#They get to accompany him to the officer's academy

[rain-and-a-nice-nap]

This is pretty unedited and not proofread (also haven’t done any creative writing since my early teens/Wattpad days). I wrote it in like an hour and it’s pretty late. Because of this, I am very much open to constructive criticism. I hope to feel inspired enough to write more for this universe lmao.

Nevertheless, here is a childhood au of Claude and the reader. If I do write more, they would be taking place at the time of the game.

Pretty sure I made it gender neutral without mentioning much about physical features, but if I slipped up, please let me know.

--------------------

You huffed as you lugged the pail of water up the stairs. Your limbs were young and toned, so you would undoubtedly be fine after today, even if you were sore. Anything you could do to help your parents and the older staff was worth it in your mind. Almyra was hot, and they work hard out of pride for the country.

Frustrated with the heat of the day blending with the heat of your body from doing chores around the palace, you were ready to finally be done for the day. It was still pretty early, maybe just before noon, so each climb up a step brought a new idea for what to do with your free time.

Maybe your parents would let you walk on the trails through the nearby woods this time! You’d been there plenty of times through the years, and knew the paths pretty well. Also, being part of the staff at the palace grants you combat classes and educational lessons nearly free of all costs. Surely you were ready enough now.

You could finally see the window at the top of the stairway and knew that you were finally almost there.

You breathed a sigh of relief when you made the final step, set down the pail and bent into a half crouch for a moment. You deserved it, after all! The faucet on this side of the palace is being fixed after an incident one of the royal kids had on a wyvern, so you had to come from the opposite side! You could see them working on the faucet through the window and barked a laugh.

How could you be frustrated on such a beautiful day?

“Plus,” you thought to yourself as you reached for the doorknob, “I’m finally d-!” You didn’t even get to finish your thought when a bucket of wet chicken feed covered your hair, skin, and clothes. Your mouth opened in shock and you gasped in surprise.

Your eyes were shut tight to prevent anything from getting in, but you could hear shuffling in the room. Then there came bouts of laughter. There goes your good mood.

You rub your eyes and mouth free of seed and glare at the perpetrator. He was about your age and seemed to have just started to grow out hair for his braid. The dude was roaring with laughter now, bent in half and supporting himself on a nearby wall.

Your furrowed brow only deepened at his hearty laughter. A light catches your eye, and you think it may be coming from a bead in his hair. You were sure there was some detail or other on it, but right now you did not care.

“I’m sorry, really! I didn’t mean to!” He says between giggles, “I meant for that to hit Shadid, he’s been a real jerk ever since the riding instructor complimented his form over the rest of ours.”

“And so what?!” You exploded, and the boy’s eyes widened and his laughter gone, “Do I look like-” this time, you had cut yourself off. He had mentioned that he is in the riding class with one of the princes, and so you were sure that the ‘others’ referred to were royal as well.

You quickly cooled yourself and put neutrality into your expression and tone. “Never mind, just move outta my way, please.” Man, you wished you had caught the symbol on the bead.

You turned around to pick up the bucket, spinning on your heel to push past him so you could pour it into the wyvern’s trough. You hoped he couldn’t see your face from this angle, because you could feel the heat of embarrassment on it. You had just yelled at an Almyran prince! Ugh! What if your parents found out?!

So caught up in your thoughts, you didn’t even notice the prince trying to catch your attention as you turned back around to leave the tower. Gone swiftly, you had. Completely unaware of the crestfallen, and lonely boy that was left behind you.

———

It was a few days later now, several hours past noon. It seemed as though the prince kept the event to himself, as no one came to question you about that day, nor did your parents say no to letting you walk in the woods.

Which was where you are now. Reflecting on it, you did feel a little bad about that day. He didn’t mean for that dreadful prank to impact anyone but his brother. It made you wonder how he gets treated if someone of his stature is just allowed to slip away with no one noticing.

The deeper the thoughts went, the sadder you felt for him. You had seen that prince in specific out and around before. It kind of seemed like no one wanted to be around him. In your honest opinion though, it looked like it bothered him less these days. He smiled with ease it seemed, not that you had seen him up close before that day.

“Yeah,” you thought, feeling the bite of anger in your chest, “maybe they just don’t want to be around him because he pulls such awful pranks on people when they’ve lost his good opinion!”

I’m your thoughts, you had wandered away from the path a bit, and into a clearing, you had seen once before. You weren’t lost. Probably. Though, while your idle mind had enough sense to send your small legs over the roots of trees in the ground, it had not anticipated anything larger.

You heard an “Oof!” As you tumbled to the floor, completely knocked out of your own little world. You pushed up from the ground to begin to catch your bearings when you looked over and saw the bewildered prince that plagued your very thoughts. He held his stomach with a wince and regarded you with shock on his face.

He also looked like he had been sleeping. Eyes were a bit puffed up, and his hair was not neat, you noted.

“Hey! It’s you!” He said, a bit winded from your kick. “Ha. Why did you do that? Bit of vengeance?”He was lightly teasing. But only lightly, because his eyes shined the want to know and hidden insecurities.

You thought that it was fair for him to ask, you would probably want to know why someone kicked you too. Especially if you had seemingly been napping out in a secluded area in the woods.

“‘M sorry, I wasn’t expecting anybody to be there when I put my foot down.” He huffed a laugh at that and his shoulders relaxed.

“Stranger, that still doesn't answer my question. You wouldn’t still be mad about the other day, would you?” The prince quirked an eyebrow at you, the teasing lilt still present in his voice.

You rolled your eyes, “Yes, because I would wander out into the woods, in hopes that I would find the strange prince who dumped feed all over me. I do so very much enjoy such petty revenge.” you replied in a flat tone.

“I really didn’t mean for it to hit you,” he said, propping himself up on an elbow to face you. “In fact, I was kinda hoping that we could just laugh it off and maybe start a beautiful friendship!” He joked, with a hint of sincerity.

You layered back fully on the grass and turned your head towards him with a glare. “And what? Face your wrath every time I’ve even slightly wronged you? I don’t think I want that.” You scoffed. Turning your head back to the sky. You could feel his gaze on you, only spurring on your anger, that you knew was a bit misplaced.

“In fact, I think I understand now why people don’t want to be around you as much.” You knew it was too far. You didn’t mean to, honestly. The forest seemed to agree that you were stupid by becoming awkwardly still and silent.

You could feel his eyes drilling a hole into the side of your head. You didn’t dare take your eyes off of the sky. You weren’t brave enough for that. The guilt was seeping into you in heaps. Divines, this was so awkward. Maybe you should shove away your pride apologize. Maybe the moment has passed 30 seconds ago.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked in a soft voice. You couldn't see it, but paired with his eyes trying to dill into your soul, was a face of concern. In truth, he really did feel bad that you had been the unintended target to his prank. But he has had to learn to let things go in his short life. He knows not to expect the best outcome from people. Claude did have hope that not all people were so bad though.

You swallowed. Goodness, you felt guilty.

“I didn’t really mean it. I guess in a poorly voiced way, I was wondering if being friends with you would mean getting pranked like that if I upset you.” Honestly, you would take suffering pranks from the prince over being on the receiving end of whatever damage you just caused any day. You opened your mouth to apologize.

“Oh.” He gave a light huff. Turning his head to the sky, you could feel the pain from his voice, but you didn’t dare check to see if his face matched.

“I think I would prefer if people didn’t want to be around me for that reason. At least then it’s something that I had control over.” He stared at the sky as if his gaze would break it if he tried hard enough.

You turned your head back towards him. Trying to read his facial expression. You didn’t fully understand what he meant by that, but you could guess that the meaning was way deeper than his words let on.

He met your gaze while you were lost in thought. If it’s any consolation, at this time he couldn’t read your facial expressions very well either, though he would get better. Claude was a bit worried honestly. You had gone silent again and your eyes were dazed.

“Y’know what. I think I do want to be your friend.” Came your voice.

He blinked. “What?!”

“Yeah. On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“That you let me apologize this time.” He smiled. One that looked much prettier than the ones you had seen from afar.

“Ok.” He breathed.

This was indeed the start of a beautiful friendship.

[tiny-space-platypus]

Identity Fraud

Hunting

Part 6

Previous

Danny was having a good day. He had aced a presentation, turned in an essay early, and got a bunch of lab work done. Plus he was excited to hear about Elle's day! She had been so excited to go to that museum, he's sure she'd be bursting to tell him about-

She wasn't at the school. No one was at the school. Why wasn't anyone at the school?? What had he missed? Danny immediately checked his phone to find a call from the school and a voice mail. "Due to unforeseen events, the 5th grade field trip is cancelled for the day. All children will be brought home accompanied by a Gotham PD officer to insure safety. We at Gotham Academy-" Danny hung up before the voice mail could finish. Elle was possibly with a cop at their apartment, someone who could definitely turn them in. He needed to get to his sister, he needed to make sure she was alright. He needs to protect his little sister. Danny's core burned as he rushed back to his apartment to find nothing. Danny panicked, had they already taken her? Had Danny failed to protect her so soon?

She was still close

His core was buzzing as much as his ears were ringing. Danny went Ghost, he wasn't supposed to here, even if Gotham was full of ecto-energy and its own ghost as soon as he transformed he was trackable but Elle was so much more important than that. Plus they were likely already compromised. They'd have to hide again, maybe leave this country this time. He'll have Tucker and technus erase their identities here and make a new one wherever they land.

As Danny's thoughts spiral he went invisible and intangible fading through the building he knew Elle was in floor by floor, room by room. He needed to find her- He needed to find her. He needed to protect her.

Danny did find her. He found her dying on a couch from fucking Blood blossom poisoning. He found her surrounded by vigilantes and some muscular guy. A guy who had definitely died before. That didn't matter, he needed to focus on Elle. Danny dropped the Intangibility and invisibility as he crouched down in front of Elle gently placing a hand on her little face causing her to whine. Danny was enraged as the vigilantes immediately jumped and tried to restrain him. Unfortunately for them they had died before, unfortunately for them he was the king of the realms. Fortunately for Danny they had to listen to his commands. Danny stood up as the two vigilantes readied to attack along with the muscular man. The muscular man would be the easiest to control, giving him more energy to help Elle. Danny made eye contact with the muscular man, as soon as he did the man's eyes glowed green. Danny then did something he hated, he gave the dead an order.

"Restrain and hold them still."

And with that the muscular man attacked the two smaller vigilantes. They yelled and cried as the muscular man attacked them but Danny had tuned them out. He had to focus on Elle. Danny held out his palms in a sort of cup as green ectoplasm formed in his hands glowing brightly as all that came from the king did. He carefully allowed the liquid to drain down Elle's throat till the blood blossom effects had faded away. Danny didn't care about the Vigilantes yelling as he picked Elle up. Before going invisible and intangible again, he looked at the muscular man who looked at him with practically empty glowing greens eyes, Danny gave yet another order.

"You may release them in t minutes. Then you are also released"

Danny and Elle then both left, he would take her to the zone to heal properly.

––––———————

Jason couldn't control himself. Jason couldn't fucking control himself. Jason was frozen, unable to move against the figure that just just appeared. As soon as that white haired.. Thing! Looked at him his vision filled with that awful green but it felt different this time. There was no uncontrollable, all consuming rage but a soft him of rage that waited for something.

Restrain and hold them still.

A voice? No a feeling maybe? broke through the buzzing, a calm voice that for some reason the pit listened to. Jason felt 2 figures in his hold, struggling to get away but unable to as he held them tight. The calm voice called again.

5 minutes

Jason held his grip as the voice counted down, as what he was holding struggled more.

4 minutes

Jason felt calm, calmer than he should have ever felt with the pit taking hold of him but for some reason.. This was so peaceful.

3 minutes

The smaller of the two he was holding had stopped struggling allowing Jason to change how he held it.

2 minutes

He began to hear the world again, barely. He could barely hear his brothers yelling at him.

1 minute

The world was slowly coming back as the green faded from his vision. Jason felt odd as he slowly let go of the brothers he was holding so firmly.

0 minutes

Jason was almost fully aware of the world around him as gently placed down his brother. His head was spinning and the world felt fuzzy. What had happened? Dick was there? Dick was slowly tapping on his arm, a soft grounding rhythm that Jason could match his breathing to. What had happened? What was going on??

—————————

"It took Danielle, we need to go after her!" Damian got up quickly as soon as he was let go. Damian immediately began to look for how that person got in without setting off their alarms. As well as any clues of where they went. Tim was on the floor gasping for air as Steph looked after him. Whatever had made Jason restrain them made him restrain the two of them with the same amount of force. That was fine for Damian and his tiny stature but for Tim Jason was practically squeezing the life out of him till he adjusted his hold.

Duke and Cass were trying to find where the figure went and where he had taken the girl, Barbara was looking at security cameras, and Bruce in all his Batman Glory was immediately checking on all of them he was their father after all. Then came the report from the 2 of them.

Tim had hit his emergency Beacon first, then when he was being choked by his big brother in some sort of mind control haze, he just kept pressing the button hoping the others would get there before he passed out. Damian had hit his after struggling for a bit only making the grip tighter and Tim wheeze.

They both froze as they watched the figure summon Lazarus water in their hands. Then they both struggled and yelled more as it poured the water down the girl's throat. Was that why it had taken control of Jay? Did it have control over those damned pits? The figure never even addressed them just sent Jason to keep them out of the way before disappearing. That thing wasn't human. That thing was dangerous to their family. That thing was going to get the hell out of Gotham before it could possibly hurt any of Bruce's kids. He won't let that happen not again.

They'll look into this creature tonight for now Bruce needs to make sure his boys will be safe.

———————

Danny mostly unaware of the chaos he had just caused for the bats shoves up at the Far Frozen holding a still unconscious Elle. Frostbite began treatment of her almost immediately, but even still they'd have a few days before Elle would be stable and conscious again. Danny could cover his little sister's absence for a few days. He can cover her absence for a few days, that should be fine. It's not like they were currently being hunted for.

[hamsterclaw]

Yoongi’s a murder detective fighting burnout when he’s assigned the case that you and your former partner fucked up.

Paring: Yoongi x f! Reader

Genre: Detectives!Yoongi and reader

Rating: 18+

Word count: 6.6k

Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of murder, bloodshed and assault, sex, depression and burnout, mentions of guns

The flashing blue lights in Yoongi’s window are followed by the wail of sirens cutting through the early evening bustle.

Yoongi looks out the window. He’s three floors up from street level, there’s raindrops tracking along the dirty glass, the faint smell of mildew that accompanies any rainfall in this filthy city.

Under the table, his good leather shoes, the ones he saves for weddings and funerals, have rubbed a hole in the skin over his achilles. Yoongi had worn them for his disciplinary hearing today, the part of him that still wants to be a cop temporarily winning over the part of him that doesn’t.

He wonders if this is what burnout feels like.

His superior, Kim Namjoon, had called him into his office after the hearing to tell him he was on probation, to clean up his act because he wouldn’t be so lucky as to get off next time.

The truth is, Yoongi had known while he was pressing the suspect’s face into gravel with his booted foot that it would come back to bite him on the ass.

He’d done it anyway.

Yoongi’s never been kind to scum who exploit children, but his partner, Jung Hoseok, had seen something in Yoongi’s face that day that had made him report Yoongi.

Yoongi doesn’t blame him. Hoseok has been his partner on and off for five years and he’s as sterling as they come. His moral compass is as strong as it was the day they graduated from the academy, despite all the fucked up shit they’ve seen.

Unlike Yoongi.

Yoongi was never black and white to begin with and now he’s so far into the grey he scares himself sometimes. It’s never been his goal to be the kind of cop who metes out his own justice.

Only madness lies that way.

Anyway now Hoseok’s been reassigned temporarily to narcotics, supposedly a break from homicide, and Yoongi’s partnerless.

Probably not for long, there’s always some hungry rookie wanting the credibility of working homicide.

Yoongi sighs, closes the file he’d been skimming. It’s well past seven, there aren’t any open cases that need his immediate attention and he figures he might as well go home to his apartment and his cat, Kenzo.

The pavement’s slippery under the smooth soles of his good shoes, Yoongi pulls his coat tighter against the early autumn chill as he walks the five blocks to his apartment.

The smell of fried wontons fills his nostrils as he passes a conduit street in the back end of Little China, Yoongi’s tempted to stop and pick up dinner.

He’s tempted every time and succumbed yesterday so he soldiers on, not without a pang of regret. He regrets food choices because he’d rather that, than think about his actual regrets.

The bang of a gunshot when he’d been two minutes too late to what then became a crime scene.

Fucking some girl with a cute face because he hadn’t been man enough to treat Mara the way she deserved.

Choosing to stay in homicide even after it had become clear to him that he had plumbed the depths of human depravity. Scarring his psyche repeatedly because it’s easier than making the active choice to request a transfer.

Yoongi unlocks his door, toes his shoes off, hangs up his coat.

There’s a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, a flash of grey fur as Kenzo skitters across the entryway, close but not touching him.

It’s the kind of greeting Yoongi can get behind.

He pours out a serving of dry food into Kenzo’s dish, heads to the fridge to reheat yesterday’s wontons.

Eats standing at the tiny kitchen island, cracks open a beer to wash it all down.

He catches sight of his face, pinched in the scowl it seems to fall into more often than not these days.

Jesus, is he getting old?

Yoongi avoids looking at his reflection again as he showers. Changes into the same t-shirt he’s been wearing for weeks, contemplates watching porn just to take the edge off, but decides he can’t be bothered.

He falls into sleep, deep and dreamless, wakes up with an almighty crick in his neck just before dawn from the way he’d been huddled in a tight ball under the covers.

He knows he’s not right, but he’s been not right for so long Yoongi wouldn’t even know where to start putting himself together again.

***

Redemption comes in odd packages, Yoongi thinks, as he looks up a case he worked on six months ago, a shady businessman on the fringe of organised crime who’d got high as a kite and beat a sex worker to death.

He’d been killed on the way to serving out his sentence in the cushy prison in Busan his fancy lawyer had managed to negotiate, crushed in the back of the transport vehicle when it had been t-boned by a lorry.

Apparently a freak accident, Yoongi doubts it but he’s also not going to look too closely, it’s out of his jurisdiction and he’s too jaded to mourn the loss of another brutal asshole. They’d had to identify the sex worker by her dental records and DNA, her face had been unrecognisable.

There’s a knock on the frosted glass panel on his office door, Yoongi looks up as Kim Namjoon walks in, followed by the latest hungry rookie angling for a stint in homicide.

‘Min Yoongi, this is Y/N L/N,’ Namjoon says. ‘She’s a new transfer in from the Seoul branch.’

Yoongi doesn’t have to fake his disinterest as he nods politely at you.

‘What’s the case?’ he asks.

Namjoon looks pointedly at the crime scene photo blown up on Yoongi’s screen.

Yoongi waits.

He can feel your gaze on him, but he’ll get to that later.

The anticipation of a new case never gets old, he’s been in homicide since he graduated off the beat ten years ago and he no longer thinks it’s sick of him to get excited about another murder.

It’s the thrill of the hunt that he lives for, the translation of nebulous facts and witness statements into a puzzle that he can solve.

Yoongi’s damn good at his job. It almost makes the sacrifices in the rest of his so-called life worth it.

Namjoon hands Yoongi a case file, crisp, sharp edges waiting to razor his fingertips open. Flat.

Inside, the standard cover page, then a note that makes Yoongi sit up straight out of his slouch.

He looks at Namjoon to find Namjoon’s already looking at him.

‘The reaper of Seoul?’

Yoongi realises as he says the words out loud how it sounds.

The capture and subsequent conviction of the serial killer who’d terrorised the citizens of Seoul for three years had made headlines nationwide.

Last year.

‘Yeah,’ Namjoon says, the tension in his jaw evident now that Yoongi’s looking at him properly.

Namjoon glances at you. ‘It would seem he never left.’

You shift your weight and your eyes meet Yoongi’s.

‘My partner and I broke the case,’ you say. There’s a brittle smoothness to your voice that Yoongi recognises as a paper thin facade over the hauntedness underneath. ‘Turns out we didn’t.’

***

The note in the case file is a single sheet of letter paper, lined in blue.

The handwriting is precise, neat between the lines.

Oh dear.

Better luck this time?

Best regards from your neighbourhood Reaper.

Yoongi looks at you, sitting across the room at the desk Hoseok’s temporarily vacated.

You’re staring at your screen, face backlit in blue, expression unreadable. You’re in black, nondescript knitwear, your hair pushed back from your face, eyes narrowed.

He clears his throat. ‘You worked the case with your partner.’

It’s a statement you answer to like a question.

‘It was the first case I picked up when I joined homicide,’ you say, turning to Yoongi. ‘It started with -‘

‘Kim Seulgi,’ Yoongi says.

You nod, almost grimacing at the name of the Seoul Reaper’s first high profile victim.

‘Her family wanted answers.’

Kim Seulgi had been born of Seoul’s elite, an architect with her grandfather’s firm who had picked up a number of accolades for her work on the National Opera House.

She’d been engaged to an equally accomplished classical pianist, Jeong Minho, and had been the only offspring of her wealthy parents.

She’d disappeared three days before her wedding, only to turn up on her wedding day, floating in the Hangang, dressed in the clothes she’d disappeared in.

You say, ‘She was an ambitious first target.’

‘Was she the first?’ Yoongi asks.

The flicker in your eyes tells him this isn’t the first time you’ve considered this.

‘My partner Kiho.’ There’s strain in your voice. You start again. ‘My partner, Kiho, and I thought he’d killed before.’

You shrug. ‘The captain felt we were wasting time looking back into his early years.’

Yoongi says, neutral, ‘Budgets are limited, your case must have passed the thresholds for plausible deniability.’

‘It seemed to fit,’ you agree.

Your eyes meet again. ‘Not all of it, though.’

Yoongi knows, intimately, what it’s like to not be certain. Sometimes all you have is your instinct. It’s one thing to build a case no reasonable person would doubt, but you’re also betting on your gut. You’re betting on being a good enough detective to know that the pieces fit, without forcing them to fit.

You’re betting on being honest with yourself, and Yoongi knows more than anyone how tempting the lies can be.

Now you’re the one watching him, taking the measure of him.

His email pings.

‘That’s the link to the full case file,’ you say.

You get up, carry a stack of notebooks to his desk.

‘Our notebooks,’ you say.

Yoongi looks at the stack.

Every cop’s got their own collection of notebooks, raw data and impressions that don’t always make it into official reports.

The equivalent of dirty underwear when you’re not expecting company versus lingerie when you’re down to fuck.

This close, he can smell your shampoo, bright and faintly floral.

You blink at him.

‘I need to sort something with human resources,’ you say. ‘I’ll see you later.’

In actual fact it’s 36 hours later when he next sees you, at 4am, at a crime scene.

***

The rain falling is more than a drizzle, enough that the tent around the victim is the first priority.

There’s an imprint of violence in the air, Yoongi knows you feel it too by the way your lips tighten as you duck under the yellow tape to join him.

You nod at him in greeting, then there’s silence as you enter the tent.

The victim’s on her front, face turned to the right, hand tucked under her cheek.

She hasn’t been dead long enough for livedo to set in, she would almost look asleep if it weren’t for the purple of her lips, the greyness to her complexion.

The bath of blood she’s lying in.

Yoongi can just see the edge of the gaping wound on her neck.

You wait until forensics turns her body over.

The top three buttons of her silk blouse are undone, her chest slick with blood.

Yoongi’s reading the crime scene like he’s reading you, and he knows what you’re going to say before you say it.

‘It’s him,’ you breathe. The devastation in your eyes makes it difficult for him to look at you. ‘Fuck, it’s him.’

***

You’re shivering visibly despite the hot coffee Yoongi’s poured you, despite the fact that he’s turned the heating in his ancient Hyundai up as far as it’ll go.

There are droplets of water in your hair, sparkling incongruously in the gloom.

You’re waiting till first light to knock on neighbourhood doors, the victim was found in a quiet cul-de-sac.

Two minutes from her own front door.

Not much chills Yoongi these days but that fact does make him pause.

The audacity of it.

He says, ‘I have a blanket in the trunk.’

You’re protesting but Yoongi gets back out in the rain anyway, grabs the blanket and gets back in.

Hands it to you, takes your cup as you drape the blanket around yourself.

‘It gets colder here than Seoul,’ Yoongi offers, handing you your coffee back.

‘We fucked it up,’ you say, and Yoongi knows that’s what you’ve been thinking since you saw the body.

He’s just been waiting for you to be ready to say it.

‘So make it right,’ he says, simple.

‘An innocent man’s in prison because Kiho and I fucked up,’ you say.

Yoongi doesn’t want to minimise it but he doubts the man you put away was completely innocent.

‘I read your notebooks,’ he says. ‘Who’s Jeon Bogyeol?’

There had been twelve murders before the arrest. All women in their late twenties to mid thirties, all living alone.

They’d all lived in the same part of Seoul, but apart from that there was nothing to link them that he could find.

You look at him warily. ‘He was a night watchman at the apartments of seven of the women.’

Yoongi waits.

‘We cross-referenced staff at all the addresses, and his name kept coming up. Like Jang Daeseong.’

You flinch at the name of the man convicted of the murders, as though it didn’t fall from your own lips.

You keep talking, though, your voice never faltering. ‘We never found any links between Jeon Bogyeol and the other five women.’

‘Did he have a history?’ Yoongi asks. He’s looking out the window at the first rays of sunrise, muted orange through the rain. His shoulder aches, an old injury he doesn’t think about except when he’s tired, and cold.

‘There was a neighbour,’ you say. You’re chewing on your bottom lip, a tell Yoongi’s noticed for the first time tonight.

‘She called the police once saying she’d seen Bogyeol taking a woman into his apartment against her will.’

You’re frowning. ‘The beat cops who responded to the call out said there was no sign of anyone else in his apartment. The neighbour moved away.’

‘Moved away?’ Yoongi asks, and you glance at him, understanding the sharpness in his tone.

‘I was going to look into it when the Chief shut us down,’ you say. It’s stated simply, like a fact, no sign of defensiveness.

Yoongi offers you more coffee from his flask.

‘Where’s Bogyeol now?’

‘When the new letter came in I looked him up,’ you say. The steam rising from your cup obscures part of your expression for a moment, but Yoongi can hear the tremor in your voice.

‘He’s less than fifty miles east of here.’

Dawn’s breaking, the rain’s finally starting to peter out, but Yoongi’s chilled anyway.

***

The morning sun is high in the sky by the time Yoongi and you finish interviewing the neighbours and the new victim’s friends and family.

Yoongi’s phone rings. It’s Namjoon.

‘Can you talk?’ Namjoon asks.

Yoongi mouths ‘Namjoon’ in response to your inquiring expression, puts some distance between you and him.

‘Yeah,’ he answers.

‘The post-mortem results are back, and the preliminary tox screen is negative. The ME’s put the cause of death as exsanguination.’

Yoongi processes this. ‘It’s the same MO as the previous Seoul reaper victims,’ he says.

Namjoon sighs. ‘Has anything new come out of your interviews?’

‘No,’ Yoongi says. The victim had been well-liked, none of the neighbours had seen or heard anything, and on the surface of it there were no conflicts he could see. Her boyfriend of two years had been away on a work trip, his location confirmed around the window of the crime.

Yoongi’s looking at you as you wait against the car, and when your name comes out of Namjoon’s mouth he’s already got an inkling of what Namjoon wants to know.

‘I reviewed the case,’ Namjoon says. ‘There are no obvious flaws or errors in their investigation.’

Yoongi grunts. ‘There was a lead that they didn’t follow up on.’

He fills Namjoon in.

‘I’ll follow it up.’

Namjoon says, thoughtfully, ‘I wonder where her partner’s working now.’

Yoongi’s surprised Namjoon doesn’t already know, to be honest, he’s always two steps ahead of Yoongi.

He flicks his gaze to you again. You’re still waiting against the car, and there’s a loneliness to your posture, a fatigued downturn to your mouth that makes him say, ‘Hey Joon, I’ll call you back, ok?’

He ends the call, unlocks the car.

‘We should get back and compare notes,’ Yoongi says. His voice has dropped the way it does when he’s tired, and shit, he is tired. He hasn’t slept well for a while.

‘Let me drive,’ you offer. You take his keys, and your fingers brush his for an instant.

The contact, brief though it is, makes Yoongi’s skin tingle.

He wonders if you notice his reaction, but you’re already sliding in, adjusting the seat, starting up the car.

***

Yoongi wakes when you’re parking the car, sits up, a little embarrassed.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says, looking to gauge your reaction.

‘Don’t be,’ you reply. ‘I would have done the same if you’d driven.’

There’s a hint of mischief in the curve of your half-smile.

‘You mumble in your sleep.’

Yoongi rubs a hand over his face. ‘What’d I say?’

‘I couldn’t make out any words,’ you tell him, but there’s a twinkle in your eye that makes him wonder if that’s really true.

Mara is the only person who’s shared his bed in recent years, and she’d never mentioned anything.

You swipe your ID to get into the station, hit the lifts.

In the dire grey lighting you look almost as tired as he does.

‘Coffee?’ Yoongi offers, when you pass the vending machine on the way to the office.

‘Yeah,’ you say. You’re on your phone, frowning over a text.

Yoongi passes you a cup.

‘Problem?’ he asks.

‘Kiho,’ you say. You look at him. ‘My old partner. He wants to meet up.’

‘It’d be useful to talk through the case with him,’ Yoongi agrees.

Your expression is difficult to read. ‘He’s in a retreat a couple hours drive from here. He took time off after we closed the case.’

Yoongi gulps his coffee. ‘There isn’t anything else we can do here anyway, we’re waiting on leads.’

He reaches out his hand for the car keys. ‘I can drive.’

***

The retreat Kiho is staying in is set amongst the foothills of a mountain, rolling grounds all around, a view of the cliffs overlooking the sea.

It seems to Yoongi like a place only the very rich or the very damaged would live.

Unless you get better pay packets in Seoul he’s apprehensive about meeting Kiho.

You sign in at the front desk, the receptionist greets you warmly, like she’s met you a few times before.

You lead Yoongi through a huge lounge, through open patio doors and into a green. Yoongi’s looking around at the residents, scanning the area the way he does automatically whenever he’s in an unfamiliar place.

You’re waving a hand, and then you’re embracing a tall man tightly. Neither of you say anything but Yoongi can see the way your shoulders slump, like the tension’s draining out of you.

It’s only when the tall man looks up at Yoongi inquiringly that Yoongi notices the long scar running along his neck. Tracing the path of his jugular, vertical rather than horizontal.

Kiho extends a hand.

‘So you’re going to get our guy,’ he says.

Yoongi doesn’t know what to say to that.

‘We’re going to get him,’ he says, finally.

Kiho turns to you. ‘You haven’t told him,’ he says to you.

You’re looking at Yoongi.

‘We can tell him now.’

***

‘I started getting notes after Jang Daeseong was convicted,’ you say. You’re sitting in a gazebo with Yoongi and Kiho, mugs of coffee in front of you.

Yoongi raises an eyebrow.

You flick your eyes to his, then look away, unlock your phone.

Yoongi takes your phone, scrolls through a gallery of pictures.

Lined paper, handwriting he’s seen before.

Yoongi reads through the content, then returns your phone to you.

‘The originals are with forensics,’ you tell him. ‘The paper and ink are generic, impossible to trace. There’s no trace of DNA, not so much as a partial print.’

‘The notes stopped coming last month,’ you say. ‘Right around the time I moved.’

Kiho’s scratching his neck absently, Yoongi catches how your gaze drops to his scar.

The length of it’s longer than a stab wound, he thinks the surgeons might have had to extend the scar to repair the vessels beneath.

You turn to Yoongi.

‘We have to stop him,’ you say. ‘Use me to lure him out.’

‘He nearly killed me,’ Kiho says. His expression is sober, his tone flat.

He stops there, but Yoongi can hear his next words, loud and clear.

What’s he going to do to you?

‘We can’t let him keep going like this,’ you say, very gently.

Kiho meets Yoongi’s gaze.

Yoongi doesn’t falter.

‘He has to be stopped,’ he agrees.

***

The drive back to the police station goes quicker - there’s something about seeing your old partner that’s given you a bump of energy.

Yoongi can practically feel the adrenaline fizzing in your blood, coming off you in waves.

He’s worried about the crash when the adrenaline ebbs.

He sure as fuck hopes you can cope with the lows better than he can.

He’d put in a call before you left the retreat, Namjoon’s fast tracking a last known address on the neighbour of Jeon Bogyeol who’d moved away.

You’re typing an address into the satnav yourself, face drawn, eyes serious.

Yoongi doesn’t have to ask whose address it is.

‘Are you sure you’re up to this?’ he asks.

His voice is as neutral as he can make it but he already knows that you’ve made your decision.

It’s written all over you, in the way your shoulders are squared, in the tilt of your chin, in the way your hands are tensed into fists in your lap.

‘I need to see this through, Yoongi,’ you say.

Yoongi takes a moment.

‘What happened to Kiho?’ he asks.

‘He didn’t see who it was,’ you answer. Your eyes are fixed in front of you, jaw tensed.

‘He was heading home in between shifts and he got jumped in the car park under his apartment. If he hadn’t been found by the car park attendant —‘ you voice trails off, and you shiver.

‘He was lucky the car park attendant called for help right away. That his next door neighbour, fresh off a shift in the trauma department, arrived home when she did and was there to take over. That he lives five minutes on blue lights away from the best trauma centre in Seoul.’

You look at Yoongi. ‘Kiho’s damned lucky to be alive.’

‘It’s a different injury from the reaper’s usual MO,’ Yoongi says slowly.

You nod. ‘He was toying with us.’

‘You said you received notes from the Reaper,’ Yoongi says. He’s watching you carefully in the rearview. ‘What did they say?’

Your lips press together in a line, but your voice is steady when you answer.

‘He said he’d been watching me, and that he was coming for me. That I’d be his final kill.’

***

The address you’ve put in for Jeon Bogyeol is a house in a run down suburban neighbourhood, the type of place Yoongi grew up.

The houses are haphazardly arranged, like a careless scatter on a Monopoly board, connected by a warren of roads too narrow for more than one car to pass.

Yoongi can see you tensing up the closer you get to your destination, and after he parks and switches off the engine, he places his hand on your arm.

Your eyes are expressive, more so than your voice.

‘We haven’t got grounds yet for an arrest warrant,’ you say, flat.

‘We’re working the case,’ Yoongi replies. ‘And if it’s right, we’ll work it until it’s airtight.’

Your response is to stare at him a moment, then to push open the car door.

Yoongi notices that you’ve unzipped your jacket, making your holstered gun more visible.

His own gun presses against his hip, the weight of it reminding him that although he’s only drawn it a handful of times, each time has been with intent.

He sure as fuck hopes neither of you will have reason to draw your gun today.

***

The address is little more than a shack, a rickety door that looks like it’ll give under a strong kick, a boarded up window that’s visibly cracked.

Yoongi knocks, identifies you both.

Follows procedure because he’s determined to get it all right this time.

Get the monster locked up where he belongs.

You don’t have grounds to break down the door, at least not until you go round to the back and see the pink tricycle upended in the dirt, streamers splayed tendrils of pink and white.

There isn’t much that sends Yoongi into the grey as much as the suggestion that a child might be involved.

He doesn’t really recall looking at you to confirm, just knows that one minute he’s outside in the chill and the next he’s inside the shack, gun drawn, the metallic tang of blood in the back of his throat.

There’s nowhere to hide in the empty shack, Jeon Bogyeol is gone.

You do a cursory search but both of you know you aren’t going to find your answers here.

Then Yoongi must blank out, because the next thing he hears is your voice, firm, saying his name.

He’s panting, covered in sweat, back against a wall, your hands grabbing fistfuls of his jacket to keep him upright.

He blinks, and you snap into focus. There’s ringing in his ears.

Your mouth opens, and the ringing stops. He hears your voice.

‘Let’s go, Yoongi.’

He lets you lead him out, folds himself into the passenger seat of your car, notes distantly how you put your hand on the top of the doorframe like you’re worried he’s going to bang his head.

You start the engine and then you drive, and Yoongi’s grateful that you don’t say anything at all, don’t ask for an explanation of why a fucking tricycle sent him into a tailspin.

Yoongi looks down in his lap because he’s not ready to see if you’re looking at him differently now that you’ve seen him wig out.

You put the radio on after a few minutes, stop at a drive thru after an hour.

It’s only when you hand him a coffee, silently, that he’s moved to speak.

He clears his throat, and you’re the one who speaks, still looking straight ahead, out the windscreen.

‘You don’t have to tell me. I mean, I’ll listen if you do, but you don’t have to.’

Yoongi chews on that a moment.

‘Three years ago I worked what we thought was a murder in Busan. It turned out to be an abduction.’

Yoongi laughs. There’s no humour in it.

‘We found her. She was still warm. If we’d been ten minutes quicker at figuring it out, if her fucking dad had told us about the business deal he had that had gone sour sooner, if I’d even just tried harder…’

His voice trails off.

He risks a glance at you.

You’re still not looking at him.

‘I can’t speak to whether you could have prevented it, Yoongi. All I know is that none of us come to work to do a bad job.’

Your hand lands on his forearm briefly.

‘Some days are just bad days at the office.’

It’s not the first time Yoongi’s heard it, but it’s the first time it’s been said to him with no judgement that he can hear.

***

When you get back to the precinct, Namjoon’s waiting.

He hands Yoongi another case file.

‘I got Jimin to follow up on those leads we talked about,’ Namjoon says, no preamble.

‘We visited Jeon Bogyeol’s last known address,’ you say. ‘There’s no one there now, but it hasn’t been long since he moved out.’

Namjoon says, ‘Keep me informed.’

He nods to the case file. ‘There’s some interesting information in there.’

As Namjoon walks off, you turn to Yoongi.

‘I’m going down to visit someone I know in forensics, see if they can check the house.’

Yoongi heads for your joint office.

There’s a cleaning cart parked just outside the door, which opens just as Yoongi reaches for the doorknob.

The cleaner apologises and bows politely.

Yoongi steps aside to let her pass.

‘You forgot this,’ he says, spotting the dusting cloth left on your desk.

He hands it to her and places the file on his desk.

Outside, it’s raining again.

***

Yoongi wakes with a jolt.

You’re perched on the edge of his desk.

‘You should go home, get some sleep.’

‘In the middle of an active murder investigation?’ Yoongi mumbles.

‘I’m one of the potential targets, remember?’ you say, grimacing. ‘He might come to us.’

At Yoongi’s expression, you say, ‘We’ve been doing nothing but following up leads since the last murder. The last investigation took months, almost a year. What are you going to do, not sleep until he’s caught?’

‘I don’t sleep much anyway,’ Yoongi says, but he knows you’re right.

‘I know you don’t,’ you reply. There’s an empathy in your tone that reminds him you’re a homicide detective too.

You exchange a look, and then you both speak at the same time.

‘I should go —‘

‘Do you like wontons?’ Yoongi blurts out.

You raise an eyebrow. ‘Is this like inviting me in for ramen?’

‘What?’ Yoongi splutters. ‘No, not like that. There’s this place I go. They have—-‘

‘Wontons, I get it,’ you say. You get up. ‘Yeah. Let’s go.’

***

It’s been a while since Yoongi shared a meal with someone else, the last person was Hoseok, who could go straight from a crime scene to a steakhouse without turning a hair.

You’re chasing a wonton around your plate, fatigue lining the corners of your mouth.

Yoongi asks, ‘Where do you live?’

‘The other side of town,’ you tell him. ‘Near the financial district.’

‘Fancy,’ Yoongi muses.

‘More than I can afford,’ you say darkly. ‘If this case goes on for a while I’m going to need to move.’

You look up at him. ‘Where do you live?’

‘Close to here,’ Yoongi says.

‘Yeah?’

You put your chopsticks down. ‘I should —-‘

This time, Yoongi interrupts.

‘Do you want to come round for ramen?’

Your eyes meet, and there’s a beat of silence. Then a pulse of connection that sends heat through Yoongi’s veins.

Your knee brushes his under the table.

‘Yeah,’ you answer, deliberate. ‘Fuck, yeah.’

***

Yoongi’s always hated the preamble to a hookup, in his line of work uncertainty is a thing to be avoided.

You work the case until you get an explanation no reasonable person would doubt.

He finds himself waiting, though, now that you’re standing in his apartment.

You’re looking around, and he wonders if his existence seems as lonely on the outside as it feels on the inside.

He’s wondering if you’ve changed your mind, if you really did think he meant ramen, when you reach out and grasp the front of his shirt.

Slip the tips of your fingers just under, hold the placket as you use your other hand to unbutton. Start at his throat, work your way down, slowly.

His skin prickles under the warmth of your fingers.

You lean forward and press a kiss to the base of his neck.

Yoongi reaches up, slides a hand around the nape of your neck, and you tilt your face to his.

Close up, you’re soft.

Yoongi traces your bottom lip with his thumb, and your lips part.

You don’t say anything, though, and that’s ok, because Yoongi thinks you’re as talked out as he is.

It’s been a hell of a fucking day.

You’re kissing his neck again, instead of his mouth, and that’s ok, because this isn’t love, it’s comfort.

A human connection in a day filled with monsters.

Yoongi sighs as your hands slip over his bare chest, round to his back.

He helps you lift your top over your head, admires your breasts, nipples pressing against the fabric of your bra.

He cups the weight of them in his hands, and you moan.

Yoongi’s cock is filling out, and you’re undoing his belt like you want to see for yourself.

You drop to your knees in front of him, press your mouth onto the length of him over his boxer briefs, sigh with pleasure.

‘Not too much,’ Yoongi warns, ‘not if you want me to fuck you.’

You look up at him, hair mussed, a smile curving your lips.

You tug his boxer briefs down, and Yoongi curls a hand around himself so as not to hit you in the face.

‘Just let me —‘

You open your mouth to take him in, and Yoongi groans at the feel of your warmth.

When did he last —

His crown nudges the back of your throat, and you swallow, and he loses his train of thought.

He grabs your shoulder, tugs you up, kisses the smear of his own stickiness at the corner of your mouth.

The light slanting in through the window is hues of gold and orange, filling in the hollows of your face, outlining the curves of your body.

Yoongi has to stop looking at you because he doesn’t want to cry at how much he’s missed being close to someone like this.

‘Where do you want me?’ he asks, voice taut.

‘Anywhere,’ you say. ‘Just turn these fucking lights out.’

***

In the dark, Yoongi’s most enraptured by the warmth of you.

Your skin is smooth, so soft under his hands as he wraps his fingers around the curve of your hips.

His cock glides in and out of the heat between your legs, and your moans are beautiful but what really gets him are the hitches in your breathing as he moves.

He turns you over, onto your back, and you pull him to you. Your mouth opens on his shoulder in what would be a kiss if you weren’t biting down. Your tongue flicks over his bruised skin, an apology.

You haven’t spoken to each other in words in a while but Yoongi doesn’t think either of you need words right now.

At least he doesn’t.

You’re tightening around his cock now, your cries quickening until you gasp his name in a tone that makes him grunt and his hips jerk, taking him deep as he can go.

Even in his pleasure he makes sure not to crush you as he collapses next to you.

Then you’re up, walking over to the window, pulling up the sash, lighting a cigarette without asking if he’s ok with it.

Yoongi admires the outline of your profile against the glass.

‘I needed that,’ you say, taking a drag, hunching a little to blow smoke out of his window.

‘Me too,’ Yoongi says, honestly.

He ties off the condom, gets up to toss it in the trash on top of yesterday’s takeout.

Pours you a glass of water on his way back to bed.

He half expects you to be dressed, and you are, but in his clothes, not your own, an old t-shirt he’d tossed on the chair by the bed yesterday morning before he left for work.

He can’t see your face clearly in the dark. It makes it easy to find his voice.

‘You should stay,’ he says. ‘We can get coffee in the morning.’

You’re quiet. ‘I want to.’

Yoongi climbs into bed, and after a moment you slide in next to him.

Your bodies aren’t touching at all, but somehow having you there with him is enough.

Yoongi means to check on you, but he’s asleep so quickly he doesn’t get a chance to.

***

There’s a basketball hoop set into the wall in the back end of the station, a concrete square with a chain-link fence.

The building opposite is a block of offices, as is the building next to it.

Yoongi makes the shot, and you grab the ball on its first bounce.

You say, ‘Forensics got nothing from Jeon Bogyeol’s shack. He bleached the shit out of the place before he left.’

Yoongi grunts, watches you point and shoot.

He’d read through the file Namjoon gave him on the neighbour - it’s incomplete but she was last seen alive twelve weeks ago in a coastal town.

There’s something niggling at the back of his brain, he’d suggested shooting hoops in the hopes that the activity might shake the thought loose so his conscious mind can make the connection.

His phone vibrates in his pocket.

Namjoon.

‘I’m going up to see Namjoon,’ he says. ‘You coming?’

‘I’ll stay here for a bit,’ you say. ‘I’ll be up in a sec.’

Yoongi shrugs, lets himself back in.

Takes the stairs up to Namjoon’s office on the third floor.

There’s a cleaning cart parked next to the staff kitchen as he rounds the corner.

Yoongi’s about to knock on Namjoon’s door when his scattered thoughts crystallise.

The case file Namjoon had given him had a grainy photo of Jeon Bogyeol’s neighbour, the one who’d reported him and then disappeared.

He’s seen her face before, and recently.

Coming out of your office.

‘Fuck,’ he swears.

He grabs his phone out of his pocket, dials your number.

Your phone rings, and rings.

Yoongi takes off, down the stairs, back the way he came.

By the time he bursts out of the back door of the station, gun drawn, his heart’s thumping triple speed, but his hand is steady as he aims it at the man with a knife standing over you.

His finger goes from trigger guard to trigger.

‘Fucking drop it,’ Yoongi warns.

He doesn’t, so Yoongi shoots.

***

Jeon Bogyeol’s neighbour who had reported him was called Seo Hyerin.

She was in her early forties, an ex-teacher who he’d coerced into helping him by turning up at her new place even after she’d moved to get away from him.

She’d been too scared to disobey him, but in forcing her to help him, Jeon Bogyeol had given her access to enough information to clinch the case against him.

Once she’d found out he’d been shot and was likely to go straight from hospital to prison, she’d shared all that information with Yoongi and you.

The pieces fell into place so easily there was no need to make any of it fit.

And now Yoongi’s sitting in the kitchen of your apartment, watching as you pack things up.

He’d been right. Your place was fancy.

You were being transferred back to Seoul to finish up, see things through with the case.

He realises you’re looking at him.

‘My new place is a couple hours drive from here,’ you say.

‘Yeah?’ Yoongi says, like he hadn’t already looked it up.

He’d also looked up timed automated cat food dispensers, just because it was one thing to have a neighbour drop in and feed Kenzo if he’s stuck with a case occasionally, but it’s another thing if he’s regularly going to be driving down to see you.

If he’s regularly going to be spending the night away.

It’s uncharacteristic, for him, but he’s hopeful.

‘I slept pretty well that time,’ you say, looking down into your box.

You look up at him, and the curve of your lips makes Yoongi think to himself that he’d like to kiss you, sometime.

‘In your apartment,’ you clarify, like he wouldn’t already know.

‘I make good ramen,’ Yoongi says. ‘I can make it again for you, you know.’

You laugh, and the sound makes Yoongi feel warm.

He realises that he’s smiling.

Fuck, it’s been a while.

[n0tamused]

Midnight thought that popped into my head… If you watched Spirited Away, do you remember a bunch of little black soot balls that carried coal around? What if the reader also works at the academy and has made herself a bunch of those little robots to fetch tools when she needs them? Imagine working on something with these little goofballs running around, making high-pitched robot noises and being useful at the same time, what a dream. The second part is, what if some of them started running to Xiangli Yao's office (and Academy too) to get tools (screwdrivers, hammers, etc.) because they couldn't find them in our office due to some errors (or some other reason)? Which led to a funny little investigation of missing items? Honestly saw it as already established relationship, but could be used as push-to-confession maybe? Can definitely see something like this: -My little babies would never steal! -Your… babies? -Erm, never mind…

Honestly, use this however you like if you do, the possibilities are endless and fun, no matter how you twist it, I have just come up with an example.

A/n: this was awfully sweet, but even with that I didn't imagine it would turn out this long. I do hope this is what you had in mind. I really enjoyed writing this. And hey, first Xiangli Yao fic! Yipeeee

Contents: Xiangli Yao x Reader, she/her pronouns, fluff

Words: 4221

Steel Hearts

Little pitter-patters of feet echo down the empty corridor, the sound accompanied by the low mechanical buzz that could be said to be a coo or a call. Xiangli Yao had yet to get used to the new tiny companions around the Academy, although they made for an endearing sight when they got together to work. Xiangli Yao steps to the side of the corridor, slowing down his step as he notices a few Aideroids rush past diligently, carrying a few empty petri dishes, box of gloves and some unlabeled material samples. He tilted his head as they passed by, clicking and clacking without paying him any mind, like a line of ants as they made it straight for their queen - you. It would seem that the confusion of the recent incidents at the Academy have rubbed off on the Aideroids as well, otherwise known as Assistive Intelligence Droids, judging by how scattered they seemed after your own office has been subjected to a little... disaster, to put it plainly. It has pushed you to share an office with your colleague until the renovations are done, and while you had adjusted well, the little droids would always stop by the old office or by his own next to yours before finding you at last.

Xiangli Yao admired them and once he had run into a droid in the corner of his office that had gone down due to battery problems. He had fixed it up for you then. The droids weren’t admirable by looks alone, but by their design as well with their creator behind them. Although they seemed to be a nuisance of a sight for Mortefi, even he commented on their usefulness. The only thing everyone was against was to make them capable of flight. You agreed that the sight of so many droids buzzing about wouldn’t be quite comfortable.

He continued on into his office, looking over the report he had yet to finish, one he was looking forward to writing out. The half done pages reeked of promise and satisfaction, as they would come to represent the best part of the job in Xiangli Yao’s eyes. The end, the fruits of his labor. He hummed something low in his throat as he glimpsed an error in his grammar, making a mental note to fix it up later as he swung the door open and closed it behind it, failing to notice that the door had been creaked open already. Muscle memory brings his feet to his desk, and as he goes to put his papers down he is greeted by several singular eyes looking up at him, all scattered on and around his desk. He blinks at them in surprise, and for a moment they mirror his confusion and shock in equal measure, but as no command or response comes from his mouth, they swiftly return to their ‘work’ at his tools. One Aideroid was carrying the rubik's cube he liked to keep in his office, oftentimes fidgeting with it when he came into a slump during work hours. The Aideroid chucked it over the edge of the desk with a ‘kahooo’ and another similar sound came from below, where another droid caught the cube. Another droid was already halfway to the door with screwdrivers and small container of oil he uses to treat his prosthetic arm - had the door been unlocked, the little droid would have managed to escape the office with Yao’s belongings. 

“Hey, hey, hey- now, little friend. It seems you have plans for my things-” he speaks to the droid with a light laugh in his tone as he manages to pluck back the oil and screwdrivers from its clasping hands before it could truly clasp down. “Has Miss. (L/N) been in such desperate need of oil that she sends you to take mine?” 

The droid looks up at him and the lenses of its eye narrow and zoom in on the towering figure of Xiangli Yao, yet, ever loyal and determined to assist you, the droid lets out a disgruntled beeping sound, almost like a little howl. Its arms stretched upward, waiting for the tools to be given back to its hold. 

“Ah, no, my friend. I’m afraid I cannot give you these back” he says and turns towards the desk just as the droid carrying his cube walks by, and Yao swiftly takes the cube back as well, and then the microscope from the next droid, and a few pencils from the next few. By the time he’s up to his desk again, he feels as if he went through an attempted robbery, his arms full of his things and behind him he hears several voices of dissatisfied and demanding droids. He holds onto his lighthearted demeanor, a gentle and amused smile plastered over his lips as he sets back his belongings on his desk and back onto the shelves. “Miss. (L/n) would not want you to rob her colleagues, would she now? I know you don’t like returning to her with empty arms, but I can’t be giving you my own research and tools so easily” he tells the droids as if they’re a bunch of kids and for a moment he expects to be greeted with more protests as the droids all but stare at him in grave silence. Thankfully they do not pose more verbal danger, and scatter to climb onto one another and skillfully open the door before moving out again. Xiangli Yao can only stare at the space they occupied, still trying to acknowledge what has just happened. He was about to shake the thoughts of before he remembered the droids he passed in the corridor, now realizing the tools and materials they carried were his.

______________________________________________________

Black bolded letters lined every page, and page after page you scanned the book for the chapter you needed to fuel your brain for power which you desperately needed for this experiment. You sigh in disappointment as you find the chapter of your favorite book ripped out, leaving the next chapter as some distant tale you were yet to understand. You close the book with a thump and push it aside, returning to another set of letters on your research paper and the propped up tubes and test tubes and cylinders before you. Testing biological matter and the effects of the Waveworn Phenomena on them came with its limitations, but for all of those you managed to achieve quite a few breakthroughs in the last few years. 

You found yourself just short of other achievements, it was just an arms reach away yet you were stuck. Not understanding where you began to go over the same papers again, going through numbers, chemical formulas and the hypothesis at the start, but the important puzzle piece was yet to be revealed to your mind. The sound of small feet do not alarm you as they buzz behind you and move about the office. They came and went the entire day, bringing you your torn book and some other less important things at the moment, yet you acknowledged their need to be of help- it was in their code. Just like animals which flee or fight naturally when confronted with danger, the Aideroids wanted to help when confronted with your frown and furrowed brows. They knew something was amiss, so by bringing you all the tools and materials you previously praised them for, their droids’ minds hoped to see and hear the praise once more to know their daily task had been fulfilled. Yet, the last few days have been filled with your stagnant moods with not a sweet word in sight. The loss of the comforts of your own office was palpable even with the adjustments you’ve made - nothing can beat having your own space to do with as you please.

Your head hands low over the papers, forehead resting on your clasped palms as you let your eyes close. Searching for the answer deep in your mind, you fail to see the way forward and your mind swiftly wanders to imagery of the open fields, summer days and your favorite food stalls. Aideroids made their way up the side of your desk, carrying the microscope between them in their strong little arms, and as they set it before you with a small thump, you looked up to see it, a look of confusion falling over your eyes. “Now, why have you brought me this, AIDE?” you ask the droid group who coo at you in unison. “I already have a functional microscope..” you added, sighing at their attempt to assist you with no success. But before you can reprimand them and ask whose microscope they’ve taken, you see more of the droids climb up the desk with a glove box and unmarked materials sealed in small boxes. At that you were a bit more alarmed. Sitting up straight in your chair you feel a wave of anxiety come over you as you’re made to guess whose research they just snagged up with no pardon. “AIDE, where did you get this?” you asked as you took one of the sample bags one of the droids offered you. You carefully unpacked it and took a quick look inside, a bit more relieved to find it was only dirt samples from god knows where. But the other baggies held materials you weren’t trying to mess with, judging by their looks alone through the translucent bag. 

The droids coo and click, and on your watch monitor you can see the transcribed text that they were trying to convey. 

‘Xiangli Yao’s office, Baizhi’s office’.

You had to physically stop yourself from face palming at the sentence. Your little helpful companions resorting to stealing from your fellow colleagues, one of them a renowned genius? You thank god that most of them have already left the Academy for the day, and others were on break.

“Please, give the rest of those to me… I’ll have to give you another code input, this can’t happen again - you can’t just take other people’s belongings” you gently scold while the many pairs of eye just look at you, mechanically blinking and adjusting their lenses as they try to comprehend why you didn’t like what they’ve done. You have already gathered the things they took, carefully cradling the items in your arms as you tell them to stay in the office while you go and return them - hoping to also clear your mind with this brisk walk.

You turn the corner from your current office, closing the door behind you and your mind is running, hoping your droids haven’t done any damage, even if you have put all the necessary codes into their system that avoided damaging things, but who's to say they can’t malfunction or accidentally push somethin or-

“Ah! Xiangli Yao!” you nearly squeal as you run into him when you turn to go down the corridor leaning to his office, and like a kid caught with their hand in the candy jaw, you flush with items that are obviously his in your arms. You take a few steps back to put a more professional and comfortable distance between the two of you. You swallow the lump in your throat, hoping the warmth you felt wasn’t as visible on your skin as you imagined it to be. 

“Ah, Miss (L/N), it is you, and with quite an interesting assortment of things in tow” Yao greeted back, his eyes quickly catching on to the items in your hold, a warm smile pulling on his lips. “I was just about to pay you a visit. It would seem your Aideroids have been up to some mischief as of recent”

“Mischief?” you countered almost instantly, and be it fatigue or the knowledge that the droids weren’t mischievous by their nature, you almost took it as an insult. “Oh, you misunderstand. They aren’t mischievous, Xiangli Yao. They just.. need some code tuning” you added with a stubborn shake of your head, holding the items closer to your torso. 

“Oh? And is that why they have resorted to taking my things without being given permission beforehand?” Yao retorted, his voice a warm honey. Was he teasing you? 

You couldn’t muster up a laugh, your lips pressing together in a tight line out of some nervousness for feeling so cornered. “Xiangli Yao..” you began, sighing as you nearly trailed off - he had his point, yet you couldn’t let your little droids be subjected to any form of insults, even in jest! “That doesn’t mean they’re mischievous. Although their objective is flawed in execution, something I’ll have to fix later, I assure you they did not mean to deprive you of your own ability to conduct your work. This is why I have come to return your belongings by myself and.. apologies on their behalf - although the fault is also mine own for not having foreseen such a thing happening with them” you told him, nearly rushing through the entire sentence. “AIDE has told me some of these materials are also from Baizhi. Do you mind taking back the ones that are yours?” 

Xiangli Yao looks on at you, letting you speak and he nods at the question. Did this make you so riled up, or was it him? He had to admit, he felt rather weak in his word arsenal now. This has in no way ruined his day, nor has he meant any offense to you with his quips. The interaction it all led to between the two of you felt sweet to his heart, as most encounters between the two of you during the day felt almost artificial, all work no soul chatter which he found himself craving to have with you. And both of you needed solo time to recharge, but now it felt like there was emotion behind it, there was a heart. Yao wasn’t about to simply let it go to waste. But what does he say to make you more at ease?

“Of course. Here, why don’t you come to my office, I’ll also help you sort the other items out that belong to Baizhi afterwards” he offered as he took back his things, and also some more to lighten your load as some seemed at the point of slipping past your fingers. “Your droids are quite skilled to unlock doors previously locked - have you taught them to pick at locks?” he asked, his tone genuine as well as he recalled an occasion where he overheard Mortefi complaining to you about AIDE ‘breaking into his office’. 

You sigh at the memory. “No. I have not taught them any of that. Their objectives and codes only revolve around listening to my orders and helping me work, I genuinely don’t know where they got it to pick locks..” you tell him as you walk side by side to his office. His presence felt as if he was pressed right against your side, even if there was comfortable space between you, or perhaps that was just you overthinking the situation. Xiangli Yao’s company was always welcome, you wished your paths crossed more often during work, but alas..

“Admirable, really” Yao comments, looking up ahead and hastening his step to open the door with his elbow, leaving it wide open for you. You walk in and you can already tell AIDEs has been through here. Xiangli Yao sets down the items he had in his arms, returning the ones that belonged to him to their right place.

“Have..have they damaged anything of yours?” You cautiously asked as you looked around, almost expecting to see broken glass or torn papers.

“Oh no, they've done no harm. They were quite adamant on taking my things, however” he chuckles. “The group that I encountered in my office even wished to scold me for not allowing them to take the items back to you. Kahooting at me and beeping, heh. They even picked up the oil for my prosthetic” he said as he turned back to look at you, noticing how your brows curled in a worried expression, the cogs and wheels turning so loud he could nearly hear them from where he stood.

You sigh for the nth time, your shoulders slumping as you shake your head. “I'm really sorry for this, they really aren't like this. I'm assuming that the loss of my office, which was coded as their own ‘HQ’  , impacted them more than I imagined. They wouldn't do any of this otherwise “ You adjust the few small items in your arms, the sample bags stacked on top. 

Xiangli Yao hums in acknowledgement. “I understand that. Thankfully, that is an easy fix until your office is done and ready for use again. I often see the little guys lingering in front of the locked doors of the office.. makes me think they’re rather sentimental about the place” he nodded thoughtfully, and as he talked he approached you again, taking the items from you even after you tried to give a word of protest. 

“Although, I also have a suspicion it is not just the loss of their ‘HQ’ that is making them behave like this” Yao added as he motioned towards the door again, having you walk out first. You did as he requested, but you closed the door behind him before he could try to. You look at him quizzically, brows furrowed in confusion. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well..the droids’ objective is to help you reach an end in your research or daily tasks, yes? Have you perhaps not been able to reach an end of your work that the droids' could physically see? This is just my hypothesis but..uhh..” he trails off as he notices the weight of your stare, his eyes going back to the path ahead, focusing on going to Baizhi’s office. Was he being too prodding? 

You couldn't deny that his words held some water, but a part of you wasn't ready to simply say what you thought. The AIDE were a bunch of robots you created, scraps of metals and wires, and giving them any form of sentimental intelligence aloud felt wrong. Even if you treated them kindly and softly like puppies and cats countless times, you weren't going to risk being seen as soft and fragile in your workspace, in front of Yao no less. He wasn’t cold in any way, or unkind to either robots, people or animals - but you felt silly in your treatment of your helpful companions.

“Are you saying that the droids may have a.. small flaw in their system? Their code could use some fine tuning, that's for sure…” you replied, trailing off as you thought about it, relieving him of your gaze in the meantime. 

“Yes, that is what seems most plausible, although I do not know their code as well as you do” 

You nod and just shrug, too tired to think of inputting more codes and numbers, but you knew the task was unavoidable. “Yeah…I'll take a look at the codes once I'm back. Uh, you know where Baizhi keeps her things?”

“Not exactly in the way she has her things organized…but, we can just leave them in an orderly place. I can explain the situation to her in the morning for you, no worries” Xiangli Yao is about to hasten his step again but you make it a point to beat him to it, opening the door for him and keeping it open. You hear a huff of a laugh behind you but you do not immediately turn around to face him and see his expression. Yet when you do take a look, your heart jumps in your throat as he passes by you, giving you another one of his warm smiles.

You feel stiff compared to him, he who seems so carefree and professional. 

“You don't have to do that on my behalf. I'll just talk to her myself” you slide in next to him above Baizhi’s desk. It looks rather empty with how well organized it looks. Papers piled neatly on one end next to the simple lamp, pens in their pen holder, a few other things carefully tucked over the desk but besides that, there was nothing else on the desk. Everything else had its place on the shelves or in the drawers. You have to hold back your awe at it, remembering how much of an ‘organized mess’ your desk is. 

“It wouldn't be an inconvenience, Baizhi and I have a task we have to do together tomorrow,” Yao said as he sat the sample bags down along with the little boxes. 

You find yourself not knowing what to say, and suddenly you feel as if you're standing too close for comfort, your neck feeling too warm and you decide to pace away, taking in the office - one you have probably visited before but that fact wasn't important right now. 

“Coohoo, clack?” 

You both turn around and see several eyes staring back at you around the doorframe. 

Xiangli Yao chuckles as he sees that the little droids have, once again, managed to snag something of his to bring to you - this time the Rubik's cube from before. They murmur among themselves when they see him, and one at the front almost hisses when he approaches. The others rush in with the Rubik's Cube in tow, rushing straight to you. 

“Ah- not again…” you grumble as you crouch down to welcome your rowdy robot children in, taking the cube away from them as they crowd around your feet and tug lightly at the tail of your coat.  “I'm really sorry, Xiangli-”

“No, no, please, no need to apologize. Now that I look at this, I have a feeling they're trying to lift your spirits. Surely, AIDE realizes a Rubik’s Cube has no other use but momentary play”

You look up at him, joining in the stare group made from your droids who all can't seem to take their eyes off of him. 

“That…could be it. Hah, a rather cute thought, isn't it? I should give these guys a bit more praise, I think..” you feel yourself cracking slowly, the exhaustion and the weight of your unreached goals making your mind a fuzzy place. You feel your cheeks go warm again and cast your eyes down swiftly to take a look at your droids again.

“Quite so. Do you need help with the coding?” He suddenly asked as you rose to your feet, taking a careful step over the grouped up droids. You stumble and feel Yao grab onto your elbow to stabilize you. “Careful-”

“Thanks.. here's your, uhm, cube” you mutter as you hastily hand him the Rubik's cube even before you get to stand back properly on your feet. 

The droids coo in unison, first in surprise and then in relief when you don't fall. 

“And no, actually, I should be fine with doing the coding on my own. It will only take a bit, but anyway- I'd rather not be in your way any more than I already am.” You said as you found your feet again, the droids already gathering around your feet again and looking up at you and Yao unblinking. 

“In my way? Miss (L/N), you’re not in my way. I am offering you my help of my own free will, not out of pity or anything similar” he assures you and soon joins you in looking down at your droids when you fail to respond. This time he can’t help but notice the flush on your cheeks, but he doesn’t comment on it for your sake.

“These little ones are.. quite something” you added as your eyes gazed over them all, listening to their lenses “blink” and observe.

The droids huddle closer, almost climbing up over the other to reach better heights to either of you. His words from before strike you once more in that moment, and you find yourself thinking deeper about the issue at hand - although can you really call it an issue? The droids have done nothing but try their best to be of use to you, and not only in your work but in your mood as well. Would it be so wrong to treat them with a little more humanity? The droids seemed to favor Xiangli Yao in some ways too, as most of the items they brought back to you were his.

“Xiangli Yao..”

“Hm?” He tips his head to the side, looking over at you as you still observe the little ones.

“Could you actually..help me with these guys a bit? I think I want to do more than just coding changes, I'd like to add some more features - and you have more experience in this field than I do”

Xiangli Yao feels his heart swell with something he can't quite describe coherently in that moment, but he knows it is making him feel fuzzy and energized. “Of course! I'd love to - spending some time with these droids is going to be a time well spent”.

Although he loved the droids on their own, he was more so looking towards spending time with you. And where the droids were is where you are.

Ⓒ n0tamused. Do not repost, translate, edit, and/or copy any of my works. Likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated.

[blues824]

What A Time

Gender-neutral reader who wears makeup.

TW: alcohol, fighting, swearing, Reader is rightfully petty

Sebek Zigvolt

It has been about seven years since you graduated from NRC. You were the school therapist, actually, for the college you had graduated from, and you got properly compensated for it. You had decided that going back to your world would not be the best option for you, so you stuck around and made a life for yourself.

When school was not in session, you resided in the Queendom of Roses. There were many magicless people there, and you lived somewhat close to your former senpai Trey Clover. There were a few times where you would see him in his family’s bakery on your way home, and you both would have a quick cup of coffee as you caught up with each other’s lives. Riddle was actually your doctor, and Ace and Deuce weren’t too far either.

You were there when Deuce graduated from the police academy, and you all celebrated at Trey’s bakery. On the bus home that day, you looked at the photo taken, with Ace smashing Deuce’s face into the cake that said ‘Congratulations, Officer Spade!’ All of the Heartslabyul crew was present there, including you and Grim.

Unfortunately, Grim was no longer with you. It was understandable, as cats don’t live as long as humans, but it still hurts. In the graduation photo, he was in your arms with such a wide grin as everyone else posed around you. Ace and Deuce were beside you, Epel was in front along with Ortho, Jack was behind you… and so was Sebek. 

Oh, you hadn’t seen Sebek Zigvolt in so many years. At first, you both had an open correspondence until he stopped writing back. You figured that maybe he was busy as one of Malleus’s knights… or a general at this point because you were invited to his promotion. Seeing the castle was definitely an experience, and not a lot of people liked that a magicless human was there. However, you laughed it off with the half-fae as you congratulated him.

That was four years ago, though. The only reason you knew he was still alive was because you still talked with Silver. It wasn’t frequently, maybe once every few months, but you knew that everyone was doing well. Lilia had retired and taken up residence in a small cottage, and you talked to him as well and more frequently. 

During your years at NRC, you and Sebek became a tad romantically involved. He had asked you, in a rather harsh and loud manner, to accompany him to the village at the bottom of the mountain because there was a park in the center and he thought it would be a nice date location. You both ended up having a picnic there, and you laid back in the grass just talking about the book you had both read recently.

It was one of the few times where he wasn’t going on a rant about Malleus, and instead he was talking about one of his own passions. You laid your head on his chest, using it as a pillow, as he had an arm wrapped around your torso. It was only when you saw that a few fireflies made their appearance that you realized it was already very late at night. You were worried about getting back to campus, but Sebek was still clinging onto you. He whispered something about not wanting to go yet. It actually shocked you, so you allowed you two to stay there for ten more minutes.

He wasn’t telling you something, and he didn’t tell you until graduation day. Being a knight of Malleus meant that he might not make it out alive from battle one day, so he never desired a romantic partner who would be heartbroken not only of him being gone constantly, but also having the possibility of receiving the news from his comrades-in-arms of his passing just looming over them on a day-to-day basis. 

The half-fae was just looking out for you.

You asked if you could still send letters, and he told you… no, he promised you that he would respond to each one. A tear was brought to your eye as you remembered his promise from that day. You poured yourself a small glass of wine after wiping said tear away, and you focused on the student files on your desk. 

After about an hour and a half later, you come across a small flier in one of the cases. It was for a reunion of sorts, and there were fliers sent to each person who was invited. You remember seeing Crowley place the spell upon the pieces of paper so they would go to the students who graduated with you in the same year. Spouses and significant others were invited as well, but children were not. Would Sebek be there?

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

The next day, there was a staff meeting. The Headmage we all know and hate was being as eccentric as usual, and he started going over details about the reunion that was going to take place. The teachers who were teaching at the time and the ones who were teaching presently would be invited along with the students from your year, and you had to admit that you were very excited about seeing everyone once again.

It would be a rather casual occasion. The courtyard would be decorated, and it would be an outdoors event. You were actually the one along with Professor Crewel who decided on the theme of it, and he even drew out a diagram of sorts. There would be a few fairy lights situated in the trees, casting a small but elegant glow. It would have a picnic-at-the-park vibe to it, for obvious reasons.

Because everyone attending was of-age, there would be a bar area as well as catering, so tables needed to be brought out. A bunch of students actually volunteered to help you in setting up after school, and you were so grateful for them. Their reasoning was because you had helped them, so they felt as though they needed to help you. They helped bring out the picnic benches as well as a few blankets, and they helped wrap the fairy lights.

You hugged each and every one of them as you thanked them for helping out, and you put each of their names on a list so they would be able to get an extension on any assignments they were supposed to have completed that night. You also communicated to their Housewardens about their whereabouts and how any punishment against them would be lifted. They thanked you and wished you a happy night before going to their dorms.

It was truly a wonder how an act of kindness could get students to respect you so much.

Then, you checked the time on your phone and you realized that you only had thirty minutes to get back to your teacher’s quarters to get ready for the reunion. You ran down the hallways to the Mirror Chamber, entering the mirror that would get you to your own dorm. Since you were a teacher, you no longer resided in Ramshackle. However, because you were now in a position of a bit more power, you did threaten Crowley to renovate the rickety dorm or tear it down completely so that no one would have to live like you did if they were unfortunately summoned by the Mirror like you did.

Once you opened the door to your room, you checked and saw that you had arrived within 7 minutes, leaving 23 minutes. Luckily, because it was a casual thing, you didn’t need to change your makeup from the day, so you just opened your wardrobe to find a pair of jeans as well as a white button-up shirt. Again, classy but casual. 

That only took about 5 minutes, so you had 18 minutes to get back. You weren’t in too much of a rush, so you had a few moments to catch your breath on the way back. You went through the mirror again and through the hallways to the courtyard. You saw the bartender and the caterers setting up their things, and you asked them if they needed any help at all.

“Hey, you look familiar!”

You turned around to see Ace, and a large smile made its way on both of your faces. You laughed as you gave him a hug, telling him how good it was to see him after a while. He led you to one of the picnic benches as you both started catching up with each other since the beginning of the school year. He apparently started talking to someone, one of the parents from the elementary school he was the basketball coach of. 

After a few moments, Deuce showed up with his fiance, Grace, and they joined you at the table you both were sitting at. The former Professor Trein walked into the courtyard with a cane and greeted you all, asking how your time as a staff member at NRC was going and how Ace’s coaching was going as well as Deuce’s job within the Police Department and engagement. It was definitely a different side of your old professor that you had not seen in a while, but the conversation was nice.

More students from your year started arriving, and you greeted each and every single one of them. A few of them asked where Grim was, and they immediately noticed the sadness in your eyes. They put two and two together, and gave you their condolences before moving on to greet everyone else.

By far, you have seen Ace, Deuce, Epel, Ortho, Idia’s tablet that is accompanying Ortho, Jack, Mr. Sam, Professor Trein, Coach Vargas, and obviously Professor Crewel… but no Sebek thus far. It made you a bit sad, thinking that he was probably too busy to come to the reunion, and Jack was able to pick up on it. Everyone knew about your old complicated relationship with the knight, but the wolf here had always known about it due to him being a good person to talk to since he would listen.

“You should enjoy your time. How about I get you a drink?” He offered while putting his hand on your shoulder. It was lucky that the drinks were free, otherwise you might have to start a tab. You didn’t plan on drinking excessively, but you did wish to toast everyone at one point in the night… night… knight…

At that moment, Jack came back with two small glasses of whiskey; one for you, one for himself. The way you just quickly knocked it back surprised your old friend, and he grew quite worried. However, you did not go for another one, so he guessed it was alright. You saw his look of surprise and let out a bit of a sad laugh.

“I treat students who have the same problems you all did. Only difference is that I can drink now to soften the blows.”

You thanked him for bringing you a drink and just sat with him, talking about your lives. He told you about his wife, Thalia, and his daughter, and he even showed you pictures and you just cooed and awed over how much she looked like him. You had a smirk on your face as you said that you would bet five thaumarks that he cried when he first held his baby, and he looked away in shame. 

“Oh, yes he did! He cried more than on our wedding day!”

A gasp made its way out of your mouth as you quickly jumped out of your seat and hugged the woman who called your name. It had been a while since you saw any of the Howls, and she hugged you back just as tightly. She sat down next to her husband and across from you at the table as the three of you launched into a rather lively conversation.

It was nice to hear how well they were doing, but it was your turn to spill about your life. It had been stressful, as exams were coming up soon, but no overblots have occurred since you started your job as the NRC school therapist and guidance counselor. All of the students knew and respected you, and you told Jack and his wife that they helped set up the whole event because of you. 

“The students must mean a lot to you, just as you mean to them if they helped you without expecting anything in return. They kind of remind me of how you were back when we were still students.”

You all laughed at Jack’s statement, reminiscing how many people you helped without being paid back. You made a joke about how you were going to go around collecting payments, and that almost made Jack spit out the whiskey he sipped while Thalia was laughing until she was on the verge of crying. 

However, as she was about to respond, Headmage Crowley clinked a fork against his wine glass to gather everyone’s attention. He stood at a podium in front of the fountain, and everyone gathered around. You noticed that a certain green-haired general was still not present, but you snapped back to where your attention should be.

“Hello and welcome, former students of Night Raven College! In a few moments, the sandwich bar will be open and ready to serve, but I would like to say a few words. First, I am glad to see you all as well as your spouses and significant others. I hope the refreshments are to your liking, but I do encourage you not to go overboard, as we will take pictures.”

Everyone laughed for a few seconds, before settling down.

“Second, we are still expecting more people to come in. If you do not see some friends, they may still be coming. Unfortunately, Grim is no longer with us. We will toast to his memory later on in the night, and Dr. L/N will lead us in that.

“Third, the grounds are not yours to destroy. We trust that you will be respectful with the campus as you were when you were enrolled here. After all, students still go here, and they worked hard on setting this up for you all. I know that I am talking to you as though you were children, but I thought it would do good to mention that. Thank you.”

Applause sounded all around before the crowd dispersed to go make a line at the sandwich table. Everyone thought that you should go first, since you set everything up. The sentiment was so moving, but you felt bad as they pushed you to the front of the queue. You grabbed what you wanted as quickly as you could. You saw some tuna that was set out, and a hint of sadness hit you before you moved on.

You went back to your seat from before and started to dig in. You were joined by Ace, Deuce, and Grace. Coach Trappola here made a comment about how this reminded him of those days in the cafeteria where you all would be planning to take down the next overblot. You all laughed before you started talking to Deuce’s fiance, asking her about the ring and where they met and stuff like that. 

She asked where your date was, and you told her that you didn’t have one. Grace was a bit embarrassed for asking such a personal question, but you decided to tell her that you never really sought out anyone. It made her feel a bit better knowing that, and you just started asking about the future wedding that would take place. Poor Deucey was so flustered as the love of his life was answering about the plans thus far.

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

You had been here for about two hours at this point, and you really stuck to yourself. You had a few moments before you had to make the toast, and you had made sure to announce to everyone that it would be recommended for them to grab a beverage of any variety. You had your speech planned out before, and you had it on your phone. However, the nervousness was crawling into your skin.

“You’ll do great, Y/N!” Ace said.

“Yeah, I bet it’ll be beautiful!” Grace assured. Deuce just nodded in agreement.

Taking a few deep breaths, you make your way to the podium and shout for everyone’s attention. It was a larger crowd than you anticipated, and for a few seconds you were just scanning through it. Snapping back to your notes, you cleared your throat and began.

“As Headmage Crowley stated before, Grim passed away a few years ago. You all might remember him as the cat that ate everything, or you might have thought he was annoying, or less than smart, or even selfish. But, in his last moments, he told me something that I will now tell you.

He told me to not be sad about his passing, and that I should continue helping the students that go to NRC just as I always have. Being enrolled here meant everything to him, and so I serve the students and staff in his honor. He became a powerful mage, learning how to control his magic. He may have not made the best decisions all of the time, but he tried, and that’s what matters.

Out of anyone, he was my closest friend; not only because we shared a dorm or even a scholarship, but because he was there to push me when times got tough. He challenged me, and now my capacity has expanded greatly because of it. If he were here today, he would be overwhelmed by the amount of support you all have shown.

Thank you.”

You had to really reel it in, trying to keep the tears from rolling down your face. The crowd erupted in applause before you raised your glass of water, and shouted into the microphone, “to Grim!”

“TO GRIM!” Everyone shouted, and took a sip of their drinks.

Ace came up to the side and helped you from the step of the podium, but before you took his hand you searched the crowd one last time. That was when you caught a hint of mint-colored hair, and it got your attention within a few moments. Your hands started shaking a bit, and you suddenly felt nauseous. Your throat went dry and your heart was racing as you looked back at your friend who was starting to get concerned.

“He’s here…” you whispered to him, and his eyes went wide in realization. During your conversation with him at the beginning of the reunion, you explained the situation with Sebek. He went as far as to call him a stuck-up prick who either prioritized his job or just couldn’t accept that someone cared about him.

“Do you want to leave? Do you need another drink? Talk to me, Y/N.” Ace was asking questions that you weren’t really paying attention to, mainly because right behind him was the man that had you feeling so nervous. However, the general looked nervous as well… but your nervousness was slowly giving way to anger.

“I do need another drink, Ace. Could you get me a glass of wine?” He was a bit hesitant about leaving you alone, but you told him that you would go with him. That’s when both men realized what you were trying to do.

You were trying to ignore Sebek… just as he ignored you.

“Y/N, please, I need to talk to you.” The half-fae said earnestly. He was taking a huge leap of faith with this, but he fell.

“No. You know why? I have been sending you letter after letter and you ignored me. It’s your turn to be ignored.”

With that, you took hold of your friend’s arm and headed towards the bar, where you ordered yourself a glass of wine. You sure were glad that you drank some water and ate so that you wouldn’t be drinking on an empty stomach. However, unfortunately for you, your glass was snatched out of your hand and a gloved hand grasped your arm.

Maybe it was better that you didn’t drink that glass of wine, as the nausea you were feeling earlier resurfaced. 

To say that you were nervous would be the understatement of the century. Seeing those green eyes that you used to love and get flustered at when you caught them staring at you in class were now causing feelings of disgust and betrayal. Your face portrayed your feelings quite well; looking revolted at Sebek’s hand.

You let out a sarcastic gasp, as you turned your head to look him in his eyes and said, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the great General Sebek Zigvolt, grasping the arm of a lowly, magicless human! I never could have dreamed that I would have such an honor within my miniscule, insignificant life!”

“Y/N, please! I can explain-” 

“EXPLAIN WHAT?! Explain how the only way I knew you were even alive was Silver being the one to write me back?! What can you explain, Sebek?! Explain how I was constantly trying to be understanding and making excuses for you?! ‘Maybe he’s busy’, ‘maybe he didn’t get my letters’. You know who proved me wrong?! LILIA!!! HE TOLD ME THAT YOU GOT MY LETTERS AND NEVER ANSWERED!!!”

At this point, everyone was staring at you two. Ace was trying to get you to calm down, and so was Thalia and Grace because they went over as well. Deuce, Jack, and Epel were pushing Sebek away, saying he had no right to just resurface after years of radio silence. Tears were falling down your face, and the general now had an inkling of an idea of just how badly he worried and hurt you.

“YOU PROMISED, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” You screamed, vision blurred with just more and more tears. The general was genuinely trying to fight against his former classmates, trying to get to you, but to no avail. The women were escorting you away, getting you another glass of water so that you wouldn’t get overheated. Ace stayed behind to smack sense into the former knight, and that he did. 

By the time you had finished the glass of water that Thalia had gotten for you, Sebek had a handprint engraved onto his cheek. He didn’t try fighting back; he knew he deserved it. He promised you something, and he broke that promise and that broke your heart. Eventually, because Deuce texted Grace and asked if you were okay with speaking to the general, you both met up in your office.

You sat in your chair, and you motioned towards one of the seats on the other side of the desk. Your eyes were puffy, and he noticed it as he sat down. His chest hurt upon seeing you dab at the last of your tears with a tissue before you tossed it in the trash. You took a deep breath before looking into his eyes straight-on.

“Y-You have a nice office, Dr. L/N.” He said, breaking the… rather awkward… silence.

“Thank you. While you were climbing the ranks within the army, I was here… helping the students just like I always have.” You responded, very formally and professionally. For once, he hated it. He hated how estranged it made him feel from you. 

“I shall get straight to the point, hu- I mean, Y/N.” You rolled your eyes at this; he really couldn’t go one sentence without pointing out that you were a magicless human. However, this magicless human managed to get a job at NRC, one of the most prestigious schools ever in Twisted Wonderland.

“I’m listening.” Your glare was ice cold. You leaned back in your chair, and crossed your legs, starting to get comfortable for the inevitable.

“I have no excuse for not answering your letters. I promised you I would, and I broke that promise, and I admit it and I give you my deepest apologies.” The proudest man you know… admitting that he was at fault? Well, this was new.

“Mhm. Go on. What exactly kept you from writing back?”

“I…” He looked hesitant. You leaned forward, an annoyed look plastered on your face.

“‘I…’ what? I waited four years for this. This better be good, or else I will demand that you either leave now or leave me be.”

“...I still love you, and I found it absolutely revolting. I thought that by not responding, my feelings for you would be forgotten. You remember that day where I told you that we couldn’t be together because I didn’t want the burden of me not coming home to lay on yours or anyone else’s shoulders. I dove right into work so that I could possibly forget about you and the love I had for you, but all that surfaced was regret.” At this he stood up, and started pacing back and forth, needing to move around so that he wouldn’t start yelling.

This surprised you more than you thought it would, and you actually heard his deep voice tremble with tears of his own. However, his voice was increasing in volume because of it anyways. You felt compelled to stand up as well, so that you could somewhat meet him at his level, and you leaned on one hip while putting your hand on it and waited for him to finish.

“But every single day, I was tormented by the thought of you being with someone else. You deserved better than a life where your husband’s return was unpromised. You deserved better than a life where your husband can’t dedicate any time to you because he is too preoccupied with his job. You still deserve better.

“However, my heart still beats for you. I wished that I didn’t break your heart that day because it goes against my virtues as a knight and what my heart is telling me. I declined every invite given to me if there was even a small chance of you being there because I didn’t want to bring you any more pain than you were already going through.

“After all this time, though, it seems as though I put you through too much worry and stress anyway.” Tears were making their way down his face as he had a shard of a smile. His voice was definitely shaky, and you found yourself being drawn closer and closer to him.

“Would you, and I am not one to repeatedly ask for the same thing, forgive me and allow me to make it up to you?” He was standing right in front of you, vision blurred slightly as he looked into your eyes. 

You were a bit taken aback, but you took a big breath. You prayed to the Sevens that you would not regret this, but you reached your hands up to cup his face and wipe his tears away with your thumbs. He couldn’t read your face, but you suddenly pulled him in so that your lips were on his. His eyes went wide open, barely able to comprehend what was happening.

Just after a few seconds, though, he melted into it, and even started kissing you back. He was so happy to finally have you back in his arms after so many years.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door, and it was Deuce and Grace, checking up on you two. You quickly broke the kiss, looking at Sebek once again. His gaze was filled with such an overwhelming amount of love that it made your chest feel a bit warm. Unfortunately, you had to confirm to your friends that you both were still alive and unscathed

[thinkingotherwise]

AlHaitham x reader HC Part 3

Final part finally here

A - Z fluff headcanons (? stories ideas)

Part 1 A - I Part 2 J - R Part 3 S - Z (+ Y again)

Smile - being the one to make him smile sincerely

Every smile of yours is accompanied by a small smile from him and his friends find it funny that you have such a way of making the Scribe smile and he isn't even aware of that. Whenever he has a bad day all he needs is one look at your smiling face and the corner of his mouth curl slightly up

Teasing - after all the time a little teasing won't hurt

You gang up together with Kaveh to tease the shit out of the ever-so-composed man. Does it work out? Yes, after almost an hour, but it does. Will Haitham take revenge on you for making him blush in front of some scholar? You bet

Umbrella - finishing job quicker or taking a break just so one doesn't end up sick or wet

You leave the documents for the next day and take some with you when you notice it's raining and remember Haitham didn't bring an umbrella with him, but knowing his decision to leave Grand Sage's office on the clock you finish quicker to make sure he's not drenched and sick. You ran all the way through the Academy just to catch up to him almost falling down the stars if it wasn't for him catching you

Vision - being enchanted by dendro vision

Finding Alhaitham's vision amazing and him showing you some dendro elemental crystals just to see the look of amazement and complete adoration on your face

Walk - walks to know more about each other

While being Scribe's assistant you decide to have daily walks from and to the Academy to get to know him better. AlHaitham first finds you stubborn and questions your intentions but with time passing he gets used to you and even waits for you by his house when you get late

Xenial (welcoming, hospitable) - visiting hours

Scribe's assistant's first time visiting Alhaitham's home and meeting his roommate. He tries to make you feel comfortable and shoos away Kaveh but somehow they start arguing and only when they hear you laugh at their petty arguments do they stop

Yearbook photo - finding old photos from school days

While looking for a book you haven't yet read in Haitham's home you find a yearbook from his scholar days and can't help but giggle at how cute he looked in the uniform and hat, when Haitham notices what made you laugh he looks mortified and quickly snatches the album from your hands while wearing the most flustered expression you've seen on him

Zealous - jealous about fans

While working as Acting Scribe you get jealous when Haitham gets more and more famous with student community and there are more people who find him enchanting, you decide to show them that he is yours and they will never have privilege to do things you can do

+++++

Y (additionally - because when I was looking for words to use I found Yours and Yearning next to each other and couldn't leave it out)

Yearning for you and being Yours - how Haitham asks you to spend the rest of your life by his side

When he started creating the green crystals using his vision you thought it was one of the times he wanted to show off and amaze you. Especially with how pretty they looked sparkling against the night sky over your head as you came back from your midnight walk.

What you didn't expect however was for one of those crystals to stop in front of you and pop dropping something, your hands moved quickly to catch whatever it was. You opened your palm to see the pretty ring with emerald-like stone, when you turned to Haitham to question him about it your mouth opened in shock as you saw him on one knee looking at you with this smirk you loved so much.

[captainremmington-13]

A Lady Made of Snow

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own The Hunger Games franchise, the images above, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, or any of the characters in this fic other than Bellova and her father. I also do not condone the beliefs or actions of Coriolanus or Bellova.

SUMMARY: Bellova gets her revenge, but also comes to a heart-wrenching realization.

Warnings: spoilers for TBOSAS, a good amount of angst

A/n: Buckle up y’all ;) Also, I recommend listening to Vigilante Shit, I Did Something Bad, and/or get him back! while reading this chapter.

“Come in.”

Bellova opened the door to Dean Highbottom’s office, swiftly shutting it behind her. 

“Ah, Miss Reginelle,” he said, setting down his papers. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be celebrating with the rest of the students?”

She smiled dryly. “I’ve come to speak with you about a very important matter. I believe that the integrity of the Games have been tainted by cheating.”

He raised an eyebrow, folding his hands on his desk. “Go on.”

Bellova walked towards him, making sure to maintain her flawless posture and calm expression. “I know for a fact that Coriolanus Snow visited Dr. Gaul’s laboratory right before the snake mutations were released to attack the tributes. And I am almost certain that they were held there before being sent to the arena.”

Dean Highbottom nodded. “They were indeed.”

“See, being one of Dr. Gaul’s most favored students, she had discussed this particular breed of mutated snakes with me before. She told me that they would not attack any being who’s scent they have been introduced to before. Because of his…conveniently timed visit to her office, I believe Coriolanus slipped something with Lucy Gray’s scent into the snake enclosure before they were sent off. That is why she was able to survive their attack.” 

There was silence for a moment as the dean processed her accusation.

“I see,” he said. “I will look into it, for you have given me plausible reasoning to investigate. Is there anything else you think I should know?”

Bellova grinned. 

‘Sorry, Coryo,’ she thought. ‘Say goodbye to your temporary glory.’ 

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

Coriolanus was puzzled when he was torn away from the celebration and told to report to Dr. Gaul’s lab to meet Dean Highbottom. Perhaps the idiotic old man had finally come to his senses and wanted to apologize for his constant harassment. 

As he walked through the Academy accompanied by two Peacekeepers, he smiled at the thought of the dean begging for forgiveness. How he would love to see him grovel like a pathetic fool.

Then, he heard footsteps up ahead. Bellova was walking towards him, her ruby-red lips curled into a cruel smile.

As she passed by him, she murmured something so quietly that Coriolanus almost missed it. But when he processed what she’d said, he knew he’d never forget it.

“I hope you know you brought this on yourself.”

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

When Bellova arrived home, she went straight to her room. She felt nauseous and dizzy, climbing up the grand staircase clumsily and almost slipping several times. She stumbled into her bedroom, and collapsed onto her luxurious canopy bed. 

The full weight of what she’d done hit her like a pile of bricks. 

She ruined Coriolanus’s life. 

He would never recover from this. Who knows where he’s end up? Maybe in prison, maybe an Avox if Highbottom was harsh enough, or maybe somewhere in one of the least powerful districts. Either way, she was sure he would never set foot in the Capitol again.

Maybe she should’ve waited a few days before going to Highbottom to expose him. It was hasty to snitch on him right away, but at the time, it felt right. But now, she wasn’t so sure.

She buried her face in her crimson red pillow, resisting the urge to scream. 

Why had Coriolanus done what he had done? He was never sympathetic towards the districts like Sejanus Plinth. What made Lucy Gray so special? She was just another district animal, and yet Coriolanus had done everything in his power to ensure her survival. She knew he wanted to win the Plinth Prize, which required that the recipient was the mentor of the winning tribute, but stooping as low as cheating? It was such a desperate move that Bellova briefly wondered if he had gone mad.

‘No,’ she thought. ‘Not mad. Utterly insane.’ 

As the hours passed, she slowly came to accept the truth: 

Coriolanus Snow had fallen in love with Lucy Gray Baird. 

A single tear slipped down her cheek. There was a stabbing pain in her chest, which grew worse as she began to sob. 

What did a no-name district runt have that she, a Capitol heiress, did not? 

What made him fall in love with her instead?

There was no use in continuing to lie to herself, not with him gone forever. 

She loved Coriolanus Snow. 

She always had. And she thought he would eventually grow to love her too. But she was foolish to believe that. It was childish to believe they were meant for each other.

Her miserable thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on her door gently. Hastily wiping her tears and fixing her messy hair, she croaked, “Come in.”

She expected it to be her maid, or maybe even one of her friends. Instead, her father walked through the door, holding a tray that held her favorite foods. 

Bellova instantly burst into tears again. 

Julio Reginelle frowned as he saw his normally composed daughter shaking, her knees pulled to her chest. “I heard that you haven’t emerged from your room since arriving home. What happened?”

He placed the tray on her bedside table and sat at the foot of her bed. 

She sniffled. “I don’t know if I should tell you. You’ll be angry at me.” 

He placed a hand on her shoulder gently. “I promise I won’t. It is more important for you to be honest with me.”

Bellova internally winced at the thought of discussing feelings of love with her father. Especially because of exactly who she loved. 

Her father raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to speak. 

With a trembling voice, she confessed what had happened earlier that day. She told him how she’d turned Coriolanus in to the dean, therefore ruining his future career and aspirations. Finally, she told him about her recently realized romantic feelings towards the young Snow heir. 

Her father sighed. “I am not angry at you, Bellova. You are a young woman, feelings are inevitable. I can see why you are angry Coriolanus. He chose someone over you.” She nodded. “And I’m sorry to say this, but no-one with the surname Snow should ever be trusted. His father was a snake too.”

Bellova cocked her head. “How so?”

“Crassus was an arrogant, overconfident fool. He was the most insufferable student at the Academy while we were attending together. If he didn’t have the top score on something, we would hear about it for weeks on end.”

Bellova laughed. That sounded just like Coriolanus. 

“And…” her father paused. “He was the original creator of the Hunger Games.”

Her mouth fell open. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. Casca Highbottom was distraught when Crassus, his closest friend at the time, took his drunken joke to Dr. Gaul, who embraced the idea immediately. Casca never forgave Crassus, and their friendship was destroyed.”

“How do you know about this? This has got to be one of the most well-kept secrets in Panem.”

Her father gave her a wry smile. “I overheard Crassus bragging about it to his eventual wife. She didn’t seem pleased, but never spoke up against it. I think she was too afraid to.”

Bellova grimaced. She would never let any future husband of hers walk all over her in that way.

“Now, as for you turning Snow in, you did the right thing. Cheating should never go unpunished, especially in something as important as the Hunger Games.”

Bellova leaned back against her pillows. “I know. But in telling the dean, I’ve sent him away forever. I’ll never see him again.”

Her father hummed. “Maybe that’s for the better.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he’s out of your life now. You can focus on other things: your career, your friends, your other aspirations. He will never be a hindrance to you again.”

Bellova sighed. “You’re right. There’s more to life than a pathetic boy who gave up his future for a district girl.”

Her father smiled. “Exactly right.” He looked over at the tray of food. “Please make sure to eat tonight, you’ll need your strength for tomorrow. I’m permitting you to skip school, because I plan to bring you with me to a conference in the Jubilee Convention Center.”

Bellova smiled. “That sounds lovely, thank you.” 

He stood up, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll leave you to rest now, my dear. Sweet dreams.” 

As soon as her father left, she placed the tray on her lap and began to eat. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until right then. 

After a relaxing evening of self-care, Bellova laid in bed, staring up at her chandelier that twinkled in the moonlight. 

Her love for Coriolanus would die eventually, she was sure of it. It was already starting to fade, slowly being replaced by contempt. He really wasn’t good enough for her. He was no real gentlemen, despite him parading around pretending to be one with his roses and faux charming smile. And he was too sensitive to make it in the world of politics. Sure, he put up a cold facade, but she knew that hurtful words got under his skin easily. 

No matter how handsome or intelligent he was, he’d never be a good match for her. If they were ever to marry, they would fight far too often, and ultimately, it would be a failure. 

Bellova closed her eyes, pulling her soft covers over her body and finally allowing herself to truly relax.

As she slipped into sleep, a quote from one of her favorite novels crossed her mind, making her smile.

“It is snow’s destiny to fall: that is what it is made for.” 

𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈

✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊

TAGLIST: @daenerysqueenofhearts, @squidscottjeans, @euphemiaamillais, @gracieroxzy, @effectwalker

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments! This is the end of Part 1, but there will be at least two more parts in the series! Stay tuned for the first installation of Part 2!

Also, let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

[ensignsimp]

Foolish: DS9 Captain Solok x GN! Reader (One Shot)

A/N: I love this blog @theshadowrealmitself and they kindly gave me permission to use this prompt. (Original Post Here)

Prompt: Solok finds you crying and decides to help you out. (Classic 90s RomCom)

GIF by deepspacedukat

Solok let out a long painful sigh. He had just finished speaking with a long-winded human Admiral. The facade needed to maintain human social standards was impossible to maintain. He had always found Star Fleet parties to be a complete waste of time, resources, and energy. Nonetheless, he was still expected to attend with his bridge crew.

He mindlessly caressed the side of his glass with his thumb. Even though he was surrounded by people, he noticed how alone he really was. Not even the members of his bridge had bothered to come and speak with him. He shook the feeling from his mind, chalking it up to exhaustion. He decided to try and slip away to somewhere quieter on the station or possibly back to his ship. He set his glass down on a nearby table and slipped out of the ballroom.

He walked aimlessly through the corridors and halls, passers-by began to fade away the deeper in he went. As he turned the corner he heard a whimpering sound. He rolled his eyes slightly before turning a corner to see, a human, (gender), (short/tall), (skin tone), holding a handkerchief. Their face was damp from tears and they looked to be in emotional distress.

"Oh, oh I'm, I'm so sorry." They said straightening up patting their face dry and pulling their dress uniform back in place.

Solok noticed the single gold pin on their collar.

"Why are you here ensign?" He asked rather coldly

"I'm sorry, I was brought here as a plus one by one of my commanding officers. I overheard them, my commanding officer, saying that they only brought me as a joke. I let my emotions get the better of me." They said attempting to wipe away more tears.

This didn't sit well with Solok. He remembered his earlier years at the academy struggling to find his place among the other cadets until he learned to resent them. Then he gained superiority over them. But this was somehow worse.

He knew that humans were slower, weaker, and far more emotional. He never thought they would stoop this low. The idea of humiliating a younger officer through a social event was nothing short of poor leadership and cowardice.

"I guess I really don't belong here." They said

Solok looked into their red swollen eyes, his stomach flipped.

"You are correct you do not belong here, you belong inside, if you care to accompany me I shall assist you." He offered them his arm.

Anyone who knew Solok would have thought that he'd lost his mind. However, that didn't seem to matter as the human gave him a sweet smile. They pressed their hands to their face attempting to alleviate the swelling of their face with their cold hands. When they had thought they looked presentable enough they took his arm.

"What is your name, if I may ask?" They looked up at Solok with a look he had never seen before, admiration, kindness?

"I am Captain Solok of the T'Kumbra. Yours Ensign-" Solok tried to look ahead but he found himself gazing back down at the ensign.

"(Y/N) (L/N) of the Wicked." They beamed, their tears had long dried, their eyes were no longer as swollen, and he could see the beautiful (color) hues. "Thank you, Captain."

"Your thanks is acknowledged." He looked away, a little smile grazing his lips.

[mayhemthemamp]

TNG Bridge Crew and how I imagine hugging them would be like

Picard: gives out one hug a year, it is a brief embrace with a clap on the back and then you are never allowed to speak of it again.

— Riker is usually the recipient of Picard’s annual hug, but only because he will push past people or make sure that nobody else remembers that it’s hug day to get it. Except for the one year after the Nova incident at Starfleet Academy, when he lets Wesley have the hug. The Boy needed it.

Riker: This. Man. Is. A. Hugger. It doesn’t matter if you’ve known him for ten minutes or ten years, the man is like Oprah with his hugs. “EVERYBODY GETS A HUUUUUUUG!” But honestly, with how much he cares about his crew, he is more than willing to give a hug to anyone who needs it (Deanna helps him determine which crew members both need a hug and would be receptive to them). And he gives the kind of hugs that squish your soul back into your body, and depending on the severity of the need for a hug he may add in anywhere from a gentle rocking from side to side or a kiss to the top of the head—with consent of course.

Data: fascinated by the concept of hugs and the physical and mental health benefits that they can provide. Has to be careful though. He once experimented by hugging Geordie and ended up bruising a couple of his ribs.

Deanna: is open to all forms of consensual physical affection. Thanks to her empathic abilities, she always knows who’s in need of a hug and how much they need it. And when she comes up to you and gives you that hug you so desperately need that you end up sobbing on her shoulder, she gently coaxes you to her office, and that’s how she gets you into therapy. Mental health matters y’all! Go to therapy.

Geordie: a hugger, but only with the people he knows really well. Definitely suffers from “nice guy” syndrome, but it’s not because he’s creepy, just autistic. What do you mean my offer of friendship was came across as a come on? How is watching ancient cartoons on the holodeck romantic? The people who do get to be on the receiving end of Geordie’s hugs say that they’re very nice, similar soul-squishing experience as Riker’s, just shorter and less frequent.

Beverly: similar to Geordie, she only hugs people she knows very well, because she strives to maintain an air or professionalism, since literally any crew member could wind up being a patient. Gives the typical mom hugs that usually accompany warm chocolate chip cookies straight out of the replicator.

Wesley: Wants Hugs. Needs Hugs. Deserves Hugs. Only gets hugs from his mom and maybe Riker. And Geordie one time. And of course, his singular Picard hug. But seriously, someone give Wesley hugs!

Worf: absolutely not a hugger. Worf values his personal space and will remind you of it if he even thinks you’re getting too close. But if he were a hugger, he would give the kind of hugs that lift you off your feet and crack your back.

Tasha: Given her upbringing, she is not a hugger and relatively touch-averse. But if she wants to show you affection, she will give your shoulders a gentle squeeze, accompanied with a nod of her head. Similar to a cat’s slow blink, you wouldn’t know it’s affection unless you know her, but if she does show it to you, consider yourselves lucky to be in her favor.

[trubbishrubbish]

Having some Martina thoughts. Spoilers for the whole game below.

So, chapter 4 reveals that Martina was still alive, The execution that was supposed to kill her was stopped by Makoto and Martina no longer loves Yomi. But a lot must have happened in the background before this point, mainly when Makoto stopped the execution and what happened immediately after.

For starters, Yomi is very surprised to see that Martina is still alive, this gives me the impression that Yomi assumed his execution order was already carried out and Martina should be dead.

Why didn't he double check with any of his peacekeepers to confirm that the deed was done beforehand? Perhaps he was too distracted dealing with the master detectives in chapter 3-4, or maybe Yomi cared so little for Martina that he didn't feel a need to check if she did die. If you toss trash into a garbage bin, do you really need to see if it's actually in there? That was likely his mindset.

Yomi issued the order the night after the Aetheria Academy case. The next morning all of chapter 3 occurs than the day after that is chapter 4. So about two days have passed since he issued the order, and he was surprised to see Martina alive the night of the second day. So, Yomi expected her to be crushed in that presser machine as soon as possible.

With that in mind, when did Makoto stop the execution? Was it before meeting Yuma in Kanai Tower or after Yuma leaves Kanai Tower?

The amount of time that passed between the submarine exploding and Yuma waking up in Kanai Tower is unknown but since chapter 3 starts on the morning of the first day than we can assume a few hours have passed. During that time, a peacekeeper under Makoto's jurisdiction found Yuma floating along the riverbank, probably not too long after the explosion. He radioed the CEO about this found detective and Makoto ordered them to bring Yuma to Kanai Tower.

Makoto said Yuma was in "tatters" when found by the riverbank, so maybe Makoto stayed up those few hours taking care of Yuma so he would not die. Then, when Yuma is fully healed, Makoto waited until he woke up and walked outside the bedroom so the two can chat.

In other words, Makoto was preoccupied that whole night so he did not have any time to stop Martina's execution, that means he did it after Yuma left Kanai Tower.

But wait, how did Makoto know about Martina’s execution just in time to stop it? I don’t think Makoto has any secret cameras in Yomi’s office that recorded the conversation and Makoto stumbling upon this execution himself is unlikely. The only way is a peacekeeper that knew about the execution personally telling him about it. But what peacekeeper would notify Makoto? The peacekeepers respect both Yomi and Martina but since Yomi outranks Martina, they have no issue sending their second-in-command to death. Whoever this single peacekeeper is, they have to be more loyal to Martina than Yomi and have a personal liking to her that motivated them to report to a power above Yomi.

And I think I know who that guy is.

That’s right. The chubby peacekeeper who was very excited about getting punished by Martina was the one who told Makoto about her execution. News of Martina’s execution would spread among the peacekeepers and the Chubby Peacekeeper would likely hear of it at some point. Since he admires Martina so much, he didn’t want her to be killed, regardless of Yomi issuing the order, so he told someone higher up than Yomi that could stop it. A short time later after Yuma leaves Kanai Tower, Makoto hears about the execution from the Chubby Peacekeeper and swiftly heads over to the presser room and puts a stop to the process, saving Martina.

Supporting this, the Chubby Peacekeeper is there accompanying Makoto in the lab. Among the Peacekeepers that are loyal to Martina, him being there can’t just be a coincidence.

Maybe becuase he helped in saving Martina's life, she wanted him to be there when she confronted Yomi.

Now the last question. What happened immediately after Makoto stopped the execution order? Very simply, Makoto had a conversation with Martina, obviously in a different room away from the presser. Martina was no doubt traumatized and utterly terrified to almost be killed in an inhumanely cruel way and it be by someone she thought she loved. Makoto being a homunculus of the "world's greatest mind," therapy skills could be among his repertoire. Whatever they talked about together had major changes in Martina's behavior and relationship with Yomi.

Firstly, Martina has recognized that all the unlawful and brutal actions she committed as vice president of the peacekeepers were wrong. She feels guilty doing them and wants to resign from her position as atonement.

This is a decision she made herself. Makoto didn't suggest this and was ok with Martina still being vice president.

In addition, Martina is heard helping in the clean-up and reconstruction of Marunomon District after the flooding incident. Martina decided the best way to make amends for her prior actions is to personally help Kanai Ward and the people recover. Even in places that she wasn't involved in.

Secondly, Martina no longer loves Yomi. Makoto helped her come to terms that Yomi was abusive to her and he never truly loved her. Martina will probably still have lasting trauma from Yomi that can't be quickly undone after one therapy session, but Makoto did give Martina enough strength to face her abuser in the critical lab and shut him down.

Makoto realistically didn't need Martina here to get Yomi arrested. The file was enough, but Martina being here regardless speaks volumes. Two days ago, Martina was at her absolute lowest, completely alone and scared and knocking on death's door. And now she is face to face with her personal demon and confidently told him off and arrested him. Such a feat would not be possible without Makoto's support and being surrounded by people who actually care for her. She didn't even flinch when Yomi screamed at her.

Makoto didn't just want to stop Yomi's reign in Kanai Ward, he wanted to give Martina a chance to bolster her coincidence and get closure from her abuser.

Lastly, Martina wanted to show that she has grown from being Yomi's "right hand." She was able to arrest her abuser which is a powerful moment for sure, but that wasn't enough for Martina, she wanted to prove that she isn't just over him, she became better than him.

In the past chapters, the peacekeepers had an authoritarian rule over the citizens. They could arrest anyone over a crime when convenient and strike fear into the citizens to keep them from rebelling. A common phrase from the peacekeepers when arresting a person is:

Even Martina says this same line, and with an extra bit about begging for mercy to the corporation.

This type iron fist ruling is no doubt becuase of Yomi. He wants Kanai Ward to bow to him. He doesn't want any inconvenient truths get in the way of growing in power. He is willing to shoot people who so much as disagree with him publicly. He trains the entire peacekeeper branch to uphold this fear mongering dominance.

Martina had this similar mindset as Yomi, but once she talked to Makoto she wanted to remove this mindset from her person. That's why when Yomi is being arrested, Martina says this:

It's quite amazing that Martina is willing to treat Yomi far kinder and fairer than he did with her. This was a decision she made herself, I don't think Makoto required Martina to only arrest Yomi in a fair way. I believe Makoto would have approved of Martina shooting Yomi dead right then and there if she wanted. Remember, Makoto killed Fink the Slaughter Artist for "knowing too much" even though I doubt what he knew had anything to do with Homunculi. Makoto isn't above silencing people quickly. But Martina wanted to prove both Yomi and herself than she has become a better person than him. She has become her own person without any influence from her abuser.

In conclusion, I am so amazed and happy that Martina was given the chance to not only live but to heal from her abuser. Makoto coming in to save Martina wasn't done to help him take down Yomi, it was a selfless act to save a women who needed help and Makoto provided that help. All so Martina can have a future where she is happy and healthy.

Also fuck Yomi Hellsmile.

[tinycoded360]

Future Ghost Chapter 1

Note: I decided to post the first chapter so people can decide if they like it or not (Granted, I think my writing gets better in the future chapters; I got too excited and started rushing the idea. XD)

Danny materialized in the middle of a bustling spaceport, his body tingling from the effects of Desiree's magic. Danny was lucky he wasn’t in his ghost form, otherwise he’d stick out like a sore thumb. He ducked behind some cargo containers. He blinked in confusion at the strange ships and alien races surrounding him.

"Where am I?" he muttered, turning in a circle. The architecture and technology looked far more advanced than anything in Amity Park. A nearby display screen caught his eye - stardate 2266.8. "The future?!" Danny gasped. Desiree had sent him centuries into the future with his flippant wish for a 'space adventure.' He was stranded, centuries away from his family and friends.

"Congratulations, Danny Fenton," Desiree's voice echoed in his head, accompanied by her sinister laugh. "You wished for a space adventure, and so it shall be!"

Panic surged through him, followed by an odd sense of exhilaration. If he couldn't return home, perhaps he could make the best of it here. And maybe Clockwork would take pity on him and help him back. Or maybe he could gather enough resources to create a ghost portal, get access to the zone, and demand Clockwork to help him get home. But Danny felt no need to rush. After all, with time travel, he could just pop back in at the correct time, maybe moments after he made that wish. For now Danny wanted to go to space.

Danny was excited by what he saw after exploring his new time period and observing the future humans. There were actual aliens walking about! Danny had an idea of what he wanted to do.

Danny turned invisible and intangible, phasing into a computer terminal. His technopathic powers made quick work of creating a fake ID for "Danny Fenton, 18, Human." A few more keystrokes planted his credentials into Starfleet's database. Even though he was only fifteen, he created a fake ID, fudging his age to appear eighteen so that he could become an ensign in Starfleet Academy. The fear of being discovered ate at him, but his desire for adventure pushed him forward. And he would finally be able to live his dream. He’d be in space in no time!

Moments later, Danny walked confidently up to a recruitment station in a cadet's uniform.

"Ensign Danny Fenton reporting for duty," he announced with a grin. He was Starfleet's newest engineering crewman on the USS Enterprise. At least he could see the galaxy while he figured out how to get back home.

Danny took a deep breath as he stepped onto the transporter pad, his Starfleet-issued duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He was beaming aboard the Enterprise for the first time.

As the transporter beam enveloped him, Danny felt a spike of anxiety. He was about to live among humans 24/7 with no privacy. Concealing his ghost powers would be a constant challenge. Materializing in the Enterprise's transporter room, Danny was greeted by a stern-looking Vulcan officer.

"Welcome aboard, Ensign Fenton," the officer said in a monotone voice. "I am Commander Spock. Please follow me to engineering."

Danny nodded, gripping the strap of his bag tightly. He was glad he saw some other aliens before Mr. Spock. He had time to get his awe under control, but he still felt giddy at meeting a new alien. He tried his best to hide his awe and stop staring. As he followed Spock through the pristine white corridors, Danny took in everything with wide eyes. Crew members of various species walked briskly about their duties, not sparing the new ensign a second glance.

The ship hummed with energy, almost like a living being. Danny could feel the thrum of the warp core reverberating through the decks.

Arriving at main engineering, Spock introduced Danny to Montgomery Scott, the chief engineer.

"Nice to meet ye, laddie!" the jovial Scot said, pumping Danny's hand enthusiastically. "Let's get ye settled in, shall we?"

Over the next few hours, Scotty showed Danny around engineering, familiarizing him with the Enterprise's systems. Danny committed everything to memory, knowing he'd have to prove himself useful. By the end of the day, Danny was exhausted but excited. He was looking forward to his time here. Even though he was a C student back home, he was smart and able to make sense of the future technology. Danny was smart. He just didn't have time to study or do homework with all the ghost-fighting back home. But now it felt like he could take a break from all that.

[chamberlains-ghoul]

Resident Evil AU: Leon is President Graham’s stepson and Ashley’s half-brother who causes problems on purpose.

His parents are still murdered, just not at the same time (his dad when he was small and his mother when he was around 15), so he still wants to be a police officer and hates the idea of being in politics. Graham publicly brags about Leon becoming a police officer but he’s actually pissed that Leon never went to college and ran away to the police academy instead. Especially since they had to cover up a lot of that situation because Leon basically moved cross-country without telling anyone.

Everything in RE2 basically stays the same except he doesn’t end up a government agent. He gets a lot of military training and becomes a lab rat (look, you can’t convince me that Leon doesn’t have some kind of immunity since a bite isn’t an insta-kill) for Sherry’s protection. He ends up an all-American anti-Umbrella poster boy for Graham’s campaign. He takes every loophole and opportunity to get around that, though, and ends up being Sort Of Controversial within the political sphere. He causes drama a lot, mostly as Ashley gets older so she stays out of the tabloids. Him being the only confirmed Raccoon City survivor still does a lot for Graham’s campaign, though.

He and Ashley were never close as little kids because of their age gap, but after their mom died, Leon took up a lot of the care-taker roles. She gets angry after he leaves for the academy because she feels like he abandoned her. After thinking he died in Raccoon City, then finding out he was alive, she forgives him. However, they’re mostly kept apart outside of public appearances since Graham doesn’t want Leon telling Ashley anything about what happened in Raccoon City.

In the events of RE4, Leon accompanies Ashley to her school for some kind of student government meeting. Krauser still picks them up and kidnaps them. They’re kept apart by Las Illuminados, and Leon escapes early on and is able to hide in the village. He finds Luis the same way and they’re still chained together, but in this AU Leon is obviously a civilian. He gets his little “oh god, why is this happening again” moment (like RE8 Ethan’s little mental breakdown) and Luis feels bad enough to stick around after they find the key.

Luis isn’t able to get away to meet Ada, so she eventually intervenes and reveals Luis is working for her and separates them. She tells Luis not to worry about Leon and that he could take care of himself and find Ashley. Since Leon’s well-known for being a Raccoon City survivor, Luis goes full guilt mode after finding out who he actually is.

Hunnigan isn’t there to tell Leon that Luis was Umbrella, but Leon is distrustful after finding out he’s working for Ada and still threatens him in that cabin and his interactions with him and Ada are similar to how they are in the game. However, I like this version of Leon to be a little more sheltered and naive despite RE2, so he becomes trusting of Luis and offers to take him to an American embassy with him and Ashley so he doesn’t have to work for Ada.

Leon tells Luis what Annette told him, about how Ada worked in weapons dealing and would sell Las Plagas to the highest bidder. Luis insists that he has faith in Ada, and he believes she won’t let the world burn even if her morals are gray. Luis eventually admits his history with Umbrella and Las Illuminados in the elevator, and that’s why he has so much faith in Ada. Because he was in a similar situation himself.

I like Luis and am an avid Serennedy supporter, so this is a Luis Lives AU. I also like the idea of Leon and Ashley presenting a sad Spanish war criminal to their father and begging to keep him.

So anyways do what you want with this AU. I might write something for it but idk.

[anony-man]

Chubformers drabble #38!

Character: Chase (RBA)

Word count: 482

“Have an ETA on your arrival?”

Emergencies or no, days at the academy were never dull. Nowadays, however, even the most action-packed shifts were more mundane than life on the front lines had ever been. Chase had just finished up with a well-deserved lunch break when the call from Blades came through. Moments later, he was up and cleaning before heading off to his next big task for the day: recruit training.

With the most exciting part of his days revolving around young trainees anymore, Chase had been left with more and more time to catch up on the more leisurely parts of the workplace that needed tending to. Before he knew it, life had gone from an absolute standstill to a steady flow… and he was starting to experience the consequences.

A little bit of weight gain after things had settled was expected, especially for bots in his field. Chase had gone from the long, cold nights of war to cushy days in his office rather suddenly, and the results of such were anticipated. For him, however, the added weight almost seemed too much.

“On my way,” Chase said as he headed down the hall towards the training center. “What are we working with today, Blades? Any newcomers? Newbies? Anything I should—“

The automatic sliding doors had already begun to open as Chase walked closer, but somehow, he still managed to get himself wedged in between. He was panicked at first, not sure what to make of the situation, but as soon as Chase realized the root of the problem—his hanging belly and rather sizable aft practically trapping him in place—his fear became embarrassment.

“Chase?” Blades called over the comms. “You there? The kids are here. Should I start—“

“Just…” Chase grunted with exertion, one servo propped against the doorframe as he tried to forcefully squeeze himself free. “Just give me a moment. I’ve run into some… ah—technical difficulties.”

“What? Where are you? Chase, are you hurt?”

The struggle free himself from the doors took quite a bit of focus, which meant Blades was left without an answer for quite a bit of time. After a few more failed attempts at grunting, pushing, and pulling, Chase finally gave up. He lifted his free servo to his comm link, a huffing and shaking sigh accompanying the most embarrassing call he would likely ever make.

“There’s no need to worry,” he said, giving the doors another experimental push. “I’m a little caught up at the moment is all.”

“I can imagine,” came the familiar voice from… well, from right across the hall. “Need a hand there, big guy?”

Startled, Chase whipped his helm and found himself staring back at the amused and smug expression Blades wore. Behind him stood the dozen or so trainees, each struggling to contain their own levels of amusement. Talk about embarrassing.

“Ah, slag.”

[triptuckers]

mapping the stars - jim kirk

Request: nope! Pairing:  snw!jim kirk x reader Summary:  you and jim get stranded on a planet and need to kill some time before communications are working again Warnings:  none Word count:  1.1K A/N: there are way too little snw!jim kirk fics on here. luckily I have a type-with-ten-fingers diploma from when I was twelve years old and an incredible amount of WIP ideas. this is (very loosely) based on a sentence I read in the princess and the fangirl by ashley poston. enjoy!

jim wasn't too happy about being sent down to the surface of a planet to check up on some readings. after all, he wasn't really a science officer.

but since enterprise had sustained damage in an unexpected meteor shower, captain pike needed people aboard to help with repairs. so, he assigned jim to accompany a science officer down to the surface of the planet.

and as a science officer, you were happy to go down to the surface to check out some slightly weird readings spock had picked up during scanning the planet. jim thought of all the science officers he could have gone with, at least he was happy it's you.

it was supposed to be a quick trip. get down to the surface, check out spock's readings, make notes of it and analyse it, then head back to enterprise with your findings.

but luck wasn't on your side. the shuttle engine malfunctioned, and you had to make an emergency landing.

though the shuttle wasn't damaged that badly, there was a storm coming in fast on the horizon, and it would hit before you would be able to take off. so you decided to stay on the planet and wait it out.

it's why you're now on your back underneath one of the control panels to fix it.

you've rolled up your sleeves but already there's sweat trickling down the back of your neck. who even decided to put the access panels underneath the control panel at an impossible angle? how was anyone supposed to reach them?

jim had offered to help, but it wouldn't make repairs go faster, so you tasked him with trying to get communications back online. the storm nearby had knocked out part of the communications system.

'I didn't know you could fix an engine, I thought you were a science officer.' comes jim's voice from the other side of the shuttle.

'I am.' you say, lifting the panel to put it back in place.

'science officers don't typically know the insides of a shuttle.'

'science officers who did engineering courses at the academy do.'

you secure the panel in place and slide out from underneath the control panel.

'all done.' you say, walking up to jim. 'try it now.'

jim nods and starts the engine. after two silent seconds that last way too long, the engine comes alive.

'look at that!' says jim, looking over his shoulder and smiling at you.

'and no warning signs or smoke coming from the shuttle.' you say.

'maybe science officers do know something about engineering after all.' says jim.

'told you. did you get communications back up?'

'not yet, the storm's interfering with the signal. how long til it gets here?'

'I estimate around 15 minutes. but it's moving fast so it'll also be gone soon.'

you sit down next to jim to help him with communications. it's nice to have something to do while the storm creeps closer and you can feel your anxiety building up. you know the shuttle can withstand the storm, but you're still uneasy.

luckily jim keeps asking you questions about the shuttle's systems, so you're explaining it to him and soon you forget to worry about the storm. save for the moment when the storm reaches you, when you look outside. but you're quick to turn back to the control panel in front of you.

after figuring out why the storm is interfering with communications, you decide it's best to reboot the entire communications system. it'll be a while, but the storm is almost gone, so waiting will be a little better.

as the storm passes, you leave the shuttle to sit outside and get some fresh air. it's dark outside, but the shuttle has enough power to light the area around it.

you're sitting outside on the ground, your chin in your hand while you use your other hand to map the stars in the sand. it's an old habit you sometimes still come back to.

'mapping the stars?'

you jump a little at jim's voice, looking over your shoulder to find him standing there.

you shrug. 'it's a habit.'

'you see the stars literally every day, why do you need to map them?'

'well I don't necessarily need to map them. I just like to do it.'

'why?'

'it's one of the reasons why I joined starfleet. the main reason, probably.'

jim is silent, so you continue.

'nowadays there's so much light pollution on earth, you can barely see the stars at night. except for places where barely anyone lives. like my childhood home. we have a big patch of land and the nearest village is a long drive away. when I was younger, I used to draw the stars. I believed that because the sky felt so wide, you could fall into it. into an endless stretch of sky and stars and planets. I simply wanted to grow up to be one of those people who could call the stars their home.'

you look up at jim and smile. 'and I did.' you say.

jim has a strange look on his face. it's not a bad one, but you can't quite read it. 'and you did.' he says, smiling.

'I can teach you how to map the stars, if you want. we still got some time to kill before communications are up and running again.'

'tell me where to start.' says jim, sitting next to you.

you use your hand to wipe away your map so jim can start his. you hand him the stick you used and then point up to the stars.

'so, you start with a big star or planet, or a constellation. something you can always find. pick one.' you say.

it takes jim a while to map the stars. mostly because he spends more time looking at you and listening to you than actually mapping the stars - you constantly need to correct his map.

just as communications are working again, jim thinks maybe the stars were his reason for joining starfleet as well. after all, he found everything he could ever want or need in them. a home within the crew, friends, and maybe someone who could become something more. someone who could teach him to look at the stars in a totally different way.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rulesHere’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit

[yeonboy]

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 ♡ choi yeonjun // 03.

↦ break a leg (but not yours);

After facing disappointment with love for years upon years, you have chosen to replace romance with dance in your life, dedicating your entire time to this dance academy you’re employed at. It’s not that you hate men now, you just don’t expect to fall for them anymore because all they do is break your heart. And then Choi Yeonjun enters your life as a new recruit at the academy – sweet, adorable, soft spoken, kind and younger than you. He is everything you have never found attractive in a guy before. But somehow, you’re helplessly spiraling for him.

— prev | masterlist | next

❧ warnings! 1k words | profanity, mentions of bullying, oreos slander, violence threats as a joke (mostly...), mention of 2020 being a sucky year, mentions of financial instability.

You'll be the first to admit, you feel a little silly walking through the doors to the dance academy with a bright red bouquet of roses and chocolates in your hands. With each passing minute, it's beginning to look more like a valentine's gift than a welcome hamper to you. 

You just hope your new assistant likes KitKats.

Quickly, you make your way to the first floor of the building that houses a small room where Jimin has set up his "office." No one knows why he needs it, but the man's adamant about maintaining the space and has even started talking about hiring a manager for it, lately, so you all let him be.

As you near the room, you can already hear muted sounds of laughter emerging from the place, accompanied by high pitched giggles that obviously belong to Jimin.

“...and if he gets super famous in the future, you can always go back to working as his backup dancer again, right?”

The voice is one you have never heard before, so you can only guess that it must belong to Yeji, the new hire under Jimin’s team.

Sakura laughs in response and you see her shoulders jumping from behind when you reach the room. “If Jimin lets me off, sure! But I don’t think he will.”

“Absolutely not. You’re my gem!”

Your eyes meet Jimin’s squinted ones over Sakura’s shoulder, and he waves at you with another giggle.

“And here comes my other gem!”

The seven people gathered in the room turn to you, with Sakura and Somi parting to make way for you to stand between them, while Taehyun and Beomgyu wave at you from their seats on the other side of the room. You nod at them all, quickly focusing on the two new excited faces seated at Jimin’s table.

And, damn, your breath sure catches for a moment. What’s up with Jimin somehow always managing to find the most beautiful people on the planet to hire? Both the girl and the guy look like they could be on magazine covers. They’re dressed pretty casually – with the guy wearing track pants and a hoodie and the girl some washed jeans and a tank top, but they still manage to carry themselves like runway models, sheesh.

When your eyes meet theirs, they are immediately jumping up and bowing to you in respect, and you do the same. The girl, you notice, has a bouquet of tulips in her hands while the guy’s hands are empty.

Jimin tells them your name and they say theirs back. 

“Uh, should we address you as Leader Y/N?” Yeji asks with a small grin, and Taehyun snorts in response.

You shoot him a quick glare and nod at the girl. “You can address me with whatever feels comfortable for you.”

“Yeah, but don’t go around screaming her name, she’s older than you both,” Jimin announces with a smirk, making your eyes widen in horror.

Keeho, Taehyun and Beomgyu had been very adamant with titling you “noona-nim” and being extraordinarily formal around you during your initial interactions. And – look. It’s not that you’re weirded out by it…okay, maybe you’re a little weirded out? You basically just don’t appreciate how them being all formal with you due to your age creates an obvious divide between you and others when you’re all supposed to be dancers that work together.

It took you a week to get Keeho to stop doing it and literal months to get Taehyun and Beomgyu to greet you without bowing ninety degrees every time. So, now—

“You guys can absolutely do that, please don’t listen to Jimin,” you are quick to announce. “He just loves to torment me. We’re all equals here, let’s save time and not to be too formal, okay?”

The two smile a little at that but you can see their shifty eyes which are a clear indication of their unwillingness to drop the formalities. You turn to Yeonjun then, and forward the package in your  hands towards him.

“Welcome to the hip-hop team, Yeonjun!”

His mouth parts and eyes light up when they fall upon the bright red box. “This is… for me?”

You laugh. “Of course! A small gift to make you feel welcomed.”

He graciously accepts it with a bow, still looking awestruck. “Thank you, Leader Y/N.”

Okay, that title doesn’t exactly feel very comfortable to you either, but if it is what these guys wanna address you with, you’re gonna allow it.

“So, how about we show these guys the different classrooms and our choreography room?” Jimin announces with a clap, and you all follow through.

You guide Yeonjun down the stairs and to the choreography room first. 

“So, you’re from SNU?” you ask him with a smile and he nods with wide eyes.

“Uh, yeah. Dance major. I was one of the cursed ones that graduated in 2020, but… I had a dance crew that I worked with for four years so my credits were good enough.”

“I’ve heard a little about it. Somi was part of it too, right?”

He smiles. “Yeah. Somi was my second in command.”

“Ah, and you were the leader?” You smirk at him, surprised to see the way his cheeks turn pink as he nods. “What did you do after college?”

“I used to tutor some middle schoolers in my locality,” he easily tells you, sliding his hands into the pockets of his track pants. “But that didn’t pay much so I took up some extra jobs…food delivery, a weekly night shift at a convenience store… that kinda stuff.”

Oh, you understand him so well. It is hard for dancers to keep a steady job that pays well and their passions alive at the same time. This is one of the reasons why you have a massive amount of respect for Jimin’s hard work with this academy.

“Well. That’s all gonna change now.” Flashing Yeonjun a huge smile, you gesture to the huge hall you have entered. “This is the biggest hall at the academy. We don’t have any classes here, just use it to create and film our cover videos.”

He looks around with actual stars in his eyes, rushing into the massive dance hall to inspect the mirrors on two of its walls, and then the smaller break room connected to it.

“This is…so cool…”

You grin at his star-struck expressions when he looks at you again. “Welcome to the family, Choi Yeonjun.”

— prev | masterlist | next

❧ notes! i intended for the written part to be around 500 words but got a lil carried away, i'm so sorry guys ✋😔 anyways! now that they have officially met, things will be officially picking up yayyyy! ❤

taglist: @bailies-me @samisubi @forever-in-the-sky2 @captivq @jiawji @hyuneyeon

© yeonboy 2023 // do not steal, copy or repost. respect your local content creators, kaythanks.

[mysterynoel]

Just Hold Me Tight and Tell Me You Miss Me

f!Dimileth (Dimitri/f!Byleth)

Words: 574

It’s the way Dimitri would arrive at the third bell after noon.

Byleth could usually get through the massive amount of paperwork each day and lead the prayers throughout the day with no problem. But once she received word that her husband would be arriving soon, she found it hard to focus. Seteth would assist with the paperwork as Flayn led the prayers. Meanwhile, Byleth would gather up whatever she needed for the trip back home.

When Dimitri arrives, she would greet him and the knights who accompanied him at the gates. Dimitri would request to stay the night at the monastery so that his guards and the horses could rest after a long journey. Byleth approves his request and sends Seteth to ensure everything is in order. She always does.

It’s the way Byleth holds Dimitri’s hand as they tour the monastery.

There’s always something new to see each time Dimitri visits. Flowers in the greenhouse, courtesy of Dedue. The restoration process of the cathedral, which was finally coming to the end after nearly two years. A newly commissioned painting of Sothis in the cathedral and of Byleth in the hallway of the office building, both of which were painted by Ignatz Victor. Even the children in the orphanage would rush to show the king how much they had grown and what new sword techniques they learned since his last visit.

Byleth and Dimitri greet everyone on their walk, spending the most time with a few of the students of the Officers Academy, kids that they had originally taught several years earlier when they were just a prince and a professor. Some of them can’t help but notice the way the couple walk closely together, feeling a vague sense of satisfaction at the scene.

It’s the way Dimitri and Byleth hold each other’s hand at dinner.

The two sit across from each other at the far end of a table. Their little corner is filled with conversation as the two share what’s been happening with their lives. Byleth speaks about the combat tournaments and the year’s students, while Dimitri tells her about recent visits from their friends.

Despite secluding themselves from everyone, they’re not alone. Seteth comes by to tell them that all the preparations are in place for them to leave tomorrow. Flayn brings food she made for Dimitri to try and see if he can taste the faintest hint of salt or sugar. Alois stops by to tell Dimitri all his new jokes. Still, the two hold each other’s hand, seeking whatever connection they can while in the public eye.

It’s the way Dimitri and Byleth disappear immediately after evening prayer.

They cling to each other, holding the other as close as possible, as if the other’s presence is the only thing keeping them present as they get lost in the pleasure brought on by the other. They remain tangled up in each other through the night, wanting to make up for lost time.

Now, Byleth rests in Dimitri’s arms. From the windows, she can see the sky beginning to lighten, giving way to dawn.

Dimitri, half asleep, kisses Byleth. “I’ve missed you so much, my beloved.”

Byleth nestles further into him arms. “I’ve missed you too, Dimitri.”

It will be past noon when Dimitri leads Byleth to the traveling party heading back to Fhirdiad. By this point, it’s to be expected of them. It’s simply the way the two are.