air and clutching each other for warmth. Zack's feverish forehead lands on Cloud's cold shoulder; the sensation makes him groan in relief, even though the rest of his body is frozen to the bone. "We might have to stay here forever," Cloud gasps. "I don't have the strength to haul you up."

Zack slowly drags his head up. Droplets of cold water drip down Cloud's chin, his jaw, his neck, collecting in the hollow of his throat. Zack's mouth is impossibly dry; if he didn't know any better, he might've tried to drink from it. "I'd be fine with that," he admits.

---

"Why did you give me your pillow?"

Zack drags his eyes open. Dim streaks of light pierce through the blinds, highlighting the dust in the air. The clock on the nightstand reads 5:30 AM. "You needed it more."

"How?" Cloud croaks. "I was unconscious."

Zack doesn't have a good answer for that, so he stays silent. Cloud sighs and tugs at his shoulders. "Roll over," he says, and Zack slowly complies. His head lands in the center of Cloud's chest — a much comfier surface than the hard mattress. "Stupid," Cloud whispers into his hair. "You're so stupid."

They slowly drift back to sleep. Zack dreams of everything — his childhood in Gongaga, his days as a SOLDIER, the bloodshed in Wutai, the pain, the glory, the atrocities, all blending together into a whirlpool of dreams and nightmares. At the center of the maelstrom, always present, is the laboratory and the years he spent with Cloud, so close and yet so far, within arm's reach but miles away. In his dreams, the glass is impenetrable, no matter how hard he tries to smash it; his screams are muffled by the mako that spills into his throat, filling his lungs, robbing him of freedom.

But not anymore.

Cloud is here. He's in front of him, beneath him, warm, breathing and alive. Cloud's arms rise up to hold him, enveloping Zack in a comforting warmth that feels like home; Zack's hands clutch at Cloud's shirt as if it's the only thing tethering him to the Planet. The fabric underneath his eyes quickly grows damp.

"Still feverish," Cloud whispers, his lips moving against Zack's forehead.

"Yeah?" Zack mumbles, as if he can't tell — though he obviously can. His head is swimming; he feels like a child again, sitting in the bow of his dad's fishing boat, feeling the ocean tug him to and fro. "Not enough dog meds."

"I'll go get them."

Zack's arms tighten around Cloud's waist. "Don't," he says. "They're not doing anything anyway."

"You have to keep taking them for them to work," Cloud argues. He eventually wiggles out from underneath him, though Zack does his best to make him stay put. An eternity passes before he returns, medicine and water in hand. "Open your mouth."

Zack's throat, still raw from bile, aches as he swallows the pills down. Cloud puts the medicine aside and collapses on top of him, utterly spent. They lay there for a while, arms twisted around each other, Zack taking comfort in Cloud's steady heartbeat. "Don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Cloud whispers.

Zack gently runs his fingers through Cloud's sweat-soaked hair. "You'd be fine."

"No," Cloud quietly argues. "No, I wouldn't."

Zack slowly sinks back into unconsciousness. For once, he dreams of nothing; his mind is a dark, cool abyss, a refuge from the fever. When he's pulled back into the world of the living, his surroundings are much of the same. Zack awakens to soft fingers running through his hair, stroking his burning forehead, caressing his sunken cheeks. Is he still dreaming? "Don't stop," Zack croaks. "Feels good."

The stroking continues. The fingers trace his brow, the slope of his nose, the bow of his parched mouth, thumb swiping against his bottom lip — where they suddenly stop. Zack opens his mouth to speak, to breathe, to ask for more, when something else presses against his lips: a mouth as chapped as his own.

The kiss is light, because it has to be; even in his dreams, there's no energy for passion. In its absence, the gentlest of movements becomes profound. Zack sighs as he gently presses his lips to Cloud's, swipes his tongue against his bottom lip, seeking his warmth. A shiver tears through him as Cloud's tongue brushes against his own—

—until Cloud abruptly pulls away. He coughs, his chest rattling as he desperately tries to catch his breath. Zack holds him tight and rubs his back until the coughing fit passes. "Shh," he whispers against Cloud's forehead. "Shh."

Cloud eventually stills. Zack can tell he's feverish too; the skin underneath his lips is hot to the touch. "Sorry," Cloud croaks. The misery in his voice makes Zack's chest hurt. "I'm sorry."

Zack shakes his head. What on earth could he ever be sorry for? "Don't be."

They lay there for what feels like an eternity. Zack drifts in and out of consciousness, through the past and present. The fever tries to pull him under, but he briefly comes up for air. "I'll kiss you properly," Zack croaks, "when we're better."

Cloud's arms tighten around him. "We're not getting better."

He's right. Zack's fever persists, no matter what meds he throws at it; he can feel death hovering nearby, waiting to pull him into the ether. "If you can move," Zack slowly says, "I want you to go to the hospital. Don't—" He coughs. "Don't worry about the—"

Cloud inches himself up Zack's body and kisses him again. He coughs, then kisses the corner of Zack's mouth, coughs, then kisses his cheek; the hacking sound is loud and startling, as if it's tearing his lungs into two. "Shut up," he says. "I'm not leaving you."

Zack's eyes close against his will, robbing him of the opportunity to argue. As he slowly sinks into darkness, he feels something wet drip onto his face, like a familiar droplet of rain from a stormy sky. If he were to open his eyes, would he see dark clouds? Would he still be on the cliff, lying in the torrent, waiting for death?

He opens his mouth to the rain, eager to soothe his parched throat, and tastes salt on his tongue.

---

Zack awakens. The light behind his closed eyelids is warm, soothing, like the sunlight that dries the earth after a storm. A soft breeze brushes against his neck, stirring his hair.

"Hey."

Zack cracks his mouth open. "Hey," he croaks.

The weight of Cloud's body pushes him into the ground. Is he alive? Dead? Has he always been dead? Zack doesn't know much about the afterlife, but he knows it's supposed to be a paradise, and an eternity with Cloud is the closest he'll ever get to it.

The sunlight grows warmer, enveloping him from within. The pain in his body ebbs, replaced by something that Zack can only describe as peace. "I love you," Cloud says.

He turns his head towards the sound. "I love you too," he says, smiling. "Always have."

Another sound slowly enters Zack's consciousness; two sets of heavy boots, smacking against wooden floors. "Somebody's coming," Cloud says. "Shinra?"

Zack wraps his arms around Cloud, holding him tight, tighter, until they're as close as two people could possibly be. Their bodies meld into one entity, one soul, impossible to separate, together for eternity. "I'm not going anywhere without you," Cloud says.

The boots come to a stop. "No," Zack agrees, shaking his head. "Never."

Knock.

Every single thing Zack meant to say over the past five years comes out in a rush. "I love you," he croaks, because he can never say it enough. "I love you, I love you—"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"I love you too," Cloud says, his voice thick with tears.

"What are you tryin' to do, tear the damn door down?!" the innkeeper growls. "Hold on. I've got a key."

It doesn't matter. None of it does. It doesn't matter what will happen, if they're alive or dead or somewhere in between, if they're spirits wandering through the ether, souls flitting through hazy dreams — because they'll always have each other.

"I love you."

The door opens.

[eddysocs]

Science And Chemistry - Chapter One (LA To Las Vegas)

Summary: Everything seems to be going wrong for Kate, and all she wants to do is disappear and put her past behind her, but one phone call can change it all and offer her a fresh start.

Word Count: 1,371

Warnings: Sarcasm (Does that need to be a warning?)

Kate came back to her motel room, the place she’d hardly call a home after having to give up her apartment. She plopped herself in a worn down chair and put her feet up on the table. The clock on the wall in front of her told her it was almost one in the morning. Somehow her Saturday night had taken her all the way to Sunday morning. She was completely screwed. To be fair, she knew it would catch up with her eventually. All of it. She sighed deeply as she pressed her fingers to her temples. She felt a wicked headache coming on.

Where she’d go from here, she hadn’t a clue. She’d made several bad choices during her time here in California. Too many women, not enough sleep, and one case that she was far too desperate to solve. That was the one that had really bit her in the ass. She'd have to pack, which was a joke because what could she possibly want to take from this place? Her plants, pressed flowers and books were the only things of any importance to her.

Tomorrow there would be no trace of her ever having been here. She’d do a deep clean before she left, floor to ceiling, and put this chapter of her life behind her. But she couldn't focus on any of that now. Kate closed her eyes, craving the blissful ignorance of a sleeping mind and that’s when her phone rang.

Kate groaned and fumbled for her cell on the table before reluctantly opening her eyes and taking her feet off the table to reach it. "What now," she wondered aloud.

"Yeah," she answered, leaning back and closing her eyes again, far too annoyed to be any more polite than that.

"Nice to hear from you too. How’s California treating you?"

Kate's eyes shot back open, and she sat straight up at the realization of who that voice belonged to. She almost couldn’t believe it. "Gil, is that you," she asked, suddenly perking up, her budding headache all but forgotten for the moment. "I didn’t recognize your number. California has run me ragged. I think I've overstayed my welcome."

"I heard," Gil said on the other end of the line.

"Oh, so this isn’t a courtesy call," Kate teased. "You have an agenda. Alright, come out with it. How can I help the incomparable Gil Grissom?"

"That depends, do you want a job," he offered.

Kate was struck dumb for a moment. "A job," she asked, as if she had somehow managed to hear him wrong.

"I know what happened out there with the—"

"Anderson case," Kate finished for him. She heard those damn words in her sleep now. "Right. And you’re what? My knight in shining lab coat?" If she were being honest, she'd almost had enough of the job. Crime scenes, murders, maybe that wasn’t her thing after all. Then again, she couldn’t see herself doing anything else. What would she be, a florist?

"Yes," she found herself saying automatically. "If you’re serious, I’ll take the job."

"See you Monday then," Grissom said, and Kate could almost see the smirk on his face. Despite herself, she was smiling too.

Kate hung up, feeling the headache again as it lingered towards the back of her head, threatening to hit her full force when she least expected it. She had to sleep. Maybe just four hours, then she’d pack, clean and get the hell out of California.

Her alarm clock jarred her awake, now at five. She must have been out the second her head hit the pillow because she didn’t even remember setting the alarm. Her headache now a distant memory, Kate rose, stretched, her off white tank riding up as she raised her arms. She shook off the remaining sleepiness that fogged her head and got to work. She hung and placed her plants in the bed of her truck, carefully piled her books of pressed flowers and leaves in her backseat, and after putting aside a pair of jeans and navy blue tank, she folded the rest of her clothes in one big heap and put them in the back as well. Now to clean.

Being a CSI made her an expert in deep cleaning. Though it wasn’t really a CSI's job to clean the scene, it’s where she got her start in the field. She’d had a part time job at sixteen, and then on through the end of college, cleaning up crime scenes, so by the ripe old age of twenty eight, she knew what she was doing.

The place was spotless by the time she finished, though it took her much longer than she’d wanted. She’d burn what she no longer needed when she got around to it, starting with the dart pierced photo of her ex, Gretchen. She didn’t want to think about that woman ever again if she could help it. She couldn’t blame her for everything that had gone wrong in LA, but Kate always had the sneaking suspicion that Gretchen had been the start of it.

Maybe she’d spark her lighter now and get rid of all the bad karma that even a picture of her seemed to carry. Going outside, Kate flicked open the lighter she still carried, though she’d given up the habit of smoking years ago. It had really only ever been a phase for her, but the flame calmed her to look at every now and again, so she’d kept it. As the photo took on the flame, Kate watched the picture curl in on itself, taking the image of Gretchen's dark brown hair and steely grey eyes and turning it into nothing more than ash. She dropped it when the flame came too close to her fingertips, bidding it good riddance.

The trip to Vegas lasted her until a little after her usual lunch time, so with her stomach growling, she called up Gil to meet him for a bite, and, if he was agreeable, a favor. Frank's Diner, he had told her. He’d meet her there in twenty minutes.

Kate had remembered the place from the last time she’d been in Vegas for a convention. She and Gil had ducked out of the convention a bit early, both already having done the presentations they’d come to give, and Frank's was where they’d gone. It took a couple of tries to remember where it was located, but she didn’t get too lost. Only a couple of minutes late. She walked inside to find Gil already at a table waiting for her. She walked over and slid into the booth across from him.

"Almost thought you were going to stand me up," he teased her.

"Never. Just because you stood me up three years ago, doesn’t mean I’m out looking for payback. I don’t hold grudges, Gil." Kate paused for a beat. "Not for that long anyway," she added with a smirk.

They laughed and talked, catching up on the highlights of the past three years. Speaking on the phone twice a year really only covered the basics. Then as their plates emptied, Kate realized that time was closing in on her if she was going to ask for that favor.

"The reason I wanted to have lunch, besides to catch up, of course, is that I sort of need a favor." Gil smiled like he’d been expecting as much. "Is there any way you’d allow me to stay at your place," Kate asked, eyes pleading. She hadn’t had the time to make living arrangements, surely he’d know that. She was resourceful though, she’d find something soon enough, but in the meantime, she preferred not to be homeless. "Promise not to overstay my welcome. I’ll be out in a month, tops. You won’t even know I’m there."

Gil gave a single nod as Kate left the money and tip for their bill on the table. "So I can stay," she asked for clarification.

"You can stay. One month. That’s the extent of my hospitality."

"It isn’t," Kate stated. "It’s the extent of time you can tolerate someone being in your domain, but nonetheless, I appreciate it. So, shall we go home?"

Also Read On AO3 + Wattpad

[sevenincubistolemyheart]

Lightened Shadows Chapter 2

AU: Final Fantasy 4

Tag list: @xsunnyhoseokx @otomehideout-indecentconfessions @file-missing​ @risefallrise​

Rating: M

Potential Triggers: Pretty descriptive fantasy violence this time around(boss fights will hopefully always be this well written; I’m real proud with how the scene came out so I hope you like it). 

Pairing: Ever-evolving :)

Genre:  Drama, Romance, Angst, Fluff, Hurt & Comfort

Length: 6.2k+

The air was cool from the little you could feel thanks to your armor but you knew it’d heat up quickly thanks to the sun. Thankfully, it hadn’t risen too much given how early it was. 

“Shall we stop in town first?”

Yoongi stopped you as you turned in the direction towards where the cave you needed to go through waited with a gentle hand on your arm, your armor clanking at the contact.

“Hm? Didn’t you say you already got provisions just this past nightfall?”

He smirked sheepishly and shrugged.

“I may have forgotten in the midst of the men celebrating my victory in our spat. Apologies. Shall we?”

You nodded, barely holding back a sigh. 

‘As if I don’t feel bad enough. Now I have to go get supplies and probably scar a few children in the process with my intimidating appearance. Spectacular.’ 

You entered the quaint little village just diagonal to the castle gates and looked around, trying to go through the brief list of what you needed in your mind. 

‘It should be a short expedition; 2 days at most, 3 if we stop to pitch a tent after delivering the ring to get their explanation once you entered the village.’

 You were sure you wouldn’t be welcome there for long. The town of Mist was known for little else than their reclusive nature and had never been particularly fond of those that hailed from Baron, so perhaps best you purchase one just in case they wouldn’t let you stay at the inn as you feared.

Yoongi led the way to the item shop and offered you a wave as he ran off somewhere; probably to attend to some last-minute errand he’s forgotten about. 

“How can I help you today, my Lady?” 

It was a quick transaction; you luckily had plenty of gil to spare thanks to the 500 gil provisions the King’s guard had insisted you take, along with 5 Potions and a Phoenix Down should the worst come to befall one of you in battle. You bought one more Phoenix Down for good measure in addition to that Tent and exited looking around to see Yoongi’s distinctly teal armor. He’d always hated that ugly green the other Dragoons were forced to wear, so he’d had Jin help him create his own armor once he'd been promoted to Captain.

Having experience building airships was surprisingly helpful in creating armor that could withstand some damn mighty blows apparently. 

You exited the shop looking around for Yoongi carelessly as you walked through the town, trying to not draw any attention to yourself; only to look down in surprise at a sudden banging from your armor being hit repeatedly. A small boy was there, angrily pounding on your armor with tears streaming down his face. 

“You took my Daddy away!! I hate you!”

A wince graced your face behind your mask and for once you lowered it, kneeling to the boys’ height and gently restraining his hands firmly in your own. You had no choice but to take many people to the guards if they happened to be foolish enough to run into you. It had been one of the ways you’d rose in rank so quickly; catching criminals. But...it never made it any easier to see the carnage left in the wake of your actions. 

“...I’m sorry. I know there is naught I can say to soothe your pain, but all I can do is apologize. I had a duty to fulfill, and I did as was necessary.” 

The child sniffled, but the hatred once in his eyes had died down to a mere simmer. 

“You don’t seem so mean. Please miss...I just want my Daddy back. Mommy said he’s served all his time; can’t you get him for me? I promise I’ll work doubly hard to ensure we’re never poor enough to have to steal again!”

He seemed so proud, puffing his chest out, and as you released his hands he placed them on his hips in a show of how strong he could and would be. 

A glance upwards saw his Mother suddenly rushing towards you both and the woman was on the floor on her knees, hands, and head both level to the ground at your feet. 

“Please Lady Captain! Forgive my boy! He means no harm!” 

Your heart clenched as you stood and the boy seemed distressed, seemingly coming to the conclusion that you were leaving as he grabbed onto your arm. 

“Miss, please! His name is Raisoro. Even if it's not today please at least look for him when next you return to the castle!”

You noticed Yoongi waiting as the crowd parted and knew you'd have to make this quick. He'd never been good with this kind of situation. 

You nodded resolutely, meeting the boy’s eyes.

"I swear it on my role as a Dark Knight…"

You met the mother's eyes too as your gaze softened behind your visor and you helped her to her feet. 

"And as someone who also loves another. I will check and return for you once I next visit the castle. I have a mission to do before that so it may take some time but-"

"Thank you Lady Captain! You're so gracious!" 

The mother was barely holding herself together at your words and you squeezed her hand briefly before you pulled away after a ruffle of the boy's hair and made your way to Yoongi who was looking on in solemn understanding. 

"...Dare I ask?"

"The boy's father has been in prison past his sentence, caught stealing food for his family. I promised I'd check once we got back."

Yoongi glanced at you from his place beside you as a chuckle escaped him. 

You felt your cheeks heat and huffed defensively. 

"What's so funny!?"

He shrugged with a fond smile as he shook his head. 

"Still too kind for your own good is all. Could have been a lie, an attempt to steal money, or a ploy to stir up rebellion in the town against the King starting with you by using a young boy but you responded so genuinely that even if that's what it was it backfired miserably."

He snickered a bit more, a rare sound to be sure for most but you enjoyed it nonetheless even as you blushed.

"It's my job as Lady Captain. I may serve the Red Wings but the townspeople are my concern too. I guess it probably seems silly since you're of the Dragoon branch, only responsible for protecting the castle and monster patrol.” 

His laughter died but you caught the amused smirk at his lips.

“All the better for me. People can be complicated whereas fiends are useful for little more than target practice and exercises to bring my jumps to larger heights.” 

You shoved him playfully with a roll of your eyes.

“Alright hotshot; that’s enough bragging. Did you do your little errand? I want to check in with Hoseok’s Mom while we’re here. You know how worried he can get about her when he gets stuck at the castle healing overnight.”

Yoongi seemed to hesitate at that but reluctantly nodded and let you lead him to the small house towards the center of the village where Hoseok’s mom had received her own home after Hoseok had received his white cape as proof he was a Baron White Mage. You knocked on the door and after a moment it swung open to reveal Hoseok’s mother. You smiled kindly, mouth guard already lowered out of respect even as she glared at you disapprovingly. 

“What do you two want!?” 

“I just wanted to check in on you. Hoseok wanted to ensure you were eating enough and healthy.” 

She huffed irritably and leaned against the doorjamb as Yoongi shifted uncomfortably beside you, causing her gaze to briefly shift to him before going back to you. 

“I’m doing just fine; no thanks to you. His Majesty’s recent behavior troubles me. I heard you and your boy there have been doing some just terrible things, under his orders or no. All I want is Hoseok to be safe from such gory acts and that’s your job as his lover.” The glare she gave Yoongi did not go unnoticed by you and you noted the way his whole body tensed and his mouth went in a firm straight line. “And that goes for any kind of hurt. Have I made myself clear?”

You maintained your amicable smile even as it felt like you’d just been speared through the heart. Your voice was unbearably soft as you responded, cursing the way it wavered. 

“O-Of course madam. I will protect him till my very last breath if I must. I would happily absolve any pain he has experienced or will in the future if I was only able, so he wouldn’t have to shoulder an ounce of suffering.”

She nodded and raised her chin in superior pride at your answer before she nodded curtly. 

“Good. Ensure your feelings forever remain so stalwart; as do your ideals or the world may lose one Dark Knight.”

With that, the door slammed shut, and the sting of her obvious distrust bordering on rejection cut deep as you all but stumbled away with Yoongi hot on your heels as you made your way through the little alcove at the back of the village to the river where you knew no-one would be. 

You were barely maintaining the lid on your emotions but at the sight of your glassy gaze, Yoongi couldn’t withhold his ire and hissed through gritted teeth as he clenched his fists.

“Who does she think she is talking down to you like that!? Hoseok and you have been together for how many years now? 3?” 

He snarled as he whirled to grip your shoulders unintentionally being a bit rough, not that it made a difference thanks to the armor guarding your shoulders, careful to avoid the spikes. 

“She even dared to imply you of all people would be unfaithful. After everything you’ve been through with Hoseok and me, it just-” 

He inhaled sharply to try and gather himself and his eyes rushed to yours at your watery giggle. 

“Is something humorous?”

He certainly didn’t find any amusement in this.

You smiled weakly. 

“I just find this all morbidly ironic. I told Hoseok just last night how cowardly I was and it seems even his mother agrees.” 

Yoongi wrenched himself away from you with a hiss, eyes narrowing. 

“You? A coward? That is comical.”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand. I obeyed His Majesty’s orders without a second thought. I harmed innocent people-”

“Except they’re not innocent. You seem to be forgetting that. His Majesty explicitly said they knew too much of the Crystal and its secrets-”

“And what gives him the right to decide that!? It’s not our culture or our way of life!! We’ve been focused on technological advancement rather than the power of the crystals for decades...why now does His Majesty seem so intent on them!?”

You covered your mouth in horror at the treasonous words that escaped your lips, and Yoongi had gone eerily still as well before he quickly looked around for any potential eavesdroppers. 

Seeing none, he lowered his voice and frowned seriously at you once again placing his hand on your shoulder. You could see the weight of your words had made their mark from the grim look in his eyes. So it troubled him too. You always knew he was a good actor but his emotionlessness towards this subject, in particular, had admittedly made you feel isolated in your beliefs. Sure, you’d heard the rumors, but they hadn’t been raised by His Majesty as you had. Their opinion simply didn’t hold the same weight as Yoongi or Hoseok’s would. In any case, Yoongi’s low drawl of your name made your eyes lock onto his. 

“They were deceitful and thankfully His Royal Highness caught it in time before they began a rampage against the whole Blue Planet. Let us be grateful for that and move on. Yes?”

Hesitance shown in your eyes but you swallowed back the bitter taste of betrayal on your tongue and nodded. No time to wallow in any case; you had Hoseok to get home to. 

“Enough talk. Let us depart for Mist."

Yoongi finally seemed appeased and he watched as you raised your mouthguard once again though he didn’t comment on it as you both exited the little alcove at the back of the town, only for Yoongi to bump right into a familiar girl. 

“June! How’re things?”

You easily put on a mask of ease, though at the younger girl’s giddy grin you found it wasn’t difficult. 

“Oh, it’s been just peachy! You know Jin...always working! But he came home last night so to reward him I’m baking him his favorite pumpkin pie for when he finally wakes up.”

“He still hasn’t awoken? It’s only a little past dawn but I’ve seen him working well past this just last week…” 

Yoongi mused and you saw the twist of a smirk on his lips when you shot him a knowing glare. 

June huffed at that, shaking her head in disappointment. 

“I’m gonna wring that old man's neck one of these days, mark my words! He works too hard...we’re not that hurting for gil.”

Her last phrase was little more than a mumble but your hand was already reaching for your gil pouch before you could even consciously think. As if anticipating your movements though, Yoongi took a step forward, hand already outstretched with a small pouch, filled to the brim and neatly tied off. 

At June’s wide-eyed hesitance, Yoongi cut her off as she opened her mouth, no doubt to refuse. 

“You’d best take it before a pickpocket does. I’ll remain standing like this until the gil is taken.”

His voice was a low rumble, despite his words as he clearly wanted her to have it, not some thief, and all three of you knew even should he keep his word like you knew he would, he’d merely reclaim his gil and find some other way to give it to the family, perhaps by smuggling it into Jin’s biweekly wages.

June finally took the pouch, and you felt a little misty-eyed as you watched her throw her arms around Yoongi, taking the Dragoon Captain by surprise and making him stumble and fumble to return her gesture of affection with an awkward pat on her back. 

“Y-Yes yes of course, now just release me, will you? People are staring.”

He grumbled, and you were sure without his mask he’d be red as a beet by now. 

Yoongi grew serious, however, and gently caught June’s hand as she went to run off after thanking him profusely. 

“I want you to be sure you go right on home and hide that somewhere nice and secure. Only take what you need and then return to the markets. I don’t want you being targeted for fraternizing with the likes of us. And…” He hesitated but finally handed her something else you couldn’t see as he stepped into her space as he abruptly tugged her into a proper hug. 

“Take that as well. Use it only if you must.” 

He mumbled something else by her ear and then just as quickly pulled away. June looked flustered as well, a little nervous and as Yoongi rejoined you, you side-eyed him with a hint of mirth in your gaze. You were positive he could feel it and eventually after a minute of walking towards the exit he hissed only once you’d both been alone for several minutes.

“What?”

You offered a simple hum. 

“Hm? Oh, I’m just recalling a certain Dragoon mocking me not an hour ago for being too kind. Yet here you are, giving away money I know you’d been saving up for that new lance you wanted. You even gave her a weapon by the looks of it.”

Your voice quieted for that last part as you drew closer to him to whisper and he merely sighed in resignation at that. 

“Of course you noticed. Always so knowing, aren’t you? June deserves to eat. Did you not also happen to notice the flatness of her gil pouch? You know how much they’ve been inflating prices.”

You blinked at that in surprise.

“The item shop charged me the same rate as always. I had no idea…”

Yoongi snorted at that, cool and sarcastic. 

“Of course they would. You’re the King’s guard dog, they know better than to draw your, or my ire. But the townspeople? They are not so lucky. There is a reason people like that family who pleaded with you have had to turn to stealing and they are but one of many.”

“And here I thought I was knowledgeable on the way our people were treated...how do you know all this?” 

Yoongi shrugged. 

“My men have families here; unlike the Red Wings who’re typically born into the military, the Dragoons have always been expected to be enlisters. The practice may have died some with the passage of time but it is still a thing of the present and I asked a few of them to report to me. I pay them a little extra on the side and they know I’m not a turncoat despite being close to His Majesty. You’re the first one I’ve told, actually and I know well enough you’re as good for your silence as I.”

This new information made dread sit heavy in the pit of your stomach. First a degradation of the King’s morality, and now even Baron’s shopkeepers were turning against civilians? You froze for a moment and swallowed nervously. Your King. He was your king still. The just and firm but kind man who’d raised you into the woman you had become. Deep breaths. All would be forgiven and explained when you returned. You were sure of it. Yoongi had said so and he was always right. You just had to have faith. You and Yoongi reached the gate and you looked to him as you ensured your armor was tightened and your sword scabbard ready to give you access to your sword at a moment's notice. 

He too had done his checks and nodded at you, mouth now in a stern frown as he readied himself with grim determination for the journey ahead. 

After a shared nod at one another, you both stepped out into the overworld and began making your way to the Cave of Mist. 

The monsters had been gradually growing more and more feral as the years had gone on. Now they were violently beyond reason, willing to strike at a moment’s notice; including those who didn’t pose a threat. You remembered a simpler time where more docile monsters had been used to train even children, including yourself, Yoongi, and Hoseok. Now, it was a risk of death every time trade happened. Perhaps it was a good thing tensions were so high between the nations nowadays.

In any case, Yoongi and yourself were trained to fight and take out even the most intelligent of monsters thanks to being taught the ways of the sword and lance respectively by your King. Yoongi also had his father for a time to fall back on before he perished. Most monsters seemed to catch onto this and kept their distance from you both, but those either too foolish or too hungry to care still attacked. You remained unscathed, your armor keeping you safe from a particularly volatile Sword rat, the purple beast expelling it’s sharp spines your way. Even bringing up your shield, a few broke through your defenses and you couldn’t help your wince as they made contact with a harsh reverberation as they hit your chest and legs.

Yoongi took a risk and threw his spear at the beast and thankfully it cried out in pain before finally going limp.  He retrieved his weapon and shot a smirk your way, and claimed you’d owe him a drink once you returned to Baron.

That was the only incident you had come across until you reached the cave itself. Since most monsters knew better than to start a fight with you both, you hoped those dwelling within the Cave of Mist would have the same ideas. 

Oh, how wrong you were. 

The larvae and eyewing moths inhabiting the cave were particularly irritating. The moths liked to blind you and the larvae loved to use slow, only prolonging their inevitable deaths. Blind was always a pain to deal with; you both being melee attackers and all. Sure, spell casters and mages were affected as well, but oftentimes they could locate the monsters or other teammates thanks to locking onto their energy if they were fast enough. No such luck here. 

Still, you managed to take them out. However, something strange had occurred, twice now which was not to your liking.

 A voice had called out to you, ghostly and ominous, ordering you both to return whence you came. It had no discernable gender, but the lilt underneath the words made you guess it may have been female. 

Could this be the Eidolon you’d been sent to slay? 

Despite the constant feeling of being watched, the journey through the cave was not a difficult one and you sensed no malice from the entity. Not until you reached the cave’s exit in any case. 

“You are not welcome beyond this point, swine of Baron. Return to your castle and leave this place in peace.”

You frowned at that, ring sitting heavily in its own dedicated pouch at your hip and the image of Hoseok’s worried face in your mind. 

“We can’t do that. Please, I beg you allow us refuge. We have a mission we must see through!”’

“As do I. I take it you mean to refuse my plea then?”

The voice had gained an aggressive but defeated edge and Yoongi stepped forward, all cocky indifference. 

“We have given you your answer.”

“...Very well. Then you leave me with no choice. Forgive me.”

With that, the mist that had not aided your journey in the least began coalescing and you both drew your weapons in preparation. 

A pink scaled dragon had appeared in front of you, and you and Yoongi could both sense the difference in power compared to the weak monsters thus far. You’d used up what little Eye Drops you’d had in stock, and now only had 2 Potions after healing at the slightest injury earlier, thinking you’d had plenty. Luckily you still had both Phoenix Downs should one of you fall unconscious before the other. 

You shared a look with Yoongi and he nodded in understanding, before hopping up and continuing to move from rock to rock, trying to get as much height as possible to come down all the harder on your enemy. Not one to be left out, you turned your attention to the battle, knowing full well you were the only remaining target, and steeled yourself, letting dark energy surround you as you carefully fed just enough of yourself into your attacks to power them up while not causing too much physical damage to yourself. 

It still made you wince and caused an off sensation within your soul whenever you chose to use Darkness but the King always said the payoff would be worth it if the enemy went down. 

Said enemy roared in frustration and swung a large claw at you which you barely managed to dodge before slashing, watching as darkness coated the wound you’d left, seeping in and making it hurt all the more. Your eyes widened in surprise as before you could hop back the creature snarled and jumped, shoving you to the ground with its claws and holding you there as its face lowered towards your vulnerable frame. 

Yoongi couldn’t have chosen a better time to come, slamming down onto the back of the beast, spearing the Eidolon with as much force as he could muster. You watched as blood gushed, ignoring the confusion that hit you at seeing the substance to instead take its momentary preoccupation with Yoongi as it tried to bite him off of its back to get ahold of your sword and stabbing its foot to make it release you. 

It let out a wail of pain, and you knew you were close. Yoongi deftly hopped off and dragged you out from under the creature, tossing you a Potion before he unleashed a flurry of passionate slashes to keep the monster engaged and focused on him. You quickly slammed your mouth guard down and chugged the bitter liquid with a gag and a grimace, feeling the physical aching and the toll on your soul both fade as you regained full lucidity. 

You shook off your daze and felt the power of Darkness fade as fast as it had arrived. Better not to use it twice in one battle and from the way the beast had slowed it seemed the battle was finally coming to an end.

Yoongi was holding his own quite well; he’d always been the more nimble out of the two of you what with having to find the perfect openings to Jump and all and he’d already managed to push the creature back some so you could recover in peace. 

“Shall we finish this?”

He asked gruffly, panting. 

You nodded, but as you went to strike now that it was cornered it suddenly...dissipated into mist? 

Well, that just wasn’t fair. 

“You will pay for that…”

The ominous threat was made good on and you gasped as a snow-like substance slowly fell around you and Yoongi. You fell to your knees at the freezing cold that enveloped you. Damn. This was why you loathed magic attacks. No matter what armor you wore it mattered not. 

You saw Yoongi go down out of the corner of your eye and lunged with a cry of pure, unadulterated fear as the monster came into existence once again and made as if to strike him. 

Claws raked across your back and again, your armor or no, you felt the impact and the pain shortly after, even with the adrenaline coursing through you. You were both going to die entirely if you didn’t do something now. 

You tossed a Phoenix Down over Yoongi, knowing it’d take a moment for the bird of resurrections feathers to revitalize his life force once again, and stood defensively in front of him. A snarl turned your face to something ugly and you hissed at the monster. 

“You want him? Then you’ve got to get through me first!!”

Your cry clearly met its mark as the creature roared in ire at being provoked and you neatly dodge rolled to avoid being hit as it attempted to catch you in its claws, scrambling for your item pouch. You shoved the last Potion’s contents down your throat before you let the power of Darkness surround you one final time, ready to sacrifice whatever was necessary of yourself to ensure Yoongi survived. He wouldn’t have much HP left - that Phoenix Down would only get him conscious and all it would take was one good hit for him to go down permanently. Just as you narrowed your eyes in concentration and went to swing downwards, Yoongi let out an abrupt shout and finished his final Jump; using the last remnants of his own power to finish the battle once and for all before you had the chance. 

The creature roared, in agony this time, and you watched in cold satisfaction as it collapsed to the cave floor in defeat. 

Without so much as a look at the monster that had nearly killed your closest friend you ran over to Yoongi and forced his arm over your shoulder. 

“What are you-?”

“Don’t pretend you aren't barely hanging onto consciousness right now you idiot. I know how Phoenix Downs work. It may revitalize you but it’s only enough to get you off the floor unless you also have a Potion or more on hand.”

You began trudging to the cave’s exit, squinting into the dusk. 

“We’re making a tent for the night, understand? We’ll go to Mist at first light. You’re in no condition to do anything right now besides recover. I’ll take watch after tending to your wounds and you’ll go right to sleep.”

Yoongi chuckled under his breath until he was forced to cough in pain and you frowned in annoyance at him briefly as fresh air greeted you both. It was a welcome change to the musky cave scent you’d both been stuck with for the past many hours you’d been stuck there. That damn mist had definitely cost you time and from how dark it was outside, you’d been there at least half a day. You'd made good time, if nothing else.  

“What’s so funny?”

“You can be such a parent sometimes. I’m fine. Being knocked out happens in fights sometimes. Besides, I managed to save you, didn’t I? I’d say I recovered just fine.”

He muttered cheekily, his voice gruff from being drawn unwillingly out of his unconscious state earlier. 

You grumbled at that. 

“I had it under control. And anyway...it’s dead. That’s all that matters. The only thing left to do now is to give this ring to Mist and see what they make of it. Surely one of them must know, else his Majesty would not have sent us here.”

You gently set Yoongi down onto a grassy hill you’d found, spotting Mist awaiting you both at the bottom. You were a little winded from carrying his weight; like it or not you were smaller and still weaker than him when it came to straight strength. A quick glance around made you relax a little as you sat down as well, taking off your helmet and letting yourself gulp in the fresh air with relief. It really had felt stuffy in that damn cave. Yoongi meanwhile was stripping himself of his armor, and you nodded down towards where a stream flowed steadily into the town. 

“Don’t be afraid to go wash up a little if you’d like once you feel well enough to stand. We can go at dawn as well if you’d prefer, given we’ll be sleeping outside tonight and all.”

Yoongi leveled a glare towards Mist and grumbled as he ran a hand through his messy locks, brushing away the dirt from the cave clinging to his undershirt and pants. 

“It’d be nice if we could just go rest at the inn but I know that’s an impossible venture. Say…” 

He winced as he examined a few of his wounds, mainly scrapes, and bruises but he had a nice long gash on his arm and head bled a bit as well, most likely from when he’d fallen unconscious. 

You could feel your own body aching but tried not to dwell on it, instead rummaging around your item pouch and grabbing a small loaf of bread you'd stashed away and a handkerchief Hoseok always made you carry. A small fond smile twitched onto your lips at the thought of him and you removed your helmet to see better. 

Yoongi had turned his gaze to you curiously, expecting you to stay in your armor in the case of monsters but you sighed at his inquiring gaze as you stood and merely walked over to the log he was sitting on, kneeling in front of him and beginning to dab at his bloody forehead. 

"Silly Dragoon. When will you learn to stop putting yourself at risk huh?"

You pushed the bread into his hands, with your free one continuing to dab at his wound gently. 

"Eat. It'll help you recover faster."

"But what about-" 

"I'm not the one who got knocked out."

You yelped as he suddenly grabbed your face and tilted your head to meet his steely brown gaze. 

"...You'll eat half or I won't so much as touch it."

You groaned as you smacked his hand away, grumbling at him as you uncorked the only Potion you had left and spilled a little onto the cloth to dab onto the cut on his head, the ghost of a smirk tugging at your lips as he let out a hiss of pain and clenched his hand into a fist. 

"You're such a child sometimes. Fine, you big baby. Just eat, will you? Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I should've picked up White Magic as well just to make up for your recklessness."

Yoongi eyed you over the bread as you sat back and sprawled out on the soft grass and nibbled at your half. 

"Don't act like you're the paragon of strategy. I saw how you were going to foolishly put yourself in a critical state to try and take the Eidolon out. Armor off. I know you're injured too and we still have ¾ of this Potion left."

His eyes narrowed with a little playful sadism and you knew he was looking forward to tending to your wounds as well. 

You smiled with a tinge of nervousness and shook your head. 

"No, I'm fine rea-"

"I will come over there and tug it off myself."

"Y-You're too weak to!"

You challenged in disbelief, calling his bluff. 

His eyes sparkled again and a cheeky grin now adorned his lips as he moved to stand, causing you to squeak and scramble away from him as you fumbled with your armor. 

"A-Alright alright! Sheesh!"

His low voice snickered in amusement as you blushed and reluctantly tugged off the heavy armor pieces. They'd been dented something awful in that fight; you’d need to get it fixed at a blacksmith once you got back to Baron. Still, you had to admit having the added weight off of your tired body was a welcome change. 

You were indeed injured as Yoongi and yourself had both noted and you winced at the gash in your side, not having noticed that the Eidolon must’ve managed to graze your side with its claws, fairly deeply. Your black t-shirt was tattered, barely sticking to your body from sweat and a bit from the blood as well. Your head was pounding too, the cool night air alerting you to just how hard you must’ve hit your head as you went down. 

“Come. Shirt off; that looks deep.”

You jumped a bit in surprise at Yoongi’s voice right by your ear, turning to frown at him over your shoulder. 

“I can take care of it myself Yoongi, you should rest.”

He stared you down until you caved with a huff and shucked off the remnants of your shirt. You made a good choice wearing your more flexible undergarments for activity today in anticipation of fighting. Made this all much more bearable, but Yoongi was resolutely focused on your wound in any case even so. You knew he wouldn’t lay down, let alone sleep until he knew you were at least taken care of. It warmed your heart that he cared for you so. 

That warmth faded to a whimper as gentle fingers brushed along the wound assessing the damage. 

“Apologies. Hm...Come. I want to clean this with water first. It’s deeper than it looks. It’s a good thing I brought that extra shirt with me after all.” 

You felt a little woozy truth be told, but you were still trying to keep yourself together. Yoongi had been knocked out after all. He had to be in worse shape than you. You had to be strong for him. 

Yoongi wasn’t buying it though. His gaze locked onto the way you swayed and when he saw you stutter a step as you went to start moving towards the stream nearby, he was quick to grab his shirt and rush to your side where he steadied you with a warm hand on your upper arm. 

“Idiot. How did you not notice you were losing this much blood?”

You laughed weakly, through the dizziness as Yoongi helped to guide you to the water. 

“Adrenaline is a powerful thing, as Hoseok says. I didn’t even feel it until you made me take off my armor.”

Yoongi growled at that, frustrated as he rushed to clean the wound, uncaring as you flinched at the icy water against your skin. 

"Well, we'll have to pray my actions are enough to keep you from meeting an early demise. I know you're strong but even you are Mortal."

The wound now as clean as it could be without magical help, Yoongi reached over for the Potion at his side and poured ¼ of the contents over the wound itself making you yowl in pain. 

He was too focused on his task to pay much attention, however, pouring the other ½ of the bottle onto his shirt which he pressed tightly to your side. He frowned seriously at you. 

"Hold it there, understand? I'll be back in a moment; I have to grab your armor piece. It'll hold the fabric tightly against the wound for the time being."

You meanwhile were trying to cope with the unbearable stinging. The wound had been deep indeed. You could feel the Potions remnants trying to stitch your body together, to slow the bleeding. It was working, however slow, but Ashura above it hurt. 

Yoongi returned after a time and you were surprised to see he was holding another Potion in hand. 

"How-?"

He frowned coldly as he crouched at your side and you registered he was now fully adorned in his teal armor save for his helmet which he'd taken off once he saw you. 

Your suspicion was confirmed when he wordlessly pressed a familiar earring into your hand. 

"You bloody idiot!!!"

Your voice was a poisonous whisper, not wanting to draw any sleeping monsters as you scowled at him and he numbly handed you the Potion. 

"Drink."

You shook your head. 

"I can't believe you went back to loot that Eidolon Yoongi.  What if you'd awoken a monster and-"

Your voice cracked and Yoongi sighed heavily as he saw angry tears make your eyes glassy. You could be so overemotional. You wore facades well around others but he and Hoseok had always been exceptions. You had no need to worry over him. 

"I'm here, alive and well, am I not? My wounds are light enough that a good night's sleep will be enough. But yours are more serious. I’m not risking losing you for the sake of your pride. Now drink or I’ll make you.” 

His voice lowered an octave at his last sentence and you glowered at him one last time before tossing the Potion back, wincing at the disgusting taste, but sighing in relief as your wound knitted itself back together, speeding up your body's cell regeneration a bit. It was no Hi or even X Potion, but it had sped the process up enough to be sure your body would be fully healed by tomorrow, and at least the bleeding had stopped. A touch of your head and you noted the tingling sensation had faded. Hopefully, any injury you had there had ceased to be as well. 

Yoongi had busied himself with attaching just the armor for your side into place so that the Potion soaked fabric would be held against your skin but he turned his gaze to you as he stood and stretched, once again discarding his armor. 

“Well; that’s enough excitement for one night. I’m going to go rest until we have to rise at first light.  Call if any particularly threatening monsters arise.”

You also stood, your own armor halfway back on as you gently called his name. 

“Yoongi!”

He paused, halfway up the hill. His hair was mussed from his rush to loot the Eidolon for your benefit; his long blond ponytail trailing behind him. Long hair has been a part of Dragoon culture for nearly as long as the profession itself had been. It was as characteristic to the culture as the Monks wearing it short, braided, or not at all. Yoongi had mentioned his father had explained that it was a demonstration of the freedom Dragoons symbolized and always fought for. He turned to look at you and his perceptive brown eyes locked onto your own. 

You smiled kindly, gaze sincere. 

“Thank you. I know I can be…” 

You sheepishly rubbed at the back of your neck. 

“A bit difficult sometimes. I appreciate it, and you.”

Yoongi scoffed but you could now clearly see his cheeks turning red in embarrassment before he whirled to finish his journey back towards camp to hide it. You still caught the fondness of his tone though, despite the playful words.

“Always so soft…”

You watched until you could no longer see him and turned back to your armor, finishing putting it on and tugging your darkened helmet over your head once more. Luckily the night was still with the only sounds you could hear being the stream beside you and the chirping of harmless bugs. The twin moons were both full tonight, illuminating the Blue Planet brilliantly. 

Nevertheless, you decided to do a quick perimeter check deciding your newly healed body could use the movement. It was a peaceful night and you heard the faint crackling of torches as you neared the entrance to Mist. You couldn’t help your curiosity as you watched a young girl run to the river, bucket in one hand and a cloth handmade doll in the other haphazardly sewn together. 

She seemed panicked and you faintly heard her voice carry to where you stood just beyond the tree line. 

“Agh I can’t believe I forgot to restock!! Mom’s gonna kill me!!”

She finally managed to get the bucket full but you winced sympathetically as in her rush she tumbled over the bucket and sent water spilling everywhere; soaking her to the bone. Just as you debated emerging to help, an older woman with the same hair and eye color ran out of the town and up to her, a worried frown on her lips. 

“Jenjia just what do you think you’re doing!?”

Her voice was much quieter you noticed thankfully; it would’ve probably been bad if any fiends had been awoken earlier. 

The girl, Jenjia as you now knew her, looked sheepish and beamed nervously up at her mother, clasping her hands behind her back. 

“I’m sorry Mom, I just realized we didn’t have any water to boil! You like to have your tea at night with Daddy and I forgot when playing with Cheryl earlier…” 

She scuffed her worn looking loafers on the ground as her mother shook her head. 

“Well then that’s a day well spent, isn’t it? I’d rather have my daughter home safe and sound than a cup of tea Jia. Your father will feel the same. Leviathan will keep our water flowing clean until tomorrow to refill the stores. Come along now; I’ve already put some beef stew on the stove and I’d rather it didn’t get cold.”

Your heart warmed at the gentle interaction even as a bitter twinge you didn’t want to acknowledge made your chest hurt. You had His Majesty, and that was enough. You never would’ve found Yoongi or Hoseok without him. You turned away as you recalled Yoongi and the girl grabbed her Mother’s hand to be led inside. 

Best you were on your way in any case; it wouldn’t be good if Yoongi woke to find you missing, or if a monster snuck up on your camp.

The rest of the night watch passed uneventfully and Yoongi awoke, as he usually did, at first light. 

You offered him a capful of water from your flask and he drank it gratefully. You’d used up all the food last night; you really should bring more than simple bread next time. Honestly, it had just slipped your mind...this was why Yoongi and Hoseok typically took care of provisions. You always managed to miss something. 

You fiddled absentmindedly with the new earring Yoongi had presented you with last night. It was common practice within Baron to claim trophies from particularly tough monsters and wear them as badges of honor. Typically; you felt pride in a kill and yesterday your mind had been preoccupied with panic and anger but now that it was the next morning you felt no joy, no sense of victory, There had been...no malice or hate that you typically felt from monsters. And it had bled too. It was...odd. 

Still, Yoongi had risked his life to get it for you, and King Odin would surely be pleased with the sight of it upon your return. Best to keep it on for now. 

You jumped as a pair of armored hands abruptly clapped in your face and offered a weak smile to Yoongi as he held out his hand to help you up. 

You grasped it, and he easily pulled you to your feet. 

“How are you feeling?”

You couldn’t help the worry seeping into your tone but Yoongi waved you off. 

“I told you last night I’d be fine and I am. I feel fit as yesterday before we’d even departed. Rest can often be even more healing than a Potion or Cure spell. Now then, shall we go? I’m sure you must be exhausted and the sooner we return home the sooner we can get you some much needed and deserved rest.”

You nodded at that, and after making sure you both had snuffed out the fire and that your weapons and armor were properly set you began your short trek to the gates of Mist. 

It was a tiny village you knew, unlike Damcyan, Fabul, Troia, or Eblan there was no castle, and even Mysidia was more bustling and lively than the few houses dwelling here. It was humble to be sure, but there was a peace and a sense of sincerity here that you doubted you could find anywhere else. 

You fingered the box holding the ring in your pocket, a bit nervous now that you were here. Baron and Mist had never had particularly good relations. You prayed that the King asking for their input would establish a rapport and help you maintain a good relationship. You lowered your face visor, figuring being able to see some part of you that was human behind your demonic looking armor would help put them at ease. 

As Yoongi and you both entered the village you noticed the civilians within already began side-eying you distrustingly and couldn’t help but wonder if word of Mysidia had already spread but quickly reminded yourself that that was impossible. After all; Troia was the only neighboring kingdom and they would’ve had to have taken an airship here just to inform them. A general lack of airships besides Baron aside, Troia was always neutral anyway and pretty much entirely isolated.

Guess tensions with Baron really were high then. 

You suddenly noticed a woman approaching you and recognized her as the mother from last night. Her daughter clutched at her skirt, observing you with curious if shy eyes. You smiled at her while Yoongi offered a respectful nod to the mother. 

“Good day ma’am we were just-”

His words were cut off by your pained yelp as you ripped the now searing box that held the ring out of its pouch. You’d been so preoccupied with calming down the young girl you hadn’t noticed the rising temperature until it was near scorching. 

“The ring!”

The box was rustling wildly of its own accord as it hit the ground, and Yoongi frowned deeply in confusion only to roughly pull you back several feet as he too jumped back. 

The woman too had shoved her daughter behind her and was examining the box before recognition lit her eyes. 

“This is-!”

Boom

The box exploded open and Bomb monsters hidden inside didn’t waste any time as they began setting fire to anything and anyone they could. In seconds the village was burning and the smell of burning flesh was everywhere. You could do little more than watch in horrified shock as smoke already was causing your eyes to burn at the spot the woman had just been. That initial violent opening of the box had scorched the poor woman...and her daughter you noted numbly, where they’d stood. The girl-Jenjia you reminded yourself, she had a name- all that remained of her was her doll, slowly burning away to nothingness in front of your very eyes. Suddenly, an abrupt realization hit you.

The bombs were carefully not targeting Yoongi and yourself.

You shook violently as words escaped your lips in hushed horror, taking in the carnage caused in the wake of your visit. It had to be a mistake, it had to. Yoongi would be truthful with you. You must’ve missed something. This wasn’t happening.

“This is what we were sent to do?”

Yoongi looked around with detached and grim determination.

“He wished this village torched.”

Tears streamed down your face and evaporated just as quickly, whether from the flames and smoke or the horror and disgust coursing through you; who could say? You trembled with rage and clenched your fists so tightly your already dented armor creaked a bit more from the force of it. 

“But why?”

You raised your head to the sky and let out a guttural raw of pure primal agony. 

“Why!?!”

Yoongi remained silent beside you, but you could feel the tenseness coming off of him in waves. This upset him too, you were sure. You numbly looked back down at the ground and it took you a few moments to register a new sound amid the now silent town besides the crackling of the fire and the creaking of buildings as they collapsed in on themselves. Destroyed in mere minutes. 

A young boy sobbing. 

You grimly raised your head and began walking towards the sound hearing Yoongi’s steady footsteps beside you. 

You came across a mint haired boy, hysterically gasping over a woman’s body. Luckily the child was beside the only water source in the town; a small pool which seemed to have kept the Bombs at bay. 

As Yoongi and you approached, he clung all the harder to his mother, not even noticing both of you. You barely managed to make out the words between his heart-wrenching sobs. 

“Mother you can’t die! J-Just because your dragon did!!” 

Yoongi’s eyes suddenly lit with understanding behind his visor and you turned to him in confusion as he nodded to himself. 

“I’ve heard of their lot. Men who can conjure Eidolons...Summoners.”

It suddenly hit you and you mumbled to yourself as it all seemed to come together. 

“Then the dragon we slew...was...his mothers?”

The boy gasped at the sound of your voice and turned to glare fearfully at you and Yoongi making you wince as you met his gaze behind your visor in reluctant admission of your guilt. He stood in an attempt to appear more intimidating even despite the tremor in his voice showing how petrified he was just underneath the facade.

“You...You’re the ones who killed her dragon!?”

You swallowed the bitter taste on your tongue as you pleaded with the boy. Moon above, he couldn’t be more than 10. 

“Forgive us. We’d no idea this would happen to your mother.”

It sounded exactly what it was. Weak and pathetic. There would be no forgiveness. Not for this. Nor for Mysidia. 

You forced your gaze to his deceased Mother and sent up a prayer. As if that would help him now. 

Yoongi looked around and finally spoke up, tone matter of fact. 

“His Majesty sent us to eliminate every last one of these people.”

Your legs finally gave out, unable to take the weight being placed upon you. 

“No…”

Yoongi frowned as he looked down at you, assessing your condition before he began to move towards the boy with grim determination. 

“Foul work to be sure. But we’ll need to kill the boy as well.”

At that you lunged, just before he reached him, hopping to your feet and pushing against his chest plate in horrified desperation. 

“Yoongi!!”

Up close as you were, you could feel his breath on your skin, could hear the hateful sense of begrudging duty in his tone.

“It’s him or us ____!” 

You pushed him with all your might, making him take a step back even with the weakness coursing through your shaky body.

“He’s a child!”

You turned to look down at the still sobbing boy who was too preoccupied with trying to wipe his tears to pay attention to you both. 

“You’d betray your King?”

Yoongi’s voice now held a note of finality,

You turned to fully face him, clenching your hand into a fist and drawing it close to your chest.

“Betray him? Any King who’d wish for this is no King of mine!!” 

You snarled, harshly swinging your arm out in a subconscious show of disgusted frustration. 

Yoongi smirked at you suddenly and you found yourself startled as he scoffed in humor. 

“Hmph. I thought you might say that.”

Your eyes searched for him just behind your visor as you grew hopeful. 

“Then…?”

He looked off into the distance for a moment and then turned to you with sharp determination. 

“I owe his Majesty much but not so much I’d soil the Dragoon’s name in his.”

He planted his spear down with finality.

Your eyes widened and you stepped closer to him in excitement.

“Then you’re with me?”

He made sure to meet your gaze and wordlessly nodded twice in support before he turned, this time towards the destruction, and walked past the boy as he spoke, looking out at it. 

“Baron’s army is the mightiest in the world. Our flight means nothing if we remain alone; we must treat with other nations, share what we’ve seen…”

He hesitated and then turned to look at you once more. 

“And Hoseok, he must share our flight.”

Your tone softened in affection for him and you nodded, stepping closer.

“And he will. Thank you.”

He turned away for a moment and mumbled to himself. 

“...I’m not doing this for you.”

You didn’t hear him and tilted your head. 

“Huh?”

Yoongi ignored you however and turned to nod towards the boy.

“Quickly, we mustn’t linger here! What of the boy?”

You didn’t even hesitate. 

“We take him with us.”

After hesitating a moment you approached him where he was still crouched protectively over his mother’s body as Yoongi watched uneasily but stayed where he was. 

“Come, it’s not safe here! Take my hand.” 

You asked gently, holding out your hand to the boy. 

He hopped away from you with a glower. 

“No!!” 

Yoongi growled low in his throat at that.

“We’ve no time; use force if you must!”

He joined you as he ran over and Jimin cowered away in fear disguised as anger. 

“Stay away!”

You held out your hand as Yoongi and you both froze. 

“Wait!” 

The child began running in earnest and Yoongi and you both followed, hot on his heels when he suddenly curled in on himself with a choked sob.

“Leave me alone!” 

He suddenly screeched as blinding white light surged up from beneath his feet and you could feel the magical energy emanating from him. Yoongi had faltered but you kept running, refusing to be responsible for the death of another child. If he harmed you so be it...you deserved it anyway.

“I HATE YOU!!!”

You felt the earth shake violently and you glanced up to see a massive Titan made of pure earth. The Eidolon raised its hands, your eyes widened and you lunged curling your arms around the boy as you crushed him protectively against your chest as hard as you could just as he fell unconscious from exertion. You felt the Titan’s hands come down onto the Blue Planet’s surface hard and your body flew into the air. 

If you were to die then so be it, but let this child survive at least. 

He need not share the payment for your sins.

You slammed against the ground hard several times, but curled your body inward all the more around his tiny body in spite of the pain, praying your armor would be enough to absorb the impact as you finally, mercifully joined the child in unconsciousness.

A/N:  Welp, I hope those that actually read this series enjoy it; I’ve only gotten one rambly review on AO3 that inspired be to keep posting this so thank them if you enjoy this series and I’m not talking to myself. Anyway! Onto fun notes about this chapter! :) 

I find Yoongi’s characterization and his relationship to Reader to be one of the most fun parts to explore thus far for me this chapter as well as how they fight together in a serious battle. I also delved into status effects some as well as the various uses of Potions! Expect more explained uses of items and such as the series goes on! Yoongi’s look hair wise in Daechwita perfectly fits both the OG character Yoongi is based off of(Kain Highwind). Luckily it hit me as I was going through mvs, trying to decide if there was anything that matched Kain’s lucious locks and there it was! 

Also yay!! Official intro for Jimin! I know he’s never had mint hair before but I just had to include the nod to the OG game after doing Yoongi’s so...please bare with me. These are the ones I felt most fit what I was imagining. 

Hope you all enjoy and please leave feedback it’s a huge motivator for me! Much love hope ya’ll are enjoying the influx of content from me lately! <3

[artsyxloner]

Not Just a Monster

Warning: blood, violence, death

22: Outside Invaders Pt2

There was a lot of them, I kept hiding behind Corners, closets every time they came. Holding big guns walking like they were high a superior. With tattoos all over their faces smirking.

It made me want to punch them. As they walked past me without a second glance I waited until they were fully gone so I could continue to go forward.

I'm guessing their leader Jeung-Seop had the group. All in one room gathered up, those bitches were going to pay. Making my way down I heard more footsteps coming my way.

I hid again crouching down, I saw them turn a corner thinking it was one of them but to my surprise it was Sang-Wook. I immediately got up this must-have startled him because he pointed the gun right at me.

I put my hands up, " don't shot it's just me, Soo-Nico!" He seemed to notice lowering the gun down, I sighed in relief. " you okay?" He asked, he must have seen the blood on me. " A little roughed up but I'm fine."

I assured, I wondered if there was anyone else with him. " is it just you?" He nodded, " yeah, I picked up one of their guns." I couldn't tell what type it was I wasn't an expert.

" I noticed, but we should stop the small talk before we get caught." Sang-Wook agreed with me we Couldn't risk being heard. We needed to same the others But luck wasn't on our side.

Two men, one heavy set the other skinny approached pointing their loaded guns at us. " yeah, the little lady is right but it's too late for that sweet cheeks," the guy with the fat guy catcalled.

I Mentally puked in my mouth, gripping my weapon I want to slash his face in. But Sang-Wook got in front of me pointing his gun at each of them.

It was much larger than there's, they started to back away. But the guy on the left smirk. " you don't know how to use that do you?" He was looking at the safety on the gun. " no, I do not," before I time to think about what he said the other guys tried to shot at us.

But Sang-Wook knocked the one on the left with the gun slamming him against the wall so hard it knocked him out or he was probably dead from the blow.

The other one was running towards me picking up a small gun he had charged at me, but I brought up my weapon that was a thick wooden stick that was from a broken chair.

We were pushing against one another but I ended up shoving him to the wired fence wall. I knee him in the nuts using so much force he dropped to the ground along with his weapon. I grabbed him by By the collar of his jacket and slung him as he skidded through the floor.

I was surprised by how much strength I had. But he was quick to grab a small ax, getting ready to throw it someone else came running through I was so glad when it was Yi-Kyung.

She kicked him in the nuts too, getting him in a chokehold snapping his neck. Throwing him down to the ground. Sang-Wook seemed a little shocked.

I stared in amazement, " thought you were a fighter?" He questioned. " I used to be in the special forces. How did you find the rifle?" So that's what it was?

" I saw you hiding it." He tossed it to her. As she easily caught it checking out the gun As Sang-Wook picked up the guy's ax. It wasn't a little bit after we left searching for others that might hide.

As we came into one of the storage rooms, there was a small voice. Lookup to the vents we saw Yeong-su, my eyes widened his sister must be with the others. I hurried and claimed on top of a table opening the vent.

" Come here." I motioned with my hands for him to come to me, he looked kinda scared. But he crawled over towards me wrapping his small arms around my neck. I brought him down.

" Why did you go in there?" I wondered, how could he get up there by himself? He glanced down. " Well, my mission was to stay hidden. But I saw Yi-Kyung She's a secret agent, too... And grandpa wasn't coming. so I got scared."

He looked down sad, but I just smiled and ruffled his hair. " don't worry about grandpa, I but he's just fine." I didn't want to give him false hope. Gil-Seob was stronger than he looked.

But there was a rattling noise we all were startled by looking up in the event there was green slime. I saw it before when I was trapped in the spiderweb. It helped me. Yi-Kyung raised her gun but Yeong-Su tugged at their jackets crying out.

" Nooo, don't hurt it, it saved me!" He cried, they were still hesitant. So I spoke up. " it saved me to when I was trapped in the spiderweb it's good to trust us." I Clarified.

This made the boy smile

Yi-Kyung and Sang-Wook glanced at each other then lowered their weapons. " I'm holding you to that." Yi-Kyung confronted me, I wasn't even questioning it because she was just being cautious.

I didn't blame her, but it was the humans we had to worry about not Necessarily the monsters.  "all alright, if we Wait any longer more people will die." Yi-Kyung peeked behind a corner. " what's your plan?"

She turned back around to us leaning on the wall. " you can't shot a gun but can y'all at least?" She questioned Sang-Wook he was sitting down but nodded, "I'm usually the one chasing." He gave a forward answer.

" well let's hope you're fast. You're not alone anymore." She then turned to me. " Soo-Nico, you can use a gun can you?" I quickly shook my head. " No, but I can fight." She seemed okay wimpy answer.

" you and I will go in first we will Distract them, leading them away from the others. So they'll be able to get away we go in fast and don't hesitate to kill one of them. God knows they don't."

She was right, one tried to rape Ji-Su and the gunshots we heard could have been one of the group members. They were going to pay and big time. The two of us left while Sang-Wook stayed behind with Yeong-su, he didn't need to be in the middle of the crossfire.

Running down the hallway at full speed I was holding one of the guns, but only to hit them with. You-Kyung would do the shooting. As we neared the elevators there was a guy standing guard in front but his back was facing us.

Yi-Kyung raised her gun a fired it blood shot out of him as he fell to the floor with a loud thud. There were even gasp and screams. They must be holding them there captive.

I was nervous but I swallowed it knowing they needed saving right now I couldn't let my fears control me. We ran in as men came towards us. Gripping the end of my gun. I smashed it against one of the guys' heads.

Hearing a crack, I kicked him to the floor. My chest heaving up and down, I wasn't going to stop yet. As I saw the group they were all gathered around looking terrified. Except for Hyun-Su when he saw me I could have sworn relief had washed over his face.

I was glad he was alright, I wanted to run to him and hug him but I couldn't. I was still fighting men dodging them from every turn. Soon enough Eun-Hyuk yelled out to Hyun-Su he got up and punched a guy in the face Shoving him down.

I then noticed a guy was trying to come up behind but before I could hit him Hyun-Su was already there with a wheelchair he ran over him with it that tried to shoot me. I saw anger in Hyun-Su eyes, I was most certainly they would turn black.

His jaw was clenched, so tightly I could see his bone. Like he was going to rip one of the guys' heads off any minute now. He was so enraged as he picked up a gun, he rammed into someone with it against their neck.

I noticed the guy pulled out a knife, about to stab Hyun-Su I yelled out warning him. But as so as I did there was a loud gunshot and I felt something Pierce me from the back and go through my chest.

I was stunned for a minute as I began to scream. My mind went fuzzy as my white shirt was immediately staining red. I realized I had been hit. I wobble a little glance up Hyun-Su's face was in full Terror.

His mouth and eyes wide open, I couldn't breathe my vision blurred in and out as I fell to the floor. Trying to catch my breath I was gasping as I coughed up blood. My lungs were feeling up I felt it, it was like I was drowning in my own body.

My eyes shifted to the floor leaving Hyun-Su he was calling out my name in crys. He tried to run to me, he looked scared, as I saw tears drip down on his cheeks. He began to scream my name.

But the leader yelled out stop, it got quiet except for Hyun-Su's soft cries. I heard footsteps. I sounded like they were coming my way. My shaky face looked up it was the leader.

He smiled evilly at me, " it would be more fun to kill you and get it over with but watching to struggle is well you know is fun enough." He laughed kicking me aside so hard I gasped, feeling my ribs ache in pain.

" Don't fucking touch her!!"

He turned over to Hyun-Su who said it. " what do you mean this?" I felt another blow but this time he stomped onto my chest as I spit out more blood on the floor. " Stop—" I tried to talk but all that came out was more blood.

" awe, the poor thing can't even speak to her boyfriend without having trouble." He teased, that's when I felt someone grab a head full of my hair pulling me up. The person jerked my head back.

I hissed, " I'll let you say goodbye to your sweetheart just for a show performance." That when he pushed me towards Hyun-Su, my face was shoved into his stomach but he wrapped his arms around me. Holding me gently in his embrace.

I felt him slide to the floor, as my body got between his legs. He cradled my left side, pulling me closer to him as much as possible. " I'm here–I got you... I'm here!" His lips were placed on my forehead I could feel his tears tickle my face.

He was mumbling stuff but it was getting harder and harder to hear. " It... it hurts." I cried as I held on to his shirt. He rubbed my head, as his fingers ran through my hair. " it's alright, try to focus on something else." He said it to me but I could tell he was meaning himself too.

" Hyun– Hyun-Su is it alright if- if I kiss you?" I whispered weakly, not sure if he heard me. But If this was it then I wanted us to end in a goodie memory.

My head was on his chest, his heartbeat was speeding up. " is that the goodbye?" I gradually nodded. He was still crying. There was no other way to say it but that. Then Hyun-Su's hand slowly slid against my neck, as his fingers support the back of my head his thumb creased my cheek.

He leaned down a pressed his lips to mine. Still rough and chapped more than ever, I didn't care if anyone was watching. He deepened the kiss, " please stay with me PLEASE!" He murmured into my lips as we pulled away but he kept pecking at them.

As if it would somehow save me but I soon began to feel myself go limp. My eyelids were getting heavy, I tried so hard to keep them open but the dark vast sea of sleep was weighing down on me. " Hey! Stay awake Soo-Nico Stay awake!" Hyun-Su shook me pleading but I felt sleepier than ever.

" Don't do this, God! Please stay with me!" He kissed me again and again. But I didn't feel it I cried because I couldn't. " I'm sorry Hyun—" I could feel that being my last breath when I finally closed my eyes for the last time in his arms.

@xetherealbeautyx

[notgonnarememberthis]

i will wrap you in my arms (and keep you safe)

Well my city is under an ice storm warning and all my things got cancelled today so I wrote a little something to match the vibes. Enjoy!!

Gil steps out of his car arms loaded, the trudge through the snow is difficult but worth the scene he comes to. The lake had frozen overnight leaving the perfect conditions for their plans. Jessica had called him early in the morning to ask to join them at their cabin further up north. Plans of snowball fights and hot chocolate with his favorite family being too good to resist. Seeing this, he’s thankful he did. Jessica and Ainsley twirl around each other on skates, their laughter and the sound of ice scraping filling the air with joy.

For a seven year old, Ainsley took well to skating. She was a natural almost immediately, with all the grace of her mother who’d grown up skating but gave it up for a couple of years. Now their moves match the other and he smiles at how much Ainsley looks like her mother when she laughs. Her disappointment had been palpable when a group of moms decided they didn’t want Ainsley in their class, solely because of her name. Because of her father. Jessica had looked heartbroken and so angry. Thankfully, however, he knew of a lake that was perfect in the winter for this. 

Malcolm, who is sitting by the lake with a book in hands perks up at the sound of footsteps and runs over. “Gil!” He slows up as he approaches, realizing that he’s carrying their lunch but he smiles nonetheless. “I didn’t know you were coming!” Gil looks at Jess over his head with a sparkle in his eyes. Of course she wanted to surprise them.

“I couldn’t miss out on a snowball fight. Think we can beat your mother and sister?”

“Yeah!”

“Well we better eat up first. We’re going to need some fuel.” Malcolm casts a glance to the two of them. For a moment he looks mournful, like he would regret interrupting their moment of peace. He follows his eyes watching Jessica toss her head back, curls flying with the movement. “Tell you what, why don’t we give them a few minutes and you can tell me about the book you’re reading?”

Malcolm nods excitedly pulling them back over to the spot he’d been sitting. He has his own personal area set up with his book and a couple of games as well as his own skates if he decided to join the two of them. Gil takes up shop beside him letting him go on about the book about the cosmos that Jess had gotten him. He can’t help but smile as his eyes light up when he talks about it.

“Gil!” The excited shout pulls his attention back to the ice where Ainsley is speeding towards the two of them with her mother in tow.

“Ainsley be careful!” She calls out.

The moment plays out all at once. Jessica’s face sinks for only a second before she’s pushing herself even faster. Malcolm is on his feet in a split second, running towards them, seeing something that he hadn’t. Ainsley, who is blissfully unaware, lets out a cry as she’s suddenly scooped up from behind and thrown safely into a snowbank.

Gil’s mind clicks what was wrong seconds too late. Ainsley had been hurtling towards a dark, thin patch of ice between them. Jessica and Malcolm had seen it. The sickening crack shakes the air as Jessica drops beneath the surface with no more than a shout. 

Gil moves immediately into action grabbing Malcolm by the waste and stopping him before he can run out as well. “Stop!” He holds the squirming teenager tightly. “Go check your sister, get me the biggest branch you can find. I’ve got her.” He stops struggling and takes off to get Ainsley.

Gil slides unevenly across the ice dropping to his hands and knees as he gets closer to the hole. He screams her name but she’s not responding, only in short moments where she can only get out a shout or two before her head slips under again. It’s harder to get purchase there and his heart sinks as Jessica disappears underneath the black water and doesn’t come back up again. Once there he plunges his arms into the water desperately feeling around for her. When he doesn’t feel anything, he sticks his head in ignoring the pain as he tries against everything to see her.

When he surfaces he feels more than sees Malcolm passing him a long branch. He takes it with both hands pushing it into the water. He almost cries with relief when he feels the resistance of something pulling on it beneath the water. He reaches in again finding Jessica’s hand on the branch, from there he follows her arm until he can reach her shoulders pulling her with all his might onto the surface again. She comes up with a gasp, her breathing short from the cold and shock rushing through her. He uses the purchase of the back of her coat to pull her all the way out of the water.

She’s shivering violently and whimpering, “Ainsley.” She manages to get out, her teeth chattering the entire time.

“She’s safe, you tossed her out of the way.” He runs his shaking hand over her slicked hair checking to see if she hit her head at all but he doesn’t see any sign of bruising or scratches. He sits up cradling her head into her lap while keeping a close eye on Malcolm and Ainsley at the same time. “I got you Jess, I got you.” He whispers, dropping a kiss to her forehead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night it takes Malcolm and Ainsley longer than usual to settle down. The two of them hover around their mother like she does when either of them are sick and hurt. Ainsley is still a little confused at the events but she could tell Malcolm was worried, so she was worried. Jessica still sits in front of the fireplace, hardly moving all night other than to put the children to bed.

She looks smaller with the large blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair had long since dried but her shivering never subsided. He knows, deep down, she’s plagued by her own thoughts. That’s what is causing the shaking, not the cold.

He reaches down to her passing her a cup of hot chocolate. She looks up, as if startled by his presence but smiles at the offer. Her lip tweaks a little more at the marshmallows packed over the top. “Really?”

“It helps Ainsley when she gets worked up.”

“Is it spiked?”

“Couldn’t find any liquor.”

“Damn.” She smiles as she takes a sip nonetheless. He takes a seat next to her, their shoulders touching. She leans closer and it makes a shiver run down his spine. “Thank you.” He turns his head in confusion. “For saving me.”

“You don’t have to thank me Jess. You saved Ainsley.”

“I almost didn’t.” She whispers and the confession holds in the air heavily. “I felt the ice cracking as I picked her up. Another second and we both would’ve fell in. I keep seeing her stuck in there and I-”

“Malcolm tried to go out, if I wouldn’t have stopped him I think he would’ve thrown himself in to get you.” She looks at him startled.

“Is this supposed to help?”

He tips his head in a half shrug. “Point is, we can’t get lost in the ifs. You threw Ainsley like a ragdoll though, who knew you had it in you.”

“Yeah, well grabbing Malcolm mid nightmare while he’s sprinting towards the steps will build strength real fast.” She laughs but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. He reaches out taking her hand, when she doesn’t pull away he gives it a light squeeze. She’s stronger than most people he knows. To power through the things she does, he can’t help but admire her.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to go get checked out?” His eyes study her face. While there were no external signs of injury he’s more than aware how quickly hypothermia can set in. Even with how fast he and Malcolm got her to the car versus getting her warm in the cabin, he’s still weary about it all.

“No hospitals. Please.” He almost misses the plea at the end, it’s so quiet. “I’m fine. Really. If anything changes I’ll tell you.” He only nods wrapping his arm around her shoulders. The fire flickers in the quiet, pulling his attention to the dancing flames. “I’m sorry your day off wasn’t really as planned.”

“No.” He chuckles. “It sure wasn’t.” She sighs but he tilts his tone again, “I suppose it’s a good thing I got Nelson to trade shifts with me so I have the whole weekend here.” Her jaw drops in shock and she shoves him playfully. “Play nice.” He teases.

“Make me.” She blushes realizing the challenge had slipped out before she could control it. They’ve flirted a few times in the past year, this family quickly becoming his new normal. This feels different though, like the walls are closing in on them, like the air is electric. He leans in before she can begin to apologize.

Her lips on his feels like the universe righting itself. Everything at once clicking into place. He pulls away, not wanting to pressure her into something she doesn’t want but he wishes it would’ve lasted a little longer.

He gets his wish when she pulls him back in, abandoning her mug on the wooden floor. His hand goes to tangle in her curls pulling her even closer. The smell of vanilla and honey threatens to overwhelm his senses. The taste of the hot chocolate on her lips is addictive and he just wants more.

He pulls away again, this time to catch his breath. Her smile lights up the room more than the fire, her eyes dancing with a hope that she’d confessed to him years ago that she’d lost. It makes his heart skip more than a few beats to be the one to witness such a change. How lucky could he possibly be?

Settling back into the quiet with Jessica’s head on his shoulder he’s certain he’s the luckiest person in the world.

[softquietsteadylove]

Im sorry but I live for Thenamesh DRAMA! So for your newest Thenamesh Doctor AU I have to ask you this:

You probably know how people don’t realize or feel their wounds when high on adrenaline right?

Gil is driving with his partner when all of a sudden a reckless speeder crashes into them. Gil is badly injured but high on adrenaline he helps the people on the scene first and arriving in Thenas ER with the speedster on the rescue stretcher(?). He assured everyone he is ok and Thena sees him you know pretty hurt with scratches bruises and really badly bleeding and is absolutely worried and walking to him but before she can ask him anything (his adrenaline wearing off) he just collapses in front of everyone.

So give us your best drama because I will absolutely ATE this prompt because I know you got this!

"Gil!"

He doesn't seem to hear her, rushing in with the stretcher while another is in Kingo's hands right behind him. "We've got two injured in a T-bone accident, they collided head on, a few contusions but limited head trauma, I think. Unfortunately, they weren't wearing seat belts, so they've got more injuries than I first thought they would-"

"Gil!" Thena repeats, although he's still going through the patient checklist. She can see the blood on his side, though, and the scrapes by his eye and the very early signs of a nasty bruise along his arm. "Kingo!"

"They came at us from the side," he pants as he runs in alongside his partner. He also has a few minor injuries, but clearly he was on the right side to be on. "He was already out of the door to look after them by the time people were making calls."

"Gil," Thena repeats again, but he keeps going through things as interns receive the civilians. She wonders if his eardrum was impacted, "Gilgamesh!"

"Thena," he finally - finally - turns to her. His hands plant on his hips, as if he doesn't have blood seeping through his uniform polo. He catches his breath, on his way to saying something else when the adrenaline leaves him and his eyes roll back.

"Gil!" Thena cries out, catching him as he slumps against her like a bag of rocks. She lowers him to the ground as gently as she can, careful with his head before pulling her stethoscope from around her neck.

She listens to his heart, counts in her head, feels his pulse. She tears the tips out of her ears and moves on to pulling his eyelids open, shining her penlight in them to make sure his pupils react to it. "Call Ajak."

"Thena," Kingo tries to pull her away gently but is swatted away.

"Call Ajak!" she repeats, barking the order with a stronger voice than she anticipated having. She's vaguely aware that she's autopiloting--pushing away in her mind the fact that it's Gil lying on the floor and not some stranger.

Kingo remains hovering as she scares the interns away.

She turns his head a few times to examine his light scratches--nothing she can do about those except clean them up. His arm will probably be terribly sore from the impact of being thrown into the inside of the ambulance door. She pulls his polo out of his uniform trousers and up to examine the bleeding. It's shallow, uneven--he didn't get this from being hit. He probably got it from pulling the other two idiots out of their car, grazing himself on their window shards and not realising because of the adrenaline.

"Oh, Gil," she sighs, some of her own adrenaline leaving her as she verifies in every way she's been taught to that technically: he's fine. "The things you do to yourself."

"T," Kingo touches her shoulder gingerly as he hears the telltale rattling of a bed being wheeled, "they're here."

Thena holds him, supporting his head as they get him first onto a stretcher, and then lifted up onto the bed to be taken. She's silent, trusting Ajak - and only Ajak - to take proper care of Gilgamesh. Her hands moves vaguely in Kingo's direction. "Sorry, for..."

Kingo knows she means batting him away, and he doesn't hold it against her either. He knows how they are with each other. "It's--are you okay?"

Thena is already wandering in the direction of an on-call room, or a storage closet, or anywhere in which she can have five minutes to herself.

She finds a storage closet and closes the door behind her, pressing her back against it. Her hands have a tremble to them and she can feel some semblance of a cold sweat on her forehead. She takes a few very deep breaths, her shoulders shuddering as she does.

"Thena."

Of course Ajak would find her. Ajak has been working here longer than Thena has--way before Thena made her way into being head of critical care and trauma for the floor.

"Oh, Thena," Ajak coos as soon as she sees the shakiness in her younger friend. She reaches out and pulls Thena's head into her shoulder, "he'll be just fine, Love."

Thena nods as best she can, although she doesn't pull away from the uniquely motherly warmth that Ajak is offering. "I never thought he would just...collapse like that."

"I know," Ajak soothes, rubbing Thena's shoulder. "I was talking to Kingo. Gil pulled both the driver and passenger out of the rolled car by himself--no wonder it all caught up with him at once."

Thena sighs, hoping to get herself together. She's known as the Goddess of War--tough and tactical. She has to be in this place. But she keeps remembering Gil's eyes rolling back and shivers again.

Ajak smiles as Thena finally pulls back, shaking her head and dabbing at the corners of her eyes before her tears have anywhere to go. "You can go see him, you know. Everything on him was surface level. All he's doing now is sleeping it off."

Thena sniffs, nodding and tugging at her scrubs. "I am going to give him hell for scaring me like this."

Ajak smiles at her as she follows her back out to the rest of the unit, "I'm sure he'll still be happy to see you."

Thena chooses to ignore that bit.

She arrives at his bedside and pulls the curtain behind her. Gil is asleep, out like a light and even snoring ever so quietly. It's almost cute. "I'm still a little mad at you, you know."

His eyes don't even flutter.

Thena looks through the chart they've made for him, noting all the necessary information in her mind, even though it's not really her case to handle. She's too emotionally involved. "I'm not saying I would do anything differently in your position, but...I just wish you were more careful."

Gil is still asleep.

"I don't know what I would do without you," she sighs down at him, his face somehow remaining beautiful even under the starch and sterile lights in the ceiling. She sets his chart down and leans over, tucking some hair behind her ear as she leaves a soft kiss on his temple.

When she pulls back, Gil's eyes are open and on her.

"Hey."

"H-Hey," she stutters out, looking anywhere and everywhere that isn't at him. Heat blooms in her cheeks and she reaches desperately for his chart to distract her. She flips through the papers needlessly, "h-how are you feeling?"

"Better," he suffices to say, his hand floating out of his blankets and towards her.

Thena snatches it midair, grasping his wrist (still refusing to look at him). She frowns, "your pulse is going a little fast, I'm going to get someone in here to check your BP."

"Thena-"

Thena pulls the curtain behind her, not giving him the chance to ask her about the kiss. She swings the clipboard in her hands as she walks, hoping it's not obvious that she's using it to fan herself.

Ajak barely hears her as she mutters something about bed 4 needing a vitals check on her way past the nurses station. Ajak smiles to herself as she hangs up the phone, "I guess he's awake."

[missmeela]

The Gambler (Part Three)

Prompt 9: Friable - Link to master post

Teon was late coming into the bar. It was already loud and packed with soldiers spending their coin. The regulars had decided to skip the night, but Teon saw this as an opportunity. A fresh shot of innocent blood was what he needed.

A cluster of men blocked his way to the bar; they were retelling their recent stories of combat. He waved over the top of them and called to the bartender.

"I'll have a whiskey over here if you can find some way to get it over to me."

Teon waited for the sign of a drink coming his way. One of the soldiers poked his way out of the crowd holding a whiskey and looking about. He spotted Teon and held out the drink, which Teon gratefully accepted. The soldier held out his hand.

Teon placed a few coins in it and nodded.

"Much obliged, my man. Say, are you a gambling man? I know a great game we can play."

The soldier turned around without a word. He walked back into the pack of men at the bar and out of sight. Teon shrugged; at least he got a drink. He took an economical sip and looked around for a mark. It was then he heard a woman's voice over the drone of the crowd.

"Leave us alone. We've already told you to get lost."

Teon headed over in that direction. He wasn't curious about what was going on over there; it was more a matter of wondering how it would pan out.

He found one of the soldiers had his arm pressed against the wall, trapping two women in the corner of the room. Teon had seen them about before but hadn't had any dealing with them.

One of the women ducked under his arm and made for the door.

"I'm leaving, Lene. It's not worth the hassle tonight. Far too many arseholes in here."

Lene gave the soldier a shove and went to duck under the soldier's arm. The soldier grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving.

"The fuck does a pair of whores care about having polite company? I've been stuck with these numbskulls for the last moon, and I've got gil in my pocket. I've got a little something else in there for you too."

"Yeah, I bet it's something very little."

"You bitch."

The soldier twisted her wrist up over her head and held it there.

"Get off me!"

Teon rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and strode forward.

"Hey, come on, fella. There are plenty of better-looking girls down on pearl lane. They'll charge you a whole lot less too."

The soldier turned around and looked at Teon, still clasping Lene's wrist.

"What's it got to do with you? How about you just mind your business? And I'll see about doing mine. I'm not touching those sluts on pearl lane; they're all diseased."

Teon ran his finger around the brim of his hat and nodded at Lene.

"If you break her wrist, you're likely to catch a beating for it. She won't be able to do her job, and the big boss won't be happy about that."

The soldier let her go and turned to Teon.

"And what, you're the one that's going to beat my ass? I'd like to see you try."

The soldier gave Lene a hard shove and knocked her back against the wall. She crumpled to the ground, winded by the impact.

Teon took another step forward.

"Hey now, there was no need for that. How about you get going now? Before there is more trouble."

The soldier squared up against him.

"That bitch shoved me first. That's how it works, eye for an eye. Besides, I think I'll stay. And I want her to keep me company for all the trouble she's been for me."

Teon looked over to Lene, hunched down on the ground catching her breath.

"Are you bleeding? Is that blood?!"

The soldier turned to look at Lene, and that's when Teon planted a haymaker right into the side of the soldier's head. Except the soldier didn't go down. His face snapped back towards Teon. There was just enough time for Teon to reflect on his current predicament.

"Fuck."

...

When he woke up, his ears were ringing. He felt like he'd been given the worst ever, instant hang-over. He felt a pressure on his nose, and he opened his eyes.

"Stay still; you'll get blood on your shirt."

Lene dabbed at his nose with a white cotton square. After blinking a few times, Teon looked around to see where he was. He hadn't moved far; he was sitting on the floor of the bar, propped up against the wall. Normal drinking had gone back into effect throughout the rest of the room.

"Stay still."

"Did- did I win?"

Teon asked her hopefully, even though he already knew the answer. Lene let out a soft chuckle and shook her head.

"Naw, you were crap. Some great rescue that was."

She fixed him with a glare.

"And for the record, I'm not a whore. I should slap you myself for thinking that."

Teon gave her a tiny shrug.

"I didn't think you were. But I'm not sure that line of talking would have gotten me far with that guy."

"So you hit him? And that was a pretty wimpy hit at that."

Teon smiled for a moment. It made him aware of how much his face hurt.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter. So that's not really my area of expertise."

Lene's friend had been stood against the wall behind her the whole time.

"So he's awake then?"

Lene looked back at her, then nodded to Teon.

"Think you can stand? There is a seat just over there."

Teon clambered to his feet and slunk down into the chair.

"So what happened to the other guy?"

Lene smiled, pouring him a glass of whiskey from a bottle placed on the table for him.

"Well, after you went down, it seemed like his buddies decided to give him a kicking. From what they were yelling at him, it seemed like they were just waiting for an excuse. Last I saw of him was him running out the door with three guys chasing him."

Teon nodded his head and let out a breath.

"I wish I'd been awake to see that. So, you're alright, are you? How is the wrist?"

"It's fine, really. You think you're going to be alright?"

Teon nodded, looking down at the glass of whiskey.

"You've got to roll with the punches, you know? Some nights, you win; some nights, you lose. That's sometimes just how it is. That's how luck works."

Lene smiled and placed Teon's hat back on his head.

"Oh, I don't know about that. I think you still might get lucky tonight yet."

[lowkeyaesthvtic]

Fiery and Frozen

Pairing: poly!Sea Three (Uma x Harry x Gil)

Summary: The Sea Three get sent home from Auradon Prep early due to a snow storm. The boys want to turn on the fireplace, but Uma has other plans

Word Count: 4,146 (that’s right, it’s a long boy)

Warnings: major major MAJOR explicit smut, light bondage, dom!Uma, switch!Harry, sub!Gil, I feel like the post will get banned if I explain everything so just read with caution

Author’s Note: This is the first of three (I think three?) smuts that follow the smut dialogue prompts I reblogged a while back. This particular one has prompts 16 and 94

The air outside was nearly arctic, and the howling wind didn’t help too much. Ice quietly tapped against every surface of every building in Auradon. Those who made the dull-witted decision to skip out on layering for that day came back to their dorms with high chills on their skin and a blue or purple tint to their lips. Uma, Harry, and Gil had all made that mistake.

School had been cancelled early that day, as did all after school activities. Some were happy to be sent home early, eager to catch up on homework, take a nap, whatever they wish. Others were upset about the cancellation of their beloved tourney practice or rehearsal for Auradon’s Speech and Debate team. These swashbucklers, however, only cared about staying warm.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Harry mumbled as he shut their dorm room door behind them. Goosebumps trailed along his pale skin from one muscled arm to the next. For the first time in a long time, he would publicly admit to being desperate for something. In the case? Warmth.

“I don’t get it...yesterday it was sunny. Like, really sunny. Did someone cast a spell? Is Auradon cursed again?” Gil asked as he walked over to their bed and looked for blankets, hoodies, anything to warm themselves from the frost outside their window. Uma sat on their bed and crossed one leg over the other as she eyed her boys up and down. Despite them being tinted a dark blue, Uma could not stop thinking about their lips. The cold skin trailing along every inch of her body as she’d curl her icy fingers down their bare backs. 

“Nope. Evie told me earlier today that they got hit with something similar this time last year. She had the perfect cure for it, though.” She smirked and walked over to the small fireplace in their nearly luxurious bedroom. They had only added tiny Isle-esque touches so far, and they did intend on adding more. But for now, their bedroom would look like a weird mix of their home on the Isle and the fresh, pristine style of Auradon. With the fireplace on, the boys quickly sped over to sit on the foot of the bed and face the roaring heat emitting from across them. 

The boys sighed in relief. But said relief was quickly cut in half when Uma stood in front of the fireplace, blocking some of the heat that would be warming them. She stood facing them, hands on her hips and looking at them with hungry eyes. “Well? Don’t you want to know what the cure is?” She asked innocently, hoping the tease in her tone would help them take the hint.

Harry immediately caught on, knowing that slight tease in her voice from a mile away. He smirked devilishly and gave a low chuckle. Gil, however, bless his pirate soul, was sitting there with his head slightly cocked to the side in confusion. “I thought the fireplace was the cure?” Gil asked.

The dark-locked pirate stood and tenderly greeted his girlfriend, placing a stray hair behind her face. “Hmmm, it seems he’s not catching the hint. More for me?” Harry quietly cooed in her ear. Uma smiled softly, inching in closer to him as if she were going to kiss him. Harry was swiftly surprised, however, when she tightly gripped his hair and pushed him down to his knees. Harry melted into the touch, loving the fluttery, fiery feeling he received when Uma reminded him who was in charge.

“Not if you’re gonna behave like that.” Uma began to walk closer to Gil, but stopped when she heard shuffling movement from behind her. She briskly turned and gave Harry her dominating glare. “Did I say you could get up? Stay there.” Uma gritted through her teeth as she turned to Gil with a sweet grin. “Gil, do you understand what I’m asking for, here?”

Gil could already feel his breath getting a hint heavier. He knew exactly what she wanted, but he had a role to play. This was a lustful dynamic the three of them had built far before they had decided to take their relationship in a more romantic direction. Harry was a feisty one. He’d have his days where all he wanted to do was tease his sunshiney boy more and more, inching towards the brink of release, but swiping it every time. He was bratty, too. Flirtatious and hedonistic as if the feeling of Gil and Uma’s bodies against his was a drug..no, a religion to him. He could be as teasing and devilish with Gil as he wanted to be, but the minute his Captain stepped in, it’s as if a switch in his mind, body, and soul flipped. What was once a fiery, near chaotic little demon became an obedient first mate, eager to please and serve his Goddess.

Uma always took charge. She’d command every kiss, every touch, every lingering piece of skin on her and her boys. If she asked her boys to jump, they’d ask how hard..how deep, and they had to do it willingly. Because their Captain was merciless, brutal, yet burning ecstasy in punishment. 

Gil? Gil was the sunshine boy. Innocent and a tad dumb both in the streets and somewhat in the sheets. He was always submissive. Almost always excited. He would be a bit naive at first, supposedly fronting like he didn’t have a lot of experience. But once the foreplay was done, that would be the complete opposite. Gil is like a rabbit. Sweet and adorable but horny as fuck. And that showed in his actions. He was needy of pleasure both for himself and his partners, and giving out a naive front was a part of that need.

“I, I think so? Can you...can you tell me?” Uma quietly giggled and slowly shifted herself on to Gil’s lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. She runs her hands gently through his blonde locks and placing a finger under his chin, leans his head up to gaze directly into her dark brown eyes.

“Oh, sweetie. Why tell..when I can just show?” Uma whispered before leaning in to place a kiss on Gil’s soft, pouty lips. Their lips collided deeply and passionately, dancing with each other in a fiery masquerade. Uma couldn’t keep her hands off of Gil’s rock hard, bulging biceps and Gil revelled in every cold touch she gave him. Harry sat back in longing, the sounds of their needy groans and content, quiet sighs filling the room and seeping into his skin. Gil quickly moved down to Uma’s neck, sucking and biting hard enough to leave love bites that blended near perfectly with her dark skin. A small moan slips from Uma as she leans back and takes a quick look at how Harry’s reacting to all of this. She quickly pushes Gil down, his back laying on the soft bed. As she takes off his shirt, she leans down and cooes loud enough for the dark haired pirate behind her to hear. “Gil, why don’t we warm ourselves up a bit, hm?” Gil slowly nods, feeling his erection growing harder with every ounce of her breath he feels on his skin. 

“But...but what about Harry?” Gil looked up just for a moment to check on his kneeling boyfriend. He wasn’t quite a mess just yet, but the animal was definitely not liking his cage. His mind was racing, eyes fixed on Gil’s bare chest. He knew that as soon as Uma gave him the permission to, he’d ravage that naive boy enough to make Gil scream his name. The idea of pinning Gil’s arms to the bed as he’d suck and bite on every inch of his skin, teasing his hard, twitching cock until the very last second made Harry’s erection very visible through his black pants. Harry looked to Uma and gave her a gaze that silently begged for permission to stand, to move, to do anything other than sit here and watch. Uma chuckled and positioned herself right on top of Gil’s growing erection, causing a pleasured moan to slip from the boy’s lips.

“We’re gonna give him a show first. Now, be a good boy and do what I tell you. That won’t be so hard, will it?” Gil shakes his head, knowing that the moment he disobeys her he will regret it. Uma smiles and continues kissing every inch of his body, one hand gripping onto his shoulder as she digs her nails into his skin as the other hand rests on Gil’s right thigh. She perks her firm, supple ass a bit higher into the air, knowing it’d drive her first mate crazy. By the time she leans up to examine her work, Gil’s neck and chest are covered in marks varying in shades of red and purple. Gil whines at the loss of contact, but is relieved of the sudden loss when he feels her grinding against his crotch. In his pleasured haze, he hadn’t noticed that Uma had stripped of nearly all her clothes, leaving her only in a pair of lacey, dark blue panties. 

But Harry had seen every bit of it. He knew from the second she removed her brown belt what she was doing to him. He marveled how she swayed out of her dress to the beat of every possible song that was blaring in his mind. He nearly growled when she turned around and flashed him a wink as she removed her bra and tossed it to the floor beside them. Not seeing her breasts, but only the curves and divots of her back and hips was the biggest tease she had given him. He wanted to touch her so bad, feel her lips crash onto his pale body and please every inch of her skin as Gil lingered his tongue up and down his cock. But, like a puppet on strings, he had no choice but to stay still.

Uma continued to grind against Gil’s hard cock, loving the feeling it gave her but needing just a little more. She moved her hand from Gil’s shoulder to his blonde lock, giving a strong tug. Gil quietly winced and the mix of pain and pleasure that she gave him, but he loved every bit of it. He needed to feel her mouth on him like a fish needed the ocean water coursing through every breath. “Uma..please..I need you.” He begged, eyes glazing over with wanton.

At his begging remark, Uma leans down and growls into his ear. “Did I say you could speak, my little rabbit?” She ceased her grinding and stood up, motioning to a needy Harry to stand beside her. “I’ll have to admit, I loved hearing you beg. Maybe our needy Harry over here can help you beg a bit more, hm?” As Harry stood beside her, she pulled him in and quickly crashed their lips together. After being without her touch for so long, it felt like ecstasy to finally get some attention. They ran their hands all over each other, Harry taking every chance he could get to grip her soft breasts. He started to move down to her neck when she pushed him back. “I’ve gotta get something. You two have fun while I’m gone.” As she walked away, she whispered a subtle command to her first mate. “I want him a mess when I’m back. But don’t let him come, you got that?” Moving his gaze to the desperate blonde in front of him, he slowly nodded with a devilish snicker. Uma walked off, heading towards a special closet in a different part of their home.

Harry quickly rushed on top of Gil, stripping off his jacket and shirt with haste. Using his strength, he pulled Gil up closer to him, their chests touching skin to skin. “Wait, what did she tell you?” Gil asked in between quiet moans as Harry left even more love bites across his neck and shoulders.

“Shut up and take your pants off.” Harry responded, to which Gil obliged. Soon enough, both of the boys were naked and revelling in each other’s touch. Heat, lust, and utter desire roaring in the both of them. Like an entrancing snake, Harry slithered down Gil’s chilled body, leaving both wet and soft kisses down every inch until he finally licked a long, wet stride up the blonde’s hard cock. The sensation sent shivers up Gil’s spine as he leaned his head back and let a needy moan release into their bedroom. Gripping onto his thighs strong enough to leave red marks, Harry soon became a little rougher with his tongue. Gil intertwined his fingers in his dark, messy locks as Harry switched back and forth between speedily bobbing up and down and teasing licks from the base to his tip. Harry had always been a fan of control when it came to Gil, doing everything he could to remind the muscle that no matter how big and strong he was, he’d always be a good boy for a teasing, devilish imp like himself. 

Harry kept himself trapped in between Gil’s legs, his pace growing quick and rough as Gil bucked his hips and let his cock hit the back of Harry’s throat. Gil could feel the warmth in his stomach beginning to bubble over as he longed for release. “Harry...please.” He moaned out as he neared his climax. Harry let go of his cock with an audible pop and continued gliding his fingers along the inside of Gil’s thighs, relishing in the small shivers and squirms the blonde pirate gave. 

“Sorry, rabbit. Uma gave me orders. I have to follow them.” He slid back from in between Gil’s legs and moved to straddle him. He leaned down to his boyfriend’s ear and whispered lowly. “You know how to follow orders, don’t you?” As Harry’s hand went to tightly grip Gil’s throat, the two pirates could hear the door opening and Uma walking in with an evil smile on her face. There she stood with a pair of red, leather handcuffs in one hand and a bottle of lube in the other. Harry speedily removed himself from Gil and began to saunter closer to Uma, eyeing the cuffs like a hungry wolf. “What exactly do you have planned, Captain?” Uma let out a soft chuckle before looking over to Gil.

“Gil, my rabbit, lean up against the headboard, will you?” Gil quickly nodded and obeyed, shimmying his body so his back leaned against the headboard. Uma spun one of the cuffs around her finger in pure excitement. “Harry, help me out?”

“Gladly, Captain.” Harry purred as the two moved over to cuff Gil to the black headboard behind their bed. Gil’s heartbeat began to quicken in both fear and excitement as he felt his hands restrict to the tight, red, leather cuffs that Uma had brought up. His length was still standing hard and thick, almost painfully stiff from Harry’s earlier teasing. A tiny whimper rises from him as Harry snakes down to his chest and starts to leave even more tiny little love bites on his chest. Uma straddled behind Harry and grabbed a lock of his hair, using her grip to move him up and away from Gil’s chest.

“Easy, Harry, you’re making the poor guy miserable. Surely he should get some kind of award for following my orders earlier, shouldn’t he?” Uma smiled as she grabbed the bottle of lube and began to open the cap. However, instead of squeezing the lube onto Harry’s hand, she quickly grabbed two of Harry’s fingers and swirled her tongue around them long and slow. “Just in case the lube’s not enough.” She said after releasing his fingers with an audible pop. Harry could try to assume that was the only reason Uma sucked his fingers so sloppily, but he knew what she was doing. He chuckled lightly and looked down at Gil. The poor little rabbit still laid a heavily breathing, silently begging mess. Harry took the lube from Uma’s hand and squeezed a little bit of it onto his two fingers before lathering them in the warm liquid. 

“Don’t worry, little rabbit. I’ll warm you up.” Harry smirked as he teased his finger around the rim of Gil’s hole before slowly inserting it inside of him. A small hiss of pain could be heard as Gil slowly adjusted to the penetration, but it wasn’t long before he laid there, eager for Harry to move his long, index finger. 

“H-Harry, please...s-stop teasing.” 

“We really need to find a way to shut you up, don’t we, little Rabbit? Don’t worry, I’ve got just the thing. Are you able to lay on your back?” Uma asked softly, a temporary pause from her dominating demeanor to ensure the safety of her boyfriend. When he nodded his head and began to slowly lay on his back, Uma straddled over his chest and began to capture his tongue in a heated, passionate kiss. In the kiss, Uma began to grind her naked sex on top of Gil’s chest, painting it with her wet juices. “Go ahead and stop teasing him, Harry. I’ve got just the thing to keep him quiet.” Uma ordered her first mate. As Harry obeyed and began to curl his finger inside Gil’s hole, a soft sigh of relief could be heard from the blonde pirate. Uma began to move her naked body closer and closer to Gil’s mouth. “You know what to do, little rabbit. Show me what that tongue can do.” She whispered before lowering herself onto Gil’s face. He eagerly went to work licking her folds, lapping at her warm juices like a thirsty dog desperate for water. 

As he ate Uma out, Harry slowly curved his finger as he moved in and out of Gil’s hole. Tired of being tame, Harry cautiously added a second finger and began to quicken his pace. Moans could be heard from both Uma and Gil as the devilish imp hit Gil’s most sensitive spot and the little rabbit grew even more reckless with his tongue. “Fuck, sunshine...need to be in you so badly. Captain, can I fuck him? Please?” Harry panted as his member remained nearly untouched. His mind went wild watching both his boyfriend and girlfriend unravel before him, but the fact that he wasn’t getting a lot of attention slowly began to eat away at him. 

Uma was nearing her climax, but decided that she needed something different, something more from her boys. She got off of Gil’s face and went back to straddling his chest. She lowered herself to meet his lips as she whispered seductively to him. “What do you think, Gil? You want Harry to fuck you senseless while I ride that thick cock of yours? All you gotta do is ask.” The two boys gulped in excitement as Harry shot Gil a look saying ‘You better beg, you little shit.’ Gil looked up at Uma and eagerly nodded his head. 

“Please, please Captain. I need to feel you, I need to feel both of you. I promise, I’ll do anything.” After being silenced for so long, Gil felt amazing finally letting go of control and submitting to the two beautiful people in front of him. He’d beg as long as they wanted if it meant making them feel good. Uma quickly leaned down to peck his cheek.

“Good boy.” She smiled as she leaned over to the dresser and grabbed two condoms. As she handed one to Harry, she shot him a wink. “Try not to rough him up too much, alright? Unless he wants that.” 

Gil rolled his eyes as he watched the two unwrap and put on the condoms. “I don’t care how rough, just fuck me already!”

Harry and Uma chuckled and positioned themselves. Uma straddled Gil’s length as Harry rubbed some of the warm lube onto his own. “Well, somebody’s eager.” Harry laughed as he teased the tip of his cock around Gil’s stretched hole. Uma, however, was tired of teasing. As soon as Gil’s cock was within reach, she quickly lowered herself down. There was a small wince at the sudden entry, but as soon as Uma started moving slowly..up and down..neither of them cared. Harry, incredibly aroused and nearly feral from the pleasurable sounds Uma and Gil began to make, finally entered Gil’s hole starting with his tip and taking it inch by inch. His rough, strong hands began to grip onto Gil’s thighs as he began to move in and out. Gil, slightly overstimulated from all the attention these two were giving him, could already feel his head floating in the clouds. It was like the three of them were the only people in the world. He didn’t care how loud or ridiculous sounding his moans and tiny begs were, or how loudly their headboard had started to bang on the wall. All he cared about was the warm wetness Uma blessed him with and the rough, senseless fucking Harry began to gave him as he quickly picked up his pace.

Uma definitely had a good time herself as well. It always brought her joy knowing the pleasure of two of the Isle’s hottest boys was in the palm of her hands. She was the only one who knew the right way to tug Harry’s black locks. She was the only one who knew Gil’s secret ‘love’ for spanking and rope bondage. Technically, Harry knew these things too, but she was the only one who’d get to use them as tiny games of sexual torture. She loved it. They loved it. And they’re the only ones who play it with each other.

Harry could feel himself start to come undone. The warm feeling in the pit of his groin was bubbling and boiling like a pot of hot water and he wanted nothing more than to let it burst inside of his blonde baby boy. “C-Captain...can I come? Please, please let me come inside of him.” Harry would never be this submissive around anybody else. But there was something about the way Uma carried herself, both in and outside the bedroom, that made him weak in the knees. Weak enough that if anybody else were to see the two in moments like these, they’d think Harry was under some kind of love spell cast by Uma. But there was no spell involved here, just a girl so beautiful, so confident, so strong in her fight for dominance that just submitting to her brought Harry the utmost pleasure. For Gil, on the other hand, he was an amplified, sexualized version of his usual, chaotic self. Eager to both tease and please. After all, the more you tease, the more they want it, and Harry loved to elongate everything with Gil as far as he could until Gil was a begging mess. 

Speaking of begging, Gil’s pants began to grow quick and unrhythmic as his climax came close. “I’m getting close, too. Uma...p-please..” He whined as he listened to the beautiful music of Uma’s moans. 

“Yes, yes baby. You can come. Come long and hard like I know you can.” Neither of the boys knew which one she was talking to, but they obeyed the order regardless. Gil let out a huge moan as he came inside of Uma, knowing he’d have quite the messy condom to throw away later. As he came, Harry could feel Gil’s hole tightening around him. The warm, tight hole around Harry’s throbbing cock was enough for the devilish pirate to reach his peak, whispering both Gil and Uma’s name as he did.

By the time Uma had undone Gil’s cuffs and Harry had thrown away both of the condoms, the three laid sprawled out across the bed, both of the boys near drenched in sweat. “Thank wicked for snow days, yeah?” Harry huffed out as he tangled his fingers in Gil’s ruffled and messy locks.

“Definitely.” Uma smiled, staring up at the ceiling then lowering her eyes to the roaring fireplace. “You boys want me to turn off the fireplace?”

“No, I think we’re good here.” Gil hummed between breaths, taking in the scent and afterglow of his two favorite people. Then, he noticed something. “Uma, did you finish?”

“No, that doesn’t matter though. Making you boys feel good is fine enough for me.” Gil leaned up and looked over to Harry, cocking an eyebrow and letting a playful smirk spread across his face. 

“Well we can’t have that, can we, Harry?” Harry shrugged his shoulders as he began to leave little nibbles on Uma’s neck while Gil lowered himself to Uma’s thighs and began to tease her folds with his fingers. Uma sighed and closed her eyes, realizing a newfound love for snow days.

[thewatermelloncat]

What’s Your Name?

Summary: Captain Hook has an odd way of trying to remind Harry who he is.

Warnings: This story has the overarching theme of child abuse and deals with the cutting of a wrist (not in the common sense). If either of these points could be triggering for you, or even if you aren’t sure, please don’t read this.

Taglist: @wafflethottt

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“Where were you?” Uma asks, leaning against the doorway of Harry’s bedroom where she’d found him sitting on his bed. “You missed today’s orders. I left the crew to come find you.”

Harry spares her a quick glance, which is only enough for Uma to know that he’s acknowledged her presence. Though he says nothing, too emotionally detached to answer.

Understanding instantly washes over Uma, she’d only ever seen Harry this withdrawn a couple of times before. All having something to do with his father. “What did he do this time?”

Harry doesn’t respond, only continues to stare down at his hook.

“I’m not angry at you, I never was” Uma promises as she steps into his room. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Well don’t worry about me” Harry snaps suddenly, swinging his legs off the bed. “Did it ever strike ye that I wanna be alone?”

She grabs his wrist to stop him as he strides past her, only for him to hiss in pain. Uma instantly pulls away in surprise. “Harry, what did he do?” Uma’s voice raises in urgency.

Harry says nothing and keeps walking away from her.

“What did he do, Harry?” Uma quickens her pace until she rounds in front of him, stopping him in the middle of the living room.

Harry freezes, his jaw set but his breathing deep and uneven. A reaction that Uma has never seen from him. It’s clear to her that he knows that she’ll never drop the topic and there’s no way for him to get out of it.

“What did he do?” Uma repeats slowly in the calmest voice she can manage. She knows the tell-tale signs of panic and she puts her hands on his arms gently, hoping that it will work to ground him.

Harry swallows convulsively but says nothing. Uma knows that he can’t bring himself to speak but he won’t stop her from finding answers for herself.

Slowly she trails her hands down his left arm until they reach his wrist. Carefully she pulls it away from his body and unwraps the bandage. Instinctively she closes her eyes and looks away from the gash curling halfway around his wrist. By the looks of things, Harry hadn’t done anything to clean it up except stopping the bleeding. Uma didn’t blame him; she knew that his mind would be elsewhere.

“Come on, I’m getting you out of the house” Uma sparks into action, rewrapping the bandage over the cut. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

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It was Gil who spotted them first when they boarded the Lost Revenge. He bounded towards them through the group of crewmates on the deck and opened his mouth to say something to Harry, but Uma quickly held up a hand and continued walking. Obediently, he closed his mouth and followed behind them into the depths of the ship.

Trailing after them through the corridors, Gil realises that they are heading for the medical room. A shot of adrenaline pulses through his veins and he closes the gap that had formed between them. He’s confused, neither of them seems to be hurt. No one is limping or clutching at a broken bone. But then he remembers Harry missing the crew’s orders and knows it must have something to do with him.

Turning into the medical room Uma immediately gets to work, sitting Harry on one of the beds and grabbing a medical box off one of the shelves. As she kneels down in front of him, Harry moves his arm to rest on his knee so she can get a better look at it. She unloads a few supplies out of the box before carefully unwrapping the bandage. Gil gasps from where he stands in the doorway, he knows that his face has gone white as he feels the blood drain from it. He’s known Harry to hurt himself in a fit of anger, but normally it’s punching a wall and bruising his hand. Gil had never expected for blood to be drawn.

“It’s not what ye think” Harry’s solemn voice reassures him. Although Gil’s not sure if that makes it any better or not.

“You’re going to need stitches” Uma’s voice draws their attention back down to her on the floor. “Gil, go get the rum.”

Quickly he nods his head and leaves for the kitchen.

“I want the pain” Harry says once Gil had disappeared.

“I know you want it,” Uma takes his hand in her own, “but it’s not something that you deserve. This isn’t your fault.”

Uma keeps her hand in his while her other cleans off the dried blood around the cut. She counts him lucky that none of his arteries were severed because by the looks of it if the cut had gone a little deeper, they would have been.

To his credit Harry didn’t flinch or try to pull away while Uma worked. The only signal to his pain that Uma picked up on was the slight squint of one of his eyes. By the time the cut was clean Gil had returned with the bottle of rum. He gave it to Harry for him to take a swig and then to Uma who poured some of it on the cut to disinfect it. It was times like these that she wished they were in Auradon where they had proper medical supplies, but they weren’t and this would have to do.

If anything was fortunate about the situation it was that it was a clean cut, allowing Uma to work quickly to stitch Harry back together. Once she was done, she wrapped a new bandage around it and gave Harry another swig from the bottle before standing up.

“Let’s get some lunch.”

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Together they sit in one of the booths at the back of the chip shop, eating in silence. The tray of food being pushed around the table, Uma and Gil trying to get Harry to eat something only for him to eat a little before pushing it back. Little by little it worked though, and eventually they were happy and left the tray in the table’s centre.

“Spit it out, or we’ll start guessing” Uma introduces, her voice dripping with authority.

“There was nothin’ new” Harry makes a dismissal gesture, lifting his fingers up from the table.

“Your father trying to cut your hand off is new” Uma points out.

Harry’s eyes avoid Gil’s nauseated look as he stares down at Harry’s wrist, only for them to follow his gaze. The pain in his wrist is dull in the back of his mind, lacking priority over the words that were said. The more he tries not to think of them, the more he thinks of them instead. Shame. He shuts his eyes as they circle back and echoing through his mind. Disappointment. His jaw clenches as he tries to will them away, but he feels himself slipping back into his thoughts. ‘What’s your name?’

He drops his hook, suddenly feeling sick to hold it.

 Over the last few seconds Uma had watched a battle take place in Harry’s mind. But it wasn’t until she hears the sound of metal hitting the table, that she becomes aware of the gravity of the situation.

“Harry” she breathes, watching the hook sway to a stop on the table. Her heart hammers in her chest as she watches her first mate withdraw his hand away from the symbol of his being.

Many times, in the next minute she tries to say something only to stop short. No words could explain her confusion or her heartache. To her surprise it was Gil who broke the silence.

“Harry, tell us what he did” his words are slightly stuttered like it takes a vast amount of effort just to get them out. But they have their effect as Harry looks back up at them.

He takes a breath to steady himself before he begins to explain. “It wasn’t until recently that ‘e found out that Uma’s the Captain of our crew.”

At the mention of her name, Uma leans further into the conversation. Resting her elbows on the table with a look of puzzlement on her face.

“He doesn’t want me takin’ orders from” – he stops himself; he couldn’t let his Captain know his father’s true thoughts about her – “from anyone.”

“He thinks you should have your own crew” Uma distinguishes.

Harry nods, “me sister’s both have their own crew, ye see.” Throughout his words he tries to keep emotion out of it, to make sure he thinks blank so his mind won’t slip back into the events of the last night. But he can feel himself slipping and his mind is transported back into his living room.

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“It’s in your blood!” Captain Hook was yelling as Harry stands feet away from him, motionless and forced to listen. “You’re the next man of the household and you’re taking orders from some bitch who wasn’t even born a pirate!”

The words nearly knock Harry backward. It takes all his willpower and then some, for him not to fire back at his father for insulting his Captain.

“What’s your name?” his father’s words are left unanswered. “What’s your name?!”

Harry, shocked to find that his father actually wants an answer, responds quietly, “Harry.”

“Louder boy!”

“Harry” he speaks firmly.

“You know what that means?” This time Harry knows that his father doesn’t want an answer.

“Army commander, a War chief, Ruler of the home!” his father abruptly leaves him and walks toward the table where he fixes his hook back to his arm. “You are none of those things” he says turning back to him. “Where is your crew boy, hmm?”

“I don’t have one” Harry says eyeing the hook as it flashes dangerously as his father’s hand, catching the light off the ceiling. He’s not threatened by the weapon, knowing it’s most likely a dominance display, but he allows his father to back him against the wall nonetheless.

“You are not fit to rule this home, you’ve brought me nothing but shame and disappointment” Captain Hook criticizes. “The only way you’d be worthy to carry my name is if you had a hook yourself.”

Unexpectedly, his father grabs his left forearm and pins it against the wall. At the sudden restraint Harry tries to pull his arm away, his muscles tensing in an effort enough to hurt his shoulder, but his father’s grip is too strong and it won’t move. At the raise of his father’s hook, Harry tries one last effort at wrenching his arm away but the grip on it only tightens. He can’t help the yell of pain that escapes him as the hook slices through his skin. His eyes fuzz out and he scrunches them shut, he’s sure that by the next time he looks his hand will be gone. But to his surprise the hook stops.

Opening his eyes, he sees his father leaning in close to him, his hook now under his chin. “But even then, you wouldn’t be worthy.”

Then his father disappears, leaving his son standing alone with blood dripping from his arm.

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Harry didn’t know what he expected to happen at the conclusion of his story, but it certainly wasn’t the glistening of tears threatening to run down his friends’ faces. It was common for parents to treat their children badly on the Isle, but neither of his friends had heard of anything as vile as that.

“You listen to none of that” Uma was firm in her tone but her words shook. “We won’t tell you that it doesn’t matter” - she looks over at Gil for confirmation and receives it as he nods his head - “because we know it does to you. But don’t listen to him.”

“I’m an insult to me bloodline” is all Harry mutters as the words pass over him. He’s too lost in his thoughts to hear what Uma says to Gil before he stands out of his chair and clasps Harry on the shoulder, before walking across the shop to be with the rest of the crew.

It was Uma taking his hand in hers which drew Harry’s attention back to her. “I don’t get your relationship with him” she begins. “You’re so proud to have him as a father but it’s like he doesn’t want you as a son.”

“Then you understand it perfectly” Harry says, some of his charm starting to come back.

“Why do you work so hard to please him?”

“Why do you work so hard to please your mother?” Harry turns the question around on her, and she immediately understands.

Their parents, alike most others on the Isle, didn’t care about their children unless it was what they could do for them. But driven by an innate response, they continuously try to gratify the people who gave them life in this hellhole, only to consistently fall short. It’s hopeless but it isn’t something they can ever give up on. The system is sick.

“Point made” Uma mutters in defeat, looking around at the rest of the crew leaving the Chip Shop. “We should head back to the ship.”

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“For the record, I think you’d make a great captain” Uma breaks the silence they had fallen into on the way to her quarters, as soon as they step through its door.

“I don’t wanna be a captain” Harry dismisses as Uma leads him over to sit on her bed.

“But you’re not happy” Uma furrows her brow as she sits down. “I know when you first joined me you struggled to come to terms with it.”

“I did” Harry admits. “But that wasn’t entirely my ambition.”

Uma nods, not needing to be reminded of the story that Harry had retold earlier.

“Well, you could leave and create your own crew” Uma states although she doesn’t want it. “But I would take over your territory within a week.”

Harry laughs but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Uma can see how the day has worn on him and wonders how much sleep he had gotten last night.

“I couldn’t be a captain” Harry denies.

“Why not?” Uma says confused. She’s known that ever since he was a young boy, Harry has wanted his own crew, regardless of what his father thought. At times she’s wondered why he’s stayed with her this long – and now she wonders what’s changed.

“I couldn’t… I can’t be as good as you” he shakes his head.

“You could be better” Uma puts her hand on his arm that’s resting on his knee, careful to avoid the bandage.

“No, I couldn’t” He looks down at the point where they touch. “Not in the way that you care for everyone as if they’re ye own blood.”

Uma can’t help but feel a swell of pride at his words. But then she feels selfish for taking the moment to feel good about herself when she should be there for him.

“Do you want to sleep, or do you want a distraction?” Uma asks, willing to help him take his mind off things.

“Sleep, I think” Harry says unsurely. But he looks tired and emotionally drained, so Uma has no problem confirming the decision for him.

“Okay” she says softly.

Like a practiced art, they both settle down on her bed. Instantly fitting against each other with Uma pressed against Harry’s back. She puts an arm over him as he closes his eyes, “I’ll watch over you.”

[ihavejarlsberg]

Warning Labels

A short Brightwell fic by ihavejarlsberg/Suitupbuttercup

Author’s Note:  I just love Brightwell and they give me a lot of feelings, so I mainly wrote this for me, but I hope you all got some warm fuzzies out of it, as well. (Also I’m insane and can’t decide what tense I want this in lololol) Special thanks to my pal @the-ginger-avenger who looked this over for me and assured me it wasn’t total trash. Putting a read more line in so no one gets too mad at me.   ;D   If you like this, reblog and tell me about it! Have a great day, everyone!

Summary: Dani Powell feels like she should have come with a warning label.

(Probably several of them.)

She feels like she's tricked Malcolm, sometimes--that he thought he was getting this strong, independent woman who has her shit together. And she's not that, at all.

(She's so far from that, it's not even funny.)

When Dani has a nightmare in Malcolm's bed, she expects him to be uncomfortable at best, completely freaked out by her at worst. But, as always, Bright is full of surprises.

Find on AO3 here. 

----

Dani Powell feels like she should have come with a warning label.

 Probably several of them. 

 Malcolm Bright certainly came with his own set. (They were more like flashing hazard lights.) Dani had known full well what she was getting herself into with him when they had started seeing each other. Hell, the disclaimers had been self evident when they were only friends. It was obvious to anyone who spent more than ten minutes talking to the guy; he came with baggage heavy enough to crush him.

 At present, these were burdens she desperately wanted to help him with, to share with him. She could never fully take them away, she knew, but she could lessen the load when he let her.

 He was so much easier to love than she had ever anticipated. Even her most half-assed attempts to empathize with him, to be understanding and help him, were met with such reverent wonder and genuine appreciation that her heart nearly burst with affection for him. She found herself in a precarious, uncharted place, emotionally, where she wanted to throat punch anyone who had ever hurt him, anyone who had ever even thought to wrong such a gentle, special soul as Malcolm Bright. 

 And being that vulnerable terrified her. 

 Bright was still annoying. He still had plenty of quirks she would never quite understand. And she knew that one day, he was going to get himself hurt for the most asinine reason, and she would have to pick up the pieces. She knew the day was coming where she would need to sit him down and explain to him in the simplest possible terms that she  needed  him to be safe, that he couldn't pull this shit anymore, and that he had to  stop  and  think  before he ran headlong into danger at the drop of a hat. It was a conversation she felt coming, in the same prophetic way animals could sense hurricanes.

 In spite of all this, she still feels like she's tricked him, sometimes--that he thought he was getting this strong, independent woman who has her shit together. And she's not that, at all. 

 She's so far from that, it's not even funny.

 So when he sees her break down for the first time, she expects him to be shocked. Repulsed, even. She expects him to recoil from her, or think less of her. She expects him to not know what to do with her.

 But he doesn't do any of those things.

 When he finds her, comes to her from the other room after they’ve both fallen asleep in their separate spaces, she's sobbing into his pillow so hard, so violently, she's barely able to make any sound at all. The air she does manage to take in comes in hard, painful gasps and shoots out in breaths that make her entire body tense up. 

 She's spent a lot of time in Bright's bed lately. Very little of that time has been spent actually sleeping, in the months they've been seeing each other. (She's not upset about that.) Usually, she dips out. Usually, she heads home late, sated and happy and buzzing with the high of infatuation. 

 But lately, she hasn't wanted to leave. Lately, she's wanted to fall asleep with her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart. As they lie together, he traces his fingertips over her bare back, or plays with her hair, or massages her scalp so gently and so tenderly that it makes her heart swell, and she just  doesn’t want to leave. 

 He doesn’t make her. But, he steadfastly refuses to fall asleep in the same bed. He tells her that if he hurts her in his sleep, he will never, ever forgive himself for the rest of his life. (She believes him.) 

 She thinks he's worth the risk, thinks that the weight of another person next to him in his bed would comfort him tremendously. But she doesn't fight him on it. (Yet.) This is still new, this thing between them, and she doesn't want to barge into his life and make him do things he's afraid of. (Yet.)

 So he doesn't make her go home, and she doesn’t make him sleep next to her. He lets her fall asleep curled in at his side, and when he’s certain she’s in a deep enough sleep, he slips away. Moves over to the couch, where he's installed a second set of restraints for himself, and a spare mouth guard is waiting in its case on the end table closest to the wall. 

 The bed feels lonely and cold without him next to her. And eventually, his absence bleeds into her dreams. 

 Admittedly, the preceding week didn’t help. Work has been difficult for Dani lately, with their current caseload. Malcolm thrives on it, says he needs it. But if Dani is being honest, she could use a break. She's getting burnt out. 

 And then, to top it all off, their newest victim turns out to be a child—a little girl, no older than eight, from the Bronx.

 Malcolm is uncharacteristically quiet as they unpack everything they know about the little girl in the conference room, his focus solely on the whiteboard as he scrawls out his notes and observations. They're all uncharacteristically quiet, truth be told, and incredibly on edge. No one wants to talk about it, but they have to talk about it, and the conversation that follows is stilted and forced. 

 But it hits Dani the hardest. Gil pulls her aside later, asks her if she wants to take a break. And truthfully, she does. She desperately wants to take a break. And she will, once they find the sick bastard that murdered an innocent child in cold blood.

She'll spend an entire day lounging around her apartment, watching stupid baking shows on Netflix, not thinking about dead children. But they have to catch the guy first. 

 In the meantime, she can't stop thinking about it. It keeps her up at night.

 Malcolm sees her unraveling and is desperate to help. But the truth is, he's nearly always in a state of unraveling, himself. And they may be friends—good friends—at their core, but there's so much about her that he doesn't know. So much she hasn't let him see. So she shuts down, shuts him out. It's the wrong move, and it feels wrong in the moment. She knows avoiding his probing questions and those eyes that seem to read her mind is only going to work for so long.

 So, she distracts herself. She distracts herself with his mouth, with his body. He lies with her for a long time after, with his head resting between her breasts and his hand on her hip, caressing her skin with the pad of his thumb. Eventually, his hand slows as he starts to drift off. He lifts his head and glances up at her; she's been still for so long now, it's easy for her to feign sleep. So he eases out from her side, takes her hand in his, and kisses her knuckles once before gently laying her hand back down on his comforter. 

 Eventually, sleep does find her. But it doesn't take her gently. It sinks its talons into her and pulls down hard.

 She dreams of all the children from the Bronx she hasn't been able to save. One after the other, she sees them lined up in the basement morgue of the precinct, lying on cold metal tables, their small bodies half concealed by white sheets. She dreams of finding the person responsible for this, pulling her gun on him, and freezing up. He gets away; he gets to hurt more kids.

 In her dreams, she's screaming. In her dreams, she feels a terrible mixture of rage and fear, and they blend together until they're so strong, she's choking on them both.

She can feel someone grabbing at her, and she fights, kicks, and yells her heart out. A pair of strong arms constrict around her from behind, holding her own thrashing arms in place. Panic seizes her so strongly that it wakes her up; she throws her head back, and whoever is holding her narrowly avoids a broken nose.

 When she finally tears her eyes open, the first thing she sees is the soft light of the street lamps coming in through a familiar set of arched window panes. She's panting, pulling in one ragged breath after another as she looks around, taking in the familiar setting of Malcolm's bedroom. As she stills, the constricting feeling around her chest lessens some, and she looks down to see Malcolm's strong arms holding her.

 Dani knows first hand how physically strong Malcolm Bright is. He isn’t a large man, but he also isn’t one to be underestimated. She learned that first hand after he tackled her to the ground in his sleep and fought her with flailing limbs on the floor of the precinct until he jerked awake, crushing her to him with a grip that only loosened as he regained consciousness and realized what was happening.

 He holds her almost this tightly again, now, pinning her arms to her side from behind, holding her back to his chest, until he hears her breathing change. “Dani,” he says brokenly, and she gets the feeling this isn’t the first time he’s called out her name. “Sweetheart, please.” There’s a note of pleading threading through his voice that just guts her. She reaches up and grips his forearm with her hand, squeezing it tightly, and he almost chokes on his relief. 

 He nuzzles her hair out of the way with his nose and whispers warmly into the shell of her ear: “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” 

 Wordlessly, she turns toward him, pressing her face hard into his chest. Her breathing is gradually evening out, and she’s able to focus on what’s real and what’s in front of her. Mainly Malcolm, and she grips him just as tightly as she remembers him gripping her that day in the precinct. She grounds herself in his solid presence, taking the material of his T shirt in her hand in a tight fist.

 One day, she'll find it funny she's never seen Malcolm in just a simple T-shirt until she started sleeping with him. Her nose is smushed into the organic cotton material, and it's so much harder to breathe with her face pressed into him this way, but she doesn't care. As soon as she turns toward him, his hand is in her hair, cradling the back of her head.

 “I’m so sorry,” he murmurs, “I didn’t hear you at first.” 

 She shakes her head, trying to tell him it isn’t his fault, that he has nothing to be sorry for, but all that makes its way out of her throat is a short sob. He lets out a shaking breath and hugs her tighter. His other hand moves up and down the small of her back soothingly. 

 She’s crying, and her tears are soaking the front of his shirt; but if he minds, he doesn’t say. He just keeps shushing her quietly, whispering to her over and over again that it’s okay, he’s here now, he’s got her and he’s not going to let her go. And slowly, tentatively, she starts to come down, starts to believe him.  

 Eventually and inevitably, fear is replaced by mortification. She starts to pull away from him, ducking her head to avoid meeting his eyes. “Sorry,” she murmurs. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

 Immediately, his hand his under her chin, gently nudging her face up to look at him. “Dani,” he says firmly. His eyes are huge, intense, only made more so by how dark it is in the room and the way the moonlight coming in through the windows reflects off them. “Stop.” He leans down and brushes his nose over the tip of hers. “Darling, this isn’t your fault.” He’s never called her “sweetheart” or “darling” before tonight, but she decides then and there that it suits him--them--so well, she doesn’t ever want him to stop. 

 It doesn’t occur to her how fruitless it is to argue with Malcolm Bright, of all people, about nightmares, but she makes a valiant attempt anyway. “It’s been a while,” she starts, “But I’m not usually that loud.” She continues, despite the fact that he’s shaking his head vehemently at her. “At least, I--don’t think I am. I usually wake up. It’s j-just--this case has been--” Whatever she was going to say next is lost in a hiccup, and she can almost see Malcolm’s heart break through the expression on his face. 

 He leans down and kisses her cheek once, then darts over to the other cheek to deliver a second, and then pulls back to press his nose into hers lightly again before he touches his forehead to hers. “I know,” he says, and the weight with which he speaks those two words makes her believe he really does know how she’s feeling. Despite the fact that he’s spent the whole week talking about the type of person who would want to kill children, their background, their wants, motives and desires--as if he understands them. “I know,” he says again. “It’s not okay.  None of this is okay. But we’re going to find him, all right? We’re going to stop him, Dani. You and me--together.” 

 He sounds so sure that she finds herself nodding along with him. 

She decides, in this moment, that she loves him. The thought pops into her head and she latches onto it in eager agreement. She doesn’t voice it aloud (and won’t for several more months), but this is the moment she will look back on and know, as she looks up into his sincere eyes--eyes that shine with tears, eyes that tell her he’d do just about anything to trade places with her and relieve her of the fear that has her in a choke hold--that she’s let herself finally, finally, fall fully and fantastically in love with him. 

 He clearly misreads the stunned look on her face as residual fear, and he moves her hair back to kiss her neck, peppering her skin with kisses he hopes will ground her, until he finally makes his way to her lips and takes them against his own. He can taste her tears, and she can taste his, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is this, now, and how fiercely he’s holding her, and how hard she’s trying not to float away. 

 What matters is that despite her protestations, he stays with her the rest of the night. She needs him, and he knows it, so he stays. He keeps vigil at her side, refusing to let sleep take him, too. And with him next to her, Dani is able to drift off. This time, it’s dreamless. 

 And for the first time since she’s been seeing him romantically, she wakes up in the same bed as Malcolm. He’s the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes. Feeling her stir, he looks at her, and her heart pangs at just how tired he looks, how prominent the dark circles are that cradle his eyes. But then his face splits into a beautiful smile, one she can’t help but return. 

 When they arrive at work that morning, Gil does a double take when he sees Malcolm and asks him if he even  tried to sleep the night before. Malcolm gives him a look, his eyes flashing, and, thankfully, Gil drops the subject without further quarrel. 

 Dani is almost positive she’s never loved Malcolm more than she does in that very moment, and when they sit down next to each other at the conference room table, she takes his hand in hers, squeezing it gently before lacing their fingers together.  His knee is bouncing, a conduit for his jittering energy, but it stills as he looks over at her. And the expression he wears is so tender, so adoring, that she just has to lean over and kiss his cheek. 

 JT chooses that moment to walk in--just in time to see it happen. “Oh, gross,” he mutters. “Seriously? That’s a thing now?” 

 “Shut up, JT,” Dani says quietly, though she’s smiling, as Malcolm leans in to kiss her for real.  ---- Gonna tag a few mates who might care about this. Let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in the future (or if you do want to be tagged and I missed ya!). I won’t be offended!  :D 

@malclombright  @atomrealm  @thatsmytrope  @prodigal-sons  @incorrectprodigalsonquotes  @malcolmwhitly-bright  @badguywindow  @brightcinnamonroll  @brightwell-central  @malcolmshiny  @asmolwhumper  @zoejoy24  @prodigal-hyperfixtation  @malcolmwhumply  @endless-navigator  @prodigalsonheadcanons  @brightandwell  @hollyethecurious   @sherlock-freud  @higherthanakite  @thoughts-ideas-statements  @detpowell  @frankensteinsmomster  @paranoid-peaches  @lavenderspark  @missscorp  

[fanfiction27878]

Blind

Pairing - Harry Hook x Reader

Rating - PG

Warning - None

———Harry POV———

I step out of the limo pushing my hat down so the blinding sun doesn’t get into my eyes. I grip my Hook tighter in my left hand. Uma is quick to climb out after me and Gil practically bounces out last. I look around and all I see is the King, this girl, a dog on a leash held by the girl, and the bright colors of Auradon. King Ben has decided to bring the 3 of us to Auradon even though we kidnapped him not even 2 months ago.

King Ben steps forward towards Uma. He put out his hand that Uma shakes diplomatically. “Thank you for this great opportunity.” Uma says politely. “No problem.” Ben responds with a big smile. “So what no big parades to welcome us?” Uma asks sarcastically. “I can get everyone out here if you want. The band can perform.” Ben says quickly. “She was being sarcastic Ben. You know marked by or given to using irony in order to mock or convey contempt. You should know what it is since you grew up with me.” The girl says with the role of her pale gray eyes.

“This is my younger sister (Y/N).” Ben says introducing everyone. “Please by 3 minutes. We’re twins.” She says with a smile. Ben leans in like he’s telling a secret and whispers in a sad voice. “Shes blind.” This takes me by surprise because although her eyes look like blind peoples they don’t look lifeless and they sparkle with joy as she smiles. (Y/N) leans in much like her brother. “She’s not deaf.” Then she stands upright again laughing at her own joke. I can’t help but smirk.

“Yeah ha ha. Now (Y/N)s going to show you around since she knows this castle better than anyone. Sorry to leave on short notice but I have to be in a meeting 19 minutes ago.” Ben says checking his watch. With a kiss to his sisters cheek he’s off towards the castle. “Hi I’m (Y/N), and this is Beast. He’s a chocolate lab. Don’t worry he doesn’t bite and is very well trained since he’s a service dog.” (Y/N) says taking Beast of his leash. He was at least the size of (Y/N) on two feet.

Beast comes running to me first. He jumps on my chest and licks my face. Good thing I’m so tall or the dog would have definitely made me fall over. Uma and Gil laugh beside me but I ignore them. “Hi Beast.” I say petting him. “You can run with him he’ll follow you.” (Y/N) says turning to me following the sound of my voice. “Ok. Here Gil take these and if you drop my Hook your dead.” I threaten. I give Gil my hook and my coat. “You can take this love.” I say placing my hat on (Y/N)s head. “Why thank you.” She says sarcastically.

I then take of running Beast close on my heels. A few minutes later and Beast has me pinned beneath my paws and me, Gil, and Uma are laughing. “Good job Beast.” (Y/N) says then she whistles and Beast immediately runs to her side. She gives him a small treat in her right hand. She then grabs the leash and puts it on her dog. Beast on whines a little and (Y/N) says, “You can play with Harry later. Right now we need to show them around.”

As (Y/N) was getting Beast ready, I grabbed my Hook, jacket, and plucked my hat off of (Y/N)s head putting it back on mine. “Too bad I liked that hat.” (Y/N) says with a smile. “You can borrow it any time you want, love.” I tell her. “Come on. Lunch should be starting soon and today we have cake.” (Y/M) says with a smile of delight. “I love cake. I mean I don’t really like the lumps.” Gil says happily. “What do you mean lumps?” (Y/N) asks cocking her head in confusion. “The rocks, and dirt, and bugs.” Uma says. “Don’t worry Auradon cake doesn’t have any lumps.” (Y/N) says starting to walk to the castle.

“Where you born blind?” Gil asks while we were walking. “Idiot. You can’t just ask people that.” I tell Gil. “Don’t worry. It’s ok. He’s just curious.” (Y/N) says with a smile. “Remember a few years ago when Maleficent escaped the barrier because she found a weakness. You must have been 8 because me and Ben were. Well she went after the royal family first. Me and Ben were playing in the garden when she showed up. She aimed a spell at Ben but I pushed him aside and I got hit instead. It caused me to fall and my eyes kind of disconnected from my brain. Then they found me and Fairy Godmother strengthens the barrier every year.” (Y/N) says as we walk into the school.

“There’s a girl on the Isle who blind. Freddie Facilier but she uses her friends on the other side to see. Her eyes always glow white and it’s kind of freaky.” Gil continues. “We were thinking of inviting her actually.” (Y/N) adds. “She wouldn’t go. Your better off inviting her little sister Celia.” Uma says. Everyone knows Uma has a soft spot for Celia. “I’ll tell Ben.” (Y/N) says.

“So here’s the cafeteria. The whole schools is here. Over to the right is the lunch line.” She tells us as we walk into a huge room. The whole cafeteria quickly hushes with the arrival of us VKs. “Hey (Y/N).” Evie says blinding up to us. “Hi Evie. We were just going to grab lunch.” (Y/N) says motioning towards us. “Hi guys.” Evie greets us. Gil waves while me and Uma nod. “You want me to help you get lunch.” Evie asks (Y/N). “Yeah if you could.”

“Ok. You guys can sit with us. Bens over there and the other VKs.” Evie says. “Go to Ben.” (Y/N) tells Beast as she takes off his leash. He immediately runs toward Ben and (Y/N) chuckles at the girl screams made by a few princesses when they saw Beast loose. “Let’s go.” (Y/N) says following Evie who’s patched into her arm.

We get on line with Evie telling Gil what all the fruits names were. That and helping (Y/N) get food. I grabbed a few things but I wasn’t really interested until we got to the cake. (Y/N) was right it looked so nice and clean. Of course I then grabbed two pieces. Evie guides (Y/N) to where the other VKs and Ben were sitting.

Evie sat down next to (Y/N) Who was next to me my friends beside me. Gil was sitting next to Ben who was sitting next to the rest of the VKs. Everything was quiet with an awkward atmosphere since we used to be sworn enemies. “Well this food looks delicious.” (Y/N) says trying to diffuse the tension. Then she started to laugh at her own joke. I couldn’t help but smirk at her humor. That was until Uma hit my shoulder giving me the, “Are you serious?” Look. “What it was funny.” I whisper to her in defense she just rolls her eyes before eating her cake.

“This is delicious. Your right (Y/N) there are no lumps.” Gil says happily eating his cake. (Y/N) just laughs. “What are these?” Gil asks holding up a small purple circular fruit. “Those are grapes.” Ben says. Gil then eats it. “I like grapes.” Gil concludes. After lunch that was really just full of (Y/N) and Gil talking about food (Y/N) says she’ll take us to our rooms.

“Ok. Gil and Harry are sharing a room while Uma gets her own.” (Y/N) announces as we walk down a hallway. The hallway is filled with dorms. (Y/N) runs her hand over the numbers as we continue. “Here’s your dorm Uma. And the boys are just 7 doors down.” (Y/N) says holding out a key which Uma gladly takes. “Your luggage should already be in there.” (Y/N) says before we continue to our room.

“Here you go.” (Y/N) says leading us to our dorm. “This is so cool.” Gil says unlocking the door. I walk in and (Y/N) leans on the door frame. “If you really want to see something cool, pull the book on the bookshelf. 2 rows from the top and 3 from the left.” (Y/N) says. I’m closest so I pull the book she says even though I’m confused. That’s when a portion of wall at the end of the room swings open to reveal its really a door.

“Woah!” Gil says in awe. “This secret passage leads directly to Uma’s room. Don’t worry only me and Mrs. Potts known about the secret passages in the school. She showed me them all when I went blind in case I needed to get away.” (Y/N) says with a smile.

She starts walking down the passage her right hand on the wall and we follow. “Shhh! When I open the door scream Uma’s name so we can scare her.” (Y/N) says. That’s when she starts counting down on her fingers. When she puts all of her fingers down she pulls the lever and the wall opens up. “Uma!!!” We all scream at the same time.

Uma who has been reading a book screamed and fell to the floor. “WHAT THE HELL?!?” Uma yells. “Sorry Uma.” (Y/N) says still laughing. As she goes to walk into the room she trips on the uneven floor. I catch her and end up picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. “Put me down Harry.” (Y/N) says laughing. “How did you know it was me?” I questioned. “You smell like metal and the ocean.” She says easily.

“Metal?” I ask. “I mean yeah you hold a METAL hook everywhere you go.” (Y/N) says. I finally just drop her on Uma’s bed. “How’d you get in here anyway?” Uma questions. “There’s a secret passage connecting our two rooms.” Gil says excitedly.

[fuwafuwamedb]

The Doctor and the Hunted Pt 8 (Gilgamesh, Hakuno)

So Far In The Adventure: One, Two, Three. Four, Five, Six, Seven

__

“HAKUNO!”

Seduction nothing, the woman was atrocious.

Her laughter rang in his ears as she held him in her arms, her hair falling into his face as he tried to ruin her place in the race by pushing at her controller. The result? The two of them were getting tangled in one another’s hold, their bodies wavering dangerously along the edge of the bed.

“I’m going to make it!” Hakuno cried.

There was still time. He moved turn, pulling out the weapons in the game and blasting open fire at her cart. He could feel the woman moving closer, holding onto him more with her legs. He could feel her raising her controller up, trying to block his view.

The vixen.

“Do you think that will really work?” Gilgamesh purred, leaning in close. “Do you really think you can stand a chance against me?”

She shifted, turning to face him and leaning back to look upside down at the screen. Her body was tilting, pulling him further and further to the edge of the couch. She was slipping from his lap, her shirt beginning to ride up.

“Hakuno… Hakuno!”

The balance was gone. His controller hit the couch as he let go in order to grab her. As the cheers of the false audience rang out in the room, Gilgamesh found himself holding the woman close, their bodies a tangled mess on the floor.

He could feel her hands pressed against his chest, her head held in his hands as they looked into one another’s faces. There was a pounding in his ears for some reason. His gaze ran over that expression, mind running over the look of that glittering gaze.

“Good catch,” Hakuno told him.

“Are you hurt?”

Her face moved, coming in closer. He could feel her lips against his a moment before she moved to kiss his cheek.

His heart beat faster.

“I’m not hurt,” Hakuno replied. “But you should have just let me fall. You’re bleeding again.”

So he was.

He had to look down to even see the splotch of red appearing under his shirt. As soon as he did that, Hakuno was there, helping him onto the couch and settling him amongst the cushions. Her magic was started once more, her eyes trained on the wound. It didn’t matter that she’d won their match for once or that she had kissed him.

And she had kissed him.

Gilgamesh found himself pondering that split second as Hakuno excused herself from his side to get him bandages. Her attention was on his chest, wrapping him carefully before she grinned.

“Maybe we could take a nap? Using this much mana to try to heal you is exhausting. There’s a lot of work that goes into detailed healings.”

“You will need to stay close to me-“

“That’s fine,” Hakuno replied. “I’m so sleepy that it’s fine. Let me grab another cushion.”

He dumped all the ones he knew of from the gates. Every single one that he could sense, he rained down on the ground around them, filling and overflowing the floor around the couch until there was a mess.

“That’s… incredibly useful.” Hakuno scowled. “How hard is that to learn?”

“I am the only one who can do so.”

“I have seen something like that before though…”

He moved closer, waiting for the moment that the spark would come. Her memories were close. Surely now-

Hakuno shook her head, her face turning to his again before she flashed another of those smiles.

“It doesn’t matter,” she dismissed. “Let’s get some rest.”

One of his pillows was pulled into her arms, she snuggled in, pulling the blanket from the back of the sofa a moment before she looked to him.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

Surely she had to feel this familiarity. Did he need Gudako to hand his command spells over to help? How far had that fool of a caster gone in ruining her memories?

“Gil,” she mumbled.

Her arms pulled him carefully down beside her. His tension fell as he found himself bundled carefully under the blanket it her, her lips pressing to his cheek again.

“I don’t like sleeping alone. Even if it is just a nap. Sorry.”

“You fool,” he grumbled.

That was his fault. After all, the Moon Cell had tried to separate them too many times before.

This was further proof, he thought. You are mine, Kishinami.

Gilgamesh held her close as he heard the sound of someone coming towards his chambers. The moment the doors opened, Gilgamesh found himself pulling the slumbering woman closer, his body holding her tight.

“I don’t believe I invited traitorous former doctors to my room, mongrel. I am entertaining, right now.”