#I just need to yell abt it with someone else besides the voices in my head.

[allgremlinart]

the “Working Through Pain” short from Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) remains one of the best animated Batman character studies and I’ll die on that hill

[red-writes]

Career oriented 

Escort! Bakugou x Reader

Your entire life you've been focused solely on your career, you've sacrificed a lot      of things, people and time to get where you are and it’s paid off, now you're a millionaire who is also a virgin and never had a boyfriend in their life. Your friend recommends you a male escort service. At first you hire him to go on dates and do other things couples do but the relationship develops far beyond what you could've imagined, now you're laying under him begging him to be your first. 

cw: smut, fluff, unprotected sex, reader is a capitalist lmao, I mean reader is a virgin but its not rlly virginity loss bc its not focused around that but reader does lose her virginity, unedited (but what's new)

a/n: I mean we always hear abt sugar daddies, I need rich reader pls also- monoma is a rich bitch y'all can't fight me on this he got that rich bitch mentality.

The words ‘hard worker’ were understatements when it came to describing you. Pretty much all of your life was spent working, growing your small business with your own two hands. Now money was never an issue. A huge house with several bathrooms, fancy bags and cars, all the things you've ever wanted were now in your possession except maybe one thing. Seeing happy couples holding hands as they walked around in the park, kissing and calling each other pet names, seeing them stirred a feeling of longing inside of you. 

While it’s true that now you'd never want for anything else in your life, you still wanted something money couldn't buy you, love.

 A small tap to your shoulder brought you out of your daze.

“Your eggs are going to get cold..” Todoroki mentioned and you gave him a small smile before prodding your fork in the perfectly scrambled egg. 

“Hey, don't tell me you're thinking about that shareholders meeting this week” Monoma groans and you shake your head.

“Then what is it?” Momo wondered as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. 

“It’s just- you guys all have someone you know romantically” you say as you rest your fork on the plate, deciding that you weren't really in the mood to eat anymore. 

Monoma scoffs, “Yeah barely...I almost broke up with shinso after that last stunt he pulled in the club” 

Momo giggles, “You're still with him?” 

His face dusts pink in embarrassment as he looks away, “A-anyway, why don't you try getting an escort” Monoma recommends and it was your turn for your face to warm. 

“An e-escort?! You do realize who we are right? If someone in here were to hear us talk about such a thing..” Momo whisper-yells and Todoroki’s eyebrow quirks up

“We all know I met Izuku through a sugar daddy website though-”

You clear your throat, “I’m not necessarily looking for you know..sex...just maybe someone to spend time with Monoma” You clarify and he's rummaging through his pockets to find his phone, he fiddles with it before showing you what the site looks like.

“Duh, escorts just get paid for their time not necessarily sex, I’ll send you the link to the website” He tells you and you sigh thoughtfully, if that was really the case then it wouldn't be so wrong to hire some cute eye candy right? 

Momo waves over the waiter, “We’ll have the check please”

“Certainly ma'am” 

+

You sat at your office’s desk with the website pulled up. You'd triple checked to make sure your door was locked, you still had a reputation to uphold as the CEO of your company, you'd be traumatized if one of your employees saw you hiring an escort. 

You scrolled through the many many options of guys. Each profile consisted of a headshot of the escort along with a bio that consisted of maybe a paragraph and . You really couldn't find anyone that suited your tastes personally, until your mouse hovered over a blonde guy. 

His bio was notably shorter than everyone else’s and in his picture he looked mean, eyebrows furrowed and red eyes staring menacingly at you and yet you found yourself clicking the ‘hire!’ button next to his name. Even though he looked like his favorite hobby was stealing candy from a baby, but his looks (as shallow as that may seem) were really speaking to you and the you between your legs if you were honest.

Bakugou Katsuki huh..well he seemed worth a try. 

+

You had been through countless scenarios were you were rightfully terrified. 

Being on a date had to be the scariest out of all of them.

Bakugou was sitting in front of you, he stirred his straw around in his coffee and looked at you while you struggled to contain the rabid beating of your heart in your chest. 

“S-So..What- um..-”

“Just relax” He interrupts, his voice sounded so nice, deep and smooth like a rich dark chocolate. It only manages to make you more nervous. 

“I’m sorry- I haven't actually done this before” you confess with a nervous chuckle, hands gripping your tea cup brutally. 

He gives you this half smile and you're unsure of wether he's actually human or a demi-god at this point. “I can tell, but don't worry there's no reason to be” 

You feel slightly comforted by his words and feel yourself let loose a little, “Okay, Bakugou, what do you like to do?” you ask.

“I like going to the gym” he shrugs, “I’m not really Interesting, I’m more curious about you” he says, he places his elbow on the table and rests his chin in the palm of his hand and leans in to you. His skin is so clear- not a blemish in sight and his eyes are practically burning a hole into your soul.

“M-me? I do nothing too important..I like to sew” you respond, taking a sip of your jasmine tea. You didn't necessarily want to tell him about who you were or what you did just yet, money and status only complicate things. For now, you just wanted to be a normal young woman going out on a date. 

“Come on, don't be shy, I know there's more to you than sewing” He says, removing the straw from his coffee and placing it on a neighboring napkin. 

You bite into your bottom lip, “Well, I honestly don't do much besides work, it’s taken up so much time in my life I can't say I do much else” you admit and Bakugou hums thoughtfully. He doesn't respond for a bit, the sounds of the coffee shop fill the silence instead. 

“Okay, I have an idea” 

You cock your head to the side curiously.

“Let’s ditch the formalities and go have some real fun, I think its about time you lived your life” he proposes and your mouth hands open. Was he serious? He looked it. You couldn't help the giddy feeling that bubbled up within you, a feeling you hadn't felt in a long time, excitement. It made you feel young again. 

“What do you say?”

“Alright!” 

+

The two of you spent all day together, visiting various hidden places around the city, you did shopping and even some sightseeing. For the first time in a while you felt alive, like you were actually a person and not just a unfeeling robot who simply lived to work. 

Your last stop was a park. With a large lake in the center Bakugou suggested you guys feed the birds before heading home. With a handful of birdseed you gently sprinkled some into the water and watched the geese gobble it up.

“When I was five, I had a huge fear of geese..” Bakugou admits and you're chuckling.

“No way, really?” you turned to face him and when you do he’s already looking at you, smiling fondly, eyes filled with an emotion that you really couldn't seem to put your finger on.

“What? Do I have something on my face that you're not telling me about?” You pout and he shakes his head before turning his attention back to the birds as he sprinkles more of the food into the lake. 

“No, just realized somethin’” 

The sun’s beginning to set now, the sky is illuminated by hues of orange and pink. You nudge him with your arm, “Realized what?” 

He turns back to face you, there's an adoring look on his face. 

“You look pretty when you're having fun” 

A look of surprise crosses your features before your ears burn in embarrassment at the sudden compliment, the butterflies in your stomach flutter around more and more the longer you two stare at each other. 

“Thanks” You mumble before looking down at your palm full of birdseed. 

+

Dates with Bakugou become more and more frequent after that. The two of you often meeting up more than you meet up with your regular friends. Bakugou doesn't even charge you anymore, even though you've tried to tell him it was fine he still insisted otherwise. The two of you even exchanged numbers and spoke quite often on the phone. Texts like,

‘this song reminded me of you’ and ‘don't work too hard, idiot’ were often exchanged. 

After maybe a month of this happening you realized that the warm feeling you got in your chest whenever Bakugou brushed your hair into place or stopped to tie your shoe for you or even when he texted you good morning wasn't because you appreciated him being a good friend, you liked him. It took a month to finally decipher your feelings for him but once you did..what the heck were you supposed to do now?

Never once in your life had you confessed to someone let alone dated them, what would happen to your friendship with Bakugou if things didn't work out? You didn't want to stop being friends with him, you loved being with him, he was the reason you finally started taking breaks and learned to relax. 

You had a ton of questions to answer for yourself but you couldn't do it right now, you had a date with Bakugou. He told you to dress up and you weren't sure where you were going but you trusted him to take you somewhere you'd enjoy. Around 8pm like promised, he was there to pick you up. His car was fairly nice, you assumed his high pay rates were being used for something but now you know what. He was wearing a black three piece suit, it was crisp and you could clearly tell it was expensive, his hair was slicked back and he had a single diamond stud in his left ear. He looked damn good. It was making you a little nervous about how fancy this place actually was. 

The drive to dinner was unusually quiet. Bakugou typically did most of the conversations with you seeing as you were mostly an awkward sausage but tonight was different, he had a stern look on his face and you felt a little worried. Bakugou noticed your nervous look in the rearview mirror and without skipping a beat placed his hand gently upon your thigh and gave it a small squeeze, this thumb moved back and forth in a soothing manner. All without taking his eyes off the road. 

You felt a shiver run up your spine and you bit your lip from potentially making any noise, you turned your head to face the window to prevent him from seeing the look on your face. 

+

Bakugou was right about the restaurant being fancy. The place was full of people you could recognize, everyone from business moguls to celebrities, it was almost a little intimidating but you knew probably how tough it was for Bakugou to even get a table reserved at this place so you decided to instead choke down any kindlings of anxiety and replace it with a gratefulness for his hard work.

You swirled the champagne around in your glass while Bakugou took a bite out of his steak, the atmosphere between you two was a little awkward and it hadn't been like this since the two of you met it was a little alarming. 

“Is something wrong..?” you ask after gently resting the glass back on the table, he wipes his mouth with his napkin and sighs.

“I’m sorry that- I seem so weird tonight” he apologizes and you shake your head.

“No no don't worry about it, I’m just worried something bad happened” you tell him, you lean forward and place your hand on his. His fingers lace themselves with yours and for a moment it feels like its just the two of you in the restaurant together. 

“Nothing bad, actually something good” he explains and you're giving him a small smile

“Something good?” you question and he leans in even closer to you.

“I mean, ever since I started hanging out with you I feel like my life's changed, I’m not one to be super cheesy but I just- fuck..I like you” his face is turning a light pink and in a moment of courage you close the small distance between the two of you and press your lips against his. He immediately reciprocates the kiss, his hand sneaks up your forearm and settles on your elbow using it to pull you in closer. 

When the kiss finally breaks the two of you are a panting mess, then you hear the waiter clear his throat and Bakugou uses his thumb to wipe the lipstick from the corner of his lips.

“Check, please”

+

Upon entering your home, there wasn't much speaking. Your arms were wrapped around his neck as his hands fumbled with the zipper on the back of your dress. The two of you blindly walked backwards until you tripped backwards onto the couch. Bakugou completely stripped you of your dress and  laid it across the back of the couch, your hands made quick work of his pants unbuttoning and unzipping them, he kicked them off eagerly uncaring of where the fabric was strewn. He cupped your cheek and continued to kiss you as he helped you wiggle out of your underwear. He sucked in a breath at feeling how wet you already were.  He ran a finger up and down your slit before gently nudging a finger inside. 

The sensation was foreign, it felt odd at first but the more he kept twisting and thrusting the finger inside of you the better it began to feel. He slid in another one and began making a scissor motion inside of you. Your hips raised off the cushions of the couch, you moaned into the kiss and eventually he pulled away from it, instead opting to kiss the skin of your neck. Your moans along with the wet sounds of his fingers fingering you open filled the space. It felt good, you could feel the knots in your stomach threaten to untangle the harder his fingers fucked themselves into you. 

His movements slowly came to a halt and he slid his fingers out. Your eyes clouded with tears and your legs were shaking, disappointed that he stopped when you were so close. He pulled his cock from his underwear and began stroking it over you.

“Ready?” He asks as he grinds his cock against your twitching entrance and you're gripping his shoulder before he makes another move. 

“A-actually..please just be gentle its-i’ve never done this before” you confess and his eyes widen for once, taken aback by your sudden profession. He gives you a small nod, “Promise.”

With one smooth stroke he bottoms out within you. Your back is arching off the couch as your mouth hangs open in a silent cry. The feeling is an addicting mix of pain and pleasure that has the tears you were holding in begin to roll down your cheeks, Bakugou gently kisses them away and uses his fingers to wipe away the stray tears. For a while, you're simply holding each other, bakugou whispers words of comfort in your ears while you slowly familiarize yourself with having him inside of you. 

When Bakugou feels your hips begin to move against his, he takes that as his sign to begin moving. His thrusts start shallow, hips just barely touching yours as he doesn't want to hurt you and you quickly become frustrated with his kindness. Your legs wrap around his waist and pull him closer to you, forcing him to bottom out inside you again. You whine his name and he shakes his head. 

“And here I was trying to be considerate” he huffs out, you grip his tie and pull him down and press a gentle kiss against his lips. 

“I didn't ask you to take it easy on me” you remind him and he scoffs

“You asked for this”

You're suddenly flipped onto your stomach and he raises your hips in the air, he pulls himself all the way out of you until the head of his cock is the only thing you can still feel inside of you, he rams his cock back into you and you're gripping the couch for dear life. His hips are ruthless, lewd slapping noises fill the room as the head of his cock kisses your cervix with every thrust. His heavy balls  greet your clit with an unceremonious slap. Your eyes roll into the back of your head, you can't think of anything else except Bakugou. You'd been completely fucked dumb on your first time. 

You feel Bakugou’s fingers lace into your hair and grip the roots before pulling at them and forcing your head back. A jolt of pleasure flows through your body as his cock pushes up against your g-spot, your legs and kicking around behind you.

“No! cum-cumming kats I-” you can hardly finish your own sentence due to how hard your orgasm hits you, your body his shaking as bakugou releases your hair and uses his free hand to grip your waist as he desperately humps you, chasing his own release. Your cunt spasms around him in overstimulation, Katsuki only curses under his breath as you squeeze down on him, your cunt clamps down on his cock as you're brought to your second orgasm and his movements finally begin to slow and an unfamiliar warm fills your tummy. 

He doesn't pull out right away. Instead he gently lays you backwards onto his chest and you snuggle into his chest. 

He whistles, “Nice place”

“Pfft- don't try to make small talk with me after you just finished banging me” you giggle sleepily.

“Fair enough, still, I’m curious about how you can even afford this place” he wonders, hand rubbing up and down your back, only easing you closer to falling asleep.

“Hard work” you reply he takes your hand in his and kisses the back of it. 

“That’s my hard working girl” 

you feel the butterflies swarm around your stomach all over again at his small comment. 

“Does this mean we're dating now?” you ask and he gives you a little chuckle.

“Yes, if you want” 

“Good then you're my boyfriend” your eyes are fluttering closed at this point, you merely nuzzle into his chest and he plants a gentle kiss on your forehead. 

“Goodnight love” 

“Night Kats..”

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

idk how many people would even want to see this BUT i wanna yell about Leela and Brax so here's a list of all their scenes togethr/scenes pertainng to them that i can recall (pLEASE add on if i missed anything/ you have any additional thoughts!! i could talk about these two all day!)

right off the bat in Weapon of Choice when Leela is on the outskirts of the Citadel and Brax goes to bring her back (which is interesting in and of itself, bc usually i would imagine a chancellery guard would go do that so what made Brax decide to instead??), Leela kinda goes off at him bc she's hurting and instead of trying to actually explain what's going on Brax doesn't even try to argue he just says "we need you" which is great bc Leela has that instinctive desire to be needed and to help people and he's speaking right to that -- also as far as we know, this is Leela and Brax's first actual meeting in canon? it's implied that they know of each other, which makes sense, but it doesn't seem like they've ever directly interacted before: Brax seems almost slightly uncertain, and Leela is combative, but when he's gentle with her she's actually quite receptive

the literal next scene after that, where the OT4 is all in one room for the first time (they still kinda hate each other at this point but still !!!). Narvin explaining Gryben and being a real jerk about it and Leela (understandibly!) questions if Gryben is a prison world, and Brax (who to this point has been mostly quiet as Narvin and Romana brief Leela) jumps in to both clarify Narvin's previous xenophobic statements while also maintaining the inherent questionable/negative connotations

(btw it's actually pretty important to note that Romana self-edits herself a lot when talking to Leela, especially in the earlier seasons; you can actually hear her revising the things she says to put it in terms that she thinks Leela will better understand. and i mean she does it out of genuine consideration for her friend associate but it often comes across as varying levels of patronizing. Narvin also obviously "dumbs things down" when dealing with Leela early on, but like... Brax never does that on any level. the only difference i can tell in how he addresses Leela vs how he talks to anybody else is that he seems much more kind with her than almost anyone else???)

their conversation about the Matrix in The Inquiry: this is REALLY important (and if you've ever talked to me on ao3 i've probably gone off to you about it lol) because it's layered. they're talking about the Matrix but they're also not because in answering Leela's question Brax is making a very thinly veiled allegory (which he outright states a minute later) to Time Lord society/politicians/most importantly HIMSELF -- he's actually strangely open about his morals/beliefs in this scene and i'm living for it tbh -- and i find it very interesting that even though he does directly explain what he means ("how do you know all this?" / "because i am a politician.") he also leaves it for Leela to work out the implications. like it's a very nuanced conversation bc there's double meaning in it and most people on Gallifrey seem to think that Leela is tone-deaf and can't pick up on that stuff (even Romana sometimes oversimplifies things to her) but Brax totally just lets her take from it what she will bc he believes her intelligent enough to understand. he doesn't think her any lesser because she's human.

ALSO on a secondary note to the above: the fact that Leela has a question/needed clarification (sorry, haven't listened to this in a while i forget how it actually happened) and actively sought out Brax to talk to about it?? like she knows Romana better she could have gone to her but i feel like Leela kinda imprinted on Brax and someone she can go to for help if she needs it; maybe it's partly bc she knows he's under marginally less pressure than Romana is but also the truth of the matter is that Brax was the most genuinely helpful person to her in the previous stories and that probably means a lot to her (esp. bc he acts like the essence of everything she hates about Gallifrey but he doesn't treat her the way she would expect from that). btw this topic is gonna come up again in a hot minute

that part where Brax gives her that information that might help her re: the Andred thing, even though he really probably shouldn't have done that -- it kinda makes me think about what he must have been like with Theta tbh???

actually this is mostly my own conjecture but there's some neat stuff in Spirit bc during the *waves hand vaguely* bodyswap dream sequence thing, Romana is very "!!!! Brax can help us !!!" which is tecnically Leela brain talking, so like there's the implications of the stuff i've said above about Leela having this idea of Brax where she knows he's someone she can go to for help

can u tell i'm soft for them

Leela sounding really sad/distracted when she talks about how Brax isn't there YES i'm grasping at straws but a lot of this relationship really is conveyed through the voice acting bc of how little direct focus there is on the characters. there's actually several scenes in Mindbomb where she mentions him and she outright says that she misses him during her discussion with Matthias

that implied scene with them in Mindbomb!! i have a Lot of thoughts about that!!! it's all conjecture and fanfic fodder!!! but the reason i mention this is because it seems pretty meta that out of the whole Gally Gang, it's Leela who first sees Brax when he comes back to Gallifrey and in turn she's the first person (besides Matthias, i guess) that he sees upon his return?? idk i just feel like that's somehow a meaningful detail??? also her reaction of utter shock after spending the entire episode missing him and how worked up she is when she tries to tell Romana, like I desperately need to know what happened in this missing scene MR RICHARDS PLEASE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED

Leela insisting on going with Brax when Pandora starts hurting him and their whole conversation there is just. so good. like they're both just so soft and then when Darkel comes in Leela instantly goes into protective mode. like they just have such an open relationship bc Brax doesn't even try to be all pretentious with her, like he doesn't even try to keep up any facades when he's with her he's just very genuine and it really says a lot about both of them -- Leela is so good at seeing people, like getting down to the core of who people are and what makes them them (which is why she's good for Romana, btw, bc Romana has a lot of identity issues) and Brax is so tangled up in who he presents himself as that he barely knows who he actually is anymore but Leela can see that and she makes it so he can truly be himself and he doesn't have to hide. also she's so gentle with him when they talk about Pandora, she's very caring and empathetic and wants to make sure he's okay and i am WEAK

it's been a hot while since i listened to Panacea but I think i remember Brax being really soft with Leela when he first brings the gang to the Axis, like just sounding really glad to see her

ok other than the fact that Brax is lowkey relatable in Reborn (daydreaming fanfic about yourself/people you know? simping for Mary Tamm Romana? yeah mood, my man) there's that scene where they're first appraoching the Citadel on the alt!Gallifrey and it seems like none of them, and Brax specifically, have seen it from the outside in a good long while bc he's very in awe and he tells Leela that he wishes she could see it and he sounds sO hEcKiNg sOFT oh my word-

and once again with Leela thinking of Brax as someone she trusts for help: in Dissassembled when everything is going to crap she straight-up says that she wants to go find Brax bc he'll know what to do/be able to help

at the beginning of Annihilation when Romana is depressed and questioning if Brax truly was her friend and Leela INSTANTLY, NO HESITATION assures her that he was; i lost where i had her exact lines written down but she actually kinda goes off to make sure Romana gets the point

literally forcing myself to talk about this bc it makes my brain stall out but like,,, the Brax Hound in Annihilation,,, Leela being like "goodbye, Braxiatel... again" she sounds so sad and like UGH i always kinda forget how sad it actually is for them to lose Brax in Dissassembled bc like, it was so sudden and they didn't get to say goodbye and Leela is always losing people and i have many many feels about this scene and how all that emotion is made very clear in how they each respond to the Hound (might make a separate post abt this later if anyone is interested ::eyes::)

Enemy Lines is utter bullcrap about these two and I will never stop being salty about how they not only sidelined the very good, very subtle friendship they had in s1-4, but they??? made Leela acutally not trust Brax??? when literally this entire time she's been the one person who probably genuinely trusts him the most?? what the heck, David

I haven't heard TW3 or 4 yet but i'm assuming there's nothing worthwhile in those with regards to this duo (correct me if i'm wrong tho lol, i would love to be mistaken in this assumption)

TL;DR Leela and Brax mututally imprinted on each other and have probably the most open and healthy relationship within the OT4 and it is an absolute CRIME that nobody besides Gary Russell and Justin Richards cared enough to actually build on it in canon

[wizkiddx]

a friendly face

a lil one inspired from seeing the recent interviews abt cherry - yes im a couple days late but am very slow. This is basically stolen and adapted from another of my stories so I don't think there's any bits left over by my dyslexic proof reading isnt that great so apologies!!! very speech heavy so sorry am trying to balance my writing more

Summary: Tom is having a hard time filming Cherry and dealing with the emotional baggage of it, so Harry recruits someone to make everything that little bit better.

tomhollandxreader

fluff and a little angst I guess?

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Harry, Tom and their driver Sian where all sitting in the car having left the set 20 minutes ago, heading back to their accommodation. Or more precisely, Harry and Sian sat in the two front seats- Harry only in the front as to allow Tom to lie down across the three back seats. He was asleep, or at least looked asleep, but Harry knowing his brother so well knew he was just wishing he was. The day had been torturous for Tom, they’d been filming a hospital sequence in which his character was heart broken. The sequence had involved him being thrown onto the floor multiple times, by a heavy handed stunt double who was not nearly as precise as those he’d worked with at ‘marvel’. Furthermore, there was also multiple scenes of him having to properly cry on camera, which although it sounds tame, is one of the hardest things you can ever ask an actor to do. At least, someone who commits half as much as Tom. For him to show that emotion, he had to go back to a place in his life where he didn’t really ever want to venture again. But even then, this character was such a fuck up, he had to do deeper.  He felt completely drained, emotionless and cold. But he couldn’t sleep, not for the guilt he felt for being short with everyone on set- he had never been like that before, he just felt like no one was respecting or understanding what he was going through. So instead he just lay on his side, facing the backs of the leather seats, arms folded in stubbornness- even if he had no idea why.

“Tom?…Tom, I know you’re awake… Look, we need to make a quick stop. You gotta come out.” Harry was actually slightly nervous his brother would just point blank refuse, even if he needed this so bad.

“I just need to get back to the apartment. Please Harry. Can’t we do it tommorrow?” The desperation dripping off Tom’s voice actually pained Harry to listen to. He knew Tom was having a crisis about how he treated everyone today, so chose to ignore his please in favour of some assurance.

“You know everyone understands… They just kept asking me if you were alright?” Harry could see the guilt radiating off Tom. It hurt him to see his big brother like this. 

“Please… I just need to get back” His small voice barely made it to the front of the car, but Harry heard it all. 

“It will take 2 minutes tops, I had a delivery but I need a hand carrying it, come on” Harry spoke as Sian turned on the indicator to pulled up next to the sidewalkpavement; the car slowing to a gentle halt. Tom didn’t reply, instead huffing as he used the head rest of the middle seat to pull himself up. Already out the car, Harry opened the door for him waiting patiently, because Harry knew he would be a hundred times better off in just a few moments. 

“What the hell have you even ordered that’s so big?” Tom sighed while ducking through the door into the cold Cleveland air, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk as Harry motioned for him to follow his feet. 

“Oh um don’t know, a good friend sent it actually” Harry tried to hide the grin that was spread over his face from showing in his voice, as he saw a very familiar head of hair running toward them.

“What friend?” Tom looked up sassily toward Harry, shortly questioning who would send Harry a parcel from England that was too big to be delivered or carried by himself. Only then, nearly 5 metres away from Sian in the car, did Tom look up to see where they were. It wasn’t the nearest post office or delivery warehouse - they were at the airport. “Harry what’s going on?” Tom questioned with a low and warning voice, skipping a step or two in order to catch up with his younger brother. 

“We’re collecting her” Harry smiled as he nodded forward. Following his gaze with eyes wide open, Tom turned forward just in time to see Y/h/c  flying over his face as he was engulfed by someones arms. Immediately sensing exactly who this was, Tom did not hesitate to wrap his arms around your waist and push his head into your neck. Smelling the familiar perfume, Tom couldn’t help but scoff, allowing a the jerky breath to leave his lungs as you arched away from the hug, cupping Tom’s face with both her hands. 

“I’ve been reliably informed you could use a friendly face” you smiled, noticing his raw emotions threatening to overtake him, so swiftly pressing just pressing your lips onto his. Seemingly frightened to move, Tom barely reacted to the kiss, so you pushed and deepened into it a little more- till you felt him relaxing against you. With that, you arched away again and smiled massaging his stubbly hair behind his left ear.

“How are you here?” He croaked staring deeply at her, switching between her left and right eye as if that somehow would confirm that this was real, not some cruel dream he was having. 

“Someone somewhere knew you were in need and bought me a plane ticket over… I’m coming home with you on monday” You grinned while  watching Tom’s eyes light up, he leaned in again to your lips instead of replying. 

“Er-cuh-huh” Harry loudly cleared his throat, causing the two to pull away from each other. “Sorry to interrupt, but Sian isn’t really allowed to stop there long sooo” They both nodded, before Tom lunged at his brother, holding him close and whispering thanks too. It was clear this was at least partly Harry’s doing, and he could never thank his brother enough.

“Umm.. as much as I’m enjoying this brotherly love we really do have to get back in the car” Harry awkwardly spoke as he almost pushed Tom off him. 

“Awww my favourite little brother being all mature” You giggled, taking your turn to hug Harry, admittedly a little shorter than Tom’s, but still with lots of gratitude.

“Please get stop loving me and get back into the car!” Harry yelled as he stormed off to Sian, leaving both you and Tom in fits of laughter. Grasping each others hand simultaneously the laughter continued as you followed Harry down the street to the car. 

Seeing you standing there; feeling your arms wrapped round his neck ; hearing your oh so sweet voice had Tom feeling…. Feeling lighter. It was as though your mere presence gave him the strength to carry all the things that were previously weighing him down like a truck. What was extraordinary though, was how it wasn’t just psychological. He literally felt his joints feel looser, he felt his body flood with warmth and he felt his heart calming down. When you’d first been getting close to each you’d had rather the opposite effect. Which was surprising because that was at the point Tom had never felt more confident - he had just returned form a avengers press tour, where naturally everyone had just loved him and played up to his every whim. He had legions of girls, some of them drop dead gorgeous where falling at his feet. And yet, when he met you it was as though he was transported back into his incredibly awkward teenage years. It was infuriating, he knew he could act cool and unbothered and smooth however as soon as you stood informant of his it was like his mind melted, filling it with utter gibberish and garble. In fact, he was plainly floored by you - how kind and pure hearted you were, how respectful and how you found hhis jilted flirting adorable and not to forget how drop dead gorgeous you are. 

It had taken a while and a hell of a lot of opening up, but over time he found the opposite happening. Your presence became something else entirely, not one that would put him on his toes and have his heart racing - more of a comfort. He slept better when you were beside him, his nerves never got the better of him if you were there to cheer him on. He could relax completely without any fear of judgement, any worry at all with you. What you had done is change the definition of something so fudemental and a given in life. You’d changed home from a place to something much more intangible. A person; a feeling; a connection. You were his home.

“Sian are we close?” You asked, turning your attention away from the two brothers annecdotes from filming, realising Sian must’ve been driving for about 30 minutes. 

“Yep just the next right I think” Sian replied gently while turning the wheel as the indicator clicked.

“Where are we going?” Tom asked, looking first at you then pleadingly at Harry- knowing he had more of a chance with his brother. 

“Well” You started and he whipped his head back round “I know it’s late and you’ve been working all day, but you have alater  10 o’clock call time tomorrow instead of 6, so this is the best night to do something. We found a driving range-with heaters” which was a very important factor since Cleveland was bloody freezing “- that we thought you’d like to play a game or two?” The massive smile in response meant you’d hit the nail on the head.

“And soz but I’m crashing the game otherwise- and no offence, but you would win waayyyy toooo easy Tom” Harry butted in and sniggered as he interrupted the lovey-dovey stares. You gasped at that in mock offence, holding your hand over your chest. 

“Oi you, Paddy has been teaching on the Holland boys days out you both missed- I’ll have you know I now am aware that you have to get the ball into the hole, not a goal as previously thought.”

The boys both groaned in unison and Y/n wiggled her eyebrow grinning, elbowing Tom slightly in the side. “Things might have changed since you left you know?”

Yet another thing Tom loved so completely about you, was how effortlessly you had fitted into his family. Honestly, none of the Hollands could imagine life without you anymore - especially Nikki, who had quite literally attempted adopting you so she officially wasnt the only female in the immediate family. Sam used you as an expert taster for all his marvellous culinary creations (even if your judgement was always the same, it was very good); Dom often ended up picking your brains about your work, he found you ‘actual proper’ job as a doctor simply amazing , where all his family had never been especially acadmeically gifted; and Paddy just plain saw you as his older sister. So it was hardly surprising at all that when two of their actual kids flew across the world , you’d been the obvious placeholder. Yes, golf was most definitely your forte - but you were enthusiastic, with a positive (if flightily misguided) give it a go attitude. 

The try-try-and-try-again attitude that never really worked … until Paddy taught you how to hit a clean drive.

“I am not joking, I am asking the lady at the desk there’s no way!” 

“Tom you are the worst looser I have ever met! I didn’t cheat, I’ve just taken up a new hobby”

“There is no way Tom… no way she can get that good” Harry huffed as he ran straight past you to catch up with Tom, making sure that you did see the harsh glare he shot him. The outrage that Y/n had beaten them both at the driving range was way worse than anything you could’ve predicted- now you sort of were wishing you’d let them win. Oh wait…. Of course you weren’t  - this was priceless. Especially their faces when you’d launched your first ball super accurately inn the centre of the second furthest away target. They had reacted as if you had just stripped butt naked, you thought; standing their jaws hanging with a look of almost fear in their eyes.

“You could see the balls land with your own eyes! Practice makes perfect!”

“Thats not fair though! It took you like 8 weeks to be like that?”

“I mean you were obviously just taught by the wrong Holland, Paddy’s a  pretty good teacher!” You smiled as your trio turned the corner and walked through reception, seeing Harry desperate to ask the receptionist but Tom just looking over his shoulder to give a hurt look to at you.

“I’m going to ban you from being closer to my brothers than me”

“I can’t help if he’s cuter then you alright?” You smirked and raised an eyebrow, as Tom stopped in his tracks and turned to face you.

“That’s it… your gonna get it” he spoke in a low voice, with a mischievous look in his eye, abruptly he launched himself at you -  barely having  time to swerve away from him and start a sprint towards the exit, giggling as you took a glance back to see Tom chasing you out, Harry quickly in tow too. 

“Your not allowed to beat me at golf!” In a jokey voice, you heard Tom yell, just as you reached the sleek black 4x4 and hurdling yourself into it. 

“I’m in the car it’s a no fight zone!” You cowered in the corner,back pressed up against the opposite door and  arms crossed to make an ‘x’ sign in front of her body. 

“That is not how it works” Tom and Harry grinned from the open door. As fast as lightning they both vaulted in and started tickling you, making you screech curses at the two of them.

“Alright alright kids, no fighting while I’m driving thats an order.” Sian calmly spoke, trying to hide the laughter from her voice, as the two men retreated and helped to pull you up from the position half on the floor that your squirming had gotten you to. 

“Get off my leg Tom… arghhh… thanks Sian, I’m sorry they’re so moody, I just whipped their asses at golf”

“You’re here to make me feel better right? Not doing a good job so far” Tom’s snide remark meant you scrunched up your nose while plugging her seatbelt in, making sure to jab Tom’s side hard as you did so.

“How did I end up sandwiched in between you two twats then?” You grinned from the middle seat as Harry just rolled his eyes looking out the window, and Tom gave you a loving smile- not able to hide his relief of your presence.

“Think it’s about a 40 minute drive you gotta enjoy” Sian smiled looking at you via the rear view mirror, to which Tom couldn’t quite stifle the yawn that escaped. 

After all he had done much more than the typical 9-5 hours work, and the golfing was an unexpected addition to the already long day. His excitement and just pure joy at having you here had made him forget about It all for a couple of hours - but now his exhaustion was catching up with him with a vengeance. Instinctively you wrapped you arm round Tom and in doing so pulled him into your side. 

“Get some rest huh?” You whispered into his forehead, and all Tom could do was reply with a weary nod, letting his eyes slip close to the constant beat of Ally’s heart. You immediately sensed Tom was properly out of it, and contented yourself looking out his window for a few minutes,  before you felt something heavy briefly whack your other shoulder. Jumping a little at the contact, you looked round to see Harry’s head bobbing side to side in a light slumber. In the midst of worry for Tom, you hadn’t realised the kid had been doing the same long hours as him. Plus dealing with Tom and being Tom’s support, which surely took it out of him. Harry had always been ‘the most important brother’ in your eyes. Just because Tom trusts him so implicitly and completely, they had an understanding only real brothers could get to but also extended far beyond blood. When you’d first been introduced Harry had been colder to you. It wasn’t personal though, he just wanted to be sure on you and your intentions with Tom because as he well knew often when people saw Tom they didn’t just see an opportunity for love. It was an opportunity for a lifestyle, for fame, for relevance. Harry took a while before he trusted you but now you were miles and miles beyond that point. So now, being at a stage with Harry where he was phoning you to come and fly out to save Tom (and him too). It was not to be taken lightly.  Therefore, you gently pressed your hand to Harrys face and pushed him to lean against her other shoulder too- hoping to cure the dark circles under his eyes a little bit too. 

You were quite content for the rest of the journey, feeling warmth radiate through your body as the two men breathed deeply and calmly either side of you. You sort of didn’t want the car journeyer to end - but sure enough it wasn’t long till Sian was pulling into the hotel entrance.

“Get you a girl that can do both, beat yo ass at golf and look after your family” Sian whispered as she handed the phone back to you, after having taken some of your favourite ever photos, the 2 boys asleep on your shoulders while you pulled a variety of different faces. Smiling back at Sian, you then sighed-knowing she had to wake the two up, given their exhaustion you didn’t really want to either. 

“Boys…boys… hey let’s get you both into bed yeh?” You spoke softly, gently raising your shoulders in order to disturb them both. Harry’s head immediately shot up, his eyes puffy and half open, but a sheepish look on his face as he realised how he was sleeping. Just responding with a smile that said it was all okay, before  you turned her attention to Tom- forever stubborn to wake up, at least nothing had changed there. 

“Come on Tom, can’t have you sleeping in the car all night” You pushed again, this time lifting Tom’s head, earning a very deep groan as his eyes slid open and he pushed against the movement. It was at this point Harry slammed the car door shut, making Tom jump out of his skin, you loosing the hope of any serene wakeup call. Rubbing Toms arm, relaxing the tension now present in his body you encouraged him once again. “Come on lets get inside mister” 

His hotel room was exactly what you’d expect for an a-lister and lead actor in a million pound film. Large, modern, squeaky clean and posh. It was almost too big to be filled by one person though, Tom had always found it a bit cold and just not cosy - why he opted to spend the majority of his down time either fast alseep or in somebody else’s company. Both of those also stopped him getting too much in his head - or more accurately in his characters head. Cherry was a weird character and from interviewing all the veterans and lengthy discussion of his past, Tom almost felt as if he had in some small way experienced what Cherry had. Felt what Cherry did. Thought like Cherry did. 

And that was a sure fire way to fuck yourself up.

Now, with you here in his room haphazardly digging through your case, if felt warmer. The cold but brilliant white lights seemed to have softened to a gently warm glow that bounced off your skin and made your figure look almost angelic to Tom. You were his home. 

“What are you waiting for?” You mused while turning away from your (now) inside out suitcase, proudly carrying her pyjamas which you had found hidden at the bottom the whole time- not the most practical packing in the world. All the while Tom sat on his bed, back leaning against the headboard and arm bent behind his head too.

“Just thinking that I need to go through all the scenes for tomorrow” A monotonous tone laced his voice, for he knew he couldn’t spend the night the way he really wanted to, safely wrapped up with you.

“Oh… well let’s go through it together then hey? We will be done in no time; but if you want we can go over them again tomorrow morning.” It was a practical suggestion, a helpful action you could implement - even if you had a feeling Tom wouldn’t just agree. Since his lines clearly weren’t the only thing on his mind this evening. 

“Yeh but everyone on set is already sick of me after today… I can’t be being shit as well as horrid” his voice was small as the memory of how he snapped at some of the extras had him cringing inwardly at himself. He shouldn’t have been that rude, shouldn’t have blurted it out, should of offered a solution rather than just critiquing.

“Hey would you kindly shut it? No one is sick of you, everyone is just ready for christmas and missing their families. Now get changed” Your soft tone turning into an imperative order, as you threw his pyjama bottoms at the him, smashing into his face before falling into his lap.

“Oi” he shouted, but followed instructions and stood up reaching round to pull his hoodie off. Stood shirtless, his side was exposed to the now changed you, the sight making you gasp and clamber over the bed to gently touch Tom’s back. You followed the outline of an impressive patch of bruising, stretching from the bottom edge of his shoulder blade all the way to his hip. 

“Tom, what the hell happened?” Whispering in fear, Tom turned round to face you, seeing your eyes watering up as you kept glancing at his back. He was littered in a variety of purple, yellow and slightly green marks on the whole of his left flank. It looked like a minor crush injury, not something a pampered actor gets after a day of filming infront of tens of people including an onset medic and health and safety risk assessor. 

“What?” Tom asked before turning to the mirror and looking back over his shoulder to see the bruises for himself. He hadn’t expected the ache to look that bad. “oh - I - er… Today the scene, I get smashed to the floor by someone and I kept doing it wrong so we had to do it lots I guess.” He looked away and down at your feet, not being able to meet his girlfriends eyes suddenly. You just nodded, trying to blink back the tears-  he had truly been broken by this role both physically and now mentally- he hadn’t even put a stop to the constant and clearly severe pain. 

“Put your stuff on” your  voice was muted, as you waited for Tom to get prepared. He turned around again and then replaced his trousers and quickly pulled a top on to hide the marks, suddenly embarrassed. In the silence the sound of his clothes dropping to the floor, then of him sitting on the bed again- throwing his legs over so now he mirrored your position - the sounds were pretty defeaning.

“I love you so much….” Barely whispering, you suddenly ripped the duvet out from under you both holding it over you as you swung a leg over Tom so you straddled him, slightly leaning over him and letting the blanket rest on top of your back.In your position you looked down in an almost scary way to his warm brown eyes. Tom swore you were literally reading his thoughts, your intense gaze absolutely crumbling any walls he thought he’d be able to hold up. Pressing a gentle peck to his lips you then whispered onto his lips, letting him feel your words as well as hear them. “ …So that’s why we are going to sleep right now and you can worry about all of that tomorrow”

“Y/n I-“

“Your safe with me.” You were not standing for his nexuses and arguments, as you slid down his body - ending with your head resting on his chest, you legs tangled with his. Once you’re properly rested you’ll learn them ten times faster than what you can now… Before you get ill I am telling you to take a break. I’m not going to let you not. So relax and-….Tom?” Ending with a whisper, you delicately lifted your head off his slowly rising chest to see your broken boyfriend already asleep; lips parted as soft snores crept through the silence. In reality as soon as you’d said that he was safe the exhaustion had completely over taken him. Desperately needing to recharge his batteries, no matter how much he had wanted to stay up and work late it could never really happen - at this point physically impossible.

“Sleep well Tom” she smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek with a sad smile.

///////////////////////////////////////////

The next day rolled around all too quickly, but the morning was much better than any of the past couple of months because you were together. Tom, having had a solid 7 hours of sleep compared to his normal 5, was for once ready for the day. He’d gone through the script with a certain someones help in record time, and now the three were just pulling up at the set. 

“You’ve been awful quiet this car ride…” you grinned as she clasped Tom’s hand across the empty seat, making Harry turn around and give you a warning glance. Oops. In a moment where Tom went to the loo at breakfast, Harry had fully disclosed everything that had happened on set yesterday- especially the  burst of anger. So naturally, Tom was feeling nervous and scared to face everyone. 

“It will be fine I promise… and if not tell them I’m your personal body guard- no one will be rude to you if me and Harry are ready to attack” Tom let out a breathy nervous laugh, only then meeting your eyes.

“ A fly wouldn’t be threatened by you two. Harry would just take a photo while you’d check their pulse or something”

“Errrm” Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he contorted round from the front seat so Tom could see his disapproving look, meanwhile Tom was dodging your affectionate fake-slaps.

“Children we’re here” Sian sighed as she brought the car to a steady halt “and if you could get through the day without killing each other I’d appreciate it, otherwise I’m out of the job”

“Not promising anything when I’ve got these pair to deal with” Tom grinned as he opened the car door, before anyone else could retaliate.You laughed before quickly following suit, joining Tom at the front of the car and interlocking your fingers with Tom’s. Hesitating for a moment Harry took a second before unplugging and leaning for the door handle.

“You see what I mean?” Turning his head to look at Sian “It’s sickening how happy they are.”

“Yeh but your glad about it don’t lie” she grinned, before practically shooing the poor boy out her car.

“But dont tell them!” Shouting in reply, as the car was already pulling out. 

Tom’s body seemed to tense more the closer you walked to the crew tent, you could feel the way he squeezed his shoulders back and his jaw tensed and untensed. There was little you could do apart from squeezing his hand that little bit tighter - further reiterating the fact you would always always be in his corner. Perhaps the most telling about Tom’s own character was how truly guilty he felt for the way he was with the crew. Normally, he was one of the most down to earth actors around - no trace of an ego or superiority complex. It didn’t matter if you were a cleaner or head of a multimillion dollar studio, Tom would pay both the same amount of respect. He always out that completely down to his upbringing and mum and dad, but even that was being humble. He was just a good person to the core, no one saw that more than you either. It’s part of love, you see the good and the bad parts of a person and promise to unashamedly love them all. 

Just before you both had made it into the main tent, Tom was pulled away. “Oh Tom we wanted to talk to you about yesterday!” The familiar voice of Joe Russo called, as he and Anthony  ran up to Tom from his left, giving a little nod of greeting to the actor, before falling in step with him.

“Morning, I-uh I wanted to apologise actually-“Tom was cut off while you hung back off to his right, not wanting to intrude on this conversation.

“No we should. The team were all being slow yesterday, and they were making some hard scenes harder on you. We really appreciate what you are putting yourself through for the sake of the film.”

“But still I acted like a brat and I’m sorry”

“Tom” Anthony spoke up for the first time. He was a man of limited words- but whenever he spoke everyone listened. “ You are one of the best, most-dedicated actors we’ve ever worked with. We’re all overtired, run down and ready for the holidays. You’re missing your family too. It’s already forgotten… So let’s just get on with the movie?” Tom smiled, pressing his lips together to stop their kindness overtaking his emotions. Tom always felt safe with the Russo’s. They’d dealt with him when he really just was a kid actor - overwhelmed and without a clue what was happening. They’d dealt with hiM adjusting to fame and the much bigger part Marvel seemed to want him to play in the future. They trusted him with this, most incredibly complex and also personal film for them. So when they spoke and they said it didn’t matter, Tom was much more likely to agree.  Then proceeded the bro-hugs, as the men all showed they were good with each other. 

“Well lets make a motherfucking movie!” Tom exclaimed once they broke the hug and the brothers laughed at him. “Oh where-d….” He muttered as he looked round before meeting your eyes, still standing rather awkwardly a couple of meters behind them. “ Joe, Anthony you remember Y/n?” Nodding and smiling the brothers beckoned you over; both greeting you with a warm handshake. 

“Good to see you again!” You grinned and the directors responded nodding.

“We didn’t know you were coming! I would’ve made a list of all my doctor question for you.” Joe winked, knowing your pet-peeve was people asking you all their gory body questions as soon as they found out she was a doctor. You didn’t need to know about you dentists acid reflux issue, you didn’t need to know about your granny’s friend’s constipation, and you really really didn’t need to know about an old friends erectile dysfunction.

“Ha ha ha “ You rolled your eyes sarcastically “ and no it was a bit of a spontaneous trip, I just landed last night.” Throughout the whole of the exchange Anthony had taken an aloof stance, just  observing you and Tom. Observing the bright smile Tom gave you, even when you were simply making small talk. The way he looked so much healthier, well rested and just happy, in the space of a single evening.

“I’m glad you’re here” Anthony basically interrupted the conversation, addressing you then immediately turning on his heel towards the set. 

“Uhh right- get to make up we’ll call a cast meeting in a bit” Joe stammered, giving his brother a funny look before addressing Tom “ and we’ll have to have a proper catch up later.” You nodded in response, as Joe turned and did a half jog to catch up with his brother. 

“That was weird!?” You frowned as you looked up at Tom. He explained the encounter in rather simplistic terms.

“That was Anthony.”

The morning was spent with Tom doing what he does best in front of the camera. They were shooting a larger scene for the army section of the movie, with at least 100 actual soldiers as extras, all geared up in full camo outfits. It was impressive, but also gave you a chance to meet Ciara - you’d been dying to meet her since Tom told you what a laugh she was. Fair to say you weren’t disappointed at all, you guys hitting it off instantly and you going as far as giving Ciara some embarrassing Tom stories that she could wind him up with in the future. Of course though, the main attraction was seeing Tom act first hand. Every time it astounded you, even though you knew that face so completely, in all his movies he fully had you believing he was someone else. It was mesmerising and you couldn’t be any prouder. 

“You’re amazing! I seriously forgot how good you are!” You ran over as Joe Russo called cut to the end of the morning shoot. 

“Well er thanks I guess” Tom furrowed his eyebrows as you wrapped him in a hug. He’d just canned a pretty hard scene and everyone was more than ready for a lunch break. You’s been watching from behind the cameras with Harry the whole time, after Tom gave you permission to sit in his special set chair.

“Seriously I’m very…. “ Her speech broken with an impressive yawn “….very proud of you.” In thanks Tom gave you a kiss first to your nose and then lips. 

“I take it someones not adapting to jet lag?” He chuckled as he pulled away and cupped your face in his hands.

“Which I’m totally ashamed about considering I work night shifts… my body clocks supposed to be better than this” Angrily, you vented, frustrated at your own body when all you wanted to do was stays within reaching distance of Tom. Even if Tom had had the best sleep of this whole shoot last night, you’d been to over excited and enthralled just absorbing every little thing about him that you’d missed so much that you’d been wide awake the majority of the night. If you blamed you fatigue on jet lag alone, it would be an impressive lie. 

“Go take a nap in my trailer… Harry can you take her?”

“Yes master” Harry bowed down and wobbled his head sarcastically, making you giggle. 

“At least this way you get a break from him” You grinned to Tom’s brother, which Harry could only agree with. Giving Tom a parting kiss , you followed Harry away from set. It was at this point that Anthony excused himself from the monitors reviewing the footage, and approached Tom.

“Kid… that was great that scene.”

“Thanks mate, means a lot” Getting his directors approval forever reassured Tom, letting him relax his shoulders a bit as he nodded gratefully to Anthony. 

“Well it’s just truth… so your girlfriend, Y/n right?”

“Yeh that’s her” Tom nodded, suddenly a little concerned as to where Anthony was going with this. You had met the Russo’s a number of times, and it never before seemed as though Anthony had an issue with you- at least to Tom’s knowledge.

“Right well um… you know how I don’t really get involved in all this stuff…” Tom nodded, folding his arms apprehensively. “But I just thought I should say that she’s really good for you.” Tom silently breathed a sigh of relief and waited for Anthony to get to the point. “Joe told me you had a rough patch at the beginning of the year so… I don’t know our industry is hard. And harder for you and her in the spotlight… Just seeing you with her today…Don’t be afraid to take the next steps with her…Don’t let her get away.” Tom was stunned to say the least. Anthony is the last person he had ever expected to get relationship advice from. 

“I um yeh… I don’t know I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean we’ve been together for 2 and a bit years, well including the break… she means the world to me-“

“Well don’t waste it”

And that was the end of the conversation. Anthony turned to his trailer to get lunch and Tom just stood, replaying the conversation in his head. Weird to say the least. 

But it did get the cogs turning. It did get Tom really seriously considering his future. Or rather considering your future together.

And that was for certain. It was you and him, always. 

[letshaikyuu]

hello there!! the boys reaction [ optional choose whoever you want + kuroo there pls 👉🏼👈🏼 ? ] when a guy in public insult their gf saying " tell your girlfriend to cover up " when they ask them to say it again the guy says stuff like " she's dressed like she's asking for it " last summer this happened to me but with my brother and i felt so bad abt the way i dressed altho it wasn't super revealing just a cute yellow short dress, anyways i hope you have a good day and enjoy writing it 🍰💛

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐭 // 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐚/𝐧: I really enjoyed writing this sweetie! And, I'm sorry that this happened to you; people really can't keep their shitty opinions to themselves

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: people being smartasses

𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

❁𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐮

Kuroo never once commented on your outfit. If you feel confident in it, then who's Kuroo to tell you to change and wear something else? He'd definitely tell you how cute you looked in the dress and that it suits the summer weather

Once outside, he forgets about your outfit because it didn't gain any attention from the public eye, until one guy decided to openly stare at you and that caught Kuroo's eye. But, before he could ask him what he's doing, he'd go: "Tell your girlfriend there to cover up more."

It's obvious by the way he squeezes your hand that he's pissed, but he tries to stay calm as to not make a scene in the middle of a crowd. "And why's that?" "Well, she's dressed like she's asking for it."

Now, Kuroo's patience doesn't run thin easily, but this guy broke the dam way faster than anyone else. He's completely ready to rip himself out of your tight grip and charge onto the guy, but he remembers that he's better than that asshole and just smirks.

He looks directly at the guy again, a nasty glare in his eye that would make everyone quiver in fear. "Next time you say that to my girlfriend, make sure to watch out for my fists, you jackass." And with that, Kuroo leaves with a tight grip on your waist

If you were really distressed over the whole situation, Kuroo makes sure to reassure you that your outfit was anything but slutty and revealing, and that if something like this were to happen again, he's always there to throw a punch or two to a smart mouth like that guy

❁𝐦𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐮

Atsumu knows slutty when he sees it and your dress was anything but slutty, so he doesn't mention anything. He gives you a once over and a smirk, before a hands sneaks up your thigh and he comments on how gorgeous you look

He gets jealous really easily, so he always has an arm around your waist and your body close to his, while his eyes dance across the crowd to see if there's someone look in your direction. He'll notice one fellow, with a disgusted look on his face, looking directly at you - more at your outfit than you

"You got a problem, mate?" Atsumu would address him first, stopping and pulling you closer towards him. "Ye, I do. Tell your girlfriend to cover up."

Atsumu doesn't do well with comments like that, especially when they're related to his girlfriend, so he's already only a few steps away from the guy, fist ready to pack a punch if needed. "Excuse you?" "She's clearly dressed like she's asking for it. You should've taught her to dress more appropriate-"

There's no way he's finishing that sentence because Atsumu's fist is already flying towards his face. A volleyball player sure can pack a nasty punch. He'd grab the collar of his shirt before getting right into his face. "Say that one more time and it's not your face that's going to get beaten up next time."

Atsumu is pissed, to say the least. His grip on you is tighter, he keeps grumbling to himself as you try to forget about the incident. "Listen, I'd tell you right away if you're dressed like that or not," he'd tell you as you were walking, "and since I didn't comment, that means you're good. Don't think about that douchebag. He can eat dirt for all I care."

❁𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐤𝐞𝐢

He's never the one to comment openly when you dress nicely. He's more of a 'wtf are you wearing' when you dress 'crazily'. So, when your dress doesn't get any comment, that means it's good to go and you didn't give your outfit a second thought before leaving

Tsukishima doesn't like confrontation and throwing punches around like it's 'Street Fighter' and he never had the need to do it. But, when someone thinks they're so smart by commenting "Hey, you with the glasses. Tell your girlfriend to cover up," he turns around to look at the person commenting

He quirks an eyebrow, annoyed at him for actually ruining his date with you by having a nasty comment he, apparently, couldn't keep to himself. "I beg you're pardon. Do say that again, if you can."

The guy tsks before repeating himself. "She looks like she's asking for it. Aren't you suppose to tell her when she looks like a slut?" Tsukishima's scowl deepens, but he doesn't have any intention of openly fighting him.

Instead, he smirks before eyeing him and his girlfriend beside him, up and down, before telling a nasty comment of his own. "I could say the same to you and your girlfriend. It seems like the only thing you can attract are sluts, but my girlfriend isn't your type, sorry."

He walks away with a triumphant smirk on his face when they guy's face visibly drops. He looks back to see you with a saddened look on your face, but he doesn't leave you hanging. "You look amazing, ok? Just because someone's blind, doesn't mean they're right."

❁𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢

When he sees you in that dress, he lets out this sly whistle, making you blush as he feels inspired to tell you many compliments, your outfit perfect for the summer, as Tendou would say. And, with a positive attitude, the two of you would leave the house

Tendou is used to other people commenting his own appearance, but he's used to ignoring them and talking back at their nasty attitude. On the other hand, he minds a lot when someone has something to say about his girlfriend, like for today example

"Oi, redhead, tell your girlfriend to cover up!" He'd hear a male voice yell above the crowd and he looks over, tall figure looming over the others and straight onto the person with the ride comment. "Hm? Are you talking about my girlfriend?"

"Of course I am. Look at her, she's dressed like she's asking for it." Now, if it were a comment about him, Tendou wouldn't care at all, but because the comment was directed to you, Tendou couldn't keep his cool for long. He's ready to give this guy a lesson in 'let's see how strong a volleyball player really is', but your tight grip on his arm makes him settle back

If there's something Tendou is good at, it's talking back and having nasty comments of his own. "I feel like you're talking about your own girlfriend, who's standing there by your side like a cheap ass hooker. So, look at yours first before commenting on others."

Tendou walks away before the guy can recover from the comment and he diverts hia attention to you, seeing you obviously sad and offended. "You look beautiful, trust me. He's an asshole, he can't find anyone better than a cheap hooker."

[quietmyfearswith]

i’ll drive ; august walker x fem!reader 2/3

status — completed series

word count —  5,933 words

warnings — SMUT, unprotected penetrative sex, soft!august, confused!august

pairing — august walker x fem!reader

a/n — so i had driving lessons last september and thought abt how wow it would make a great story if a driving instructor fell for their student,, and the og idea had in mind was that for a dark fic i might still do one though idk but i never really knew which character to do it for. then i was like what if he was pretending to be a driving instructor and since i just watched mi fallout sometime last month thought id be perfect for august!! sorry i couldn’t publish this any faster, had some things going on offline so yeah lmk what you think of this chapter. there’s only one chapter left!  Y/F/N = your father’s name

masterlist | series masterlist

“You want me to do what?” August scoffed as he read the mission file he was handed. Sloane raised a hand to the other agent who was about to explain it again; she knew that the Hammer would more likely accept the mission if she convinced him.

“We want you to pose as a driving instructor; from there you’ll be assigned to Y/N. Her father is Nick Roberts; do you recall who he is?” Nodding, August placed the folder on the desk and looked at Sloane with a scowl, “Yeah, I do. He transports Perez’ drugs and firearms in and out of the country; possibly close ties to even more underground activity.” 

“Suspected of transporting,” The other agent — August didn't bother remembering his name since he rarely got to work with him anyway — clarified. “And how will me posing as a driving instructor get us to Nick Roberts?”

“Nick Roberts is just an alias; his real name is Y/F/N, and the one you’ll be assigned in teaching is his daughter. You get close to her, you’ll be able to get to Roberts.” It seemed like too big of a stretch, August quietly reflected; what if she cut ties with her father? What if he really wasn’t her father?

“Considering this is the only lead we have so far on Perez’ case, I’ll do it,” He eventually conceded; Sloane was pleased with that as she smiled, “Very well, take that case file with you to familiarize yourself with Y/N. Your lessons with her will be from Monday to Friday, the whole of next week. Understood?”

With a nod, he grabbed the case file and stood up to exit the room. Heading to his office, he figured that it was best to find out what he can about this Y/N. He read about how she had graduated college and has been steadily working in her chosen profession. Since the separation of her parents she lived with her dad, and by the looks of it has a close bond with him. It was amusing to him how someone of her age still doesn’t know how to drive; but nevertheless it was a blessing in disguise that she didn’t since it helped with their case.

Though her case file had her passport and driving permit photo, August made a reckless decision to look up if she had any social media accounts; and she did. It wasn’t usual for him to look up their target’s social media accounts — in the past he would settle for the provided picture on the mission reports and from there familiarize himself with what they looked like — but there was an itch he needed to scratch. There was something about Y/N that motivated him to look at her photos, thankfully her account was on public. “Can’t wait to see you soon, love.”

Henry James was his alias for this mission and here he was leaning against the parked car as he was waiting for Y/N. He held his breath once the door opened and revealed a girl in a romper. “Hi! Are you Henry?” She was too cheerful in her greeting he noted; perhaps that had something to do with how young and innocent she was. Nodding sternly, “See anyone else beside me, sweetheart?”

She giggled at his remark as she tucked her hair behind her ear — a nervous habit she’d develop. “Go ahead and settle yourself on the front seat.” She nodded and made her way over to the driver’s seat. As she sat down, she placed her bag on the console, “You have your learning permit?” She grabbed the piece of paper that was in the pocket of her romper and handed it over to him; he thanked her as grabbed it and filled out the information he had, “Do you know what to do once you get in the car and onto the driver’s seat?” 

“Adjust the seat, adjust the mirrors, check the lights, and make sure I have gas,” She listed out as she did all of those. Clicking the pen once he’s filled in the necessary information he turned to her with a raised brow, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Looking around her, she tried her best to recall the driving lessons she took and when nothing seemed missing to her she just shook her head no with a slight pout — August originally thought was a childish and foolish expression but she just made it look downright adorable.

Y/N held her breath as Henry leaned over to her so close that their noses nearly touched and his fingertips brushed against her skin as he grabbed the seatbelt, dragging it across her to click it in its place. She didn’t expect him to get that close to her, but she certainly wasn’t complaining when it gave her an up close view of how good he looked in that polo shirt; and the man too was surprised at his sudden move — he was debating with himself that he only did so to ensure her safety, just so she’d be alive and share about her father’s whereabouts, but there was this part of him that was convinced that he just wanted a reason to be close to her. “You’re forgetting the most important safety precaution, sweetheart; and that’s to wear your seatbelt.”

Smiling nervously at him she apologized to which he simply grunted at, “I trust you know how to start the engine?” Her confident persona surfaced, her right hand turned the key to start the car as her left hand rested on the wheel. “What do you need to do before pulling away?”

“Check the mirrors for any oncoming vehicles,” She glanced at the rear and side view mirrors, “Look over to your blind spot,” Twisting her head to look over her shoulder and verify that there was no one or nothing that was incoming, “Signal then drive away.” Turning on her signal light, she put the car from park to drive and began leaving her front yard.

August was impressed with her — for someone who was such a fumbling mess earlier was really focused on driving; he thought that was rare for a beginning driver, as they were far too excited at the thought of getting to go anywhere they wanted. “Good job. I have to say your focus is impeccable as well,” His compliment got her nervously saying thanks. “What’s the speed limit for residential areas?”

“30 kilometers per hour; Do I Just go straight?” They were nearing an intersection and she was told, “Yeah go straight; we’re not leaving the neighborhood just yet.” She nodded and just before she got to cross the intersection she hit the brakes smoothly as there was a stop sign. “One car there, still empty there,” Y/N took note as she moved her head left and right to check the traffic situation.

Once the road was clear she drove straight ahead and her instructor applauded her, “When you take the test, don’t be afraid to talk to yourself like that if it helps. And don’t forget to check if there was already a car from the opposite direction with a stop sign; know why?”

She nodded firmly as her eyes shifted from the road ahead, the rear view mirror, and the speedometer, “Because then they’d have right of way.” August noticed how the tone of her voice would differ; during the earlier part of their interaction, it was soft and low, but now as they drove around it was loud and clear. “When is your driver’s exam again?” He knew when she’d take it — he just thought that by asking that he’d somehow be able to milk information regarding her father.

“This Saturday,” She responded and it seemed that she was nervous about it given how her voice lowered again. “Turn right at the next intersection,” He ordered her. Seeing that she had no stop signs in her direction, she turned on the signal light and moved to the appropriate lane. Once she checked that there were no pedestrians crossing, moved to complete her turn.

“Notice how there weren’t any stop signs on two sides and yet there were on the two?” When she nodded he quizzed her again, “What does that mean?” Before answering him there were kids who were about to cross and she stepped on the brakes, coming to a complete stop and smiled as she signaled for the kids to cross. As she waved at the kids who smiled and yelled thank you she answered him, “Means that I have the right of way; even if someone arrives from the directions with stop signs they have to wait for me to pass before going on.”

“It’s great that you know the answers, some don’t,” He fed her some bullshit to which she bought as she softly laughed. “Well I don’t want to have to retake the exam,” Her lack of use of the word again caught his attention and was quick to ask about it, “This is really your first time taking the test?”

She nodded yes as she stopped at a four way stop, allowing a pickup truck that stopped before her. “How come?” Pressing her foot on the gas, she brought the car forward as she explained, “I don’t know really. My dad usually brings me to places or I take the public transport.” Bingo, August thought, here’s a chance to know more about his whereabouts. “And now? You’re dad can’t take you? Turn left on the next intersection.”

Nodding, she checked the pedestrian if there was someone crossing and stopped at the stop sign to check for any oncoming vehicles, “He’s so busy with work that he can’t. Especially now that he’s out of town.” Not enough information, August thought; but he thought that by asking more questions he’d come off as too nosy. “Do you know how to park uphill and downhill?” 

“I know which direction I have to turn the wheels to but I haven’t done that yet,” He nodded and instructed her on what to do. After teaching her how to do so properly, they took a break as August made some pointers over the things he observed as she drove. “It’s good that you keep your eyes moving around to check your surroundings; but don’t stay focused on one place for too long.”

Looking over at her, his heart beat fast with how her eyes looked wide and eager — and somehow he adored how innocent she looked, as she had no idea on what kind of world she got herself involved in ; it distracted him for a while but he managed to tear his gaze on her as he cleared his throat, “But sometimes you turn your signal light on too early, so be careful of that. And don’t stop too far from the stop line, that gives you demerit points.”

She nodded and took a mental note of everything he said, “What about with my parking?” Henry opened the door to check the distance of the car from the pavement, “You hill parking is good so far; not too close or too far. Think you can do parallel parking on that car on the next street?” Y/N eyes followed to where his finger pointed to a sedan that was parked, “Might need some help.”

Appreciating her honesty August reassured her, “Don’t worry I’ll guide you through it.” With his words she began to leave where she was parked and crossed the intersection. Once she was helped on the parallel parking process, her instructor beamed at her, “Good job, Y/N!”

“Thanks for your help, Henry,” The agent admittedly was caught off guard at the name she used— his dumb ass nearly corrected her and told him that wasn’t his name — he blamed it with how sweetly yet shyly she thanked him so that made him lose his concentration. “No worries,” He gruffly replied, which had Y/N found was odd with how his mood seemed to shift given his tone. 

“Why don’t we head back home but let’s go through the main road; know the speed limit over there?” She nodded her head as she answered, “60 kilometers per hour, but by Hammonds Avenue it reduces to 50.” Satisfied he rubbed his hands over his thighs, “Fantastic! Get on with it, love.”

Her breath hitched at the name he called her and she paused for a second before pulling away; August too had no idea where that came from but he just couldn’t help himself. The rest of the drive on the way home was filled with stiff and tortuous silence; the radio was not turned on since the agent deemed it would distract her from driving. “Do an uphill parking over here,” He pointed to her front porch. She nodded and poked her tongue out a bit as she concentrated on the task at hand. “Okay, now neutral, then all the way to the left.”

When she felt the tire hit the curb she smiled brightly and turned to Henry, “All done.” The proud expression on her face was so captivating that despite holding himself back he couldn’t prevent himself from mirroring her proud expression with a genuine smile, “You did well today, Y/N. Maybe next time you’ll be the one bringing your dad to work.”

August kept his fingers crossed that his jab would provide him with more information about it; and she partially did, “Not anytime soon though; he’s not due back for at least two weeks.” Despite being disappointed at the vague information he managed not to physically display it as he nodded, “Oh that’s too bad then,” He faked sympathy and unbuckled his seatbelt as she did the same, “Same time tomorrow for our lesson okay?” 

Nodding her head up and down, she grabbed her bag from the console and checked the road before exiting. “See you tomorrow, Henry,” She waved as they passed by each other as he walked over to the driver’s side. When their skins brushed, they both could feel a rush of electricity and it made Y/N nervously giggle and skipped away from him without even looking back at him due to how embarrassed she was. 

Whereas on the other hand August was confused; he never met someone who made him feel this way. The way she was looking or smiling at him had him weak in the knees; which was something he never experienced before. As she was swiftly entering her home, the Hammer found himself watching her as she did so; just need to make sure she gets home safely, he convinced himself. Though the rational part of himself argued back idiot, she’s already on her porch! What possible harm can come to her?

Once she got inside he finally got in the car and fished out his phone from the glove compartment to connect it to the radio and call Sloane as he began driving to his temporary apartment. After a few rings she picked up, “Walker? How was the first day?”

“Not too bad. Got some minimal information about Roberts,” He could hear faint footsteps on Sloane’s end of the call and inferred she had just gotten back from a meeting. “What have you found out then?”

“Apparently he’s out of town,” His boss’ disappointment with the information was heard through her long sigh, “Any idea when will he return? And to where he is?” He shook his head as he spoke, “Y/N said at least two weeks before he comes back from work out of town.” 

“Well that can’t be good,” No shit, August wanted to add but kept silent. “Is there any way you can remain in contact with Y/N even after your week of driving lessons are done?” Glaring at his phone the agent voiced his disbelief at what he was hearing, “Why should I pursue this lead? Can’t there be any other way to get to Roberts? What about his associates?”

Sloane let out an irritated sigh — one she rarely had to let out when she was talking to her best agent because he usually got the job done — before explaining, “His associates change; they come and go. We never really found a certain person or persons he works with. Y/N is the only constant person in his life and so if anything really she’s our only hope of bringing him in.” The silence from August’s end indicated that she got through his head.

“Now, is there any way you can remain in contact with Y/N even after your week of driving lessons?” He was now parked in the car park of his temporary base and he thought for a few seconds on how to answer her question. Call it impulsivity or whatever, but before he could even clearly think things through he found himself suggesting, “Perhaps I can ask her out on a date?”

In the years they’ve worked together, Sloane was always impressed and surprised with how August managed to accomplish each mission he assigned her successfully. But this one in particular, he surprised her with his suggestion; heck even August himself couldn’t believe the words that just left his mouth. “I just think that’s the cleanest way to play this one out,” He tried to defend his suggestion, “What other reason would a driving instructor have to remain in contact with their student right?”

The Hammer was cursing himself out with how feeble his justification was; Sloane on the other hand did find herself agreeing with him, “Do what you must.”

The rest of the week went by quickly and Y/N found herself looking forward to every driving lesson she had with her gorgeous instructor. And now that it was the last hour of the last day of their driving lessons, she couldn’t help but wish she got more time to spend with him. In the back of her mind she thought about failing the test in hopes that he’d help her out again. But then it would backfire quick if they sent a different instructor instead.

“Parallel park one last time with that Dodge over there,” His instructions brought her back from the plan she was hatching and going through. As she was executing his instructions, she failed to notice how instead of looking at what she was doing, Henry was observing every facial expression she was completing the task at hand. “There! How was that?” Her eyes staring back at him snapped him out of his entranced stare as he blinked a few times, “Oh well,” He opened the car door to check if the tires hit the curb and how far they were from the curb, “Good job, as usual. Though be careful when you turn the wheel to the right.”

She nodded slowly as she repeated his comment, “How do you feel about your exam tomorrow?” At the mention of her dreaded test she groaned a bit and he chuckled softly — he never saw her this stressed about the test in their previous lessons, so seeing her react this way was somewhat amusing to him. She looked at him with her lips slightly pouting and the skin in her forehead all wrinkled up, “I’m nervous about it; but at the same time I feel like I can do it?”

Henry’s left hand settled itself on her forearm as he affectionately rubbed her, as if he were trying to rid her of the stress and anxieties, “You’re gonna do great, love. Just calm yourself down before taking the test and don’t be afraid to talk to yourself as you drive if it helps you focus.” Y/N’s heartbeat sped up with how gentle he was; over the course of their lessons he came across as stern and rigid but this side of him was something she could get used to.

“How ‘bout you drive back home now, yeah?” She nodded and did so without trouble. August remembered how her father was gone and wondered who’d bring her to the test, “By the way, since you mentioned you dad was out of town, who’ll go with you then?”

Timidly smiling to herself she admitted, “I’ve asked some of my friends, but they all said how they had their own plans. I was gonna ask some of my coworkers and see how that goes.” Clicking his tongue with how unprepared she was, his mouth spit out, “Well how about I go with you then?” Before his brain could even analyze if that was the right thing to say.

Seeing as Y/N was driving she could only briefly glance at him, “You want to take me to the test?” August now backed himself against a wall and couldn’t find a way out, to hell with it, he thought to himself. “Way better than you driving illegally is it not?”

“That is true,” Y/N acknowledged, “But do you do that for all of your students?” Henry let out a laugh and her heart fluttered with how deep it was before he remarked, “Not for everyone, sweetheart, I’ll tell you that.” Feeling cocky with that she mused, “Then I must be special then?”

If you only knew, love, August thought to himself; while Y/N was scolding at herself for possibly flirting with her driving instructor. But technically he wouldn’t be on the day of her exam because their lessons ended, right? “Wanna know how special you really are?” He leaned his elbow on the console, bringing himself closer to her and he sensed how she held her breath as her body stiffened. Shaking her head was the only response she could offer as she was now focusing on parking the car in front of her house. 

After coming to a halt she turned over to him and looked at him with curious eyes; Henry then took it as his cue to speak, “You’re so special that should you pass your exam tomorrow, I want to take you out on a date.” Her eyes widened comically that August thought she was an inspiration for a cartoon character. And the agent wasn’t sure if what he was saying was spoken out of desperation for the mission to succeed or because he had taken interest in her.

It had taken her a few seconds before replying and the agent was surprised when she said, “Are you shitting me or is this actually real?” He rid the smirk he had on his face and replaced it with a serious expression, “This is real, sweetheart. Do you think I go around and grace my students with nicknames?” He took her avoiding eyes as a no and his hand grabbed her chin to get her to face him directly, “So do we have a deal, sweetheart? I take you out right after your test for a date, if you pass?”

August held his breath as she unhooked his hand from her chin and leaned over him, planting a kiss on his cheek. His blue eyes were now wide as she had a toothy grin once she pulled away and with a smirk of her own said, “We have a deal, Henry.”

August found himself tapping his leg as he stared at the wall clock, hoping that his domineering stare would make time go faster. Thirty minutes had passed since Y/N started her driving exam and the agent found himself reevaluating in the meantime. Was asking her out on a date the only way to get close to Roberts?

Of course it was, he thought, She said her father will return in two weeks. You’d only have to go out with her once a week and somehow bring him into their conversation and hopefully milk out more intel about him.

Seeing a man dressed in a flannel-patterned polo reeled him back into the present; trailing behind the man was Y/N who had a blank expression on her face. Furrowing his eyebrows he mouthed, “What happened?” Anxiety coursed through his body but it quickly left his body as she winked at him and turned to follow the man. “Do you want to retain your picture from your permit or want to take another one?” He overheard the man ask Y/N, prompting August to relax and smile as he connected the dots — she passed her exam! 

But as he was mentally celebrating her success he found himself thinking about how he now had to take her out on the date he promised. It’s just for work, he deliberated, only going out with her to know more about her father. Nothing more, nothing less. However there was this thought nagging him on the back of his head that it wasn’t just for that reason he was taking her out.

Henry groaned as her lips sucked on the sweet spot on his neck as her nails were planted on his shoulders. His large hands alternated between squeezing and rubbing her ass as she grinded herself on his lap.

They found themselves in this situation after Y/N giddily squealed at August how she passed; the agent kissed her forehead as he told her how proud he was of her. As they went to their date he let her drive and as he settled on the passenger seat, his hand rested on her thigh, testing the waters to see if she was comfortable with it — and by the way her thighs pressed against each other, caging in his hand between them, he got the message that she welcomed it happily.

Even throughout the dinner, they both couldn’t get enough of each other. The skin of their arms remained so close to each other that it was as if they were glued to each other. Y/N was beginning to think that the only reason Henry ordered pasta was so he could eat with a single hand so his opposite hand can rest on her thigh. But she wasn’t complaining as she rested her thigh above his.

As they drove back to her place one thing led to another and it ended with Y/N climbing over the console and situating herself on Henry’s lap as their mouths captured each other’s. Y/N unbuttoned his shirt as her lips littered his chest with kisses, she’d linger sometimes in a certain spot long enough to leave marks. 

Rolling her hips in his lap, she felt his hard on pressing against her clothed crotch and moaned against his skin. When her dainty fingers were done unclasping the buttons that confined his toned and broad upper body, her hand travelled lower to palm his bulge and before she could open the zipper Henry caught her roaming hand with his, “I think doing this in your house is far better than some cramped up vehicle; don’t you think?”

A blissed out nod was all the response Y/N could give; with that affirmation August opened the door and carried the girl out and shut the car door with his foot. With her legs wrapped around his waist, she planted kisses all over her instructor’s face. She whined as she was put down but understood that it was her cue to unlock the door; though the man behind her was not making the task easy as he was nipping at the skin of her neck and his hands were rubbing her arms.

“Fucking finally,” August rasped out as Y/N managed to unlock the front door and they both hastily entered and the agent shut and locked the door behin him; he spun her to face him so he could rip off her shirt and he smirked as the girl whimpered, clearly turned on with what he did. “Such a naughty girl you are, aren’t you? Going out without even covering these nice tits.” Wrapping his mouth around a breast, she ran her fingers through his hair to encourage him with what he was doing. Without detaching his mouth from her tit and instead switching between the two, he took the initiative to lead them into her couch. 

Pushing her to lie on her back, August rid himself of his clothes; he was moving too quickly that Y/N didn’t have the time to take a good look at his chiseled body. Hovering above her, he smirked at her once he noticed her thighs were clenching, “You’re a desperate little thing, aren’t you?”

Pathetically nodding she grabbed at his shoulders, “Please touch me, Henry.” Snarking at her he tore her leggings and her panties had the same fate. Now that she was just as exposed as he was, August leaned down to lick downwards from her clit and to her pussy. “You taste heavenly, love.” He lapped at her more, needing to quench his thirst for her and curiosity of what she would taste like. “As much as I adore your taste I’m afraid this will have to wait,” Pushing away her legs that wrapped around his neck, he kissed his way up until he was face to face with her.

“Why not?” She whined as she clawed at his back, moaning as she felt the plain of his back muscles. He distracted her by kissing her deeply as his hand stroked his cock a few times before sliding it in her in one stroke. “That’s why,” He huskily answered against her lips; he moved so his knees touched her thighs, allowing him to rut into her properly.

August removed his lips from hers as he instead planted kisses on her neck as his hands toyed with her nipples and breasts; Y/N, on the other hand, was whining about how good he felt. The skin at the back of her thighs was rippling as he thrusted himself in and out of her rapidly and harshly; the top of his thighs hitting against the back of hers, “You feel so good, Henry. So thick and hard inside me.” The man smirked at her wails, loving how wrecked she sounded — in the back of his nasty brain he noted that this was his favorite version of her.

Her hands held onto his biceps, nails leaving harsh marks on his pale and sweaty skin; it turned August even more how her delicate hands couldn’t even wrap half the size of his arm. Her velvet and silk-like walls were squeezing into his cock so tight that it was triggering his orgasm already — the agent would usually last longer, but given how turned on he was coupled with the fact the past week edged him, he was already close to unloading his bottled up frustrations.

“You already got me almost cumming,” He hoarsely whispered in her ear, feeling her wrap her legs around him to pull her closer against him. That didn’t stop him from slamming into her pussy to the point his trimmed pubic hair rubbed against her clit, adding more friction and pleasure for the both of them. “Seems like you are too, love,” Both her nipples were then squeezed to tease her even more and August was just even more amused with how responsive her precious body was underneath him.

“Please Henry, make me cum. I wanna feel your cum all over me too,” She managed to gasp out in between breaths; the man above her growled when he heard how good she sounded as she begged and had no choice but to comply. He leaned down to suckle on her nipple as the other breast was being toyed by his hand. Her clit too received attention as it was being rubbed and pinched with his other hand. As his hips slammed against her thighs harshly and his cock railed her in swift and sharp thrusts, Y/N could only moan and roll her eyes at the simulations she was receiving.

The only warning she could provide him of her impending orgasm was her patting against his biceps as her walls unexpectedly clung to his dick tighter than ever and came around him. August didn’t relent and continued his animalistic pace, milking her orgasm and removing his mouth from her tit to stare at her blissed out and drowsy state provoked his orgasm as well.

“Fucking hell, love,” He groaned out as he slid in all the way inside her and didn’t thrust furthermore as he spilled his load inside her. With their foreheads touching against each other, they breathed against each other to calm themselves down. Y/N’s hands removed themselves from Henry’s biceps; instead she was now stroking his back, as if coaxing the large man above her to calm down. While August rested his hands on her sides, as if memorizing every inch of her skin.

Y/N squealed as she was being lifted up and carried into her bedroom. Contrary to how she was laid down on the couch roughly, her former driving instructor laid her down gently. Kissing her forehead he went to her ensuite bathroom and returned with a towel. Y/N looked at him with loving eyes as he wiped off their combined juices that spilled out of her delicious cunt. Throwing the towel on her hamper, he then laid beside her and August chuckled lightly with how quick the girl was to latch herself onto him for a cuddle — and he did open his arms to welcome her and wrapped them around her smaller figure.

“I hope you don’t do this with all your students?” Her comment had him humorously rolling his eyes and Y/N giggled at his antics. “No, I don’t, love. I promise,” He even held his pinky up for a pinky promise and she was more than eager to latch her pinky with his; bringing their tangled pinkies to his mouth, Henry placed a gentle kiss on them before untangling them so they could hold hands instead. “Well I guess I’m really special?”

Nodding, he lowered his head down a bit so he could kiss her deeply and passionately. Breaking their kiss August replied, “So special that I want to take you out again next week,” Without even disconnecting their lips.

Y/N sleepily mumbled, “I’d like that a lot, Henry.” Her eyes were starting to feel heavy and August kissed her forehead again, “Sleep, love. I’ll be here in the morning.” She nodded against him and did so. For the next few minutes, the CIA agent reflected his actions and decisions. He told Sloane that he’d ask Y/N out on a date only to remain in contact with her. That was it — a date.

But how the hell did he end up enjoying the date — let alone her company and herself — and then taking her to bed? This was a mess. He shouldn’t have slept with her for it would just complicate things. When August saw how she was steadily breathing, he moved out of the bed and rested her head on a pillow. He went out to her living room to look for his pants that he earlier discarded; grabbing for his phone he sent out a text to Sloane :

Secured a meetup with Y/N next week. Will try to fish out more information about Roberts.

He turned off his phone and put it back in his pocket. As he was staring at his scattered clothes, he was debating whether he should stay the night with Y/N or just leave right now. Even though he knew which option seemed like the most logical, he surprised himself. He went back to bed and cuddled Y/N close as he too began to drift off to dormancy — he stayed.

[hotrod2007]

focal point

i wrote a buddie fic abt buck being reckless and eddie being stressed <3 i owe all my thanks and love to robin for encouraging me to write it she owns my heart mwah! (here is the link if u would like to read it on ao3 maybe n drop a kudos or a comment even 😳)

Bobby’s hand slaps against Eddie’s back as he hurries them towards the exit. He’s sure Bobby is yelling at him to move faster, hurry, but over the building collapsing behind them, Eddie can’t hear much else besides his own labored breathing. Hen and Chim are ducking their heads, barreling forward in front of him, and he trusts that Buck is following closely behind Bobby. They’re so close to the exit, he can see the flashing lights of trucks and engines from the other stations, and the closer they get, the more the smoke thins, and breathing gets a bit easier.

Bobby practically pushes him out of the small exit when they reach it, and he slams into Hen’s back, and they both fall through the opening with a shout and then take several deep breaths as they inhale fresh air as much and as quickly as they can. Eddie’s staring up at the sky, mask off, letting himself breathe before remembering he has to get up and move farther away from the building, but as he gets up he sees Bobby arguing with Buck at the threshold of the building. Before he can think he’s on his feet and walking towards them as fast as he can – he knows what Buck’s doing.

“I heard someone, Bobby!” Buck shouts, his voice is raspy from the bad air and it cracks. “I have to go back!”

“Buck, no! It’s too dangerous! The building is becoming less and less stable the longer we stand here. Come on!” Bobby points towards the line the police have marked off, Chim and Hen stand by it, watching them, trying to decipher what’s going on.

“Exactly! So I should go now!” Buck counters and Eddie wants to pick him up, throw him over his shoulder, and march back to the safety barrier.

“Buck do not–” Eddie steps towards him and reaches out, but Buck cuts him off.

“You know I have to do this, I’m sorry.” Buck gives them both a pained look before turning and running back into the haze of smoke and fire.

“Buck!” Eddie hears two other voices yell in unison with him, but he’s the only one Bobby is dragging away.

Hen and Chim are trying to push past the officers at the barrier, stressing that they need to get to Eddie and Bobby. Eddie distantly hears them arguing, but he’s too busy trying to break free from Bobby’s grip to pay attention to what exactly is being said. He’s yelling and twisting, but Bobby won’t let go of him, and he watches the rectangle Buck ran through getting smaller and smaller. In a last-ditch effort to get out, he stills and feels Bobby’s hands relax for a second, and in that second Eddie throws his full body weight forward and just barely slips through Bobby’s fingers.

He takes maybe three steps before he stops in his tracks, staring forward in horror.

The building gives a giant moan. Eddie freezes. The front collapses. Time stops. The sound of the flames gets louder. Time begins again.

In his peripheral, he sees Bobby grind to a halt next to him, he imagines a similar look of horror sits on his face. The only exit now sits in front of them, burning, and smoke billows out of the windows surrounding it.

Before he can process what’s happening, police officers are pushing him back, shoving at his shoulders causing him to gracelessly stumble backward. His eyes don’t leave the building. Buck is in there. Buck is in there. With no way out. The last thought makes him want to be sick.

He’s guided to the 118 engine where he meets Chim, Hen, and Bobby gathered around a radio, exchanging worried glances.

“Buck?” Hen says into the radio. “Buck?” She tries again.

“Anything?” Eddie bounds up to them, breathless, pushing down the sick feeling in his gut and trying to focus on what he can do at this moment.

Hen opens her mouth, presumably to say no, but the radio crackle interrupts her.

“-en? Hen?” Comes Buck’s voice through the tiny speaker. “Hen, I can hear you.” Buck’s voice sounds tired and worse than it did the less than two minutes ago Eddie had seen him.

Hen briefly rests her forehead against the radio and lets out a small sigh of relief. Bobby and Chim both look up and give short relieved breaths. Eddie stays focused on the radio, watching the red light blink. As long as that light is blinking, Buck is okay. That’s what he keeps telling himself. Red light means he’s alright. It becomes his new mantra that he chants in his head over and over again.

“Are you okay?” Hen asks, biting her lip with worry after letting the talk button go.

It takes a second, but Buck replies, “I’m okay. I was right, though. Tell Bobby I was right.” And Eddie can practically hear his shit-eating grin, which makes him relax a bit.

“You can tell me yourself when you get your ass out of the building,” Bobby replies, leaning forward a bit so he can be closer to the radio while Hen holds it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck replies. “Hey Eddie, I found a new best friend,” Buck jokes, but his voice is tighter than it is when he’s usually joking around. Eddie knows this tone, they all do, he’s trying to play it cool for whoever he’s with.

Eddie plays along. “Oh yeah?” He tries to sound light and happy when he says it, but his voice gives out at the end and he knows he’s doing a shit job of covering up his stress.

“Yeah. Her name’s Audrey, and she’s the coolest third grader I’ve ever met.” Eddie imagines Buck gently kneeling with her, letting her use his mask and air.

Bobby leans back in, so Hen presses down on the talk button again for him. “Hey, Buck,” he begins, “The exit collapsed.” There’s silence for a moment, and they all hold their breath. Then comes the crackle from the other end.

“Yeah.” Buck sighs, his voice closer to the radio and quieter than before. “I heard it.”

“What’s your exit plan?” Bobby responds.

“Uh, right now, I’m trying to get to the other side of the first floor and find a window, and get,” Buck pauses to take a few slow breaths, “Audrey out, and then I’ll follow her.”

Okay. He has a plan. He knows where he needs to go, and a general sense of direction. That’s comforting to know.

“Be safe, Buck,” Chim tells him and his voice is hard, and they all know it’s more of a command than a well-wish. Briefly, Eddie wonders if he’s told Maddie about what Buck did.

“You know me, caution is my middle name.” And that time Buck sounded like himself again. “I’m gonna start moving Audrey and me towards the other side of the building. Radio me if something changes.”

Eddie’s stomach sinks at the thought of not talking to Buck on his radio for several minutes, but instead pushes it down and takes Hen’s radio into his own hands and says, “That goes the same for you.”

“We’ll be extra careful for you, Eddie.” Buck radios back. He hears Audrey muffled in the background, and then Buck says, “Audrey made me promise her that we won’t get hurt, so now I’m going to be extra safe.”

Eddie hands the radio back to Hen and they all turn to face the building, the fire spreading despite having hoses from three different stations trained on it. All he has to do is get from one side to the other.

The captain from one of the other stations jogs up to Bobby and asks for his help on something, and Bobby gives him a clap on the shoulder and a head nod before he heads off with the captain. Chim peels away from him and Hen to go call Maddie and update her about what’s going on, and Eddie’s selfishly glad he won’t have to listen to Chim talk Maddie out of coming down here and storming in herself – he can’t handle the added stress.

“He’ll be okay, Eddie,” Hen says, giving him a soft look. “He’s done shit like this before, he’ll be okay.”

“I’m gonna kick his ass when I see him again,” Eddie says and he bites the inside of his cheeks to keep himself from crying. His eyes are stinging and his vision is blurring, and the last thing he needs right now is a meltdown.

Hen laughs a bit, and she looks down at the ground and kicks at some loose gravel. “You two are gonna be the death of me.”

They fall into an easy silence for a few moments, and Eddie opens his mouth to say something in response to that – to shrug it off, to point out her poor choice of words – when they hear shouting, and they both run out to stand in front of the trucks and engines to try and get an idea of what’s going on. He hears the creaking again, but before he can register what’s happening, Hen’s radio crackles to life.

Buck’s voice comes through, “Eddie–!” and just as soon as Eddie was flooded with relief, dread replaces it as Buck is cut off and the line goes silent.

They both hear a crash and their heads fly up from the radio, and they watch, panicked, as another section of the building collapses right in the direction Buck was heading. A truck turns its water on the newly collapsed part, and people are shouting directions around them. He and Hen both look down at the radio at the same time.

There’s no red blinking light.

Eddie feels the color drain from his face. Hen looks up at him, her eyes wide with fear and brows furrowed. Chim runs up to them and before he can say anything, Hen just lifts the radio towards him.

“Maddie’s driving down.” He sounds as if he’s realizing she might be driving to the scene of her brother’s death. “I couldn’t stop her.”

Bobby rounds the corner of a truck and his eyes catching on the radio Hen is limply holding in her hand. “I know you guys are worried about Buck, I’m worried about him too, but we’re still on the job and there’s still people to look after and care for.” He’s using his Captain Voice and Eddie knows his heart is as close to breaking as theirs if just one more thing goes wrong. The three of them look at Bobby, exhausted, but ready to listen. “Hen, Chim, go to the ambulances and help them attend to the people there.” He nods at them and they split off, hustling towards the few ambulances remaining to take care of those with minor scrapes and bruises. “Eddie,” he turns his head to Bobby at the mention of his name, “You need to be here, present, mentally. We aren’t any good to him just standing here, staring at the building, okay?” Eddie mutley nods at him. “Good. I need you with me. We’re going to talk to the other captains about what to do next.” Bobby turns and walks away from Eddie without looking back, and Eddie hurries after him.

There’s so much noise going on all around him – news choppers, reporters, police yelling at people to stay back, people shouting, the fire, the hoses – but all Eddie can focus on is the clear and heavy absence of Buck. He pulls his radio out of his jacket pocket and clips it to his shoulder, watching for that blinking red light.

The other captains are gathered around the back of one of the engines, slightly hidden from view of the building, but Eddie adjusts himself so he can still see it. He doesn’t know how long he stands in the circle with Bobby and the others, just staring at the fire, trying to will Buck to stumble out of it, but he rejoins the conversation when Bobby slightly shoves his shoulder with his own.

“We need more water. More engines, more trucks, just more.” The woman who’s saying this has a patch on her jacket that reads PARKER. “The whole building could come down soon and then we’re really at risk of it spreading.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Asks a man with the name HARRISON patched onto him.

“Radio other districts for help. We need to douse this thing.” Parker explains and Harrison and Bobby nod in agreement. “Then, we move everyone back and prepare for building collapse.”

Eddie frowns when he sees Harrison agreeing again, and shoots a look at Bobby. “But wait, we still have a man in there, Captain Parker.”

“Diaz is right. There’s a firefighter and a little girl still inside.” Bobby calmly explains and Eddie thanks whatever God there is that Bobby’s there to back him up.

“Any word from him?” Harrison asks after a brief silence.

“Not since the second collapse, but–”

“Where was he when it collapsed?” Harrison interrupts him.

Eddie falls silent, so Bobby speaks up, “He was in the general area of it.” Eddie catches the other captains shooting each other knowing looks.

“He’s not dead!” Eddie exclaims and they all turn to him.

“Look at the facts, Diaz. He was near the collapse, you haven’t heard from him in minutes, he was in the area, and he’s probably out of air by now.” Parker tells him matter-of-factly, though her eyes are sad. Her tone softens as she says, “I know this isn’t easy. But we can’t put two lives above everyone else’s.”

Eddie knows she has a point. He knows she’s right. But it’s not just any person, it’s Buck. “We can’t just… we can’t leave him – them – to burn!” And Eddie feels his eyes stinging again. “He’s alive! He has to be.”

Parker turns to Bobby, softness almost gone and commands, “You need to get him in check. This isn’t an easy decision, but it’s what we have to do, and you know it.” She puts her helmet back on, and Harrison follows her lead. “I’m going to make a call to another district. Harrison, I want you to help the police back everyone up.” She gives Bobby one more serious look, and then she’s gone.

“Eddie, what did I tell you earlier.” Bobby turns to him once they’re alone.

“Bobby, I know, but it’s Buck,” Eddie says again like if he keeps saying the words, it’ll explain everything.

“Eddie, we all want –”

“No! No, because it’s different for me!” And Eddie grits his teeth as he feels tears run down his face. “It’s different for me.” He repeats, but softer, and his voice cracks. He’s staring hard at the ground as he leans against the engine.

Bobby pauses before responding. “Eddie, we have to start moving back.” He’s using his Dad Voice on him now and Eddie might laugh if the situation was anything but this. “We don’t have to move fast, we can lag behind. We can stay here as long as we can, but if Buck isn’t… but when the building comes down, we’re at risk.”

“He has to be alive, Bobby.” Eddie knows how he sounds – defeated, worn down, desperate. “Because if he isn’t… if this is the time that…” And he trails off, knowing Bobby understands where he was going with it.

Bobby doesn’t say anything else, but he leans against the engine with Eddie, watching police move the barricades and moving people back. They’ll have to drag Eddie kicking and screaming from where he’s standing.

Eventually, Parker makes her way back to them and fixes Eddie with an unimpressed look, and only addresses Bobby while she talks, “You have to move. We’re backing everything up now, and last to move is apparently this engine, a truck, and you two.”

Eddie opens his mouth to argue with her, ready to lament about how he won’t move unless she can pick him up herself when he sees a shape moving in the smoke and haze. He doesn’t let himself get his hopes up, not yet, it could be someone that was doing a last-minute look at the building to assess it. But then he sees a smaller figure slide off the first figure, and then they’re both running towards the lights as fast as they can, and Eddie’s so relieved he wants to scream. So he does.

“Buck!” He shouts and Buck takes Audrey’s hand and leads her towards Eddie and Bobby.

Parker’s head twists around fast and before Eddie can be smug about being right, she’s yelling for someone from the ambulances to come get the girl. Hen and Chim are heard before Eddie can see them, he’s zeroed in on Buck.

His face is covered in ash and there’s a sizable gash across his left cheek and his chin, but he’s smiling and telling Audrey something as he runs over. It finally clicks into place that Buck’s coming towards him, the little girl in tow, and he starts walking towards Buck without a second thought. Bobby’s telling Parker that they’ll move back in a second and agrees to help her move the engine and truck to appease her, and she takes him around the engine.

Hen and Chim are getting closer and yelling out Buck’s name and some phrases a child probably shouldn’t hear, but Eddie gets it. He’d be yelling too if he wasn’t on the verge of sobbing.

When Hen and Chim get to him, they call him a dumbass before dropping to their knees and asking Audrey if they could pick her up to take her to the ambulances. She nods at them and when they pick her up, Eddie notices that her feet are cut up and she’s wearing a nightgown and feels a pang of sadness. He doesn’t realize he’s stopped walking until he looks at Buck who has also stopped walking and is just staring back at him. He flashes Eddie a smile, scratches the back of his head awkwardly, and that sets Eddie back in motion.

When he’s within arm’s reach of him, Buck throws his hands up and opens his mouth, “Look, Eddie–” But Eddie will never know the end of that sentence.

Because he walks right up to Buck, ignores him trying to talk, and kisses him. He’s gripping the front of Buck’s jacket in his hands and holding on tightly as if he’s worried the fire will pull back in. Buck makes a surprised sound in the back of his throat but quickly wraps his arms around Eddie, pulling him in closer. Buck tastes like the mint gum he was chewing earlier and ash, but Eddie doesn’t care.

Eddie screws his eyes shut as he presses in closer to Buck, and he can feel his face getting wet again from his tears, but it doesn’t matter because he has Buck. He has Buck in his arms and he’s kissing him. He feels Buck’s hand move up to his face and he smiles into their kiss, Buck’s hands cupping his face, and Eddie never thought he’d enjoy feeling small, but right now it’s the best feeling in the world.

Unfortunately, there’s still a burning building at risk of collapsing, so they break apart, Eddie wipes at his eyes and pretends he doesn’t see the fond look Buck is giving him. For a moment, it’s just them standing in silence before Bobby comes over and drags them both back to the new barricade.

“Nothing is ever easy with you two.” He grumbles, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face. He unceremoniously dumps them at the edge of the barricade before he walks off to talk to Athena.

Eddie keeps his eyes staring straight ahead because he can feel Buck smiling at him with his megawatt grin, and he’s trying to play it cool. He glances over at Buck and finds himself grinning back. Playing it cool is overrated anyway.

“So,” Buck says as Eddie turns to face him. Buck’s jacket lays haphazardly at his feet now, and he’s got his arms crossed in front of his chest, eyes bright and smile wide. “Is that gonna happen every time I do something reckless now?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, dropping his jacket to the ground too. Feeling bold, he says, “It doesn’t just have to happen then, you know.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up as if he hadn’t considered that. “I’d like that.” Is all he says.

“Good. Me too.” Eddie feels his cheeks flush a bit.

“Are you blushing?” Buck exclaims. “I made Eddie Diaz blush?”

Eddie tries not to smile, trying to look upset. He fails. “Shut up.”

Buck’s expression schools itself one of confidence, and he drops his arms, taking a step towards Eddie. “Make me.”

If Eddie wasn’t red before, he sure as hell is now. Still, he leans in and whispers, “Okay, Buckley.” Before connecting their lips again.

[ninggvang]

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄, Todo A.

Pronouns : she/her

Warning : none

Summary : You aren't really todo's type but you managed to catch his interest in you.

It was the day before The Kyoto Sister-School Goodwill Event. Unlucky for you, you weren't included in the event, you are somewhat just a stand-by person. Megumi would try to steal glances on you time to time and you would catch him on the act. But anyways back to the present.

Nobara and Megumi, where at the vending machine, trying to get some refreshments after some training. They felt two persons presence besides them, as they stole glances they saw a girl with short hair and and a long turtle neck dress, and a guy with a muscular build with a scar on his face. “What are you doing here, Zenin-senpai?” Nobara furrowed her eyebrows, hearing another zenin in the boy's mouth. “Oh, she's one, too?” The brunette asks. Then added: “They do seem similar. Are they sisters?” The green head girl then answered. “You make me sound the same as Maki.” She then places her hand on her face and winks. “Call me Mai.”

You and the other second years hurried up to go to the two first years, after knowing that two of the Kyoto students came here to harass them. “(Y/N)! You come with me, okay?” Maki demands, to be honest the girl didn't even reply to that, she just hurriedly run. You and Toge immediately arrive at the scene, toge had to stop the bigger man from beating up the poor first year. “Aoi Todo, right?” You spoke bluntly, checking megumi's wound. The female let out a sigh and ball her fist, everyone was just watching at this point. No one have ever seen the second year, (y/n) this furious.

“May I remind you that fushiguro is a human not a..” The unexpected then flash before their eyes, (y/n) had punched todo's face, his nose started bleeding and his cheeks where red. “Fushiguro is not a curse. Let me remind you that.” (Y/N) grab the ravennette's arm and walk away, while the muscular man just stood there, shock on what happened. “Hey! What's your name?!” Todo immediately yelled before you could completely disappear on his sight. You turn your head and smirk. “(Full name). Stuck it up in your mind, big guy.” Then went away with the injured fushiguro.

You just sit at a chair, waiting for fushiguro to get all patched up when maki sat next to you. At first (y/n) assumed that maki was also waiting for fushiguro but no, she packed up all her pride and spoke to her. “You sure have the guts, (y/n).” Maki smiles, looking at your (color) eyes and smirk. “I mean nobara would have done the same if your sister wasn't there.” Spreading your arms and tilting your head backwards. “Sigh.. Do you want to train with us later?” The green haired babe stood up and looks at me for the final time, i wasn't hesitant so i accepted the invitation.

I sat next to inumaki, who is just watching at the two fight. I felt someone tugging my shirt multiple times, my hand reached out to theirs and stare at his beautiful purple eyes. “Yes, inumaki?” The boy avoided gaze at me and points at something— no, it's someone. “Oh!” I immediately stood up and run towards the guy, it was Noritoshi Kamo. “Boo!” The older man got startled by my childish act, he sure will die from a heart attack when you're around. “(Y/N)! Please refrain yourself from doing that around me.” “Okay! So what brings you here big brother?” few people know about you being a Kamo clan, those few peoples are Gojo Satoru, Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, Yuta Okkotsu, Panda and the school faculties. The rest doesn’t know about it because you use the surname 'Arlert' in Public. “I heard from Mai. That you punched Todo real hard.. So i decided to check up on you. Are you hurt anywhere? Did he threaten you or something? You sure do have alot of guts to do that.” He sighed, examining my body.

“I'm fine! And he never done those things. He just asked about my name and that's all.” She smiles nervously, avoiding his brother's suspicion. “If you say so.. I have to go now. Take care, okay?” The female nods and immediately wave her arms up, bidding her goodbye to Kamo. “Mai, sure is a pain in the ass.” Maki spoke behind the girl unconsciously. “EHH—?! M-maki! Please do not creep up on me like that.” Letting out a sigh in relief, knowing it was just her friend, Maki. “Sorry. Couldn't help myself, and also sorry about my little sister with her loud mouth.” (Color) eyes just stared at the girl with those caring gaze, her eyes closed and smile. “It's alright. I mean if it was someone else, they could have also done the same!” Attempting to make the older woman feel a bit relieve. “Oi! Toge, panda. It's getting dark! We should head back now.” Maki yells at the two, she grabs my hand and started heading back.

The stand-by lady is now standing next to fushiguro, she wanted to sleep more since she wasn't really included but it would be rude of her if she didn't show up. “Where's gojo-sensei?” I ask to the ravennette next to me, he just stared at me and smile. “Who knows?” I waited patiently, then there we saw utahime and her students. “So, Where's that idiot?” She asks. Kamo kept glancing at me, making sure that I'm alright without him. “Sorry for the wait!” Everyone turned around just to meet a child like man, heading straight towards us with a luggage. “Hey.. Uhmm.. (y/n)..?” A slow and nervous voice mutters behind me, I turn my head around just meet eye contact with the one they call todo

Not gonna lie, this man is huge. He is bigger than me. “Do you need anything, todo?” I furrowed my brows, he replied with a nod then grabs my hand. “Let's go somewhere private.” He spoke as he glances back to the crowd, still focusing to gojo and itadori. We started walking away the crowd and somewhere more quiet and peaceful, surely the girl is distracted by it's surroundings. “So.. I wanted to ask you something..” He mutters, which made me curious on to what he was going to ask me. “Sure.. Ask them away!” Giving him a thumbs up.

“Will you go out with me?” What? Did i heard that shit right?? (Y/N) just stood there, shock to what the boy said. “Can you repeat what you said?” Trying to process what she really heard, she made him say it again.

“i said Will you go out with me, (y/n)?” This time clearly, she heard it loud and clear. Her face started to heat up and her mind started screaming mentally “Sure!” She blurted, her heart beating extremely fast, todo at first was shock to the answer, the girl didn't even hesitated to say yes to the question.

End of scenario 1

Note : i am literally abt to have a mental breakdown because it didn't actually save the fucking last part ✋😭 I THOUGHT I HAD COMPLETELY SAVED THE LAST PART,, NOOO THAT SHIT WAS LONG ASF IM SOBBING. REALLY SORRY,, but i ain't adding that shit up again,, im changing it. 😒 The next scenario is abt the kyoto Goodwill event and your date with todo—!

[florvinhara]

my detectives (part 1)

kjahfjhsj i can have a little infodumping... as a treat... anyway this was originally gonna be 1 post but then i got carried away so part 1 in the series of me ranting abt my detectives!

Kira Isabella Song

Romances N, F, or M

Age: 25 at the start of book 1, currently 26

Birthday: February 7

Star sign: Aquarius sun, Taurus moon, Scorpio rising

Height: 5’7”

Hair: Short, ash blonde, a little longer than chin length

Eyes: dark brown

Race/ethnicity: Korean-American

Other appearance details: Several beauty marks on face and body. a few subtle scars on face/legs from falling out of trees, etc. fingers are callused from band practice and left hand fingers are a little crooked from being broken.

Languages: English, Spanish, a few basic phrases in some other languages

Stats:

Charming/Intimidating

Impulsive/Cautious

Sarcastic/Genuine

Friendly/Stoic

Easygoing/Stubborn

Heart/Mind (equal)

Optimist/Pessimist

Team player/Independent

Primary skills: Science & combat

Strengths: Trustworthy, strong, courageous, calm under pressure, compassionate, thorough, clever, good intuition, self-sufficient, sure of herself

Weaknesses: Petty, caustic, distrustful, secretive, lackadaisical, insubordinate, emotionally unintelligent, can be disdainful, uncommunicative, contrary

Personal:

overall body language is casual and unbothered, lowkey her posture is kind of yikes RIP but she has a very fluid way of moving

her voice is smooth and somewhat low in pitch, very even in tone

Loud and/or jumbled sounds sometimes overwhelm her; she usually has noise cancelling headphones with her just in case

Rebellious as a teenager; she started skipping school and getting into fights, did some graffiti and one time she stole a street sign that she may or may not still have

When she wasn’t breaking rules, etc. she was taking boxing lessons, chilling in the library, going on runs, or playing bass guitar in her band

Wanted to get out of Wayhaven as soon as possible after college but was arrested after she came back because she was selling fake IDs and stole a car; absolutely did not want to be law enforcement but Rebecca and the captain essentially made her

The deal was that she would work at the station for 5 years and if she did well/stayed out of trouble she could then quit- she's 3 years into it

deep down if she wasnt a detective she would want to be a paramedic

She shares a lot of mannerisms with Rebecca and they’re way more similar than she’d like to admit

Birds FREAK her out seriously; she’ll deny that she’s afraid of them but she’ll cross the street to get away from them, also hates crowded places and deep water

Scary resting face and has a habit of just... eerily staring at people who are bothering her until they get spooked, but she's not actually that angry or grouchy, she's really just Vibing u know? she's not gonna correct anyone's impression though or they might start like... Talking to her :/

Loves any book/movie/show with a secret society or spy element and stories about a Hero and their Journey, also loves angsty philosophy books; her favorite movies are cheesy but feel-good (The Mummy, Pacific Rim, anything with big CGI monsters)

Doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth but would kill someone for strong coffee; if she’s really tired you can catch her drinking it cold straight from the pot with a straw

Emo/pop punk teen and she definitely cried when MCR broke up, she also listens to a lot of Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash, Dottie West, Patsy Cline, etc

She’s been drawing since she was a kid- mainly works with charcoal and sometimes pastels. her sketchbooks are like her diaries and she’s never shown them to Anyone Ever

In her spare time, she still plays some guitar, draws, or reads; her library is extensive because she keeps every book she’s ever read or intends to read (it’s one of the few things she’ll drop real money on)

Very tactile person and fussy about textures, she prefers ultra soft blankets/pillows and her bed is basically a nest

Practical, efficient, frugal- she doesn’t necessarily find joy in cooking or anything but she can do it well enough, quick showers, uses cheap soap/shampoo, cuts her own hair

Her hands get super dry/chapped in the winter and it hurts very much :(

Never yells; when she gets angry she’s very cold & will Not hold back; every word is designed to hurt bc she’s purposefully poking at things she knows are sore spots

At the start of the books, she’s kind of... sleepwalking through life? like, she was in a not-great place mentally for most of her teens and didn’t really have a plan for the future but law enforcement was definitely not it? She isn’t feeling super passionate about what she’s doing and it kind of sucks to not have joy in purpose :( luckily that’s changing and is gonna be a significant part of her journey through the series!

Her apartment is cluttered but clean and she knows where everything is, if someone moved one of her things she would not be able to find it and it would bother her until she located it

She’s not stubborn exactly? Like she’ll concede an argument if it’s not super important to her and has no problem with losing or backing down in many cases; she’s pretty open minded in that respect, but if something is central to her values then she will Die before she backs down

On that note she’s overall a very logical person but when it comes down to it she'll follow her heart/first instinct

Does not care about rules or procedures At All, she'll follow them if it suits her end goal but otherwise... nope

Lowkey she… did not care about the reveal? it was a surprise but not her first priority in the moment- she kind of already thought UB was sketchy and didn’t trust them, so mainly she was pissed off that Rebecca had sent them to babysit her instead of actually help solve the murders

Speaking of Rebecca their relationship is kind of yikes. Kira isn’t exactly mad that Rebecca was gone so often, but she does think that she kind of forfeited her parenting rights and was annoyed that Rebecca was interfering with her life; first by getting her on the force and then by dropping UB on her. So now it’s Very Awkward between them because Kira doesn’t want to be like… mean but honestly what is there to say?? They’re trying but neither of them like to share personal information so it’s rough

On the subject of sharing, she just… genuinely doesn’t like to open up. Like, it doesn’t come naturally and in her mind it’s just… nobody else’s business what she’s feeling/what’s going on in her life

Genuinely does not realize that people care about her unless they openly tell her lmao... sad hours but at this point in the story she honestly doesnt think that any of UB cares abt her beyond their job besides the one she's dating :(

"Everyone should be allowed to feel things and rely on the support of the people around them, their emotions are Valid. not me though, this is my personal problem and as such its dumb so i have to get over it alone"

Her primary love language is acts of service, she wants the people she loves to have everything they might need; she’s Soft and really just wants snuggles but also she does not want to address it out loud

Her way of asking for affection is to just... stand/sit there and occasionally glance at the person... hovers like a sad ghost until she gets a hug... literally like 🥺👉👈 sjdhdkn Clown girl

She’s sarcastic and makes a lot of snarky comments, but generally she’s pretty honest unless she doesn’t want to talk about something (in which case she’ll brush it off and deflect or change subjects) which is why it annoys her so much when people are willfully dishonest or conniving

Pretty adaptable and capable of rolling with the punches but she generally dislikes surprises and being the center of attention

genuinely she's pretty chill! and a Huge enabler of chaos as well, like unless it's specifically bothering her she's gonna let it happen and mostly she thinks it's pretty funny to watch from the sidelines

in short she's basically like a feral cat who stares suspiciously at everyone from a distance until they successfully pspspsps their way into her heart and then she would die for them <3 but if she's mad she will make direct eye contact while shoving glasses off the counter

ahdgsksg ok last one i swear she Cannot Sit Properly, always has to be some flavor of lounging or leaning or sitting twisted into a pretzel

[lexicals]

EPISODE NOTES COMING AT YOU RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW

THIS EPISODE CLEARED MY SKIN WATERED MY CROPS CURED ALL MY MENTAL ILLNESSES YOU KNOW. ALL THAT GOOD STUFF

LESBIANNSSSSSS

This first part is as usual gonna be completely out of order. Anyway

VESPA WAS SO SOFT THIS EP ;; I lover her sm I love her and buddy I love them communicating I love vespa comforting buddy who is allowing herself to be vulnerable for once

Speaking OF, aside from just the fantastic character development for buddy and the point abt her being a narcissist needing to listen to Her Own Goddamn Advice

The parallels between her and nureyev were more prominent than EVER this episode!! Jet suggesting that she leave him in command!! Her bit about her persona only ever having been a mask!! Saying that she's one of the best equipped people to spot an act in progress because she's done it herself for so long!! The obsession with being Good Enough and keeping up that flawless persona!! LIKE MOTHER LIKE SON GIVE ME THIS CONTENT

NUREYEV HATERS GET WRECKED

He had so much good shit this episode. First of all he actually sounded like capital N Nureyev, not ransom or anyone else. Second of all he was so willing to put himself in harm's way for this heist!! He's acting so much like he was when he was younger, desperate to get the job done, insisting he can do it even when it's obvious he's overreaching because he wants it so badly

SPEAKING OF JUNO GETTING HIS SHOOTING ABILITY BACK AAAAAAAAA

I'M SO PROUD OF HIM. HE SOUNDED SO HAPPY. HE SOUNDED SO EXCITED

Also vespa calling nureyev selfish and saying that she bets he's never sacrificed anything in his life?? When I say I shouted OUCH out loud jesus christ

Like okay do I think the debt subplot is gonna come to a head next episode (juno's episode)?? Absolutely. Do I think that nureyev is gonna try to make a break for it with the four items now that they've finished the heist? YUP. Do I also think he's doing it because he's scared and is trying to do as little harm as possible while trying to protect himself? YEAH.

His speech about symbols being all anyone has and just,, ooooof god. God. Someone give this poor man a hug

Also he deffo stole the knife right at the end there huh. "Lost" my ass

Juno being a fucking first rate detective once again mr steel I love you I love you you dumb whiny baby

I love buddy and vespa being so jokingly disparaging of them all T~T They're family and they give each other shit and they love each other!!

Vespa called juno by his name!! Not by steel!! Admittedly I'm p sure it was only to buddy but Still

"You're not the only one on this ship with medical secrets" vespa???? Hello????? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Nureyev quoting buddy's line from the end of man in glass a YEAR after she said it to him and after he spent all of MiG quoting mag?? One hit KO to my heart. She's as much a parent and mentor to him as mag ever was and I need SO much more content of the two of them bonding & being mother & son

I definitely need to listen to this ep again at LEAST once. Jesus. Spent the whole thing bouncing up and down and screaming. In fact I think I have given myself a headache by overheating my brain so I will add more to this Later

Thoughts after the fact:

What vespa was saying about nureyev acting differently..... could be read as him being nervous but I can't help but think with him having been talking in his own voice all episode, what if he just wasn't putting up a persona? I don't think it would be much of a leap to think that nureyev in actuality is much quieter than the personalities he wears, but idk, just a thought

This is further to discussions that were had on the tpp adults server but uhh juno is So smart and should have been listened to earlier not just in this episode, but like going back to part one he's been pointing out buddy's questionable decisions she's made to put off this heist for almost the whole year!! Listen to juno challenge cb crew smh

I know..... that jet has been lined up as buddy's successor...... but like idk I feel like that's not a role that suits jet rly?? Yes, he's calm and steady and logical but he doesn't have buddy's strategic mind or charisma, and yes I am saying this because nureyev does and I want this to be plot relevant besides making for interesting parallels

LET NUREYEV TAKE UP THE MANTLE 2020

Second listen notes:

I just. Love buddy sm the way she speaks is so fun to listen to

“How are your children? Which is to say your car”

Nureyev is like, legit so loyal to buddy? He defends her a lot and clearly respects her immensely. Pls kabert can we have mother and son bonding

Buddy and jet’s relationship....... I cry I cry I cry

Like I literally cannot pick out my fav lines from this ep bc there’s SO many of them I’d just be quoting the whole thing

I love. Hearing buddy and vespa just talking though. Ragging juno and nureyev, being sweet with each other, laughing together..... vespa being like “one thing first - I love you :>” healed me

“If our places were switched, what would you say to me?” [CRYING CAT EMOJI]

Juno’s little “Yes, yes! Yes” just, T~T

The fact that buddy gets her advice referenced from every crew member...... jet, vespa, nureyev, and then rita..... not juno though? Idk if that’s because we just haven’t heard from juno yet or ??? idk. Weird though

Listen not to go back to this but jet does NOT sound like he wants the captain role...... and like, even on a meta level I’m not so sure he suits it but like buddy says he hates it when she says it and LET NUREYEV SUCCEED BUDDY 2020

Vespa is so excited abt the prime ;; Like SO excited, which is so sweet, but also I’m very very interested in that writing on the bottom

She’s so SOFT with buddy as well, and so calm...... I’m cry I’m cry she’s just like “okay, so you’ve got a problem, let’s fix it then”

“We’ve all had to put up with juno and ransom [acting like newlyweds] long enough” YELL. The fond family ragging of it all but also jupeter confirmed for completely insufferable

Couple of additional things:

I find.... nureyev’s little speech abt symbols and stuff rly interesting. Idk my running theory abt his debts is that his name is being used as leverage against him with the stipulation being “if you don’t pay, we’ll release your name and face to the public” meaning not only will he be in danger, but brahma as well, if we assume that the GAS has been deactivated since he left. The symbol he left behind is the only thing keeping the citizens of brahma safe - and not even that tbh, it’s only providing the illusion of safety, if this is actually the case. Idk I really wanna get my hands on the script now I think that speech says a lot abt his mental state rn

WHO ELSE ON THE CREW HAS MEDICAL SECRETS VESPA?

I don’t like the sick nureyev theory tbh but ):

[barrysjumpsuit]

blindsided - oc x rafe cameron (ch. 2)

me??? posting chapters two days in a row???? (who is she)

part one

word count: 3k

warnings: abuse and mentions of past abuse, cannabis use, cocaine use, mentions of sex, plot/timing holes (just dont think abt canon too much it’s pretty loose)

synopsis:  christy is a lifelong resident of the outer banks. after a series of hookups with rafe cameron, kook royalty, she’s smitten. what she doesn’t know is about what her boyfriend and brother are involved in behind her back

a/n: really enjoying how this is coming along bc i’m totally just making it up as i go. ya boy jj makes an appearance in this one!! and BARRY!!!! next chapter has more plot i PROMISE 

 --------

The sun was about to set as Christy arrived home.

“Home” was a relative term. She lived in a trailer with a leaky roof, messy yard, and weird smell. Strange people she didn’t know were always there, and it was hard to truly feel at peace when she was there. The only thing that kept her coming back, especially after getting with Rafe, was her brother. 

Barry truly was the only thing she had left. The two of them had always been as thick as thieves – they still were, but their own respective businesses had changed them. Christy just grew and sold a bit of weed. She made a couple hundred bucks here and there, mostly targeting tourists. Barry’s dealings were much more illegal, and all the bad things that came with selling blow naturally happened at her house. 

She could hear the crackling of a fire as she rounded the corner of the trailer. Barry and a couple others sat there, whooping and hollering. “Look who finally decided to make an appearance,” she heard her brother yell. He raised a beer in the air as if to make a toast. “My favorite sister!” 

“Just making sure you’re not twitched out somewhere, B,” Christy said back, not altering her path to the door. Right as she went to pull open the screen door, someone pushed it open, stumbling out of the trailer. “Excuse you.” 

“Watch your mouth when you speak to me, little girl,” the man growled at her. 

“I’m the one who lives here,” Christy replied flatly, not budging, and the man suddenly had her pinned to the wall of the trailer, a forearm pressing against her throat. 

“Yo Luke, lay off of her!” she heard Barry call. Her hands were grabbing at Luke Maybank’s arm, her eyes forced to meet his. His pupils were blown up and delirious. “What the fuck, man!” 

Barry pried Luke off of her, and Christy leaned against the cheap railing on the front steps to catch her breath. “Get the fuck out of here,” she heard Barry tell him before he turned to her. “Bro, you good? Where have you been the past few days?” 

“I’m fine,” Christy said. Her heart felt like it was going to beat through her chest. Barry reached out to grab her shoulder, but she instinctively flinched away. “I’ve been staying with someone.” 

She was aware of Barry watching her as she pulled open the screen door and went into the trailer. It was hot and stuffy. Inevitably, somewhere, something was growing mold, and they would have to deal with it like they had to almost every other time a storm knocked out power. It made her feel guilty as hell, knowing she was staying with Rafe in his kook mansion, while her brother was stuck here, alone, with whatever coked out friends he had with him. 

After deciding there was nothing she wanted to eat, Christy made her way through the messy living room and down the hallway to her bedroom. She kept the door locked. Fishing the key out of her back pocket, she unlocked the padlock and stepped into her bedroom. 

Her plants were moved hastily in front of her window, since the power knocked out the lights they normally sat under. They took up most of the space in her bedroom, and they also occupied her parent’s old bedroom. Christy couldn’t be bothered to water them; she just took off her shirt and laid on her bed, sweaty and with nothing to do. 

She rolled over, pulling out an already loaded bowl and lighter from her nightstand. Pushing herself up, Christy brought the pipe to her lips and lit up, breathing deeply and bringing the smoke into her lungs. She blew out a thick cloud, almost having to cough. The greens were strong but tasted good. She took another hit, then another, before leaning back and closing her eyes. 

It was almost unnerving to think about how quickly she had fallen for Rafe. They sporadically hooked up throughout the past couple years. A lot of times they were each other’s rebound. Other times, it was at parties. Despite being from the Cut, Christy was often welcome at kook parties, going where her brother wouldn’t dare going to move product. She didn’t like having a middle man. Grow, harvest, sell, consume. That’s how she liked her bud to go. 

She knew Barry and Rafe had a history. But Barry has beef with a lot of people, and so did Rafe. Christy didn’t side with either. Rafe hadn’t paid Barry enough, failing to hold his end of the deal. But Barry had ripped Rafe off, knowing his family had more than enough money to repay him. It spiralled from there until they fought and beat each other an inch from death. Since then, Rafe had cleaned up his act as well as sobered up, and she hadn’t seen him at her place since. It was better that way. She didn’t have to worry about the crossover between her relationship with him and her relationship with her brother. 

Barry was a shitty person. Everyone knew that. He moved more cocaine than anyone else on the island. It was impossible for him to hold onto a relationship for more than a week or two. He had a temper, and a mouth and fists to back it up. Despite this, Christy knew he was her lifeline, and she was his. Whenever they had to run errands or go anywhere on the island, they tried to go together. Safety in numbers. 

Both of them had people that hated them. 

Barry more so than Christy, but they both had enemies. It was just how the politics of drug dealing worked. Christy mainly targeted tourists, playing her cards smartly. In and out, one and done. She premeasured the bud into $10 bags, or as joints using cigarettes. It was a big hit. At each kegger she went to, she could usually pull two or three hundred bucks. 

Christy took another hit before inspecting her pipe. A friend of hers had blown and crafted it for her birthday this past winter. It was a swirling design of pinks, yellows, and oranges. It looked like a sunset; every night, she would smoke on their west-facing dock and watch the sunset. 

Except tonight. The sky was dark by the time she made her way outside. Barry was no longer by the fire, which was dying. Two of his buddies were still there, laughing at something funny only to them. Christy walked past them, down the dock and onto their little boat. She sat down next to Barry, their shoulders lightly touching on the small bench seat. 

Her mind was still racing, and she lit her bowl again. “You’re not going to that kook party tonight?” Barry asked, his voice still with its disinterested tone. 

“Nah. With the power out I’m not sure how much bud I’m going to able to get through this. They need light to grow.” 

“I’ve been rotatin’ them in front of the windows for you. And watering them,” Barry said. She could tell he was coming down from a high he had likely been riding all day. 

Christy could also tell he brought this up for a reason. 

“How much short are we?” she asked quietly. “I can see if I can pick up extra shifts.” 

He shook his head beside her before putting his head in his hands. “I don’t know man, but we’re short. Fuckin’ Agatha fucked us over, man. I can’t get any more for another couple weeks and I don’t have much left.” 

“A lot of mine won’t be ready to harvest for a few weeks. Shit, B, why didn’t you tell me?” 

“It’s not like you were here,” he said. His words stung, and I knew he was right. “It’s not like you’re ever here anymore except to smoke pot.” 

“Barry,” Christy said, trying to be as stern as possible. “I’ve been working every fucking day. Agatha scared people away, so I’m not making good tips. It’ll bounce back soon, okay? I’ll make ends meet. Every time I come home you’re just blitzed to high heaven off your own product. You’re as guilty as I am.” 

Her brother’s shoulders shook with a laugh, and he wiped his nose with a forearm while she took another hit. “I suppose so. You’ve got something on your neck, by the way. Who’s that from?” 

Christy stiffened and almost launched into a coughing fit, and Barry knew he caught her. He looked over at her, expecting an answer after she exhaled the smoke. “Some tourist I met the other night at a kegger. Thought he could strike a deal with me.” 

“Hmmm,” Barry mused. She couldn’t tell if he was buying it or not. “You’ve gotta be careful with them tourons and kooks, never know how they’re gonna use you.” 

The weed had hit her enough so that Barry’s words didn’t fully register in her brain. “They’re always up to something,” she agreed. The swaying of the boat underneath her was an odd feeling and she leaned back in the seat, throwing an arm on the back of the seat behind Barry. 

The stars were brilliant on the south side of the island, with no light pollution to drown them out. Two nights ago, she and Rafe sat on the roof of the Cameron house, looking at the same sky, but the lights were so bright you could see only a handful of the stars. 

It was the simplicity of being a pogue that Christy liked. She didn’t have to worry about her social life or schedule outside of work. She didn’t have to worry about her image. She didn’t have to worry about businesses or making people happy or petty things that Rafe worried about. She could do what she wanted, when she wanted.

With the sky stretching endlessly above her, she felt like she was inside a dome. Like she was in a snowglobe. Agatha was the shake, mixing everything and everyone up. Now, the snowflakes were settling into new positions. Some were unstable, perched on plastic trees or people or houses, bound to fall to the ground. Some were already on the ground, back to their original positions. Others still, small little pieces of glitter, swirled around in the liquid inside. 

She didn’t want to inevitably settle back into her old life. It was too mindless and mundane. Wake up, work at The Wreck, sell weed to tourists, hook up with random people. It was repetitive. Christy wanted something with meaning and risk. What was the view like, perched on top of the tallest tree in the snowglobe? Sure, it had potential to fall back to the ground like all the other pieces of snow. But there was also potential to stay there, seeing things no one else could and experiencing something it hadn’t experienced before. 

Maybe Rafe was her tree. Holding her up with supportive branches, his roots deep into the soil of Tannyhill. He was here to stay, at least for now. 

Maybe it was Christy’s turn to join him.

--

By four in the afternoon, Christy was done with her day. 

She woke up early, tending to her plants before locking up the two rooms and heading to work. The morning shifts were her favorite. Less asshole tourists and more local residents. Christy knew them well, making polite small talk with the older people and getting plenty of tips. Working at The Wreck was nice. It gave Christy a sense of anonymity, making her feel less like a pogue and more like a normal person. For her work shifts she cleaned up nicely, interacting with people who didn’t know about her relation to Barry or her side hustle. 

After Christy clocked out for the afternoon after her ten hour shift, she shouldered her backpack and lazily threw her apron over one shoulder. Under her work clothes she wore her swimsuit, ready for an afternoon of surfing with Rafe and his friends. 

Stepping outside into the bright sun, she saw Kiara talking with her friends. Christy liked Kiara – she was one of her closer friends, but their relationship didn’t touch the bond she had with those three boys. Christy was friendly enough with them, and she gave them a wave as she walked past. 

“Hey, Christy!” 

A voice called out behind her and she turned around to see JJ jog up to her. John B rolled his eyes as he left the group to follow Christy. “Yeah, JJ?” she asked. 

“Hey, uh, we’re going to have a kegger at the Boneyard tonight, if you’d like to come. I’d like to do some business with you.” 

“How much you want?” Christy asked, ignoring any euphemisms people often use when asking for weed. “You better claim yours now, I’m running low.” 

“You and everyone else on the island,” JJ said, smiling. “Five grams?” 

“You got it, I can bring it to you tonight.” Christy pulled her cigarette carton from her pocket, taking one out and lighting it. “By the way, tell your father it’s rude to assault people at their own home and my brother doesn’t want to see him again for some time.” 

JJ’s face dropped. “What did he do? Did he hurt you?” 

She blew out the smoke before answering. “Pinned me against a wall. Nothing that hasn’t happened before, but… B’s stressed out and it won’t be good for either of them or for us if he sees him any time soon.” Christy lowered her voice slightly. “If he needs any blow, let me know and I can be a middle man. Okay?” 

“He’s a piece of shit,” JJ muttered, not answering her question. 

“JJ,” Christy said sternly, and JJ’s wandering eyes returned to meet hers. “Give him my contact information. I’ll deal with it so you don’t have to. Okay?” 

“He’s not your problem,” JJ said, but Christy knew she got through to him as good as she could. “Thanks, Christy. I’ll see you tonight?” 

“You got it,” Christy answered, giving him a playful salute with the hand that held her cigarette. At that, they turned away from each other and she started off to where she told Rafe she would meet him to go surfing. 

The cigarette gave her a slight buzz. It felt like a warm hug, enveloping her. That little bit of pep was what she needed, coming off an early morning and long shift. Pretty soon, the pavement turned into sand, and she could see several figures ahead holding surf boards. 

“How was work, baby?” Rafe asked as she walked up to them. He pulled her into a kiss before she could answer. Christy’s hands rested on his bare shoulders, standing on her tiptoes in the sand to reach his lips. 

“It was good,” she replied. “Glad I’m here and not there, though.” 

Kelce fake gagged at her words, and Rafe rolled his eyes at him. “Fuck off, Kelce,” Rafe said, kicking sand towards him. Rafe was wearing his sea foam green board shorts, the color glowing against his tanned skin. 

“He’s just jealous,” Christy cooed, walking away from Rafe to give Kelce a hug. “It’s okay Kelce, I love you too.” 

“Oh wait a second, was that the L word?” Topper asked, breaking Christy and Kelce apart. Topper looked from Christy to Rafe, raising his eyebrows. 

Christy looked at Rafe, who jumped in. “Sure was, Top,” he said nonchalantly. “Now can we shut the fuck up and get into the water?” 

Kelce gave Christy a confused look at Rafe’s short temper, and Christy just shrugged. They had brought her board, which she left at Rafe’s house. After taking off her clothes, much to the boys’ delight, she slipped the band around her ankle and the four of them started towards the water. 

It was a good evening for waves. The water was refreshing, and it was nice to do something normal after Agatha. Rafe’s idea of a date defaulted to a ride on the Druthers, as if to wow her, followed by expensive wine and sex on the boat. It was nice, and she enjoyed it, but Christy had had sex on plenty of boats and it was never her favorite thing.

Surfing with Rafe and his friends was much more up her alley. She was a good surfer, and Rafe knew it. While they were on the water, Topper and Kelce gave him shit for having his ass owned by hers. Christy countered right back, pointing out that she was also owning their asses. It gave her a small victory: something she was better at than the kooks.

They tired quickly, and Christy mentioned the kegger at the Boneyard. “Bring Sarah, it’ll be like a double date,” she told Topper, much to Kelce’s dismay. “And Kelce, look at you. You’re gorgeous, all wet and glistening and half naked. Just stand in the water like that tonight and the girls will be all over you. I’ll make it my personal mission to find you someone.” 

The kooks were never one to turn down a party, especially one with easy pickings for both fights and girls. Topper called Sarah while they were walking back to Rafe’s truck; they put their boards in the bed and Christy climbed into the front seat, while Topper and Kelce crammed into the back of the cab. 

“She’ll come,” Topper reported. Rafe dropped off Kelce before driving to the Cameron estate.

Topper left to find Sarah, while Rafe took Christy to his bedroom. “Can I shower?” she asked, and he nodded. 

The Camerons had hot running water. Another thing she didn’t have on the Cut. It brought up those conflicting emotions again, as she remembered hearing Barry grumble about not being able to shower, which was a very non-Barry thing to complain about. Christy had insisted he use some of the distilled water she had for her plants, but he refused. 

She would have to swing back home before the party tonight to get weed, both for JJ and the tourists. Not much was left – she wanted some to keep for herself, but she needed money. 

Christy really didn’t want Rafe anywhere near her place. 

She just had to hope Barry was out, and that no one was there, or things could get bad.

----

taglist (reply, reblog, or ask to be added!!!) @stargazingstarkey @letsgofullkook @macchiatohno @ampanonyg @hoeforpankow @jjsmentalpolaroids @drewstarkey @obbx-tings @bricksatanakinswindow

[bts-fantasy]

part ten

Genre: Thriller AU

Characters: Yoongi, Hoseok x Reader

Previous — Next

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

„Are you okay?“

Your mom‘s quiet voice broke the silence around you as you both sat at the dinner table. You‘d just told her the whole story and to be honest you were surprised that she didn‘t panic at all. Instead she was calmly sitting across from you with a sad expression on her face as she reached out to place her hand on yours. You looked up at her with a smile and nodded trying to forget the things that had happened the past few weeks. The bad and the good memories, you wanted to erase them all because they all led you to one person in the end: Yoongi.

Why was your heart still aching inside of your chest everytime you thought of him? Why did you want to know how he was doing even after everything he‘d done?

You didn‘t want to feel this way towards someone who‘d betrayed you on so many levels.

But why did he do it?

You still had so many questions in your head and nowhere to go to get your answers. It’s been a week since Yoongi got arrested and you were still constantly thinking about him. You knew you had to distract your mind and get out of your house. That‘s when you heard your phone ring inside of your pocket and saw Hoseok‘s name light up the screen.

„Y/N! Wanna hang out with me and my sister?“

You found yourself in a karaoke bar a few hours later singing at the top of your lungs along with Hoseok and Ji Woo. It felt good to spend time with other people instead of hiding behind closed doors in your room you were able to forget things even if it was just for a little while.

„Y/N! You‘re messing up the lyrics!“, Ji Woo yelled while laughing as your tried to to catch up with the lines that were moving way too fast. Soon, you gave up trying and your shook your head while laughing. Hoseok was quick to continue the song and the siblings were now harmonizing together as you just stood beside them suddenly feeling the deep void inside of you again. Images of Yoongi staring at you on the rooftop crossed your mind again and no matter how hard you tried to shake it off, you just couldn‘t.

„Y/N? Are you okay?“

Hoseok‘s worried voice brought you back to reality as you nodded. You all decided to get something to eat at a shop nearby and so the three of you stepped into the night feeling the cold aur hit you calming down your nerves again.

„I‘m going to order this. Y/N, what do you want?“

„One French V- Uh.. I’ll get french fries, please.“

Ji Woo‘s confused expression changed quickly as she shrugged and ordered your food at the counter. You cursed yourself in your mind for being such a mess but you couldn‘t help it. He was everywhere you went, he was following you with each step you took and it was slowly but surely driving you insane.

The atmosphere around you calmed down after the energetic karaoke session and you were quietly enjoying your meal when suddenly Hoseok spoke up. His face had turned serious and his eyes were nervously moving around the restaurant before they fixed on you.

„Y/N... how have you been doing these past days. You know after-“

He got cut off by an angry looking Ji Woo who subtly kicked him under the table not to mention this topic.

„I‘m sure Y/N, has better things to talk about than that idiot!“

Ji Woo commented smiling apologetically at you but Hoseok‘s eyes were still worriedly fixed on you as he quietly waited for some kind of response from you. You didn‘t want to tell them the kind of thoughts you were having of Yoongi, that you were missing him for some unexplainable reason despite the determination to never see him again.

„It‘s okay, Ji Woo. I‘m doing fine. I... still don‘t know the reason behind all of this but I‘ll get over it.“

Hoseok seemed to be satisfied with your response and you could tell that by the way his tensed shoulders relaxed again and he let himself fall back in his seat. Ji Woo next to him just scoffed rolling her eyes.

„Crazy people don‘t need any reason to do crazy stuff, Y/N.“

You raised your brows but Ji Woo continued eating her food and you didn‘t want to dig deeper into this topic anyway. Fortunately, Hoseok changed the topic to try and ease the tension between you all by mentioning going to the dance studio again. It‘s been months since you last danced with Hoseok and you only then realized how much you‘d been missing it. You nodded eagerly agreeing to the plans and feeling the excitement rise inside of you again.

On your way home Hoseok even bought you your favorite candy to cheer you up again. The whole evening had been a good exchange to the past few days where you‘d been isolating yourself from the entire world. You felt better eventhough you caught yourself drifting off to Yoongi every now and then.

Back home you closed the front door behind you immediately feeling the presence of someone else in the house. You walked further into the house only to find your mom sitting with Jae in your living room whispering eagerly with eachother. You stopped at the doorstep with a pounding heart as both of them turned their heads to look at you. Jae nervously bit his lip looking between you and your mom while your mom just pointed towards the empty armchair telling you to sit down. You already had a bad feeling about the whole situation and sitting down wouldn‘t really help you but you obeyed.

„Y/N, Jae came over to tell us that his little brother is getting out of jail tomorrow.“

Your heart stopped beating for a moment as you tried to process the words that just came out of your mother. You stared at her with wide eyes but Jae quickly moved on with the news to calm you down again.

„They investigated thoroughly and found that he‘s in no way related to the person stalking you. The backup on his laptop are in fact connected to his phone... that he‘d lost before he moved here.“

Your shallow breathing was causing your heart to pick up its pace and you were trying to stay focused on the new information you‘d just gotten.

„Yoongi isn‘t the stalker, Y/N“, Jae added after a pause looking deeply into your eyes to emohasize his words.

Yoongi is innocent. Yoongi is not the stalker. Yoongi is innocent...

The words kept repeating in your mind but they didn‘t seem to get into your heart. There was still a doubt inside of you that this was all just part of a plan.

If Yoongi wasn‘t the stalker then why did the messages suddenly stop when he got arrested?

A/N: Part ten of thirteen is out!🔥 Thank you for your patience, I‘ll try to post more frequently but uni work is choking me💀😭 but on a serious note: can y‘all relate to Y/N‘s feelings towards this issue or is it too messed up?👀 tbh I don‘t know what I‘d do in such a situation but I‘m curious to know abt your opinions!🧐🕵🏽‍♀️

Masterlist

[kimvvantae]

Umbra; 10

➜  being ruled by an ancient commandment, your sole purpose is to serve. you were born to protect the king with your life, tied by an everlasting oath; you are nothing but a shadow, a silent and insignificant being. he appears to you like the sun, the warmest and brightest star in the sky, and gives you a chance to live. it is then that your entire universe starts to orbit around this sun, and you decide that you are truly willing to die for him.

pairing: King!Taehyung x (f) hybrid!reader

genre: royalty au, fantasy, angst  

warnings: descriptions of violence, blood, death and mistreatment that might be triggering.

word count: 11k

A/N: i burned all of my braincells to write this chapter. but let me ask you sumn!!! i’m really curious to know what you think abt umbra. what was your favorite chapter/part so far? what do you think is going to happen next? let me know!

enjoy uwu

➜  Chapters: check up masterlist in bio!

"Dahyun, look at that- it's beautiful!"

"It sure is, Your Highness."

"Ah- what is this made of?! It shines so much!"

"It's just crystals, Your Highness."

"The color is so pretty- oh! Dahyun, look at this!"

A sigh. 

I stood some steps away, watching the scene repeating over and over again: Princess Sana seeing something interesting, gasping and dragging Dahyun by the arm to see it too.

I couldn't help but think it was comical.

We were at the principal market of the Capital - a huge commercial center in which you could find anything: food, handicrafts, clothes, even amulets and potions. The place is usually crowded everyday, but that day it was particularly full because of Princess Sana. Everyone wanted to call her attention, bring her to their establishments or simply talk to her. As expected of a royal, Sana knew how to deal with the public very well and with no apparent effort. She was doing a fairly good job - especially because, soon, these would be her subjects.  

I could see on their eyes how they were amazed because of her beauty and politeness. The simple fact that she was at the market was a surprise itself: royals don't usually interact with common people so easily. They weren't used to this kind of treatment. And Princess Sana has been in constant contact with them; she already visited schools, healing centers and even the Royal Orphanage. Her popularity was beyond good. Ëlvians had already fully embraced her as their Queen, although the wedding ceremony would happen just next week, and consequently her crowning.

"I can see why they are going to get married," I heard someone in the crowd say. "They are both good people!"

"And they are so beautiful, aren't they?" Another person said.

"Ëlv'en is in good hands!" One more exclaimed happily.

It was strange how I suddenly agreed with that.

After these two weeks of convivence, that gruesome feeling I used to have about Sana completely vanished. She was sympathetic, sincere and cared about others. Although she was born in a royal house surrounded by wealth, Sana was humble. She also knew the importance that her position represented and didn't seem to take advantage of it.

She was good.

I could not simply hate someone like her.

Jealousy is a word I have just learned recently. Apparently, my dislike towards her before was provided because she was in a position I secretly wanted to be in. But, as I learned more about Princess Sana, I could not let myself drown in my own selfish feelings. She truly showed to be capable of ruling Ëlv'en beside Taehyung. She also fully supported his decision to fight against slavery and revealed her want to forbid it in Vanaheim, too, as soon as she took the throne and became the Queen of her native land. As long as Princess Sana fulfilled her role as a good leader, then I had no reason to not support her marriage with Taehyung.

Although I still felt that there was a dagger buried in my heart.

We must do what's necessary for the greater good. Even if it hurts us sometimes.

And I knew that Sana's role hurt her deeply, too.

I watched as the princess dragged Dahyun by the arm.  

They were very careful and subtle. I doubted anyone else would notice. However, I could still feel that delicate sensation about the two, the way their auras were always in tune. Dahyun knew Princess Sana very well and vice versa. But I could also feel that deep sadness on them... their pain. I saw many moments in which they would stare at each other deeply... but then, as if being pulled by reality, they would avoid gazes and distance from each other. Dahyun was usually the one to break eye contact. In these moments, both auras felt like painted in blue.

I was unexperienced, but not stupid. I could understand what was going on.

Watch them was painful and... familiar.

But I was yanked out of my reverie as I felt a pair of curious eyes watching me intently.

I turned around to Princess Yeri. The girl blushed as she noticed I caught her and avoided my gaze.

"Was I being too obvious?" She asked.

"Yes," I admitted.

The girl huffed and crossed her arms.

"It's just that I still can't believe," she murmured. "Are you really the Royal Guardian?"

"Yes, Your Highness." I said, looking back to Sana as she talked to a seller, Dahyun looking tired of being dragged around by her side.  

"I didn't expect this," she admitted under her breath.

I quirked one eyebrow at her. Ever since Sana arrived, Princess Yeri spent most of her time with her - what consequently meant I was spending time with her, too. And I was doing the exact opposite of what my conduct code told me. Guardians shouldn't interact with their masters, which I did frequently with both princesses.  

My old me would pass out if she knew what I was doing. But I didn't care about it anymore. I was sure General Seokjin would have scolded me if he weren't so busy, but even if he did, I wouldn't care.  

Being honest, just the idea of someone being my master and simply telling me what to do all the time felt gruesome now.

"And what exactly did Your Highness expect?" I asked, side eyeing her.

Princess Yeri tilted her head. I don't know if it was because she was Taehyung's sister or because she was around Chuu's age, but I had an odd protective sensation about the girl.

"I don't know... I expected a tall man," she confessed.  

"Is Your Highness disappointed?"

"No," she was quick to say. "I think it's very cool. You should teach me how to use this sword anytime."

I looked at her small and delicate hands. "I don't think Your Highness will like it very much."  

"What? Do you think I'm weak?" Princess Yeri said, sending me a challenging glare. But as I was about to respond, a noise called my attention and I looked back to Princess Sana's direction.

A little girl, probably ten years old, have just fallen in front of Sana. I noticed the small deer horns atop her head. The girl gasped and looked up.

I saw the Princess trying to reach for the girl, but the she had no time.

A human-wall made of soldiers was around both princesses to prevent the public to get too close, and the little girl has just crossed this wall. One of the soldiers took the kid by the forearm roughly and lifted her up, making the girl gasp in pain.

"Get off the Princess' way!" He yelled, dragging the girl forcefully. Everyone watched the scene in silence and confusion.

I immediately felt anger boiling up in my blood. I stepped ahead, ready to stop the soldier's violent actions-

But Princess Sana was faster than me.

She touched the soldier's arm gently, but that single action made his action come to a halt. She looked up at him, expression hard with disapproval.

"It's just a child, soldier. There's no need to be so aggressive," she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Leave her."

The soldier had no other choice but do as she ordered. The little girl looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear, her little arm red because of the man's strong grip.

Princess Sana crouched down to her eye level and smiled gently. "Did you get hurt?"

The girl looked down to her feet and shook her head, her pigtails waving cutely at the action.  

"What's your name?" The Princess asked.

"Alice," the girl answered shyly.

"That's a pretty name, Alice." The girl widened her eyes in surprise, her cheeks immediately flushing in pink. Princess Sana then took something from her bag - a blue hairpiece she bought earlier today. "Do you like this?"

Alice nodded. "It's pretty."

Delicately, Sana placed the hairpiece in Alice's hair. The little girl seemed even more surprised. "Then, it's yours now. You look so pretty! Dahyun, give me a mirror!"

The crowd around watched that scene. Soon, I heard several sentences of approval and delightfulness at Sana's action:

"...she's good even to hybrids..."

"...did you see how she protected that kid?..."

"...she has such a good heart!..."

I couldn't help but agree with all of them.

Princess Sana was definitely the most suitable person to fulfill the Queen's role...

But another conversation caught my attention.

I only heard that because of my accurate senses. Two voices stood out in the middle of the others; they were speaking very quietly to not let anyone else overhear them.

"They think they can fool us with this cheap acting?" The person scoffed.

"See how stupid these people are? They are so gullible. They are already accepting this person as a ruler so easily."

"I doubt she will make any real changes for us." The first person lowered their voice even more. "But they'll see what's good. The only person capable of leading us is the chosen one."

This triggered an alarm inside of me.

I looked around, trying to find who the owners of these voices were. The chosen one. They knew about that rebellion. The rebellion that possibly tried to murder Taehyung; the rebellion that possibly sent that shapeshifter two weeks ago to watch us...

But there were too many people, too many faces. I could not distinguish the two pair of voices when there were so many people talking all at once – and couldn’t leave Princess Sana unprotected in the middle of the crowd to go after them.

I tightened my fists.

This situation was getting worse each day.

I couldn’t stop looking around as we made our way back to the palace. It was hard to focus with Princess Yeri talking nonstop (the young girl could be quite talkative when she wanted), but I still tried.  

Ever since the attack weeks prior, I had been careful to the point of paranoia. I was aware of my surroundings all the time, expanding my senses to the maximum my body could bear, and I could barely sleep at night. I couldn’t forget that wolf watching us outside of the palace.

It watched us in silence, but it was like it wanted me to see. It did it purposefully to let me realize we were being watched...

Clearly a threat.

However, that was not even what bothered me the most, what gave me sleepless nights. I couldn’t forget the fact that someone was able to attack my psyche so strongly it almost made me get crazy.

More than that; I couldn’t accept it.

I was a warrior. I was aware of all of my abilities and powers. Although I was trained to be humble my entire life and taught about the sins my species did in the past, I was always proud to be a dragon – even though it means I was a beast. I have trained for physical, magic and mental combats. A dragon guardian has to keep their minds completely blocked; what if the enemy finds a way to get inside our minds and collect information about our masters? That is why all of us went through an intense and painful training to seal our minds to the point that no one would be able to attack or control us.

But, only two weeks prior, someone was able to attack my mind in that level.

That attack would have been able to kill any human immediately. The damage it made on me was not permanent and I was able to recover quickly, yet it was still shocking. What kind of person was able to get into my mind that way?  

It angered me to the core.  

That person hurt my honor and pride. I promised that the day I put my hands on them, they would suffer. Whoever they were.

We walked back to the palace, where the princesses had some tea. Sana analyzed everything she bought, mostly handicrafts. She bought a gift to every one of her personal assistants. However, yet again, I couldn’t focus on anything of what they were saying. I was watching over Princess Sana for now, but I was still connected to Taehyung...

And I could still feel his troubling aura from here.

He was having another reunion with the Council - one of the many he had in this short period of time. To say the truth, "reunion" is not the right word - battlefield is more suitable.  

Heated discussions, exasperated people yelling from all sides. As expected, more than half of the Council was against Taehyung's wish to forbid slavery in the Ëlv'en. It would be easy if Taehyung could simply do whatever he pleased and sign any law he wanted to create, but that's not how things worked. To promulgate a law, he needed to have at least sixty percent of the counselors by his side... and that's not what happened.

I was busy watching over Princess Sana so me and Taehyung barely interacted, but I could still see on his eyes and demeanor his constant state of tiredness and anger. Yes, he was angry - very angry, to be honest, and I could understand why. He had to deal with all these prejudiced people. The idea of giving freedom to hybrids and seeing them having equal rights as humans seemed to be the worst thing possible to them. Even Taehyung - one of the most well-controlled people I've ever met - was beginning to lose his patience.

Some nights ago, I saw Taehyung sitting by himself in the gardens at night. I did not approach him - and I wish he didn't notice I was there as well - but he seemed so tired and overwhelmed. If I could, I would have sat by his side. I would have listened to his concerns. If I could, I would have passed my hands on his hair gently, I would have watched him close his eyes slowly and sigh in relief.

But I couldn't.

That was what hurt the most. I was so close to him, but at the same time, I was so far.

Their tea ended, and Princess Yeri had to (forcefully) go to the classes she has been procrastinating the entire day. I was ready to leave, too, and let Princess Sana by herself.

“Y/N, wait,” the Princess called as I was exiting.

I stopped on my tracks and immediately turned around to her. “Yes, Your Highness? Is there something you need?”

Sana nodded. She pointed to the armchair in front of her delicately. “Please, let’s talk for a while.”

Her ask was strange, but I did it anyway, sitting and waiting for her to start speaking. It was remarkable how different we were – Princess Sana, wearing a beautiful green dress, a delicate flower that overflowed femininity in everything she did; and me, wearing my usual black uniform with a sword sheathed on my hip. I never really cared about appearance, but comparing myself with Princess Sana on this matter was quite depressive.

“You have been Taehyung’s guardian for some time now,” she started softly, and the simple mention of his name made my stomach flutter with nervousness. Princess Sana never talked to me about him. “So, I assume that you may know him well at this point.”

I hesitated before nodding. Where this conversation was leading me to? “Yes, Your Highness.”

Sana exhaled heavily. She wasn’t looking at me, playing with the lace of her dress absently. “I know it is embarrassing, but... I still can’t understand him.”

“But Your Highness has been spending a lot of time with His Majesty lately,” I commented, slightly confused.

“Yes, but... he is so unreadable. Taehyung is very polite towards me and we talk about many subjects, yet... I feel that he is not opening up to me. I don’t blame him, though, because this situation is hard to deal with for both of us, but I think that to make things work I must understand him more.” She then looked up at me and smiled. “That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

I narrowed my eyes, confused. “I’m afraid I still did not understand...”

“Tell me what you know about him,” Sana explained, gesticulating. I scratched the nape of my neck, feeling somehow uncomfortable and even more confused.

“But, Your Highness... I don’t know what to say,” I admitted. Princess Sana giggled softly.

“What are his habits? What’s him like? I mean, the real Taehyung. How is he behind the mask?”

I shifted uncomfortably, not exactly sure of what to say. Sure, I knew Taehyung very well at this point – but where to start from? I thought for some moments.

“He’s scared of heights,” I said suddenly. Not exactly the most useful information, but Sana seemed surprised.

“Is he?”

“Yes. A lot. And... he loves chocolate.” I thought for some moments. Princess Sana nodded, encouraging me to continue. “He is very kind with everyone around him. He is also very well-controlled, however he can’t hide it when he doesn’t like someone. He prefers winter than summer and his favorite colors are purple and blue. He likes kids and, honestly, can be very childish sometimes. And... and his favorite fruit is strawberry. He speaks more than three languages, loves traveling and hates being in a single place for too long; he is a free spirit. Although he is very friendly, he doesn’t trust people easily. He is fair, has a strong sense of justice. And... he tries hard to hide his feelings, doesn’t like to show his weaknesses, but... he still has fragilities. Sometimes, he just needs someone he trusts to let it all out. Taehyung, he is- he is good.”

I had to interrupt myself abruptly when I noticed I said his name out loud. I coughed, shifting uncomfortably again, feeling embarrassed.

“I’m sorry. I... I got too carried away...”  

“It’s alright. You sure know him very well.”

For the first time, I had the courage to look up at Princess Sana.

She looked at me in a way I’ve never seen before. She wasn’t angry at me, wasn’t judging me. But from her gaze, I could tell...

She knew.

More than that; Sana understood me.

In that moment, I couldn’t bear being in her presence anymore. The fact that I was so obvious in front of her made me flustered to the core. Princess Sana was his fianceé; that situation was anything but normal. I coughed again, feeling a heat make its way up to my neck.

“I-I apologize, Your Highness, but I need to leave.”

“Alright. Thank you for your help,” she said softly, but I was already getting up and bowing respectfully.

I almost ran out of her room.

How stupid was I being?

I watched as the woman fell to the ground with a grunt, blood spilling from her wounds. She looked at me with wide eyes full of panic.

I placed the tip of my sword at the base of her neck. She was frozen in place, shivering.

“I said you shouldn’t try to fight me,” my voice sounded quiet, cold and hard as stone. The woman shivered.

“W-What do you want from me?” she stuttered, voice shaking.

“I just need you to keep quiet.”

With a simple gaze, I entered her mind.

Her mind was weak and unprepared; she offered almost no resistance to me. A slave merchant. Her ability to shapeshift was hereditary, but she never really treasured this ability. She gained wealth by stealing hybrid children from their families and selling them as slaves.

But there was nothing in her mind that indicated that she was involved with Taehyung’s attempted murder.

I left her mind, exhaling heavily in disappointment. The woman blinked, dizzy, and stared up at me. “D-Did you just ent-ter my mind? What do you want from me, demon?!”

I sheathed my sword and looked back at her. “I want you to forget everything about our encounter.”

And she immediately fell unconscious after hearing my order in dragon language.

I turned around, heading to the entrance of her mansion. All of the guards and maids were laying on the ground in different positions after I put them all to sleep, so the place was silent. Humans’ minds are so fragile, so easy to command. I crossed the large gardens of the property, the night breeze playing with my hair. I stretched my wings slightly, the two cuts in my shoulder blades still burning a little. Since I have been transforming into my dragon nature quite frequently, it did not hurt much as it used to.

The sun would rise soon, what meant I had to leave. But not before doing something...

I stopped in front of the huge shed and held the big padlock that also contained a sealing spell; my hand gripped it tightly, and the iron object started to melt. The entire building shone with a sickening green light for a second, indicating the spell was broken.

The doors were pushed open.

All the hybrids inside gasped in unison; some girls yelled, all of them flinched. They stared at me with fear. There were dozens of kids and teenagers.

I stepped inside and simply said: “Go.”

None of them moved, their gazes shifting from scared to confused.

“What are you waiting for? Go before the guards wake up,” I repeated more firmly this time. “You all have to leave the property and don’t stop running until morning comes. You must go down the hills in the North direction. Avoid big cities like Györi, because there are too many soldiers there. You still have some time before the spell fades away, so I advise you to take some supplies from the mansion. Come on, you won’t have another chance when the sun rises!”

Immediately, they started to run out of the shed. They ran past me, some of them stumbling in their hurry; the older ones took the younger ones by their arms and led them out of the building. I stood there, holding the door opened, and waited for them to exit, watching as well as they entered the mansion from far and went out of there with food and other supplies on their hands.

I heard many “thank yous!” and “may the elves bless you!” directed to me as they wan away; some of them were weak and dehydrated, but seeing their smiles of incredulity made a good feeling grow inside of me. They didn’t approach much, though, scared of me. Although my dragon nature is not much different from my human form, I know it is an unusual and imposing sight that make many fear me.

That is, until I noticed there was a pair of eyes looking at me from below.

A little girl, probably six years old, stared up at me in awe.

“Are you an angel?” she asked, astonished.

A smile creeped up on my lips. Just some minutes ago that woman called me a demon...  

“No,” I said softly. “I am just a shadow.”

The girl smiled. “Thank you, Miss Shadow!”

With that, she ran away towards a group of older hybrids.

I stayed there until I was sure no one was left behind, until I saw the last of them disappearing down the hill. It was sad that I couldn’t provide more support to them, yet freeing these kids was the first step; I knew that if they followed my instructions, they would arrive at a hybrid village hidden in the woods.  

And then, I was the only person awake in the property.

I took the piece of paper from my clothes and unfolded it – the list Jimin gave me, and scratched the seventh name; the last one.

Yggrite Brzenski

I have visited each of the seven on the list, and none of them were involved in Taehyung’s attempted murder or were the wolf watching us that night. I already expected it, though; someone that tried to kill a King wouldn’t be foolish enough to let their name registered at the Tower. This story just got more and more complicated.

There was also the fact that this person could be involved with the rebellion Jimin talked about, but I couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. This rebellion has been intriguing me ever since I talked to Jimin about it – and after paying much attention, I heard people talking about it, not only that day at the market with Princess Sana. At the palace, the workers would whisper to each other when there was no superior listening. It’s not as if any of them were involved in it, though; the times I heard were always people criticizing Taehyung or the marriage and doubting the changes he said he would make, and saying that the rebellion was the only solution for hybrids in Ëlv’en.

I also heard the words the chosen one many times...

I even tried to get into someone’s mind to achieve more information, but they really didn’t know much about the rebellion’s next steps or who was leading it. Therefore, I could not just keep entering people’s minds that way. It is intrusive and extremely disrespectful; I just entered one’s mind as a last effort. Moreover, enter someone’s mind is dangerous. Even if I tried to be delicate when doing it, the action could break the person’s consciousness to the point of madness or cerebral death. My existence is too strong for a common human or hybrid to bear. Whenever I checked people’s minds when doing my interrogations, I wouldn’t go farther than just scratching the surface of their consciousness. I didn’t want to kill anyone by accident.

I flew back to the Capital, all these thoughts troubling me. I had a strange feeling that has been growing these days; it felt as if staring at heavy, dark clouds approaching, hearing the thunders from far, knowing that soon the storm would fall upon my head. Something was about to happen, and I had to be ready.  

Or, perhaps, it was just my sadness increasing because of the wedding ceremony.

It would happen the next day.

Each day closer to the ceremony felt like a different arrow being buried in my chest. I had to watch the palace being decorated, the Capital becoming even more crowded than it was during Dökkálfar, special guests arriving to witness the wedding. I had to watch Princess Sana trying her beautiful wedding dress for the first time. I couldn’t even look at her in the eye ever since I stupidly exposed myself in front of her.

The only person I didn’t see much was Taehyung himself, but for that I was grateful. It would just add to the pain.

Not even my tight routine helped me to distract myself. I visited each seven from the list during the night, when both Taehyung and Princess Sana were at the palace and safe, sometimes flying long hours to reach my destinations, what gave me many nights and days without any sleep. But working to the point of exhaustion was not working. Instead, I just felt sad and tired.

I was so tired of being sad.

Just the sight of the palace appearing in my vision already made my shoulders weight heavily. At least when I traveled, my connection with Taehyung weakened a little bit and I could let myself forget for some moments of what was about to come. At the palace, though, every place and person reminded me of him and the wedding.

I landed in the middle of the forest which bordered the palace, where I could shift back into my human form unnoticed, and walked back inside the colossal building. It was barely six in the morning, however no one was sleeping; workers running from side to side to make the last adjustments; the cooks worked like crazy to get all the food ready in time, chefs yelling orders and rushing everyone. The Royal Family invited around one thousand official guests, but millions of subjects came to the Capital to watch the ceremony and cheer for their new Queen. People came from all parts of the continent, especially from Vanaheim, Princess Sana’s native land.

The security system has been reinforced; powerful spells protected the palace, amulets were hidden everywhere, soldiers patrolled the city day and night. It was somehow a relief to me, but I could not let my guard down. Spells can be broken and humans are weak. If something bad happened, I would be the last barrier between Taehyung and the danger.  

As always, no one noticed me walking towards my room. The day before the wedding ceremony was free to the bride and groom, so they could rest before the great day. It didn’t mean I was free, though; I had to check up on each spell of the palace, but I still had two hours left.

I entered my room and closed the door, exhaling heavily. I didn’t know if I was ready. I knew that this marriage was the right thing to happen for both kingdoms, but the thought of Taehyung marrying Princess Sana was too painful for me to even picture – watch in person would be unbearable.

I threw the sword carelessly over my bed and was about to change clothes. I hadn’t even talked to Taehyung all this time. Things between me and him were so unsettled – I didn’t even understand yet if a “thing” between us even existed. I missed the times when we were traveling, when we became close, when the wall that kept us apart seemed to be inexistent-

“Did you miss me, Y/N?”

I turned around immediately with a jump, completely started.

My eyes widened, my lungs failed.

“Hoseok?!”

The red-haired man looked at me, the usual mischievous smirk on his lips, a somber gaze shadowing his features. He was leaned against the door casually, as if his presence in my room was the most normal thing in the world.

“Oh, I see you’re very excited to see me,” he said, quirking his eyebrow suggestively. I felt my cheeks burning, readjusting my shirt again. I was about to take it off when he appeared – but fortunately, he didn’t see much. My heart was beating way too fast; I was so confused.

“How are you-?” I was about to ask, but then I finally noticed.

He was with me, but at the same time he wasn’t. Well, at least not physically.

“It’s not my fault that we have a mental connection,” he said, shrugging absently. “It was pretty hard to come here, by the way. You blocked our bond so well. Why did you do that, love? You don’t appreciate my presence?”

A scowl of disgust distorted my features. “Don’t call me like this.”

“You don’t like it when I’m rude, but you also don’t like it when I try to be sweet. Why are women so complicated?” He tilted his head to the side, voice spilling sarcasm.

“I don’t like you at all,” I snapped, crossing my arms. It has been such a long time since Hoseok contacted me through our connection. “What do you want?”

Hoseok’s smirk accentuated as he approached me slowly, stopping right in front of me. Although his presence was only telepathic, it was so real that I could almost feel his scent.

I didn’t like him so close to me, even though he wasn’t with me physically. Partially because I hated him, and also because I could not deny the fact that Hoseok was very attractive. I always thought he had a good appearance, but due to my conduct code, I brushed this attractiveness to the far corner of my mind. Actually, his good appearance was what made or deal feel less disgusting. Now, I didn’t care about conduct codes anymore; I couldn’t deny that his presence so close to me made me feel uneasy.

It was different of what I felt with Taehyung, though. I liked everything about Taehyung. With Hoseok, only his appearance attracted me – nothing more.

“I came here to remind you that you’re reaching the full adulthood next week,” he said, the mischievous grin never leaving his lips.

I gulped, avoiding his gaze. I actually forgot about it.

“And, surprisingly, you seem to have really forgotten,” he scoffed.

“I have been busy. How would I remember about it?” I retorted, looking at him again.

“I know. The wedding.” Hoseok lowered his gaze to my eye level. “But the wedding is tomorrow, and our deal happens next week. I hope that you at least prepared to it.”

And I avoided his gaze again.

Hoseok’s grin disappeared.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t explain it to your master yet.”

I didn’t answer.

Hoseok huffed, anger immediately hitting him. “Y/N, what’s your problem? Did you forget how important this is?!”

“I didn’t have a chance to say anything!” I tried to defend myself. “M-Maybe we could delay it for a couple of weeks-”

“You know we can’t. Unless you want to die. I'm saying this for your own sake,” Hoseok warned, expression hard, his voice giving me no room for protests.

I sighed, feeling completely defeated. I knew Hoseok was right; I should have explained it to Taehyung a long time ago. I should have told him about this since the day we met at the dungeons.

“What happened to you, Y/N? Since when you became so weak?” Hoseok questioned, eyeing me oddly. “I can see there’s something different about you. When you were King Taejun’s guardian, you would not have wavered over such a simple issue.”

“Simple?!” I looked up at him again, starting to feel annoyed. “This has never been an easy issue to me, Hoseok. I am the one that might end up dying, not you.”

For a second, I saw Hoseok’s gaze shifting. It was only for one second, too brief – but I saw a shadow of concern on his eyes. But it was only for one second before his eyes became hard again and he scoffed.

“Well, as a Royal Guardian, you should be used to the idea of dying. But I think you’re just a coward, since you delayed your own death by becoming King Taehyung’s guardian.”

I felt such a strong wave of anger that even Hoseok’s image wavered a bit. I was sure that he felt it on his own skin.

“I swear – next time we meet, I will kill you,” I said between gritted teeth.

The grin reappeared in Hoseok’s lips. “I am looking forward to it, love.” He approached one more step, now standing dangerously close to me. I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Our bond was so strong that even our bodies were connected. “In fact, I think we could train a little bit before the big event next week. If you completely unblock my connection with you, you’ll be able to feel me physically...”

Hoseok was about to touch my face, but I slapped his hand away and pushed his chest. A freezing shiver ran underneath my skin; the feeling of touching someone that isn’t even there is strong and nauseating. Our brains were projecting how would it feel like if we were actually in front of each other, barely a ghost of reality.

“Get out of my mind,” I ordered angrily, making Hoseok chuckle darkly.

“You can’t keep avoiding this forever, love.” His voice then got only slightly more serious. “I don’t know how you’ll make it, but you have to tell your master. You must be in Niflheim next week.”

“I know,” I said weakly, because as much as I hated it, Hoseok was right. “I’ll be there.”

And again, for the briefest of the moments, I saw a flash of something more in Hoseok’s eyes. They softened, only for a moment.

“Don’t worry, love. It won’t be as bad as you think. To be honest, you’ll like it very much.”  

“I told you to stop calling me this way,” I said angrily again. Hoseok just chuckled.

“Well, unfortunately, I have to leave. See you next week, Y/N.” He looked at me intensely for some moments. “I’ll be anxiously waiting for you.”

And, with that, his image faded away.

I was quick to seal our connection strongly again. How inattentive was I being all this time to loosen the block so much that Hoseok simply slipped into my consciousness? I have always been very careful to not let him do it. Although it was not his fault that our minds were connected, Hoseok liked to provoke me. When we were younger and I didn’t know how to seal our bond, sometimes he would even appear in my dreams just to make me angry.

I sighed heavily and sat on the bed, holding my head in my hands. What was I going to do? I did not have the courage to explain it to Taehyung. But, as Hoseok himself said, we had no time.

The situation only got worse and worse...  

In that exact moment, realization hit me like a rock.

I widened my eyes.

Someone was able to attack my mind. The sealed mind of a dragon. I kept asking myself who could be so powerful to do so...

But Hoseok has just slipped into my mind so easily minutes ago. Yes, we had a connection, but still – that was not an easy task.

Pure adrenaline rush through my veins.

The person that attacked my mind was either Hoseok... or another person as strong as him. And the only one able to match the power of a dragon is another dragon.

A brother of mine was involved with Taehyung’s attempted murder.

I couldn't think of anything else in the next hours. I almost forgot about the wedding.

As I made inspections in the protective spells, my mind was a turmoil. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure: another dragon attacked my mind.

But who?

I knew all of my brothers by name. Hoseok, Yuta, Chanyeol and Minho - we were the Five Guardians. There were eight kids currently training in Niflheim, but they were way too weak and unexperienced to be able to attack my mind that way. And there were also two female dragons there - but since they did not receive the same training as us, I knew they wouldn't be able to attack me.

So, who could it be?  

Hoseok and I already had a connection, so he could supposedly be the culprit, but that I doubted highly. I would have recognized his presence in my consciousness immediately if he were the attacker. Therefore, I knew Hoseok way too much; he had an impeccable behavior his entire life, always following the conduct code and he was very proud to be a Guardian. As he already said multiple times, nothing was above his honor. There was no possibility that Hoseok would simply join a rebellion. I also doubted it would be Yuta, because I would have recognized his aura as well.

What should I do? My only choice was to visit each dragon; feeling their presences and auras could give me a hint. But I didn't know how I would make it. Three of them were guardians and the rest were all in Niflheim, and I couldn't go to the mountains again without permission...

But I would have to go back to Niflheim next week, isn't it? And I had permission to do so. Maybe the, I'd be able to find more information…

I inspected every corner of the palace, checking if the spells were working the way they should – and apparently, everything was fine. I checked everything more than once, doing as my superiors asked. This time, I couldn't be upset at them; the Capital was impossibly crowded, so being careful was the expected. By the time my inspections ended, the sun was already disappearing in the horizon.

When I finally had a little bit of free time, I searched for Yoongi. Fortunately, he was taking a break, too. We sat far from the mess that was the kitchen; although I don't usually get tired easily, I couldn't help but feel my eyelids becoming heavy. There were too many things for me to deal with all at once...

"They want us to wear this ridiculous uniform," Yoongi whined for the hundredth time, a pout on his lips.  

"But you're going to work as a waiter, right? Of course you'll have to dress accordingly."

"Yes, but that white uniform is ridiculous. I look like a clown in that. What were they even thinking?!" He crossed his arms, upset.  

I smiled softly. I smiled softly. But, as I was about to reply, we heard the noise of something breaking loudly in the kitchen.

We both looked in that direction, startled.

We both heard someone yelling, "Chuu!"

We both got up at the same time and ran in to the kitchen.

All of the workers had stopped to watch what happened, and my chest immediately tightened. Chuu was crouched down in front of a pile of porcelain shards, trying to collect them weakly. Why was that scene so familiar?

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry-" she stuttered.  

"Sorry?!" Martha yelled, watching her from above, red anger on her eyes. "I am tired of hearing your apologies! You are a disaster! Look at what you did! Get up!"

Chuu trembled slightly, doing as she said, tears already watering her eyes. Everyone watched, but no one moved do help her.

The thing Chuu hated the most was being watched as she was humiliated...

"Ma'am-"

"Shut up! This time, I won't forgive you!"

In my eyes, the scene happened in slow motion.

Martha, with her features distorted in anger, lifting her hand, ready to slap Chuu's face violently.

Chuu flinching, preparing to the aggression.

I remembered that I saw her going through a similar situation months ago, when Chuu spilled tea in Taehyung's clothes. Back then, Yoongi was who tried to intervene, but I stopped him and dragged him away. Back then, I thought that we should never go against our superiors, even when we were right and they were wrong. Back then, I used to be the person that would be punished without saying a word, always keeping my head down, always obeying, always doing what others wanted before considering what I wanted. I was the submissive person that agreed with everything bad. I was the person that watched my friends being humiliated without doing anything.

But the person I used to be has died.

All of the bad feelings accumulated inside of me for the past days seemed to explode in that moment. The moment I saw Chuu closing her eyes tightly in fear. The moment I saw Martha ready to slap the face of one of the people I cared most in the world.

I refused to be that person again.

Martha looked at me in shock when I held her arm tightly.

"What-?"

When I pushed her, the woman lost balance completely and fell to the ground, taking an entire table with her.

Everyone gasped.

Chuu looked up at me, shocked.

"You don't touch her like that!" I yelled, making Martha flinch.

She looked at me. "Who are you to give me orders, slave?!" She said, however her voice lacked strength. Most workers around me didn’t know what I am, but she knew. And because of that, she feared me.

I stepped closer. "I am the person that will punish you if you don't leave this palace immediately."  

Martha froze. But she was too proud. The woman got up and looked at me. "I will make sure to tell your superiors about this!"

"Do it." I stepped even closer, making Martha step behind. I let all of my anger flow through my gaze, all of that fiery sensation burning in my guts. Fear as clear as the morning sky was evident in her eyes. "Go, tell them. I don't care. You're not stronger than me, neither are they. I want to see you try."

Slowly, I felt the hybrids around me being filled by my speech, like oil being thrown in a fire pit. They started to murmur things in agreement; I felt their hard feelings being fed, satisfaction and ager taking over them - because someone was finally doing what all of them wanted to do, but no one was brave enough to do so.

As I approached, they approached behind me, too, closing a tight circle. Martha was forced to step back. Slowly, we were kicking her out of the kitchen - out of the palace.  

"Y-You'll pay for this!" She said, eyes filled with panic. She saw all the people she always humiliated standing against her, all the hatred she had caused.  

"You will pay the consequences if you don't leave. Now." My voice was menacing, my fists tightened.

But cowards don't need to listen twice. Martha turned around and started to run, a small crowd runnings after her, screaming and cursing her. Soon, the commotion had gathered more and more people that watched the hated superior run away hopelessly until she was out of the palace, screams of triumph and victory leaving their lungs.

I looked around to all of them. They held the same smiles and happiness I saw in these hybrid kids earlier that day; the same satisfaction.  

Yoongi stared at me in shock.

From far, I saw Jungkook showing a mix of shock and similar satisfaction.

I remembered his words from times ago; if you have the power to change it yet you chose to do nothing, then yes, it is your fault!

He was right.

I could not keep seeing such things happening right in front of me and doing nothing to change it when I had the power to do so.

"Listen well, all of you!" I said, calling all the attention. They went silent, waiting for me to speak. "This kind of behavior - it can't no longer be tolerated. It doesn't matter if the work-policy changed if they don't change as well; they do not have the right to treat us like this, they never had, but now more than ever - they will never again. We won't tolerate be treated like slaves anymore. We are free. And if they don't want to accept it - we will make then accept it!"

And everyone around me started to scream.

They applauded, shouts of support coming from all sides. The old me would never do something like this; a guardian is supposed to be a shadow.

But I was tired of being invisible.

Both Yoongi and Chuu watched me in silence, too shocked to react. The two people I cared about the most.  

They were more than friends; they were my family.

They gasped when I simultaneously pulled them into a hug.

"Yoongi, you were right. You were right all along... About everything. I'm sorry for not listening to you before," I said, my voice sounding muffled. "Chuu, I'm sorry for never protecting you before. I'm sorry for being such a bad sister."

Chuu sniffled, tears already trickling down her chubby cheeks. "S-Sister?"  

I nodded, hugging her tighter.

The old me hated physical contact; this kind of touch, though, filled me with joy and warmth.  

“L-Look, I’m sorry for destroying this heartfelt moment,” I heard Yoongi saying, trying to sound unbothered, but his voice was wavering slightly and he wiped his eyes quickly, what made me smile. “But you know that you just made a mess one day before the royal wedding, right?”

He was right. No one was working anymore. I saw guards approaching quickly as they heard the loud commotion in the service area; they looked around, confused, and started to yell words of order.

“What is going on? Who started this?!” I heard General Seokjin’s voice shouting.

“I did,” I said immediately, approaching him.

Everyone went silent, watching the scene. We stared at each other. General Seokjin seemed about to explode.

“And what right did you-”

“A person in a leadership position was breaking the rules from the work-policy and about to punish a worker with violence,” I cut him before he could say anything, what just made him more exasperated. “All I did was prevent it to happen. As one of the highest ranked members of the Royal Guard, I am sure Sir General knows I have the power to do so.”

I always had the power to do so, but you acted as if I couldn’t, as if I had no privileges and no rights.  

“Your duty is exclusively towards His Majesty. You can’t just get involved in situations that has nothing to do with you and think you won’t be punished afterwards.”

“You’re right,” I crossed my arms. “But before deciding any punishment, you have to tell about my ‘misbehavior’ with my superior. And that is the King himself. So, please, Sir General, go ahead and tell him. Tell him what I did.”

There was a mix of pure anger and complete surprise in General Seokjin’s eyes. I never dared to speak this way – so blatant, so challenging. I was not afraid to face Taehyung. I was not afraid of anyone.

General Seokjin had to swallow his own anger and his will to punish me physically – something he couldn’t do anymore – and nodded. “I will make sure to let him know about this. All of you, back to work! This is not your free hour!”

Slowly, the commotion dissipated and the workers went back to their tasks – however I knew that these minutes already delayed the work very much. I didn’t feel guilty for what I did, though. General Seokjin sent me a last menacingly glare before he turned around, probably heading directly to Taehyung’s room, ready to accuse me of insubordination.

I didn’t care.

Darkness already blanketed the Capital as I left the service area heading to the gardens, feeling overwhelmed. I wanted to be alone. Oddly, that anger still didn’t let me; my fists were tightened, my breathing heavy. I felt mad because of everything: the person that attacked my mind, my deal with Hoseok, the way I has been always treated my entire life, the suffering of my race, my feelings for Taehyung – the man that could not be mine, the man I would have to watch getting married the next day.

I was definitely not ready for it. But Taehyung would come to see me. I knew it.

I waited for him to come, the cozy nightly breeze embracing me. It was annoying how the weather felt perfect, and the next day it would, too – the perfect weather for the perfect wedding. At least I was alone in that moment – finally alone. I could hear the sounds of the busy palace and the crowded city, but the garden was quiet, the calming sound of the breeze touching the grass and leaves, crickets singing here and there, eventual fireflies glowing in the dark.

And come to see me he did. I got up from the bench the moment I saw his figure appearing, and the fact that my heart immediately started beating faster annoyed me. He approached me at heavy steps, eyebrows set, his entire expression as hard as stone.

He was mad.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Taehyung questioned the moment he was close enough, crossing his arms. No greetings, no velvety voice. No; he was angry because I made a mess the day before his wedding. It was the first time I saw Taehyung mad at me.

It made my chest hurt even more.

“There was no way for me to tell you, it happened too quickly at the kitchen and-”

“I’m not talking about what happened at the kitchen.” he interrupted, voice sharp. “I’m talking about your deal.”

And for a moment, it was like I lost the ability to speak.

I stared up at him, utterly shocked, eyes wide and jaw dropped. I was expecting him to be mad at what General Seokjin told him, not this - and it managed to disarm me in a matter of seconds, all of my confidence gone. No. It can’t be what I think it is...

“W-What- Who told-?” I stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Gilliard told me.” Taehyung said, his voice so uncharacteristically mad it made me feel uneasy. Of course, that old hateful man was who revealed my secret before I could.

“Your Majesty, I... I didn’t have the chance to explain...” I stupidly tried to explain myself.

“You didn’t have time to explain something like this?” Taehyung shook his head, looking at me with incredulity. He clenched his jaw, put his hands on each side of his waist. “I came here hoping you would tell me it was a lie, but I can see it’s not. Procreation, Y/N? Is this serious?!”

I flinched slightly. Taehyung said the word “procreation” with such disgust that I felt myself becoming smaller. I stared down to my feet, gulping.

“It... It was expected to happen, Your Majesty. I am a female, and my race is too rare...”

“No. This is- this is wrong,” Taehyung said, almost as if he hadn’t heard me. He walked from side to side, passing his hand on his hair angrily; his aura was a mess.  

“Besides me, there are only two more female dragons, and they already had too many children. They are old. If... If I don’t do this, my race will disappear,” I said weakly again, trying to give him a plausible explanation, trying to make him understand. “If I don’t do this now, I won’t have many chances of survival in the future.”

Taehyung looked back at me at this, as if finally paying attention to what I was saying.  

“Most female dragon-hybrids die giving birth,” my voice sounded as controlled as possible, but it still wavered. “The only way for us to carry a child and survive after the birth is if we impregnate at the exact date we reach the full-dragon adulthood, and it will be next week. I have a strong and healthy physique, so my chances of survival are high. It must happen, Your Majesty.”

“No.” he repeated once again, exasperated. Was he even paying attention to what I was saying? “This- what you’re saying- this is wrong, Y/N! Everything is wrong!”

The confusion inside of me grew. How could he know what was right and what was wrong? “It is the truth, Your Majesty-”

“What makes me angrier is that you didn’t tell me about this before,” Taehyung cut me off, again, as if he hadn’t heard me. “You hid this from me. You weren’t honest with me.”

In that moment, I saw disappointment in his eyes – and instead of saddening me, I felt the anger from before start to burn again. He was this exasperated because I didn’t tell him I would not be his guardian for the next nine months, that’s it. That’s what he cared about. I tightened my fists.

“And what right do you have to say this to me?” I said, a venous anger very apparent in my voice as I looked at him. We both were angry beyond words, our auras felt like fire. “You’re the one who’ve been keeping secrets from me since the beginning.”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes, and I saw the moment his demeanor wavered because of my accusation. “What-?”

“I’m not stupid, Taehyung,” his name left my mouth before I could rationalize, what made the King widen his eyes only slightly. In that moment, I couldn’t care about our positions and roles; it was just me and him, and I wanted explanations. I needed it. “You said it yourself that you have many secrets, isn’t it? You never told me why you chose me as your guardian. You just make me feel as if I’m close to you, when in fact you never tell anything to me. You have been hiding things from me since the beginning. So, what right do you have to judge me?!”

Taehyung inhaled heavily. “Don’t say this. Only if you had any idea of how sincere I have been-”

“And what right do you have to be mad because of my deal?” I cut him off; it was my turn to not let him speak, to not listen to him. “Your engagement with Princess Sana is almost the same thing, right? So why are you mad at me?”

I have been watching you step closer to your marriage in silence all this time, even though it hurt like physical pain, yet I said nothing.  

“I am not mad at you! I am-” Taehyung suddenly interrupted himself, swallowing hard. He closed his eyes tightly, swiped his hand on his forehead, trying to calm himself down.

Then, he looked at me again – and I felt my entire body shivering.

Not in fear.

“You are right,” he said, voice quieter now, but his anger was muffled, jaw still tightly clenched. “You are right about everything. And yes, our situations are similar.” Taehyung stepped closer to me, making a wave of heat hit me. No, this was no good. I couldn’t think properly when he stood so close to me...

“Do you want me to marry Princess Sana, Y/N?”

My eyes widened, being caught by surprise by his unexpected question.

His gaze was too overwhelming, so I felt myself avoiding it. Why was it so hard for me to deal with Taehyung? Why this man had such a strong power over me?

“S-She is a good person,” I started and, although I wasn’t lying, my voice sounded lifeless as I pronounced these words. “She is studied and very charismatic.”

“Stop it,” Taehyung said, stepping even closer. I stepped behind.

“She has good intentions and cares for hybrids, too,” I continued, tightening my fists. Pure adrenaline rushed through my veins; the air between us seemed charged with pure electricity.

“Stop it. You’re not being honest,” he said again.

“Princess Sana is already loved by the common population and she sure is the most suitable person for this role-”

“Stop it!”

I froze in place when Taehyung suddenly put his hand in the junction where my jaw met my neck, forcing me to look up at him.

Just like that night, he was so close.

The heat radiating from his body made my inner temperature increase. His hand felt hot against my skin; my heart seemed about to explode. I couldn’t believe he was standing so close to me again. I thought about that moment millions of times – the moment when he stood so close, yet didn’t dare to close the distance between us.

He was standing close to me again, though. And this time, it hurt more than ever. Because he would get married the next day with another woman.

Why did he dare to stand so close to me now?

But differently from that night, I could see a fire on his eyes now. He analyzed my features, eyebrows set in an almost angry expression. His beauty never failed to make my lungs fail, and that time was no different.

“You’re not being honest,” Taehyung said, voice low, but still strong. “Be honest with me. Do you want me to marry Princess Sana?”

I stared up at him, unable to move.

I looked at the face of the man that awakened so many sweet, fiery and painful feelings in me. He made me feel freedom, joy and empathy for the first time. He made me feel anger, he made me understand what justice means.

That unbelievably beautiful face.

And, in that moment – when he stood so close to me, when he was able to destroy every barrier I tried to build between us – I couldn’t lie to him.

“No,” I whispered the utmost truth.

Taehyung inhaled.

He still stared at me, and his eyes held something more. Something strong and deep and dizzying. I saw those eyes sparkling with something I couldn’t quite name.

Just like that night, I saw the moment his gaze dropped to my mouth.

I saw his face getting close to mine, millimeter after millimeter. My heartbeat hammered on my ears, my entire body tense with expectation.

But this time, it was different. Taehyung didn’t blink. Taehyung didn’t waver. No one interrupted the spell that kept us together.

This time, his lips touched mine.

His lips felt soft and warm against my own; he tilted his head to the side, and the hand that cupped my jaw slipped to hold the nape of my neck. I stood there, completely stiff, because I didn’t know exactly what to do; my entire body felt impossibly hot, as if my blood became lava rushing through my veins. Taehyung moved his lips against mine, forcing me to part my own – and instead of thinking too much, I just let my instincts take control of my actions.

Taehyung wasn’t being delicate. His lips were hungry, needy, terribly passionate – and I felt that I could barely breathe. Through that kiss, I could feel a strong and blinding turmoil of feelings – anger, guilt, resolve and euphoria. His other hand rested at the small of my back and he pushed me against him so our bodies were completely smashed, making me gasp between the kiss. The hand resting on my neck grabbed my hair, keeping me in place. Every fiber of my body seemed about to explode.  

My legs felt weak, and I honestly think I would have fallen if Taehyung weren’t holding me so tightly. My hands came to rest on his shoulders where I grabbed his shirt weakly, because I still wasn’t brave enough to touch him. Our lips moved in an untrained, furious synchronicity.  

Taehyung was who broke the kiss, both of us running out of breath. I saw his glossy lips, the area around his mouth reddish. He looked at me with half-lidded eyes, a gaze that looked softer somehow.

“T-Taeh-” I tried to say, but was cut short when his lips smashed against mine once more. It was less hurried now, however still deep and intense. I felt as if my body was melting under his touch, my mind way too drowned in bliss to rationalize properly. His taste was intoxicating; I felt that I could kiss him forever and never get tired of it.

After pressing his lips on mine sweetly for a long moment, he finally broke apart, but still kept me glued on him. We were panting, my fingers which still held his shirt trembling slightly. He rested his forehead on mine and closed his eyes, caressing my cheek with his thumb.

And we stayed like that. My emotions never felt so raw as in that moment. Taehyung was keeping me so close, my lips were still stinging from the kisses. In that moment, nothing else existed; no wedding, no deal, no insurmountable wall. We were just us. Just two people that wanted to be close to each other.

But as soon as this euphoric moment came, it went away, reality hitting me all at once, and my body started to feel cold again.

I gulped. “Why... Why did you do this?” I whispered, making Taehyung open his eyes to look at me.

“Because I wanted to,” he answered simply.

I shook my head almost imperceptibly, looking at his chest. “No. You did this to divert my attention.”

I put both hands on his chest and pushed him delicately – but instead of just accepting it, Taehyung held my arms with his hands in a swift movement. He did not put much strength; I could have pushed him away if I wanted. But the look he sent me was what made me surprised. Taehyung looked desperate, as if the idea of seeing me leave was terrifying.

“Please- Don’t go yet,” he whispered, a fragile plead.

My feet felt rooted on the ground. I didn’t move. I could not lie to myself; as much as it was painful to me, I didn’t want to leave his embrace.  

But he still owned me some answers.

And I wanted my answers now.

“Taehyung,” I called quietly, and I didn’t miss how he closed his eyes at this – as if hearing me pronounce his name was a pleasing melody. “Why did you choose me? Please, don’t hide this from me anymore. Tell me the truth. Do you remember when you asked me to be honest with you?” he nodded. “I am asking the same thing from you. Be honest with me, even if the truth hurts. I- I can’t keep living if you don’t tell me the truth.”

Taehyung looked at me in silence for long moments. His gaze held so much feelings that, for a moment, I asked myself how was he able to bear all of that. Delicately, he put a strand of my hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek. I could see he was having an inner argument...

But then, Taehyung closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply.

When he opened his eyes again, I saw a strong resolve.

“You are right. It’s past time for you to know the entire truth,” he murmured, more to himself than to me. “I don’t even know where to begin from...”

Taehyung gulped. I looked at him in expectation.

“I chose you that day to protect you, Y/N.”

I narrowed my eyes, confusion hitting me. “Protect me? What- why would you protect me?”

“Because they wanted to get rid of you,” the confusion just condensed inside of me. Who wanted to get rid of me? Why is that? “The same people that cursed my father.”

I stiffened at this.

“What?” my voice sounded too quiet, too weak, too scared of what was about to come.

Taehyung was serious in a way I’ve never seen before.

“King Taejun didn’t die of a disease, Y/N. He was murdered.”

And with that, more than ever, I lost the ability to speak.

King Taejun? Murdered? Someone killed him? But who? And why would these people want to kill me, too...?

But, before I could voice all these questions out loud, both of us were silenced.

The thunderous sound of an explosion echoed in the air.

The ground shook so strongly that I would have fallen if Taehyung didn’t catch me in time.

And I felt a bad, horrible, nauseating feeling in my guts.

We looked in the direction of the source of the explosion – the front gates of the palace. We could already see fire, as well as the desperate and panicked yells of thousands of people.

The palace was under attack.

Without a single word, we looked at each other for one second.

We started to run.

[velvetgons]

insecurity

junkyu x gender neutral reader

genres; angst, fluff 

word count; 6.2k 

song recs; home - seventeen and bloom later - jesse !!

warnings; mentions of cheating, insecurity, self-doubt, pls don’t read if you think this could make you feel insecure or bad abt yourself!!!, copious amounts of fluff, kissing (is that a warning?)

requested; yes!! thank you angel :) [requests are open] 

a/n; not much angst because uhh i am not so good at writing long angst oof

gif credit; hynsks on tumblr!! please tell me if you’d like it removed at any point :) 

His footsteps receded into dull thumps as you remained sprawled across the surface of the sofa in your living room. The TV continued to blare on in front of you, your eyes trained forward on it as you could already feel yourself begin to miss the presence of him beside you. You huffed softly, focusing on another mindless action sequence mid-way through a movie you didn’t care about, squinting as you watched the lead drop multiple stories of stairs to land perfectly on his feet. A scoff passed your lips as you mumbled out a realistically too-loud-for-when-you’re-alone, “Is that even actually possible?”

“Is what even actually possible?” You heard Junkyu’s voice call back in response, your head twisting to see that he must’ve been yelling from the kitchen, the living room still devoid of him.

You dropped your head back toward the screen in disappointment before yelling back a quick, “Do you think you could drop down six flights of a stairs and be, like, totally unaffected?”

You received a loud laugh in response, “I can’t even walk upstairs, so, I’d say no.”

Biting back the laugh bubbling up in your throat, you huffed dramatically before re-wording. “No, not you, I just mean, like, a person.”

“Am I not a person?” Junkyu called back, multiple clanging sounds as he attempted to put dinner into the oven for you both meeting your ears in harsh jolts.

You hummed just loud enough for him to hear, “Barely,” you called in a sing-song tone, hearing him gasp in response, “anyway, who cares about that, answer my question.”

He laughed again, a bright grin turning your lips up at the sound, almost wishing he wouldn’t actually stop to speak just yet. “I care about that,” he began, before another banging sound resounded through your apartment, “but, hm, yeah, I do think it’s possible.”

A far louder, more offended scoff passed your lips then, “Seriously? I don’t.”

“Obviously,” you heard him call in response, your grin spreading across your features as you heard the oven door finally open, “check, so I can finally be right about something.”

Your hands dropped onto the soft cotton of the sofa, fingers splaying out as you swiped your hands around in an attempt to find your phone. You lifted your hips off of the sofa in an ungracious check to see if it’d ended up underneath you, finding nothing again. Double-checking the coffee-table, you remembered rushing upstairs only twenty minutes ago to charge it after it’d died while you’d been showing Junkyu dumb cat videos you’d found late the night before.

“Can I use your phone?” You called back in inquiry, knowing already he’d say yes like you both always did.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be, like, two seconds, but go ahead.” Part of you felt suspicion bubble up at whatever he was still doing in the kitchen, the slight worry that he’d broken another almost impossible-to-break appliance hanging over you as you picked his phone up from the top of the table. You typed in his password without really thinking, his phone opening up to the picture of you and him from earlier that year, making you groan softly at the sight. It was one of his favourites – for evident reasons – he looked absolutely perfect, dressed well and smiling brightly at the camera; while you were wearing an oversized shirt of his, your hair messy from the day spent lounging around with him and Yedam, and you were caught off-guard, staring at him as if he was some kind of alien being.

Quickly moving onto opening the internet, you waited patiently for the home-page to load up, tapping your fingertips against the back of the phone. The sound of his text notification noise going off made you jump slightly, an embarrassed laugh passing your lips as you realised what it was. You’d usually ignore them, swiping them away as not to invade any sense of his privacy, but the sight of an unknown number peaked your interest. You pulled the text down to be able to read the whole thing, feeling your chest tighten at the words.

[19:28] unknown: I had so much fun today :) we definitely need to do it again soon, text me when she isn’t there and we can make more plans?

You breathed in sharply, feeling annoyance burst through you at yourself for jumping to conclusions. Breathing in deeply, you re-read the text, knowing it was probably nothing. It was probably a friend with a new phone, they probably weren’t doing anything bad, it was just bad timing to be catching one of their texts out of context.

Opening the message thread, you saw no more texts from the same number, sighing as you could already feel the likelihood of you obsessing over this growing. Just as you were about to close it and seek out Junkyu to get the asking him over with, another text came through.

[19:30] unknown: Just make sure she doesn’t find out!! We don’t want her knowing about this :) x

Junkyu dropped onto the sofa beside you, just as you closed the message thread to go back to the internet, your fingers stuttering over the keyboard. “So, who’s the smartest in this relationship, then?” You heard him ask, looking at you with raised brows.

You forced yourself to laugh in response, immediately feeling confusion at why you did that afterwards, “Wasn’t sure what to type, really.”

He laughed brightly, slipping the phone out of your hands before stopping and speaking again, “Oh, did I get a text? Thought I heard my phone go off.”

Humming softly you shrugged, “Uh huh, I clicked on it accidentally, but I went off it as soon I did. Sorry,” you mumbled softly, wondering if this would prompt him into anything.

He just shrugged, nodding, “It’s okay,” before his thumbs began tapping against his phone-screen again, “now, let’s see who truly is the intellectual here.”

           That had been a week ago now. You’d told him when he’d texted to tell you he’d gotten home safe that you weren’t feeling well, so you’d go to bed early and couldn’t respond to his texts. He hadn’t seemed to have noticed anything, telling you he hoped you felt better soon and to tell him if you needed anything.

Suffice to say, you weren’t feeling better soon. You’d been using this sudden and strange illness to avoid Junkyu and all of your other friends for the entire week, only daring to leave the safety of your apartment to go to school and work, grabbing small amounts of shopping on the journey back and forth. Rationally, you knew that isolating yourself and allowing your mind to spin different versions of a story you truly didn’t know any detail of would only aggravate the issue. But it was like you couldn’t stop yourself; the second he’d stepped out of that door, you’d began picking at the possibilities like a scab, trying to dig past the surface and figure out by yourself what was going on underneath.

Clearly, it had been slow work, the pressure of beginning to imagine and picture your boyfriend in a relationship with someone else behind your back had gotten to you enough to make solitude feel like the best option. Before, in the unusual instance of you and Junkyu arguing, you’d seek out a mutual friend, you’d rant and they’d know him enough to give you suggestions on how to fix it. It was the exact same thing he did in response to arguments with you. That was one of your favourite things about the two of you, the fact that you were able to put your stubbornness aside and figure things out together. This time just felt different. It didn’t feel like a matter you could take to a mutual friend and ask for an un-biased opinion on.

Slumping further back into your sofa with the blanket bound around you, you groaned in discomfort, feeling like your head had a heartbeat as you attempted to figure out what had to be the hundredth theory you’d come up with. This is, you noted, where things had evidently gone very wrong, turning in a direction you had first thought was unattached from the beginning picture of him cheating on you.

Every day when you woke up now, you’d feel an ever-growing and ever-painful need to stand in front of the full-length mirror and pick yourself apart, piece by piece. Over these seven sessions going in-depth on why Junkyu must no longer love you and be attracted to you and therefore feel a need to cheat on you, you’d come to conclude that perhaps that was a lot more wrong with you than you’d first imagined. Even when you’d been at your lowest with insecurities, you’d never thought that you weren’t worth anything. In fact, you were all about things being about more than looks, that was a thing you always spread around within your friendship group.

Now, though, things felt more difficult than they ever had. You stood in front of that mirror and stopped seeing a person worthy of love and respect and care, a person with worth and meaning. All you saw now was someone made entirely of flaws and imperfections, someone who didn’t have a single redeeming quality that someone could fall in love with.

You were sure that by now you could write someone a numbered list on all of the things that must have made Junkyu fall into someone else’s arms. You had decided that there was something wrong with your hairstyle, your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your cheekbones, your neck, your chest, your stomach, your arms, your hands, your thighs, your calves, even finding a way to choose multiple flaws in something as minuscule as your temples.

It was overwhelming, the constant crushing weight of feeling yourself rationalising the possibility of somebody cheating on you, on top of trying to give a timeline to events you couldn’t even be sure were genuinely happening. Your phone went off, alerting you both that someone was trying to get in contact with you again and that you were, indeed, crying again. Sniffling softly, you picked your phone up from the sofa, turning it over to see if it was Junkyu again.

[17:40] yedam: :(( are you still sick? If you are pls let me bring you some medicine…you’ve been sick for so long now

You felt your heart warm softly, the slight concern for making someone as sweet as Yedam anxious weighing down on your chest for a few small moments. Swiping at some of the tears still falling down your cheeks, you supposed that you should probably check the other constant loop of messages you’d gotten from friends – and namely, totalling up to over twenty from Junkyu – that you hadn’t responded to. Worry bit into you, although you couldn’t find the energy to give any of them a coherent response, you figured if you just told one of them they could circulate it around themselves and be content again.

[17:42] to yedam: yeah, i’m still not the best :(( sorry bub, but i promise i’m 100% fine!! i got myself some medicine today, i’ll be ready to go in a couple days

You sighed softly, preparing to drop your phone back face-down onto your sofa and go back to binge watching movies you’d already seen to make yourself feel better, however the sound of your phone dinging again you decided to check it again.

           [17:43] yedam: Oh my god!! A response!! I feel so special :)

          [17:43] yedam: Anyway…Junkyu’s been really stressed over this…maybe you should…you know, text him back

You felt the dramatic side of you flare up again, telling you that you should explain the situation to Yedam and have him help you in any way he thought he could. However, the rational side of you told you that he’d go right back to Junkyu to tell him everything you were thinking of. You felt like all of those people who said they were at, ‘the end of their rope,’ and you couldn’t even fully explain or figure out why you were so wound up.

More tears dripped down your face as you gave in, letting yourself lift your knees up onto the sofa and curl into yourself. Soft sobs left your lips as you reminded yourself that crying loudly was okay, because there was, as per usual nowadays, no one else here. Your phone dinged again, and again, going off a few times while you gave up on counting them, your sobs growing in volume. You let yourself continue on like this, feeling your breathing finally begin to even-out again as you reached over to curl your fingertips around your phone.

Lifting it closer to your face so you could check what the collection of texts had been. Your breathing that had just finished slipping back to a good, steady rhythm, it suddenly went off again, feeling as if your chest was being pressed down on again.

           [17:48] junkyu: you’re still sick?? is that why you haven’t been responding??

           [17:50] yedam: Okay I’m sorry but I told Junkyu you’re still sick

           [17:52] yedam: He’s just gonna come check up on you, ok? Don’t start worrying about how you look again bub I’m sure you look fine :) ily

         [17:57] junkyu: hi babe i’m kinda uh gonna be at ur place in 5 so pls open the door 4 ur favourite boy!!!

Coughing softly in an attempt to quicken the process of evening out your breathing, you checked the time, seeing it was already 6pm. You yanked yourself up to your feet, rushing down the hall to your bathroom and checking your splotched face. You fumbled, hands shaking as you gripped onto the cold steel of the cold tap and spun it, hearing the water splash against the sink as you closed your eyes and focused on pulling full breaths back into your lungs.

You took handfuls of the water and threw it onto your face, scrubbing it into your face and sighing when you saw the little it was doing to help clean up the evidence from crying on your face. Sparing a glance down to your outfit, you wished you could find the time to change, but you could already hear him knocking at your front door.

Heading back toward the front door, you could physically feel your heart moving up into your chest, your eyes clouding over with tears again of their own accord as you pulled the door handle down. Pulling the door open to reveal Junkyu, you almost let yourself cry again, feeling the mixed emotions clang together inside your chest and throat. Part of you wanted to cry at the relief of finally seeing him again, knowing you’d missed him more than you were ready to accept over the week, but the other part of you was reminding you that this was the boy who was going to break your heart.

“Baby!” He shouted, stepping into the apartment as he immediately swept you into his arms, locking them around your waist tightly as he tugged you impossibly close to him. “I wish you would’ve told me you were still sick sooner, I would’ve come.”

A pang of guilt ran through you at the sentiment behind his words, the feeling of knowing that he still cared for you rushing through you. Although, you pondered, could someone truly care about you if they were cheating on you, if they were doing something that would hurt you in the long run. You hummed in response, your arms curling themselves around him of their own consciousness.

He pulled back from you, his fingertips meeting yours and linking your hands together as he dragged you back in the direction of the living room. Seeing him navigate his way through the place you called home so confidently and naturally made an entirely different feeling wash over you, one of nostalgia and slight shame at the notion that you were lying to him purely because you doubted him so entirely. You weren’t entirely sure of what to do with yourself now that you had any lingering – or constant and overwhelming – negative feelings directed towards him. You’d never been caught in a position like this with him before, and now it left you wondering over how you were expected to act around the person you had definitively decided had cheated on you.

By the time you got far enough away from your thoughts to look at him confidently, you saw him smiling back softly, observing the way your face scrunched up in discomfort with worry ghosting on his features. “Do you think it’s a virus?” He began gently, keeping his voice low and whispered as if not to disturb a headache you didn’t really have.

His actions made you double-guess yourself, thinking back to what could now be construed as completely irrational threads of thought if he debunked them for you. The feeling of his hand coming to clasp yours warmly, gripping it within his own as he leant across to press a quick kiss to your cheek as if he was deeply concerned for you in your silence. Every piece of his actions made you desperate to flinch away, maybe in disbelief that this boy who was – in acceptance of the cheesiness of such a statement – literally made from honey with how sweet he was could possibly hurt you like this, or maybe more so for the belief that he’d see things you thought he’d fallen for, when in fact they could have been what ruined you. You could feel your hand begin to tremble as you felt the first salty trail of tears begin, wishing against all reality that they would just stop in their tracks before he noticed them.

Seven days’ worth of insecurity and shame smacked against you, washing over you like a wave and swallowing you up, spreading across your chest from the inside. You suddenly felt as if you were far too exposed, as if a hundred eyes were pointing at you like you had become some kind of exhibit. The examples of things to fixate on and hate about yourself suddenly sprung themselves to the forefront of your mind, your eyes shutting tightly as more tears fell against your mental protest. Insecurity had never, in all honesty, been something you had been good in any way at dealing with – perhaps, though, what you’d found comfort and honesty in before had been the things surrounding you, which, to your current dismay, must have always included Junkyu.

The weight of an arm wrapping around your shoulders and tugging you to be pressed safely against a sturdy chest made your heart speed up. Butterflies had been something you found yourself experiencing a lot with Junkyu, the knowledge that there was so much emotion and tenderness behind the small mundane actions always making you feel so swarmed with love. Now, though, the butterflies slammed against your rib-cage and made you feel like your head was pounding with some subdued panic you couldn’t fight.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he soothed softly, pressing a flutter of feather-light kisses to your temple in order to calm your sobbing, “does it hurt?” He pressed forward, all the while tracing calming circles and minuscule hearts onto the skin of the hand still linked with his.

Your immediate reaction was to nod, and you found yourself doing so as your hands tightened around the fabric of his shirt, burying your face into his chest to avoid the fear of him seeing you looking worse than you already pictured yourself. Your mouth opened and then closed again, and you found yourself scrambling to form a sentence of some kind that would summarise how you felt, what you were thinking, all the questions you had wanted to fire off at him since he’d left your apartment a week ago. But you just couldn’t find it within yourself, you couldn’t find the ability to question him when you were so sure you already knew why a boy like him would do this to a girl like you.

“Can I get you something, baby? Where does it hurt? Do I need to call someone?” Junkyu’s voice had risen slightly, making you wonder if you’d missed something he’d said in a haze while you fought to keep yourself hidden despite his protest. He seemed to be trying to figure out how bad you were feeling from looking at your face, but the panic that rose within you at the prospect of him doing so made your hold around him tighten.

His rush of panicked questioning only made the pit of confusion in your stomach open up further, and you couldn’t quite find a safe conclusion for all the things you were feeling at once. For a moment, his movements completely stilled, before he softly pushed you away from him, your body not having the strength to cling onto him any longer. As you slipped away from his body, his arms still firmly locked around your waist, you kept your eyes trained downwards, avoiding ever catching his eyes directly.

“Baby,” he began cautiously, “is…is something really wrong? Are you, like, badly sick? Do I need to definitely call someone?” The pure fear and apprehension tightened behind his words made the knot form itself back up in your throat, threatening to cover over the previous track of tears once again.

Shaking your head lightly, you knew that you didn’t have any room to manoeuvre a story in your favour anymore, that it was time to finally confess what was going on in your head to him. A searing jolt ran through you then, seeing the words tumbling past your chapped lips acting as a kind of finish line, as a brick wall on everything you’d built with Junkyu for the time ahead of you both.

“I’m not…Junkyu, I’m not sick.” You choked out, making sure to avoid looking into his eyes, knowing the moment you did would be the moment you lost all the strength to continue this conversation with him.

He tilted his head at you, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion, “What’s, what’s been wrong then?” For a moment, he stopped to wonder over something, before one of his hands found their way to cup your jaw, tilting your head upwards to look at him, “Why couldn’t you tell me there was something wrong?”

This question, although he didn’t know the meaning you were reading behind it, slapped you across the face. In all honesty, you knew you couldn’t be angry with him if he walked away from this, even if he had been entirely faithful, even if you were broken down by now, you couldn’t be angered by any reaction he had if he wasn’t at fault, because it was a painful thing to be accused of. You wondered what was worse – being accused of cheating on the person you loved most and were entirely faithful too, or feeling the need to accuse the person you loved most and trusted entirely of cheating.

“I’d have helped, whatever it was, you know that, right?” He questioned, his voice filling the silence and the hollow in your chest. At this, you searched across his face, trying to see if there was anything that could give you an answer before you dived head-first into the deep end of a conversation you didn’t ever want to have with him.

You exhaled softly, closing your eyes and willing the lump in your throat to just disappear, or maybe you were just wishing someone somewhere could give you some kind of extra emotional strength in that moment. “Junkyu, I, can I ask you a question? One that’s probably not…the nicest, I guess. I just…I need you to be completely honest when you answer me.”

Watching him intently, you observed the way he seemed to hesitate at the request. This immediately came across as a bad sign, a red flag that whatever his answer was it had to be picked at, it had to be torn apart until you could twist it into something you could believe. However, he nodded afterwards, swallowing thickly as his hands adjusted to slip more of your balled up fist into it, allowing you to feel the warmth of his palm as he tightened his hand back around yours.

You basked in this action, wondering if it would be the last time you’d get to feel his hand in yours. “Okay, I…” you sighed, moving your free hand to rub at your tired eyes before beginning again. “Are you cheating on me?” Once the words had actually left your mouth, the notion of not finding the confidence or the will to say them beforehand seemed almost comical. The easiness and fluency behind saying such a simply string of words and not thinking about the weight the order of them held was almost too funny to imagine being a difficult task.

At this, Junkyu recoiled, his mouth dropping open as his eyes narrowed at the space around, as if the words had become a physical thing he could see floating tauntingly in the air around him. “I, am I what? Why would…why do you even believe, for a second, that I even could do something like that to you?” The words left him in a jumbled, loud mess, but you knew what he was getting at.

How could you ever actually accuse him of cheating on you? What had made you believe that he had the ability to complete such a cruel act in the first place? If you were going to bring up the texts, you knew it had to be then. It was strange thinking about the concept now, your only proof and backing behind such a bold idea being two short texts that had popped up on his phone, that you could easily have asked him about seconds after you saw them. And now, you sat across from him, an entire week later, spewing a question that had so little to hold it up directly to his face.

“Junkyu, I, I saw some texts on your phone, from this…unknown number. And I get it, you probably think I’m overreacting, but they were weird texts, and I didn’t feel good about them.” You rambled, your empty hands now knotting together to tug at the fingers of each other in an attempt to escape the sheer anxiety building up inside you.

He looked confused for a moment, like he truly didn’t have any idea what you were talking about. “What, last week?” You nodded in response, dropping the eye contact as he huffed in response. “It’s been seven days! Why didn’t you just ask me about them if you felt weird about it? I would’ve answered!”

“You’re not answering now!” You scoffed, finally finding the courage to look up at him as he tilted his head at you in a lost manner again. Something about his actions made him seem almost childlike, as if there was no way possible he should be involved in a moment like this one.

He raised his hands to push his hair back out of his face, “Okay, okay, fine, I just, I don’t,” he paused to breathe in shakily, “you told me you didn’t see them.”

“Would it have been better if I didn’t? Are you…actually hiding something, Junkyu?” Your voice cracked at the end, the foreknowledge that he’d start crying soon under the pressure and strain of the argument starting to get to you.

You heard a small sniffle before he continued, “Well, I mean, yeah, but not for the reason you think it is, I…you, just, you lied to me, you know? I wish you would’ve just told me, baby. This isn’t…it’s not what you think it is.”

Having watched a lot of drama movies in your life, you knew that line was straight out of a cheater’s handbook. But, as he’d said earlier, looking at it in a full picture, did you really believe that Junkyu was genuinely able to do something like that? You weren’t so sure anymore, but the insecurity and fear inside of you was beginning to nip at your skin again, leaving you in an uncomfortable position of not even understanding your own logic.

“Then, what is it, Junkyu? I know I…I lied to you, I know, I just, I was scared. And I know you are, too, but if you did it…I get it, okay, I really do.” You breathed out, feeling a few stray tears escape to make their way down from your eyelashes only to be swiped at by the sleeve of your jumper.

At this, he seemed to jump as if you’d yelled at him, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to string together a sentence. “What are you talking about? You’d get it? Why…why would you understand someone doing something like that to you?”

“I didn’t say someone, I said you,” you began softly, a bitter laughing bubbling past your lips, “you’re, you know, you, and I’m, well I’m not exactly anywhere near your level, am I?”

Junkyu visibly startled, staring wide-eyed at you, looking more offended than when you’d posed your initial question. “I…baby, okay, um, let’s, take this one step at a time, alright?” You looked at him sceptically for a quiet second, nodding your head softly as he swiped harshly at the first tear to slip down his cheek.

“I didn’t cheat on you, okay? I wouldn’t. I’m, to be honest, I’m a little offended you think I’d ever do that, but, it’s, I can understand why it looks bad.” He fumbled about in the back pocket of his jeans for a second, pulling his phone forward so you could see it, skimming to tap in his password before re-opening the message thread again. Briefly, you wondered if this was something you actually wanted to see, but you knew you’d have to put your faith back in Junkyu as some point soon. He swiped up from a couple of messages, allowing you to briefly see the name had been changed to a saved contact, but you couldn’t read the screen from the angle you were at.

He turned the screen toward you, prompting you to read whatever was on it, as you took it from his hands. Your eyes skimmed across the messages as you felt your stomach rise from the pit it had been slumped into for the week behind you, although the guilt at your actions seeped into its place soon after.

The contact name simply read, ‘Mashi ♡.’ The texts underneath the one’s you’d seen all followed basic format, with normal day-to-day conversations and dumb jokes, Mashiho always finishing off the texts with little kisses or smiley faces. You were sure, from knowing him a while beforehand, that he did this with nearly everyone at some point or another during a conversation.

Your eyebrows scrunched up, “What…what was he talking about, then? It, just, I’m sorry, I just, I don’t understand, am I missing something?”

Junkyu chuckled softly, his eyes watery as he looked directly at you, “Yeah, uh, I wasn’t really supposed to tell you but, given the circumstances…we’re kind of, planning a surprise trip for you.” He shrugged, eyes leaving yours in an almost boyishly shy manner that you wouldn’t have expected to see from his earlier demeaner.

“A what?” You asked, a blush curling up to your cheeks as you looked down, unsure if the sudden bashfulness within you was from the embarrassment at your accusations or the sweetness behind their actions.

Junkyu hummed again, “You’ve just been stressed a lot lately, you know? So, we wanted to give you a break, take you somewhere nice, but…I know you hate planning trips, so we wanted to keep it a secret so it didn’t make things worse.”

You dropped your face into your hands, guilt flooding through you as you noticed just how kind both him and Mashiho were being about a situation you had no idea about. “Mashi just got a new phone, he, he asked me to give you his number but I forgot and then you got sick and I, I was gonna give it you when you were better.”

His ramble made you look up again, seeing his swipe at his cheeks again as he noticed the tears falling freely down your face for what seemed to be the millionth time that week. His hands moved to quickly cup your face, thumbs swiping tears away as he shook his head, “Don’t, don’t cry, it’s, I’m not angry, I’m a little upset, but, it’s okay, we’re okay, okay? Can you…can you tell me it’s okay? I just wanna fix this.”

Seeing his tears fall faster, you moved the fabric of your jumper to cover your hands and moved them to mirror his actions, swiping the sweater paws to catch the tears as they fell. He laughed lightly, smiling at you as grinned back at him, your head falling onto his shoulder at how ridiculous the situation seemed now. “There’s nothing to fix, I…I should’ve just asked, I’m so sorry, you know, I, I should never have let myself believe you could do that to me, or anyone.”

At this, he cleared his throat, rousing you from his shoulder and back into his line of sight. “We need to talk about what you said earlier, yeah?” You swallowed nervously before nodding, feeling his hands tug you up and into his lap. “I…can’t even begin to explain how wrong you are,” he mumbled, “how long have you been thinking like this?”

“Not long, I promise,” you began, watching as he seemed to breath out a sigh of relief, “I just, ever since I saw the texts, I guess. I just feel like I’m never gonna be able to be on the same…level as you, you know? I’m never gonna be good-looking enough for you, or have the perfect enough body type for you, I’m just never gonna be enough for you.” You said softly, your voice dropping into almost silence as you spoke.

Junkyu stayed quiet for a few minutes, as if trying to process and then understand the words being spoken to him. “No.” He said after you could feel the air begin to grow thick with apprehension of his answer.

You rose your eyebrows at him, “No?”

“You’re wrong.” He concluded, nodding once at you as if to lock the fact into your brain.

Unsure of how to argue with him on this, you simply sighed, “Junkyu, I, it’s okay. I’m okay just, being with you for as long as you need to find someone who’s…enough.”

Junkyu jolted underneath you, his hold on you seeming to tighten as his face curdled in disgust at your comment. “Baby…” he began against, his voice laced with weighed down sadness and panic, “that’s not, you shouldn’t ever lower yourself to think that way.” Just as you opened your mouth to confirm that in your mind, this was just a line in the sand, something you wouldn’t be able to cross with him for however long he stayed with you.

“No,” he interrupted your thoughts again, even gentler than before, “just, listen for a second, hm?” He waited a beat for you to nod in confirmation before beginning, “You’re enough. Not just for me, though, okay? You’re…hard-working, strong, smart, determined, kind, and…so, so much more, I don’t even have the words to begin describing you, you know? You just…you inspire me so much, and you don’t even know it. Everything you do is so beautiful and powerful and, don’t even get me started on your looks because I could talk all day. If you’re enough for yourself, then you’re far more than enough for me.”

You knew you were crying by the time he finished speaking, his hands had began flailing to hammer in just how specific he was being, his eyes shifting all around the room. When he finally looked back at you, a soft and shy smile turned the corners of his mouth up, his hands moving to swipe your tears away.

“Happy tears?” He checked, stooping his head down lower so he could finally look into your eyes again.

You nodded at him, a laugh falling past your lips, your head dropping further into his palm pressed to your cheek, “Happy tears,” you confirmed softly.

A bright smile lit up his features as he leant himself upwards slightly, his hand resting on your jaw bringing you close enough that your noses were touching, lips hanging centimetres apart from one another. “I know you say I don’t have to this anymore,” he began, making a laugh tumble past your lips again, “but, you know, can I kiss you?”

You nodded, your lips falling from their smile as he pressed his own against yours. The kiss was soft, his lips moving slowly and sweetly against yours as he dropped a single hand from your face to grab at one of the hands laid flat against his chest, curling his fingertips back around it. You felt his lips move upwards into a small as you squeezed his hand in response, you mirroring his action as he tightened his hand around yours in response.

[sleepyshige]

while on the topic of my slime rancher au, i remember discussing w someone in my discord server abt it n we’ve expanded it p far. the few things i remember from the discussion.

tome, teru, shou, ritsu, and mob all have youtube channels dedicated to the game. the four didn’t find out about mob’s channel until he uploaded a hide and seek video to it, and the gang went absolutely ape

mob likes to draw his own thumbnails sometimes instead of taking screenshots. ritsu recognized the art as his brother’s but assumed mob was just making some extra money by drawing for some youtubers

in mob’s videos, there was no voice over or recording of his voice. it was just text tutorials on how to do, find, or get to certain places in slime rancher. the first time he did a voice reveal was the time he uploaded the slime rancher hide and seek video

when the boys play hide and seek, mob and tome are usually the best hiders out of the 5 ranchers. teru is always found first. mob likes to hide in high up places that you’d probably need a jetpack to get to. tome likes to hide in high up places too, but she doesn’t hide there as often as mob does unless all her lower ground spots had been given away or already used.

teru usually gets caught first because he hides in the same place and in plain sight almost every round

at some point, it frustrated mob to the point where he went “TERU, YOU’VE HID THERE FOR THE PAST 6 ROUNDS”. ritsu finds teru immediately after that

other times when the gang are playing hide and seek, mob will let teru hide with him. once everyone else got caught, mob shoots a chicken towards one of them and they have no idea where it came from since their render distance is on low. tome is quick to assume it’s aliens and immediately gets distracted while ritsu and shou are looking around in a panic. they didn’t find the two that round

teru brings mob lots of gifts and even brings mob honey slimes and plorts along with their favorite fruit (mob still thinks its all in a friend sort of way)

"hey kageyama-kun! i brought you some heart beets in a totally platonic best friend sort of way :)” *proceeds to give him 50 heart beets*

“thanks hanazawa-kun. personally, i like cuberries, but i appreciate the gift :)”

mob logged in the next day to find 3 new gardens had been built and all were growing cuberries. mob still has no idea it was teru who’d left the gift.

it’s rare to see mob and teru apart from each other. they like to explore areas and collect things with each other

sometimes during ritsu or shou’s videos, in the foreground, you can hear mob and teru (flirting) talking to one another. at some point, shou and ritsu get really quiet so they can listen in on the conversation and expectedly catch a flushed teru.

tome likes to plant tar slimes in ritsu’s ranch when he’s away

“TOME, WHAT THE FUCK”

*trying not to giggle* “what”

“WHY ARE THERE TAR SLIMES IN MY RANCH-- AAAA--”

shou and ritsu are the ones with the most deaths currently in the game, mainly because they keep falling off cliffs and edges.

once shou was trying to get a screencap of the sunrise down by the docks and fell off. ritsu laughed at him and then fell off right after. shou got an absolute kick out of it, but ritsu was pissed because he had a hunter slime with him in his inventory. ritsu didn’t cheer up until shou brought him a golden plort and another hunter slime

since mob’s favorite map is the wilds, teru took mob there and attempted to confess his feelings for him. 

they were supposed to be alone but ritsu and shou had been in the call for quite some time trying to stay quiet for as long as possible. while trying not to laugh up a storm at teru becoming a flustered mess in front of a very flustered mob, shou sneezes and scares the absolute shit out of teru

ritsu let his laughs rip and teru spent the next 30 minutes yelling and chasing them around

mob accepted the confession in the end and the two started a new farm with each other for when they wanted to play alone

tome joined somewhere in the middle of all the yelling and chasing and had no absolute idea what the hell was happening, but laughed at the three boys anyway

sometimes takenaka likes to join them, but he doesnt really do anything but hoard rock and hunter slimes

 serizawa plays sometimes too, but rarely. seri doesn’t know much about the game (or even understand it), but he’s supportive and willing to play it with the kids anyway

teru and ritsu are constantly competing with each other, and sometimes ritsu tries to out gift teru by trying to leave as many quantum plorts as he can beside the plort machine. most of them usually end up despawning though

mob is often quiet while playing, but sometimes when he falls off cliffs or loses something, you’ll hear him go “motherfucker” or “fuck” into the mic

at some point, reigen was standing outside his door when he heard mob say fuck and nearly choked to death on his water.

sometimes the group will play with each other until late in the night

“did kageyama-kun fall asleep?”

“mm. let me check” there’s a 10 second pause before ritsu comes back “yeah”

teru found it cute. the two were very quiet and careful after that, trying not to disturb mob

shou ruins that at some point though and joins the call screaming “WHAT’S UP GAMERS”. it scared mob so bad he almost hit his head on the corner of his monitor

shou likes to scare ritsu by shooting radiation slimes at him

ritsu absolutely hates it because it gets him every time

[boyfriem-moved]

pl ea se info dump about your ocs

oh boy ok you,,, don’t want this but u already asked and it’s too late to go back so im just gonna start talking

ok so i have like 2 separate oc worlds and 3 seperate groups of ocs within those (these are just the main ones, there’s ones i don’t think abt anymore and ones i’ve abandoned and fan characters and stuff but if i went over all of that i’d be here all day so i’ll just stick with these)

so the first world is just our world, modern day, but with magic. there’s this one town, barnsley, georgia, that’s cut off from the rest of the world. most ppl drive by without ever noticing it, and if someone tries to go in who’s not wanted the town will disappear or try to kill them or just do something to keep them out. it’s a vaguely sentient town. in barnsley there’s a big forest and no one’s ever gone in and come out the other side. there’s ambiguous danger in the forest, mostly faeries who will make you fall in love with them and then kill you and harvest your bones and stuff.

so there’s like 4-6 characters depending on where we’re looking at in terms of what storyline i’m following (this is the one that i did nanowrimo for three (3) times and have over 100,000 words of thrown out content for and obsess over constantly so it has the most solid plot and there’s a lot of it) so anyways i’ll just go over all 6 and try to make it as simple as possible without talking about converging storylines and alternate drafts and stuff

ok! so! vi larson-park is the daughter of one of barnsley’s 3 great magicians! her mom could do all sorts of crazy magic and i can’t get into the parents’ backstory here bc they have a whole OTHER story and that’s just. too much (maybe i’ll do that later? we’ll see) so yeah her mom did magic and also made some bad deals and stole some stuff from the woods and indirectly caused some ppls deaths but it’s like fine probably. so vi grew up with her mom, natalie, her mom’s witch girlfriend, erica, and erica’s twin brother, simon (who i’ll get into later and also who doesn’t exist in half the scrapped drafts) in this big empty DEFINITELY HAUNTED house on the edge of town where erica grew up and they were good and happy. then like a year ago natalie was killed by nick, who i’ll also get into later, and that’s kinda the end of her story, vi and erica are obviously devastated and they have a funeral and vi starts having the occasional odd dream here and there, but things go back to normal after awhile. vi has absolutely no aptitude for magic, and because of that she often feels alienated by erica and simon who are VERY magical and always talking about things she doesn’t understand. she’s fiercely loyal and protective and not really scared of anything. she’s always wanted to know what’s in the woods but knows better than to go looking

tyler is vi’s best friend and also 50% whole entire Not Human. he either came from the woods or was found outside a random gas station in like arizona or something depending on which draft i’m going by, but either way he was found around two years ago and has been clinging to vi ever since. his backstory is a big unknown to the human characters and no one really knows anything about him. he’s a faerie prince, the son of the erlking, who’s sort of the ambiguous villain of the story but i’ll get into him later. he has 3 brothers, sorrel, dain, and kell. sorrel is the oldest and known as the winter prince, then there’s kell for spring, dain for summer, and tyler himself for autumn. (btw his name isn’t actually tyler technically it’s robin but i'm not gonna get into that rn.) sorrel is cool and collected and stone cold bitch, and all he wants is to be king so he roped tyler into helping him try and kill their dad, which failed, so then he lost his position in the royal court and now he’s doing tons of morally gray stuff in an attempt to get back in his dad’s favor so he can kill him for real this time. dain and kell are sort of nothing at all and you don’t need to know anything except dain is really mean and violent and kell is an ally(?). after the whole failed killing debacle tyler ran away to barnsley in hopes that he could find something in common with the humans, since he’d been a faerie all his life and couldn’t stand it. he’s quiet and doesn’t like doing or saying things unless he absolutely has to, is generally unhelpful unless something benefits him, scared of being alone, hates being indoors, runs around barefoot and only eats food from the woods. he’s kinda like an outdoor cat.

nick and marcus jacobs are brothers and general hooligans. nick is the older one (he’s 19) and marcus is 15 and they grew up in barnsley for the first 14 years of marcus’ life until marcus accidentally killed their dad and they left town. which the dad killing subplot is really a lot to get into but basically their dad was the second magician, along with vi’s mom, except the effects of magic on a person can kinda drive a person insane and the others managed to keep it together but he slowly went crazy until he was paranoid and in pain all the time and ended up taking a lot of it out on his sons which ended in him threatening marcus and marcus in an act of self defense unleashing raw magic power he didn’t know he had and accidentally killing him and also taking out all the power in the entire town and causing a minor earthquake. it was a Big Deal. so yeah they buried their dad in the backyard and skipped town. after their dad died all his magic went down to nick so nick has newfound power (marcus btw has never been able to use magic since then and has no idea how he did it) but he also has voices in his head and weird dreams, and with all the voices yelling at him all the time he realizes that the only way to get rid of them is to get rid of the magicians. his dad did some magic bullshit that made him the vessel for the magic once he died but the other magicians didn’t so he doesn’t have to kill anyone besides them and it makes sense bc i say it does shut up. so for like a year they drive around aimlessly, meet with and kill vi’s mom, meet with and kill aidan’s dad (i’ll get to aidan once i’m done here), pick up a hitchhiker depending on which version of the story i’m telling, then go back home where they’re not really welcome anymore but that won’t stop them. nick is cold and mean and. y’know. a murderer, but he also loves marcus greatly and gets attached to people more easily than he would like to admit. he’s sort of closed himself off and resigned himself to killing “for the greater good”, but it’s hard for him, and there’s definitely people he wouldn’t kill. he fully planned to, once he got rid of the magicians, never kill again, and he keeps that promise. marcus is soft spoken and anxiety ridden and a bit of a crybaby and he hates death and doesn’t fully trust nick and doesn’t trust himself either. on the outside he appears bitter and angry constantly.

aidan mulligan is a HOOLIGAN! a whole entire rowdy boy! he’s also the son of the third magician and marcus’ ex(?) boyfriend? more like boyfriend on standby. it’s complicated. there’s nothing special to him, he’s rowdy bc his parents never gave him enough attention so he runs around with people he doesn’t really like and is always getting into trouble. his favorite activities are skipping church and running the local cryptid watch am radio station, which no one listens to and which he used to run with marcus. he misses marcus dearly and keeps waiting for him to come back. he’s loud and talkative and his mood changes drastically but is always on the highest setting. he’s either screaming-and-throwing-things angry or unable to shut up and bouncing all over the place. not to pick favorites but he’s my favorite i really love him. his life moto is “fuck you dad” basically. oh yeah nick killed his dad and stuff and it’s hit him hard but he’s not as torn up by it as he probably should be, which he feels terrible about. his mom lives on the other side of the country and doesn’t currently know his dad is dead, which isn’t really something you’re supposed to keep secret generally but the mulligan family said fuck the rules. he has two brothers, connor and seamus (connor older, seamus younger) and loves both of them though he would never admit it.

simon diederich is the secret special bonus magician!! also i think i gotta talk abt parent backstory for him so,,,, here goes: basically, simon and vi’s mom and marcus and aidan’s dads all stole magic from the forest in a way that doesn’t super make sense but it’s my story i can do what i want. and in the process simon died and they had to leave him behind in the woods, but then since the magic in the forest was weak it couldn’t continue being formless or else it would turn into nothing since so much of it had been damaged by the humans or w/e. so it took simon’s body as a vessel and resurrected him with all his old memories but also 100% more magic power. so he took that power and went back home and has been just straight chillin, unaging, for 30-ish years. he got like. immense wisdom when he was resurrected and is also possessed by a sentient forest so he does what the forest wants which is protect the town and fistfight anyone he doesn’t like. he’s obnoxious and immature and thinks he’s hot shit and loves these trees more than he loves other people probably

bonus character: lila is the ghost who lives in vi’s attic. she’s like 7. i love her

THAT HURT MY FINGERS TO TYPE. I HAD TO MOVE TO GOOGLE DOCS TO DO THIS BC TUMBLR KEPT LAGGING AND MY WORD COUNT IS NEARING 2000 BUT W/E LETS KEEP GOING

next, still in the same universe, are the residents of greywell, washington. greywell is what’s on the other side of those woods no one can cross in barnsley. how does that work? magic obviously. greywell is a lot like barnsley but more sinister, it’s a lot newer so the characters aren’t as fleshed out (with one exception) and there’s really only 3 i actually care abt so this ones gonna be a lot shorter. i’ve thought abt plot but nothing solid so there’s some...stuff but mostly this one will be short

zoe hammond: amateur teen witch who’s also cursed. she has an eye on her left hand which is always watching her and she wants off desperately. u know how i said in some versions of the story nick and marcus pick up a hitchiker? that’s her, going to barnsley bc she knows its magic and hopes someone there will know how to fix her. she respects authority and stays in line for the most part, but she also takes shit from no one. she’ll talk to nearly anyone but doesn’t particularly like anyone in town, also she sells witch shit out of the trunk of her car in the school parking lot

wesley: short rowdy trans boy with absolutely no self control who’s stoned all the time and does crazy things for the adrenaline rush and doesn’t bind safely and falls in love with every boy he meets. he skateboards bc of course he does. he’s always ready to fight and punches ppl a lot but usually ends up losing fights bc he’s tiny. i love him

noa: ok this dude went into the woods one (1) time and now there’s this magic glove stuck on their hand? and a ghost in their phone?? and they’re literally so confused and they’ve never had any friends in their entire life but all of a sudden that weird lesbian witch and her crazy skateboarder friend are talking to them all the time and they died? except they woke back up like nothing had happened even though their head basically blew up? and there’s like faeries and stuff coming after them because they want the glove and they can’t get the stupid thing off their hand and they have no idea what’s going on noa is an absolute nervous wreck who’s really fun to draw and they have no idea what’s happening to them and tbh i don’t rly know what i’m doing either but i’m having a good time

ada: the phone ghost.

last set!! i have them all done already from this thing i did with @dogstoes so i’ll just paste them in but first background:

this is a completely separate world, it’s like this 1910s era fictional city with magic and shit. the magic system is kinda complicated but basically there’s elemental magicians who are heavily tied to religion, they’re believed to be sacred and god sent by p much every organized religion. they do elements, it’s pretty simple. then there’s blood magicians who can basically transmute but they have to use their own blood to do it. anyone can learn to be a blood magician but most ppl don’t want to bc. blood ow. blood magicians are an ABOMINATION AGAINST GOD and there’s a stigma against them in religious communities so they tend to populate big cities and less religious places. there’s also healers who are born like elementals and can’t be trained, they’re isolated from both schools of magic bc unlike elementals they’re not pure (well, depending on which religion you ask) and unlike blood magicians they’re not common. born magicians are born with pure black eyes (irises? the colored part. not just all black) that differentiate them from nonmagic ppl. there’s also super intense mary sue magicians who r rare and born with red eyes (i started this world when i was 13 don’t judge me bitch) and they can shapeshift kinda? but in cool ways, it’s not just shapeshifting they could also make their skin tough or nails pointy or w/e. one of them specifically likes to harden his own blood in weapons it’s kinda metal. anyways here’s the character profiles from the google doc pasted in word for word

Characters (bc i suddenly decided this is Sharin With Rivers material If You Shall Take It):

So basically there's these 2 gangs, run by this woman Lyra Frey and this dude Lucas Sweeney, and they Do Not Like Each Other At All. Neither of them are good bc yknow...gangs….but lyra’s is like...better anyways here's characters

Lyra's dudes:

Emil Finch: 21, any and all pronouns, ace, lyra’s right hand man/ veteran of a bloody civil war (TECHNICALLY a war criminal but yknow…it's whatever). Likes cats and Arya, dislikes cigarettes and being short. Their birth name is Emilee, which they  shortened to their liking when they moved to The Big City, and they used their father's name (Finn O'Malley) to join the war. They're a healer magician but ssshhh don't tell anyone. They used their powers to hurt people when they were in The War and now don't trust themselves, so they stick to traditional medicine thank you very much. (Also knives. They’re a big fan of knives.)

Arya Frey: 21, she/her, Lyra’s adopted daughter and mechanic. She has METAL LEGS and has to walk with a cane so she doesn't go outside much, mostly makes machines and strategizes for her mom. Likes drawing, Emil, making things/taking them apart, dislikes cold weather (it makes her joints hurt), magic, Drunk Emil. She has two cats named vriska and karkat. Everyone is suspicious of these names even though it's like 1910 and an alternate universe and homestuck doesn't exist.

Jaz Anaheim: 18, he/him, big gay disaster, a pickpocket who came to the Big City with his brother when he was 16 to work and send money to his mom, stole from a kingpin, joined a gang, watched his brother die in front of him, and lied to his mom for 2 years about his job and his brothers aliveness while he sent her blood money. He's a humble farm boy, no magic, tall and uncoordinated, basically all he can do is steal and flirt badly and he's very aware. Also where he came from magicians were rare because they were all drafted for the war so when he sees magic he's way too impressed. Likes loud music, people being interested in him, his family (just his mom now :’)), his hometown, dislikes the city, feeling disliked, himself, swimming

Sweeney’s band of assholes:

Elliott Sweeney: 24, he/him, Sweeney’s son and certified dad hater. He's a blood magician which are common and not that impressive but he’s good at what he does bc he did nothing but practice for like 6 years. His dad basically controls him and makes him work for him because he's useful. He resents his dad with every ounce of his being but doesn't have the spine to do anything about it. After accidentally burning down part of their house and killing his mom his dad sent him away to the summer house in the country, where he lived for the past 6 years, obediently doing his dad’s bidding and learning how to control his magic until he got fed up and burned that house down (on purpose this time), making his dad move him back to the family house in the city so that he could keep an eye on him. he’s one of those badass mega magicians who does blood swords and stuff, he’s also spent so much time reading that he knows a lot about magic theory. Quiet, reserved, extremely petty, but shows a sense of humor around his sister. Never really knew Alise growing up so he’s more of a cool uncle than a brother. Likes his sister, learning things, astronomy, dislikes his dad, Emil, doing magic, fighting, feeling trapped

Alise Sweeney: 14, she/her, her dad named her Alise with an S because he's just that much of an asshole. She's a self trained blood magician and good at what she does. She hates her dad almost as much as Elliott does but she's also not a fucking baby about it. Is DEFINITELY planning on killing him at some point. Was raised to make jokes and do crime and her brother said if she does crime she's grounded. Has never been serious about anything ever, and probably has a screw loose. Has killed people. Is basically a tiny fighting machine. Her dad was rough on her growing up. Likes picking fights, Elliott and Atticus, pissing off her dad, causing trouble. Dislikes her dad, people stronger than her, tense situations, being alone

Atticus Grey: 16, he/him, not Sweeney’s son but hates him enough that he probably could be (in case you were noticing a theme here, sweeney is kinda unlikeable). His mom left soon after he was born and his dad ran up a huge debt and ended up working for Sweeney to pay it off, then died in a gang fight before he could get through it. Sweeney, the merciless motherfucker that he is, decided that Atticus would finish paying it off, and snatched him up as soon as he was 13. His dad used to hang out with Emil’s and so they ended up taking care of parentless Atticus (along with (extremely reluctant) Arya. Atticus is really close with Lyra’s entire crew because he's spent so much time around them. He's a fire magician who knows a bit of blood magic but barely uses it, and he's an angsty bitch. Likes Emil, being alone, dislikes everything else.

oh yeah then there’s those bitches in charge:

Lyra Frey is a [REDACTED] year old woman from [REDACTED] who moved to the city while fleeing from [REDACTED]. She was in the civil war briefly, fighting for the [REDACTED] side. Her real name is not Lyra, but is actually [REDACTED]. She loves Arya more than anything else probably. Sees Jaz as an unofficial son, is skeptical of Atticus, likes Emil but doesn’t trust them.

Lucas Sweeney is one of those rich bastards who also does crime on the side. He’s a politician but everyone and their mother knows he’s an absolute crime lord on the side. Has arguably more power than Lyra but has no idea how to use it, plus Alise has already recruited like half his employees into joining her uprising. He’s a selfish man and a terrible dad. No one likes him.

uh yeah that is. all!! this is over 3000 words jesus do asks have a word limit? i sure hope not