#I don’t care about the rates changing for the worse which will wreck our shot at a turnkey fucking house

[emeraldcreeper]

It sucks to know everything’s made up and bullshit when it’s fully midnight and you’ve been cranky for 3 days straight, the mortgage budget we had is now shot to shit because 5 months is… too long to try and get a house????? The FUCK man

[ketchupkio]

Pillow Talk

co-written with @mizuriii!!

Rating: G

Category: M/M

Relationship: Legend/Warriors

Words: 2123

Contents:

established relationship, the rest of the polycule is mentioned, trans male character, fluff, like some cavity inducing fluff, light angst, nightmares, prophetic dreams, phantom pain, chronic pain, comfort, Legend and Warriors being mushy, sleeping in the same bed, lullabies, contains like 1.5 references to sex lol, also a reference to Plot??? OWO???

Summary:

Legend and Warriors get some rest... or try to.

An excerpt of something that was supposed to be canon in the AU, but we didn't think hard enough about the timeline first so it's not lmao. Hope you like it!!!!!

Context: Legend, Twilight, Sky, and Wild have just come back from a excursion and traveled the whole night, not sleeping, because they got freaked out by something. Warriors couldn't sleep either because he was worried about them (...but mostly about Legend, let's be real). Legend saw him and immediately went cling! but Wars started spouting theory and strategy and that wasn't super appreciated by the sleep deprived heroes.

The hero with his face currently buried in Warriors’ scarf groaned in protest. “Babe, c’n it wait until ’ve had caffeine or a nap? Please…”

Twilight looked like he didn’t absorb half of what Wars had said. “Strategist brain is appreciated, but a nap would be good, yeah.”

"Er.... s-sorry. We've got these rooms for the next two days, so you're all welcome to head back upstairs if you want...?"

Legend tugged on his scarf, trying to get his eyes to focus enough to glare at him. “You’re coming too. Ya didn’t sleep either, dummy.”

"I-- .... okay, okay, I'm coming. I just wanted to let them know they don't have to rush."

Warriors smiled at him and let Legend push him toward the stairs.

"Your rooms are the three at the far end of the second floor, and the first right hand door on the third."

“Their room is on the third, if you wanna avoid it,” Wind sneered. Hyrule pinched his ear and Legend flipped him off before managing to successfully shove Warriors into the stairwell.

"Are you really alright?" Warriors asked, slipping an arm around Legend’s body. ".....You look exhausted, love...."

Legend hummed. “No one got hurt, but… haven’t been sleepin’ well recently. Barely got any ‘n past few days… Nightmares… ‘N I have a hard time without you...”

"....Me too. When I turn over and you're not there, it's--.... it's cold, you know? But more than cold."

Warriors kissed his temple as he led up to their room, and produced a spare key for Legend in case he wanted to get up and get breakfast before Warriors woke later on, unlocking the door with it before slipping the key into Legend's waist pouch.

"Come sleep with me, okay...? We'll actually get some rest for once."

Legend nodded, and after the door closed, he let Warriors unbuckle his belt and open his tunic. Legend would have dropped them on the floor, but Warriors laid them over the back of a chair, along with his scarf.

“Stays and boots off,” he instructed, and Legend complied with barely an insubordinate tongue sticking out in return. Warriors chuckled at him fondly as he climbed into bed and reached for him, trying to snag the hem of his shirt as he changed into something softer.

“Love you…” Legend murmured. “C’mere…”

"Your wish is my command," Warriors hummed, settling in once he was changed himself, and nestling up under Legend’s chin. His hands pressed gently against Legend’s side and his back, and Warriors took a minute just to breathe in the smell of Legend’s presence. "I love you more..."

Legend would have protested if he hadn’t been so damn tired, so all Warriors got was a (frankly adorable) grumble as the younger hero slung his arms around him and pressed his cheek against the golden hair at his crown. Warriors could feel the tension leaving him as he relaxed, and with Legend’s steady heartbeat under his ear, he could finally breathe easy enough to relax too.

"......Goddesses, we're such anxious wrecks," he laughed after a minute. "Fuck me sideways..."

"Mmh. Maybe tomorrow."

Warriors snorted, then kissed his neck before settling again.

"Sleep well for me, love.... My night depends on it."

…..Legend tried his best. He did.

There were flashes of the desert, of a different era’s Hyrule Castle, of the shade of a king and a jaded prince taking the throne from a corrupt queen, a furious Sheikah founding a rogue organization, and an old, bitter sorcerer with a young face making a deal he couldn’t refuse. Then, dark, choking mists of acid, plants and grass melting at their feet as they advanced, searching, hunting--

Legend shot awake, gasping as phantom pain shot through his arms and back along old, white scars that coiled and branched off like vines through his blood vessels in place of the stinging, corroding pain of acid from his dream.

He didn’t even hear Warriors calling his name until the pain receded to a strong, but not overwhelming ache.

It was dark, he could hear rain hitting the shutters of the windows, and he could feel the storm in his hands and knees and hips.

“Link…” he managed, in an effort to let his partner know he was alive.

Warriors loosed a gasp of relief and worry, and then pulled Legend tight to his chest.

"Y-you were wailing," the captain said, tripping over his words, "a-and crying for me-- are you okay?"

“Sorry…” he rasped, trying to get his bearings. Gods, his throat was raw and he could feel sweat rapidly cooling on his skin in the chill the rain brought. It’d be nice if he could flex his hands at all, or move his anything without it hurting. “I-I ruined your sleep, didn’t I?”

"To hell with my sleep, y-you're in pain, aren't you? Is it the storm? ....Fuck, where'd I put my potion bag--"

“‘S okay, don’t rush… Potions don’t help a lot when there’s nothin’ to heal, babe,” Legend muttered, sluggish even as a sense of urgency crept over him. “...Had a dream. Been having similar ones lately… I have a bad feeling about it.”

"....... Can you tell me about it?" Warriors asked. "You sounded like you were in agony, it scared me...."

Legend leaned into him as best he could. “O-old pain trying to come close to dream pain… It had a sorcerer in it, and a rogue Sheikah… Didn’t Wild say the Yiga from his era used to be Sheikah? This might have been the first of them… Something about Hylian royalty… I-I had prophetic dreams before my first quest…. This feels like those.”

".....A prophetic dream you have bad feelings about....?" Warriors grimaced. "....Should we wake up Sky and the sprite? If you're having prophetic visions, they might be too, but if they're not we can maybe rule out that there's an evil sorcerer on our case."

Legend wanted to ball his fists in Warriors’ shirt, but he couldn’t make his fingers do more than curl loosely. “If I could move, yeah, but that’s probably not going to be for a while… You could get them if you wanted.”

".......Later. When the storm passes, because I'm not leaving you."

Legend let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Thank you…. Come here and hold me? I’m cold…”

He didn't have to ask Warriors twice. The captain practically wrapped himself around Legend, and pulled in close and tight.

"I've got you, love. I'll keep you warm."

Legend kissed whatever part of Warriors was closest, which happened to be his jaw. “....You’re wonderful…”

….Something nagged at him, though. Warriors hadn’t been a part of his dream that he could remember, but…

“Hey… You said I called out to you…?”

"Yeah.... I think you were asking for help...."

“That… doesn’t bode well,” Legend grimaced. “Can you promise me something, though? I mean like actually promise, no matter the circumstances.”

"......You're scaring me a little.... What is it...?"

“Don’t throw yourself in front of anything for anyone. Not even me. Don’t do reckless bullshit that would get yourself hurt instead of others. That’s not to say you can’t defend anyone, just… don’t jump in where you know you’re gonna overextend and get hurt as a result. Does that make sense? I know that’s both specific and not at the same time, but I can’t explain it. I just… have a feeling. Promise you’ll be careful about that?”

"Don't do something reckless that'll get me killed out of some white knight complex and lack of self preservation? Is that what you want from me?"

Legend tried to shrink further into Warriors’ chest. “....Yes….”

"......You're asking me for quite the tall order," Warriors hummed, pressing kisses against Legend’s temple. "Aren't I supposed to be your dashing knight in shining armor, astride a white horse, keeping all the scary monsters at bay?"

He was trying for humor, but humor wasn't a given promise.

Legend huffed, but the kisses were sweet and he liked the attention. “Yes, and I know that’s a whole personality archetype for you, but Link… I’m worried. Please. This wasn’t in my dream, but it’s got the same feeling. Can you promise me that you won’t do something stupid like that?”

"I--"

Warriors hesitated.

".....Legend-- if something happened to you--"

“No, no, that’s not relevant. Link. We carry fairies and spells and items as countermeasures so if we do get into a dire situation like that, we’ll survive and not have to endanger anyone else in the process. There would be no need for you to risk yourself like that, which is why I want you to promise me you won’t. Hyrule has the goddamn triforce. I’m sure if something were to happen to one of us, there would be some way to help that wouldn’t involve you needlessly throwing your life away. Especially if it’s me, who has items so overpowered that I don’t use them, but keep them in reach so if I need to, I can…. You’re not making me feel good about this.”

"......You didn't hear what you sounded like tonight.... I'm sorry, I just-- ....There's not a whole lot worse than having someone you love screaming for you to help them and being helpless... I don't want to repeat that when there's someone trying to kill us."

Legend scowled, then gave a long sigh. “...We also have three partners at home. We have to think about them too. Minimum number of people getting hurt…”

He… felt like he wasn’t going to get his answer at this rate. Goddamnit.

"............That could also go for you, you know.... but that isn't what you want me to say."

Warriors sighed.

".......If you promise not to get into a situation I feel like you won't come home okay in, I won't do anything stupid. Deal....?"

….That was also a hard thing to guarantee. But…

“I’ll try my best. Deal,” Legend said with a note of finality. “...Now kiss me to seal it. We’re making a contract.”

Warriors smiled and tilted up Legend's chin with his fingers, and pressed a soft, but long, luxuriant kiss against his mouth.

"I love you, love.... Please, goddesses above, get some rest..."

Legend stole another kiss because he needed it. “And I love you, Sir Knight… I’ll try, if I can. Tired…”

".... Should I sing for you...?"

When Legend looked up, Warriors wasn't looking at him, and instead trained his eyes on a particularly interesting lump on the old earthen wall as his ears burned.

"Y-y'know.... t'help you sleep...."

Goddesses above, Legend was smitten. Every day he fell a little bit harder for this man.

He kissed Warriors’ cheek. If his hands worked, he’d be tempted to stroke those beautiful, flushed ears and run his fingers over the scarred edge of his left one. “...I’d love that, baby.”

"M'kay..... Tell. No one. Okay?"

“Why would I? This is just for me. Wouldn’t wanna share it with anyone else…”

"Three reasons. Guess their names."

Legend grinned. “Why wouldn’t you want them to know? They’re our partners, we love them. Two are very musically gifted and would love it. While cute, you’re also being silly.”

"Mhhhhhhh because!! It makes me self conscious and people used to stare.... A-anyway, are you gonna hush and let me, o-or what??"

Warriors’ face was so, so red, and Legend was having some very dangerous thoughts about proposing marriage. Nonetheless, the younger hero conceded.

“Gods above, I’m so in love with you. Okay, yes, I’ll be quiet,” he said, tucking himself more comfortably into Warriors and the pillows.

Warriors kissed him again, and sighed, letting his thumb rest on Legend's cheek, the circles it ran over his skin serving as his metronome. A gentle lullaby brought Legend back to gentle shorelines, warm sand and easy, soft sunlight. It nestled him against merchants fabric that smelled lightly of spice and fairy dust, to old books with knowledge ancient and timeless. It brought him round to soft white linen and blue silk, and rocked him gently on the heels of someone taller than he was, pulling Legend over to a gentle heartbeat.

It brought him home even though home was a thousand miles and goddess only knew how many years away from now.

There was something to be said for song magic, because Warriors was doing it, whether he intended to or not. Legend could feel the intent of a spell woven into his voice. It made him feel warm and safe, eased the pain and fatigue of his body, and relaxed him enough that he immediately started to drift off, awash in the calm sea of Warriors’ voice.

He was out like a light.

Thanks for reading!!! Reblogging and/or screaming in tags/replies/inbox is SO appreciated!!!

[dyslexicsquirrel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Iron Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Pepper Potts, James Rhodes Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending

Stony Bingo 2019 round 2 (square O4) Prompt: forced to face fear

The beeping of the machines was driving Tony crazy, but he couldn’t make himself leave. Not while Steve was still here and he couldn’t really be mad at the incessant beeping because it meant Steve was still alive. Natasha had been by yesterday with a new change of clothes and to get an update—which was there was no update, except for taking the breathing tube out—everything else was the same, Steve still hadn’t woken up. The serum was the only reason he hadn’t died. His injuries were healing, but the damage from the explosion had been extensive. Collapsed lung, internal bleeding, broken bones, the wounds from the rebar puncturing his body...

“It’s a trap, the place is rigged to blow,” the echo of Steve’s voice from that day played in his mind. “Move, move, move! Everyone out.”

“What about you?”

“Get the hostages out,” he’d said in his Captain’s voice. He’d been running, not that he’d been out of breath, but Tony could hear the sound of his boots moving fast, up the stairs from the lower levels he’d assumed. But then Steve’s voice had softened, that particular tone he reserved for Tony and usually only when they were alone. And Tony should have known, should have wondered why he hadn’t taken the time to switch over to their private line. It only would have taken a second, but Tony was distracted by herding a bunch of hostages who were scared and weak outside with Natasha that he hadn’t. Steve had said, “I’ll see you top side, Tony.”

But that had been a lie. By the time they had unburied Steve from the rubble, he was unconscious and hadn’t been able to see Tony at all. But at the time, Tony had been too busy being glad that Steve had been breathing and later that they’d gotten his heart started when it stopped in the Quinjet on the way to the compound.

In the three weeks since then he’d had plenty of time to get pissed, ping ponging between begging and cursing. Don’t do this to me. You lying son of a bitch. You promised me this would never happen. If you die I’ll find a way to bring you back and kill you myself. I need you. Wake up so I can yell at you. I can’t do this without you.

He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs and dropped his face in his hands.

Rhodey was out of country doing his Warmonger thing, but he called. Tony didn’t return his messages. Pepper came by to sit with him when she had time between running a company. She’d be here more if he let her, but he didn’t.

He couldn’t deal with them and this. He had no room for them. This was worse than his nightmares already, but this wasn’t rock bottom. There was room to fall. And if it did… he’d need them and he didn’t think he could keep it together enough right now to not say something to drive them away. He was selfish enough to push them away now in case he needed them later.

His hands fisted in his hair and he squeezed his eyes shut, listening to the beep beep beep. Note to self: make medical equipment that isn’t so aurally offensive. Maybe make it play Motzart.

He was so focused on the damn beeping he almost didn’t notice the new sound in the room. When he did, his head shot up, eyes zeroing in on the still form on the hospital bed that wasn’t entirely still anymore. Steve groaned again, shifting, eyelids fluttering, and Tony was up and standing by the side of the bed before he was conscious of the thought to move. Careful of the IV Tony gripped his hand. “Steve?”

“Tony?” Steve’s voice was wrecked, the sound almost unrecognizable as his name, but he knew. The sight of those familiar blue eyes after weeks of thinking he might not see them again made Tony shudder. He folded in on himself, gripping Steve’s hand between both of his, the bed rail digging uncomfortably into his stomach. “Ow,” Steve said softly when Tony’s forehead pressed against his abdomen.

“Sorry,” he choked out, trying to move, but his body felt like lead.

“No, no. Shhh,” Steve said and Tony felt a hand stroking his hair. How messed up was that? That Steve had been the one in a coma for three weeks and he was comforting Tony. But it was just like him, the noble jerk. Tony started laughing, but it quickly dissolved into tears that he hid in Steve’s hospital gown. But he knew anyway. If Steve couldn’t hear it, he could feel the wetness on his skin, and the hand that had been carding through his hair gripped the back of his head, a steady weight holding him in place while he let out all the pent up emotions from the last three weeks of hell.

When the tears stopped and Tony could breathe almost steadily, he slowly unfolded and Steve’s hand slid from his head. When he turned to look at Steve’s face, till bearing slight bruising that had faded to a sickly yellow, the other man smiled at him. “Go on. Let me have it.”

Tony face scrunched up in anger. “Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again, you son of a bitch.” His ire was short lived, tempered by relief, and the feeling of Steve cupping his cheek.

“Come here,” he said softly, voice still raspy. He should get him some water, Tony thought, followed swiftly by he didn’t promise, but it didn’t matter when a moment later their lips were pressed together for the first time since right before the mission that almost took Steve from him, right before the faceplate snapped into place and he flew out of the plane. Unlike then Steve’s lips were dry and chapped, but it was the best kiss Tony could remember because Steve was awake and talking and kissing him.

It didn’t last long before Steve was settling back against the pillow with a grimace of pain, breathing a little faster than normal, the beeping of the heart monitor letting Tony know his heart rate was elevated. The nurse would be in soon, probably. But Tony didn’t move and Steve looked up at him and deadpanned, “Now, go brush your teeth, your breath smells.”

Tony was laughing when the nurse did, in fact, come in. He moved out of the way so she could check Steve’s vitals and change his fluids. There’d be time enough later to lecture Steve about being so careless with his life because he was finally awake and okay. Tony would need to drive home the point, though, because he didn’t think he could live through that kind of fear again.

[lenixsocial]

👇🏻Here’s why DWTS doesn’t work anymore 👇🏻

First off, let me begin by saying I am by no means an expert. I am just a fan of the show and have been watching it (and reviewing it) with my wife @entireoranges on our podcast @3pn-official for the past ten seasons (excluding the abbreviated Atheletes season). So I feel I have at least a decent feel for the show.

Sure there have been some shock eliminations and you might even argue those eliminations are rigged or planned in some fashion (hey, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch). But it’s just one issue in a steady, long list of grievances I feel I personally need to air out about why I feel this show no longer works as it once did.

1. Family Dynamic - the show used to have this in excess. No matter your feelings on who the contestants were or what their station in life was the dynamic of deep friendship and family permeated the show. Cute little interludes were filmed, a lot more of the rehearsals were included as an edited package to show the growth the couples had together. The banter between the hosts and the judges and the hosts and the talent didn’t seem forced and awkward. It had a real family/friends vibe going. The new edits and the new packages have essentially ruined that dynamic. On top of another grievance which comes next.

2. Shocking or Salacious “Stars” - When you have a show that includes such people as Geraldo Rivera and Rick Perry you might be tempted to go and get Sean Spicer. The major issue here is that while the other two I just mentioned are problematic; both are low-end on the spectrum and aren’t as visible per say as Sean. He wasn’t just another toadie he was the mouthpiece for a corrupt leader and he lied to the people daily. He was the virtual face of that administration. That makes him a touchstone. People who support his ex-boss will flock to him and vote no matter what. Bad dance? Who cares...gotta win at all costs. People who don’t support his ex-boss feel the show is now a farce and can’t be trusted because his fans (actually supporters of his ex-boss) will vote for him regardless of how well he dances. On top of that there’s the whole morality angle to contend with. On top of this his ex-boss took the opportunity to direct his supporters (many of whom are likely bot farms) to vote for Sean. That’s right...a world leader has instructed people to vote for Sean. I’ll let that stew in your mind for a second and go on to number three.

3. Removal of Fan Favorite Cast Members - Sharna, Keo, and Artem are like family. They’re fixtures. Sure others have left (and technically Keo is still hanging around) but the way in which Artem was publicly wronged and the whole bad vibes in the Sharna situation just doesn’t sit will with fans. They are all entertaining in their own ways and the public like seeing them. A lot of people were probably turned off on them not being around. I know I was.

4. Cheapening Productions - The bombastic overblown numbers with smoke and props may have upset Len Goodman to no end but the return to technical prowess as the lead point of DWTS is well...boring. I don’t know if the other versions of DWTS in other countries are more technical and that’s where they got the idea for this ridiculous change but the American sentiment has traditionally been “wow me with things”. The spectacle is part of the show. Yes, prior to me watching the show it was more like it is presently but so many fans hopped on board in the past ten to twelve seasons and watched the show blossom. It became a production heavy show. To just rip it off like a bandage? That’s harsh.

5. Expectations of Stars - You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t one moment claim it’s a dance competition and go hardcore on that to no end and say it’s terrible, and give reasons why it is sooo bad and carry on and on then smile and give the contestant a 7 when they deserved a 3. The joke has always been the show rates on a scale of 6-10. You rarely see any number below a 6. No matter how awful the critique the judges might give. There it is again...a score of seven. If this is a dance competition, then treat it like one. Score them based on your comments. Don’t give a four rated dance a seven. Part of the scores on who goes home supposedly is the judges and they blame the voters when they judge straight 7’s. If they’re bad give them lower scores!

6. Bring Back Mandy Moore - I cannot stress this enough. The new intro dances and interstitial dances are weak. They look unbalanced, and admittedly out of synch. This leads me to two more things...

7. Music - Stop picking music that doesn’t match the dance style. It’s got so much worse this season. It’s hard to dance a samba to a song that doesn’t have a rhythm that’s even remotely like a samba. In the past they at least attempted to make the song sound like the kind of music you’d use to dance to whatever dance was being performed.

8. Camera Operators - I mean are they drunk? It seems like this season they hired a bunch of interns to operate the cameras and then numbed their hands with a healthy dose of Novocain before they shoved them out into the studio.

9. Voting - The new voting effectively eliminates the west coast (for those of you in conspiracy theory mode there’s a lot of liberals on the west coast and without them voting Sean gets more votes). In reality I highly doubt it really makes much of a difference at all. I’m pretty sure some feel the show is rigged and always has been. Most reality tv is. Voting is just a way to make the public feel involved and little else. But I always at least felt the voting was fair and I’m just not getting that vibe anymore. The show needs to upend the voting to where the eliminations are done on a different night or the following week. Or not at all. Maybe just let the judges judge for a season. The instant delivery seems really rushed and well...disingenuous. I’m supposed to just trust their results tabulated that fast when I know what went down with Val and Zendaya? Yeah...still feeling that one!

10. Heart - It’s sorely lacking. The show seems concerned with ratings and not the people. Len is much harsher than he needs to be. The audience is louder than they need to be. The complete lack of care in the emotional stability of the stars is abhorrent. I lost my mother when I was 18. She died of Cancer. I feel Lauren Alaina’s pain. Her stepfather died and she loved him dearly. I’ve been there. I know how emotionally compromising it is to lose someone you are close to and love to have them wrenched from the picture like that and the feeling of watching them slowly die in front of you and knowing that there’s nothing you could’ve done to save them. So carrying that around is hard enough. Performing is even harder (in my case I performed a song at my mothers funeral on guitar). I bawled after it. I was a mess. That was only a week after she died. It doesn’t go away. You may look alright but you aren’t. You feel that. She danced in front of millions on TV. And she went to the security of her mother’s arms immediately afterwards. The show could’ve just glossed over that and gone to break or shot up to Erin in the lounge or whatever but no...we got Gleb awkwardly trying to wrench her away from her mother to hear the judges reactions for a few moments then her standing there wholly unable to speak without crying exposed and in the spotlight. Then she began hyperventilating and couldn’t breathe and still they had her standing there. No chair offered, no rushing her off stage to get help. Made to stand. Mercifully Tom Bergeron is a decent human being and gave her tissues and a little comfort but even I saw him basically disobeying the orders from the booth in his ear when he went to commercial for her sake. It was awkward, greedy, and well...disgusting to watch. I got an instant feeling of revulsion which stands to this very moment. That alone should have made me stop watching but I realize it’s all about money anyway. But even so...have a little fucking heart, DWTS. Jeez!

All of this being said I know there will be some who get all “well if you don’t like it then don’t watch it” and yeah, that’s a fair assessment. But I do like it. I just want it to get better so ABC doesn’t cancel it and from what I’m hearing fans aren’t impressed with the changes that have been made.

I have enjoyed this show now for ten seasons and there have been some absolutely stellar moments and there have been some missteps but this season thus far is a complete train wreck. I’ll continue watching it but I really hope they at least revert back to the way it was last season (if they avoid cancellation).

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 26: The Julius Formerly Known as Prince

Part 25

Welcome back to Fire Emblem IV! Last week we had started our invasion of Grannvale, coming up to it through the southern Miletos district, and in so doing got to smack the crap out of Tinni’s crazy aunt, who unfortunately managed to get away.  These things happen.  This week, we have to start off by opening the gates that will allow us to proceed north to Miletos itself.  

I’m just gonna say, if you guys wanna stop now, I’m down for that. How about we just move in to Hilda’s old torture castle and set up there? Do we really need to beat the Empire?

Yes?

Shit.  

Ah, well.

Well, to start, we need to take Rados castle, which is thankfully unoccupied after we killed all its inhabitants last week. It’s cool, they were gross people.  Though first, I have Ced grab the village right north of it…

Behind the Times: Not so long ago, from what I hear, Emperor Arvis himself forbade ‘em. What the devil could’ve changed his mind? Please, I’m begging you, you’ve gotta save our children! Here, this magic ring oughta help you out.

Niiiiiiiiiiice. This pushes Ced’s magic above the 30-point cap, leaving him even more of a killing machine that he already is.  Dude doesn’t even have a holy weapon, he’s just raw badass. Cairpre also continues his path to minor godhood.  

This kid was level one on the last map, and he’s going to be promoted and breaking skulls right along with the rest of the kids next map. I’m so proud of him.  

Seliph, take the castle and set the story going, my man!

(Yeah, but he had to be a man named Morrigan, so who really suffered the most?)

Seliph: How could they… how could anyone be so savage…?

Lewyn: And that’s why we’ve got to fight this war to the end, Seliph. This is something you’ve got to understand.

(OKAY WE GET IT JEEZ STOP PESTERING ME DAD)

Lewyn: This is the way of the Loptyr Empire. There’s no place at all for the good-hearted… Now, it shouldn’t be too long before the gate to Miletos opens for us.  

(…. Why…?)

Lewyn: What’s your next move, Seliph?

Seliph: Needless to say, we must march on Miletos. We can’t afford to rest while those children are still at risk. Or Julia, for that matter.

Lewyn: Good. And after that, Grannvale awaits!

(OH FUCK IT’S ISHTAR)

(Oh, and also Arvis. Man, you have not aged well, buddy. I’d feel bad for you, but you know… the rape and murder and stuff.)

Arvis: Listen, Ishtar. Release the captive children.  I know you care no more for these foul deeds than I do.

Ishtar: My apologies, sir, but I’m on Prince Julius’s-

Arvis: Pay Julius no mind. I’ll be having a word with him soon.

(Funny story, bro, he said the same thing about you last week, and I’m a bit more scared of him at this point.)

Ishtar: But…

Arvis: This is an order from your emperor, Ishtar! Has Julius bent you such that you will no longer listen to the word of your liege?!

Ishtar: N-no. Never, your majesty…

(Speak of the [Literal?] Devil.)

Arvis: Julius! How dare you-

Julius: Why, Father, it almost sounds as if you still don’t know any better! Old age must be dulling that once-brilliant mind of yours. Why not retire before it grows still feebler? Unless… ohohohoho! Don’t tell me you still seriously believe that you can banish me?

Arvis:  … No. I know better than to try something so futile again. I… have no further objection.

Julius: That’s better. Now, then. Begone! Return to your post and haunt my sight no more. Defending Chalphy is crucial, so don’t fail me for once in your sorry life, Father.  

(Daaaaaaaaaaaamn, son, you just got burned.  Or should that be Julienned?)

Arvis: Y-yes, Julius. At once…

(God, it’s like every creeper left in the game is all gathering in this one castle to see who can be most sleazy. If Hilda shows up, I’m going to need to stop to take a shower.)

Manfroy: Never would you think this wretch, now clinging only to the ghost of a crown, was once the most powerful man in Jugdral.  

Julius: Ah, Manfroy. Where’s Julia? Have you restored her memory yet?

Manfroy: Your dear little sister is in Chalphy, burdened once more by her old memories. Never have I seen such horror as when she recalled how you, her own brother, almost killed her! Or how her dearly departed mother spirited her clear of the castle and your clutches…

Julius: Indeed… near everyone puts up some defiance to death by my hand, yet Deirdre never so much as flinched in the end. She accepted her own demise, all to save Julia with what little strength she still had.  But Julia possesses the foul powers of that ghoul, Naga, just as Deirdre once did. Nothing is more crucial than killing her now, Manfroy, lest we lose the chance.

(………. Then… why did you need to restore her memories…?)

Manfroy: You overestimate her threat, milord. After all, the Book of Naga remains under the strictest lock and key in Belhalla. Without it, Naga’s soul could never come to dwell within that girl…

Julius: How many times must I explain, Manfroy?! Every last one of the avatars of Naga, the heirs of Heim, must be purged!

Manfroy: Understood, milord. I’ll have my men see to it that Julia is dead by sundown.

Julius: Do not fail me, Manfroy. Now, then, I suppose I’m needed in the capital.

Manfroy: I shall ensure that holding the Miletos territory is the Order’s highest priority. Before the week is done, Your Majesty, the corpse of Seliph shall lie before you.

Julius: Seliph? … Ah, of course. The one the peasants call ‘the scion of light’.  Just as they call me the ‘scion of darkness’.  The alleged eldest son of Deirdre and the alleged true heir to my throne. A fairy tale, told to inspire hope amongst fools.

Manfroy: He is still a threat, milord. The sooner we dispose of him, the better.                      

Julius: Surely he doesn’t truly bear the power of the Crusader Baldur. He couldn’t possibly. I don’t care about him, Manfroy, but you’re welcome to do with him as you will.  

Manfroy: Very good, milord.

Julius: … Actually, I have a better idea. I want to play a game.  

Julius: Rumor has it that a small army of fresh sacrifices are headed our way. Let’s see who can claim the life of a rebel first.

Ishtar: Yes, Lord Julius. I’d love to!

(Sympathetic anti-villain~)

And then the newly arrived enemies start screwing with me, thus ruining the drama of the moment. Anyhow. The army arrayed against us is arguably the worst in the entire game thus far, given they are almost all dark mages. Dark magic still has no disadvantages to anything in the weapon triangle, and a lot of them have status effect staves to fuck our advance over hard. And of course, standing near the castle…

At first glance, Ishtar actually looks worse than Obvious Final Boss Julius. She’s bulked up considerably since we last met her; her Magic has gone up by six points, speed by one, and resistance by a whopping twelve with the addition of a Barrier Ring to her inventory.  He, in contrast, has generally good stats at everything (and is a damn stone wall with 25 defense and 35 resistance) but he’s slower than her and his Loptyr tome is heavier than her Mjolnir.  Beyond being a stone wall, he appears to be less dangerous than her.

This is a filthy lie.

You see, Ishtar is stronger than her last fight with us, but we’ve leveled up far more than she has since then. She’s certainly still very dangerous thanks to her combo of Mjolnir and the Vantage ability meaning if you don’t kill her in one shot she’ll wreck your ass on all further battles, but that’s nothing new. It just means we’re playing the same damn game of Nuclear Rocket Tag that we were last time, and Arthur is carrying a much bigger nuke than before. Maybe he still only has like a 60% chance of pulling it off, but I honestly can’t believe I did it at all last time.  

And as for that heavy Loptyr tome? It has a little extra trick to it that you’ll quickly come to despise.  

See that little note, ‘cuts foe’s atk’ down in the bottom left corner? See, more specifically, it cuts the attack of anyone who gets into battle with Julius by a whopping 50%. So before hitting Julius’s again, stone-wall defenses, anyone who takes a swing at him will first have their attack cut in half, at which point he will swing right back with a Holy Weapon that has no weapon triangle disadvantage to anything and is backed up by his maxed out magic stat.  And in his ability list, he has Pursuit and Accost for maximum possible double-attacking potential to go with his very high natural speed, and Wrath to cause his critical hit rate to skyrocket if you do eventually get his HP down below half.  

His 80 HP.  

So yeah, this is the game’s subtle way of telling you ‘DON’T FIGHT JULIUS’. Indeed, the easiest thing to do here would be to let him or Ishtar kill one of our soldiers and then have Cairpre revive them with the Valkyria staff, because they will both leave if one of them manages to win their ‘game.’  Which, I mean, if I get really desperate, maybe, but for the sake of my pride I’d prefer to beat one of them, causing both to retreat. And by ‘one of them,’ I mean Ishtar. And by ‘beat’ I mean, ‘Arthur, it’s time to play another round of Holy Weapon Nuclear Death Tag with your cousin, please try to survive.’  

Oh, and just for fun:

That’s Julius’s Holy Blood screen. Just in case you didn’t have enough unhappiness in your life.

Now then. First thing we need to do is clear out at least some of the enemies in play here. There’s a whole mess of Dark Mages with some melee fighters scattered among them, and they’re operating with a variety of tools, but the worst, as poor Altena found out, are the ones with Sleep staves. Status effect staves in this game are the worst; they have perfect accuracy as long as the one using them has higher Magic than the target has Resistance. In our hands, they’re balanced by only having 2-3 charges before they break. In the enemy’s hands, they have infinite charges because Fuck You, that’s why. Sleep + Hel + Any Hit of Anything is a very bad situation.  So first step is to work out where they are:

There, we have a basic cross-reference of where only high-resistance units should go. The dark mages have 16 Magic each, which isn’t much for the purposes of combat but for the purposes of Sleep Staves it might as well be a trillion. Maybe a quarter of our army can go into that crossfire zone without being zapped, and one of them is Cairpre, who can’t fight. On the other hand, he’s also the only person who can wake people up, so his staying awake forever is useful, in its own way.

Back to full power! And now, we clear out the vanguard and move the team up, making sure to keep most people firmly to the east.  

There we go. First wave down; the only people in the current batch who can lure out enemies without getting a forced nap are Ares, Fee, Ced, Tinni and Cairpre; Seliph will be able to when he actually reaches the army, but he, Nanna, and Ulster are a bit further back. He had to take the castle and they needed to do some weapon repairs.

End turn!

Ah, yes, some of them have siege tomes too. Because, again, fuck you, that’s why.

Cairpre, you’re just getting silly.  But in any event, we’ve now gotten a situation where the only people in the Sleep range are people who cannot be Sleeped, and they should also be drawing in some of the enemies from the west so we can clear out at least one or two of the staff wielders and give us some more movement range. There’s two to the west, and two to the north; the western ones should start moving on this turn now that we’ve cleared out the enemies closer to us. With luck, I can kill them both right away. End turn…

Okay, not bad. With the positioning of the enemies, I thiiiiiiiiink three of the sleep staffs can be taken out this turn without much issue.  Let’s see…

That’s one!

And that’s two, and also all we’re going to get. But the remaining two are going to put some people to sleep, but they won’t be able to get anyone killed.  That’s worth Ares getting a shit level, I guess. What remains is to clear out the final village-burning bandit of the map…

And killing off this sniper so he can’t kill Fee and ruin everything.

Good times. All right, dark mages! Please don’t kill anyone. End turn.

Lame, but tolerable. We will be able to kill one more staff guy this turn; but the second one is being… troublesome.  

He’s one of those charming robed figures firmly in Julius’s combat range. That is not a fight I want to pick.  Instead, we’ll take this other dude with the physic staff…

And pull back, trying to lure them out further. Cairpre wakes up Lester to let him do the same, and gets his like seventieth level.

To the south, we need to clear a path without letting Patty get put to sleep preferably. So I have Tinni try to clear a path, which will let Ced get through to the third Sleep user.

….

She misses. On a 90% chance. Dammit. Seliph, please?

That’s why we’re putting you on the throne later, buddy.  And now Ced can get through and remove one more stumbling block.

Beautiful. Only one staff jackass left, and the only people in his range are Tinni and Seliph.  He’ll have to move, and with any luck at all he’ll do so out of Julius’s combat range where someone can take a swing at his dumb face. End turn!

Heeeeeeeeeey buuuuuuuddy.

Niiiiice. With that, there’s only seven enemies left total; one guy with a normal tome, three siege tomes, the boss in the castle, and the two far more dangerous bosses waiting for us to get all up in their business. This will be… tricky. But for the moment, we’re safe, so I have Seliph drop in to have a conversation with Tinni.

(In all this mess, you may have forgotten Lewyn is her dad. He certainly hasn’t been very fatherly.)

Seliph: If you need anything from me, I’ll be waiting over there.

(You see what I mean about her having a character arc, now? Imagine the Tinni we first recruited saying that. She was so broken down she was going to fight us just because she was too afraid not to. And look at her now, electrocuting her aunt! I’m so proud.)

Lewyn: She didn’t treat you well, did she?

(“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHA…. Oh, you’re serious…? Wow. No. No.”)

Tinni: Day after day, again and again, she would beat and abuse us. She kept on accusing Mother of being a traitor…

Lewyn: Your mother… Taillte…

Tinni: Yes… after the Battle of Belhalla, she and my brother, Arthur, fled to Silesse. I was born there soon after. I never knew my father. I think he must have died long ago…

Lewyn: I see. Then you went to Alster, right?

Tinni: King Blume and his minions came to Silesse, one night. They dragged us away to Alster… Mother never left there alive…

Lewyn: I… you’ve had such a hard life…

Tinni: Mm… Hilda hated Mother so much. I’ve never seen anything like it. Mother coped with so much, trying to protect me from Hilda. She was always in tears, right till the end…

Lewyn: She… she did…?

Tinni: Lord Lewyn? Is… is everything okay, sir?

Lewyn: … Yeah. Why do you ask?

Tinni: It’s your eyes, sir. Are those… tears?

Lewyn: I… no, it’s nothing. This is just a bit of sweat. I’m fine… I… I’m okay…

I like this conversation for a few reasons. First, it gives Tinni a ridiculous +5 magic, which is wonderful for these conversation bonuses and pushes her to her magic cap of 27. But on a story front, you’ve probably noticed that Lewyn has become kind of a douche in the years since the first generation.  This is one of the very few moments where that attitude breaks and he really shows you just how much he’s hurting beneath it all. He manages to hold up the Jerk Attitude for most of his other daughter conversations (he can have one with Fee, Lene, or Tinni if he’s their dad) but this is the only one he breaks down on. Learning your wife was essentially tortured to death will do that, and it probably only hurts more because Tinni isn’t trying to guilt him over it. Just innocently sharing how awful her life has been.

It’s a good, solid, quiet little character moment. I really like those when they’re done well, and I think this one was.

End turn.

Way to kill the emotion, jerk.

After murdering that buzzkill, I have to consider the situation.  Ishtar is by far the weaker of the two enemies, but she’s not weak by any means. And unfortunately, anywhere that she can go, Julius can go too, thanks to the Leg Ring in his inventory. Getting them separate is hard.  So what I’m going to do is have Ares, with the Mystletainn in hand, stand on a forest tile in Julius’s range. I will also put Nanna, Seliph, and Dermott near him; with boosts from two Charisma skills, Seliph’s leadership stars, and a forest, he gets something like a 45% boost to his dodging, which even Julius should have some trouble with. And even if he takes one hit, his Resistance is high enough that he should be able to survive.  And from there, I have all of them run past him with Arthur, giving him a similar bonus to his offense and offsetting Julius’s own five leadership stars when he fights Ishtar. With luck, which I seem to be having lately with these big annoying bosses, Arthur will nuke the crap out of his cousin once again.

This might work. Maybe! Or I might die. End turn!

Gotta admit, the man makes an impression! Ares takes the hit, but survives with 21 HP left, and Ishtar runs up behind Julius, but can’t reach anyone to blast. But we can reach her.  Deep breath. Moment of truth.  Everyone, get her! NUCLEAR ROCKET TAG GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I’m hoping you don’t notice how many of my problems I have been solving with Forseti.  Like… all of them. Seriously, of the three hardest bosses in the game so far, Ishtar, Arion, and Ishtar again, Arthur has killed all three of them on his first move, doing the exact same thing.  I have dealt with every serious challenge the game has to offer by nuking it with a wind god.  

If this is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.  

Oh, and hey, why not.

This kid is going places. 

Now then, not much left on the map to deal with.  I have Lene dance Cairpre, so he can grab one of the two remaining villages.  

Captain… Nay, GENERAL Obvious: Just a single glance into those eyes of his and you’re gone. You lose yourself. So many of my friends and people my age have all left for Belhalla to serve him… I’ve heard nothing from any of ‘em since.

Oh-ho.  So, does this mean Julius can literally warp the minds of others? It can’t be limitless, mind you, since otherwise he could just mind-rape our army into joining him, but some ability to sway the weak-minded to his side would fit with how so few Imperial citizens are actually protesting the whole… you know. Hunting of children.

On the enemy phase, there isn’t a whole lot left. We have only three enemies left outside the boss, and they’re all carrying siege tomes.

And hahaha, they’re not super great at picking targets. That was fun.  Now, let’s destroy them!

Not bad at all! One guy remaining, we can get him on the next turn before Seliph takes that castle. Altena grabs the last village, as well.

Extremely Morbid Info Master: Hate t’say it, but sometimes, yeh need t’make sacrifices if yeh wanna keep going…

See, kids, this is why you don’t fuck with Info Master. He is willing to make those sacrifices.  End turn!

Dick.

… They can’t all be great, Cairpre. You’ve still grown far beyond anything I ever expected. Now, nothing left to do but send the team up north, preparing to go where the story will dictate after we take the next castle. Seliph, care to set things up?

Lewyn: I hate to admit it, but I doubt we could’ve gotten here soon enough either way. Now, then. It sounds like they’re just finishing up repairs on the Miletos Strait bridge. Ready to move in on Chalphy?

Seliph: Chalphy…. My father’s homeland….

Lewyn: So it is. I’m betting the citizens there will be even happier to see you than usual.  Let’s not make them wait any longer!

Seliph: Indeed! Everyone, move out! Onward, to Chalphy!  

(“We’re not forgetting anything, right? Eh, I’m sure Julia would remind us if we were.”)  

Well. There isn’t a whole lot of this chapter left, but it can take quite a bit of time to successfully pull off, so I do think I’ll stop here. See y’all next week when we head back home to Chalphy! The very first castle we ever had in the game, and now we get to go take it back from another blast to the past, good old Arvis! I sure did miss him.

But my aim is improving.  

See y’all next week!  

[just-come-baek]

force of attraction

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Themes: smut | ghostbusters!au | ex lovers!au

Word count: 14.1k

Summary: Taehyung is a brilliant nut job, and along with Hoseok and Jin, these scaredy-cats, we bust ghost.

Warnings: a bit jealous and slightly possessive Taehyung, mentions of ghosts but not in a scary way, humor sprinkled with lame retorts, unprotected sex, literally a single smack, oral!receiving

Glossary: P.K.E. meter – a device designed specifically to locate Psychokinetic Energy in an area. CDI System – a way to set categories to types of supernatural phenomenon. Proton Pack – a weapon used to attack and confine ghosts.

Masterlist

“You wished to see us, dean?” Taehyung asked as he plopped down in the chair in front of the dean’s desk, his legs up on the top of the mahogany wooden surface, Jin and Hoseok trailing behind him, yet not daring to display such nonchalant and rude behavior toward their employer. Unlike Taehyung, they knew how to respect their boss. If it came to rules and regulations or even proper work etiquette, Taehyung perceived it more like clues, and not exactly like principles.

“Yeah, thanks for arriving at such short notice,” dean started, as he put down his fancy fountain pen, and entwined his fingers, staring at the doctors in front of him, “I am very sorry to announce that, but the university no longer can fund your scientific activities. The faculty council has decided to shut down your department, and move the funds over to the faculty of medicine.”

“Nah, you can’t be serious, Namjoon,” Taehyung spoke with the audacity to address the dean by his first name. “You can’t do this, not now, not when we’ve almost finished the prototype of the Proton Pack! It’s gonna be a breakthrough in our field. You can’t cancel our funds.”

“It doesn’t matter, you don’t have students, and we’re adjusting the programme to our students’ interests. You have no attendance.” Dean announced, and Hoseok and Jin exchanged meaningful glances.

“Recently, the attendance is remarkably high, sir,” Hoseok answered with utter respect, grinning sheepishly only for his smile to fade away as soon as Namjoon shot him a doubtful glare. As the dean, he knew the statistics, and he wasn’t the one to be fooled. Particularly not by these nut jobs. “My last lecture on cannibalistic rites of ancient New Guinea tribesmen was viewed by two students. And I may proudly add, no one slept through it.”

“Believe me, Hoseok; I’ve heard about such an occurrence,” Namjoon admitted truthfully, and Hoseok beamed brightly at his superior, “however, because of your passionate lecture I’m dealing with a lawsuit, do you want to talk about that in great detail?”

“It’s not my fault that some students are weak wusses,” Hoseok commented under his breath, and smiled at Namjoon who tried to decipher Hoseok’s remark.

“Namjoon, listen, you don’t want to do this,” Taehyung started, as he changed his previous position, now leaning forward, resting his upper body on his elbow, staring at the dean as if trying to intimidate him. In vain, though. Taehyung had been working for the university for two years now, and at this point, Namjoon knew how to deal with him. “We’re two, maybe three days away from the biggest discovery of the century. You can’t just sack us!”

“It has already been decided, sorry, but my hands are tied,” Namjoon said, sounding as cold as an automatic secretary, as he arranged documents on his desk.

“We’re not gonna give up,” Taehyung threatened before he and his co-workers exited the dean’s office.

“What are we going to do now?” Jin asked, as soon as Taehyung closed the doors. Amongst the three of them, Jin was the one who handled the issue the worst; it was the very first time when he didn’t have everything under control. How could Taehyung and Hoseok be so fucking calm? Jin was a nervous wreck; his pulse was rapid, his hands shaking. Fifteen minutes ago, he was an academic teacher and a parapsychological researcher at a prestigious university, and now, he was an unemployed scientist with a useless diploma.

The parapsychological field was a bitch when it came to employment; either you’re a respected scientist or a looked-down-to diviner who struggles to get by every month.

“Don’t worry boys, everything will be alright,” Taehyung assured them, although no one, not even Taehyung himself, was convinced. “Maybe it’s about time to take matters into our own hands? The Proton Pack is almost ready; we don’t need the university’s money, only our big heads. How difficult can it be?”

“For you? Probably insurmountably,” Jin snorted as he remembered how many times during their college days Taehyung had failed economics. In any other field, Taehyung was a genius; however, when he had been about to take the economics exam, he had been daft as a brush. When he had been a student, he had mastered parapsychology, psychology, physics, metallurgy, and whatnot! Only economics had managed to beat him for some reason.

“Spare me the attitude,” Taehyung barked back, not even trying to disguise his annoyance. He was just a human being; human beings are famous for their imperfections, and Taehyung’s only flaw seemed to be the incapability to learn basics of the economy.

“I guess we can try,” Hoseok spoke, and Taehyung and Jin looked at him as if they just realized Hoseok was a part of the conversation as well. “We’ve just got fired. I mean… it can’t get any worse, right?” He added, and his friends just couldn’t disagree.

“Okay, but he,” Jin pointed at Taehyung, “can’t go anywhere near the management. Leave it all up to me,” he added, and everyone silently approved.

“I don’t think a mortgage was a good idea,” Hoseok commented, as the three of them exited the bank.

“Don’t worry, nowadays everybody has at least three credits,” Taehyung spoke with a shrug, his eyes focused on the screen of his phone, as he scrolled through property offers, seeking for the most suitable location for their new company. “Once we commercialize our services, you’ll pay it back in a blink of an eye.”

“With twenty percent of interest rate? I may not be an expert, but it’s a total rip-off!” Hoseok asked and looked at Jin, hoping he would back up Taehyung’s statement. Unfortunately, Jin didn’t seem nearly as optimistic as Taehyung.

“If my calculations are right, after two years the interest rate alone will cost you over a fifty thousand.” Jin quietly muttered to himself, yet Hoseok managed to catch what interested him the most. Why the hell had he agreed to that? Why had he listened to Taehyung? Nothing good ever happens when he does, so why this time should be any different? Not only had he been sacked, but right now, he had a bank credit with a high chance of being unable to pay it back.

Fantastic!

“Don’t listen to him, everything will be alright,” Taehyung added, as he stopped in his tracks in the middle of the pedestrian crossing. “Guys, I think I found us a place, it’s the firehouse like three blocks away from here. Should I call the real estate agent?” Taehyung announced, showing them the picture of the spacious place that would be undoubtedly perfect for them, undeniably large enough to accommodate all of their private stuff and allow them to run as many experiments as they wished.

“Isn’t it too soon?” Hoseok asked, yet Taehyung already walked away, dialing the number of the real estate agency. They had no time to waste; if they wished to have an income, they had to start working as soon as it was possible. Even Taehyung knew that, and his sense of business was quite limited (if not retarded).

“Nonsense,” Taehyung replied nonchalantly, as he strolled down the pavement. “Once we get the place, we’ll be needing a secretary and a car. Any volunteers?”

“I’ll take care of the process of recruitment,” Jin chipped in with a smile on his face, “what? It has always fascinated me how people react to problematical questions; it’s a fine opportunity to run a small experiment.”

“Okay, fine, just don’t be too weird, starting a business with a lawsuit is not quite promising,” Taehyung warned Jin as if it wasn’t the first time such a situation was about to occur. “So, Hoseok, why don’t you take care of a vehicle?”

“I’ll check if we can lease one, it will be cheaper,” Hoseok replied, and Taehyung nodded his head, although he had no clue what Hoseok meant by that.

“Then I think we’re all set,” Taehyung admitted, rubbing his hands together. They had lots of work ahead of them, and Taehyung just couldn’t wait to start working. Funnily enough, just right after they all had got sacked, he felt a newfound source of energy that he could only burn through hard work. The first breeze of freedom was so energizing and refreshing that Taehyung, although in the past hadn’t complained, finally felt alive, so at this point, he wondered why they hadn’t left the university sooner.

Apparently, the job hunt is a long and complicated process, my friend warned me. If you want somebody to reply to your application, you should at least send out twenty curriculum vitae, she preached, and I only rolled my eyes at her, brushing the pessimistic thought away.

Although I lacked experience being fresh off college, my qualifications weren’t that bad.

That’s precisely why I wasn’t that astonished when I got a reply the next morning, considering I had only applied for one position and at this point, it was about time to prove her wrong.

The aforementioned reply was short and simple; my potential employer wanted to meet up for an interview, writing down the address where I could find the company and the time when he was available for the meeting.

Three academic professors sought for a secretary slash accountant for their newfound business, and although the job proposition seemed as if they had no clue how to recruit employees, the monthly payment was quite handsome when compared to the other offers on the market.

Instead of thinking further, I opened the window to write a short reply in which I mentioned the estimated hour of my arrival and a note showing my gratitude for the chance they had given me.

The most challenging part of the recruitment was already behind me, and the job was almost mine. All I had to was to dress up and chill; going to the job interview fidgety was the worst thing a candidate could do. I was confident about my skills, and I wasn’t afraid to show my future boss the best side of my character.

Quickly, I ran around my studio apartment looking for my daintiest clothes. Whoever claimed the looks don’t matter during the job interview had to be a complete idiot; the first good impression is the key to success, and right now, I was determined to triumph.

By half past three in the afternoon I showed up. At first, I thought I was erroneous but then I checked the address for the second time, and there could be no mistake. The office was a part of the old firehouse, and I wondered how on Earth it hadn’t collapsed yet.

There was no doorbell–not a surprise!

I firmly knocked, but no one replied within two minutes, so I placed my hand on the knob and pushed the doors open since they weren’t locked. It wasn’t a surprise, either. The building looked like a ruin; even the worst burglar wouldn’t try to break into it.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” I hollered but my echo was the only reply I heard. Hesitantly, I entered the building, my eyes roaming around the hall. Dust covered every surface inside, a thick layer of grime lying on every item. “I’m here for the job interview!” I cleared my throat, speaking up a notch.

Just when I was about to turn around and leave, a man emerged from another room, a few binders in his hand, white, cotton coat thrown over his shoulders. Though he looked exhausted with huge bags under his eyes and messy hair, he was still incredibly handsome; he was tall and lean, and everything else a woman could want in a man.

“Who are you?” he asked, confused. Instantly, he turned to look at me, his eyebrow cocked up in a questioning manner, as he didn’t expect me here. “Wait, what time is it? Is it already three thirty? Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would come,” the guy spoke in a single breath, and I barely understood him. “I mean… hi, I’ve been expecting you,” he corrected himself, put the binders away and stretched his arm, offering me a handshake.

“Nice to meet you… Seokjin,” I smiled at him, as I read the nametag that was attached to his coat.

“Everybody calls me Jin, actually,” he announced, and I nodded in comprehension. “So you’re here for the job interview,” he trailed off, looking around the room as if seeking something. “Why don’t we sit there and you tell me why you want to work here, hmm?” he mentioned, showing me the way to the room which was also dirty but compared to the main hall, it was remotely cleaner.

“Of course,” I replied as I followed behind him.

Once we sat down, Jin placed his hands on a desk, entwining his fingers together, his eyes focused on my frame in front of him. With a gentle smile on his face, he studied my features almost as if he was going to recruit me based on my reactions and not my replies.

“So why do you want to work for us? Do you have any experience?” Jin asked, and I smiled at him, almost excited to answer his easy questions. Why do I want to have a job? Must be because I don’t like to live on the streets. Do I have any experience? Not really, but how difficult that job can be?

The moment when I was about to open my mouth and make up a reasonable response, someone came through the doors, making the both of us lose our focus. “Jin, I’m almost finished with the P.K.E. meter prototype. Can you have a look at it? I don’t understand why it shows 350 when I go upstairs.”

“Be careful with that!” Jin reprimanded the other guy, as he stood up and approached him, yanking the device out of the latter’s hands. “You know it’s fragile!” he added, and I bit my bottom lip, patiently waiting for them to finish so Jin and I could continue our interview. “Hmm… thanks, interesting, it looks fine. Have you run other tests?”

“Yeah, I looked around wearing Ecto-Goggles but in vain. Do you think we’re dealing with our first target here? What are the odds?” the man asked excitedly, finally realizing my presence. “Oh, I had no idea you had a guest.”

“We’re actually in the middle of the job interview,” Jin explained, and I nodded, confirming his words.

“Really? A job interview? But we had only one application,” the guy spoke, and Jin quickly elbowed his side to shut him up. Oh, so I was their only candidate… it was quite assuring. “I mean… I wish you luck on your job interview.”

“What was that about?” I asked pointing at the doors through which the intruder walked out.

“It was Hoseok, but don’t worry that pretty head of yours. Everything is alright; it’s just a small bump in the road, no biggie.” Jin explained, and although he tried to look sincere, I wasn’t buying it.  He seemed stiff, and he was stamping his foot on the floor as if he wanted to dash out to help Hoseok whatever the problem was. “Okay, so where were we?” Jin asked as he already forgot what we had been talking about.

“I haven’t got a chance to say anything before he barged in,” I stated truthfully, and Jin sent me an apologetic look for being so unprofessional about the job interview. “But to answer your previous questions, no, I don’t have any experience but I’m a business graduate, and I can get my mind wrapped around everything you want me to. Picking up the phone, accountancy, you name it!”

“Okay, you’re hired!” Jin hollered enthusiastically, “be here tomorrow by four o’clock. I’ll acquaint you with everything. I better go help Hoseok before he blows the whole place up.”

“You wanted to see me?” my friend asked as she walked inside of my studio apartment. “Oh, what’s the occasion?” she inquired with a cocked eyebrow the moment she noticed a bottle of cheap champagne in my hands.

“What can I say? I got the job,” I announced calmly, smiling at her in a victory. “In your face!” I screamed, fighting with the bottle, striving to open it.

“Really? I’m so happy for you,” Jennie cheered before she hugged me. “Okay, so tell me everything,” she urged as we sat down on the couch, pouring the champagne to slim glasses. “What is your boss like? Is he handsome?”

“Well… I don’t exactly know who’s the boss but I met two guys, and the both of them were ridiculously good-looking. The one who I had the job interview with was so my style; he was lean, and his shoulders were so broad. The other one was also attractive, he had such a warm smile, and I bet it can cure diseases!”

“Oh wow,” Jennie mused, downing her glass in one go, “but you’re not gonna date any of them, right? I mean… they’re your bosses; it’s kinda inappropriate.”

“I know, don’t worry,” I quickly agreed with her. Dating superiors or even co-workers wasn’t really my style. I had always thought that nothing good could stem from mixing private and business lives, so dating either of whom was obviously out of the question. “It’s not the way I roll anyway.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jennie nodded in understanding, “and now, tell me what their company does; their ad was pretty vague if you ask me.”

“Hmm… they are just as disorganized as the ad they posted online,” I stated truthfully, remembering the small incident which had happened during the job interview. “If they want to start making money, they really need my help.”

“That’s what happens when you start to run a business without knowing how to do that,” she commented, and I nodded in agreement. Having seen them, I knew that Jin and Hoseok had no clue how to wrap their minds around their business. Thankfully, they hired me, and I could show them how it’s done.

“Yeah, I’ll teach them a thing or two, but as for now, let’s celebrate!” I spoke as I refilled our glasses with more champagne. My shift didn’t start until four o’clock anyway.

As soon as I walked through the doors, I was met by Jin and Hoseok who were wearing worried expressions on their faces. “Hello?” I asked hesitantly and only smiled at me almost as if they were relieved about something.

“Hi, how are you feeling?” Jin asked me right away, while Hoseok stared at me, analyzing even the tiniest change in my behavior. “Have you been feeling nauseous or dizzy?” I shook my head firmly. “Or have you witnessed sudden changes in temperature or anything out of the ordinary?”

“No?” I answered unsurely, as I scrutinized their facial expressions with squinted eyes. What the hell was that about? Had they done something to me without me knowing? “Why?”

“Hmm… you see, we’ve been studying psychokinetic energy, and yesterday Hoseok discovered a faint trail of spook here but when he double-checked it was gone. And since psychokinetic energy doesn’t just disappear, we assumed it followed you.” Jin explained, but truthfully I didn’t understand anything what he tried to tell me. What psychokinetic energy?

“Okay… and now explain it to me, so I could comprehend it,” I asked, and Hoseok sighed.

“Jin is trying to say that there could be a ghost that right now is somehow attached to you,” Hoseok spoke, and the color of my face changed to a lighter shade even though I wasn’t the one to believe in ghosts. “And that’s weird because ghosts usually get attached to objects and not people.”

“What is it? Is it some kind of test that you want me to pass before you hire me because, trust me, it’s not funny.” I replied, not letting them fool me.

“Unfortunately not,” Jin spoke with a guilty smile, “do you mind if we run a couple control tests before we proceed with the initiation process? You know, just to be sure there isn’t any supernatural creature feeding off you.”

“And before you say anything,” Hoseok interjected, “ghosts are real.”

“Yeah, that’s true, and we’re literally this close to proving it to the rest of the world,” Jin added matter-of-factly, and I rolled my eyes, still unconvinced. “We’re like two days away from the breakthrough of the century.”

“I’m still skeptical about it, but I guess you can run a couple of tests if they’re not painful,” I replied, wanting to get this over with the quickest it was possible. Frankly, they were as freaky as they were good-looking, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they rejected my candidature because I refused to get examined.

“Oh no, they aren’t painful,” Hoseok reassured me, and Jin led me into another room where a lot of strange objects were scattered all over the wide wooden table. “Don’t worry it’ll take thirty minutes tops.”

“Yeah, and in the meantime, I’ll explain what we do here,” Jin added as he placed a helmet on my head. It was light and made of a thousand wires.

“I’m all ears,” I sighed, as I stole a glimpse of their computer that flared with colorful lights. Was it a good thing that it kept blinking like that?

“Okay, so we’re all parapsychology doctors, and a few days ago, our dean canceled our funds.” Jin started, and I nodded, registering the new information. I would never peg them for geniuses. “We’ve done some remarkable work regarding psychokinetic and nuclear energy, and after we got sacked, we decided to finish the work by ourselves.”

“According to our math, we’re a few days away from the greatest discovery of the century. If we’re right, we can actually find ghosts and capture them!” Hoseok finished, as he glued something to my temples.

“Hmm… so that’s what you do when I’m away,” a third voice chimed in, and I recognized it right away. It was low and raspy, and it could make every woman weak. It had definitely worked on me back in my college days.

Taehyung.

Hesitantly, I turned around, a bit afraid to look into his chocolate brown eyes. It was sudden and accidental, and judging by Taehyung’s expression, it was too soon. I had got over him, but he still seemed to loathe me with every fiber of his existence.

“What is she doing here?” Taehyung asked, and Jin and Hoseok exchanged confused looks, as they had no idea what had happened between Taehyung and I. It was understandable, our past ‘relationship’ wasn’t something I would brag either.

“What do you mean?” Jin asked, scratching his temple, trying to determine why Taehyung hated me so much. “She’s gonna work with us. Hopefully, with her help, we’ll make some profit,” he added, and if only a stare could kill, the three of us would already get burnt to ashes.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Taehyung complained, trying to disguise the real reason why he didn’t want me there. I couldn’t blame him, though. I’d probably do the same thing. “She doesn’t match our style.”

“It doesn’t really matter, she was the only candidate,” Jin spoke matter-of-factly, and Taehyung bit his bottom lip before he spun on his heel and walked away.

“What was that about?” Hoseok inquired, curious about mine history with Taehyung.

“I think it’s a topic for another conversation,” I answered, hoping they would understand that I didn’t want to talk about it now. Taehyung was still sensitive, and I didn’t want to anger him any further by conceding everything to Jin and Hoseok. “Are you done with the tests?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah, I think we are,” Hoseok spoke, his eyes focused on the computer, as he read the data that was unreadable to me. “But I think one of us should check your apartment. The P.K.E. meter is reading very close to 303, and it can mean a ghost is trailing behind you. It’s better to be safe than sorry, am I right?”

“Okay, whatever,” I replied with a shrug, relieved that the examination was finally over. “So what are we going to do now? Can we draw a contract?”

“Naturally,” Jin smiled at me, probably glad that everything I had witnessed didn’t scare me away by now. Though it was a bit odd, people do worse for money. I was only working as a secretary for three nut jobs.

“Show her around, and I will be waiting here,” Hoseok added politely, eager to analyze every piece of information he had managed to collect from the examination.

“Do you want to tell us what has happened between you and our new secretary?” Hoseok asked casually, trying to make him talk.

“There isn’t much to talk about,” Taehyung shrugged, trying not to show any sign of anger which was evident nonetheless. “We were dating back in college, but it didn’t work out.”

“It doesn’t sound like it,” Hoseok commented, having a hunch that Taehyung wasn’t telling him the entire truth. However, he knew it wasn’t the right time to push him further. Taehyung would concede when he was ready, and Hoseok could wait a bit more. “Is she the reason why you avoided every economic subject you could?”

“Maybe,” he answered shortly, more than unwilling to have that conversation. “Hoseok, do we really need her here? I can do the secretary work until we find someone else, it can’t be that difficult,” he offered, but Hoseok firmly shook his head.

“Nah, she’s great,” he spoke casually, “besides she’s already involved. Yesterday, when she came for the job interview, I detected P.K.E. that was gone when she left. Right now, we have a theory the ghost got attached to her. One of us has to check her apartment; do you want to do that?”

“Why would I want to do that?” Taehyung spat, folding his arms across his chest.

“You could try to put your differences aside and make this cooperation work,” Hoseok proposed, hoping it was possible despite their history. “It looks like she has got over you, so why can’t you do the same, huh?”

“It’s not like that,” Taehyung trailed off, trying to choose right words to describe his feelings. “I am over her, but I still hate her for what she did.”

“Okay, I can check her apartment if you don’t want to.”

“I’ve never said that,” Taehyung remarked, and Hoseok smirked, raising the employment contract. “Just give me that, you and Jin must finish the Proton Pack anyway.”

It was seven o’clock when I heard loud knocking on my doors. Regardless of whom it was, undoubtedly deserved some nagging for waking me up at such unholy hour. Hoseok had warned me that one of them would pay me a visit, but I didn’t expect it to happen to at least noon.

Rubbing my eyes, I got up and lazily approached the doors.

“Oh, it’s you, I didn’t expect you to come,” I spoke when I opened the doors and saw Taehyung in front of me. He still looked handsome, but definitely more mature than I remembered him.

“I always show up when there is a damsel in distress,” he said nonchalantly, as he waltzed into my apartment, not even waiting for me to invite him inside. Confidently, he strolled around the room, studying the interior. “Hmm… you haven’t changed that much. You’ve always hated tidying,” he chimed in, as he looked around my apartment.

“You haven’t changed, either. Barging in here like you own the place,” I snickered, as I folded my arms across my chest, leaning against the doorframe, watching his every move. “And though it’s too early to argue; who’s a damsel in distress? It’s obviously not me. I don’t need your saving.” I carried on, but Taehyung ignored me, not even humming in response. “I’ve already told Jin that no paranormal activity was present here.”

“You may want to take that back, sweetheart,” Taehyung said cockily, as he pulled out that blinking device and started to roam around the apartment. “You won’t be saying that when a ghost tries to eat that cute butt of yours,” he added, and I just rolled my eyes at his stupid remark; he had always loved my butt. “Hmm… it seems that Hoseok and Jin were right after all. I think you’ve got yourself a class V ghost over here.”

“Doubt it. Don’t you think I’d know if there was a ghost at my place, huh?” I replied, still not convinced. “Seriously, you guys have to chill,” I added, thinking they would drop the topic if I repeated it a couple of times more.

“Do you think we’re joking?” Taehyung asked rhetorically, and I once again rolled my eyes because it was impossible to reason with him. “We don’t. Class V ghosts are very hard to get rid of, and as long as we haven’t finished the Proton Pack, we can’t help you. It would be the best if you could stay at our HQ. We could prepare a room in which you could stay. Don’t get me wrong but if the ghost got attached to you, it could as well get attached to someone else.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that ghosts are something like paranormal STDs? Sorry, but I’m not buying that, Taehyung.” I concluded, and Taehyung didn’t seem the tiniest bit amused by my reasoning. “Thanks for your concern, but I think I’ll just stay here,” I repeated myself, and Taehyung pinched the bridge of his nose, almost as if he tried to refrain himself from snapping.

“Can you stop being so stubborn for once and listen to me? I’m serious,” Taehyung spoke in a raised voice, as he looked at me. His stare was intense, drilling holes in my head. Damn, he really meant that. “Have you noticed anything strange?”

“Define strange.”

“Well… anything out of the ordinary.” Taehyung stated vaguely, and I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to elaborate. “Hmm… that could be, for example, sudden surges of cold, extraordinary cravings, unwanted sinister presence, moving or levitating objects, strange odor, unexplainable electricity cuts, or anything of sorts?”

“Hmm… you’re the only unwanted sinister presence here,” I retorted, but once again he didn’t find it funny. “Sorry,” I apologized when my laughter died down a bit, “but seriously; nothing strange is happening here.”

“Then how are you going to explain this?” Taehyung spoke angrily, as he shoved the blinking device right in front of my face. “The P.K.E. meter is going crazy!”

“Okay, fine, I guess I can stay at Jennie’s for a few days,” I mumbled, being mad at myself for giving in; they were probably having the time of their lives seeing me comply with their crazy request. “For your peace of mind, not because I believe you.”

“You’ll thanks us later,” Taehyung admitted confidently, smirking at me.

“Once again, doubt it,” I repeated myself, hoping that my statement would brush that cocky smirk off his beautiful face. Unfortunately, none of this happened, his stance was still as nonchalant and confident.

“So… you’re seeing anybody?” Taehyung asked casually and plopped down on the couch, turning his head sideways as if he tried to spot any sign of man presence.

“I don’t see how any of it is your business,” I smiled warmly, trying to be as polite as I could master. It was a sensitive topic to me, and frankly, Taehyung was the last person I wanted to discuss that with.

“It’s called a friendly chit-chat,” Taehyung explained, and I rolled my eyes. “So… have you already found your Mr. Right?”

“You’re being a dick right now,” I said instead of answering his question. Despite our history, he was my boss now, and that kind of inquiry was inappropriate and should remain unanswered.

Unexpectedly, guys happened to be right about the ghost issue at my apartment; three days after Taehyung’s visit they showed up with ready Proton Packs, or whatever they call it, and got rid of the unwanted creature. Of course, I insisted on accompanying them, and they unwillingly complied with my request. I was glad they did because when I saw the ghost with my own eyes, I realized how thick-skinned I was to disbelieve them.

However, the fact that I believed them didn’t change much, as people still deceived us as con-artists. The first month was rough although I busted my ass off building the company image. They’re brilliant people, but they had no idea how to run a business.

Within that month I got promoted from the secretary position to being their full-time manager who also had one-fourth of the company shares, and since the business was partially mine, I couldn’t let it sink before it even got to sail.

Thanks to my knowledge and connections, I had almost got everything covered: an official website, local advertisement channels, and even the uniforms. None of these helped as much as our first task which happened to be a turning point for the business.

A famous four-star hotel’s manager called us saying they had an issue in the restaurant zone. Our reaction was fast; within an hour guys packed their equipment and drove there, wanting to examine the situation.

After successfully busting the ghost, our business bloomed.

“I got a call from Australia; they’re holding a seminar, and they want you to give a lecture on your recent development,” I told Jin as soon as he slid down the fire pole. “Are you going to participate or not?”

“You’re for real?” Jin asked, as he brushed the dust off his coat and approached my desk. Smiling, I nodded, and Jin looked at the counter as if trying to see the papers, making sure I wasn’t pulling a prank on him. “But if we go, then who will take care of the city? We get more calls every day.”

“We can split,” I proposed, and Jin glanced at me curiously. “You can teach me how to use the gear, and I will stay behind with someone, or I can go to Australia with one of you. I’m a part of the team, after all.”

“Hmm… I don’t know… it’s gonna be difficult to convince them to stay behind because I’m certainly going.” Jin spoke, and I giggled at his honest response. I couldn’t blame him, though. How could one reject a free Australia trip offer?

“Discuss it with the guys, and let me know what you’ve come up with,” I replied sincerely, as I gazed at Jin. I admit it’d be great to go on a free trip. However, I wasn’t going to intrude if they wanted to go. After all, the scientists from all over the world wanted to meet with them because of their breakthrough in the parapsychological field.

“What are you two plotting?” Taehyung walked inside through the main doors, catching me and Jin off guard. Immediately, Jin leaned back, and spun on his heel, greeting Taehyung with a broad smile which he often used when he did something he shouldn’t have. It was strange because we didn’t do anything inappropriate.

“Nothing,” Jin answered dismissively and smiled at me, letting Taehyung know right away that we were up to something. “We were just talking, but I have a surprise for you and Hoseok,” he announced, and Taehyung cocked his eyebrow suspiciously.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain everything later.”

“Okay, so tell us…what happened between you and Taehyung?” Hoseok asked straightforwardly, taking advantage of Taehyung’s absence. Taehyung was out to take care of some business that none of us dared to question, while the three of us was sitting around the table, unpacking the Styrofoam boxes full of palatable, steaming, Italian food.

“Yeah, what exactly happened? Taehyung mentioned that you two were dating, but he didn’t go into details.” Jin added matter-of-factly, as he distributed the napkins and plastic cutlery among us. “So…do you mind to elaborate?”

“There’s nothing to tell,” I stated casually, being focused on the box in front of me, my mouth watering when the delicious smell hit my nostrils. “We fooled around in college, but I wouldn’t call it dating. We were more like friends with benefits rather than lovers.”

“And I’m assuming you were the one to break things off. Am I right?” Jin guessed, and I heaved a sigh since the matter was much more difficult. It was safe to say that the blame had been lying on both sides of the conflict.

“You seem way cooler than Taehyung about it, so you had to be the one to break up with him.” Hoseok agreed with Jin, giving him a high-five.

“We weren’t an item, so it’s quite difficult to talk about a break-up.” I started before I stuffed my mouth with food. “I was going abroad for one semester, and Taehyung wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t want me to go, but I didn’t listen to him. And when I returned Taehyung had already graduated, so we never had a chance to talk about it. I thought he’s moved on, but apparently, I was wrong.”

My sincere confession got them speechless; neither of whom knew how to react to it, and I couldn’t blame them for the awkwardness that stemmed from it.

“Okay, so changing the subject; have you guys figured out what you want to do about that seminar? As far as I recall, I have to give them a reply by next Friday.” I said, knowing that it was the only way to dodge the unpleasant topic.

“You have no idea how much we fought about it,” Hoseok started with a cheeky smile, stabbing his food with a plastic knife, being probably already full.

“But we’ve come to an agreement,” Jin continued, pushing his half-empty box aside, giving me his undivided attention. “Generally, all of us want to go, and among of us Taehyung is the best public speaker,” Jin announced, and I nodded, understanding their way of thinking.

“But then again, he doesn’t trust either one of us to stay here with you alone,” Hoseok interjected, making me roll my eyes. It’s so typical of Taehyung; getting jealous without any cogent reason to. “Whatever that means.”

“Yeah, and furthermore, he doesn’t want to train you saying it would be too dangerous for you to deal with all the equipment which is complete bullshit because it’s not that difficult.”

“Jin’s right; you have to remember five ground rules and everything should be fine,” Hoseok added, backing up Jin’s statement. “I have no idea what’s happening under Taehyung’s skull, but I’ve never seen him being so overprotective.”

“Okay, stop. You’re confusing me. Can you just tell me who is going and who is staying here?” I asked, growing annoyed, as they didn’t let me get a word in the edgeways.

“Hoseok and I are going, but don’t worry; we’re gonna bring you a lot of gifts.” Jin declared quickly, and I sighed in relief. Drowning in uncertainty was the worst option; I’d rather know now, so I could mentally brace myself to spend the weekend with Taehyung.

“Actually, we already have a gift for you, just finish your dinner,” Hoseok added enthusiastically, smiling at me in a way that if I didn’t know him, I’d consider creepy.

“I think I’m done,” I quickly replied, as I pushed my box aside. I was already full, and I didn’t want to force myself to finish it, although it was absolutely delectable. I’d probably heat it up for supper. “Where is my gift?” I inquired when I wiped my mouth.

“She’s gonna love it,” Jin said casually, and Hoseok nodded his head, agreeing with the former. At this point, I had no idea what they were getting me, and I wasn’t sure whether I should be ecstatic or terrified.

“Just wait here, I’ll get it,” Hoseok proposed, and marched out of the room.

“What is it?” I questioned further in anticipation; it had to be something special if they were so excited about my reaction. Unfortunately, Jin’s lips were sealed, and no matter what I tried to open them, they remained airtight, spilling no secrets. “You’re no fun.”

“Oh, shut up!” Jin whined loudly, and I giggled because the look on his face was priceless.

Before I managed to anger Jin any further, Hoseok returned with a medium-sized, pink box in his hands. Now, I was intrigued. It definitely wasn’t an envelope with a plane ticket.

Carefully, Hoseok placed the box on my lap, urging me to unwrap the present, “come on, open up!” Smiling, they stared at me, almost giving me chills.

Slowly, I untied the ribbon, whereas Hoseok tapped his foot impatiently.

“Jesus Christ, hurry up,” Jin chipped in, prompting me to hasten.

Shaking my head, I opened the box and looked inside, its content getting me speechless. It was one of the Ghostbusters uniforms, only one shade more pink with my name written on the badge with silver and hot pink threads. I knew they considered me a part of the team, but right now, I was holding the evidence of membership in my hands.

“Guys, I love it,” I admitted from the bottom of my heart before I jumped off the chair and hugged them tightly. “Do you want me to try it on?” I asked once I broke the embrace.

“Naturally, but don’t be too eager, we also have a Proton Pack for you, and that damn thing is pretty weighty,” Hoseok warned me, but I just shrugged; they run around with Proton Packs all the time, it couldn’t be that bad as they wanted me to believe.

“You’re officially one of us,” Jin stated matter-of-factly, as he ruffled my hair, making me glare at him. That’s going too far! We were friends, but touching my hair was way too much.

“Don’t fuck it up.” Hoseok threatened me with his finger, sounding like a completely different person. “Taehyung is gonna kill us if anything happens to you.”

“If you know how to operate the machines, it’s obvious I can do that, too.” I snickered playfully, and Jin and Hoseok frowned, not finding it the tiniest bit funny.

The next day after Jin and Hoseok’s departure was peaceful compared to our standards; we only had three customers, while typically we were handling at least half a dozen. The first mission wasn’t scheduled until 4 p.m., yet I decided to show up at the office a bit early in hopes of catching up with the paperwork.

As always, it was dull, but no one would do it for me, so I had to suck it up.

“Hmm…I didn’t expect you to be here so early,” a voice mused from behind my back, and I quickly turned around in shock. “Oh, have you forgotten to put on a skirt?” Taehyung sneered, as he glanced at me from head to toe.

“Excuse you, but my skirt is where it should be. It’s pretty modest if you ask me.” I couldn’t let his comments get to me. At this point, I could consider his snarky remarks as sexual harassment; we were in the confines of work, and there was an ethic that he ought to follow. “And what are you doing here? I thought I wouldn’t see you until the first appointment.”

“You seriously think I’m gonna let you out there without proper training?!” Taehyung gasped, and I rolled my eyes. Jin and Hoseok had already shown me what I should know, so Taehyung’s additional guidance was superfluous. “You’re not leaving the firehouse until I tell you, you’re ready,” he added, as he took a few, slow steps towards me.

“Why are you doing this?” I inquired quietly, and Taehyung just smirked at me, as if he was surprised that I didn’t know his motive.

“Isn’t it obvious? I care about you; I don’t want you to get hurt.” Taehyung spoke in a firm tone, so unlike him. His eyes gleamed with sincerity, making it unable to tear my gaze away. With one single look, he had me enchanted. Only a few sweet words came out of his mouth, and I held my breath, my heart skipping a beat.

Right now, when we were alone, and no one could disturb us, he didn’t act like a brat. I felt as if we were back in college, carefree and so saccharine. He no longer was a man who tried to make me feel bad about my past choices, but he actually cared about my well-being.

It was a delightful change after countless arguments we had over the previous month.

“What? You look like as if you’ve seen a ghost. Is my care so surprising?” Taehyung joked, and I almost burst out laughing at his lame pun. Thankfully, I refrained myself from doing so.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Yesterday, he had acted as if he wished for my ass to get eaten by a ghost, so what was different today? “I thought you hated me.”

“I could never,” Taehyung quickly admitted, smiling sheepishly.

Okay, what the hell is happening?

His sudden confession got me speechless. I didn’t expect him to concede to me. Who the hell was he, and where did the real Taehyung go?

“Well…if that’s what you really feel, I gotta admit you’re sending mixed signals.” I spoke truthfully, making Taehyung roll his eyes on me. Perhaps, I was nitpicking, but Taehyung was unbearable for the past month, and I couldn’t let it slide after a couple of sweet words. No, I remembered how coldly he had treated me, and if he wanted me to change my mind about him, he had to work hard for it.

“I admit I have never been good at romance,” said Taehyung, and I giggled when his words rang in my ears. Was he serious? Did he just call it ‘romance’? What romance?

“You can’t be serious,” I replied, pinching the bridge of my nose. So what now? Did he want to start over? With me? It didn’t make any sense! We had never even been a couple! “Okay, let’s get back to some real problems. What do I have to do to convince you that I’m ready to be one of the Ghostbusters?”

“Stubborn as always,” Taehyung commented under his breath, as he strolled toward me, sitting at the edge of my desk, holding my dangling hand. His grip was gentle, his skin was smooth, and at first, I wanted to yank my hand back. He was trying to mess with my head, but I was ready to prove that he didn’t have the effect that had used to work on me. I was stronger and smarter, and he couldn’t charm me as easily.

“So what is it that I have to know?” I urged him, and he slowly looked into my eyes, biting his bottom lip, swaying our entwined hands from side to side.

Whatever he had in mind to use on me was bound to fail. Right now, I focused on my career, and boyfriend drama (if he even sought a relationship) was the least of my worries.

“Where should I begin?”

Having sat through a two-hour long lecture (which pretty much helped me realize why they had got fired from the university and doubled everything Jin and Hoseok had told me before their departure), Taehyung let me pick up the equipment what I did with a roll of my eyes. Taehyung thought I had no clue how to operate the gear, but he was wrong; Jin and Hoseok had already shown me everything that I should have known.

Hesitantly, Taehyung let me tag along with him.

First two assignments happened to be false alarms; we arrived, and then Taehyung diagnosed the situation with the P.K.E. meter and Ecto-Goggles. I was relieved our customers weren’t in danger, but on the other hand, we weren’t earning money, and we were barely making both ends meet with the regular service. (The diagnosis fee constituted about 5% of actual ghost-busting service, and we probably wouldn’t live off it.)

“Thank God, you’re finally here,” a middle-aged woman ran out of the building and threw herself in Taehyung’s arm like a damsel in distress, even though he didn’t perceive her as one. “I was so scared,” she added, as she rubbed her cheek against Taehyung’s chest. He didn’t seem pleased with her behavior, but he was too well-bred that he didn’t try to push her off him right away.

“Calm down, what’s going on?” Taehyung asked worriedly, as he placed his large hands on her shoulders, making her face him. She looked terrified. “Everything’s under control now, but you have to tell us what’s going on,” Taehyung explained, and looked at me, the woman only noticing my presence when she followed Taehyung’s gaze.

“There’s a ghost on the tenth floor!” She shouted, turning around, raising her arm, pointing at the hotel behind her. “I’ve seen it! It was green, and it almost ate the cleaning trolley!” Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, and I knew that something was up.

“Okay, please, stay here, and we’ll look around,” Taehyung spoke calmly.

Having sighed, I walked inside right after Taehyung.

“What was that look about?” I inquired, once we were climbing the stairs. The elevator was out of order, and we had to take the stairs. The Proton Pack felt twice as heavy, almost making me fall backward.

“What look?” Without turning to me, Taehyung asked, pretending to be clueless. Did he forget that we’ve known each other inside out, and I could tell straight away that something was off? Maybe, he could fool that woman, but not me.

“Don’t play coy,” I stated, as I took a short break to catch my breath. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Abruptly, Taehyung stopped, and I was thankful that I wasn’t standing right behind him.

“It’s about what she said.” He started vaguely, and I didn’t say anything, waiting for him to elaborate. I knew how to use the equipment, but I had no idea how to identify the threat. Were we to deal with a powerful being? Was he scared? What was going on?

“And what did she say exactly?”

“I just have a bad feeling, okay?” Taehyung continued, though hesitantly. “But whatever happens there, I want you to stay behind, and leave everything to me. I can handle it myself.”

“Sure,” I replied, even when I didn’t really mean it. If Taehyung needed my help, I’d intervene in a heartbeat. It was foolish of him if he really thought I’d listen to him.

When we reached the tenth floor, my legs almost gave in under the gravity and the weight of the Proton Pack. I placed my hands on my knees and leaned in, trying to catch a breath. If we had to go any higher, I’d probably faint. Taehyung seemed in a better condition than I, but I still could hear him panting.

Pushing his fringe off his eyes, Taehyung pulled out the P.K.E. meter, and I looked at the device, trying to peek what kind of ghost we were to deal with.

“What does it mean?” I asked, when the P.K.E. meter showed 432, and I had no idea how to interpret the reading. Slowly, Taehyung turned toward me, his face a shade paler.

“It’s not as bad as it could get, but it could be easier,” Taehyung started, and I exhaled in relief. Before he spoke, I had no idea I was holding my breath. “We’re not dealing with a Biblical Proportions here, but I think it’s a class V apparition, and if there’s anything you should know, ghosts with a reading like this should not be easy to get rid of.”

“Okay…” I whispered, now doubting my qualifications. Not that I’d like to return to my desk and answer phone calls, but it would be better if my first real ghost-busting mission was simple.

“Get ready, the ghost can attack us anytime,” Taehyung mentioned, and I nodded my head, placing my hand on the Particle Thrower. “And remember what I’ve told you, never ever cross the streams.”

“How could I forget it? You guys use that line literally every day,” I muttered under my breath, and rolled my eyes, slightly lightening up the situation. Humor always works when there’s thick and uncomfortable tension, so why this time should be any different? “Maybe you should get it tattooed?”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Taehyung laughed dryly, his eyes roaming around the corridor, being ready for the ghost to appear. Frankly, he looked handsome, so focused and professional.

“Can you tell me more about class V ghosts? Is it as bad as you make it look like?” I asked curiously, and Taehyung looked over his shoulder as if he was shocked I didn’t read Jin’s book about ghost classification system, CDI system for short.

“Maybe, you should wait in the car,” Taehyung stated, as he shook his head in disbelief that he actually let a newbie work with him. “I can handle it myself.”

“Don’t tell me if you don’t want to. Geez!” I retorted, and sighed, looking around, pretending I didn’t ask him that question. Maybe I should listen to him and let him do everything by himself if he really didn’t want my help.

“Class V ghosts are Ectoplasmic manifestations of definite but non-human form. They are formed from emotionally-charged events or as side effects from ritual summoning. And we need a shit tone of proton pack implementation to eradicate it.” Taehyung recited, and I nodded in comprehension, as I tried to remember as much information as I could.

“Do you hear that?” I asked when I heard a strange sound, familiar to chewing. The hotel’s owner had said that people had got evacuated, so what the hell was that?

“Stay back,” Taehyung mentioned before he moved forward, following the odd noise. Slowly, I copied his movements, the Particle Thrower in my grip. “Oh shit,” Taehyung cursed, as he looked around the corner, spotting the ghosts. Taehyung seemed scared, so I peeked, curiosity getting the better of me.

Behind the corner was a green, levitating ghost who was in the middle of its meal; with big, yellow teeth it was eating a cake, the chewed bites falling onto the ground, making the mess around it. Slowly, its fetor hit my nostrils, and I immediately covered my face in disgust.

“Ew! What the hell is that?” I asked, and Taehyung chuckled at my reaction.

“A ghost, really nasty one at that,” Taehyung mused, but I didn’t find it funny. “And apparently, it eats anything that’s not nailed down or on fire,” he added, when he took a glimpse of the green creature, which right now was consuming the metal tray where the cake used to be.

“Okay, so what’s the plan? A penny for your thoughts,” I questioned, waiting for him to explain our next move. We couldn’t just jump from behind the corner and shoot the ghost with the Particle Thrower.

Casually, Taehyung pulled out his phone and snapped a photo. Strangely enough, the ghost got caught on the snapshot, which was a rare occurrence. We stared attentively at the picture on Taehyung’s phone, not recognizing the moment when the ghost stopped chewing the cake. When I mentioned that fact, the green cloud of electrons, neutrons, and ectoplasm seeped through the wall and my body, leaving a very unpleasant taste on my tongue. The feeling was eerie, and I was on the verge of vomiting.

“Are you alright?” Taehyung asked me, although his eyes focused on the ghost behind me. I nodded my head, though it wasn’t an entire truth. “On the count of three, you’ll drop to your knees, okay?” He ordered as he reached for the Particle Thrower, ready to attack.

Slowly, Taehyung counted to three in a half-whisper, and I bent, sinking to my knees in front of Taehyung. When I was out of the stream range, Taehyung turned on the Proton Pack which immediately produced a bright, powerful stream of particles. He didn’t catch the ghost, though. It disappeared behind the wall.

“Get the Ghost Trap ready,” Taehyung mentioned, as he used the card key, and we entered the nearest room. “When I confine the ghost, you have to roll the trap under it, and stomp on the pedal, you got it?”

“Sure,” I confirmed, as I reached for the Ghost Trap.

“It’s fully charged, right?” Taehyung asked, and I nodded since I had made sure the battery was on 100% before we left the firehouse. Jin and Hoseok had told me the Ghost Trap could malfunction if not charged fully, and I wasn’t going to make that neophyte mistake. “And remember not to look into the trap. A glimpse can cause serious eye damage or even blindness, and we don’t want anything bad to happen to your pretty eyes.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to use it,” I replied, trying to ignore the weird compliment.

“Come out, Stinky!” Taehyung yelled as if he was some kind of ghosts-whisperer. “I have one delicious snack for you.” He shouted loudly to no one in particular, and I giggled, finding the scene happening in front of me ridiculous.

Taehyung and I exchanged glances, but he quickly ripped his gaze away when the similar fetor pervaded the room, boding the presence of a paranormal being. Once again, Taehyung turned on the Proton Pack, aiming at the source of the odor. Before the stream hit the ghost, the orange light burnt everything within its reach.

“What are you doing it? Catch him,” I urged Taehyung before he destroyed the room. The ghost was flying around the room, and he couldn’t capture him with the stream, looking like a newbie.

“I’m trying!” Taehyung defended himself, but I only rolled my eyes, and placed my hand on the Particle Thrower, wondering if I should help Taehyung. I was about to operate the Ghost Trap, but it’s pretty useless when the ghost’s on the loose.

Sighing, I pulled the Particle Thrower and aimed. For a brief second, Taehyung looked at me, fear visible in his eyes. He didn’t trust me with it, and I couldn’t blame him; it was a dangerous weapon, after all. Maybe it was reckless, but Taehyung wasn’t effective on his own, so I had to intervene.

When I pressed the button, the Proton-Gun generated raw nuclear energy which hit the ghost, making me stumble backward.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Taehyung yelled at me when he turned off his Proton Pack. The consequence of crossing the streams is so great that he didn’t want to risk it, especially when such an inexperienced person as me was using it. “Turn it off!” he screamed, but I ignored him, since the ghost was already captured, almost nullified by now. He had to be joking.

“Get the Ghost Trap ready,” I mentioned, as I gently kicked it toward him. The ghost was trying to wiggle out of the lasso of a positronic ionized stream of proton energy, but I firmly clenched the Particle Thrower in my hands, using 100% of its power.

“This is the first and last time I let you tag along!” Taehyung shouted, but prepared the Ghost Trap nonetheless. Skillfully, he untangled the wires and rolled the small device toward the ghost. “When I turn it on you gotta shut the Proton Pack down, you got it?”

“Yep,” I nodded quickly.

“On the count of three,” Taehyung exclaimed, and I focused deeply, trying to synchronize with him. When the last syllable rolled off his tongue, I took my finger off the trigger. Panting, I stared at the ghost who was being slowly consumed by the electromagnetic field. “Don’t look into the trap!” He yelled, but I was too engrossed in the scene in front of me.

“What?” I asked, not tearing my gaze away. You could see the ghost getting drawn into the trap, piece by piece utilized inside the small Ecto Containment Unit.

“Don’t fucking look into the trap!” Taehyung yelled again, this time much louder, and when I didn’t listen to him right away, he yanked me toward him, letting me fall into his chest, as he placed his hand on the back of my head, pulling me closer, pressing me against his frame. “You must start listening. You could lose your sight.” Taehyung warmed me, but he didn’t sound mad. If anything, I detected care and relief.

“Sorry,” I spoke, when I looked up at him, admiring his face from up close. With his arms wrapped around me, I could feel warmth emitting from him. Being in his embrace felt comfortable and secure, and although we had never put much attention to none sexual type of affection, I realized how much we had missed out on. “I won’t do that again.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Taehyung replied coldly, taking a step backward as if he grasped our interaction was inappropriate. “It was the last time I brought you with me. Do you have any idea how reckless that was?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” I admitted, and Taehyung rolled his eyes at me.

Taehyung was silent during our ride back to the headquarters; he was reading something on his phone, whereas I was listening to the news flash on the radio, maneuvering the vehicle. The night was tranquil; the sky was in a beautiful shade of navy, even a couple of stars seen over the horizon. The scenery was breathtaking, but I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wished since the recent dispute with Taehyung kept surfacing when I tried to focus on something, anything else.

When I stopped upon seeing the red light, my phone rang. Quickly, I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the Bluetooth earpiece, putting it into my right ear.

“Hello?” I asked as soon as I answered the call. On the other end of the line, I heard a lot of background noise before Jin’s soft voice greeted me excitedly. “Oh, hi, what’s up?” I inquired, wondering what he wanted from me. If I were on a seminar abroad, calling home would be the last position on my priorities’ list.

“I’m just checking up on you,” Jin casually stated, and I smiled at the thought of Jin and Hoseok calling me to find out if Taehyung and I had already jumped at each other’s throats. “How is work with Taehyung? Is he a pain in the ass?”

“Hmm…I’d say bearable,” I replied unsurely. Taehyung had been nice, but then I had done something he hadn’t wanted me to, and then everything had gone downhill. I could use Jin to vent about Taehyung, but they were on a trip, and I couldn’t ruin it for them. “And what about you? Are you having fun?” I asked, changing the subject. Our conversation would be way more enjoyable if we changed the direction it was going; I’d much rather discuss their trip than another round of a passionate dispute between Taehyung and I.

“It’s a paradise. You can check out Hoseok’s Instagram updates. It’s nothing compared to the real feel, though. I wished you were here with us.” Jin simply said, and I smiled again, imagining what I’m missing out on.

“I wished I was with you, too,” I confessed genuinely, realizing that Taehyung’s eyes were on me, as he tried to decipher whom I was talking to. “But it’s okay; we’ll have more opportunities in the future, right?”

“Obviously,” Jin agreed swiftly, “we’re handing out our business cards just like you told us to. I think we’ll soon make it big.” He added, and I smiled brightly, not even trying to disguise how proud I was. “I gotta go now. Hoseok’s coming with our drinks. Talk to you later.”

“Don’t have too much fun without me.” I chimed in playfully, “and try not to miss me.”

“Who was that?” Taehyung asked, as soon as I hung up. Hesitantly, I looked at him upon seeing his upset cast.

“Jin, obviously. Who else?” I spoke, rolling my eyes. “He wanted to say hi, that’s all. Why?”

“Are you two screwing?” Taehyung accused, and I chucked. How the hell did he come up with it? It was a casual conversation without even a slimmer of flirtation, so it was bizarre how he read into that. I shook my head in denial, but Taehyung didn’t seem convinced. “It didn’t sound like it.”

“I mean…Jin’s handsome, I agree. Don’t worry, I know better than dating my co-workers. It’s strictly business,” I explained, but once again, Taehyung didn’t seem pleased with my response. “We’re friends, of course, but nothing more.”

Taehyung didn’t reply. He just nodded in acknowledgment and looked away, focusing on his phone again. Whatever he was seeking, it was more important than telling me why he had thrown all his accusations toward me. I wasn’t dating Jin, but it was none of his business, so why bothered asking?

Thankfully, we were almost on our driveway. I couldn’t wait to exit the car, change out of the Ghostbusters uniform and come back home. I had spent way too much time with Taehyung today, and I wished I could relax somewhere far away from him.

Taehyung was the first one to get out of the vehicle, and I followed right behind him.

“Thank you, Tae,” I spoke, and Taehyung stopped in his trucks, yet not turning around to face me. Maybe it’d be easier for me to admit to my fault if I didn’t have to look into his sharp eyes. “I know you told me not to look, and I’m sorry for ignoring your warnings. You said it’s my last mission, and I’m gonna respect your decision. Today was fun by the way.” I voiced my thoughts from the bottom of my heart, and I hoped Taehyung could feel the genuineness in my words.

Once again, Taehyung remained silent, completely ignoring my veracity. I couldn’t blame him; he was still mad at me, and a couple of kind words didn’t have the power to outweigh the consequences of my previous actions. He felt wronged, and if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t get over it so quickly, either.

Slowly, I strolled toward him.

“I have no idea what could happen to me if we crossed the streams or stared longer into the trap, but I’m glad you kept me safe,” I added with a bittersweet smile on my face. Taehyung hated me, yet he had proven to be a bigger person who helped me notwithstanding our past discord.

Taehyung turned around, staring down at me. He didn’t say a word, yet his eyes were drilling holes in mine, the conveyed message as lucid. Right now, his anger was agitated with ease and solicitude.

“I’m truly thankful,” I mentioned honestly, smiling weakly at him. In the heat of the moment, I got on my toes, leaning to place a chaste peck on his lips. The kiss lasted a second tops, and when I pulled back, Taehyung grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

“You can’t walk away after what you’ve just done,” Taehyung spoke quietly, his eyes sparkling, searching mine. “You’re annoying, reckless, and irresponsible. Do you know that?” He added, and when I opened my mouth to answer his rhetorical question, he beat me to it, pressing his soft lips against mine, initiating another simple kiss.

We shouldn’t be doing it, but when his lips were on mine, and his hands holding me close, I couldn’t think straight, let alone push him away. His body emitted the familiar warmth, and with each passing second, I was becoming cozier and cozier.

Gradually, he tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss, sucking on my bottom lip excitedly until I let out a hushed moan. It had been a while since I made out with anyone, and God, how much had I missed affection. And the fact of Taehyung being an excellent kisser didn’t help my situation, at all.

I ought to have fought with the temptation, but after a minute in Taehyung’s arms, I didn’t even want to. Despite the loud protests of my consciousness, I gave into the fascination, as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. It didn’t make any sense, but I craved his intimacy.

“Did you mean it?” Taehyung asked as he withdrew a couple of centimeters to voice his doubts. His breath tickled my wet lips, as he waited for my reply. “You know…about dating your co-workers.”

“Yes,” I admitted, and when my response rang in his ears, Taehyung quickly dropped his hands, which were holding my cheeks. With a disappointed sigh, he looked down at his feet. “I’ve never treated you like a co-worker, though,” I stated firmly, entwining my fingers with his. “You’ve always been something more, Taehyung,” I confessed, and Taehyung immediately lit up, smashing his lips against mine, his hands landing on my bottom, as he jerked me toward him.

“That’s all I need to know,” Taehyung whispered, barely lifting his lips off of mine. “Baby, I missed you so much,” he confessed, as he squeezed my left ass-cheek playfully. “It was a torture to see you every day and being unable to do anything.”

“Shut the hell up,” I murmured with a wide smile on my face, as I brushed my nose against his fondly before I sealed our lips together in a gentle, synchronized smooch. “Haven’t you heard that actions speak louder than words?” I remarked, rubbing my body against him, catching him off guard.

“We shouldn’t,” Taehyung breathed out, as he rested his forehead on mine, his eyes shut close.

“We shouldn’t do a lot of stuff,” I agreed with him casually, a smirk decorating my face when I ran my hand across his chest and shoulders. “It has never stopped us before, though,” I added, as I nipped his earlobe mischievously.

“You can’t talk to me like that!” Taehyung spoke loudly, taking a small step backward before he pulled down my uniform’s zipper. “You haven’t had clothes underneath that the whole time?” he questioned, although he already knew the answer. “Tsk, tsk,” he shook his head, pushing the uniform off my shoulders, letting it pool around my feet.

“Don’t stare at me like that! You’re creeping me out right now,” I whined, as I kicked off my shoes and discarded the bothersome uniform. His lingering stare was flattering, but when he didn’t put those large hands in action, I felt a little under-pampered.

Standing almost bare in front of him, I trembled, what didn’t go unnoticed by Taehyung. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around my waist, the heat radiating off him. “Maybe we should talk first,” Taehyung proposed but gulped when I touched his groin. “Okay, I tried.”

Abruptly, Taehyung picked me up and carried me to the break room. We had no time to waste, and he lastly understood that too. During our work together, we had been playing cat and mouse, but it was about time to bury the hatchet. We’re finally on the same team after years of the matchup.

“I wonder if you’re as sweet as you used to be,” Taehyung spoke, as he gently placed me down and got on his knees. “Your pussy was as sweet as your mouth was bitter,” he added before his long, slender fingers tugged my panties to the side, allowing him to touch my bare folds.

“Taehyung–

I moaned his name, as I squeezed my legs together when he started to touch my slit, making him smirk. Gently, he leaned forward and pressed his lips on my skin, drawing a trail of delicate pecks across my left thigh.

“It’s been a while since anyone treasured you the way you deserve it,” Taehyung concluded, his breath tickling my skin. “Let me remind you,” he added, and I leaned my back against the wall, knowing my legs wouldn’t be able to support my weight if Taehyung was to keep his promise. He had always known how to make me weak, and right now, I was sure he didn’t forget his moves.

“Please,” I breathed out, tilting my head backward when Taehyung’s fingers massaged my folds, his mouth already on my pelvis, slowly kissing his way down to my clit. “Oh God,” I shuddered, quickly reaching out to hold myself onto something.

“I’m seriously concerned, it has always taken forever for you to come,” Taehyung commented playfully, looking up at me. “And look at you right now, almost squirting on my fingers,” he added, and I bit my bottom lip, too embarrassed to admit how long it had been.

“Tae, please,” I begged when Taehyung pushed his long finger inside of me, his tongue teasing my clit, making me hold my breath, my teeth clenched. “Fuck,” I moaned; he added another finger, as he pumped in and out mercilessly, his mouth now sucking my most sensitive nub.

“Do you like it?” Taehyung pulled away to ask, but I only ran my hand through his hair, forcing him to return to eating me out. “You’ve always been needy,” he commented, as his free hand groped my bottom, squeezing it, making me jerk my hips forward.

“And you’ve never let me come without me begging,” I made a remark, but Taehyung only smirked. Lazily, he flicked his tongue what induced my legs to shake when he found the right spot, allowing me to feel very first sparks of pleasure.

“You know me too well,” Taehyung teased, and I rolled my eyes, not expecting him to take me any other way. I didn’t mind it, though. He was a pain in the ass, but he had always put my needs above his, making sure I was the first one to reach the blissful peak. Moreover, sex with him had never been monotonous, as he had tended to come with something new each time we were intimate.

“Mmm…” I purred through clenched teeth, when Taehyung’s fingers pumped inside of me swiftly, stretching me before he fucks me properly with his cock. “Taehyung…” his name rolled off my tongue, and I knew how much my cries of excitement kept him going.

“What is it, baby?” he asked, as he looked at me. His eyes were shining with its unwavering spark, his reddened lips glistening with his saliva and my juices. “Do you want me to stop?” I looked at him, my eyes hooded, observing his infamous smirk of pride.

“What do you think?” I dismissed his question, breathing heavily. His ministrations turned me on, making me a complete mess under the power of his touch, though I wasn’t going to admit that and stroke his ego anymore. It was already big, and I barely could handle his cocky attitude.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” he spoke as he licked his lips, humming in delight. “God, you’re delicious, as always.”

“Please, Taehyung, touch me, I missed your fingers,” I whined much to Taehyung’s enjoyment. He knew how he made me feel, and he shamelessly used it to his advantage. “I bet you can make me come around them,” I challenged him, and his eyes brightened with confidence.

“If you keep talking like that, I may not be able to control myself any longer,” Taehyung confessed, and I realized he was aching for my affection too. He was on his knees, caressing me as if I was made of china, fulfilling my every wish, whereas I didn’t even touch him yet. Still, in his uniform, his cock was restrained underneath a thick layer of clothing.

“Let me take care of you, Tae,” I whispered when I brushed my hand against his cheek. Instantly, he looked me in the eyes, slowly standing up, his gaze focused on my lips. “Please,” I started when I reached to his zipper, pulling it down. Unlike me, he wore regular clothes under the uniform. It wasn’t problematic, though. With my help, we quickly got rid of the annoying fabric.

“Look what you do to me,” said Taehyung when I pulled down his boxers, releasing his hard cock. Gently, he grabbed his length and gave it a couple of strokes. I had seen him jerk off million times before, but when I observed him right now, it turned me on as much as when he had his fingers shoved inside of me. “Help me,” he whispered, as he reached out for my hand, guiding it to his cock.

Smirking, I grabbed his member around its base, caressing it annoyingly slowly, knowing he favored going fast. Usually, I wouldn’t tease him like that, but it was the payback, and he got what he deserved. My hand sensually rubbed the precum into his length, making him throw his head back and shut his eyes under my touch.

“Somebody’s excited,” I taunted him as soon as I felt him twitch in my hand. Taehyung couldn’t wait for more, and he didn’t even have to voice his needs; his body showed me exactly what he yearned.

Slowly, yet steadily picking up my pace, I blew my hair off my face and looked into Taehyung’s dark eyes as if trying to figure out what was going on inside his head.

“Tell me what you want, Tae,” I whispered, licking his earlobe. “And I may give you just that,” I added, letting my breath tickle his wet skin. Gently, I brushed my nose against his neck, waiting for his reply. His heart was beating rapidly, and I heard him swallowing hard before he could formulate his answer.

“I’ve got one hell of a list actually,” Taehyung said after a moment of thinking. He seriously seemed deep in his thoughts, and considering the playful smirk that appeared on his face, he meant it. “We won’t cross everything out at once, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t reckon it as a onetime thing,” I admitted, and Taehyung grinned at me in relief.

“I don’t either,” Taehyung confirmed, planting a chaste kiss on my lips. “I’m so glad that we’re on the same page for once,” he added seductively, blowing at the wet spot on my neck where a hickey was slowly forming. How the hell am I going to explain that when Jin and Hoseok come back? “You know what? Fuck it; I can’t wait,” he spoke, turning me around, pushing me over the desk, which sat on the other side of the room.

“Ahh…” I moaned when Taehyung spanked me. “Taehyung–” I purred, as his large hand began massaging my butt before it even started to sting.

“What is it, baby?” Taehyung asked in concern, as he leaned forward, and I arched my back, meeting him halfway, playfully biting his bottom lip. “Do you like it like that?” Taehyung inquired when I released his lips. His length was poking me, and I barely could stand that.

“You know I do,” I answered through clenched teeth, as Taehyung grabbed his cock, teasing me with its tip sliding up and down my soaked folds. I was ready to take him, but he wouldn’t let me feel the pleasure yet. When it came to sex, Taehyung sometimes could be a sadist, especially when I did him wrong. “Please,” I howled, sticking up my butt, rubbing it against his erection.

“I can’t keep you waiting when you’re begging me like this,” Taehyung admitted, spinning me around, sitting me on the desk. Quickly, I spread my legs, letting Taehyung between them. “Do you have a condom?” he asked, and I shook my head. Lack of protection wouldn’t stop me now, though. I wanted it too much to stop in the middle.

“Just pull out when you think you’re close,” I replied, and Taehyung sighed. “You’ve always loved coming on my tits; that hasn’t changed, has it?” I teased him, and Taehyung agreed with a sly smirk.

“No, it hasn’t,” he confirmed, and I gasped when he pushed his cock inside of me without any warning. It didn’t hurt because he had stretched me well, but I still didn’t expect him to enter me so desperately. “You’re so warm,” he moaned, as he trusted his hips back and forth inside of me.

The melody of my hushed moans and Taehyung throaty gasps played in my ears, with each thrust my voice going louder. His hips moved swiftly, but his hands traveled across my skin agonizingly slowly, making me wrap my legs around him, pulling him close as it was possible.

“Tae–“ I cried out, biting my bottom lip. Taehyung was making me feel heavenly, and until now, I didn’t realize how sex-deprived I had been. Thankfully, the dry spell’s over. “Please, go faster,” I begged, as I propped myself on my right hand, rubbing my clit with the other one.

My orgasm was near, and I would be pissed if Taehyung denied me of it. (It had always been a kink of his, and I learned it the hard way.)

Exactly how I told him to, Taehyung quickened his pace, making me choke on air.

“Oh, baby,” he rasped in his low voice, as he leaned forward, his lips smashing against my neck, trailing wet kisses down to my collarbones, marking me again. I gulped in pleasure when his mouth sucked on my skin, and although I hated love marks, this time I didn’t mind them at all. “You’re mine, you’re mine,” Taehyung repeated desperately, and I just nodded, kissing in his confirmation.

“I’m yours,” I moaned, arching my back when he finally found the most sensitive bud. I was only a couple of strokes away from my high, and all I needed was Taehyung to maintain his pace. “I’m yours,” I hissed when my walls started to pulse and tighten around him.

“You better come soon. I’m close, too,” Taehyung warned me, and I rolled my eyes at him. He would have to be really stupid if he seriously thought I’d deny my orgasm.

“Yes, yes, yes, just like that,” I whispered, raking my fingertips across his back, scratching it. I was on the verge, and I needed something to hold on. “Taehyung, I’m almost there,” I closed my eyes, giving myself into the embrace of a sweet peak, flavored with Taehyung’s raspy voice and musky smell.

The second I felt the paradise, a faint noise of the landline filled the space, killing the mood. My walls squeezed around Taehyung’s throbbing cock, coating it with my juices.

“Fuck, Tae,” I screamed, as Taehyung kept pounding his hips, helping me ride out my orgasm.

“Whoever is on the line is fucking persistent,” Taehyung commented, shaking his head, as he couldn’t believe that anyone would call them at such unholy hour. “Shit, I want to come inside you so fucking much,” he announced, as he pulled out his cock. Quickly, he started to pump it up and down with his hand, and I just watched him with my legs spread, my teeth biting the bottom lip.

“I wouldn’t really mind if you did,” I replied, but it was too late. My words triggered him, and with a couple of strokes, he came all over my stomach and breasts.

“You’re fucking amazing,” he breathed out, as he looked at me from underneath his sticky fringe. Taehyung’s satisfied and exhausted demeanor looked handsome on him, and unless I sat on the desk, it would sweep me off my feet. “I mean it,” he added, leaning to place a pack on my lips.

Then the phone rang again.

Taehyung growled in annoyance, but walked toward the landline, and picked up the phone. “Ghostbusters; how can I help you?” Taehyung answered the call politely, but his gaze was still on me as if he was enchanted. And frankly, I felt the same way about him.  I couldn’t wait for him to hang up and come back to me, so we could properly celebrate our ceasefire.

“Of course, I’m on my way,” he answered, and I shook my head since there was no way I would be joining him on another mission.

I’d rather stay in and warm up the bed for him, hoping that everything turns up easier this time around.

[exquisitley-obsessed]

The Three Women Of Durin - Re-joined (36)

MASTERLIST FOR THS STORY

(not my gif)

Legolas had stood for a few minutes in the woods, calling out different noises that caused Rosie to raise her eyebrows here and there. But soon the pearly white horse they rode on only a few hours ago, slowly trotted their way towards them. Rosie couldn’t help but feel so honoured that the horse was in fact still here and was willing to come back to them, these animals were not like the ones back on earth.

They climbed the horse and Legolas started to steer the horse to trot over to where the remaining men and women of Laketown were gathering. Rosie suddenly realized how desperate she was to see her friends again, to make sure that they were okay and to show them that she was okay.

Legolas did not want to tire the horse further after the sprinting it had done yesterday, so he allowed to horse to go at a steady pace, meaning by the time the horse made it to the start of the gathering, the sun blazed harshly from the centre of the sky.

“We look for the others, then we help,” Legolas said quietly to Rosie as they made their way through the wrecks and ruins of people’s lives. People turned and stared up at them with awe and wonder, Rosie could almost hear their expectant thoughts. Rosie was once again overcome with emotion as she watched people claw at each other for blankets to simply stay warm in the chilly winter breeze. “Over there,” Legolas almost whispered as he nodded to where there was a group of people who seemed to be rather small compared to the rest. Rosie felt the excitement course through her, and she could no longer sit patiently on this horse, carefully and slowly she swung herself off and began sprinting over to her friends.

Before Frankie even knew that she was there, Rosie tackled her with a bone-crushing hug. Frankie looked down for a moment before seeing the brown mop that was Rosie’s hair and found herself returning the hug with a slightly desperate feel.

“I’m so glad you are okay,” Rosie breathed as she pulled back and looked at her friend. “All of you,” She said turning to the three dwarves, the children and even the two elves.

“You were gone for so long, I didn’t know what happened,” Frankie murmured, finding that she wanted to pull her friend back into a hug.

“Legolas and I went to go hunt some orc,” Rosie said, a smile breaking out on her face, Legolas simply rolled his eyes but his large grin betrayed him. “Bolg’s dead,” Rosie then announced.

“Wait, seriously?” Kili asked stepping forward.

“Yes, and we owe it to Legolas,” Rosie said motioning to where the elf stood. His arms were folded but something thrummed from him, proudness? “Remember that okay?” Rosie suddenly continued.

“Remember what?” Kili asked.

“That it was Legolas, an elf, who killed Bolg and ultimately saved…” Rosie trailed off realizing what she was about to say.

“Saved what?” Kili questioned further, his brows furrowed.

“Come on brother,” Fili said motioning him to the boat, the only dwarf who knew what Rosie was about to say, “Questions later, we need to reach Erebor,” He said, but when Kili had turned away he threw Rosie a look, Rosie returned it. Kili, Fili and Oin went to a rather large boat and began pushing it out towards the lake with some difficulty. Rosie smiled at Frankie before turning to Legolas.

“I think this is where I leave you, friend,” Rosie smiled up at Legolas who returned her smile.

“I believe that we will meet again,” Legolas replied, Rosie grinned.

“Of course, of course,” Rosie smiled before turning to Tauriel. “I’d just like to say thank you, for saving Kili, I mean. Even though he’s a…and well you’re a…” Rosie trailed off, thinking of the right thing to say.

“You looked past that and did what’s right,” Frankie took over, “And that meant our friend didn’t have to die,” She smiled, genuinely apricating the tall, auburn elf who stood before her.

“It was my pleasure,” Tauriel nodded a smile dancing on her flawless features, yet her eyes were slightly sad.

“We will see you again, don’t worry,” Rosie winked before turning around and helping her friends push the overly large boat into the water. Frankie gave them an appreciative smile before following the others into the water. The group managed to get the boat going before they all hopped in and used the ores already there to push even further away from land. Rosie turned back and stared at the two tall figures who stood on the dry land, she smiled and waved at her elf friends who smiled back. Then Rosie and Frankie turned to the halls of Erebor where they would face the remains of the mad heir to the throne.

Cece sat with her head in her hands not too far away from the main halls. She couldn’t bear to even stand in that room, to be there, with him. Thorin had changed, for the worse. He was now more stubborn than ever, he cared for nothing except the sea of jewels for which he was surrounded with and stone which was ironically lost in it. He snapped and growled like an animal and it appeared that they did not need Smaug to have a dragon under the mountain.

“Come on! Find it!” Came his distant voice, Cece buried her head deeper into her arms, trying desperately to drown his hollow voice out. Thorin had members of the company on all fours and bending over backwards searching for that futile rock, Cece refused to even help, she kept in the shadows where Thorin wouldn’t see her through his glass pane of sickness. Then, a small tinkle of multiple footsteps was heard in the distance, Cece perked up.

Jumping up from where she was perched she ran through only the halls which she was familiar with and heard the pitter patter of running grow closer and closer. As she burst around a corner a group of familiar faces greeted her with wide smiles. Without saying anything she grabbed her two best friends and tightened a vice-like grip around them.

“Hey Cece,” Rosie breathed in her ear and Cece suddenly had the urge to cry again, she pulled back.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. Bard shot Smaug but in his last moments he reached Laketown. When I saw the fire, I didn’t…I mean I couldn’t…and you…” She trailed off, her words leaving her. Frankie and Rosie simply gave her understanding looks.

“We know,” Frankie murmured before pulling her friend back into a hug. Then there was a clearing of a throat and Cece turned and was met with the grinning faces of Kili, Oin and…

“Fili,” She breathed, her body sparking back into what felt like life as she gazed upon the blonde prince. She felt her heart rate pick up and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Fili gave her the most loving look she had ever seen, a look of relief and even a touch of sadness.

Without any words being passed between them Cece ran towards him in what felt like slow motion and leapt into his open arms. He grabbed her and held her close, swinging around slightly, a grin slapped onto his features. Forgetting about where she was and who she was with she crashed her lips down onto his with a touch of desperateness and lost herself in that moment. Fili then set her down carefully on the floor as if he was afraid that he would break her and took her face tenderly in his hands.

“I, was, so, worried, about, you,” Fili said in-between a trail of soft kisses on Cece’s face. He kissed under her left eye and then under her right before kissing her nose, her forehead and then bringing his lips back to her own. Cece wrapped her own dainty hands around his and stared up at him, a warm blush now spreading through her cheeks.

“Um, guys?...Hello?” Frankie called over at the lovesick pair. Cece smiled and turned to her friend but did not leave Fili’s side.

“So, brother?” Kili said with a grin, “Anything to say,” Kili smiled, his expression evidently happy for his brother.

“You can shut up, don’t think I’m the only one keeping secrets,” Fili retorted to his brother causing a red pulse to throb in Kili’s cheeks.

“Wait, what?” Rosie intervened and eyebrow raised. “Kili, what you’ve been getting up to?” Rosie asked as she looks at the brown-haired prince.

“I think it might have something to do with a certain elf-” Cece began but was interrupted by Fili.

“No, no, not an elf…” He trailed off, Cece’s face snapped with realization.

“Wait! Frankie! What the hell happened between you two?” Cece yelped. It was now Frankie’s turn to blush.

“Frankie?” Rosie snapped her head to her other best friend, “But I thought…oh,” She dragged out, realization spreading on Rosie’s face, “It all makes sense,”

“What does?” Fili asked.

“What Legolas was talking about,” She said as if it were obvious before realizing that it was in fact not, “Never mind, I’ll tell you later,” She gestured towards her friends before a grin slipped on her face. “Awe! My friends are all loved up!” She said happily.

“Yeah come on Rosie,” Frankie smiled from where Kili was snaking his arm around her waist, “Join the crew,”

“I’d rather not thanks,” Rosie brushed it off.

“Why not?” Cece asked.

“Because I actually intend to stick to the agreement,” Rosie rolled her eyes.

“What agreement?” Frankie asked.

“You know, the one about not falling in love with anyone from this world, at least not until the story ends,” she said.

“But the story has ended lass,” Oin spoke up, reminding everyone of his presence. Rosie realized her mistake and a sad glint appeared in her eyes.

“No, Oin. The story has not ended,” Fili said sadly, his eyes lowered.

“How would you know?” Frankie asked surprised that Fili had responded to Oin’s statement. Fili opened his mouth to speak before quickly shutting it again, Cece intervened.

“I may or may not have told him…everything,” Cece blushed.

“May or may not have?” Rosie asked slowly.

“Yes,” Cece continued, “May or may not have, depending on your reactions,”

“And have you?” Frankie asked. Cece paused.

“No…”

“Cece!”

“What?” There was a pause as no one spoke. Cece looked up at her two friends who were looking at each other, having some sort of private conversation in their heads.

“Look, it’s fine that you told him okay, that’s not the problem,” Frankie said turning to Cece, a tired expression on her face.

“It’s just…you could have told us, you know?” Rosie continued, Cece nodded with understanding.

“Look, I know I should have told you guys and I’m sorry for that I really am. But when I told him, that was between him and me, something rather private, and I know that’s not an excuse but it’s not meant to be,” She said. There was a pause as the three girls looked at each other.

“Oh, forget it,” Frankie murmured as she pulled her friend back into a hug, Rosie joining not a second later, “I’m too tired to care about who knows what right now anyway,”

“Well now that’s all cleared up, should we go and meet the others,” Oin said happily clapping his hands together. The girls pulled apart and smiled at the dwarf, their arms still half wrapped around each other. Then the pitter-patter of a Hobbit’s feet throughout the halls and the girl's smiles disappeared pretty quickly.

TAG LIST: @britney8793

[idevon]

Happy New Year, Shad!!!

How NOT to date your soulmate (a 6 step instruction manual) - by Lance McClain

1. Refuse to acknowledge their soulmark when you recognise it

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s this one. Doesn’t look that bad from here.” Lance took in the door before him with a sceptical expression. “I hope it’s not a giant wreck on the inside. I heard these rooms can be a real terror sometimes.”

He turns to Hunk, who is examining the practically useless map, printed on low ink with entire hallways missing.

“I think I’m not far off.” Hunk squinted at the map. Turning it upside down, he quirked his head to one side. “Either that or I’m really far off.”

Lance let go of his suitcase and leaned dramatically against the wall. Grabbing the handle for balance, he swung one leg behind him.

“They may take you away from me,” his grandiose tone rang out in the empty hall and he closed his eyes, balling his hand into a fist for added effect. “but they can never extinguish the flames of our love that blossoms as bea-”

“He’s just across the hall, drama queen.”

Lance froze mid-speech to look at the intruding stranger. His initial startling thought vanished as he took in the offending creature leaning in to look at Hunk’s map. The dark-clad boy pointed at something on the paper, drawing Lance’s eyes from his horrendous outfit to the arguably worse fingerless gloves.

“That’s not a D, it’s half of a B, so this right here is your door. Right across from your friend… And me.” He seemed to be looking everywhere but Lance, while Lance found his eyes glued to the boy, taking in every detail from the slightly outdated hairdo to the impossibly purple eyes.

"Thanks, man.” Hunk nodded, and folded up the map. “I would’ve gone in circles without you. I’m Hunk, by the way, and this is Lance. Freshmen, aerospace engineering.”

The boy shoved his hands into his pockets, shrugging it off.

“No problem, man.” He finally turned to the uncharacteristically quiet Lance. “I’m Keith, first year pilot. I guess I’m your s- roommate.” He quickly straightened to cover for his slip up, but lucky for him, neither of his new neighbours seemed to notice.

Lance arranged his limbs into a normal position slowly, unlike his brain which panicked at an honestly impressive speed.

His voice was almost a squeak as he forced out:

“Yeah. Roommates. Greaaaat.”

/…/

2. Make them your rival - soulmates dig rivals

“No, I have the harder classes, okay? Aaand my professors are total jerks! You should see this Iversen dude. Total. Jerkface.” The tip of Lance’s pencil snapped as he ran it into his notebook as if it were Iverson himself.

Keith glanced at his lanky roommate, spread across the bed with his homework all around. He’s tossed him a sharpener with a scoff.

“I’m in Iverson’s class too, you dimwit. We sit together.” He noticed Lance making a face at the insult. “And I didn’t say my classes are harder, I said you can’t compare apples and oranges. I’ve got a lot more practical classes as a pilot.”

He frowned at his own papers, not mentioning that when it came to theory, Lance did have a better understanding.

“Aha!” Lance pointed the sharpened pencil at Keith. “So you’re saying I wouldn’t be as good of a pilot as you are, huh, hotshot?”

Keith took a steading breath, trying to get back to his assigned work for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day.

“No.” He started slowly, but he was never a patient person. “What I’m saying is maybe you’d catch up if you shut up and actually worked!”

He stared Lance down, the flare of anger starting to make place for the thought that maybe he overdid it this time.

Until Lance shucked the sharpener straight at his head, jumped off the bed and tore down the hall.

Keith sat immobile for a second before bolting straight after the fading screams.

“Worth iiiiit!”

/…/

3. Unwittingly pull them into your group of friends (but pretend it didn’t happen)

“Why don’t you get Keith to help you out with that, dude? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

That much was evident even to Lance, as Hunk’s eyes stayed glued to the machine on his desk.

“What? Na-uh, this isn’t something Keith would understand.” Lance made himself at home in Hunk’s bed. “I need a real friend to help me out, not make fun of me.“

Hunk paused his work and turned around in his swivel chair to give his friend a disapproving look.

“Keith wouldn’t make fun of you, Lance. He’s not like that, he’s just a bit-” he wiggled his fingers in the air for emphasis “-emotionally constipated sometimes. But he’s your friend. And all of ours now as well. He cares about you.”

Lance rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “As if. Keith ‘Lone wolf’ Kogane.”

Hunk shook his head lightly, getting back to his work.

“Not for a while now, Lance. And mostly thanks to you.” He leaned in to closer examine a couple of wires, thinking out loud. “I guess soulmates do bring out the best in each other.” He smiled at the blinking lights in front of him.

Lance shot up on the bed, eyes wide.

“What? What do you mean soulmate?”

“Lance.” Hunk shot him a look. “I was there when you two met. I heard the damn line you’ve been nagging on about 4 years. ‘He’s just across the hall, drama queen.’ It was almost as exciting as when I met Shay.

Lance folded his shoulders in, sagging against the wall.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t catch that. Keith sure as hell didn’t seem to.” He rolled up the hem of his jeans and rubbed at the inked words on his ankle. He pursed his lips into a pout. “Why him?”

They let the silence stretch for a while before Hunk said: “You two are good for each other. Just give it some time.” He reached over and squeezed Lance’s shoulder.

Sensing his friend needed some time to think and a distraction, he let his lips turn into a grin. “Wanna see what I’m working on for Shay?”

Lance felt the corners of his mouth quirking up as well, picking up on Hunk’s enthusiasm. “What?”

“It’s a communication device. I made a pair. The LEDs blink a message in Morse code from me to her, or otherwise.”

“Hunk it’s the 21st century… Just text!”

/…/

4. Always be there for them (but tell yourself you’re not best friends)

Lance was telling himself that he didn’t miss Keith while back home for Christmas and that speeding up his pace as he neared the room was most definitely just a coincidence. Still, he couldn’t fight the grin as he practically knocked down the door to get in.

“Keith! My man!” His smile faltered as he took the sight of his roommate in.

“Keith?” He approached more cautiously. “Everything okay, man?”

Keith’s clipped “Yea” and the tension in his shoulders were far from reassuring.

“Are you alright? Did something happen?” Lance closed in on Keith trying to catch his gaze, was trained firmly on his fidgeting hands.

“Nope.” Another brief response.

“Did someone get hurt? Is Shiro okay?”

Lance sat down next to Keith, abandoning his bags in the middle of the floor.

Keith let out a loud breath, closing his eyes for a second.  

“Yeah, he’s great. Better than ever actually.”

Lance waited patiently, thinking it better not to push more.

“He brought back his soulmate.” Keith’s eyes fluttered briefly to Lance, who kept his face carefully neutral.

“She’s perfect in every way. Perfect for him.” His voice broke.

Another brief stretch of silence later, he finished.

“And she hates me.”

/…/

5. Scream about your feelings, then make out - 100% success rate

“So why didn’t you say something if you knew?!”

Lance knew Keith long enough to recognise the hurt behind his loud words, but his own pain stopped him from calming down. Instead, it only fuelled anger in response, and he let his own voice rise in volume.

“Why didn’t you?! There’s two soulmates in a pair, if I recall properly!” He got in Keith face.

Keith faltered for a second.

“Well, I-”. He backed down a bit of red stain in his cheeks. “I didn’t know how to bring it up, okay? I’m not the best at feelings, if you haven’t noticed.” He crossed his arms over his chest and awkwardly shrugged. “You remember how long it took me to talk to Allura and sort everything out.” He looked to the side almost mumbling. “And that was mostly thanks to you…”

“Keith…”

Lance closed the distance once again, with different intent this time. He appeared to change his mind inches away from Keith’s face and instead spoke again, but maintained the closeness.

“I’m sorry. I should have said something. I knew it right away. I was just scared. Because you never said anything, I thought you didn’t like having me as your soulmate.”

Keith went completely red, but nonetheless, staring at Lance with determination, he said,

“I’d be an idiot not to want you.”

/…/

A nagging thought had pulled Lance out of bed earlier than usual, and morning light found him scribbling away in his diary with a soft smile glued to his face. He felt warm with the realization that his life had become even better than his dreams. As he laid out the words on the page, he recounted the memories.

As he wrote out number 6, he heard stirring behind him.

“Lance…” Keith pried apart his eyelids. “Come back to bed, I’m freezing.”

Lance smiled, dotting his last words and closing the diary.

“Coming, babe.”

6. Don’t. Ever. Let him go.

                              I had so much fun writing this for @voltron-ss, I hope you enjoy it just as much, @shadowqueen24! Happy New Year!

[gwenore]

Revenge of the Werecat.

Hi, @little-inkstone finally it is the 1st of May. I have really loved talking and getting to know you over these weeks... even if tumblr has eaten quite the amount of messages... and it is still a miracle that I have not forgotten to put on the annon button... though I felt that I had several times... 

I really hope you like this little fic. I also threw a werelizard in there, but... hopefully you do not mind. 

Synopsis: Gold works for a institution which research the outbreak of a strange new illness which seem to turn people feral and become animalistic and is put in charge of a feline-like woman who was named Belle French before her infection.

Written for @maydaymenagerie exchange. 

Mr. Gold was sitting at his desk in the observation room which had now been made into his makeshift office as he was ordered to keep a certain… creature under observation.

The Organization who had recruited… or forced him at gun point would be more accurate… to help with finding a cure for this new illness.

How it had started no one knew… most suspected a sort of genetic experiment gone wrong, though that description was a shot in the dark and too general to be of any use. Though all agreed it did not seem natural.

All they knew is that when the infection would enter the bloodstream of a victim, cell death would speed up at an insane rate with then new cells being created but these… were different. The cells were different… altered.

This caused a myriad of different mutations depending on the strain that the person was infected with.

One had commented it was as if the victims were turned into animals, as it would certainly seem that way from the symptoms. Rapports of people growing fur and scales… claws and fags, even hooves and tails…

To Gold it would have been hilarious had it not been actually happening.

These infected did also seem to get a more feral mindset seemingly loosing the ability to speak and act rationally. Most also became greatly aggressive, biting and clawing everyone not infected.

What was most terrifying about this new illness was how easy it was to contract it. While not airborne, any contact with infected blood in an open wound or any of the mucus membranes seemed to be enough to contract the disease. This with those infected more aggressive state made it spread extremely quickly.

Among the people these were known as were-creatures, or with the species that they had started to look like. Some did not think it was a disease at all, claiming it was magic.

Gold let out a scoff thinking of that. There was no such thing as magic.

Most of these infected were simply shot on sight, their bodies burned and disposed of. However if caught in the early stages of the process were brought to this facility to be studied. There were not many they took alive.

The one in the glass cage in his makeshift office was one of them.

Her name was… or had been… Belle French, a librarian if her file was correct.

She was now glaring at him with narrow pupils as her pointed furred ears laid back against her head. Having been stripped of her clothes she was holding the blanket around her body… a sign that she still had a sense of modesty, even as brown fur was now covering most of her body.

She had grown a tail seemingly just before she came to them, now curled around her, the claws on her feet and hands constantly barred, as was her sharpened teeth.

As far as Gold knew she had lost the ability to talk, though it was undeniable intelligence behind those blue cat-like eyes of hers.

Most in the facility that knew of her simply referred to her as the werecat… which… he could not deny there was certain reason for calling her that, even if he disliked it. It was as if it was robbing her of the little humanity she had left.

Talk also revolved around her beauty to which… well… he could also see that.

Even now, sipping from the whiskey that he had smuggled in for his over night shift he could not deny that she was indeed… beautiful. How tragic that something would have befallen someone like her. She was young… beautiful… with her whole life ahead of her…

And now she had been reduced to an animal in a cage. It would have been funny had it not been so tragic.

He sighed.

He did not know what would happen to her when they had gotten all the answers that they could get from her. It was not his place to care.

It was clear she hated him… he could not blame her.

“Another night just you and me huh dearie?” he asked her with a light chuckle in his voice as he lifted his glass towards her in a mock toast. The feline-like woman hissed towards him.

“I feel the same way, kitten,” he murmured at her as he picked up his book in order to read some, but quickly lost interest and tossed it on the table… or it was meaning to hit the table. What really happened was that he misjudged the throw and it slid off the table and towards the glass wall.

Mr. Gold shrugged. He was going to pick it up later.

Drinking down his glass he noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over he saw her move close to the glass wall, still covering her body from him, but her slit eyes were looking curiously at the book. He cocked his head.

“What… you want to read it?” he mused only met with another hiss. Swallowing down the remains of his drink he stood up, taking the cane for his bad leg he moved over, picking up the book and then pulled out her feeding tray.

Mistrust was glowing in her eyes as he pushed it through.

“Well… it is not like you have to read it,” he chuckled as he moved away, pretending to not care as he sat himself down again and poured himself another drink.

Glancing over his shoulder he then saw her slowly moving towards the push tray, picking up the book and gently caressing it in her clawed hands. Slowly drinking it down, he did not mind the burning in his throat… he was used to it by now.

With a loud sigh he stood up and moved towards the research desk, which forced him to put his back towards her. He never liked to do that, but he had to check on the blood samples… which was always nerve wrecking work.

Perhaps drinking was unwise, but… he found it helped him steady his hands… or… that was what he told himself.

After he had checked everything was alright with the blood samples, noting in the journal that nothing had really changed.

Slowly he turned towards her again, looking curiously as it seemed like the feline looking woman had started to read. This puzzled him… did she retain her ability to read? That was a surprise…

She had seemed rather… intelligent… he had to admit that. There was an intelligence within those blue eyes… or that was what he imagined…

He simply shrugged, rubbing the ridge of his nose groaning slightly. He hated being in this place… it could burn to the ground for all he cared. But with the not so unreal gun being put to his head… there was very little that he could do about the matter.

Mr. Gold was a man who had several regrets in his life… and this… getting himself into this mess… it did not even register…

At least the bottle of whiskey would take his mind of things until he could go home in the morning… only to be forced back a couple of hours later…

With these thoughts in mind he poured himself another glass, this one nearly to the brim.

“Cheers dearie,” he lifted his glass to his feline companion, though this time the expected hissing did not come, instead the creature hardly looked up from the book he had handed her.

“Fine… now I don’t have the pleasant distraction of our delightful conversations,” he chuckled slightly as he continued to swallow down his drink, not noting the scowl she gave him over the ridge of the book.

  The night progressed as normal, Mr. Gold having to admit that he had been too much liberal with his smuggled in whiskey and was having to sit struggling to suppress his inebriation, continuing to rub the ridge of his nose.

The timer then went of to let him know that he was having to check on the samples again. He let out a loud groan, it was the last thing he wanted to do, but… he knew well enough that those who were found lacking in their work were… demoted…

To the state of experimental subjects.

It was a fate that he would rather avoid.

He was feeling strangely nervous his heart pounding within his chest. It was as if he had a foreboding feeling and that something was not quite… right…

As he was considering a vial… having to fight his inebriation to do his work. He hold it firmly, not daring to think much about what were going to happen if he were to drop it.

The sound of the alarm was seemingly shaking through the compound for a minute just before it was left in darkness one moment before the red warning lights were turned on.

The pain of class piercing the palm of his hand was pure agony and he would have let out an ear piercing scream had not the overwhelming fear which paralyzed his vocal cords left him unable to even let out even a whimper.

As the blaring of the siren died down he heard his office door locked shut while the door the infected woman’s cell opened and he was at her mercy.

  Gold covered into the corner, staring with terror in his eyes as the so called werecat walked out of her cell. His blood was dripping onto the floor, the pain so great that he felt that his hand was shaking, but… he did not dare to look away.

Desperately and terrified a thought entered his mind.

This wasn’t an accident.

He was certain that this was not an accident.

Why would the cell door open if it was an true emergency?

Someone wanted him dead… or far worse than death. They wanted him alive, but wanted him to loose everything. His freedom, his family and even his mind which he had taken such pride in.

He closed his eyes then. He did not wish to see his end coming.

Feeling her close to him, he let out a slight nervous whimper, trying not to show how terrified that he really was.

To his surprise she did not dig into him with her sharp claws and teeth, instead she knelt down by his side and gently reached out and petted his hair comfortingly.

“We… we need to get out…” she whispered to him. He looked at her confused wondering just what she had said… had he… had he really heard her speak.

“What…?” his voice was shivering.

“We need to get out,” she repeated towards him. “They are going to do bad things to us.”

He could not believe what was happening.

“Wait… us?” he repeated. She glanced down at his hand, his eyes following and saw the glass poking out of his hand.

“We are the same now… you are infected,” he could hear that her speaking was strained, but it was at least understandable.

Still looking at his bleeding hand he knew that the content of the vial had mixed with his own. He tried to make an excuse… that he might have escaped contamination… but he could not believe himself to make him believe his own lie.

He whimpered, looking up at her, his eyes filled with tears and pleading.

“What is… what is going to happen to me?” he whimpered towards her. She blinked her eyes gently, a strange compassion in her animalistic eyes.

“You are going to change… after that… you know what is going to happen if they catch you,” she said. He knew well what was going to happen… he had seen it so many times. It was just a bit different when it was him on the line.

Slowly he got himself up to his feet, his hand shivering, trying to keep his mind collected. He tried to think about how to get out of this place… but… he was coming up with nothing. The walls were reinforced… the door was steel… no windows.

Call for help? Hah… that thought was laughable. His so called colleagues had trapped him in here and even if not all of them were in on it he would not know who he could trust.

Watching his blood and the shattered glass washing down into the sink he simply lowered ihis head.

“There is no way out…” he muttered.

“What…?” she asked shivering. “You must know a way out, you work here! I have seen you come and go several times!”

He simply chuckled at her insistence as he was shaking his head.

“No… I am actually just as trapped as you are kitten. You don’t think I want to be here do you? They threatened to take everything from me…” he let out another desperate chuckle, the amount of alcohol making him just find it funny. It might be just a fit of insanity… but if anything could excuse a man going mad… the night that Mr. Gold had been having would qualify.

“And now they have!” his low chuckle had now turned into a near desperate giggling.

He watched over at the feline woman as her pointed ears were laid back, that small blanket hardly covering her form as he bandaged his hand out of habit. Her cat-like eyes were welling up with tears.

“So… this is it then…” she murmured. He nodded.

“That would be my guess,” he shrugged, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“What are… what are we going to do?” she looked nervously over at him.

“Get drunk?” Mr. Gold shrugged his shoulders, earning him a glare of the feline woman, her tail flicking slightly. He simply cocked his head slightly.

“Don’t judge me, kitten, if we are going to be put down tomorrow… not to mention that until then… it is not going to be pleasant until then, and as I cannot remember what strain was in the vial, it is also going to be a surprise… so fun times,” his voice was filled with desperation though what could only be seen as insane chuckles.

“I guess… I guess that getting drunk is not going to do anything bad at this point,” she admitted. A silence fell between them as they sat themselves against the wall where they could watch the door. Gold grabbed around his whiskey and swallowed down, before grabbing it, handing it towards her, her taking it slowly, swallowing softly, before starting to cough, something that earned her a chuckle from the scientist.

She scowled at him ever so slightly before she handed it back for him to take him a drink. After he swallowed he put it down there was a silence falling between them.

“Is it going to hurt?”

He was not even aware that he had asked the question. Belle looked over at him and blinked her eyes softly, before giving him a soft nod.

“Yes… it is going to hurt a lot,” she then said. He blinked and nodded, thinking for a while.

“So… why did you not speak before now?” he asked with a wonder in her eyes. She shrugged her shoulders ever so slightly.

“I thought it wouldn’t be safe…” she then said. “It would be too dangerous… to let you know… I was not like… everyone else.”

“Wise choice,” Gold simply stated and with her sharp eyes she could see sweat start to appear on his forehead and his breathing was heavier.

Even his smell was different… muskier… more bestial.

It was exciting to her, making him unwittingly move closer to him.

“Do you… do you feel it?” Belle asked leaning over to him.

“I… I do…” he was panting softly as he looked down at his hand to see scales spreading across his hand.

“Scales…?” Belle pondered ever so slightly as she curiously stroked along them. The feeling of her fingers against the scales which was spreading rapidly… feeling like pins and needles across his skins… it was making him feel… warm.

He was unable to answer her, heavily breathing as his lips parted as she saw his teeth became sharp like that of a large predator. As he looked into her eyes, she saw his pupil narrow much like her own and the color turned from a warm brown into a golden yellow.

A slight fear went through her body as he reached out his own hand and touched her shoulder, leaning closer as long sharp claws burst out of his fingers. She knew well that most having turned would become feral and attack.

But his touch was not painful… it was gentle.

The look in his now reptilian eyes were that of fear and confusion. She was not certain that he was really knowing what he was doing, but there was no viciousness. Slowly she reached up her own clawed hand and touched his cheek.

“Just breathe,” she whispered to him, leaning closer and leaned her forehead against his own.

“You… you went through this…?” he gritted his teeth as he panted.

“Yes…” she buried her face in his neck, the blanket that she wore around herself were slipping off slightly. He was smelling so good and made her move closer to him, brushing her hand through his hair.

“Does… does it hurt?” she could not keep from letting out a low purr. His hand slowly slipped from her shoulder, down her side and hip, her being so warm, her moving her body against his hand.

“It feels as I am burning…” he groaned as he lifted his eyes, and she could see them glowing. “I am so cold… but I am burning…”

He let out a moan as he continued to gasp, his clawed hand grasping around her leg as her tail were bushy, flicking. Slowly her lifted his head and kissed his lips softly.

“What are you…?” he asked confused, as her hands continuing to caress his hair, as she got up on her knees, her blanket sliding of her body. A low rumble came from Gold’s throat as he let his reptilian eyes go over her body.

She was beautiful.

His claws were caressing over her body, as her own was unbuttoning his shirt, the fur down her back standing on end.

“Don’t know… just… you smell good,” she purred softly, her hands slipping inside his shirt and caressing his chest where scales were starting to form as well.

“So do you…” his voice was a low murmur, continuing to feel her nude form under his clawed hands. Sitting up she leaned over him, straddling him as she continued to rub against his hand, desiring his touch more.

“But… but should we…? Aren’t we just giving into these… beastly instincts?” even as he spoke his hands were continuing to caress her, down the small of her back, feeling her long slender furred tail.

The feline-like woman let out a soft moan as she grinded her hips, feeling his erection against her pussy, her claws continuing to run through his hair, pulling slightly as she forced him to look into her eyes.

“If we are to die tomorrow… why fight it? Just give in… please… I need you…” Belle whispered heatedly in his ears.

He gritted his teeth before he lifted his head and their lips met, his long tongue caressing against hers, his own tongue spitting and becoming forked as it moved against her rough one. She was correct… what use was it to worry if their life was to end?

Even as changes were wrecking through his body, he found himself growing warmer… more lustful. Pushing her down under him he stood over her, her letting out a low hiss in surprise, her hands moving down, ripping open his pants, pushing it down.

A loud gasp came from his lips as he felt her touch him, her soft fingers against his heated flesh.

“You are hard…” she murmured softly in his hair, kissing his lips. He did not respond simply scraping his long sharp claws into the floor. His eyes were wide… however, his panting rough and labored.

She understood, trying to ease him as she continued to place gentle kisses on his lips. She knew the pain and fear he was going through.

“Don’t fight it… it only hurts if you fight it…” she whispered to him. He lowered his head, taking in the smell of her neck as he lapped at her skin with his long forked tongue.

Belle closed her eyes, a purr coming from her lips as her claws ran down his back, feeling his scales through his shirt.

A gasp came from her lips as she felt something brush against her side, a long scaly tail which wrapped around her own in a gentle grip.

“I… I need…” she heard him pant in her ear.

“Yes… me too…” she moaned as she spread her legs, wrapping them around his hips, welcoming him in, still holding him close to her as he was kissing her neck.

Belle let out a loud gasp of pleasure, digging her feline claws into his scaly skin as she felt him thrust inside her. She had been dealing with this heat and restlessness in her body for so long. He hardly felt the sting of her claws, overtaken with instinctual pleasure.

In that moment none of them could speak.

There was no use for such things as useless as human words. After all… they hardly could be seen as human any more.

He could only think of the pleasure and the warmth as he was certain that the room chilled to a blazing cold around him. She was beautiful… and she was warm. Desire was too weak and dull of a word to describe what he felt for her.

He wanted her. It was primal and basic.

He wanted her, he wanted her to be his.

These were the only thoughts the once brilliant scientist was able to think in this moment. His imminent death… his fate…

Oh how far that was from his thoughts. Her was all that mattered.

He trusted his hips further, wanting to feel more of her… more of her warmth.

He was so cold. So… cold.

Belle felt as if she was on fire, feeling at how he teased her with that forked tongue, flicking ever so gently over her skin as he moved within her.

She had feared him… perhaps even hated him.

But… he had shown her kindness… there had been a compassion in those dark eyes of his… if also a resignation that he could not help her�� not that she could blame him… she knew also what could happen.

She had observed him for a long while, how he seemed to loathe himself more than anyone else could ever hate him. It had always made her wonder why… he was not trapped… he could leave. But… she had been mistaken.

He may not have been put in a cage… but he was no more free than she was.

A sharp trust made it harder for her to think… finally… she was getting some sort of relief…

She moved her spine along with his movements, adoring the feel of his tail wrapped around hers. Pleasure were glowing in both their slit eyes as they met, panting loudly.

Belle lifted her head as her lips met his against running her claws though his hair.

“I am… I am going to…” he groaned softly.

She was not able to answer him, simply mewling softly as she continued to grind herself against him, feeling pleasure building up within her.

His desirous moan in her ear as he came within her, his sharp teeth tickling her sensitive sharp ear with his teeth and forked tongue, causing her to giggle even in her pleasure induced stupor.

“You are beautiful…” he murmured as he kept gazing at her with his reptilian eyes. “If only… if only we could have had more than this one moment…”

She simply hushed him, hugging him close.

“Please do not speak… just hold me… please do not let me go…” she whispered softly as she refused to let him go.

He then nodded his head, resting beside her on that cold laboratory floor, their tails twinning around each other.

“I promise… I promise,” he whispered softly to her as he brought her closer, hiding his tearful eyes in her soft hair as the clock was mercilessly ticking forward to morning.

  Mr. Hopper… or Archie as most called him were running through the corridors.

Everything had gone wrong… he did not know what, but the whole place was destroyed, the creatures roaming the facility now.

“Mr. Gold!” he was pounding on the door to his laboratory, knowing that he had been locked in with one of those that were infected. “You in there?! Everything… Oh dear…”

“Mr. Hopper,” He heard the calm voice of Mr. Gold from the inside. “I am alright, but it seems the door has jammed. Can you open it?”

Archie had to admit he was astonished by how calm that Gold was able to keep in this situation, but he always had a cool head.

“Yes, yes! Just give me a moment,” he was quick to say as he pulled the override lever for the door. The moment the door opened he was pushed back towards the wall.

Pushing his glasses up on his nose he was lost of word as he looked at the fate of his colleague and the woman at his side.

“Thank you Archie… I knew I could count on you,” the reptilian creature grinned as he and the feline woman ran away in the midst of the chaos, far away from those that would wish to capture them.

[iheartbuckynat]

It’ll Be A Lonely Christmas Without You

Dear @king-queen-and-ace here is gift #4 (of 4). The fic that I was originally supposed to write for you over a whole month ago (again, even though you’ve forgiven me, still really sorry about that…)

I hope you like it! 

Title: It’ll Be A Lonely Christmas Without You.

Rating: M (for swearing and references to sex).

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Natasha Romanoff.

Genre: Very Mild Angst with Fluff?

Summary: Bucky’s not having a good day, and he’s gone and bought a Christmas tree to boot. Set just after the Brubaker run. Based much more on their comic versions than their MCU ones. Canon compliant. 

Author’s notes: I blame this angst on @king-queen-and-ace‘s prompt (the title of the fic) and, in equal measure, on @elithien (and this beautiful piece of inspiration) and @nataliaromanovs (for this beautiful piece of inspiration). Their art is so preeeeeetttttttyyyyyyyyy…

Thank you, @fuckyeahbuckynatasha, once again, for organising all the events that you do! Maybe next time I won’t be so late! ^_^;

In some ways, Bucky being a product of a less successful version of the super-soldier serum made him luckier than Steve. He could get drunk, for one. It took a lot to make it happen, but it was achievable. The buzz never lasted long enough, though… definitely not enough to get him to pass out completely (which was the ideal outcome at this point), but sufficient to at least see him through to a state of utter waste on his couch in nothing but boxers and a sleeveless undershirt.  

In direct contradiction to all his years of discipline training, of muscle building, of ballet (yeah, the Soviets had trained all their elite spies in the art, Natasha hadn’t been special on that front, she’d just been better at it than anyone else), he was flopped back on the sofa, posture be fucking damned, his fifth bottle of vodka in his metal hand and one of the those A4 digital frames clasped in his right as it automatically transitioned, unnoticed by the apartment’s only occupant, through photograph after smiling photograph.

He was the quintessential picture of a broken-heart drowning in its own sorrow: his piercingly clear, icy eyes were overcast and glassy, his hair was unkempt, his face was dirtied with shadow so heavy it was practically a beard and his skin was a dehydrated wreck. His gaze, however… his gaze was intently focussed on the clichéd embodiment of holiday spirit twinkling prettily a few feet away from him. He smirked at the juxtaposition. Of all the unexpected things to have in his sparse, brick-and-glass apartment, James Buchanan Barnes was the current owner of a one-hundred-percent genuine (and unreasonably expensive) Christmas tree. It was bushy, it was bright and it battled admirably against the stench of potato-based ethanol for the right to infuse the air with its traditional scent of pine and joy.

He wasn’t afraid to admit to himself that he was mildly proud of his work. He’d done a decent job of the lights, but after he’d accidentally shattered a delicate glass bauble with his bare foot (and then picked out the multitude of very breakable slivers from his sole with tweezers) he’d given up decorating and just thrown a ton of tinsel all over the damn thing. It wasn’t the greatest tree he’d ever seen, but it wasn’t awful considering the minimal effort he’d applied in setting it up. The only glaringly obvious absence was the tree topper: an angel which, fittingly for his current situation and mood, rested on the floor just out of his reach, her eyes downcast and thus blinding her to his presence. “Metaphor’s kinda on the nose, isn’t it?” he asked her before deciding he sounded entirely too sober and took a hefty swig of the Russian cure-all (although technically this particular bottle was Polish, and pricier than the others, so it should have really been drunk first when he would’ve been better able to appreciate it. Then again, he thought, hindsight’s always been, and continues to be, a giant bitch).

In the silence of the apartment he could hear everything, despite (or maybe because of) the alcohol coursing through his body. He didn’t even have to try. Training, serum or a little of both, he wasn’t sure, not that he particularly cared… it wasn’t super-hearing (not like the gifts some of the others he knew possessed), it was more a hyper-awareness of himself and his surroundings. As a result the message he was receiving from his environment was, unfortunately for him, painfully loud and coldly clear: he was entirely alone. The littlest of sounds echoed out into the quiet, driving the point deep into his heart, like a blade slipping under the ribcage, burying itself angrily into giving flesh: the rhythmic and slow tick, tick, ticking of the analogue wall clock (he couldn’t bring himself to go entirely digital), the tiny, intermittent buzzing of the tree-lights, evidence of a loose connection in one of the strands (he’d have to fix that at some point), his own unusually heavy breathing, the clink of metal against glass as his grip tightened on the neck of the bottle, the clack of said glass against his teeth as he opened his mouth and vainly hoped the fire spilling into his throat would throw him into a pit of blissful oblivion… and the piercing shrill of his email notification.

He looked over to the far side of his foot rest (referred to normally as a coffee table) and glared at the offending piece of technology. “Not now, Steve (who else would it be today?). Fuck off.” He regretted the venom of his comment immediately (of course he did) and mentally apologised to his best friend as he sat up to reach for the phone.

~*~

One Year Ago

“This is going to take at least three weeks to heal.”

As James paused to allow the metal doors to slide open, Natasha looked up from her place in the wheelchair. “I was present at the infirmary,” she stated, her entire left leg cast and strapped up to the extended leg prop.

“That’s a spiral fracture to your femur, it’s not a sprained wrist.” He guided her smoothly into the elevator and  pushed the button for the second floor basement. Alone as they descended, he continued their conversation. “Ordinary people have to be operated on for something like that, you know.”

“Again, I feel I should remind you that I was there,” she said as the corner of her ruby mouth quirked up in amusement, “looking at the x-ray of my leg, that the doctor was showing me, James.”

He placed his real hand onto her shoulder and traced it along the gentle slope in affection. “I’m just saying, spending that time recovering at my place makes more sense.”

“I have a bed at home, too,” she countered, “I also have a phone and a laptop with wifi. I’ve recovered perfectly fine from more serious injuries in worse conditions.”

“Just because you spent a week hiding out in a Somalian cave once with a broken arm and collarbone doesn’t mean you have to do that all the time.” The elevator arrived at its destination and slid open its doors. “You’re allowed to take your time to recover, and in a nice environment, too.”

“I’d actually been talking about the gut shot I took in São Paulo.”

He frowned, unable to recall the event. “When did that happen?”

“When I was sabotaging the primary operations of the international criminal commonly known as the ‘Favela Saint’.” There was no hiding the hint of pride in her voice as he wheeled her along the row of cars, heading towards a black SUV.

“The war lord?” he asked, mildly surprised. “That massacre was you?”  

“It was originally supposed to be cleaner,” she admitted, “but things went south when they got to our man on the inside. Fortunately my improvised plan proved to be more effective than the original one. The only problem was I got caught up in the fray and took a hit to the abdomen.”

Being so intimately familiar with her body that he could practically recreate an exact replica of her from memory, he was completely certain that there wasn’t a single trace of that injury left on her. “The wonders of SHIELD medicine and super healing.” He opened the side door of the vehicle and picked her up carefully. “And don’t change the subject. Why don’t you want to stay at my place?”

Natasha didn’t answer until he’d placed her across the back seat and she’d shuffled into a more comfortable position. “I don’t want to impose,” she conceded, “and I know how to take care of myself.”

“It’s almost like you don’t want me around,” he said as he wheeled the empty chair into the back of the van.

She couldn’t see his face but she knew he was smiling by the sound of his voice. “You know that’s not true,” she said, not playing his game. He might have been joking, but she’d heard the hidden question underneath the fun: do you need me to give you some space? “You could stay at my apartment with me,” she offered (No, I don’t, but thank you for asking).

He stood at the side door of the van, giving himself an unobstructed view of her, and shook his head. “I know you, Nat. Being cooped up for almost a month is going to drive you crazy, and then add a big lump like me into the mix and you’re not going to feel comfortable in your own space… it’s not exactly a large apartment.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “You’re not planning on spending the entire time with me, are you?”

“Every single day, if you’ll have me.” He grinned and this time she did see it. “I got lucky. I don’t have another mission until the New Year.”

She didn’t believe that, not for a second. He’d been on his phone while her leg was being put into the cast, he must have been rearranging things then.

“I’m at your service, Ms Romanova,” he continued, “ready and willing to nurse you back to the pinnacle of health.”

It drew a reluctant smile from her as he shut the door of the van.  “I don’t need you to do that for me,” she said once he’d settled into the driver’s seat.

“You don’t need anything from me, Nat, that’s why you’re so amazing.” He twisted around to face her. “Look, I get it. For people like us, spending three weeks together alone, with nothing else to do, is a lot of intimate time. That’s why it’ll be easier at my place, where there’s two bedrooms.” He watched her for a reaction at his attempt at humour but when she gave none he sighed. “I just want you to get well. If you’re most comfortable staying at your own apartment, then I’ll take you there. If you need some time alone, I understand that to-”

Natasha scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, interrupting, “I get it. I’ll come to your dumb Christmas sleepover.” He grinned at her like a kid with a present, and her heart beat just a little faster at the thought that she could make him so happy. “We need to stop at my apartment first, though. I have to pick up a few things.”

“Sure, anything.” He pressed the ignition button and the van revved to life.

“You’re wrong, by the way,” she said as he reached for his seatbelt.

“About what?”

“I do need you, James.” His eyes flew to the rearview mirror and caught her waiting ones easily. “More than you know.”

He swallowed away the sudden dryness in his throat while he studied her reflection. They sat watching each other in silence for a long second, letting the weight of her words sink in, and then he smiled, unabashedly. “Onwards to Casa del Bucky, then.”

~*~

He was in awe. Truly he was. How she managed to do it, he had no idea, but Natasha Romanoff was sitting on his couch with her entire left leg casted up to the thigh (although, SHIELD being SHIELD, the cast was sleek, dark and high-tech) and propped up on the coffee table, cushioned by a myriad of pillows (he hadn’t been aware of even owning that many). She was sporting a thin, hunter-green t-shirt, a pair of black bikini briefs and literally nothing else. All adornments and makeup had been removed, her hair was tied back in a low ponytail (as was her way when she wasn’t working), and yet… and yet, doped up on cocodamol, half dressed in an old shirt and trapped by 3D-printed plastic as she was laying back on his couch, legs splayed, eating from a bag of chocolate covered pretzel sticks whilst flicking through random Christmas movies, she was still somehow the most sublime creature he had ever seen. It was like she was physically incapable of not being graceful. As if it was part of her very nature. For lack of a better way to describe it, Bucky thought she was fucking enchanting.  

When she caught him staring she grinned and then placed a pretzel in between her teeth, tilting her head back and offering it to him. He leaned down into the couch, using the armrest as support for his weight, and bit the stick, pulling it into his mouth and crunching it. “These are pretty good,” he realised.

“I know,” she said, picking out another one and feeding it to him. “That’s why I had you get them from the store.” She proffered him a third one, but when he moved to bite it she pulled it back and kissed him instead. He didn’t mind the trade.

As he snaked his metal hand along her jaw, threading his fingers through her hair, he vaguely heard her dropping the pretzel bag. Before he could deepen the kiss, however, she pulled away, cutting him off from the source of the heat building within him and denying him the satisfaction of a full embrace. When he opened his eyes again, he found her holding a thin box wrapped in green paper. “Merry Christmas, James,” she said softly.

He blinked in surprise, his lust taking an instant back seat in favour of confusion. “I didn’t think you celebrated it,” was all he could think to say. He lowered himself onto the couch, careful not to touch her leg.

“No,” she replied, “but you used to.” She pushed the gift gently into his hands. “Open it, it’s Christmas Eve, after all.”

Touched by her kindness, he looked down at it and then up at her. “But I didn’t get you anything.”

Mirth danced across her features as she leaned down and lifted her bag of chocolate pretzels from the floor. “You got me these,” she said, shaking it.

His right hand rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “You’re making me feel like even more of a heel.”

“I’m pretty sure they stopped using that word back in the nineteen fifties,” she teased.

“Oh,” he said, dropping his hand and feigning offence, “is that a dig at my age, Ms Romanova, great spy of the early Cold War?”

“No, Mr Barnes, it was a dig at your archaic use of slang,” she countered, sitting back and popping another pretzel into her mouth. “I’m practically the same age as you and Steve and I don’t sound like an old lady.”

“You do in Russian.”

Her hand froze in the bag. “What?”

“You sound like a babushka,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

She gasped. “I do not.”

“You do.”

“James Buchanan Barnes,” she said, her voice hardening to give her a more commanding tone, “you will retract that statement immediately.”

Others might have cowered (and if he hadn’t been having so much fun, he might have, too). “I will not.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I have a mastery of nine languages, a proficient grasp of another eleven and conversational fluency of a further four, with particular eloquence in my mother tongue.”

His eyes flicked down to her lips. “There’s no denying what a gift your mouth is.”

“I’m being serious, James.”

“So am I,” he said, barely able to contain his laughter.

For a moment she said nothing as she assessed the situation. “Hand back the present.”

He shook his head once. “It’s too late, you’ve already given it to me.”

“James-”

“Alright, I was kidding,” he conceded.

She didn’t believe him. “You weren’t.”

“I wasn’t,” he confirmed. And grinned again.

She folded her arms and huffed lightly. “Do I really sound like an old woman in Russian?”

He placed the gift on the coffee table and slid his metal arm along her right, uninjured leg. “It’s not that bad,” he admitted, his humour dying down in favour of honesty. “When you’re being formal it isn’t noticeable, but you haven’t adapted it to the change in times as much as you have with other languages.” He stole her bag of pretzels away from her and ate one. “I suppose you didn’t consciously acknowledge the need to do so in the same way you did for the others, since you’re already so comfortable speaking it.”

“You’re probably right,” she said, figuring he’d had a point. “Everything I read in Russian is pretty high-brow or technical, and when I’m over there I’m usually speaking with aged dignitaries. I haven’t had cause to speak it informally for a while, not unless I’m dealing with scumbags… and I haven’t exactly wanted to emulate how they speak,” she sighed before coming to a reluctant conclusion. “I’ll have to rectify this.”

Bucky had to physically stop himself from groaning with lust. She was killing him softly, that was for sure.  He’d pointed out a sensitive and personal chink in her otherwise impenetrable armour and instead of resenting him for it, she’d assessed what he’d said and acknowledged her weakness. God, he thought, she even handles her flaws with grace and dignity. He cleared his throat and shifted in his sitting position. “If you want practice there are some terrible Russian TV shows which are supposed to be pretty compelling,” he suggested, “and some pretty interesting movies.”

Her eyebrows lifted in mild surprise. “When did you find the time to watch all of those?”

“I haven’t, yet. I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity.”

“Well, we have another two weeks to go before I’m out of this cast.” She plucked the bag of pretzels from his hands, her mouth quirked up at the corner. “Now open your gift and try not to insult me again while you do it.”

He rolled his eyes and pretended to be exasperated. “I said you sound like a babushka, not that you were-”

“Digging a bigger hole, James,” she said, daring him to finish his sentence.

He leaned in, a tender smile on his lips, and kissed her gently. “I take it all back,” he apologised.

She fed him another pretzel and then handed him his gift from the table. “<What am I going to do with you, my darling?>” she asked in Russian.

He looked up at her as he peeled open the green paper. “<I can think of all kinds of things,>” he replied as he pulled away the last of the wrapping. “Is this what I think it is?”

The box was cardboard - a glossy white - and printed on it was an image of the gift it cradled inside: a photo frame connected to a power plug, complete with a generic picture of a happy family with a dog.

“Yeah, I got the idea from Tony’s office. All your photos in one frame,” she said. “Do you like it?”

He looked up at her and smiled. “This is really thoughtful, Nat. Thank you.”

Pleased to see that he approved of her choice, she smiled back. “That’s not the real gift, though.” She took the box from him and placed it cautiously on her lap, leaning it more on her right leg than on the cast.

“No?” 

“No.” She pulled out a memory stick and showed it to him. “This is.”

His dark eyebrows creased in curiosity as he took it from her. “What’s on it?” he asked. “Photographs?”

She nodded. “As many as I could find with you in them, or with people connected to you. From your past, from your present. Anything I could get my hands on. There’s over four hundred of them on there.”

Four hundred? “Natasha…” he breathed. “This is…” he looked at her in wonder. “This is amazing. Thank you.”

She shrugged a supple shoulder, her eyes affectionate. “Happiness in a single drive. Easy to take with you if you ever have to make a quick escape.”

He laughed lightly, observing the stick for a second before looking back at her. “This is awfully sentimental,” he said.

“You love it.” She smirked, knowing without a doubt it was true.

“I do,” he admitted without hesitation, “almost as much as I love you.”

She leaned in, inviting him to meet her halfway. “Then prove it, you sap.”

The kiss was more heated than their last and Natasha made the mistake of moving far too much, too quickly. A jolt of pain raced up her thigh bone and left a deep, pounding ache in its wake. She hissed and he pulled away immediately.

“Does your leg hurt?” he asked as he put the memory stick back into the box and moved it to the floor, out of the way.

“A little, yes.”

“Do you want a pain killer?”

“Please,” she said, nodding.

He got up from the couch and fetched a glass from the kitchen area. With his space now free, she readjusted herself, wincing slightly as she shifted. Home Alone was currently showing on his flat screen and she did her best to concentrate on it in order to distract herself from the pain. One of the criminals was breaking into a house, barefoot for some reason, and stepped on some glass baubles.

“Maybe next year we can put up a tree,” she suggested once he’d returned with the water and pills. “One one would do nicely over there.”

His gaze followed her finger to a spot by the large window. “That’s an unusually festive suggestion, coming from you.”

She lifted her right leg and pulled her knee back slowly to let him slot into the space on the couch.

“You don’t like the idea?” she asked as she lowered her calf onto his lap once he’d sat down.

“I don’t mind it.” He let his metal hand slide absently along her shin. “But we don’t have to have one if it’s just for me. Besides, we live in New York, there’s a pretty impressive one in Rockefeller Center if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yeah, but it would be nice to have one of my own. Just once, you know? To see if it’s worth the effort.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“And if it is, it might be a good tradition to start together.”

The implication of her suggestion was not lost on him. With their lives the way they were - fluctuating with the slow, unstoppable grind of time, with the fear of death lurking behind any corner they turned - tradition was not ordinarily a luxury they could afford to have. They would never be a family, not in the nuclear two and half kids and white picket-fence kind of way (not that that was what either of them wanted), but they were something, and it was deep, it was special. It was worth holding onto. It was worth building on. “I’d like that.”

“So we’re agreed, then. Next year, you’re getting a tree.”

“Looks that way.” He was enjoying the fact that she seemed so happy about it. “You’ve started decorating it in your head already, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” She sipped at the glass of water still in her hand. “My living space is made up of a web of safe houses in various, secret locations. I don’t get much of a chance to try my hand at decor.”

“That’s a pity. I bet you’d be good at it. You have excellent taste.”

“Flatterer.” She nudged him lightly with her toe. “When you were young, what did you use to top your trees with?”

He thought about it for a second before answering. “I don’t remember what they used to use in the orphanage, but in the army camp,” a smile spread slowly across his lips as he retrieved the memory, “we used to drink a bottle of whatever we had at the time and shove it on upside down.”

“An empty bottle of booze? Really?” 

“The alternative was a rusty tin can.”

“Hmm,” Natasha said, “I didn’t have a lot to celebrate in my youth, but that even sounds depressing to me.”

He laughed. “It wasn’t that bad. Some of the G.I.s would get creative and turn a leaflet into paper wings for the bottle. And there was always a lot of food for Christmas dinner.”

“What about when you were a little boy, with your sister?”

“For that tree, mom used to put an angel on top.”

“So let’s do that.”

“No star for the Russian, huh?” He cocked an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you believed in religion.”

“I can’t afford to,” she said in a low voice and then drained her glass of water before placing it on the floor, “not in my line of work, anyway.”

Bucky rubbed delicately at her ankle. “I believe in angels,” he said.

She look up at him and saw his expression. She debated answering him, knowing what he was setting her up for. She did it, anyway. “Oh?” she asked, playing ignorant.

“Yeah, and I’m staring at one right now.”

She let her head drop onto the back of the sofa. “Oh my God, James.”

He was laughing again. “Too much, huh?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. She reached for the pillow behind her back and tossed it lightly at his chest. “That one was ridiculous.”

He caught it easily and narrowed his eyes with mischief. “Will it get me to second base, at least?” he asked.

Her pulse began to quicken at the thought. “Maybe even third,” she answered, “if you call and order the platter special from Ichiban’s Sushi.”

He grabbed his phone from his pocket and drew up the restaurant’s website. “I’m here to serve, Ms Romanova,” he said as he began filling out the online order form. When he was done he tossed it behind him and grinned.

“That was fast.”

“They guarantee delivery in thirty minutes,” he explained, “that doesn’t give us a lot of time.”

She nodded, agreeing. “Then we’d better hurry.”

“What’s more convenient for you? We could do it right here on the couch, or I could whisk you off to the bedroom.”

“Do I look like a fairy princess to you?”

“No,” he said, his grin turning feral as his gaze dropped to the parting between her bare thighs, “you don’t.”

He wet his bottom lip with his tongue, watching as she slowly shifted her hips into a more accessible position. “Make me scream, James,” she said, “only watch the leg.”

“Yes ma’am,” he whispered. And he did.

~*~

He reached over and picked up the phone from the coffee table, entering his passcode with his real hand while he used the other to help him polish off the remains of the vodka. When he saw who the message was from, he tossed the empty bottle to the far side of the couch and sat up, giving the email his full concentration:  

Hi Barnes,

I found this polaroid behind one of my drawers while I was doing a clean out. I don’t know why I have this of you, I figured it might’ve been from a random dossier or something that I’d probably brought home at some point, but it’s not exactly standard SHIELD photography… Maybe it belonged to you or someone you know and it fell into my bag or something?

I didn’t want to throw it away, it seemed personal and it’s a nice picture of you so I thought you might want it back (if it’s yours). Have a Merry Christmas, Barnes, if you celebrate that sort of thing. And thanks for the save earlier this year. I owe you one.

Natasha Romanoff

Once he’d read the message he scrolled back up to the top and read it again, just to make sure he’d gotten every detail. Once he’d done that, he opened the attachment and recognised the photograph immediately. It had been taken at a rooftop barbecue during a summer day with some of the other Avengers at the time. Clint had been messing around with an old polaroid camera of Logan’s (how he’d gotten it, he had no idea) and passed it onto Natasha while making some joke about the number of old people at the party.

He gripped the phone tighter in his hand, his heart aching at the memory.

She’d caught him with his metal arm outstretched as he’d tried to reach for her and the camera. The smile on his face was half-posing and half displeasure at having his picture taken (Natasha had said it was sexy), with his eyes hidden by aviators and his t-shirt discarded because of the heat. She’d been laughing a lot that afternoon (Jessica Drew had been in fine comedic form), prompting him to return the favour by taking a few candid shots of her on his phone. Those were locked away in a secure safe, along with everything else which had evidenced their relationship, although if he was patient enough, copies of them would have eventually flitted across the screen of the digital photo frame which currently lay next to the empty vodka bottle on the couch.

He heaved in a shaky breath as his emotions threatened to get the better of him. Tossing the phone over to the other discarded items, he reached around the couch and picked up his final, unopened bottle of vodka. He’d saved this one for last (a shitty, commercial brand - it was all they’d had in the supermarket) so he wouldn’t be able to taste it. He cracked the seal and downed three gulps before coming up for air.

But it didn’t help. Of all days, he thought. Of all the days for her to make any form of contact it would, of course, be on the very day he was honouring his love for her by drunkenly decorating a Christmas tree. If that was fate trying to throw him a bone, it could go fuck itself.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his left hand while his right one’s loose grip dangled the bottle. His long hair surrounded his face, placing him in shadow and mercifully shielding his view from the garish representation of love and family sparkling before him.

His shoulders shook as the tears began to fall. One by one they spilled into tiny, unseen puddles at his feet. He’d survived worse pains than the one he was facing (some of the people he’d killed, even before his time as the Winter Soldier… so many innocent faces…) but this one had been the cruelest. Every so often a memory of her would rear its beautiful head only to sting him with a venom as excruciating as the day he’d lost her. “Natalia…” he said in a broken whisper. She’s better off without me…

As thoughts of her assaulted him he gave up trying to reign in the tears, instead flooding the silence of his apartment with the sobs that wracked his body. He told himself that he would only give into the pain for a moment, that he’d allow himself a minute before he would take back control, but somehow in between that short space of time he ended up with his phone in his hands, and a message ready to send to her:

I love you imiss you so much im lost without you. Nothing feels the same nothingis the same. Youre my entire soul.

His thumb hovered over the word ‘send’ as he struggled to see sense through the fog of alcohol and longing. It was such an easy thing to do, to fall prey to that self-destructive temptation. It would do more damage than good. It would be selfish in every way, he knew that. But knowing did nothing to dampen the desires of the heart. She was gone, but she was also right there and it was supposed to be enough just to know that she was alright. But it wasn’t. Fuck no, it wasn’t. Because she didn’t love him, and that left him utterly empty inside. As if someone had ripped out the very parts of him that had kept him alive and scrapped him thin.

His better conscience won in the end, like it was supposed to, like she would have expected of him (like Steve would have). He deleted the message. 

Cathartically, it seemed to break the spell (enough for him to take in a more sure breath than the one that had sent him spiralling downwards). Time’s up, he told himself, no more of this. She’s better off without you. His minute of self-pity was done.

He stood up, resigned to the reality of his situation, and stumbled his way to the bedroom, to sleep it all off.

~*~

His waking the next morning was not exactly a very pleasant affair. He’d left his phone in the living room and had no means to check the time, but given that he’d left his curtains open it was easy to see that the sun had yet to rise. He guessed that made it around six in the morning, which meant he’d gotten less than four hours of sleep. But it was Christmas Day, people had made plans with him in them and he wanted to visit Rebecca. So he got up (the hangover would die away quickly enough) and he walked out of the bedroom into the darkness of the rest of his open-plan apartment.

The sight of the tree, still blinking jovially, surprised him for a moment. The air was tinged with the smell of stale vodka, the empty bottles of which twinkled with multicoloured refraction of the Christmas lights. The sight was unexpectedly pretty, given the state he’d left the room in.

He set up his coffee machine, feeling his way in the dark, unwilling to switch on the ceiling lamps and ruin the view. While it percolated he retrieved his phone from the couch and, with a heavy sigh, he re-read Natasha’s email and began crafting a suitable response:

Hey Nat,

Yeah the photo’s mine. Someone took it while messing around with an old polaroid camera at a party. It must have gotten mixed up with some documents or something (or maybe you took it home on purpose? If so, I’m flattered). Could you keep it and give it to me the next time we meet? I kinda want it back since it’s one of the few decent photographs of me that exist out there. Of course I don’t know when that’ll next be, so you might have to keep it on your person for a while (which is not a thought I mind). I trust you to keep something like that safe for me until I can get it back.

And in case you’re curious, I do celebrate Christmas, I even got a tree this year. A friend suggested I get one, she thought it would brighten the place up. She was right… sort of.

You don’t owe me anything, Nat, you never have. Just know I’ll always be there for you, if you need it.

Take care of yourself.

Yours always,

James.

He put the phone down without sending it and started on making himself (a large) breakfast, turning on no more than the stove’s hood light. The pancakes, eggs and bacon took longer to make as a result, but as he sat himself on the dining time, facing the tree as it shone out, illuminating the entire apartment with its pretty, Christmas spirit, he decided it had been worth the extra effort. She would have loved it. It would have been a great tradition.

He smiled to himself as he shovelled a forkful of pancakes into his eager mouth (a hyped-up metabolism and a liquid dinner could drive a man to starvation), and thought about how the saying, “it’ll look better in the morning,” was kind of true. Maybe he’d needed to get it all out of his system. Bucky had his good days, but he had his bad, too, and they tended to build and climax in unhealthy bouts of self-loathing and heavy-drinking sessions. Yesterday had been the latter, but today… who knew?

He looked down at his phone again and evaluated his intended reply with a critical eye. “No,” he said, to no one in particular, “this is too personal.”  

With a clearer head and a full belly, he edited the message:

Hi Natasha,

Yeah the photo’s mine, thanks. It must have gotten mixed up with some documents or something. Could you keep it and give it to me next time we meet? I’d really appreciate that.

Thanks for the Christmas wishes, I’d reciprocate but I have a feeling you don’t celebrate the holiday, so I’ll just wish you well for the New Year.

There’s no need to thank me, you’re more than welcome. I’m always around if you need anything.

Take care,

James.

Polite. Not too personal. Perfect.

His heart beat painfully in his chest, but he sent it anyway.

When he was done, he took his cup of coffee and walked over to the couch, analysing the tree as he approached. It definitely needed to be finished. “Alright then, you’re up, angel face. Make this look good.” He picked up the porcelain ornament and carefully placed her into position, adjusting her a few times to make sure she was securely set and facing the right direction.

When he finally took a step back to survey his work he found he was sufficiently satisfied - at least enough to get him through the rest of the day.

He raised his cup in a toast. “Merry Christmas, ‘Tasha,” he whispered.

[sizzlingcrusadebouquetfan-blog]

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Car insurance help for a young driver?

I'm looking to buy this 2002(51 reg) 1.6L Volkswagen Beetle Hatchback. I'm a new driver and have looked everywhere for a cheap insurance quote. I'm just wondering whether the insurance will go down by much after my first year driving? thankyouuuuu x

""I got a problem, my daughter just got her drivers license and because I could get cheaper insurance with?""

another company, I switched insurance companies. Needless to say yesterday when she was backing out of our car port she hit the carport pole and scratched my car pretty bad and knocked some trim off. The scratch bothers me the most because it's long and down to the metal and paint is chipping off. Can anyone tell me how I can fix this with out filing a claim?""

How do i buy car insurance and how do I find a insurance company that suits me (cheap)?

ok so I've seen a car I would like to buy, how do I get car insurance? should I ring a call or get insured online? Also a list of names of insurance companies would be helpful? thanks""

Does this sound like a Fair price for Obamacare insurance in California?

Monthly Premium $321 Deductible $2000 Co-pay $45 Specialty care Copay $65 Generic Med $25 Max out of Pocket $6400 FYI my brother has his own general practice, he said on average he charges people without insurance abot $60-70 for an office visit (cash,check,credit card or invoice)""

Car Accident and Insurance?

On 7/24 I was at a Dairy Queen drive thru the person behind me hit the truck I was driving. I was looking at her in the rear view mirror the entire time. She had a cigarette hanging from her mouth that was unlit and she eventually backed up after hitting me. I got out of the truck and looked and I did not see any damage. She then said I didn't move you hit me I then told her No I did not hit you I am in front of you and this truck was never in reverse. Since there was no damage to the truck I did not bother getting any of her information since it was not my fault. On 7/27 I got a call from the police saying she told them I hit her. I gave them my side of the story and they said she had a witness who was a passenger in her car and they will be in touch. I also let them know I had a witness as well. The cop called me back yesterday and wanted to get my insurance information so her and I could exchange information. My question is do I have to give my insurance information to this cop? I did not hit this woman and I think she is trying to get one over on the insurance company. The cop said yesterday I'm surprised the truck does not have any damage because her car does have damage. This truck was a rental truck which was inspected at the time it was dropped back off at the rental company obviously there was no damage to it. This woman looked like she was on something to begin with and I'm guessing she was not paying attention probably looking for a lighter and let off the break and hit me. Which I still don't see how her car would be so damaged. I don't want this con artist having my information. So should I tell the cop I am not giving him my insurance information and tell her to take it to court? Should I get a lawyer? I'm not sure what to do I am 29 years old and I have never been in a accident so I am not sure how to go about this but I know this woman is trying to pull a fast one and I am not going to sit back and let it happen.

How long have i had car insurance?

Can someone please tell me where I stand on the following: I have held a provisional UK license since 4/4/06 after a few months of driving lessons I took out insurance on my vehicle with Virgin so that I could drive accompanied by my parents. This policy was taken out on 31/7/06. On 9/11/06 I past my driving test. On 31/07/07 I renewed my car insurance with virgin and with the 31/07/08 soon approaching I must again renew my car insurance. The problem is I will in fact have had two year no claims on 31/07/08 which Virgin recognises, however when I go on their and any other online car insurers websites it says that my no claims (2 years) cannot exceed my full license period (1 year 9 months) So the question is, will my car insurance be recognised by other insurers as been held for two years?""

Aircraft insurance rates with DUI/DWI?

If one is a partner in a small airplane, what effect would a potential DUI/DWI have on current insurance rates?""

Do classic/muscle cars cost more to insure?

Im 16 years old with my driving permit going to be g2 in a few months (can drive alone with g2) Im looking to get a classic or muscle car so cars such as late 60's camaro or mustangs to something later such as late 80's monte carlos the car will likely be a project (im up for a small to medium restoration) so id try to get antique insurance? my cousin has antique insurance on his '81 camaro thats almost mint and its been appraised and everything and he can drive it on weekends and theres a set km's that he can drive according to his insurance im fully able to do a restoration as ive worked in an auto shop and I know a bunch of parts suppliers & garages (including one of my cousins) basically ive got the place, the tools, the know-how (im an auto student) and a parts suppliers anyways what I want to do is have it on my dads insurance, his record has been clean since started driving which around 30 years do insurance companies charge more for say cars that have options such as SS or other things that make is look sporty or make the car faster (bigger & better engine) say car with a 267 chevy v8 would be less insurance than one with a 350 v8? is it cheaper to say my dads the primary driver while I drive it? do older cars generally have cheaper insurance? is there such a thing as project car insurance? (do I even have to have insurance on a project if im not driving it say for a month?) im just so confused with all the insurance talk like premiums and deductibles etc etc.""

Auto Insurance - what went wrong here?

Where did I go wrong? A few months back, I backed out of a parking place and stopped, waiting for traffic behind me to resolve itself. While stopped, a large vehicle backed into my driver side door. We both re-parked. The other driver first tried to convince me there was no damage and we should both forget it but after I showed him the damage to my door (his car had almost no damage), we exchanged insurance and personal contact information in a friendly conversation. I reported the damage to my insurance carrier, a large national firm, obtained the required 2 estimates for repair and submitted it, as directed by my carrier and his, to his carrier, a large regional carrier. They informed me he had decided my car was not stopped and so I bore responsibility for his backing his car into me (!), and they therefore were refusing to pay me. My insurance carrier said it was up to me to provide proof my car wasn't moving, regardless of the fact his car backed into mine! I approached the repair firm, and they provided me with photos and offered testimony to state that my car was obviously stopped, based on the damage to the door. I called the individual and said with this information unless he paid the bill in full, I would take him to small claims court. He argued but produced a check for the full amount. A month later, my insurance carrier raised my rate based on this incident and a highway speeding ticket over a year ago. I ended up paying more for my insurance and lost a great deal of time despite both of us being insured. Where did I go wrong?""

Cheap car insurance for occasional driver ?

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone knows if an occasional driver's insurance exists? I dont have my own car. My parents do and sometimes I use it for school- once or twice every 2 weeks. Recently, my dad hasnt been allowing me to use it (at all) because I dont have my own insurance and it is too expensive for them to include me in theirs since I dont use the car too often. Do you know any car insurance that is affordable- which company, etc, for someone like me who only borrows a car occasionally? Thanks! x""

How much would car insurance be for my 16 year old son?

I bought him a 2011 corvette zo6 its fully paid for.He works at a fast food restaurant as assistant manager.So what car insurance should I get for him and how much would it cost

Insurance, What is Short Term insurance?

What is a short term insurance? and if its what iam guessing it is like an insurance for a month,m can i renew it every month? I've seen this insurance company called Callingwood, and it says short term insurance which means that i pay 140 for a month worth of insurance, can i keep on renewing it every month? or is short term insurance not like?

Why is insurance for a 2007 Ford Mustang convertible so expensive?

I recently got insurance for my car and they wanted 500$ a month for it, Cheapest one I found was around 300-400$ which when you think about it, is still pretty expensive...""

How much will my monthly payment and insurance be for a sports car?

im trying to figure out how much my car insurance will be. im 17, ive never owned a car, have no credit history and i want to buy a 1990 toyota supra which is a sports car. the car will probably cost $5000. i just really need to know how much i can expect to be paying a month with insurance and monthly payments""

Can i buy car tax with only 24 hour insurance?

i need car tax first then im going to search for car insurance.

""Getting my new car, Challenger 2009, any insurance rates?""

How much would the APPROXIMATE insurance rate be on a 2009 Dodge Challenge R/T? I know it won't be low, but it won't be that high since it's an American car....correct? Her is the bad part...My record. 2 Accidents and a stop sign...But i will turn 18 soon if that matters. Car Info (another bad thing) 5.7 Liter V8 Hemi, 375 horses. How much is the Approximate insurance guys, just throw me an estimate.""

Looking for health insurance. I am on SS but not yet eligible for medicare. Only get $300 on SS?

I took early retirement at 62. I am now 63. I only get around $300/mo Social security. I do not qualify for Medicare until age 65. I cannot find affordable catastrophic health ...show more

How much can I expect to pay in car insurance?

I am looking into getting my first car, but I have little idea how much I would be paying in car insurance. I live in Massachusetts. I am going to be 17, and I have taken a driver's ed course. I also get straight A's in school (I know that some insurers offer discounts for good grades). I am a new driver, so obviously I am at high risk for an accident; but if it makes a difference I also have a clean driving record. The kind of vehicle that I am looking into getting is a 2002-2004 Ford Focus Sedan with a value between $2,000 and $3,000. I know that it is impossible to give me a 100% correct answer, but if it is possible I am wondering what range would I be looking at yearly?""

Car insurance for a 16 YR old girl with an 08' Mustang?

How much would insurance cost for a 16 year old girl with an 08 Mustang with Famers insurance. I have all A&B's in school. Have taken drivers ed. Have no wrecks on my record. Please give me a real price range not too much or A lot.

Which would be cheaper to insure generally speaking a Honda Civic coupe or Mazda 3 Hatchback?

Which would be cheaper to insure generally speaking a Honda Civic coupe or Mazda 3 Hatchback?

Will my dads car insurance raise after I get my drivers license?

I probably worded the question wrong but my dad won't take me to drivers training school because he's worried about his car insurance rate (or something like that) going up. I'm 15 and all of my friends have done it a long time ago. I'm the only one that hasn't started it and I even explained to him that once I start driving, I don't have to keep asking him about needing a ride to practice or meetings (because I know that bothers him) but he's still bothered about his insurance rate going up. Is that even true?? Will the car insurance rate or whatever he's talking about go up after I get my permit?? Thanks!""

Where can I get low cost life insurance for my parents?

My parents are getting older now and I was wondering where was a good reliable place I can obtain low cost life insurance for them in case something happens to take care of their bills and wishes? I've seen ads on TV and the internet, but I can't tell who is a reliable company and it would be great if they don't have to go through a medical exam. I'm not looking for a million dollar policy or to get rich, just something reasonable to help take care of their bills and stuff should the worst happen.""

What is the cheapest car insurance company?

im 21 and just passed my test i have a 1.4 clio does any1 know around how much it is t insure and also i would like to know how much road tax is? x :-)

What is the cheapest car for insurance?

I am 17 years old and i want to know which car is the least expenssive for insurance. What insurance group is the car in.

HOW CAN I CLAIM THE car INSURANCE to REMPLACE MY CAR?

I had a car accident and my car insurance covering third party only and them found me that was my fault I need to know how can I claim if there is any dealing, thank you""

""How much would cost a BMW325 coupe car insurance in london? car is worth 15.000, 3 years old, held in garage.""

How much would cost a BMW325 coupe car insurance in london? car is worth 15.000, 3 years old, held in garage.""

Car insurance question?

Hello, I had car insurance on my Cadillac, and the car insurance coincidentally ended a few days after my Cadillac broke down. For the time being, I don't plan on getting it repaired (looking to sell it). My mother offered to let me borrow her car, which she has insured. She seems to think I need car insurance to be able to drive her car. Is that the case? (I don't live at my parents house anymore, and my name isn't on their policy fwiw)""

What insurance companies in michigan allow exclusions?

I live in michigan and need to find an insurance company that will allow me to exclude people who live with me from being on my policy (otherwise my rates will double (possibly triple)) Esurance doesn't i know, but anyone know what ones do?""

Pay Per Mile Car Insurance - have you tried it?

I've heard from a friend about a pay per mile car insurance - as I only use my car on a Saturday it sounds ideal. Anyone have any links or recommendations?

Is there any affordable health insurance out there(about 140-180 dollars a month)?

Not health savings accounts ...Is there anything by the government for Americans trying to live the American Dream on a modist income.

Cat c car do i need to inform the insurance company?

when buying a cat c car does it affect the insurance and should i inform the insurance it was bought as a cat c ?

I got a speeding ticket and no insurance?

well my insurance was expired when i got the ticket. so when i renew it will it still go up?

Whats the cheapest british car insurance company for new drivers?

Whats the cheapest british car insurance company for new drivers?

Good place to buy car insurance for an 18 year old?

I'm 18 and just recently passed my driving test. Problem is, my Dad wants to put me down as a second driver on his car but it's a BMW sport with a 2L engine. The cheapest quote I could find is 4,500 annually, which my Dad is not prepared to pay of course. Some companies were even asking for 40,000 which is just a joke! I have been driving this car for over a year and now that I finally have my license, I'm pretty annoyed that I'm not able to drive the car that's just sitting outside. Anyone know any other routes I could take? Weekly car insurance? Monthly? Ideally I'd like to have a quotes of less than 1600 annually, but now it seems unlikely. Buying another car is not an option as I'm going to Uni in a couple of months and will not be needing it anymore. Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.""

What is the cheapest car insurance in Florida?

I'm 20 and I'm with Allstate they have me paying $1000 each 6 month for Insurance too much money they killing me help.

Does home owners insurance covers water leaking ac ?

my central unit ac is leaking ,i have insurace but not sure if it will cover it . please help!""

No insurance..?

Okay I have went to 2 doctors appointments with no insurance.. but now I have insurance.. How much do you think its gonna cost for them two visits

Insurance, What is Short Term insurance?

What is a short term insurance? and if its what iam guessing it is like an insurance for a month,m can i renew it every month? I've seen this insurance company called Callingwood, and it says short term insurance which means that i pay 140 for a month worth of insurance, can i keep on renewing it every month? or is short term insurance not like?

What's a good cheap health insurance for a college student?

My college doesn't offer any health insurance and I don't have much money. What should I do? I need to get my throat checked out.

How much will I have to for car insurance?

I'm 19 and I just got my permit. So in 6 months I will have my license. By then, I will have car. Which insurance will be cheapest and how much would I have to pay a month? I know nobody can put an exact price on it, but maybe an estimation?""

How does a turbo affect auto insurance?

I don't mean the rates. I mean if I totaled my car, and let's say it's a newer car worth 15000$, the turbo was 3000$, and they wrote it off. Would they decrease the value for mods, increase it, or give me the same value?""

What is the cheapest car to insure?

What is the cheapest, cheapest car to insure for a 17 year old in the UK. Cheers.""

""17 yr old new driver, buying car, wants mum and dad to be named drivers on insurance to get price down?""

just passed, saved up hard for car, checked car via a good garage, now wants to sort out car insurance. Have been told if mum and dad are named drivers on the car it will cut the cost of new drivers insurance, from around 2,000. to 700. But as a mum i want to know will it effect our own insurance? and effect our no-claims we have built up and our renewal costs? with or without a claim. or just which is the best way for the new driver to get insured, the new driver had no claims on a moped insurance. And is not a boy racer!""

""Speeding ticket, will it raise my insurance in texas?""

hey, I got a speeding ticket a few days ago and would like to take the defensive driving class instead, if the judge will let me. i really dont want to let my dad know about it and i am willing to pay all of it, i just dont want to have to deal with my dad. Will my insurance go up even if i do the defensive driving class? Thanks!""

Help! Affordable health insurance for healthy 2yr old in Florida?

Do you know of any good insurance? We're looking for one and it's confusing.

How should I go about getting car insurance? (20 years old)?

I have enough money to buy my first car, I'm going for a car with a small engine around 1.2-1.6. when getting insurance quotes however, the cheapest quote i've found is around 1700 quid. help?? surely i can get insured on my own car for less than this?""

""An insurance company will insure a $260,000 home for its total value for an annual premium of $590. If the com?""

An insurance company will insure a $260,000 home for its total value for an annual premium of $590. If the company spends $30 per year to service such a policy, the probability of total loss for such a home in a given year is 0.001 and you assume either total loss or no loss will occur, what is the company's expected annual gain (or profit) on each such policy? I think maybe 300$?""

What would be the insurance on a DeLorean for a 16 year old?

I'm about to be 16 and I'm a total Sci-Fi geek. I LOVE Back to the Future and ever since I've seen it I've wanted a DeLorean. Well we know someone who could get us a new one cheap, so that's no problem. My only concern is the insurance, and my parents aren't up for that. I don't know how much it is, but if someone our there is actually credible on the topic, could you give me a reasonable answer with a high and low. Thank you to all who answer :)""

How much would car insurance increase?

my mother is a single mom i live with her and she just lowered her car insurance for her owned mini van to 800$ a year for her amazing record. now i am 16 years old took a drivers ed course, won a AAA award for being a mature driver and signed up for a defenisve driving course. i am a straight A student and will be gradutaing next june. i am reciving a 1999 nissan maxima passed down to me from my father for my mom to regester it under her name. if she went to the insurance company and added that car under her name and added me as a part time driver for the maxima, how much would it cost???""

How much would insurance be for a 17 year old girl driving a 2003 350z?

how much would insurance be for a 17 year old female driver...for a 2003 nissan 350z.

What License would you need to sell Dental Insurance in IL?

I have both my Health and Life Insurance Licenses. Can I sell dental insurance?

How much do insurance adjusters cost?

I am fighting with my insurance company regarding fixing my motor on my boat. The insurance company already denied my claim. So now, I asked them for a second opinion and was told by the claims representative that I would have to pay for the second adjuster to come out. However, her boss did not tell me that I would have to pay out of my pocket for a second adjuster to come out and look at my boat. So I was wondering how much will it (might) cost me to have the second adjuster to come out.""

About how much does insurance cost for a 16 year old male in new Mexico cost????????

About how much does insurance cost for a 16 year old male in new Mexico cost????????

Car insurance?

okay my parents want me off their plan..cuz aprantly i suck at driving. -speeding -illegal passing - failure to stop at a light and bad driving resultin in an accident....so i dont blame them..anyway..could some one help me find the most affordable way to go about gettin my own insurance policy..i am 18 full time student working a part time job..yes i know that isnt very good..but i have to deal with what ive got.. so please help me..and no before you ask my grades are not b average

Will criminal record ( petty theft) effect my car insurance?

Will criminal record ( petty theft) effect my car insurance? My husband who does my car insurance doesn't know about my pending criminal charges. Will he find out when he will renew my insurance? Or any another consequences? ( I'm stay-at-home mom so I won't be applying for work)

How much do you pay for health insurance and who do you have?

People keep saying that Romney care made insurance affordable in MA. If health insurance in MA is cheap compared to other states I'm wondering how much you pay and where do you live? I live in MA and I pay $14K a year for Tufts. BCBS of MA wanted nearly $20K.

Can car insurance charge you if you dont have a car?

state farm is charging my mom extra $$ because i got my license a few months ago (im currently 21) i got it late but they are charging her and i dont even have my own car. are they allowed to do that? how much would they increase it by?

Will my insurance go up due to points on my license?

I am a 22 year old male. Was cited for going 25.5 miles over the speed limit on a freeway. Plead guilty. And 4 points were assessed on my license. This is the first time any points have been on my license. My question is will my insurance go up do to this and if so how much could I expect? Thanks Also, if anyone knows of anything I can do to keep my insurance from going up, please let me know.""

I saw on TV awhile back a life insurance policy you can use while your still living?

I saw it awhile ago on television that it's a life insurance policy you can use while still living such as to pay for children's college and stuff? Do they still offer this and from what company is it from?

Teen license insurance?

on average, how much does a 17 year olds car insurance cost without drivers ed?""

""Rear-ended, can I ask car insurance to compensate for inconvenience of not having a car?""

Got rear-ended in NJ by a woman and my car was determined a total loss. Her car insurance took over a week to come to a decision that they would take 100% liability for the accident. They made me an offer for the dollar amount of value of the car which was honestly more than what I thought the value was going to be. I have 2 questions... Can I ask for compensation for the inconvenience of not having a vehicle during the time that they were making their decision? And two, I went to the hospital after the accident but haven't received the bills from that yet. If I accept their offer for the damage done to the car can I still get reimbursed for my medical bills later?""

Why are Pickup trucks so expensive to insure?

ok, I'm 17 and I own a 1999 Dodge Ram 4x4. I pay an insane amount for insurance, and I know I'm a teenager, but I haven't had any tickets or accidents to make it go up. Anyway, my truck is really common in my area, there are Ford, Chevy, and Dodge trucks everywhere you look. But yet I compare the insurance of my truck to a brand new Camaro SS, and the Camaro way cheaper, Heck I compared it to a Brand new Mercedes Benz CLS63 AMG, and it's still way cheaper. I'm thinking about getting a little newer Dodge Ram, but the insurance is a little more expensive on it than what I'm already paying. So why are trucks the most expensive vehicles to insure? I mean if they are in a low speed accident, they don't cost nearly as much to fix as a Brand new expensive car such as a Mercedes with expensive parts, and trucks don't get damaged as easily either. It's kind of frustrating that I have a 11 year old vehicle that you see everywhere, and the cost to insure it is outrageous already, but even If I get the same truck only 5 years old, it's even more to insure, which is understandable seeing how it's newer. I know trucks are big, but even a Brand new Suburban cost less to insure than my 11 year old truck. The truck I'm thinking about buying is the most expensive vehicle possible to insure on a standard drivers license.""

Can a 17 year old purchase health insurance?

I am seventeen years old and i no longer live with my parents(with their permission), and they do not have health insurance. I have terrible eyesight and am on my last pair of contact lenses that are not in very good shape themselves.I have a job but it would take a long time for me to save up enough money to take care of all of the costs included in getting my contacts. I need to know if i can purchase health insurance or if i am eligible for any type of coverage?""

Insurance, What is Short Term insurance?

What is a short term insurance? and if its what iam guessing it is like an insurance for a month,m can i renew it every month? I've seen this insurance company called Callingwood, and it says short term insurance which means that i pay 140 for a month worth of insurance, can i keep on renewing it every month? or is short term insurance not like?

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