#What else can induce such blood-thirstiness in people?

[dragonkid11]

I think Armored Core has fully taken over me now, 'Reactor Online, Sensors Online, Weapons Online, All systems nominal' no longer tickles my brain.

'Main System, Activating Combat Mode' however makes me want to bath in someone's hydraulic fluid.

[bdbdhdjdhdh]

My Hero PSLE: S4E10 "SHIBAL GAESEKIYAAAAAA"

"I've made my decision. I want to...start crying,"

-Chidi

"WELL. Now that you've got your...*hand gestures at Rainslasher vigorously slurping the medicine like some thirsty dog drinking water* thing, we can get back to doing the actual thing of killing that annoying Exuvia already right?" Tempest impatiently asked.

And then just as Rainslasher was just about to dump down the rest of the medicine down his throat, Dragon-face suddenly stopped him and snatched the bottle from him. "You've definitely drank enough to cure your symptoms now, now I need this medicine,"

"What? Why? You oso got monster illness? But you're already a furry what..." Juqla asked.

"No lah, you think what, it's just that this medicine looks kinda weird sia, like something I see before liddat..." *stares intently at bottle expecting results to be written miraculously*

"OMG. Death. Girl. That shit. Is

DARK SLEEP."

*all animal-faces stare back at the bottle of... "dark sleep". What the hell.

Then finally Xiao Ming break the silence of them just staring and asked, "OK CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS DARK SLEEP?"

And then at this then those animal-furries 才回过神来, and then they were like, "OH OH OH RIGHT! So anyway Dark Sleep is a very special and powerful liquid, made from the blood of dead Exuvias, so it's incredibly powerful and can do practically anything with the right treatment, and now we've just realised the enemy definitely has a shit ton of this,"

"Well isn't that great," Tempest said.

"But then why didn't they use any on us the last time we came? I mean, we escaped from their hands twice, surely they'll think that their own power isn't enough and use the Dark Sleep?" Wolf-face say like very chim liddat.

Then Unicorn-face got sudden shower thought that fixes the entire plot. "WAIT-IT'S BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT XIAO MING IS AN EXUVIA! HE CAN SENSE EXUVIAN ENERGY IN HIM! I guess we just don't have enough lol,"

"Oh yeah great but what are we gonna do with that absolutely useless information?" Kiefer-aiya you just shaddup lah, let the 大哥大姐 do the talking ok?

"No, this is perfectly important information, but since when did Exuvias start being so friendly towards each other huh? But anyway, this guy clearly won't dare to hurt Xiao Ming, we're gonna be able to use him to our advantage!"

"OMG I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS CONVERSATION IS GOING,"

"Also let's not forget we have the Chrysalis to help us, that weird rebel group that would name themselves after a My Little Pony villain-" Zhi Hua asked.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, THEY'RE NAMED AFTER THE SILKWING REBEL TRIBE AGAINST THE HIVEWINGS IN WINGS OF FIRE! NOT MY LITTLE PONY VILLAINS! GOD, THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!"

"Bro, you have never said that, chill, ok!" Yeah, Zhi Hua, Lion-face so needs to chill, right?

"Ok, I think I've managed to formulate quite a good plan already, just one single question-you said the dark sleep can do anything right? Is it possible to use it...to create a gas that can induce fear or something idk?" 还是 Grandmaster 比较聪明. While everyone else is chatting, he already devise plan liao.

"Yeah, it can," Crow-face replied.

"Well. I think I've managed to devise a plan that oso uses the Chrysalis for the sake of not wanting to have created a completely useless plot point, we'll find a way to inform them of the plan tomorrow, then carry it out on Friday,"

"OBJECTION, SIR!"

"What? Why?"

"I think, that for the sake of being nice to their descendants, we should inform them on Monday, prepare the plan Monday-Thursday, then carry it out on Friday, so that when the descendants celebrate this day in the future, their employers and schools will give them the whole week off because we oso used the whole week!"

"Ah, very considerate of you, ok then! We will set out to inform them on Monday! For now we get to stare off into blank space!"

[therealvinelle]

What are vampires?

(Yes, I changed the title from “What is venom?” a week after publishing and after a whole set of sorry souls reblogged the post. I’m very sorry, but as I sat down to write the follow-up piece I realized that this meta is about vampires, not venom, and the title is no longer appropriate. My perfectionism got the better of me and I’m sorry.)

There’s been a lot of speculation on that in this fandom, here comes my take. It’ll split into four parts, this being part one where I look at what venom does to the human body. In part two I look at hybrids, part three I speculate on what venom is, part four I treat possible origins and raisons d’être of venom.

So, this first part is mostly me regurgitating facts. We won’t get anywhere if we’re not all agreed on what vampires are.

Also, I get very pseudo-scientific in this meta, but I have no education in biology or medicine so I could be wrong about everything. I tried to use good sources, though, so I can’t be entirely off-base.

With that out of the way, LET’S DO THIS.

To create a vampire, you infect a human with venom. This venom spreads throughout the body, altering every cell. The process is complete when the heart stops beating. If the human was injured at the time of infection, they will be healed, as long as the heart keeps beating.

Let’s go through that.

How does the venom spread?

When Bella was bitten by James, Edward was able to suck the venom out. Several minutes passed from she was bitten until Edward sucked the venom out, yet the burn was only reported to be in her hand. By contrast, anyone who’s ever had pharmaceutical administered intravenously knows that blood travels quickly. If venom travelled like any normal fluid, Bella would have said «My hand is on fire. No wait, my arm! No, wait, my torso! No, wait-» and Edward wouldn’t have been able to suck it out.

Additionally, Bella has that scar left by James. The venom had already altered the cells at the entry point.

To me, this sounds like the venom is like Pac-Man, spreading through the body by altering one cell at a time. It’s the only explanation for why it’s so slow. More on that later, though.

How does it alter the cells, and in turn the human body?

Physically, their skin is made impervious and perfectly even, their teeth are straight, razor sharp and white, their bodies impossibly strong, fast, and precise, their senses heightened to an insane degree yet they feel no pain from most physical injuries. Their digestive system is altered so they can only consume blood, preferably human blood, anything non-blood is regurgitated. They’re much more attractive than they were in life. They’re not reliant on oxygen, and their blood doesn’t circulate. They produce their own venom.

Mentally, their minds function at the capacity necessary to even utilize a body like this. They are able to process their heightened sensory input (for example, it’s the brain that interprets visual input from the eyes. For vampires to be able to see better than humans, both eye and brain have to improve), process though much faster than humans, they forget nothing, and they feel emotion and physical sensation more strongly than humans do.

Let’s go through these alterations one by one.

Skin

Frequently likened to marble, vampire skin is as hard as stone. When Bella becomes a vampire, she’s stunned Edward’s flesh now yields to her touch. Before, if she pressed her finger on him, his skin would not yield. The shapeshifters can kill vampires because their fangs are sharp enough to pierce their skin, without that advantage they couldn’t do it. No ordinary weapon could injure a vampire.

The stone skin is an armor, protecting them.

Teeth

As us humans get older, the enamel in our teeth is worn away, revealing the tooth’s underlying yellow color (the dentin). Vampires can live for thousands of years, yet their teeth remain that perfect blinding white. What changed? I see two possible explanations, one being that vampires still have enamel, and it’s too strong to ever be worn away, or they don’t have it because their teeth have been altered to the point where they don’t need a protective layer anymore, and their composition is something completely different from that of human teeth.

I think it’s the latter, as there are two other major changes reported. Their teeth have changed shape, they are now sharp enough to pierce through human or vampire skin. They’re also venomous (more on that later), able to inject anybody they bite, fellow vampires included, with venom.

There’s also the fact that vampires are changed on a molecular level, but more on that later.

Strength, speed, and precision

Meta I wrote on vampire strength disparity.

Vampires are ridiculously powerful, no upper limit (as in, «Newborn Emmett can carry 500 tonnes») is given, but whatever it is it’s high. Alice might just be the physically weakest vampire in the saga (Jane is physically smaller, but she eats properly. Alice lives on a subpar diet), but to Bella it makes no difference, Alice blows her out of the park anyway. Edward, a malnourished and not too strong vampire, is easily able to pick up entire trees by the roots, and then throw them at a small target.

As for speed, vampires move faster than the human eye can register, which according to this article means they can reach a speed of 38 146 mph! (61 390 km/h for us metric people) (Also, the traveling object used for this calculation was a ball, and the article specifies that it would be different for bigger objects. Alas I’m not going to bother my physicist friend with this, so we’re using the ball number.)

When it comes to precision, vampires exercise perfect muscle control. They’re so graceful their steps can’t be heard by humans,  Edward can famously stroke a soap bubble without popping it, and they’re able to perfectly mimic the handwriting of others (a task anyone who’s ever googled forensic calligraphy will know is next to impossible). Much of this appears to be instinctual, like a downloaded .vampire package. Knowing how to attack prey, where to bite, that all happens on autopilot. So too does running, jumping, walking (funny how their default mode, even Carlisle’s, is to walk too quietly for their designated prey to detect). Snarling, hissing, and growling are also distinctly non-human manners vampire adopt.

Senses

Heightened sight, hearing, and smell is extremely useful. It makes them much more effective hunters. The smell especially is useful here, but really, all their senses are invaluable in this. It’s great for dealing with fellow vampires as well, they can see, hear, and smell their kind coming from a far distance.

There’s an added advantage, though. As I got into here, and here, if a vampire’s memories of their human life is dull and washed out compared to their brilliant new existence, dismissing humans as equally deserving of life becomes that much easier to justify. Heightened emotions serves this same purpose, though considering their longevity I think this is another form of survival, that they’re wired not to grow bored with life (but this is really for a separate meta).

There’s also the fact that their senses have to be tuned up to 11 to fit their other enhanced abilities. There’s no use in super-speed if you can’t see where you’re going.

Vampires’ heightened senses make them more efficient predators, and help them become the bloodthirsty sociopaths we know and love.

Pain receptors, or lack thereof

Vampires feel pain when they are thirsty, when their limbs are torn off, when they are bitten by other vampires (it appears to be the venom that stings), or when subjected to a gift that induces pain (Jane, Kate). They don’t feel pain like humans do, nor do they feel discomfort (they can sit indefinitely in any position, never feeling the need to shift around.

Interestingly, it looks to me like pain serves the same function for them as it does for humans. The brain registers pain to tell us something, a biological error message. Don’t walk on that leg, it’s injured. Get your hand off the hot stove and don’t put it there again. Pain is useful.

Vampires, by contrast, are not going to get injured from someone hitting them. There are no blood vessels that can burst, no soft tissue that can burst nor bones that can break. So, no need for their brains to register that as pain. Humans need to change positions every now and then for the sake of our circulation and so we don’t develop pressure ulcers (and I’m sure there are more reasons), vampires have no circulation and, as mentioned above, their skin is armor. No pressure ulcers.

What they do need pain for, is to let them know to feed. That’s the big one, and in turn the strongest one. The pain of the thirst is unbearable, as it has to be to turn a human who was infected with venom into a killer. It’s survival. Same goes for feeling pain when their limbs are torn off, or their bodies damaged by a bite. Their pain receptors let them know to avoid this next time.

As for Jane and Kate’s gifts, this may not serve a purpose for other vampires, but it serves a purpose for Jane and Kate. It protects them. So, sucks for everyone else, but that’s what gifts do, they give the gift-haver a leg up on others.

Digestive system

Carlisle had spent many years attempting to understand our immortal anatomy; it was a difficult task, based mostly on assumption and observation. Vampire cadavers were not available for study.

His best interpretation of our life systems was that our internal workings must be microscopically porous. Though we could swallow anything, only blood was accepted by our bodies. That blood was absorbed into our muscles and provided fuel. When the fuel was depleted, our thirst intensified to encourage us to replenish our supply. Nothing besides blood seemed to move through us at all. (Midnight Sun, chapter Home)

Ignoring the horrifying fact that the context for this quote is Edward wondering if Bella’s tear could stay in his system forever, this here is extremely interesting and I agree. Partly because I can’t think of anything better, partly because Carlisle is an in-universe medical genius who’s had access to far more data than I have. He can run experiments, I can’t. Even if I came up with a theory I thought was better, if blood absorption through porous tissue is Carlisle’s best theory then there must be evidence in favor of this which I don’t have access to. So, porous tissue it most likely is.

(Also, my «Carlisle totally volunteered for vivisection fun times with Aro in Volterra» theory survives that first paragraph. Vampire cadavers might not be available for study, but live ones absolutely are, you just pick them apart and put them back together after, and bring in Corin and/or Alec so the guinea pig has a good time too. There’s no way that never occurred to Aro. Even if it didn’t, it’s bound to have occurred to someone over the years, and Aro touches a lot of people. And we know he and Carlisle discussed what vampires even were, that they were best friends and all about that science.

We also know that sometimes, your weird science experiments involving dismemberment and tripping on Corin in Volterra, stay in Volterra. The tissue is porous, Edward, DON’T ASK ME HOW I KNOW.)

This has huge implications. What happened to the digestive system they used to have?

It’s still there, but non-operational.

Middle solution: it’s recognizably there, but welded shut. At some point, whatever the vampire ingests hits an untraversable boundary, and from there the blood is absorbed while any other matter remains, undigested (though possibly dissolved by venom) until regurgitated.

The vampire’s inner anatomy is unrecognizable from that of a human. Vampires have no need for livers, bowels, gall bladders, and so on, and so these organs no longer exist, or have even been replaced by other organs (assuming vampires need any, more on that later).

My vote lies with the third option, though both second and third are possible. The first one, not so much, as it means that in theory, they could force something through their system. They can’t.

More, vampires are nothing if not extremely efficient and economical organisms. They don’t need to feel pain from a physical blow, so they don’t. Why carry around these organs they’re not using?

Then there’s what they even need their digestive system to do. Humans need the nutrients in our meals not just as fuel, but as- well, everything. We need the building blocks for our cells. Our bodies are constantly renewing themselves. Vampires, by contrast, don’t appear to do this. There’s no waste of any kind, and their skin doesn’t get flaky. Edward specifically says blood is fuel, and I think that’s a literal interpretation.

Now we’re veering into speculation territory, and this isn’t the place for it just yet as we’re veering into what venom is and does, but I think whatever digestive process vampires have, serves to turn their blood to venom. I don’t think there’s any particular organ for this, I think that’s just because that’s what happens when venom comes into contact with blood. We see it happen when humans are bitten, and I think it’s fair to assume that the same thing happens when venom comes into contact with ingested blood.

This also helps explain why animal blood isn’t equal to human blood. Animals can’t be turned to vampires, it’s blood but venom and animal blood aren’t on the same FM, so to say. So, with no better option, yes venom can make do with animal blood, but it won’t perform as well as it would with human blood. The vampire is now weaker, with the frankly terrifying side effect that their eyes change color. We’re so used to this that we just go «oh, yeah, animal blood means their eyes turn yellow. It’s like a LED light letting you know which diet the vampire is on!» when in any other organism, a chance of color like that is usually the sign of something being wrong. Blue lips, yellow sclera, red urine, all color changes that point to something not being not as it should be.

Now, to go further here would mean getting more into what venom even is, which is best saved for part three. I’ll say this, venom appears to be the only fluid in the vampire body. It’s moistens their eyes (and melts their contacts), pools in their mouth, is injected through their fangs, and the application of venom to a wound makes them heal faster. Venom is the substance they rely on, more so even than blood, their elixir of life. (My speculation on how Edward was able to impregnate Bella is reserved for the hybrid/what is venom metas).

Also, on what vampires carry over from their human bodies, I do think they’re economical enough to not fix what ain’t broken. I think this because the human nervous system is absolutely brilliant, and indeed Bella regains sensation during her transformation where her spine had once been broken and unable to communicate with her brain. Question is, of course, was this because her new vampire body still uses the human nervous system, or did Bella regain sensation because her transformation had gotten to a point where this was no longer the case?

Beauty

The beauty part has gotten some very valid criticism, as beauty is very subjective and venom makes it out to be an objective, empirically measurable unit.

To caveat first, we see in canon that not all vampires are gorgeous. James was an ugly human, and so as a vampire he’s no beauty. Maggie was emaciated and not particularly attractive, so she’s bony and not hot by vampire standards. The Cullens, by contrast, were attractive humans. Human Bella is a hottie, she pulls all the guys without issue. If she were as plain as she thinks she is, she wouldn’t get male attention. Being new is only gonna get her so far. Jasper was turned because Maria thought he was a cutie, and same goes for Emmett with Rosalie.

(There’s also a certain inherent bias - I imagine attractive people have a much higher chance of getting turned than uglies.)

More, understand that vampires don’t look human. They’re flawless, desirable, perfect, yes - but they are very distinctly not human, and humans know as much instinctively:

Like any normal human, suddenly standing just a foot away from a vampire would send adrenaline racing through his veins. Fear would twist in his stomach for just a fraction of a second, and then his rational mind would take over. His brain would force him to ignore all the little discrepancies that marked me as other. His eyes would refocus and he would see nothing more than a teenage boy. I watched him come to that conclusion, that I was just a normal boy. I knew he would be wondering what his body’s strange reaction had been about. (Midnight Sun, chapter 21, page 547)

Vampires are beautiful in the way the Nefertiti bust is beautiful. It’s perfect, otherworldly, timelessly beautiful, but looking at it you know this is a bust and not a living human woman.

With that in mind, I think some of the vampire’s unnatural beauty is… not circumstantial, but happy bonuses to their other qualities. Their perfect skin, for instance, goes a long way towards making them beautiful. Perfectly smooth, a glowing white, no disruptions like blackheads, scarring, or sweat. At one point Bella describes Rosalie as looking airbrushed. Their perfect teeth, impeccable grace, these features also help.

Now, I think when venom makes a human more beautiful, I think the big thing it does is make the features perfectly symmetrical. This by itself is immediately inhuman and unnatural, more computer generated than human, just perfect enough to tick off the uncanny valley box. This would explain the flawlessness Bella keeps describing in vampires. It also explains the disparity in beauty, the features Rosalie had to work with and get symmetrical were lovelier than the ones James had, and why they can look completely different from each other yet share that same kind of uncanny impeccability. It also explains how people of wildly different face types and ethnicities can all be beautiful, the venom won’t erase the features you had but rather refine them into the best they can be.

I do think that refinement, in addition to symmetry, happens. If it didn’t, the change wouldn’t be so radical from human to vampire. More, all vampires are described as having sharp features, Esme stands out for the fact that she retained some of her human softness. So, the venom appears to make features more angular and, well, sharp.

Aro’s description is in favor of my interpretation of vampiric beauty: 

I couldn't decide if his face was beautiful or not. I suppose the features were perfect. But he was as different from the vampires beside him as they were from me. His skin was translucently white, like onionskin, and it looked just as delicate (New Moon, page 234)

His features are flawless, meaning symmetrical. He should be beautiful, so it’s the skin that gives her pause.

There’s also the matter that beauty is observed in the body, not just the form. They all look strong and limber, even the tiniest of vampires. I imagine some of this is simply texture, that vampires are made hard, smooth, and perfect, but we have this from Bella looking in the mirror after waking up a vampire:

She was fluid even in stillness, and her flawless face was pale as the moon against the frame of her dark, heavy hair. Her limbs were smooth and strong, skin glistening subtly, luminous as a pearl. (Breaking Dawn, page 261)

Fluid even in stillness, her limbs smooth and strong. This woman was starving to death when she died. Combined with the fact that Edward, who was a sick 17-year-old, has muscle definition, it seems venom does body sculpting as well. Though it’s worth noting that hydration goes a long way towards muscle definition for humans, so the change in fluid composition in vampires could have something to do with it their limber appearance.

Then there’s the other vampire beauty markers.

Their voices are described quite unusually, with words like wind chimes, bells, or feathers. They’re beautiful, but, like everything else about vampires, inhuman. When Carlisle calls Billy on the phone, Billy immediately recognized the voice as somehow wrong, it’s too clear and sharp.

I mean, I think in part this is because their vocal cords aren’t made of soft human tissue anymore, but most likely stone. No matter what they’re made of, though, it’s no surprise that we’re not getting human voices out of them.

Their scent is appetizing to humans and other vampires alike, and serves a duel purpose. Humans are attracted to them (well, vampires are too), while vampires are able to use it for tracking purposes. It’s tremendously useful for keeping track of your territory, as randos can’t walk in and eat your food and sneak off again without leaving a trail. It’s also good for meeting up with friends, we see Carlisle and Siobhan use it for this purpose in Midnight Sun.

Circulation

The purpose of blood is to carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells. Apparently, this isn’t a need vampires have. All they need is venom. The theory that their tissue is porous adds to this, as it would mean blood travels through their body in a different manner. The porous tissue replaces circulation.

So, no circulation for vampires because they don’t need it.

This meta is now getting ridiculously long, so I’m putting the venom production section in the venom meta.

The transformation

The transformation is complete when the heart stops beating. The former human is now a vampire, and no longer reliant on a heartbeat, nor oxygen. In this they are different from hybrids.

As for the process itself, I think that as the venom spreads, it starts multiplying on its own. This is why it took longer for Carlisle than it did Bella, she was bitten and injected multiple times and on every part of her body while Carlisle was grazed on the arm. Bella had more venom that could work on her, Carlisle did not. These facts support my theory of the slow spread of venom.

I’ve played with the thought of the transformation happening in stages, where the first act is the spread of the venom, which then spreads throughout the body and heals the body to put it at default, the second act is the bodysculpting, and the third act the finishing touches. It doesn’t quite fit with venom transforming as it goes, though, so I’m very hm on that.

A few observations:

Activity level doesn’t appear to help spread the venom. Carlisle exerted himself, and his transformation took far more time than normal (though lying still instead of contorting in agony probably doesn’t help in that regard). Bella laid still as a corpse, and her transformation took far less time than normal. The venom spreads in its own time, regardless of what the blood circulation is up to.

Going by the accounts of the Cullens, while the pain is constant, the transformation hurts increasingly as the venom spreads.

Bella was severely injured, and needed to be healed before she could even feel all the pain. Her broken spine, for instance, meant she couldn’t feel below the waist.

Carlisle said it’s «easier if the blood is weak» (cryptic much?! Not making it easy for me, dude. Though as this was said in the context of Edward explaining that Carlisle would only turn someone already dying, I do think he’s referring to what it’s like for vampires, though, that humans are not so tempting if they’re half dead.)

Healing

Now we’re veering into the venom meta, but: the transformation fixes anything that could impede the vampire’s function. Bella would get nothing done with her post-birth broken body, and so she’s fixed up for her. Alice’s emaciation means she’s thin and less strong than others, it doesn’t physically prevent her from doing anything.

The venom, it appears, heals the human not because it’s being altruistic, nor to make the vampire more appealing to others, but to make the human into an ideal host. BUT MORE ON THAT IN THE VENOM META.

With that, my god we’re done. And this meta is  words in total, an ugly number.

Lastly, I know that putting a read more at the end of a 4k long meta is the worst joke in the world (RIP to you poor souls scrolling past this. My reason for not being a read more kind of gal to be found here)

Nothing yet, I’m afraid.

[torisfeather]

Nightmare

A one-shot written for @creative-lampd-liberties

You can also find it here on AO3 and Ffnet

.

Janus jolted awake with a gasp, his heart pumping so hard he could feel the blood rushing in his temples. His panting mouth felt dry, while the human side of his face was way too wet with tears and sweat. His eyes, wide open, stared at the ceiling, too afraid to look somewhere else. His ears resonated with the sound of the nightmare he just had.

By the time he realized that he was in his room and that this was nothing more than a bad dream, his head started throbbing.

He winced, closing his mouth and tasting his cardboard-like tongue for a second before his glands remembered how to make saliva. He ran a hand over his hot forehead, as if he could wipe his headache away, but only managed to ruffle his messy hair more. He tried to close his teary eyes again but it was like the image of his nightmare was burned on the inner side of his eyelids.

It's all your fault…

The mere thought filled his chest with sobs.

He felt like he was suffocating, like in those legends of sleep-demons sitting on people's chests in their sleep. He could only cry, cry like a sick child, trying not to see, not to hear the remnants of his dream. His dream…

I don't want to see you ever again!

It was so painful. Why was it this painful? Dreams weren't supposed to be painful.

"Janus!"

His name cut through the pain, though he did not recognize the voice at first. A face appeared through the tears. Long bangs and eyes with dark shadows. "Virgil?"

"Janus, what's wrong?"

Even if he wanted to, Janus couldn't lie in this kind of state. He could only utter a few words : "A nightmare… My head…"

He suddenly felt something cool on his forehead, and almost moaned. It felt so good against the throb.

"You're burning up!" Virgil said, stupefied, pawing at his forehead like it could make his temperature go down. "How do you even have a temperature?"

Janus shrugged, pressing his head against Virgil's hand. Please, oh please let him stay there. His own hand reached out and squeezed the cold palm.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but somehow, as he squeezed that hand next to him, his tears started to subside and he was slowly able to think more clearly. Eventually, he sat up and let go, wrapping his arms around him and trying to smile in spite of his splitting headache. He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, doing his best to relax, to no avail.

"Apologies for this sorry sight… I'm better now," he said.

"Yeah right, you look like shit."

"I know, Virgil, thank you," Janus sighed. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because I felt someone's fear levels explode like a firework and the ashes haven't settled yet."

"Ah, so you wanted to know if there was a danger," Janus understood, looking down at his hands. "You see there is nothing, everything is under control."

"As if I was going to leave you, dumbass."

Janus blinked in surprise, grateful for the dark room hopefully keeping Virgil from seeing his expression. "The light sides are rubbing off on you," he tried to tease.

"Shut up. Where's the light?"

With a snap, Janus lit up his bedside candelabra and took a quick look at Thomas's internal clock, which in his room took the appearance of an old, dark-wooded, intricate grandfather clock with a hypnotic and comforting pendulum. Apparently, it was sometime in the early hours of the morning. Just the best time to wake up from a nightmare, really, too early to feel actually rested, but too late to go back to sleep long enough to feel better.

Not that he particularly wanted to go back to sleep now that he couldn't even close his eyes without seeing the miserable, desperate face of…

I wish I never knew you…

Janus needed some water.

He carefully turned to the side of the bed where Virgil was standing, pretending his head wasn't killing him right now.

"What are you doing?"

"Obviously not taking care of myself," Janus muttered, rubbing his human eye with one hand and groping around the bedside table for a handkerchief with the other.

Virgil grabbed it before he could.

"Virgil, why-" Janus stopped in shock when Virgil started gently wiping his face. Then closed his eyes in delight when Virgil caressed his hot skin with his cold fingers. Janus didn't usually enjoy the cold, but he also didn't usually wake up in the middle of the night from a stress-induced fever nightmare.

"Here," Virgil said, holding the handkerchief in place for Janus to blow his nose, which he did by reflex. "Sorry, I'm not as good as Patton for this kind of thing."

"Why are you doing this?" Please don't stop.

"Because you need it," Virgil said.

"I can take care of myself."

"Listen- stop." Virgil grabbed his face, and it should have been uncomfortable, if his touch wasn't so grounding and cooling. "I know what you're thinking right now, so stop. I want to take care of you. Now, sit tight, I'm going to get you some painkillers."

Virgil left, and Janus immediately missed his presence. He decided not to wait. Slowly, trying not to move his head too much, he put on his slippers and robe over his pajamas, and quietly slithered out of his room, combing his fingers through his hair trying to look a little more presentable in case one of the others were awake.

The hallway was dark and empty as far as he could tell. Janus resisted the urge to turn on the light – anything was better than the images jumping at his vision in the dark, except waking up anyone, plus it might make his headache worse.

That hypothesis was verified when he finally reached the bathroom, closed the door and turned on the light – ow.

Janus rubbed his temples, stumbling to the sink, and took several sips of water.

"I told you to stay where you were."

"No, you didn't," Janus replied, trying a miserable smirk as Virgil entered the bathroom as well. He handed him a couple of pills.

They were placebos more than anything, really, but that's what you get when you and your pain are both imaginary.

He washed down the pill with another swig of water, bent over the sink, and took advantage of his position to throw a little bit of water in his face. The coolness it brought really helped soothe his headache, for a moment he even felt like he might be able to go back to sleep.

Hah. He snorted wryly. As if.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I just thought of something funny."

Every time he blinked, the same thing happened. That face, that sad, reproachful face, appeared, and he could almost hear the whispers again… You shouldn't be here…

He shook his head. You should know your place…

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" Virgil said, cupping his chin to make him look up. Janus closed his eyes, and Virgil's face was replaced with Thomas's, so similar. Worry replaced with contempt. He felt more tears roll down his cheek. He tried to open his eyes and look away, but he couldn't help it.

"N-nothing," he sniffled.

"Janus, come on…"

"I… I don't remember my nightmare."

"Oh," Virgil went, realizing, his expression growing softer, compassionate. "Sounds like a very bad one, huh?"

Janus almost laughed through the tears. "No, not at all. It was nothing, really, just…"

You're the worst thing that ever happened to me.

Janus bit his tongue and muffled another loud sob. He moved away from Virgil and rubbed his ears with the palms of his hands, like it could make the words go away. Virgil quickly caught up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a tight embrace. For a moment, Janus didn't dare to move, then after a while, he returned the hug, sniffling into the other's hoodie.

"Shhhh, calm down, deep breaths, snakey," Virgil said, rubbing hard at the back of his neck in the best way possible.

Janus felt himself shake, and the tears come harder, but the need to sob was appeased somehow. He did his best to follow Virgil's advice, breathing in and out as slowly and deeply as he could.

"There we go, good job," Virgil praised him as he felt him calm down. He tilted his head back, just to look at him for a little while. "Now, what do we do when we're not fine?"

"… Self-care?" Janus tried.

"See, I knew you were still yourself," Virgil joked, and Janus smiled under the tears still running down his face. "You're going to have to help me though, you're the master of self-care, here. What do you need, right now?"

Automatically, Janus started mentally listing and self-checking his needs. He wasn't hungry, or thirsty anymore, he felt exhausted but there was no way he could go back to sleep right now, and he was so tense and hot from his headache, still covered in sweat… "A bath," he admitted quietly.

"Okay," Virgil smiled kindly. "Would you like me to stay with you, snakey?"

Janus bit his lip, but nodded. If Virgil was offering, he wasn't going to reject some company. Anything to not be left alone with his thoughts.

Virgil drew the bath, checking the temperature several times, as Janus undressed slowly, still sniffling. He laid his robe and pajamas over the closed toilet seat and let Virgil lead him into the bathtub, holding his hand as he sunk into the water.

He immediately let out a pleasured sigh, feeling his body temperature adjusting like all it needed was a reminder of where it should actually be. The tension left his neck and shoulders.

He only realized his eyes had closed when he opened them again to see Virgil undressing as well. "What are you doing?"

"Joining you, if that's okay? Nothing sexy, I promise"

Janus nodded and folded his legs to let Virgil take the other side of the bathtub. The anxious side shook his head and told him to move forward. Janus obeyed curiously, and smiled when Virgil climbed into the bathtub and sat behind him, his legs on either side of his thighs. He pulled him down against his chest and the two cuddled in the water.

"Do you still have a headache?" Virgil asked.

"A little."

So Virgil gently caressed his sides, kissing the back of his neck as his hands moved up his shoulders to his head, and started massaging his scalp.

It was like magic. Janus closed his eyes and hung his head, the pain receding between Virgil's fingers. He went completely limp, not thinking, not moving, just feeling the warm water licking his skin, resting in Virgil's embrace.

"Is it okay?" Virgil couldn't resist asking.

"It'sssss awessssssome."

"Are you lying?"

"No," Janus sighed.

"Okay, cool."

Virgil bit his lip, focused on his task. A few moments passed, and Janus could almost feel the questions starting to burden the anxious side. So despite the wonderful massage, he said: "Are you going to ask me about my nightmare?"

"No."

The surprise made Janus open his eyes again. "Why not? You obviously don't look like you want to."

"Yeah, well, you can tell me if you want, but you looked upset enough already when I just mentioned it. I don't want to make you panic again, so I'm not going to ask."

Janus remained frozen for a moment, then he smiled, and decided to let the nightmare go, settling deeper into the shared embrace of Virgil and the water.

He and Janus stayed in the water together for a long time, switching between massaging and cuddling, long enough for the water to get uncomfortably cool eventually.

So long, in fact, that as they stepped out of the tub, they heard a knock at the door, and Logan's unmistakable composed voice going: "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Yes!" Virgil replied, quickly grabbing towels for the both of them to get covered with.

"Virgil? This is uncharacteristically early for you, is something the matter?"

"I... Yes… I mean no? I, uh, I'm helping Janus."

"Janus?" Janus could have sworn he heard Logan frown from behind the door. "May I come in?"

"Uuuh…?" Virgil went, obviously unsure of what to do in the moment. Janus just smiled tiredly and nodded. "Sure?"

The door opened. Logan stepped inside and closed it again. "Very well. Now," he added, turning around to give them both a look where concern was trying to emerge behind the calm façade, "what seems to be the problem?"

Janus just let Virgil explain the situation to Logan, focusing on looking more alert than he actually was. He didn't like being this vulnerable, even with his fellow sides whom he had started trusting. So despite the lack of layers to cover his half-scaled body, he tried his best to smile and seem unperturbed.

Perhaps he didn't do as good a job as he would have liked, because Logan kept looking at him like he was a sick student. "It is to my understanding that you did not get much sleep. May I advise you take a nap this morning, perhaps after some breakfast?"

"I will not do that, thank you Logan," Janus said with his tired smile.

Logan nodded and left, closing the door to let the other two get dressed.

Janus felt immediately better when he was once again covered by his pajamas and dark robe, and to be frank so did Virgil once reunited with his hoodie. But neither regretted this time in the bath together.

"Alright, let's follow the doctor's orders," Virgil joked, leading Janus out and down the stairs.

Janus let him happily. His headache was now but a memory and the nightmare a dark shadow at the back of his mind that was slowly fading. He felt clean, relaxed, and warm in the right way, unlike before. And Virgil was holding his hand gently, like he was a delicate lady, which although a surprise wasn't unappreciated.

As they came down the stairs, Janus realized that everyone was up already. And that everyone looked up at them as they approached the table where two plates had already been put down for them. Roman pulled their chairs for them, and Remus tackle-hugged Janus before he had a chance to sit, which made him laugh internally, although he tried not to show anything.

"Ugh, Remus, be careful!"

Remus just stuck his tongue out at his brother and then licked Janus's cheek before letting him go. Janus pretended to be unfazed as he sat, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

Then Patton arrived, carrying a pan full of fried eggs and bacon, Logan in toe with some fruit and juice.

"Egg-cellent, you're here!" Patton said, smiling, as he dropped two eggs into Janus's plate, and then two more in Virgil's, before serving the others.

"What's all this for?" Janus almost laughed, incredulous.

"For you, of course, sleepy snake," Roman chimed in, grabbing the reddest apple in the basket. "Logan told us about your struggle last night."

"And nutrition is crucial to a proper recovery," Logan nodded.

As he finished serving everyone, Patton leaned over and placed a kiss on Janus's forehead, giggling at the dumbfounded face he made. "If you're going to react like that each time we want to take care of you, we might need to do it more often."

Janus didn't reply. He just felt happiness welling up inside of him as the others slowly started eating and talking and bickering as usual, but always keeping an eye on him, making sure he was okay. Far ago was the time when he had to pretend like he was in control all the time.

A bubble of trust suddenly popped up his throat into his mouth and he said, a little surprised at himself: "I'd like to tell you about my nightmare."

[fishoutofcamelot]

Want to Write a Fic Where Merlin Gets Sentenced to the Pyre, But You Also Want to Be Accurate? Here’s a Handy Guide to Burning Alive!

*note that i am not an expert, just a writer with too much time on their hands. if someone more knowledgeable has something to add, please feel free to correct me!! <3*

Painful! Burn injuries are disproportionately more painful than other type of injury. As far as I can tell, science isn’t yet clear on why. Some say it is “at the peak of what humans can tolerate”

In It For the Long Haul. Suffering a substantial burn can lead to Stress-Induced Analgesia. SIA is a phenomenon in which the body represses its pain response/blocks pain receptors. However, this results in the pain that had built up being released over the course of hours, days, or even weeks after the fact. As a related stress response, you may develop stomach ulcers 

YIKES. Death by fire is considered by many to be one of the most painful ways to die (the foremost being scaphism - long story short, bees in a canoe)

Potential Cause of Death: Smoke Inhalation. The carbon monoxide in the air released by the fire might kill you first. You can expect people in a burning building to die from this due to the sheer amount of fire, but people who burned at the stake were not likely to die from smoke inhalation unless there were several others being burned along with them

Potential Cause of Death: Shock. Another common way that people die from fire is through shock. The pain is so brutal that your body enters ‘primal shock’, essentially lowering your blood pressure and rendering your organs functionless

Potential Cause of Death: Blood Loss. If monoxide and shock don’t kill you, blood loss will! Burns that severe can cause your capillaries to get inflamed and then start leaking everywhere, leading to eventual blood loss 

Potential Cause of Death: Aspyhixiation. Or, you’ll die from simple ol’ asphyxiation. The smoke and fire and whatnot prevents you from getting the air you need, and you suffocate to death. Yay!

Potential Cause of Death: Heat Stroke. If all else fails, rely back on heatstroke as a cause of death

Potential Cause of Death: Thermal Decomposition. Fire has this super ~fun~ effect where the sheer heat causes vital internal organs and tissues to decompose. The chemical bonds in your bodily tissue begin to fall apart due to a series of chain reactions caused by the fire. If you’re unlucky enough to have survived long enough to experience this while conscious, you’ll get to watch yourself decompose before your very own eyes. Dinner AND a show!

Potential Cause of Death: Pulmonary Edema. An edema is caused when the surrounding capillaries and soft tissues of your lungs are damaged by the hot air and begin to leak, filling up your lungs with fluid. So not only are you burning alive, but you’re also drowning too!

You Start Leaking. Fun fact! Fire peels away your skin! After about five minutes, the outer dermis/layer of skin begins to shrink and split open, causing fat and other bodily fluids to spill out. And boil. Don’t forget that your bodily fluids are boiling right now. Hopefully you’re already dead by this point, otherwise you’re gonna have a bad time. 

In Shock? Which Kind of Shock? There are actually 5 types of ‘shock’ your body can undergo - and as luck would have it, death by fire can cause 4 of them. Neurogenic Shock - the pain of the fire is so severe that your central nervous system just shuts itself off (very similar to the aforementioned SIA). Hypovolemic Shock - caused by blood loss or fluid loss

Thirsty? Even if you don’t die, being burned can substantially dehydrate you.

You’re A Candle In the Wind. In the right condition your body can burn for up to seven hours, due to the fat in your body sustaining the flames like wax on a candle

The Big Shrink. Heat can cause your body and muscles to “shrink” or contract, sometimes in rather substantial ways. If a body is heated on just one side, it will end up bending towards the corresponding side as that’s where all the muscle contraction has occurred. If the contraction is severe enough, it can even cause bones to crack and shatter, or in some cases “explode”

No Bones About It. Bones, when exposed to heat, can crack, shrink, and shatter. If the scalp has burned away, small pieces of bone will flake away from the skull and up to the outer surface of the head. Bones will often look blackened and charred, even porous. 

Loss of Sensation. If you are unfortunate enough to have died early on in the process, you’ll experience a loss of physical sensation. This is similar yet also very different to the aforementioned SIA. That is, your nerve endings will have burned off and rendered you incapable of feeling. Of course, unless you’re immortal (*cough* Merlin), you’ll probably die before you realize that you can’t feel it

What Remains. Cremating a body down to full ashes is very difficult actually, and there will almost always be bone fragments or some kind of skeletal remains after the fact. It would take roughly 2-4 cubic meters of wood to cremate someone in medieval times, but even then medieval times didn’t really have the industrial means to burn them away to total ash

Cook Until Done. So how long would it take for a deep, serious burn to afflict an adult human? Well, roughly: 5 minutes at 122°F, 1 minute at 127°F, and so on. Note, however, that a pyre would take a while to reach this extreme heat (although some pyres can reach over a thousand degrees Fahrenheit in the right circumstances)

What Are the Odds? If 80% of your body is burning and you’re under 40, you have about a 50/50 chance of survival. Those chances get lower the older you are. 

I have a bunch of other fun death-by-fire facts (and don’t even get me STARTED on rigor mortis), but most of that has to do with like the forensic investigation side of it. 

[tomorrowsdrama]

2020: A Year in Thirst

In 1985, Gabriel Garcia Marquez gave the world Love in the Time of Cholera.  In 2020 (er, I guess it’s now 2021), I give to you, Thirst in the Time of Covid-19 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Thirst, a brief recap of all the dramas I watched in 2020 and whether such dramas made yours truly parched..  

The list contains dramas that premiered in 2020, but also dramas from previous years.  If I watched it or attempted to watch it in 2020, it’s on the list.  

EDIT: Ok, I’m going to have to do this in multiple parts because apparently I watched more dramas in 2020 than I remembered and talking about them all in one post would just be too long.

This also serves as a sort of greeting to all the people who recently followed me.  I don’t know how or why, but thank you for being interested in my thirst, and also so sorry for everything you have/will witness here!  I started this side blog last December 2019 as a place to dump all my fangirl feels and thirst with unbridled abandon and let’s just say, the thirst REALLY ramped up in 2020 during quarantine and all the political chaos/uncertainty.  The state of the world may be uncertain, but my thirst will always be a comforting constant!  LOL. If you want to thirst or fangirl/boy together, I’m all ears.

Anyway, let’s start with the drama that was partially the inspiration for this list. 

1. The Wolf

Brief Summary: Sweet hot boy raised in the wilderness/by wolves meets sweet beautiful girl and they fall in love.  Shitty evil people do shitty evil things to them to cause a misunderstanding and they are separated for years.  Sweet hot boy is given the “Sexy Bloody Tormented Killer Makeover” TM and turns into a VERY VERY BAD HOT Wolf Man after being tortured/brainwashed by an evil asshole king who “adopted” him.  Bad Hot Wolf Man reunites with sweet beautiful girl but because of third party machinations in the past, he thinks that she betrayed him so he is suuuuuuch an ass to her (while still maintaining hotness).  But even beneath the asshattery (and sexy jerky smirks), he can’t help his love for her and it’s just *chefs kiss*. The angst, the pining, the mutual sacrifice for each other, the torment of wanting to be together but not being able to be together because of external forces/circustances, oh I am getting in a tizzy just thinking about it.  I won’t reveal anymore so as not to spoil the drama, but just know the ending may destroy you.

Is she thirsty? Am I thirsty? AM I THIRSTY?  Oh honey, if you don’t know the answer to that, then you must either be new here or you haven’t been paying attention to any of my posts in the past few weeks.  Look, from the first moment the camera panned to Darren Wang’s very well-defined and tan chest and windswept hair, all semblance of shame and dignity I ever tried to feign on this tumblr was immediately thrown out the window.  The feelings that he inspired within me were purely primal.  My cavewoman ancestor from millennia ago stopped gathering food in the harsh wilderness for a brief second to transmigrate into my body and go “me want big strong man!”

I mean, below is literally our introduction to Wolf Boy.  Am I supposed to just witness this and not feel anything?  The director knew what he/she was doing.  Anybody who worked on the drama who says they didn’t intend to exploit Darren Wang’s assets is a BOLD FACED LIAR. And this isn’t even Wolf boy in his hottest form.

That would be this:

Damn, your girl needs a moment here.  When Wolf Boy turns into Bad Hot Wolf Man, wheeeeewww.  The things that came out of my mouth and the thoughts that popped up into my head.

Examples of shameless fangirl drooling can be found here: https://tomorrowsdrama.tumblr.com/post/636986055498792960/dangermousie-this-should-be-illegal-i-mean Here: https://tomorrowsdrama.tumblr.com/post/637238885944033280/dangermousie-i-am-fucking-dead-the-end-this Here: https://tomorrowsdrama.tumblr.com/post/637793196830769152/dangermousie-wolfie-acquired-a-kid-omg Here: https://tomorrowsdrama.tumblr.com/post/635272988321775616/dangermousie-i-dont-know-about-you-guys-but and here: https://tomorrowsdrama.tumblr.com/post/637621638524977152/dangermousie-hnnnnnnnngh-i-am-beginning-to-forget

Honestly, just check out The Wolf tag on @dangermousie​ tumblr and you won’t be disappointed.  Prepare to become obsessed, horny, and heartbroken.

Would I watch it minus the thirst traps? Have you ever thirsted so much that you couldn’t separate what reaction was hormonal and what was objective?  Like the guy is so hot to you that when your friends ask you what do you like about him, the first 10 things you can think of are “he’s hot!” and then you try to remind yourself that you’re not a shallow person who actually cares about things other than looks but at the same time you can’t for the life of you think of a non-hot based trait that you like about the guy  Yeah, that’s what happened here so sorry, I can’t give you an objective opinion.  It’s not that there’s nothing objectively good about The Wolf, it’s just that my judgment is too clouded by Darren Wang’s abs and big hands.  But from what I can tell by other people’s posts, even if you didn’t thirst for Darren Wang (Are you made of stone?  But also, can you please teach me your magic so I can go back to being a semi-functional working woman?), The Wolf is still a very enjoyable drama with its own non-Darren Wang related merits.

2. My Beautiful Bride

Brief Summary: A drama about a strait-laced banker who wears a dorky backpack and rides a bicycle everywhere while wearing the dorkiest looking helmet ever and his beautiful bride-to-be whom he is hopelessly devoted to.  This being a kdrama, and an OCN drama at that, things aren’t all what they appear to be.  Yes, you read that right, an OCN. ROMANCE. DRAMA.  Turns out the beautiful bride-to-be has a dangerous past that soon comes back to haunt her and she mysteriously disappears one day from strait-laced banker’s life in the typical kdrama way to protect him.  Part of the reason she leaves him is also because she doesn’t want him to know about her past because she doesn’t think she’s good enough for him.  Little does she know, he knows everything about her past and accepts it all.  The only reason why he doesn’t bring it up is because he knows she doesn’t want him to know about that part of herself and he loves her so much he’s willing to do anything to make her happy.  But also, another thing she doesn’t know is that underneath that boring but perfectly ironed suit, is a finely chiseled, super efficient fighting machine who did his mandatory military service in the special forces.  He is like the terminator meets Liam Neeson’s character in Taken.  He has a very particular set of skills and will stop at nothing to get his bride back.

Is she thirsty?  Please just watch this video and you will have your answer: https://youtu.be/Ut9MhxWadHM

Prior to The Wolf, My Beautiful Bride was probably the most thirst-inducing drama I watched in 2020.

I mean, just look

at this

at all of this

I don’t’ know how Joo Young saw that body and never questioned whether he really was just a banker.  The writers of the drama must be super heterosexual men who are blind because so many of the characters in the drama question why someone as beautiful as Joo Young would ever want to be with someone like the banker. Um..Um...aside from the fact that he is financially well off, treats her well, is loving and respectful of her, and prioritizes her over everything else, JUST LOOK AT HIM.  I was so thirsty for Kim Mu Yeol in this role that I would accidentally tag this drama as My Beautiful Banker sometimes.  The banker was on a relentless one-man mission to take back his bride and turn me on in the process and ooooooh boy was he successful on both fronts.  He is seriously sex on legs every time he beats up a baddie in his quest to find answers about Joo Young’s whereabouts.

Would I watch it minus the thirst traps?  I binged the first six episodes of this drama in one afternoon partly because of my thirst, but also partly because it’s a very well made crime-action-gangster drama.  This is an OCN drama so you can expect a competently made production with well choreographed/bloody action scenes and a solid script.

3. Scarlet Heart Ryeo / Moon Lovers

Brief Summary: IU plays Hae Soo, a modern woman who is somehow transported back in time to the Goryeo period.  There, she gets entangled with a group of royal princes.  Her two main love interests are Wang So (played by Lee Jun Ki) and Wang Wook (played by Kang Ha Neul).  The princes vie for the throne and some of them for Hae Soo’s affection.  Lee Jun Ki does what he does best, which is play a sexy tortured deadly man who looks way too good with blood splattered on his face.  Kang Ha Neul is the seemingly kind prince/daddy long legs character who turns out to be not so kind or daddy long leggy.  Hae Soo is...well IU did the best she could with what she was given (which was a hot inconsistent mess).

Is she thirsty? Scarlet Heart Ryeo is like the honeypot of thirst traps.  It’s essentially a reverse harem set up with a prince for everyone.

Like them young and cute?  Then try the 10th prince, Wang Eun.

Want them big, tall, and kinda dumb?  Here’s the 14th prince Wang Jung for ya.

Want an evil bastard with an affinity for guyliner?  Try out 3rd prince Wang Yo.

Tall, slender, and scholarly? 13th prince Baek-ah will fill your needs.

Is a kind/gentle man who will ultimately disappoint you because he doesn’t show up when you need him most more your speed?  Well, let me introduce you to 8th prince, Wang Wook.

Kinda scary but oh so hot and with a ton of baggage?  We’re talking, I overpacked and brought 10 overstuffed large suitcases levels of baggage. 4th prince Wang So is the guy for you.

And if you prefer someone with no personality, presence, or memorable traits, I got a two-for-one deal for you in the crown prince Wang Mu and 9th prince Wang Won.

Would I watch it minus the thirst traps?  There is political intrigue, scheming, romance, fluffy hijinks (my least favorite parts of the drama), angst, beautiful costumes, and pretty decent fight scenes.  Scarlet Heart Ryeo is a pretty solid fusion/fantasy sageuk mostly thanks to Lee Jun Ki.  The only person who has ever carried a larger load on his back is Atlas.  I’m not saying all the other actors are horrendous. It’s just very clear that the one elevating the material beyond the inconsistencies/messiness/elementary politics of the script is Lee Jun Ki.  Your enjoyment level of the drama will likely increase if you are a fan of any of the main actors.  

[dramatic-and-damned]

hey so it just so happens that i have an couple of vampirish characters in my story (i mentioned them in a recent post about the ocs), and i hear from chia (and also see from some of your posts), that you are the expert in this field. please impart upon me some wisdom because i just realised i know very little about vampires 😥

sincerely, roman :D

I'm sorry I'm replying late I was studying and completely forgot

So here's Mika's vampire thesis filled with my commentary as well, I probably won't make any sense so...

Well there are different representations of vampires throughout media really (and then there's good ol' Mika) so it depends on what you feel is the kind of vampire you want. For example:

1. Vampires who are constantly thirsty, cannot survive without blood, cannot eat normal food

2. Vampires with moderate thirst, could go without blood for a few weeks but it's their only source of nutrition so they must drink at some point of time, also can eat normal food but no nutrition gained

3. Vampires who just don't need blood at all almost, sometimes they feel the need, maybe once a month, does not mean they can live without drinking however, does gain nutrition from normal food but blood gives them a particular nutrient or well something that they cannot survive without.

Then there's of course appearance, you can choose to go with bat-like features or you can make them look like normal humans, this of course again depends upon what place vampires hold in your story and what kind of conflicts you want to show.

Then of course there's the vampire's physical abilities. According to that appearance will also depend because physical structure must be relatable to why they have these heightened abilities unless of course you want to go for the more magic and fantasy induced method of their body structure not really having much answers to 'why this certain skill?'

Also then comes the weakness of vampires, some are:

1. Sunlight

2. Running water (ok so here comes Castlevania wisdom, apparently some people believe vampires can't cross running water, it's a fun detail to me)

3. Stakes (No, not gambling, the wooden thingies)

4. Garlic

5. Mirrors (as in the stuff about reflections)

6. Geometric shapes (ok so this is also pretty fun to me, vampires are known to have different eyesight from humans so waving geometric shapes in their face is known to confuse or disorient them, also Castlevania wisdom)

7. Holy water and other holy items

8. Being able to enter houses they haven't been invited into

9. Good ol' Vervain

10. Some also say there's a thing with silver but I'm pretty sure that's werewolves so you decide that yourself.

Ok so those are the few that come to mind at the moment. You can definitely research and find more. Umm...anything that I missed...no I don't think so. In case there's something else you'd like to know feel free to ask!

[gaylien51]

So this is the first chapter of my story. I’m a beginner writer so if you have any advice feel free to share.

Baron Draxum watched all his precious work go down in flames. The heat overwhelmingly and the fire still roaring. CRASH! Another part of the roof collapsed bringing even more damage. He cursed his now forever enemy Hamato Yoshi. As he begun to walk away from the ruins of his previous lab he thinks of how his lab was destroyed.A prisoner of big mama that he had his loyal gargoyles bring to him for his highly anticipated experiment of creating the perfect soldiers to rain hell upon the vile humans that lived above. The experiment consisted of 4 turtles, a red eared slider turtle, a snapping turtle, a soft shell turtle, and a box turtle. He looked down in his hands to see a small box turtle, the last of his experiments. “ You shall become the perfect soldier, the perfect success, you will be the downfall of humans, the rein of pure terror as everyone kneels down to our almighty power!” Achoo! He looked down at the box turtle in disgust. Ugh germs- and from a mutant turtle no less. He felt pressure on his fingers as he looked down to see the experiment nuzzle into his hands happily cooing and smiling at him. “There is much much much work to be done little one” he expressed with tiredness in his voice.

“ Uhhhh sir, no offense but your mortal enemy who you called us to capture because of his awesome fighting skills, ninjutsu and all that, has destroyed your lab place, burned it down to the ground, escaped with the 3 other turtles, and is most likely mutated into a rat and will raise the 3 other turtles if they survived, and will most likely prep himself over the years to come and fight you, has completely and utterly destroyed your work, soooooooooo where we living?”. Baron looked at the gargoyle on his shoulder (which he solemnly forgot about) and wore a frustrated and pinched expression as he explained the obvious. The other gargoyle on his shoulder also looked at him waiting for an answer to their question. Frustrated, tired,angry, and annoyed Baron Draxum argued in his head if he should kill them for their very annoying existence. “ We will rebuild our laboratory starting from the ground up and prepare experiment 42005 for his long and successful journey of destroying the humans!” He answered with determination. “ As for now we will visit the yokai city and remain there for the time being” he added. Both gargoyle looked at him and shrugged satisfied with the answers. “ hey as long as me and Muninn have a place to stay we’re a-okay with your plan boss man!” replied the gargoyle on his left shoulder. “ what huginn said!” Munnin, the gargoyle on his right shoulder said.

So Baron Draxum, Munnin, Huginn, and the experiment 42005 began their trek to yokai city and onwards to their journey of the destruction of the humans.

CRASH! Baron hurried out of bed and into his kitchen to see his experiment trying to cook breakfast for himself. Tiredness dripped in his voice as he asked “ Little one when I said you must learn survival skills such as cooking, I did not mean to make a mess of the kitchen” his racing heart calmed seeing his son on the counter unharmed but dirty with flour all over his clothes. Which was also on the counters and tables- and how did pancake mix get on the ceiling? All over the kitchen causing quite a mess.

“ I’m sorry da- I mean sir, I was trying to create a acceptable meal for us today but it didn’t go over quite well” replied his son with disappointment and frustration. “ Just make sure to clean this up and meet me in the lab for your training... we will eat cereal so you may have your breakfast”. Internally experiment 42005 groaned at just the thought of eating bland boring old nutritional rations that his dad called cereal. As his dad continued to walk away from him he quickly and expertly cleaned up his mess frustrated at his failed attempt at cooking. Usually he was quite good at this and created the best meals with whatever was stocked in the pantry but his mind was distracted with thoughts of what he’ll do today and this resulted in the mess before him. But he decided to not think too hard about it and stored those thoughts away and quickly finished up. He ran to the lab through the dark and creepy decaying hallways all colored the same dull gray and rusted. He then saw his dad and the left out “cereal” for him and proceeded to make his way to the table with the laid out food and sit and eat it hurriedly. His father in the background working on many technologies to improve their home and for his patrols.

“42005 today is your 13th birthday” his father said suddenly. 42005 stood up from his chair standing tall and proud as he’s always done since he can remember. “As you know I have been preparing you since birth to destroy the vile humans that live up above, the disgusting creatures who forced us down here into yokai city, making us soft, and stealing the surface from us, and- yadda yadda yadda I know dad you’ve been saying this since my birth!” Interrupted his son. Looking at him with a disgruntled expression he stared into his sons eyes as his son stared back. “Ha you blinked! I win” his son said with smug. “ENOUGH!, experiment 42005 you will listen to me! You know I hate interruptions!”. His son cowered a bit internally but did not show it out of fear for punishment. “ Yes sir, I apologize “ he said solemnly. Satisfied with his answer he continued on his rant about vile human as his son mentally bored with the same discussion hes heard again and again and waited for him to finish. “And that is why human are disgusting and you will go on to destroy the- Are you listening to me?!l he yelled. Startling his son out of his short nap. He sighed with dissatisfaction and drag his hand over his face. “ Proceed to training with Munnin and Huginn and the foot bots, later today we shall proceed with your far more intense training and then patrol will happen is that understood?”. 42005 flinched very subtly at the mention of the clan but replied yes and proceeded to go train. The training room was a stimulation his father made that can produce whatever needed. 42005 chose footbots this time as some early practice while waiting for Munnin and Huginn. He tried desperately to bury himself in his training tearing foot bot after foot boy apart with his mystic kusari fundo the fire ball shrieking wildly as their enemies were torn apart. He had started to train with the foot clan when he was 4 and learned quickly how cruel they were. Every mistake he made he was punished for severely. His scars aches just thinking of it. Burning, drowning, poisoned , whipped, and many other methods of torture he had to induce upon people or else he would be punished instead. They told him this was the way of the clan and that it was effective for enemies.They silenced him quickly with threats to not tell his father unless he wanted even more punishments. At age 4 42005 learned what the word discipline truly meant and when to enforce silence. He grew to be one of the most notorious assassins out there a product of the foot clan and his father. He was a cold blooded thirsty terrifying killers known as the fire akuma, the devil, the bringer of death, and many other names. All at the cost of his innocence. At age 8 his father found out about the horrible punishments after hearing the excuse one too many times he was hurt from patrol and training. His father accepted it too busy with projects and destroying humans to pay attention to him. Once he learned of the horrors being done to his creation he rained hell upon the foot and promised 42005 that no one shall ever harm him again. He started paying more attention to his experiment from then on making sure nothing tainted his creation. As time went they grew closer and acted more as father and son although Baron would never admit it as he was too prideful. Baron always felt guilty for his trauma and did his best to help him with it. Although he still had plenty nightmares from the screams he heard and bones being crushed and throats be big split- he was getting far too much in his thoughts. Baron never did explain why he allied with the foot - he never explained many things but 42005 learned to not question it. His father was still very guarded hence why he was never named an actual name instead of numbers.

SWOOSH! Oh right he was training! 42005 lassoed the foot bot who threw kunai at him and threw him at the wall effectively making him short circuit with his neck being twisted at an awkward angle. He proceeded to the next foot bit and threw his fiery friend into the foot not making an effective burning hole. As he continued on with his training his father watched him through the screen at his work station satisfied and proud of his son with what he was seeing. A few hours later 42005 had created and effective pile of destroyed bots and was panting heavily. Baron called for his son over the intercom that connected to the speaker within the stimulation room. Once 42005 came he stood in front of his father waiting for instructions as his patrol would begin soon.

“42005, you have done remarkably well since I have raised you and have succeeded my expectations, you will be sure to wipe out the human race and bring hope for us Yokai and mutants alike to rule the surface, and I am... p-“. Baron coughed on trying to swallow his ego and pride. “ what was that pop?! We’re you going to say-YES LETME FINISH, I just need a second”. 42005 looked smudged and excited staring at Baron who somehow managed to swallow his ego and proceeded with his original saying. “ Yes 42005 I am p-proud of you and I know for certain I can call you my s-son. For your birthday I gift you this and give you your name... Michelangelo” baron heaved a sigh of relief as Mickey squealed and jumped all over. His father had promised him when he was 8 that when he exceeded his expectations of him he would finally give him a name and 42005 or we’ll Mickey hadn’t let him forget since. It was a true sign of parental love and trust. Baron had struggled to do this for so long because he didn’t want to get attached to an experiment that could still fail and he might need to replace even if he started from scratch again. In truth he chose the name Mickey because he read about a renaissance artist once who was named Michelangelo and was highly successful. As Mickey grew up he promised great strength and ambition as well as intelligence but not in the way you think.

You see Mickey has ADHD which caused him to have trouble paying attention during lessons his father was teaching more focused on what to draw and having multiple thoughts in his head. He also constantly had to be doing something wether it was tapping his feet or humming a tune he heard or other things. This quickly annoyed his father as he didn’t know why Mickey was like this and at first assumed it was because he had a lot of energy since he was a child but it continued to happen as he grew up and then mood swings started to appear a lot more. So Baron decided he should look into it more and see what was wrong and found mickeys symptoms to match most of the adhd symptoms. He asked Mickey later that day why he had trouble paying attention and why he was so impulsive and as his son explained he concluded that he had ADHD. He felt guilty for yelling at his son so many times over something he couldn’t control and never asked why he did what he did. He looked up herbal teas and created many medications similar to those used for humans but instead for a growing teenage mutant turtle boy. Of course this didn’t cure his adhd and he’ll always have it but over the years they’ve learned to manage it and what medicines did and didn’t work. But because Mickey had adhd he had to find other ways to do things other solutions. This caused him to memorize skills and cooking and other acedmic stuff in several ways for example most things were labeled around their home and Mikey used lists in order to keep track of things. Once he got a phone he also put reminders on there and his father would also him remind him of his tasks. Growing up Mikey also had special interests such as games, technology, reading but mostly comic books, cooking, and creating art. His father encouraged his behavior as it helped for him to gain confidence and he was able to use it to his advantage in training and fighting. But when Mikey was with the foot clan he was mocked for his habits and drawings. They would tear up his drawings in front of him and beat him when he couldn’t pay attention or he was stimming. This caused him to have low self esteem and ptsd. His father was a busy man selling his creations and do in g business deals among the yokai city so often times he neglected Mikey. Mikey was angry at him for this and this caused a rift between him and his dad he was afraid and scared and needed his dad but didn’t want his dad to find out about the abuse. This left him confused angry and frustrated as well as draxum as he was emotionally stunted. Wanting to know why his son was acting this way he visited the foot clan without telling them and saw Mikey being cut and beaten in a fight as they yelled horrible words at him. This sent him in a rage destroying everything in his path and getting his son out of there. Once in the safety of their home Mikey spilled about everything like an overflowing sink as he kept crying as well. Baron unsure of what to do simply held his son tighter and listened. Once this happened his father became more protective of him but also trained him more to fight back against harmful people and they continued to repair their relationship.

“-ickey, Mickey, MICKEY!” Yelled his father. He rose to attention still full of energy but stood straight waiting for instructions . His father looked at him with his classic I- love-you-so-much-but-your-gonna-be-the-death-of-me look . “It is time to start your patrol, your task today is to find the needed chemicals I sent to your phone to create more mutagen for my oozesquitoes, stay safe out there my son” Draxum patted mikeys head with slight fondness and Mikey beamed at him. He then hurriedly made his way out of his home and towards yokai city. He snuck into a nearby alleyway and drew the symbol for the portal going through quickly to the surface world. He checked his black utility belt for all his weapons. “ I have my kunai, my shuriken, my tento, my kusari fundo, my protein bars -ughhhhhh, my sketchbook, pencil, yup! I think I have everything!” Mikey exclaimed. He skated rooftop from rooftop heading towards the old abandoned factory filled with chemicals his dad usually made him get for his experiments. He was wearing a black hoodie and mask that showed a wide grin of sharp teeth and his skateboard full with stickers that consisted of smiley faces, graffiti words, neon signs, gaming brands, etc. Patrols weren’t necessarily patrols more of errand runs for the human world unless it was an assassination for a human who wronged a fellow yokai. As much as his dad hated humans he worked with the ones from the foot clan for yet untold reasons and had Mikey assassinate humans who were especially evil. The foot clan had also messed that up for him taking away his in once when they started executing innocent people who wronged them and made him watch and kill them. He shuddered at the reminder and of things that still haunt his nightmares and shook his head to be clear of the horrific thoughts. As he jumped from the next rooftop he hears chatter that gets louder and ducks down on a balcony to spy on whoever’s coming his way. There he sees WHAT!?!? 3 OTHER MUTANT TURTLES dad said I was the only one, the only mutant turtle who was trained to be an assassin. Are they even assassins?!? What’s going on? Mikey thought.

Mikey can get angry and sadistic . Can be downright cruel and unforgiving. Can kill someone quick and merciless. He’s a soldier, an assassin, a demon if you will. His names is feared within the Yokai community despite not being a yokai. But that’s to be expected of Baron Draxums son. He’s proud of it and it certainly helps that his dad praises him for it. He’s a turtle or we’ll a mutant turtle ,created to be the perfect experiment. The only mutant turtle in the world. So why the hell does he see 3 other mutant turtles on a rooftop during his patrol?! Unless... No! They couldn’t be! Dad said they had died in the fire! They are dead...right? Or maybe someone stole dads work and mutated 3 other turtles for their own benefit? Or something??? Ughhhhhhh!

Mikey then peered up from the balcony to spy again as he saw the 3 mutant turtles talking amongst themselves and a ...human!!! Aren’t all Yokai supposed to hate humans?! This night just keeps getting confusing! Mikey then decided to look up again and as he shifted around he forget about the skateboard next to him

CRACK!!

The skateboard had fallen of the balcony and broke in two over a dumpster. Mikey froze as his breath was taken away. Slowly he looked up, only to find the turtles gone?

“ Huh? Where’d they go” Mikey climbed onto the rooftop confused and a bit hesitant And then heard some shuffling behind him. He quickly grabbed a Kunai and held it up to one of the turtles neck

“Uhhhh hi? Nice dagger you got there” Mikey stared fiercely at the turtle ready to kill if necessary.

[bonjour-rainycity]

The Long Way Around ~ Chapter 11

Link to previous part: https://bonjour-rainycity.tumblr.com/post/624011835356626944/the-long-way-around-chapter-10

Pairing: Jasper x Reader

Word count: 2552

Warnings: None

Y/n’s POV

Even from many hundreds of yards away, I can smell the blood in Carlisle’s briefcase as clearly as if it were in my own hands. A whine leaves me. I want it.

“Fight it,” Jasper commands from my side. He and Emmett flank me, ready to stop me from getting to the bag of human blood if my instincts win and I go running towards it. Right now, I’d say the chances are about fifty-fifty. And shrinking.

Carlisle reaches into his briefcase, ready to pull the bag out.

“No not yet, she doesn’t have it.” Edward stands a few paces in front of Carlisle, monitoring me, and my thoughts, closely. Ugh he must think I’m so weak.

“It’s alright, it’s only natural,” he calls back, though he sounds annoyed.

I force myself to refocus. Eyes on the prize, Y/n. You can do this. You want to be in control more than you want human blood. You don’t want to be a dangerous person. You can do this.

Edward’s nod to Carlisle is nearly imperceptible. Carlisle opens the briefcase once more, only this time, he succeeds in bringing the stiff, half-frozen bag out into the sunlight.

Its scent hits me in the face and the burn in my throat increases tenfold. I drop into a crouch. I want it. It’s mine, it’s mine.

No!

With a snarl, I shake my head, forcing myself to cling to my human wants instead of my carnal, vampire wants.

You want to be able to go shopping with Rose and Esme. You want to go see a movie with Alice and Arthur. You want to have an actual date with Jasper. You’ve got this.

Carlisle opens the bag.

My humanity leaves me, and the monster within emerges full force. I rush towards the human blood. So sweet, so tempting.

Someone grabs me and forces me to the ground. Get off, get off, get off!

“Mine,” I snarl. The voice doesn’t even sound like me.

Someone cries out in pain, and the hands leave me. The noise breaks through the fog in my brain. It sounds like someone I know, someone I care about…Jasper!

Somehow, my worry for Jasper overrides the allure of human blood. I force myself to stop running forward, and turn back.

Jasper sits on the ground, managing to look stunned and pained at the same time, clutching his right shoulder. Carlisle is at his side a second later. I don’t look for the bag of blood, but its scent is a bit fainter now. Did he throw it? Maybe I should go looking…Jasper’s harsh breaths draw me back to the present. Somehow, I hurt him. Knowing I’ve caused him such pain makes my stomach hurt. I sink to my knees slowly on his other side, not even sure he wants to be around me right now.

“I’m so sorry. I-what did I do? Did I bite you?”

Jasper shakes his head, looking both starkly confused and fascinated. “No, I’m not in pain anymore. Just for a second, it felt like my arm had been ripped off.”

Edward nods from his stance in front of us. “It all happened very fast. He grabbed Y/n, she wanted him gone, and then he got hit with the pain. Vivid, realistic pain. If I hadn’t looked at him and seen his arm perfectly in tact, I would’ve guessed from his thoughts that it had been ripped off.”

Carlisle catches on a split second before I do. “You think Y/n had something to do with this?”

I sit back on my heels, staring at the grass. One blade is so much taller than the others.

“Think about it.” Edward’s voice is fainter than before. “There’s no bite marks, Jasper’s arm isn’t really gone. The only thing that could’ve acted as the causal mechanism is Y/n’s thoughts.”

“Perhaps it was a cramp, or-”

“Carlisle, have you ever known a vampire to get a cramp?”

“Wait, hold on. Y/n?” Jasper’s soft voice is close to my ear. “Are you alright?”

I manage to get words out, but they sound all high pitched and squeaky. “I’m a monster.” The breath I don’t really need becomes shallow and quick. Ugh, I wish I could cry! It feels like my insides are crumbling.

Jasper moves his hand soothingly up and down my back. I definitely don’t deserve his comfort, but goodness do I need it.

“You are not a monster.” His tone is firm leaving no room for argument. “You didn’t actually hurt me, you just made me think you did.”

“Like Jane,” Emmett chimes in. Who?

“Not exactly like Jane,” Carlisle muses, sounding cool and collected. “Esme was in real, actual pain yesterday, but it seemed to fade when Y/n was touching her. As soon as Esme moved away from Y/n, the pain returned.”

“So she can inflict the idea of pain but take real pain away? That doesn’t make sense.” Edward’s voice is condescending.

Jasper jumps in, still rubbing my back. “No, I think it might all be in the mind. A few months back, she actually bit me, but when I was touching her it was like I forgot about the pain. It didn’t come back completely until a few minutes after I let go of her.”

“Maybe she can extend her ability beyond her touch, like Bella? It would take practice.” A huge smile spreads across Emmett’s face. “Lots of potential there.”

“Y/n,” Carlisle’s voice is polite, but there’s barely restrained interest. “When you were a human, were you sensitive to others’ physical pain?”

I shake my head slowly, feeling steps behind everyone else who is quickly piecing this together. “My human memories are so fuzzy…but when I was touching Esme, I hurt too. It wasn’t as bad as I imagine an actual bite to be, but I felt something. It was like a stomach ache that didn’t go away until she was out of pain.”

Carlisle shakes his head, eyes wide. “Fascinating.”

My panic flares. “Not fascinating. Terrible,” I wail. “Not only am I a vampire, but I can make people feel like their arm has just been ripped off? What-” I gasp, trying to force myself to calm down. “What am I?”

“Nothing is wrong with you,” Jasper insists, cupping my face. “We will figure this out, I promise.”

I let out a breath, resting my forehead against his. I’m so grateful for Jasper. Even after I essentially tortured him, he finds it in his heart to forgive and help me. “Thank you.”

Carlisle gently takes Jasper’s arm, giving it one final check to make sure he’s unharmed. Once he’s satisfied, he stands. “Let’s call it a day, shall we? Good work, Y/n. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

I don’t want to go back inside. What I really want is to go deep into the forest where I can freak out in private, but the threat of attack from an unknown vampire prohibits me from doing so. Edward gives me a sympathetic look. I try to brush it off, and stand with the rest of the group. Jasper takes my hand, silently communicating his support. I give it a squeeze, taking extra care to be gentle. I desperately don’t want to hurt him again. He offers me a soft, trusting smile, and I nearly break right then and there.

“Let’s go lie down.”

Following the rest of the group, we head towards the house. Thankfully, everyone else is in town today, so I don’t have to confront any questioning glances. Jasper and I can just go straight up to his room. He shuts the door, giving us a semblance of privacy. Immediately, I fall onto his bed, lying face down. He says nothing, only sits next to me and strokes my hair.

I take a few minutes to think before I speak. I just hate that my special ability is so awful. Edward can read minds, Alice can see the future, Rosalie has awe-inspiring self-control, Jasper can make people feel actual emotions, and I hurt people.

I groan, pushing my face further into Jasper’s duvet. “Why?”

Jasper sends me calming emotions. It’s enough for me to finally sit up and face him.

“It’s not a bad thing, Y/n. Honestly, it could be pretty useful.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t see how hurting you is useful, Jasper.”

He shakes his head, taking one of my hands in his. “Not that. I’m just saying, with the threat from the vampire who attacked Esme…if someone attacked you, you could incapacitate them. I’m not going to lie and say that doesn’t make me feel better.”

I sigh, knowing he’s right. But there’s still a more central issue. “I don’t know how to control it, and that makes me dangerous. For all I know, that vampire could attack me and I wouldn’t be able to summon the ability again or whatever and it would be useless. Or, you could take my hand or kiss me and I could hurt you again.”

Jasper pauses, considering. I know his mind is piecing this out strategically. “We’ll have to learn how to induce or activate it. What were you thinking the moments leading up to getting me off of you?” He cleverly avoids acknowledging the pain I caused him, and I’m both grateful and annoyed. Still, I take his question seriously and think.

“I just wanted the blood. You were an obstacle to that, so I wanted you to let go of me.”

He nods quickly. “You were feeling focused, thirsty, desperate, and determined. And you were feeling it all so intensely….What were you thinking when you lessened Esme’s pain?”

My response is automatic. “I just wanted her pain to go away. She was hurting, and I love Esme and wanted her to stop hurting.”

He considers. “Right now, I don’t think the causal mechanism is anything you’re doing intentionally. I think it’s all based on gut reactions. You didn’t consider hurting me, you just wanted me to let go. You didn’t think of ways to stop Esme’s pain, you just deeply wanted it gone. Like most things in this new life, you revert to relying on your instincts.”

I begin to catch on. “So you think it’s like a skill I could learn?”

“Yes. Starting now.” And with that, he holds his arm up to his mouth and bites down, hard.

“Jasper,” I gasp, immediately trying to pull his arm away.

He winces at the pain but makes no move to suck the venom out. I consider doing it myself, but then get the point of his actions. He wants me to stop the pain with my will. I sigh, feeling desperate and ridiculously out of my depth. I do want his pain to stop, but I don’t know how to make it stop. Still, I can try.

Gingerly, trying not to hurt him further, I take his arm in mine once more. I close my eyes, focusing on how badly I want his pain to go away. Please, please, please, please.

“Y/n.”

I open my eyes to find Jasper grinning broadly.

Surprise and disbelief fill me. “It worked? I did it?”

His smile widens and he encircles my waist, pulling me into his lap. “You did it.”

With a smile of my own, I shake my head slowly. “You promise you’re not in pain?”

He rests his forehead on my shoulder and places a soft kiss there. “I don’t feel a thing.”

As my euphoria fades, anger creeps in. “I can’t believe you bit yourself.”

He shrugs, continuing his kisses along my collarbone. “It was for a good cause.”

Good cause, my ass. Enjoy a taste of your own medicine, Whitlock. I bring my own arm to my mouth, but before I can sink my teeth in, Jasper pins my arms behind my back. He gives me a disapproving look, which makes me roll my eyes.

“Seriously?”

He nods, his eyes not leaving mine. “Pain is for me to bear, not you.”

I roll my eyes again, but this time much more halfheartedly. Instead of continuing the tiff, I lean down and kiss him. His hands release my wrists and grip my thighs, pulling me even closer. I hold back a smile at his immediate response and instead allow the desire to flow through me. I will never get tired of kissing him. In the span of less than a second there’s approaching footsteps and a knock at the door. Esme. I practically fly off Jasper, feeling guilty. He chuckles, though he looks equally abashed.

At Jasper’s invitation, Esme opens the door, smiling sweetly. A quick look to my right reveals Jasper’s hair to be a mess, not at all like its usual calm state. Oh man, this is so awkward. Esme doesn’t comment, her smile just brightens. Internally, I groan.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” There’s an edge of humor to her voice, and I want to bury myself under the covers. Or in a hole. “Carlisle, Edward, Bella, and I were going to put on Casablanca, and we were wondering if you would like to join us.”

“Sure, Esme.” Jasper has regained most of his composure. “We’ll be right down.”

“Wonderful!” Esme shuts the door. As soon as I hear her retreating footsteps, I groan and smush a pillow against my face.

“We just got caught by your mom,” I lament. Though as the awkwardness begins to fade, I can laugh about it.

Jasper similarly recovers, and chuckles as he lowers the pillow from my face. “Unfortunately, it’s a normal thing around here.”

I raise my eyebrow, intrigued.

“You’ve noticed that vampire hearing makes private conversations difficult.” I nod. “And you’ll soon catch on that vampire hearing makes private anything difficult.”

Oh.

A nervous laugh escapes me as my eyes widen. “Oh that’s so awkward.” I gasp. “But you can  feel it! Oh my gosh,” I’m properly laughing now. “Poor Jasper.” I stroke his hair, unable to stop my laughter.

He grins, a long-suffering look on his face. “It is unbelievably awkward. Edward and Bella are the worst. And then Edward knows that I know and I know that he knows I know, and it’s just,” he makes a noise, shaking his head and burying it in my shoulder.

I snort and place a kiss on his head. “Well, I’m betting the past few minutes have at least begun his payback.”

Jasper makes a show of closing his eyes and checking. When he opens his eyes, he’s smiling again. “Oh yeah, he’s miserable.”

I grin, placing one last kiss on his lips before standing up and pulling him with me. “Good. Let’s keep that same energy during the movie.”

{***}

It’s not difficult. While the movie plays, Jasper lets his hands run along my neck, over my collarbone, down my sides. It takes quite a lot of effort to pretend to focus on the film.

Halfway through, Edward just gets up and leaves, shooting us a withering look.

Neither Jasper nor I can help feeling smug.

A/n Hello hello! How are you guys? Let me know what you thought and if you would like to be added to the tag list!

xx,

Bjr

Link to the next part: https://bonjour-rainycity.tumblr.com/post/624296456441020416/the-long-way-around-chapter-12

Tag list: @puer-de-infinitate @charliestuff @hindustani-diaspora @one-thread-can-save-a-life @salsameter @enchantedcruelsummer @meashy-moo @sana-li @femflorals @80strashbag @tomisbaeholland @heyimval13

[fantasyandromancelover]

Brothers Grimm AU

Inspired by two popular but horrifying stories by the Brothers Grimm: Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel with hints of Beauty and the Beast stories, Animal Bride stories, and the Crucible. I'm contemplating writing this myself but I'm not sure if I would have the time to. We'll have to just wait and see.

In the Black Forest there exists a fearful village due to the forest being infested with the two most dangerous creatures known to man: Werewolves and witches. 

Werewolves: Blood thirsty hounds from Hell able to take the form a human male and determined to devour anything that moves. Believed to have been born from the sin of man and commonly associated with vile acts of wrath and greed.

Witches: Female demons in human skin who practice the dark arts. Believed to have spawned from the sin of a woman and commonly associated acts of lust and envy. 

For centuries humans in this village have feared these creatures but their paranoia did not arise until two incidents took place that haunted them all forever. First the blacksmith's daughter was seemingly stolen away by a wolf and presumed to have been raped and eaten. Second the fiance of a landowner's widow is seemingly bewitched and seduced by a maid servant who was secretly a witch. The wolf was hunted and killed while the witch was burned at the stake. The aftermath led was the whole village becoming ruled by terror and suspicion as a way to keep it's inhabitants safe but there's more to the story than what's been told. Especially when these incidents resulted in two children being sired.

Sometime after ward Charlotte the innocent, red hooded daughter of the village magistrate Lucifer and granddaughter to it's preacher is eager to explore the Black Forest and see what lies beyond the village. However she along with all children are forbidden to enter. She is doted on by her grandfather but neglected by her parents and is close friends with siblings Anthony and Molly. 

One day she hears a wailing noise coming from the edge of the forest, she goes to investigate and finds a wolf pup caught in a trap. Unable to let what she believes to be an innocent and harmless creature be destroyed by wolf hunters, she sets it free. A few days later she learns that Anthony and Molly have run off into the forest and goes out to find them when her parents refuse to help. However she becomes lost and is approached by a man who resembles her grandfather but she quickly realizes that it's not really him and tries to flee. The man is actually a werewolf and chases her in his beastly form, in haste she trips and hits her head on a stone. Before she can be eaten something small but surprisingly more powerful and violent kills the monster. As Charlotte goes in and out of consciousness from the bump, she thinks that she's being carried and warmed by a boy who she describes as having big hairy ears on his head, a smile full of big sharp teeth, and big sad eyes. In the morning she wakes up outside the church where she's found by her grandfather and is not entirely sure what happened after she hit her head but she'll never forget those big ears, big eyes, and big teeth. 

Meanwhile Anthony and Molly as it turns out did not run off into the Black Forest but were abandoned there by their secretly abusive stepfather Valentino. As they try to find their way back home they are captured by an old witch who intends to fatten them up and eat them. They're locked in a cage and forced fed by the witch's child slave who can't help them directly but assists them by revealing the witch's weaknesses to them such as her being blind and being able to fit inside her oven which happens to have a lock on it. With this information the brother and sister trick the witch into getting into the oven and lock her inside so she burns. However the enslaved girl vanishes after her mistress dies, leaving behind a trail of magic pebbles that lead them home.

Years pass, villagers to make livestock sacrifices to appease the werewolves every full moon and by law one household is selected give up a sacrifice. If livestock cannot be provided by that household then a human must be killed in it's place. Charlotte now an inquisitive young woman is being courted by wealthy game hunter Sevithan and is being pressured by her family to accept however she is more focused on finding a solution to dealing with werewolves that doesn't have the prospect of killing people. She wonders if maybe there is more to these creatures then what meets the eye but the only one who supports her is her grandfather while everyone else mocks her ideas. (Except for Anthony and Molly, they don't really believe in her cause but they don't mock her for it)

As the next full moon approaches, Anthony and Molly's household is chosen to give the sacrifice but the greedy Valentino does not want to give up livestock and instead chooses to sacrifice his stepson. He locks his wife and Molly in the house so they can't stop him but Charlotte finds out about it and goes to rescue him. She offers herself to be sacrificed instead and convinces Anthony agree by reminding him that his mother and sister need someone to protect them from Val. Anthony escapes and Charlotte stays behind where she's eventually put into a drug induced sleep to make her demise a painless one.

At first the werewolf called Alastor has no qualms about devouring her but finds himself too mesmerized by her beauty and innocent appearance to do so. He spirits her away to his home and when she wakes she is surprised to find that Alastor despite his feral wolf nature also has an intelligent, cultured, and civilized side who enjoys music and literature. Fascinated by each other, Charlotte sees an opportunity to learn more about werewolves from him and use that knowledge to find a more peaceful way to deal with them. He like many others laugh at her ideals but consents to be apart of her little "project" and to hold off on eating human sacrifices but one condition. That he be allowed to see her face and hear her voice at least once everyday. A deal is made and she goes home but secretly visits him everyday.

That same night as Anthony is heading home he stumbles on to seeing Vagatha a witch bathing. She angrily chases him off and he accidentally steals her cloak. The next morning she shows up at his house and demands that he return her cloak to her but unfortunately he's misplaced it which means until it is returned to her, she must now serve the person who found it. That being Anthony. Neither one is happy about the situation and so until they find the cloak Vagatha must masquerade as the house hold's new maid servant. 

Unlikely friendships and romances are made while secrets and lies are uncovered. This is no ordinary fairy tale and everything is not what it seems.

[kirankickskancer]

Halfway.

I am officially halfway through chemo - I have completed 4 rounds of Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide, and survived the havoc it has wrecked on my body. I feel weary, not just physically but also mentally. It has already been a long haul and there is a lot of fight left to fight. But right now, as I lie awake in bed at 3am because I was so tired that I slept at 9pm, and also because I drink so much water that I have to pee like a racehorse in the middle of the night, I am allowing myself to feel victorious. I made it through the hardest part of treatment. My body fought hard for me every time it was pumped with poison and more cells were killed. My nail beds darkened, my nose hair fell so my nose was constantly dripping, my brain was only half working most of the time and the worst part of all was being incapacitated by tiredness, in all it’s various forms.

There is chemo-induced tiredness the first week when you cannot get out of bed and you don’t even have the mental energy to read or watch a show. Then there is the extreme fatigue related to low white-blood cell count exactly one week after chemo which feels like complete and utter depletion - your brain is back online but your body has been zapped like a character in a video game that is on its lowest energy bar. Finally there is the cumulative effect of all four rounds that makes you feel like you have aged a million years and need to sit down after doing anything. This is the worst one because I don’t know when it will get better and it means I can’t play with the kids the way I used to. I’m missing out on their summer: trips to the pool, playing in our new backyard, exploring the town, fruit-picking, play dates, day trips, beach trips - I can’t do any of the things we did last summer and it stinks. Whatever precious energy I have I reserve for them and I am so grateful on the days I feel well enough to even spend a few hours a day playing with them like I used to.

So here is my list of advice for anyone else who has to go through AC. (This may be TMI for anyone else!)

1. The nurse will tell you to take either Zofran or Compazine for the nausea. Take both! Be as aggressive as possible with the anti-nausea meds. I also started taking Omeprazole twice a day for the heartbearn and acid reflux after a terrible Round 2. Even then, be prepared for constant stomach discomfort. I had to change the way I eat to smaller frequent meals because it felt like everything I ate was about to come right back up.

2. There will be days you have diarrhea and constipation on the same day. Your digestive system will be a mess, keep track of your BM (bowel movements) like they tell you to. Err on the side of constipation because diarrhea sucks. I started off taking Senna every night but ended up with diarrhea. Then I only took it on days I didn’t poop.

3. Definitely suck ice chips during the Adriamycin infusion so you can preserve some feeling in your tongue. And invest in a big insulated water bottle with a straw. Your body wants you to hydrate and I was constantly thirsty and didn’t feel like drinking anything but ice-cold water which I sipped all day. I hate getting up in the middle of the night to pee and find it so hard to fall back asleep so right before bed I would use my Biotene dry mouth spray instead of drinking water and some nights I actually slept right through.

4. You will spend a lot of time with your thoughts as you lie in bed and the rest of the world goes about their business. Make them happy ones. Try not to Google yourself into a rabbit hole of depression with search terms like Metastatic Breast Cancer (1 in 3 cases of breast cancer end up metastatic, FYI.)

5. I love food so I would eat even on days I wasn’t hungry. It gave me a sense of normalcy to eat with the family. Texture becomes important when you start losing your sense of taste, I felt like eating crunchy foods. Fruit is great for hydrating when you don’t feel like drinking, yay for summer watermelon. You may want to over salt your food to compensate for taste, try squeezing limes instead. Eat whatever you feel like and whatever makes you happy not what you think you should be eating or what people tell you you should be eating. You have the rest of your life to make lifestyle changes. Right now you are in survival mode.

6. Aromatherapy. Your sense of smell changes dramatically so get things that make your room and your body smell nice. For me this was possibly the worst side effect. My own body smelled terrible to me. The smell in my room made me nauseated. I can’t explain it but everything smelled unfamiliar and toxic. Candles helped and so did being outside in the fresh air. Neutral smelling body products like talcum powder or kids Honest body wash also helped.

7. When you’re lying in bed all day, it’s hard to get a good nights sleep at the end of the day. Get some exercise if you can. If not, smoke some weed or have melatonin. It’s no fun being awake alone at night. See 4 above.

8. Friends. You need them more than you think you do. Text, call, visit, reach out. Your family is amazing and you couldn’t do this without them but no one can lift your spirits or distract you like good friends can. Work also helped me feel normal. There is a time for wallowing and then there is a time to just get on with your life.

9. Your newly bald scalp will feel sensitive. Buy some caps because it feels cold when you’re used to having a full head of hair. Buy a neck pillow because you will be sitting up in bed a lot. I hate my wig because it feels like I am pretending to be someone I’m not. You will wear it for others not yourself. Mosquitos love bald heads.

10. Love yourself. Love your body. Love your fighting spirit. If I could go back and tell me pre-cancer self anything, it would be that she is perfect. The extra pounds don’t matter, the house doesn’t have to be clean, the kids can watch all the TV they want, it’s okay. Self-care is not indulgence, it’s necessary. Treat yourself as you would treat the most important person in the world, because you are.

[cecilspeaks]

143 - Pioneer Days

We are thirsty. We cannot see. We don’t know what time it is, we are nearly here. 

Welcome to Night Vale.

Pioneer Days are upon us again. This is, of course, just the folksy rebranding that the public utilities department gives to randomly selected days throughout the year, when they cut all services without notice. The lights go out, the air conditioners grow warm, the food spoils, the water supply dries up. All residents are required to dress in the costumes of early settlers to make the whole thing feel festive and patriotic. Failure to dress in era-appropriate clothing, such as overalls and soft meat crowns, will result in punitive measures. Including being called a time traveler in a pejorative tone of voice, as was traditional punishment for all real time travelers back in the early days of Night Vale.

Polls show that these civic holidays are increasingly unpopular, but this time it’s going to be different, the utilities department promises. “It’s going to be way more fun, we swear. Just bear with us, you’re so brave. You’re all my brave little pioneers,” the pamphlets scattered around town assure us. “After all,” the pamphlets continue, “what is bravery but endurance? What better way to honor the struggles of our ancestors than through personal discomfort and grim acceptance? These are the values our town was founded on, aren’t they? Aren’t they?!” the pamphlets shout. The pamphlets writhe on the ground. The pamphlets inhale sharply and become still. In an effort to sway public opinion on pioneer days, the utilities department has unveiled an interpretive boardwalk and historical display, set up in an open expanse of desert miles from town. The intention of the display is to bring a sense of local pride and education to the community, and to be a fun family centered activity that can take people’s minds off the panic inducing existential questions that come from being so very alone in the dark.

And now traffic. You had a dream when you were young. In the dream, you woke up on the couch after a nap just in time to see your family driving away, leaving you alone in the house. They’ve never done that before, you’re much too young, too small to be left alone. There are no lights on and everything is soft with shadows. You see a brown paper bag on the table. They must have left it there for you. Is it food? You don’t know how to feed yourself yet. The bag suddenly lurches and tips over onto its side all by itself. A snake slides out onto the table, drops to the floor, and slithers rapidly toward you. You try to scream.

This is the moment you were supposed to wake up, but it isn’t a dream, is it? Your whole family really did abandon you. You grew up in this house alone after that, just you and the snake. It wasn’t poisonous but that doesn’t mean it was a good companion. It came and went without consideration for you at all, sunning itself on rocks or squeezing rodents to the death whenever it pleased, sometimes not coming home for days. You cleaned up its discarded skins during the molting season. You let it sleep curled next to your body for warmth in the winter months, even though it could only give back cold indifference in return. But you had no one else, that’s just how it was. You still see each other once a year during the holidays out of a sense of duty. You follow each other on Facebook, but neither of you check that site anymore. You waited to wake up from this dream of your youth to find your family had never left, that they were still there with you. You are still waiting to wake from this dream. This has been traffic.

I’m getting more details about the Pioneer Day’s display and celebration. Along the interpretive boardwalk, visitors will come to several viewing platforms where they will see the bleached bones of select citizens’ ancestors, scattered across the sun scorched earth. Those who won last night’s raffle must remit their ancestral bones by noon in order to be featured in the display. Further along the walk, spectators will be treated to an animatronic re-enactment of the battle for the scrublands, an event in which several key town founders bravely fought against the giant benevolent arthropods that used to exist in this area. As visitors will see, the beasts were all slain easily by our intrepid settlers, as the animals were unaccustomed to violence of any kind and regarded the human newcomers with only gentle curiosity. “They had to die,” intones the robotic voice of a mechanical man in a waistcoat, as he stands triumphant among piles of enormous multi-pointed legs. “For they were too visually disconcerting to live,” he booms.

There will always be a booth sponsored by the historical society displaying repurposed slide film from random strangers’ family vacations that have ben collected at garage sales over the years. Accompanied by plaques with made up historical narratives about the pictures. For example, there’s one of an elderly woman playing shuffleboard on a seniors’ cruise entitled “Griselda Fords the River”. It tells the tale of when pioneers first got to the sand wastes and there was a big scary river running through it, and how they had to risk their lives just to reach the land that we now have the privilege to take for granted. A lot of plaques have a kind of passive aggressive tone like that, actually.

If you make it to the end of the walk, you will be greeted by Earl Harlan, who will demonstrate how to make cherries jubilee, a staple dish among the early Night Vale frontiers people. “You feed a goose cherries until it can no longer walk or stand on its own,” Earl explains. “Then you light the goose on fire until its screams become whimpers, and when it’s finally silent, you extinguish the flames. The goose’s blackened flesh is full with tar enzymes that are very good for your skin and eyes. The red liquid pooling around it is only cherry juice. Only viscous cherry juice,” he explains as he dishes out samples of the boiling native cuisine directly into people’s outstretched ravenous hands.

That’s not all. The fully immersive interactive theater segment is last. You’ll be blindfolded and placed in the back of a cargo truck. Hours later, you will step off of the wooden blank and be free to enter into the desert, to try and find your way back home. Just like the pioneers did it. You don’t realize how the boardwalk is designed to be completely disorienting until this moment, when you step into the endless desert and look to all horizons and see only identical sagebrush and chaparral and nothingness. As if you’ve entered a mirrored fun house made only of hot dirt.

More on Pioneer Days, but first The weather.

[“Vines” by Super Boink https://superboink.bandcamp.com/]

As you wander lost in the desert, you first experience a dizzying sense of freedom. You can go wherever you want, the future is yours to shape. The possibilities seem as endless as the vast wasteland in front of you, but when you look behind you and realize you can no longer see the interpretive boardwalk or any other sign of human life, that sense of freedom becomes abject despair. You realize that taking risks is only fun when you have safety net. When that risk is a choice.  Now that you’ve been swallowed up into the blistering wilderness, you learn that choice has always been an illusion. You must go forward. The sun sinks lower. The dark air blurs the edges. You feel a cool breeze sweep over the sand – and you are grateful for that. Your lips bleed.

It’s nightfall when you come to an old homestead. It has no roof and leans to one side. There is no door, but there is the shape of a door, the black rectangle of absence. You feel compelled to go in, as would anyone confronted by a structure with an entrance, but you hesitate. You recognize this place, yes. You saw it in the slide film display by the historical society. There was a picture of it taken many years ago. It depicted the same house, only it had a roof back then. It did not lean to one side, and two children, barely toddlers, were standing out front. They had no heads, they had chickens roosting on top of their necks instead. The accompanying explanation said that it was a double exposure, a photographic art form that early Night Vale settlers dabbled in to pass the time. There was a whole collection of these photos displayed: a bath tub filled with blood. A levitating skull on fire. A baked ham with long luxurious hair. “The first Night Valers were incredibly adept at trick camera work,” the historical society insisted nervously when questioned. “Cameras had come to town at least a hundred years before cameras were invented, due to the rampant time traveler problem back in those days,” they explained. “We found the pictures in a locked trunk buried near the railroad tracks,” blurted a younger historical society member who was immediately shushed by the elders and relegated to selling merch.

You hesitate in the yard, until you can no longer ignore the siren song of the wind through the broken bones of this place, screaming at you to enter. Inside, the only piece of furniture left standing is a kitchen table. On top sits a sealed jar packed to the brim with pickled eggs. Your child asks if she can have one. Your child is with you, she’s ben riding on your back the whole time and you forgot all about her. That’s incredibly alarming. How can a parent just forget their own child like that? “Yes, honey,” you say, trembling with the effort of keeping your voice calm. “You can have one.” You set her down and she scampers across the dusty boards, and she feeds. She feeds ravenously. She asks for a bedtime story next, it is her bedtime after all. At least she says it is. You don’t know what time it is, but somehow she senses it and you trust her instincts.  Habits are comforting, rituals are important. It’s what keeps us grounded. It’s what prevents us from shouting uncontrollably and clutching at our eyes. “Once upon a time, there was a child who looked very much like you,” you begin. “No,” she interrupts, “the child looks like you.” “It doesn’t matter,” you say, “because it was actually a dog, not a child, be quiet now. Here’s the story. A dog ran away from home and had many adventures and then returned to its family and everyone learned lessons.” “What kind of adventures?” she asks. “Unspeakable adventures,” you say. “Is this a true story?” she asks. “Every story is true,” you say. She’s still awake. You point through the roofless void and tell her to count the stars, hoping to bore her into unconsciousness. “There are no stars,” she says. You acknowledge that the thick dark air obscures any light that might be in the sky, but “we can see them anyway,” you tell her, “because we know the stars exist.” “How do we know?” she asks. “Go to sleep,” you say.

After she’s asleep, you walk through what’s left of the old house and wonder if this is your new home now. There are many things you think you see standing in doorways or huddled in corners. Luckily, most of them are not real. The only thing that’s truly there is a nest of baby arthropods, bedded down in the tattered remains of a blood stained prairie dress. They appear to be orphaned, but they are together, intertwining all of their legs and blinking all of their eyes and wriggling as one large familial mass. You know you don’t belong here. This is their home now, as it was their home before, long before there was ever a house. You lift your child’s sleeping body and enter the desert once more. You look behind you and see the silhouette of a chicken-headed toddler standing sentinel in the yard. It’s not real, it’s just a double exposure.

As light lifts itself above the horizon, something shiny catches your eye in the distance. You move towards it, because it’s the only thing to move towards. You don’t feel hope or motivation, only the pull of a random focal point that keeps you going forward. Eventually you come upon an enormous parking lot full of vintage cars. Some are early models made of skin and mud and some are mid-century coupes with fins and hardtops and spinal columns. Hundreds of chrome bumpers glare in the blinding half-sun of dawn. What’s all this? you wonder in the daze.

“Hear yee, hear yee!” shrieks an individual in a tricorn hat, ringing a handbell. “What is this?!” you shriek back, grabbing them by the lapels. They do not acknowledge you. “Hear yee!” they cry again, but do not elaborate further. Suddenly the pounding of drums and deafening squawk of brass, a marching band is playing. Colorful streamers trail through a clear blue sky. It’s the city parade. You made it to the end of the Pioneer Days interpretive display and celebration! You accept another liquid handful of scalding cherries and stumble home with your drowsy young still clinging to your back.

As you enter your own silent house, completely free of all public utilities in celebration of Pioneer Days, you are overpowered by the scent of rotting kale in the stuffy air. And you breathe it in deeply. You rejoice. You weep. The only source of water is the puddle on the kitchen door, fed by the constant drip of the defrosting freezer. And you kneel down and drink from it, until you are satiated.

Things don’t look as bad as they once did, do they? The walls aren’t closing in on you anymore, they embrace you. The dark screens of your electronic devices no longer reflect your own boredom back to you, they reflect only relief on your haunted face. The inconvenience of no public services pales in comparison to the night you spent merely surviving in a howling unstable universe. It’s all about context. It’s all about managing your expectations. That’s what the utilities department pamphlet was trying to tell us all along. And of course about celebrating the Pioneers spirit, something something forefathers, vintage cars and other stuff like that.

But now that I think of it, we do spend a lot of our days distracting ourselves from physical reality. Maybe we really can use this time to experience life more solidly in the physical world, the way our ancestors did. Who needs modern conveniences when we have each other, right? Hold your loved ones close tonight. After all, you have nothing better to do. I’m coming home now, Carlos. I know you can’t hear me. No one can hear me. The power’s out here in the station just like it is everywhere else. We haven’t been broadcasting anything for days now. And even if we had bee, your radios don’t work anyway. but habits are comforting. Ritual is important.

Stay turned next for – whatever you think you hear. Good night, Night Vale, Good night.  

Today’s proverb: The leading cause of death is having a body.

[angelaiswriting]

The Assistant (1 of ?) | Vladimir Ranskahov x reader

[original picture: pinterest i love these fucking hands]

✏️ Pairing: (eventual) Vladimir Ranskahov x fem!reader + probably other pairings, I don’t know yet, we’ll have to wait and see.

✏️ Requested by Anonymous: Y/N–hacker, big mouth, even bigger attitude–is the new addition to Fisk’s team. Sent to help the Ranskahovs, she immediately gets on Vladimir’s nerves. But as time passes, they start to take a liking to each other, even if none of them is willing to admit their feelings. Yet.

✏️ A/N: bitch yeah. Special thanks to @therealcalicali : thanks to her sweet message, I managed to rewrite this chapter and make it completely different (the first version sucks like probably nothing else in the universe) and now I like it. Hopefully, Anon, you’ll enjoy it too!! A small heads-up first, though: I wouldn’t count on quick updates if I were you. I’m still having some shit going on at home and I’m also a slow writer, so yeah. I hope to make this a good story, though!

✏️ A/N 2: the title is most likely not definitive. Hopefully, I won’t have to change it, but maybe I will have to, to make it and the story fit well together. Also, my brain goes on auto-pilot when I have to write for Vladimir (bc I need to fangirl, too haha), so I don’t exactly know what I was trying to prove with this chapter, but I still love it... so pls don’t come for my head haha

✏️ Warnings: violence, mentions of an erection (haha it wouldn’t be me otherwise), so 18+ only !!! or so help me god!

✏️ Word-count: 2,678

REQUESTS ARE OPEN IF YOU WANT ME TO WRITE FOR YOU 💛

CHAPTER ONE: RULES

Underground fights had always fascinated Vladimir Ranskahov, even when he was a kid back in Moscow. Part of the reason was that they were illegal, but there was also something else, some sort of aftertaste that lingered in his mouth even when he’d go home and lay in bed. They made his body buzz with unleashed energy and if that couldn’t be considered his drug, he really didn’t know what else could.

He had always been a regular, even in his hectic first weeks in New York: he had had to start from scratch, but he had managed to make himself a name. He was strong, he never lost; he was like Ivan Drago, with the only difference that there was no Rocky that could beat him, not if he sparred with Tolik.

It had been a long day at work and he was glad he had managed to find the time to escape into the fighting underworld. There was something there, something that lingered in the air and mingled with the smell of sweat and blood, that took all his worries and threw them out of the window. It was relaxing, almost rejuvenating. It kept his mind busy and his body ready for every eventuality–and, hopefully, smashing Fisk’s bootlicker face in would be one of those eventualities.

If it hadn’t been for his brother, who had dragged him away from places like that years ago, he would still be fighting. Obviously, there was no need for Anatoly to know he still hung out at such places: he would pointlessly worry and he would take Vladimir’s only pastime right out of his grasp. It didn’t matter he loved and cared for Tolya, he was not going to give up on this, for he needed it–he needed it more than vodka and sex and cigarettes, more than money and probably more than air. It had also been one of the only ways he’d managed to survive back there–rule number one: avoid its name–and he was not ready to let fighting go–rule number two: always be ready for history to repeat itself.

So, as he walked through the crowded space, he lit himself a cigarette with a smile on his face. He didn’t smile often, but this life… Oh, this life! It brought him back home, where he and others had used to fight like rats–rarely to the death, most often to first blood.

Oh, boy. Oh, fuck. He could feel it: the adrenaline starting to kick in, sending his brain in override. He almost didn’t feel the smoke of the cigarette as it sank down in his lungs and then made its way back up and out of his nostrils, like a bull in a cartoon.

Jesus fucking Christ.

He didn’t even feel people bumping into and shoving him as they tried to reach the makeshift ring in the middle of the place. It was like floating in the air, like being a kid on Christmas day–he had never felt that way on Christmas day, but he thought that was how he’s feel had he had the right family.

The vibrations of his phone buzzing in the rear pocket of his suit pants didn’t even make its way to his brain, for Vladimir’s eyes had already zoomed in on the fight going on before him. It had to either be to death or knockout, for first blood had already been drawn and the fighters didn’t seem to be willing to stop.

Blood rushed to his fingers and it almost felt like being there, throwing punches and dodging hooks. The muscles in his back almost spasmed and even though the movements were imperceptible, the sensations were real: he was back in Moscow and he was seventeen. He had been foolish enough to challenge someone twice his age just because the guy had called him ‘a snotty kid’–which he had never been, for he had never had the time nor the chance to be a kid, let alone be snotty. So, he had thrown in his metaphorical glove and had been lucky enough, for the other one–Moscow’s underworld champion–had picked the challenge up.

He had been an idiot and Anatoly had kept on reminding him for months after the fight. That night he had come home with a purple face, a half-closed eye, a split lip, a pulsing eyebrow, a bloody mouth, but holy fucking fuck, he had got out victorious from the fight. He had been on edge for days after that and he had never been called a ‘snotty kid’ again. Nothing had ever made him feel higher than the knowledge that he had accidentally beaten Moscow’s biggest moron.

Therefore, watching the two sparring men in front of him made him feel at home. If he focused enough, he could even erase the English voices and shouts and replace them with Russian profanities, just like that night.

His phone started to buzz again and this time he felt it against his buttcheek, but still chose to ignore it. This was his safe heaven and he wasn’t going to let business or any other thing slip into it unwelcome.

Just as the vibrations stopped, the bigger guy fell to the floor, unconscious, blood slowly dripping out of his nose like a fat, red worm. The winner, a taller but thinner red-haired guy, spat blood and a tooth to the floor and with a scream, raised both his fists to the ceiling and planted a foot on the looser’s stomach. Then, in his victory- and adrenaline-induced rage, he spotted Vladimir. That fucking well-dressed son of a bitch was staring at him and his sight seemed to zoom in on the blonde’s scarred face like in a movie. He decided he didn’t like that guy’s smirk, nor the forgotten cigarette hanging from one corner of his mouth, dusting ashes to the ground.

This was no place for rich motherfuckers.

He kicked the other man’s side with his boot and the man groaned. He groaned even more when a couple of viewers dragged him away from the center of the room: still half-unconscious, he weighed like a truck as his feet dragged themselves on the floor.

The ginger spat again and took a step forward, pointing at Vladimir with an accusing finger. “You, dick,” he half-yelled: his voice sounded as broken as his split front tooth. “What are you staring at, motherfucker?”

Vladimir’s hands had a will of their own as they tightened into fists and he had to unclench his crossed arms. His cigarette trembled between his lips before falling to the ground. He stepped on it, slamming his foot in an angry attempt to put it out.

“What did you call me?” He had to fight against his brain, for it had been ready to switch back to Russian. And he sure as hell didn’t want that carrot top to use Russian as an excuse to get out alive from that place.

The other spat blood and saliva to Vladimir’s feet–he didn’t know if that was a tic or a way to insult him, but he didn’t care. “This place is not for people like you.”

‘People like him’. Vladimir burst out laughing. What did that even mean? That it wasn’t for mafiosi? Or former fighters? Human traffickers? Drug traffickers? Killers? He’d put that man’s victory to shame just by using his pinky finger. He laughed again.

“To the death.” The gingerhead raised his chin in a derogatory gesture before picking his guard back up.

Rule number three: never back out of a fight.

Vladimir smirked. “I am not sure you want to leave world so soon.” His accent was as thick as the blood splattered on the floor, but at that moment he didn’t care. Hand-to-hand spoke only one language and it was that of blood and the last time he checked, Russians and Americans bled the same. Nonetheless, he still took off his suit jacket, carefully folded it and laid it on the ground before he let his phone fall on it.

“I don’t die,” the other snickered, throwing a couple of punches through the air to show off. “No rules, just what plain death can say.”

Volodya nodded as he grabbed his gun. It was a comfortable weight in his hands–cold, but nonetheless still alive, still blood-thirsty. He checked the number of bullets–just to show off–, took the safety off, aimed and smirked before he put the safety back on and the gun back in its holster. He wasn’t planning on using it, but ‘no rules’ meant ‘no rules’ and if that brat thought he could win dirty… well, Vladimir had grown up playing dirty, so he’d show him was real shit looked like.

“C’mon, what are you waiting for?” His opponent was bouncing his weight from one foot to the other, his fists high up in front of his face. He was panting as he tried to intimidate Vladimir Ranskahov–had he known who that guy was, he had never picked up a fight with him. “Throwing in the towel, are we?”

Vladimir never took his gaze off the other’s smirk as he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up his arms. The thin cotton seemed to be on the verge of bursting as it stretched on his biceps. Too bad no one there knew the meaning of his tattoos, on display under the neon lights hanging from the low ceiling.

Fools, he thought. Motherfucking fools that thought insulting and challenging people like him would end the day in a hospital bed and not on a stainless-steel table in a morgue.

He positioned himself before the red-haired guy, a couple of inches taller than him, but not as strong, not as quick, not as knowledgeable. His leg hurt from the fight with the bigger guy, an older bruise was perched on his shoulder and half of his face had turned yellow from an older fight. His fists were too wide apart, just like his feet, and his guard was too low. Vladimir would have managed to break his nose even with his eyes closed.

The opponent threw a punch, which Vladimir dodged. Then he threw another and another, left, right, left. Vladimir was dodging them all effortlessly, bouncing on his feet, getting out of the other’s way.

He was still waiting to make his move, checking the other’s weaknesses–or pretending to be doing that. He sat on a much higher level: that guy had made the mistake of challenging a shark when all he was, was a fish. His only luck was that today had been a great day for Vladimir: he and his brother had gotten their money, received a cargo of twelve women, and, better than anything else, there hadn’t been a meeting scheduled with Fisk’s bootlicker, Wesley. He felt like he could spare this one life.

But then the other started to insult him, calling him a weakling, a girl, and Vladimir didn’t see anything anymore. He had stopped being a person and had become pure rage–so big and furious it was indescribable. Its blood-thirst had become his own, its fury had become his fury, his blindness had become its sight. It had taken him three punches to knock out his challenger: one to his left cheek, the other to his stomach, the third had been a hook from below to his nose.

The ginger top had fallen to the ground like a sack of potatoes, unconscious, his nose broken. And just like that, he remembered the other’s words: ‘no rules’. For a moment he had been on the verge of using his gun: he was going to drill him with his bullets and then leave him on the ground until he bled to death. But he wasn’t going to use that upper hand, not even when he had been called a ‘dickless Russian scumbag’–had that guy seen his dick, he would have choked on his tongue.

He bent down above the opponent, contemplated snapping his neck broken, before bursting out in another laughter. “Tell him to come back to me when he’s grown into a man, I will kill him then,” he laughed, picking up his jacket and phone and making his way out of that place.

Hell’s Kitchen night traffic welcomed him when he came back into the world. It was like being re-born again: he felt new as the chilly air reached his lungs and a smile plastered itself on his lips. Vladimir Ranskahov stretched his neck from side to side, rolled back his shoulders and heaved a sigh.

What a great day to be alive!

He could feel himself half-hard from the fight and the adrenaline and grinned as he thought of going home, down a couple shots of vodka, hopping into the shower and jerk off–it was too good a day to worsen it with a whore. He couldn’t even feel the stinging sensation in his knuckles as he made his way to his car, sat inside and gripped the steering wheel with more force than it was needed.

Right then, his phone went off again on the passenger seat. A look at it and he groaned–Tolik. He ignored rule number five (never let anyone ruin your post-fight glow) and accepted the call.

“What?” he groaned, starting the car and getting out into the street. He put his phone on speaker, threw it back onto the passenger seat and lit himself a cigarette before rolling down the window to let the cool night air in.

Tolya swore under his breath. “Where the fuck were you? I’ve been calling you for hours, motherfucker!”

Volodya grinned, his eyes still veiled from the bliss that had overcome him after the fight. “Out, having fun.”

“Keep it in your pants next time. There was an emergency meeting back at the garage and you and your dick should’ve been there and not in some chick’s cunt.” His Russian ran fast on his tongue, it dripped anger from every word, shooting bullets at Vladimir’s fourth rule.

Boy, was his brother wrong! Vladimir laughed. “Jesus, brother, don’t ruin my mood,” he managed to say when all he wanted to do was groan like an animal. “Should have waited tomorrow morning.”

“Wesley wants to see us tomorrow, so you’d better be there. Sex can wait.”

“You should fuck more often, brother. When was the last time you banged someone? Your dick will dry out,” he laughed, his shoulders relaxing as his apartment complex came in sight.

Anatoly cussed him.

“Why an emergency meeting?” Vladimir asked, changing subject and parking in his lot. Sure, they had been having some problems lately, but nothing too big and definitely nothing Fisk should be worried about.

“Wesley will bring a chick.”

He snickered. “And? If he wants to fuck in front of us, I’m not against it. It might be his chance to show me he has a dick and is not ball-less.”

“It’s not his girl. Rumor has it she’s some hacker that works for him.”

There was silence as he walked up the stairs and into his apartment. Why did that matter? She could be a whore by profession and he would still be uninterested.

“Look, be there. I don’t want to end up in trouble just because my stupid brother ditched me. The weasel said not to mess things up and I don’t want to. I need you there tomorrow. You can do whatever you want after the meeting, but if you don’t want that girl to hack into our business and fuck us up, you’ll be there.”

“Yeah, fine.”

His mood was ruined, his half hard-on wasn’t hard anymore, and all he could feel was the pulsing pain in his knuckles. If there was something he knew for certain, that was Wesley’s and Tolik’s ability to fuck his mood any time they wanted.

And if that girl set her mind to fuck their business... She’d better start praying.

>> chapter two >>

*

I wanted to wait to post this, but... HAHAHA when do I ever listen to my goddamn brain? Hint: never.

Feedback is always welcome. Contrary to what I said I wanted to do in another post, I still don’t have a plan for this story (I’m so sorry), so if there’s something you want to see in this story or if you have suggestions in general, feel free to contact me :)

It’s so weird to know that ‘mafiosi’ is still ‘mafiosi’ in English haha this fucked me up as I was writing

TAGS (to be added to or to be removed from any list, shoot me an ask. Same goes for ‘Bratva’)

Everything: @idhrenniel @saibh29 @fuckthatfeeling @aya-fay @pebblesz892  @mblaqgi

Bratva (people not on the lists but that might still be interested): @sweetvengeancee @theranskahovs @brobachev

[nancywheelxr]

1 for the ways to say "I love you", with Winndox

Hey! Okay, this is by far my favorite prompt list, so thank you.

(  1 -  Holding their hands when they are shaking )

Winn knew from the moment he left that nothing would be the same when he came back. Like, he had no delusions thinking nothing would change.

But a country in the brink of a civil war is so not what he had expected.

Seriously, is no one worried about the whole Nazi vibe going on here?

And Supergirl being fired, what’s up with that?

There is so much going on, it’s terribly overwhelming in the worst possible way, and Winn feels like he’s always struggling to catch up before something bad happens. Except, it’s already kinda happening, isn’t it?

“As you all know, effective immediately, it will be tolerated nothing but full transparency from all government agencies,” Colonel Haley, or, as Winn prefers to call her, Colonel Umbridge, announces, and he sees Alex clenching her jaw beside her. “That being said, this is not a witch hunt. I do not want to fire any more agents, what happened with Supergirl is an exception, not the rule.”

Is she for real? Winn scoffs, rolling his eyes, because this is the definition of a witch hunt, okay? It doesn’t stop being one just because she went up there and said so, that’s not how this works. Alex glares at him, and fine, yeah, stay on the down low, he knows. But man, he saved the future, he fought Brainy’s evil family, okay, he should get more than a get back to work from Umbridge over there.

Talking about Brainy, Winn glances at him, standing stiffly beside him. He’s still using his personal image inducer, and his hands are clenched at his side like he’s trying very hard to keep them that way. Winn sort of gets why he decided to stay a little longer, why Brainy would want to see this through, Alex did tell him what happened at the pizza place, after all, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stand here and watch with worry nagging at him to do something.

( Something like maybe stay inside Winn’s apartment, locked safely inside with blankets and hot chocolate and anything else Brainy might possibly want, watching movies until the world goes back to normal. )

But that’s not the kind of thing Winn likes to dwell on.

Because here’s the thing, Winn doesn’t have exactly a great track with crushes. Or timing, for that matter. Look at this time around, he went to the future! While Brainy stayed in the past! Like some goddamn space odyssey, it’s ridiculous really.

“But,” Colonel Haley continues like she isn’t about to dig herself a deeper grave, “on the spirit of transparency and good faith, any and all alien employees must come forward until the end of the day. Your contract will not be terminated, you will only be required to wear this on your right shoulder,” she holds up a red patch for them all to see, “so the public can know what you are.”

Okay, this is just– they’re not even trying to hide it anymore! “Isn’t this dangerous?” And shit, right, he hadn’t meant to speak out loud, but now the Colonel is watching him like a particularly blood-thirsty hawk and the words are still spilling from his mouth because Winn has never been really good at being quiet. “For them, I mean. With this whole Agent of Liberty thing going on?”

Alex is fiercely glaring at him like never before, if looks could kill, Winn would be so, so dead by now. She glares some more, before turning to her superior, a not very good fake smile on her face. “What Agent Schott meant to ask, ma’am, is if we wouldn’t be encouraging extremist actions with things like this?”

That’s one way to put it, Winn supposes. Colonel Haley scoffs, dismissive, “not at all. With Agent of Liberty in custody, his organization is over. We cut off the head, now we let it bleed out on its own.” She smiles with a mouth full of sharp teeth that glint in the artificial light, “it’s a right of every citizen to know who is working on their government. Besides, it will be good press, won’t it? If they see an alien saving their life?”

The last sentence is said so flippantly that Winn can see Alex going through all five stages of grief and using up all her strength to stop herself from throttling their oh-so-dear superior officer.

“You’re all dismissed,” she waves them off, calling back before stalking to her office, “and remember– until the end of the day, agents.”

The door slams shut, echoing like a gunshot.

Everyone more or less scatters, going back to their stations like nothing’s wrong, and it makes Winn feel a tiny bit better when he glimpses Alex marching down after military Umbridge with hellfire in her eyes and brimstone on her steps.

A crashing sound beside him snaps Winn back to reality. “My apologies,” Brainy hastily throws his way, bending down to pick up a fallen– yeah, no, Winn has no idea what that is. He’s going with ‘random piece of tech’. “I seem to be a little clumsy today.”

Brainy isn’t very good at making up things on the spot, and even if his fingers hadn’t been shaking so noticeably as he places the cube-shaped thing back on his desk, his face would still be as see-through as glass. For someone who’s part-robot, Brainy has a terrible poker face.

Or maybe, Winn is just good at knowing him.

“Hey,” he says, sitting down heavily in the chair beside him, spinning until he can face Brainy and their knees are touching. “You okay, man?”

“What? Oh, yes. Yes, I am, thank you,” Brainy nods, but his eyes follow Winn’s gaze, darting quickly back up, and his hands wrap around the cube as if the anxiety wouldn’t exist as long as they didn’t see the shaking. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a few things I need to work on–”

“Brainy,” Winn starts, pausing to look around, check if anyone’s listening in, but no one’s paying attention to them. Still, he lowers his voice anyway. God knows these walls have freakishly good ears. “Look, I know things are scary right now, and Colonel Haley is really going for the whole fascist dictator thing, but you don’t have to be fine all the time, okay? No one’s gonna blame you for being freaked out.”

There’s a moment of silence where Brainy doesn’t say anything, looking down at the cube on his hands like it holds the answer for all of their questions. “I– thank you,” he finally says, clearing his throat before whispering back, “I will admit I have not decided yet on the best course of action, because, you see, I believe the Colonel got a hold of something to disrupt out personal image inducers. If this is true, then perhaps coming forward would be preferable.”

Shit. That’s– that’s fucked up on a whole new level. “What? Oh my– oh my god. Is that even legal? And didn’t Lena fix whatever bug it had to make it hacker-proof?”

“Yes,” Brainy nods, scanning the room again for eavesdroppers, and leans in closer, “she did, and we already went over the code twice since then. There is no way to bypass security. No, whatever this is, it must work in a different way.”

Winn frowns, ignoring the fluttering going on somewhere between his heart and his guts. “Maybe, if we figure out how this thing works, we can beat it, so you won’t have to out yourself. We let people know, so no one has to.”

Brainy blinks, looking at Winn with a surprise that would be kind of hurtful if it wasn’t so tinted with pride and adoration. It makes his heart go rabbit-quick and tastes a lot like hope. “Yes, why didn’t I– no matter, this could actually work. Winn, will you work with me on this? I cannot be trusted to act on the best of my abilities, I’m afraid the events of this morning have compromised me more than I’d initially expected.” A pause, “and moreover, I find that your presence is quite… enjoyable.”

His mouth dries in the time that it takes to process Brainy’s last words, and Winn can only nod in response. Around them, the room is nearly empty, as everyone leaves for lunch and the next agents haven’t arrived yet for the change of shifts, only a few scattered people still packing their things. Without the worry for evesdroppers, they could ease back a little, lean away from each other, but Brainy doesn’t seem to mind sharing his personal space in this case.

“It is settled, then,” he continues, “but we should do this somewhere else. The Colonel will already be on high alert until her deadline is over.”

“We could ask Lena, I’m sure L-Corp has a few labs to spare,” Winn grins, feeling victory drumming underneath his skin, “we have a little over six hours to figure this out,” and then, because Brainy still looks a little wavering on his certainty, Winn carefully extricates the tech cube from his white-knuckled hold, covering his hands with his own when they tremble without something to cling to. And then, because it’s so easy and Winn can’t think of a good enough reason not to, he entwines their fingers together, feeling the shaking echoing on his bones, his thumb brushing soothing circles on the back of Brainy’s hands. “Hey, don’t worry, okay? We will figure something out.”

Brainy nods, smiling a shaky sort of smile but with eyes shining with courage. He squeezes Winn’s hands back. “I know we will.”

[snarky-styles]

“So, like…” She began, sliding the ice cream over to him, “Are you still hungry? Or thirsty, whatever it is,” “You did interrupt me mid-bite,” He muttered, accepting the ice cream cup. She narrowed her eyes at him, “So sorry I interrupted your mealtime with my freshly baked cookies and heart-drawn bags,” “Fair,” He accepted. “You didn’t answer my question,” She said, not looking at him. It was already taking all of her bravery to ask this, she couldn’t dare look him in the eye at the same time. “I’m still sorta hungry, but you don’t have to worry abou- oh!” He exclaimed, widening his eyes. “Oh? I- Really?” He asked, sounding shocked. “I mean… If you want. I took an iron pill this morning, but…” She said sheepishly. “You took an iron pill?” He asked, smiling. She nodded, “Isn’t that supposed to make your blood strong? I don’t know how it affects taste, but maybe it’ll stop me from passing out in your house,” She explained, rambling slightly. He only smiled at her, “That’s adorable,” She blushed, “It’s whatever, I was just… I mean, looking out for my health,” she said, making no sense. He giggled, “Course you were,”

or

Harry is a weird vampire and curiosity killed Y/N

Y/N had always been a curious person. At a young age, her parents can recall her crawling and waddling herself into trouble more often than most toddlers. She loved to explore, having broken out of her crib a couple of times until they were forced to buy a taller, safer one. She was unstoppable in this aspect, even as a child, she would run and look around the house, stumbling across many interesting objects in her parents and siblings rooms. People always told her she would make a good detective, especially teachers, since she looked in places and noticed things many didn’t, but she thought she’d be rather awful at the job. You see, she was always getting herself into some sort of trouble. Or, trouble was always finding her, at least that’s what her mom said. When she was old enough, she’d walk home from school on her own, wandering into the woods and exploring for awhile until she was covered in scratches and bug bites. She even got poison Y/N once, which was a real killer to deal with and almost discouraged her from entering that wooded area again. Almost. Outside of school, she was always sneaking out of her bedroom late at night to wander around, something her parents knew about, but didn’t care to put an end to. She never hurt herself too bad, besides a sprained ankle that one time she tried to cross a creek and tripped over a rock, and they learned early on she was a force to be reckoned with. They couldn’t be bothered, especially since she was a great kid in every other aspect. However, she did get a good scolding the time she decided to sleep out in the country when she drove too far out and didn’t want to make the journey back home at such a late hour. By the time she was off to college, she had explored every nook and cranny of her town, entered every abandoned building and climbed way too many stores and buildings for her to count. She had gotten the reputation of being “a bit odd” due to her late night excursions and several sightings of her sitting on roofs, but she really didn’t mind. It was all in good fun, anyways. Maybe her inclination to experiment was due to her hippie upbringing or her parents encouraging her to look into things that she was interested in. It could have even been the gymnast lessons she took that made her body more flexible and willing to climb, run, and jump. Either way, she blamed this odd, trouble inducing, characteristic for the situation she was in now. She was walking home from her early morning class at uni. The whole “early morning” part really pissed her off, by the way, considering it was her only class of the day. Since it was so early, she still had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn just to go to an hour class and have nothing to do the rest of the day. She felt more irked about this today than she normally did and her being more irked than usual always led to some sort of bad decision on her part. Today’s bad decision was breaking into a fence that clearly had the sign “no trespassing” nailed to it. This particular decision had been in the making for awhile now. Every time she took this specific back route to her apartment, she would pass by this rather large home. It was seemingly abandoned and ancient and each time she saw it, her curiosity towards it strengthened. The building itself was browned with age with dark green detailing swirled around the closed doors and empty balconies. The windows were intricately outlined by floral carvings, but they were impossible to see through since thick, dark curtains hung on the inside. There were never any cars in the driveway, something she looked for the first time she passed by the area, and from what she could tell, there were never any lights on. Due to its’ age, she wondered if it even had electricity. She supposed it didn’t matter much, since she was convinced no one lived in there, besides some wayward spirits. It was the cliche horror house of her dreams and it took everything in her not to just break in through the front door every time she passed by. She’d told her roommate, Emma, about her moral dilemma of breaking into the place and received a very Emma answer. Emma wasn’t very interested in Y/N’s excursions, never one to go out with her on her many fun (or so she said, dangerous) adventures. “That place is infested with demons, and If it isn’t, there’s probably black mold and asbestos everywhere. Even you’re not dumb enough to step foot in that death zone,” Y/N fondly recalled the loving words of her roommate right as her hand went for the knob of the door. She was dumb enough to step foot in the death zone and she was mighty excited for it. Her class had been just as boring as it always was, if not worse, and she was still slightly hungover from her self indulgent bottle of wine last night for passing her math test. She needed a pick me up and the creepy house with the broken down fence was the perfect opportunity. With her backpack slung over her shoulder and her phone light gripped tightly in her hand, she entered the threshold. She was expecting the place to be dark, beaten down and dusty as hell, hence her phone flashlight being on full blast, but she was met with a very different scene. The foyer was still dimly lit, the only light source being candles that lined the wall, but it was anything from broken down and dusty. There was a beautiful, deep red rug covering what looked like very old wooden flooring and two antique tables pushed up against each wall. Both tables had a vase filled with red roses, which looked freshly picked. This all aroused suspicion, with the smell of flowers in her nostrils and an impulsive voice in her mind telling her to carry onward, she walked further into the house. She tried to tell herself that she only walked deeper into the place because she could see the next room through the doorway, that if there wasn’t that sneak peek, she would have left instantly due to the many red flags presenting themselves to her. She never had good common sense and once again, was dreadful at following normal decision making processes, so she was really lying to herself with that one. Many people get a gut feeling or a bad taste in their mouth when something goes wrong, but she only gets curious and excited when she encounters something suspicious, which only eggs her on to carry her awful ideas through. This could definitely count as an awful idea, but she didn’t see that just yet. With quiet footsteps and knitted eyebrows, she entered a large sitting room. A matching red rug with beige floral detailing covered the large expanse of the floor and above it was antique furniture covered in red velvet material. There were bronze end tables with vases of roses at the end of each sofa and an ornate coffee table in the middle of the square of plush sofas. The walls were lined with bookshelves, jam packed full of books that looked like they weren’t even from this century, or the last one. Y/N almost walked over to one of them, wanting to run her fingers over the spines, or even grab one to see just how old they were. But, she saw something that caught her eye and made her freeze in her tracks. There was a book open on the table, a delicate china teacup next to it. It looked like a scene set in a historic home to give the viewer the idea that someone could live in it, but she had an inkling of a feeling that that wasn’t the intent. She narrowed her eyes, not wanting to move from her spot in the doorway, but also itching to examine the book and the expensive looking dishware. She blamed her love of all things antique on her next move. With careful steps, as to not make the floor creak, she approached the coffee table and glanced down at the book and the teacup. She instantly regretted this decision, which rarely happened in her adventures. The book, which was the least frightening of the two, was written in a language that she couldn’t even discern. There weren’t even letters that she recognized, only odd looking symbols that looked out of a spellbook. She wondered if it actually was a spellbook and if even looking at it would curse her and her family for the next one hundred years, but currently that was the least of her problems. Because, next to the book, the teacup, looked to be filled with blood. She looked down at it, slightly horrified, and examined the seemingly thick liquid that was emitting steam that smelled of metal. You would think that after finding a cup of blood and a book that looked straight from a witch’s home, she would regret her decision, but it wasn’t until someone else walked into the room did she realize she had made a mistake. She heard them before she saw them, the patting of their footsteps and their slight humming. They didn’t sound scary, so maybe that’s why she stood planted in her spot and only watched the entryway to the other room, waiting for whoever it was to see her. In these few moments was when she realized she was not only breaking and entering, but breaking and entering into the home of someone who not only read a language she had never seen before, had no electricity, but also drank blood. She was utterly fucked at this point, or at least she thought she was, until she saw the person who walked into the room. He looked as young as she did, with ruffled brown hair, dressed in comfy looking sweats and a t-shirt. His thin, yet defined, arms were covered in a scattering of tattoos of various ink intensities. To be honest, he looked like someone she could have in her art class, just another inked up boy with a charming face. Nothing about him was imposing, especially since he was carrying a tray of delicately iced cookies. At first, he didn’t notice her since he was looking down at his own feet, but when he did look up, sniffing the air slightly, he looked excited to see her. This was disturbing in more ways than one. Sure, he looked normal, but let us review the things in this home that were the very opposite of normal. The teacup filled with steaming blood. The weird spellbook. No electricity. The only way he noticed her was because he sniffed the air. “Oh, hello!” He smiled, showing sharp, pointed teeth and revealing a British accent that she barely noticed (See: “sharp, pointed teeth”). Her jaw dropped. He closed his mouth immediately, as if he had forgotten he had two very noticeable dagger looking teeth hidden behind his lips. He still smiled with his lips closed, which was very off-putting when it came to a normal person and was significantly worse when the person was a vampire.   She had seen a lot of things in her day, even encountered some forest nymphs one rainy day when she took a stroll through the woods, but never had she ever believed she would see something straight out of twilight. “Um,” She swallowed, “Hello,” He looked pleased with this greeting, like no one had ever said hi to him before. “Are you lost? Would you like t’ sit down?” He asked kindly, gesturing to the many sofas in the room. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate at this point and if she knew anything about vampires, she knew he could hear it. “I, uh, just took a wrong turn. I should really get going,” She said, trying her best to keep her voice normal as she prepared to run the hell out of this place. He frowned, looking disappointed. He was very cute, which was something she reluctantly noticed. “What’s your name?” He asked, bright eyes looking hopeful for conversation. She almost felt bad for him. From what she could tell, he was really shit at being a vampire. She wasn’t even scared of him, well, she was, but mostly just the concept of him. Not only was he shit at being his own species, he seemed really lonely. “Y/N,” She told him, eyes wide as she anxiously ran her thumb repeatedly over the back of her phone case. “I’m Harry,” He said proudly, setting down the cookies on the coffee table. “Nice to meet you, Harry. I… Have a class to go to,” She lied, rather poorly, before turning on her heel without even a goodbye and walking quickly to the exit. She was breathing heavy at this point, barely even registering that he shouted goodbye to her and broke into a run as soon as she shut the door behind her. She kept running, she ran until she felt like her lungs were going to explode and her legs were going to give out. Her heart was still thumping loud and fast, not only because of her lack of exercise as of late, but because of the ice cold terror running through her veins. It was days like today she really wished she had some sort of common sense and/or precaution. As she opened the door to her shared apartment, her breathing was almost back to normal, but it wasn’t hard for Emma to notice something was up since Y/N’s eyes were still wide. “What happened?” She asked, almost immediately. Y/N looked to see that she was laying on the couch, looking over the top of her book and directly at Y/N. Y/N only stared back at her blankly, before throwing herself onto the sofa next to Emma. Emma, who was used to this sort of behavior from her odd roommate, only stared at her and waited for an answer. “I think I… broke into a vampire’s house,” Y/N remarked, saying it as though she had just come to terms with it herself. Emma hummed, not sounding too phased by this groundbreaking news, “You need new hobbies,” She told her, eyes turning back to her book. Y/N relaxed into the sofa, eyes turning to look up at the popcorn ceiling above her. “He had a really nice house, lots of antique furniture,” She muttered, feeling like she was melting into the cushions. She felt calmer than before, her body coming down from her fearful high and making her feel like she was floating. “He? You met him?” Emma asked, still not taking her eyes off of her book as she flipped the page. “Well, yeah. How else would I know he’s a vampire?” Y/N inquired, lazily turning her head to the side to glance at Emma. Emma bit her lip, thinking for a moment, “Not sure,” “What was he like?” She asked, finally taking her eyes off of her book to look to Y/N, who was staring her down. “Looked pretty normal actually, he was wearing sweats. His name’s Harry,” She said, listing off the information she retained during the nerve-wracking experience. “You got his name?” Emma asked, sounding shocked. Y/N nodded, “Weird, right? He was British, I think. It even sounded like he wanted me to stay,” Emma rolled her eyes, “Wanted you for dinner, I bet. Don’t go around there again. Go to a bookstore or something if you get bored, ok?” Y/N scoffed, turning her head in the other direction. “The day I go to a bookstore when I’m bored is the day I die,” Y/N was incredibly bored. And she was in a bookstore. It all started after her dreadful early class, which her opinions on have already been discussed. Her mind was numb from the science lecture she just had to sit through and she needed to do something to get out of this funk. She didn’t even have her walk home to look forward too, since lately she had been taking the boring route home to her apartment, due to a mysterious mansion that was inhabited by a certain friendly vampire. The first couple of days after the encounter, she tried her best to forget about it, or convince herself it was some sort of hoax, but as the days went on, she found herself unable to forget the cozy looking vampire she had met. He seemed really interesting, or at least more interesting than a normal vampire, which was really weird to think about. She considered going to see him, entertained the idea for maybe a second before she realized she was crazy and even a friendly vampire is still a vampire. So, with the fluffy haired vampire in the back of her mind, she decided to walk around the town. There were always cute stores and coffee shops on every corner, doing their best to appeal to the college students in the surrounding areas. She was going to get some coffee, read up on her research project, and then maybe get some food, but something caught her eye. A small bookshop was tucked away in the corner of an alleyway, with a small old fashioned sign on the window saying it was open. It was very rare she took anyone’s advice, but she had a feeling Emma was right about this one. The place had a certain old fashioned warmth to it that made her feel welcome, so with Emma’s advice in mind, she reluctantly, having forgotten her declaration a few days ago, opened the door to the shop and stepped into the musky smelling threshold. The smell of the old books calmed her and the fact that it was deserted, besides a very old woman who greeted her when she walked in, was comforting to her. She wasted no time in going to the shelf that held the books she thought looked the oldest. A brown spined book caught her eyes and she picked it up gently in her hands, instinctively checking the front page to see how old it was. Her eyebrows were knitted together as she was met with familiar letters that she couldn’t distinguish. She placed the book back in it’s spot, face still furrowed with confusion as she reached for another one that looked equally as ancient. She flipped it open to a random page, squinting at the small print that remained in the same lettering as before. Her heart rate was increasing slightly, suddenly recalling where it was she saw this odd print. Almost as soon as she made this realization, a voice called out her name in surprise. With the book still in her hands, she turned around to see local friendly (maybe) vampire Harry, looking like an everyday college student. He didn’t much look like a vampire at all, which conflicted with her natural fear of him. He wore black track pants, lined with a red stripe down the side, along with a plain white t-shirt. Not to mention, his face, when his fangs weren’t on display, was naturally friendly and welcoming. He had kind eyes, the type of green that are inviting and warm, along with attractive, yet soft, features that would make her swoon if she knew he didn’t drink steaming blood from teacups. He had a stack of books in his arms, holding them easily against his chest. She blinked at him a couple of times, processing the appearance and existence of him before, unfortunately, remembering a certain declaration she had made. A declaration that had something to do with her eternal boredom, bookshops, and dying. At that moment, as Harry smiled at her, she came to the conclusion that she was fucked. She thought, with some regret, that dying at the hand of a cute vampire couldn’t be too bad, but really, dying is dying. “Didn’t know you liked shops like this,” He said, repositioning the books in his arms. She gave him a wide eyed stare, dropping the book she held in her hands to the floor. She really didn’t consider herself a coward, facing most situations brazenly, but right now, all traces of bravery that was once in her body had dissipated like smoke. Harry was quick to pick it up for her, eyebrows furrowed and a small frown on his lips. She flinched when he handed it back to her, searching all over his face for any signs that he was going to drain her of all of her blood in this very bookshop. She didn’t grab the book, keeping her hands to her sides. She was worried about interacting with him, every single piece of information she had ever learned or picked up about vampires leaving her mind as she entered a state of pure panic. He took the book, adding it to his collection, realizing she wasn’t going to take it back. She felt like her body was going to shut down with fear, which made perfect sense considering his… blood sucking habit? Anyways, her hands were shaking like she was about to give a speech in front of her lecture hall and an unappetizing sour taste was in her mouth due to her adrenaline kicking in. He seemed to notice all of her fearful actions and could most likely literally smell the fear on her and instead of jumping her like prey, which she was anticipating, he only looked guilty. He looked down to his feet, like he couldn’t bare to look her in the eyes, like he knew he was the reason she was so uncomfortable. This was really weird, or at least she thought so, but what he said next was even weirder. “I didn’t mean t’ scare you, thought you knew about... you know,” He mumbled, flashing his fangs briefly and pulling at her heart strings for reasons that weren’t fear related. She didn’t make any rash decisions, like instantly pulling a sad looking vampire into her arms, but stayed planted to the ground as she eyed him suspiciously. “Seemed so confident walking in, thought someone sent you or somethin’,” He continued, his deep voice rambling on as he continued to look down at his feet, looking ashamed. She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering who he thought would send him a human. “Besides, been looking all over t’ apologize! Went to a couple of fairy alcoves to look for ya-” He began, now looking at her earnestly as she rose an eyebrow. “Fairy alcoves?” She asked, voice sounding much more curious and much less frightened than expected. “Yea… Are ya not a-?” He asked her slowly, looking confused. “I’m… Not a fairy,” She said, voice shaky since she really didn’t think she’d have to ever say that sentence and wondering if things might change once he realized she was a human. To think, she was just getting slightly more comfortable with him and now this new factor arises. Figures. He looked confused and a bit upset, shaking his head in disbelief, “Could’a sworn you were some kind of nymph. Got the sweet smell, ya know,” He mumbled, sounding disappointed. She gave a small huff at the mention of her “smell.” If he was trying to make her feel more comfortable, letting her know he could smell what species she was was not the right route. Odd smelling comment aside, as she looked at him, one of his fangs chewing slightly on his lip, she almost let out a sigh at how this seriously could not be happening right now. “Either way,” He said, perking up a bit, “Owe you an apology, wanna go get lunch?” Her jaw slackened slightly, lips parting as she gave a look of utter confusion. In a moment of fear induced idiocy, she asked a ridiculously stupid question, “Am I gonna be lunch?” It seemed to take him a second to process the question, before he, surprisingly, burst into a fit of giggles. “You’re very funny! Lemme pay for these and then we can go,” He said, turning around and walking towards the ancient lady at the cash register. She watched him leave, noticing he was wearing the same pair of vans as she was. Maybe it was because they had the same taste in shoes or maybe it was because he was charming and she liked the way his nose kept scrunching up while he spoke, but she stupidly decided to follow him to the front of the store. She supposed even if she was vampire lunch, it was sort of deserving at this point, judging by her frequent poor choices and run-ins with odd, mythical creatures. Slowly and cautiously, she walked over to the cash counter and stood beside him. He turned to smile down at her, to which she returned a blank stare and a blink. He turned back, still slightly smiling as he handed over some weird coins to the lady who Y/N was now suspecting to be some sort of witch judging by her long, plaited gray hair and raggy sense of dress. She didn’t bother to ask any questions she didn’t think she wanted any answers to, instead watching as the possible witch bagged the books Harry had picked out. “Wanna get some sandwiches? Or maybe a salad?” He asked a shell shocked Y/N, who was very annoyed, but not really surprised, she was in this situation. At this point, after the fear had partially subsided and only irritation with her current luck remained, she decided to just go with it. “Sandwiches sound nice,” She shrugged, letting out a small sigh as the lady handed Harry the large, paper bag. He gave her a grateful smile, taking the lead and opening the door for Y/N on their way out. She hoped that a vampire with manners enough to hold the door open for her wouldn’t want to kill her. Besides, as she watched Harry carefully hold the bag of books in his arms, she was starting to wonder if he had actually ever killed anyone at all. He had the enthusiasm of a little kid and the way he kept smiling at her were not the characteristics of a murderous beast. She wondered if he even knew she was a human, he should be able to smell that kind of stuff, right? Maybe he was just really shit at being a vampire, which she was beginning to believe, judging by the way he gave everyone he passed on the street a smile. “Y/N? Did ya hear me?” He asked, turning to look at her as she looked up at him blankly. “Sorry, what?” She asked, blinking quickly. He looked slightly concerned, but didn’t say anything about it, “Is here good?” He asked, repeating what he had asked her earlier with a kind patience that was very uncharacteristic of a vampire. She looked up at the small cafe he had brought her to, eyes looking for any red flags that might mean it’s a vampire feasting spot. She saw none, not if tired looking college students didn’t count, at least. “Sure,” She agreed, going to open the door for him this time, since his hands were full and she was trying to do everything in her power to make him like her enough to not kill her. He chose the table, since she was currently distracted by the situation of her being near a vampire for an extended period of time. It was silent as they sat down, Y/N absentmindedly sitting across from him in the booth as he set his books down in the seat beside him. He placed his elbows on the table, looking at her with a curious expression. “I’m not going to drink from you. I don’t do it like that,” He said, almost sounding slightly offended. She was only half listening when he began to speak, but this really caught her attention. She looked up at him, wide-eyed. “How do you do it, then?” She asked, feeling rather ballsy since he did technically say he wouldn’t drink from her. He gave a small smirk, which made her a bit uncomfortable, but he carried on anyways. “It’s a consensual thing, usually people come ‘round, you know, asking,” He said, reaching for the small menu on the table that held the lunch specials. She gave him a curious look, “Asking?” She repeated. “Yea, people always wanna give it a try. It can be fun,” He said, looking proud. A small shudder ran through her at the mention of that, “Not for me,” She remarked. He smiled wide, “I can tell,” It was quiet for a few seconds, in which she just sort of stared at him curiously. “Should we go for a pick two?” He asked, eyebrows scrunched together as he perused the food options. “I-uh, what is that?” She asked, shocked from the subject change and still not feeling completely comfortable around him. She was trying to act like he was a normal guy from her college, but it was hard when every time he spoke she could see his two pointed teeth and how she was pretty sure his lips were tinted pink from blood. “Get a side and a sandwich. I love it here, they’ve got garlic soup!” He exclaimed with excitement, turning the menu around so she could see it. She stared at him in disbelief, “Garlic soup?” She asked him slowly. He nodded, an excited smile revealing his teeth once more. She sighed, shaking her head lightly at him as a small smile appeared on her lips, “You’re the oddest vampire I’ve ever met,” “Have you met many vampires?” He asked curiously, sliding the menu over to her side of the table. She glanced down at it, scouring the many options they provided. “Just you,” She answered. “I won't take any offense, then,” He muttered, making a small laugh brush past her lips. He looked very proud with himself after making her laugh, considering the whole time he had been with her she looked mortified or confused. Y/N, on the other hand, was very confused and slightly concerned that she was starting to get comfortable around him. She didn’t have too much time to think about it, though, because Harry jumped into a story. “Call me odd, haven’t met Niall. He always keeps his house so cold, like some sort of morgue,” He shook his head, as though he was disappointed. She stared at him, “Seems like normal vampire behavior,” Harry shook his head, “You’d think that! We’re already cold, don't’ wanna be more cold. My favorite thing is a good throw blanket, never know when you’re gonna get too chilly,” He remarked, saying it like it was something she was going to need to remember. She nodded along with his words, feeling a mix of confusion and amusement at what he was saying. “I’ll keep that in mind,” She remarked, hearing him chuckle. “What about you? Do you like throw blankets?” He asked, sounding genuinely curious. It was at this point in time she realized that Harry probably didn’t converse with humans very much and that she was slowly becoming less afraid of him, which was likely a dumb move on her part. “More of a heated blanket kinda girl,” She told him, watching as he nodded his head and hummed. He looked like he was going to say something else, presumably about blankets since that’s what vampires seemed to talk about, but a sweet looking waitress made her way over to their table. “Hey, Harry!” She said brightly, before glancing to Y/N and also throwing her a kind smile. Y/N smiled back, albeit a bit forcefully. “What can I get you two today?” Harry looked to Y/N first, “Uh, just a turkey and swiss with some macaroni, please,” The girl, it said Ava on her name tag, nodded, “And to drink?” “Lemonade,” Y/N said easily. Ava nodded, smiling at her yet again before looking to Harry. “Same as usual, H?” She asked, causing Y/N to furrow her eyebrows at the nickname. He seemed like a normal guy, but did this girl not know she was speaking to an actual vampire right now? Was she a vampire? Or was Y/N the weird one? She was starting to wonder if she should just accept this vampy shit and move on, but a societal rule clearly says that vampires aren’t normal or to be trusted. She seemed to have missed the tail end of the conversation, since she was worrying far too much to listen and by the time she looked up, Ava was gone and Harry was speaking again. “That’s Liam’s feeder. Super sweet girl. He met her here, actually!” He told her, smiling at the memory. “Feeder?” Y/N asked, disregarding the other information and going straight for the vocab word. Harry nodded, “She lets him drink from her. I think he’s falling for her though, if I’m being honest,” He said casually, glancing over to Ava who was getting their drinks. “Can that… Can he like a human like that?” Y/N asked, giving him a curious glance. Harry gave a small laugh, “She’s a nymph, silly,” He told her as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “A nymph?” Y/N asked, jaw slackened with disbelief. “You’re a naive little thing, aren’t ya?” He asked, looking at her with interest. “I resent that!” She defended immediately, frowning at him. “Can’t even tell a nymph when you see one? Don’t even know the world around ya,” He shook his head, a small smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes, “If you could cut me a bit of slack. I’m sitting with someone who could very well kill me right now!” She told him, feeling something in her break. Her heart nearly stopped after she said it, praying to any Gods that existed that it didn’t cross some sort of vampiric line. “Is he scaring you?” Ava’s soft voice broke through the anxious fog that was now collecting in her mind. “He’s harmless, by the way,” Ava added, earning a resentful huff from Harry. “Um, I’m fine, thanks,” Y/N said, feeling very overwhelmed by everything that was happening around her. Ava nodded, not looking too convinced as she set down their drinks, not forgetting to throw Harry a glare before she left the table. Harry looked to Y/N, obviously noticing the fear in her eyes. “You can relax,” He said, sounding genuine, sounding so genuine she felt some of her very tense muscles relax. “I don’t bite,” He added, unable to contain his smile. She blinked slowly at him, scowling in an unimpressed manner. “How can I make you not scared of me?” He asked, in a tone so sweet it made her want to awe out loud. She shrugged, “Not sure, really,” He frowned slightly, before his eyes lit up like he remembered something. “I bought you that book you were holding, the one about werewolves!” He said proudly, reaching into the paper bag and pulling out the same book she had dropped upon recognizing him. “You bought the book?” She asked, watching as he slid it over to her side of the table. “Thought it was a nice gesture, you know, since you thought I was gonna eat you,” He reasoned. She bit her lip to contain her smile, the realization finally donning upon her that this fanged being was just as stupid as any other boy she’d encountered. Her fingers ran over the indented title in the language she still couldn’t understand, although apparently it was about werewolves. “Harry, this is really sweet and I don’t think you’re gonna eat me anymore, but…” She trailed off, her smile on her lips as she gave a small chuckle. “What?” He asked, looking confused. “I don’t even know what language this is,” She told him, opening the book to a random page. He huffed, sounding annoyed as she let out a small giggle. “You don’t know Arabic?” He asked, sounding shocked. “You do?” She asked, matching his tone. He narrowed his eyes at her, “It’s a very important language. I don’t know how you’ve gotten around so far without using it!” She gave him an amused smirk, “You really should get out more,” She suggested. He frowned at her, eyebrows furrowed together with confusion and slight irritation. “Well, if you can’t even read it-” He said, sounding disappointed as he reached across the table to grab the leatherbound book in his pale fingers. She scrunched her nose up, reactively reaching for the book back, her warm fingers briefly meeting his chilled ones. She ignored the feeling, since she didn’t wanna think too hard on the fact he had no warm blood running through him. He gave her a look of confusion as she slid the book into her bookbag, “I’m gonna keep it,” She said firmly. He rose his eyebrows slightly, “Gonna learn Arabic?” He asked. She chuckled, shaking her head, “God, no. It’s a symbol of you making a peace offering to not kill me,” He looked unimpressed, “I wasn’t going to kill you in the first place,” “Well, this book solidifies it. Which I appreciate, by the way,” She added on, her fingers still protectively placed on the rough cover as it sat at the top of her bag. He stared at her for a moment, his fanged tooth running over his bottom lip as he looked like he was considering her features. She stared back, a small nervousness in her mind at the sight of his alarming fang. “You’re a bit odd,” He decided, still concentrating on her face. She smiled, a shrug on her shoulders, “You sure are one to talk,” She said, gesturing to his exposed sharpened tooth. When he smiled brightly and let out a very un-manly giggle,Y/N realized she didn’t think it would be too bad to become acquainted with the fluffy haired vampire. Or, as she was starting to think of him as, fluffy haired Harry.

It had been a few weeks since her lunch with Harry and since then she had been seeing much more of the brown haired boy than expected. He had an interesting habit of popping up in places she frequented, such as the coffee shop she went to in between classes, her favorite organic grocery store and even the local library where she did most of her studying. Each occasion had been a surprise, but every time it happened, she became less and less shocked and disturbed by his sudden presence in her favorite spots. She considered it was because she had never noticed him before, but as he continued to pop up in places, she began to wonder if it was something else. The first time, she had been startled to no end, actually spilling her coffee all over herself when she heard his cheery voice. It had been right after her English literature class, she had decided to stop for an iced coffee, just like she usually did. She went to her favorite secluded corner, curling up in the booth, back to the wall and legs across the seat, a book in one hand and her coffee in the other. This reading was for school, but she found herself enjoying the gothic writing of Dorian Gray. Rather, she was enjoying it until she heard someone call out her name. At that point, she had jumped so violently and her muscles had tensed so suddenly, not only did the lid of her coffee pop right off, but all of the cup’s contents spilled directly onto her shirt. “Oh, bloody- I didn’t mean to-” The panicked British accent could only belong to one person and when she looked up, eyebrows furrowed in slight anger, her thoughts were confirmed when she saw Harry looking rather cozy in a hoodie and some sweats. “Hey, Harry,” She sighed, a shiver wracking through her body as her skin processed just how cold the iced coffee actually was. She was pretty sure there was an ice cube in her bra, but that wasn’t something she was worried about right now as Harry had since begun to ramble. “I- I had just- I was walking by, saw you through the window, had to stop by! I mean, I may have smelled you first, a couple of blocks down, but- Anyways, I just had to say hi. I really didn’t mean to-” There were several concerning aspects that came with this shakey admittance. The “smelled” her part was top of the list, but she really didn’t have time to worry about it since an ice cube was directly against her nipple and she had a very panicked vampire standing in front of her. “I-It’s fine,” She shuddered, swallowing hard as the ice turned from a cold sensation to a burning one. “I’ll buy you another coffee!” He suggested, already reaching for his wallet from the confines of his sweatpants pockets. “Don’t worry about it,” She said, beginning to climb out of the booth. “Oh, don’t leave! I wanted to talk to you-” This admission was sweet, yet slightly concerning since she didn’t know what he wanted to talk about, but yet again, the ice directly against her nipple was more concerning at the moment. “I’m not leaving. I have ice in my bra.” She said shortly, feeling the ice melt and the freezing liquid drip down her sternum. He winced at this, probably imagining the feeling, and then began to do something unexpected. He reached above his head, reaching for the back collar of his hoodie as he pulled it off smoothly. She slightly furrowed her brows, looking around to see if anyone else was unnoticing him undressing in front of her. “Here- Take this,” He said, offering her the burgundy colored sweatshirt. She didn’t even argue, like she probably should have, as she took the hoodie wordlessly and rushed off to the bathroom. She didn’t even bother to get into a stall, ripping off her coffee drenched shirt as she made her way into a small stall in the corner. Once inside, she made quick work to fish the ice cube out of her bra, only to realize that the whole bra was soaked in cold coffee. With a sigh, she ripped that off too, shivering slightly in the air conditioned bathroom. She made quick work of putting the sweatshirt over her bare torso, only processing it was Harry’s until the scent of cologne filled her nostrils. She gave a small sniff, which was a bit weird, but she couldn’t help herself. It was a bit of a sweet smell, like vanilla or something, but with a hint of manliness, something she couldn’t put her finger on. She really hadn’t spent a lot of time analyzing mens cologne, however after being engulfed by it, she wished she had. It was interesting, really, that he smelled like cologne and not… metal? What were vampires supposed to smell like? Either way, she decided he smelled rather nice and his hoodie was so much warmer than her soaking wet clothes, even though he had no body heat. She tried to fold her bra up into her shirt as inconspicuous as possible, before she made her way back out to the dining area. When she returned to her table, she found a new iced coffee sitting on the wood, along with Harry sitting across from her spot with a straw between his lips and an orange colored drink in his hands. She made her way back to her seat, stuffing her crumpled and still damp shirt into her book bag as she slid into the booth. “I got you a normal iced latte. If that’s not what you ordered, then-” He said, words rushed as his eyes widened when he saw she was back. It was odd really, she remembered when she used to be anxious around him. She sighed, smiling slightly, “It’s great, thanks,” She picked up the cold coffee, just to prove her point and brought the straw to her lips. “Sorry about… Well…” He said, gesturing to the stained t-shirt she had sitting atop her book bag. She shrugged, straw still between her teeth, “S’fine. Your hoodies’ soft,” He smiled at this, almost proudly, as his eyes fell to look at the maroon hoodie that was now adorned on her body. “Got it ages ago. It’s older than you, I bet,” He said casually, causing her to raise an eyebrow. “How… Old is it?” She asked, her voice tentative like she didn’t really want to know the answer. She was curious, since it was in her nature, but having conversations with someone centuries old wasn’t something she was used to. “Got it in the 80s!” He exclaimed, taking another sip of whatever smoothie he had bought. She hummed with interest, “Love the 80s,” She remarked, chewing on her straw as she sipped her coffee. He nodded, clearly agreeing with her statement, “London had the best clothing store then, bit niche. Shut down a while ago, though,” He frowned slightly at the memory, looking down at his drink. “Sorry about that,” She muttered, eyes trailing over his fluffy hair, which was becoming a point of fascination for her. He always had it pushed up, the curls residing at the top of his head. However, he had little fluffy bits around his ears and at the back of his neck that always drew her attention. As if he had known she was thinking about, which he very well could have since she knew next to nothing about how vampires worked, his long fingers ran through the curly strands above his forehead. She tore her eyes away, just in case he could read her mind or something, and brought her attention back to her coffee. “What’d you wanna talk to me about?” She asked, after a couple of moments of silence after she remembered a certain panicked remark he made after the coffee spilling incident. His eyes widened slightly, the straw slipping from his mouth as he set his smoothie down on the table. “Wanted to know… How your classes were going,” He said, speaking faster at the end of the sentence like he’d just thought of it, which was what she was going for. She nodded, a small smirk on her lips as she answered, “They’re going good,” He looked pleased with this information, nodding seriously. “How’s… whatever you do going?” She asked, realizing she had no idea what he did with his free time. He smiled, looking happy that she had asked, “Really well! Haven’t been as many fights lately and bite numbers are down!” He exclaimed happily, which she could agree she was happy with. She gasped slightly, “That sounds great! Do you control that?” She asked, interested. She tried not to think too much on the fact that he was a vampire, even though it was really all she could think about, but she did restrain from asking too many questions in the fear of getting answers she didn’t want. He nodded, sipping from his drink again with puckered lips, “Gotta control the population, most of them know not to be dicks, but,” He gave a shrug. She nodded, intrigue written all over her expressions, “Are there a lot of you? You know…” She said, gesturing to her teeth instead of saying “vampires” aloud. He giggled, “A good number of us,” He remarked, before flashing her his fangs playfully. She rolled her eyes, “Feels weird to call you a… you know… You’re not very threatening,” She remarked, swirling her straw around her coffee. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, the small grin still on his lips contradicting himself, “Glad to hear it,” There was silence after that, pretty comfortable silence if you asked her. They sipped from their drinks, smiled at each other a few times, and made some random comments, but really that was the end of that encounter once Y/N had to go to her next class. She had bid him goodbye, not even thinking to grab his number, and wondered when she’d see him next, especially since she had left still wearing his hoodie. She had a feeling he’d manage a way to find her if he really wanted it back. She was sure he could somehow detect her with his weird vampire senses. Turns out, she was right about that. She was in her local grocery store, the one just blocks away from her apartment, looking to restock the fridge for the week. It was a mere three or so days since she’d seen him last, the memory still occasionally playing in her mind whenever she was performing mundane life tasks. She didn’t think she thought about him that much, even though every time she saw boys with curly hair or smoothies he crossed her mind, but her roommate brought it to her attention that she was a lot more spacey as of late. She really didn’t believe her or notice her inability to drift off into daydreams about fanged teeth and bubblegum lips, but she started to think she may have a bit of a problem when she absentmindedly slipped on his hoodie before heading out. She hadn’t even realized it until she’d grabbed her basket, having glanced down at her arm to see the maroon colored sleeve covering it, but at that point, it was too late. She’d just sighed, realizing for the one hundredth time that Emma was right when it came to her being ditzy lately, and carried on through the shop. She was trying to find the best fruits for smoothies, you can guess why she’d had that inspired thought, when she heard her name being yelled from a little bit away. She had turned around, already recognizing the deep, British voice, a smirk on her lips as she saw him jogging, pushing his cart and all, towards her. She momentarily forgot about the sweatshirt, since she’d been wearing it a lot recently for no particular reason, and because she was distracted by a very dapper looking Harry who was dressed in some printed pants. She smiled at his cute little wave as he approached her and she took that small amount of time to observe his outfit. He had on brown, plaid pants that fit him well, even though she’d only ever seen him in loose fitting track pants, along with an oversized and multicolored sweater. He had an interesting sense of dress, like someone who really didn’t know what was trendy, but he wore it well. “Like your pants,” She complimented, almost as soon as he reached her side. He smiled brightly, even wider than when he greeted her initially. “Thank you! Love the sweatshirt,” He said, gesturing to the much too large for her sweatshirt (of his, may she add) that she was donning. She cursed herself mentally for not only forgetting she was wearing his clothing and for bringing up the subject of clothes. “Laundry day,” She lied, mumbling slightly out of embarrassment. It was certainly not laundry day, actually the opposite since she did her laundry yesterday, but she was just pulled to the hoodie today for some reason. It was as if her brain knew she was going to be seeing him and it wanted to make it extra humiliating for her, like dropping a book and then coffee all over herself wasn’t enough. He really didn’t seem to mind, even looked a bit pleased with it, and if he was weirded out, he said and showed nothing. “Oh! We buy the same bread,” He said, sounding excited as his eyes flitted between his cart and her basket. She looked down as well, seeing the organic whole grain shit that Emma loved, so she bought it for her and secretly hoarded white bread in the back of the cabinet for herself. She was going to tell Harry this, thought it was a sort of funny anecdote, but he looked genuinely happy that they had the same bread, so she kept it to herself. She just smiled, unable to hide it since he really was so, so cute. “Can I do the rest of my shopping with you? Would you mind?” He asked, kind smile still on his lips like always. She nodded almost immediately, “You can tell me which fruits are best for smoothies,” She suggested. He pounced on that offer immediately, nearly knocking her over as he reached for peaches, raspberries, and all sorts of sweet fruits that really fit with his whole… thing going on. She had no idea what that “thing” is exactly, but she was getting lost in it alarmingly quickly and almost didn’t hear him speaking to her because her eyes were focused on a rampant curl that was swaying across his forehead invitingly. “Always get almond milk with it, too,” He told her, very seriously, as he bagged up her fruit delicately. She nodded, blinking rapidly as she forced her eyes to focus on his face and not that damned curl. He didn’t seem to notice her momentary distraction since he was very concerned with picking between two peaches. “One on the right looks fresher,” She remarked, turning her attention to the two fruits as well. He hummed, ultimately agreeing with her and placing the right one in the bag and tying it up. He placed them in her basket with triumph, giving her a proud smile, which she returned with a chuckle. “Thanks, never seen someone take fruit so seriously,” She told him, leading him to the next aisle as he followed without question. “After 500 years, you realize fruit is very important part of-” She stopped in her tracks, nearly tripping over her own feet as her jaw dropped. He had continued on, only stopping when he noticed she had. She stared at him in shock, “500 years?” She whisper-shouted, her throat tightening in that way it does when she’s trying not to scream. He smirked, “Too old for you?” Y/N only frowned at him, “Is that normal for a vampire?” Harry shrugged, “Liam just had his 1,500th,” Y/N scoffed in disbelief, “Jesus,” He only looked at her with an amused smirk, “How old are you, then?” She narrowed her eyes at him with annoyance, walking beside him anyways. “Too young for you,” She decided on, watching as he rolled his eyes. “Everyone’s too young for me,” He retorted, before excitedly turning into the snack cookie aisle and promising to show her the best crispy chocolate chip cookies he’d ever had. There were no mentions of his centuries old age after that, only Harry encouraging her to buy loads of snacks she didn’t need. He made her shopping trip exponentially more fun and on her trips after that, she found herself wishing he was there, something she found herself thinking a lot. She loved thinking about him, really, he was a cool guy, but her midterms were fast approaching and her professors were throwing work at her left and right. She had several papers to write, a few minor assignments, and one huge research paper for her psychology class. She was usually really good with school work, getting ahead occasionally and not procrastinating to a point where she felt like she was buried. However, recently, she’d been daydreaming a bit too much and telling Emma vague details about a guy she kept seeing around. He had a habit of creeping into her brain, popping his fluffy head in with a kind smile and distracting her from her homework. She was so distracted, she knew she needed to go to a quiet environment so she could fully engulf herself in her work. She had gone to the library, wearing her own sweatshirt this time, and snuggled up in her favorite nook. It wasn’t really a place for people to sit, but it was in an odd section of the library that no one ever wandered into. She’d found it her first year of college, meandering through the corridors to see what she could see. When she saw it was usually uninhabited, she made a habit of sitting against the bookshelves. It had that smell she associated with antiques, a musky sort of scent that made her smile, even though it could have been mold or something. Today was no different when it came to her seating arrangement, with her back pressed against the spines of the books, she sat spread out on the floor. She had her materials scattered around her, a laptop open to her essay document, dozens of printed papers full of research, and her notebook of scribbled thoughts and outlines. She had been working for an hour or so, already having finished her first iced coffee and written a couple of pages of her research paper. She was feeling really proud of herself, not thinking about non-human species even once throughout the hour, until she heard familiar clumsy footsteps. She didn’t process it at first, only sighed slightly as the noise brought her out of a pretty good flow she had going on, but she only furrowed her brow and stared harder at the laptop screen. It wasn’t until she heard a whispered greeting, that made her jump, did she realize her distraction was here. She widened her eyes, ceasing her typing as she looked at him. He was holding a book, one that was all ancient and weathered, wearing some tight jeans and a cozy looking knitted sweater. “Oh, hey, Harry,” She said, giving him a small smile as he instantly sat next to her. She almost groaned, really needing to get this work done and knowing she’d be incapable when he was sitting right next to her, smiling all sweet with that oversized yellow sweater. “Homework?” He asked with interest, leaning close to her as he glanced at her computer screen. She would have turned it away from him, not wanting him to see her unrevised writing, but she was way too stressed to even think of it. “Midterm paper,” She clarified, leaning her head back against the bookshelf to allow him to read what she had on the screen. “Seems interesting,” He remarked, sounding genuine as he tilted his head at the screen. “Could be better,” She sighed, looking to her side as she resisted the urge to cross her arms and let out a bratty huff. She felt his eyes on her, could imagine how wide and curious they looked, “Seem stressed, love,” He told her. She felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks, not only for him being able to tell she was seconds away from imploding, and the term of endearment. “Very,” She chuckled, releasing a sigh as she turned to look at him. His eyes ran over her face, noting the bags under her eyes and her frizzy, tied up hair. “You should take a break. It won’t do you any good if you work while you’re tired,” He reasoned, giving her a serious look. She bit her lip as she thought on it. He was 500 years old, so she suspected he knew what he was talking about. She was feeling pretty drained, her coffee not having made up for her recent lack of sleep. She turned to glance over what she had written, to see if her tiredness had actually affected her work like Harry thought it did, it was pretty shit writing. She only sighed deeply, wanting to bang her head repeatedly against a hard surface as she realized she’d have to delete about a page of worthless writing. “Let’s get you some food,” Harry decided, already standing as she looked up at him with scrunched up eyebrows. “Where are you gonna get food?” She asked, firmly planted on the ground with no plans of moving. She closed her laptop shut, placing it on the floor next to her as she stretched out her legs in front of her. “They’ve got a cafe downstairs,” He told her, watching as she nodded absentmindedly. “What do you like? Chips, cookies?” He asked, listing off the most likely foods to be in the cafe area. “Just some chips, some water too, probably,” She said, adding water as an afterthought when she realized she was probably dehydrated. She reached into her bag, pulling out some cash, but once she turned to hand it to him, he was gone. She rolled her eyes, not having even heard him leave. With yet another sigh, she pushed her back further against the bookcase and pulled her phone out of the front pocket of her hoodie. She had a couple of texts from Emma, one telling her good luck with the studying and another telling her she saved her some dinner. Y/N smiled at this, typing out a thank you. Emma really didn’t luck out when it came to roommates, but she handled Y/N gracefully. She was a medical major, so you could imagine how horrified she was at Y/N’s lack of reasoning abilities and accident prone life. Emma tried her best to stray Y/N away from entering abandoned warehouses and suspicious neighborhoods, but as can be seen with Harry’s house incident, Y/N never listened. Although she was terrified with Y/N’s lack of care for her safety, they still made a great match. They’d quiz each other on their very different classes (Emma’s human anatomy and Y/N’s American literature), make each other dinners that catered to their food needs (Emma was a vegetarian, so Y/N would make her meat free dinners whenever she was in charge of meal time) and they were always open to talking about various relationship troubles. Emma currently had a crush on a girl from her biochemistry class and Y/N was always there to offer advice and support when needed. Y/N herself had even dropped a few hints that she was interested in someone, a certain fluffy haired boy who was actually walking towards her at the moment. She looked up, slipping her phone back into her pocket once she saw Harry approaching her with a rather large bag in his hands. She rose an eyebrow, watching as he sat back down next to her and set the bag down in between them. “Ok,” He began, not even looking at her as he started to reach into the bag. She watched him with confusion as he pulled out two wrapped sandwiches. “They had these sandwiches and they look so good! I remembered you liked turkey, but I got some ham too, just in case,” He exclaimed, holding them both up victoriously. He set them aside, reaching back into the bag and pulling out various small bags of chips. “Wasn’t sure what your favorite was, got ‘em all,” He muttered, setting those aside with the sandwiches and diving back in for even more food. Y/N’s eyes widened, looking between the already large collection of food and the bag which was still being emptied. “Harry…” She said, a bit shocked as he pulled out some bottles of lemonade and two brownies. He looked up at her with wide, green eyes, two bottles of lemonade in one hand and two brownies in the other, “Yea?” Y/N couldn’t help but smile, seeing the genuine kindness in his eyes that always made her heart feel all mushy and weird. She shook her head, chuckling lightly, “Nothing, thanks,” She said softly. He smiled wide back, only handing her a lemonade and brownie as response, before turning to grab the sandwiches and chips. She watched him fondly, her heart beating irregularly in her chest. She wondered if he could hear it, if he knew how she felt right now, which only made her heart beat a bit faster. Almost as if he had heard her think this, which was possible since she didn’t know the limits to his vampiric abilities, “Can hear your heart beating so fast, haven’t eaten in a while have you?” He asked with concern, passing her the turkey sandwich. She felt a blush rise up to her cheeks, looking down at her sandwich instead of up at him. “Gotta eat, love,” He remarked, throwing yet another pet name her way which only made her cheeks heat up more. She mumbled something incoherent in response, focusing on opening up her sandwich instead. He didn’t say anything further, only the sounds of plastic ripping filling the air, which made room for lots of curious thoughts to invade Y/N’s head. She nibbled on her sandwich, wondering what else Harry could hear of her organs. Could he hear her blood rushing through her veins? What about her lungs expanding? Did that even make a noise? She needed to ask Emma about a lot of this, maybe even read her notes, she knew absolutely nothing about anatomy. As she chewed thoughtfully on some chips, she let her curiosity get the best of her, “Hey, Harry,” She said, sounding pensive. She looked to him, seeing that he was taking a sip from his lemonade. “Hm?” He asked, looking at her with a welcoming smile. “What else… Can you hear?” She asked lamely, watching as he gave her a confused head tilt. She jumped into an explanation, “You said you could hear my heartbeat… Can you hear anything else?” She asked tentatively, feeling like she was invading his personal life by asking. He shrugged, “Can hear your heartbeat, yeah. Can’t hear so much as I can smell,” He said casually, which only made her more interested. “Smell?” She asked, popping a chip into her mouth as he chewed some of his sandwich. He nodded, swallowing, “Once I know someone’s scent, can smell ‘em miles away. You, for example, have this sweet smell, really distinctive,” He informed her, waving a chip around in the air since he was notorious for talking with his hands. She blinked repeatedly at the mention of her “smell,” something he’d said before, but she wasn’t really used to. “Thanks?” She said, not sure if her smelling sweet was an odd compliment of sorts. He giggled in response, “I think it’s your blood type, always had a knack for A,” She tried not to look too shocked at his blatant mention of blood consumption, which she knew was something she’d have to get used to. “Pretty sure I’m type O,” She said, peeling away some of the crust from her sandwich. He furrowed his eyebrows at this information, “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” She smiled, rolling her eyes, “I’d say the same for you. I asked for chips and a water and got a feast,” She gestured to the layout of food between them, which Harry looked to sheepishly. “Being chivalrous,” He muttered. She only laughed more, “Makes sense, you were around when it was invented,” He gasped, playfully slapping at her thigh in false admonishment, “I’ll have you know I missed that mark by 300 years,” He told her proudly. She snorted, too busy laughing to even be embarrassed. “Missed when you were scared of me, weren’t mean to me then,” He mumbled, rolling his eyes as she burst into giggles. “You’re such a baby, for a vampire,” She choked out in between laughs. He only gave her an annoyed glance, before throwing the chip he was holding at her in response. She had gasped, grabbing at her disregarded crust and tossing it his way as a retort. That’s how they ended up having an impromptu food fight in the reclusive area of the library, laughing their asses off, her homework laying forgotten on the floor as they threw chips and playful insults about. She hadn’t gotten much work done that day, but she really didn’t mind it when she considered what she got in return. Harry had even walked home with her, carrying her book bag for her, even though she argued for him not to. They’d chatted about random things about her life that seemed incredibly dull when she spoke of them aloud. Things such as her book collection, the classes she was taking, the movies she liked to watch, her breaking and entering habit, and her favorite desserts. She felt dumb talking about herself, when she had a living piece of history next to her, but Harry seemed incredibly interested in all she had to say. If he was faking it, she thought he was doing one hell of a job, and if he was actually serious, her heart soared at the thought. She tried not to think of him as a vampire and it was becoming easier and easier, although she never thought it would. His teeth were always prominent, glinting in the sunlight if the rays hit him just right. She barely remembered the time she was scared of them, now only examining them with interest whenever she had the chance. He even let her in on some of his life, like how him and his friends lead the vampire clan in the area. She’d heard of Liam and Niall before, but that night she received information on Louis, Harry’s best friend and the first vampire he ever met. He didn’t expand on a story, only pointing out the fun fact and moving on. She made a mental note to ask him about it some day, but for then, only listening closely as he rambled on about some biting that had occurred days previous. They’d exchanged numbers that day, after Y/N gave a jab about him understanding technology. He’d typed his name in, adding the vampire emoji in after it, which only made her snort. It was hard to believe, or even remember, her fear she felt for him when they first met. This fluffy haired boy who giggled at his own jokes and bought excess food, just because he thought she hadn’t eaten. Besides, now, when she looked at him, all she felt was a fuzzy feeling in her heart and belly that definitely didn’t have anything to do with terror. Since that day, she found they’d gotten a lot closer, not only because of their bonding, but because of the number exchange. He texted her frequently, having texted her his whole walk home, which she found rather cute. She loved having a texting buddy, someone she could flirt with a bit and share banter with. She’d text with Emma whenever she wasn’t home, but when she had Emma right next to her, she never had reason to be typing away on her phone. So, one night when she’s been typing excessively while lounging on the couch, Emma finds herself getting suspicious. She’d noticed it a couple of days back, the way Y/N would check her phone frequently and smile, not so subtly, whenever it buzzed. She didn’t really think anything of it at first, until she caught Y/N giggling at her phone screen, which was an incredibly un-Y/N thing to do. After noticing this phone trend, she started to piece some things together. Her roommate had been way ditzier than normal, daydreaming during conversations and while she was cooking. After some inferring, Emma came to the conclusion that Y/N was a lot more serious about the brown haired boy she’d mentioned before. The thing about the brown haired boy, was that all Emma knew about him was that he had brown, curly hair that Y/N mentioned once dreamily, a habit of giggling at his own jokes, was very sweet to Y/N, and the fact that her friend was head over heels for him. In Emma’s mind, this wasn’t nearly enough information to go off of for her best friend’s new beau. So, she set off that night to find out more about this mysterious brown haired boy. Y/N, who was oblivious to this whole plan, sat comfortably beside Emma, a blanket over their legs as they watched a new documentary. Y/N had her phone out, like she usually did as of late, and was trying to suppress a smile from Harry’s latest text. Did you know that when I went to France in 1864 they taught me how to make the best macaroons? He was always throwing around facts like this, such as when he saved the British king from a vampire infestation and to this day is allowed stay at Buckingham palace. I didn’t know that, you’ll have to make me some sometime. She’d responded quickly, having already been texting him before he sprouted this information on her. She watched as the typing bubble appeared, then went away, then appeared again. This happened a lot, or so she noticed, and she liked to think it was because he was nervous about speaking to her, but she decided that she was just her projecting her feelings into him. With a small sigh, she turned her phone screen black and placed it in her lap, waiting for the next buzz. In the meantime, she focused her attention on the environmental documentary Emma had put on. She was just getting into the story about the mama and baby lemur, when Emma started to speak. “Haven’t heard about fluffy haired boy in awhile,” She remarked casually, not even looking up from her phone. Y/N smirked at the mention of him, “Still fluffy haired as ever,” Emma let out a small huff of laughter, before settling into silence for a few moments. She started to speak again though, right after Y/N had redirected her attention to the tv. “Has he asked you out yet?” She inquired, turning to look at Y/N this time. Y/N swallowed, heart rate increasing at just the thought of Harry thinking of her in that way, “Uh, no. Think we’re just friends,” She muttered. Emma frowned, her eyebrows scrunching up a bit, “No guy I’ve ever known texts a girl that much if he isn��t interested,” She observed. Y/N shrugged, “He’s different,” Emma immediately groaned in response, “You’re so whipped,” Y/N gasped, “I am not!” She yelled defensively. Emma only looked at her, eyebrow raised in an unamused manner. Y/N settled down, looking sheepish, “Maybe I’m… a bit whipped,” She admitted quietly. Emma nodded, “More than a bit. Caught you mumbling in your sleep a couple of nights ago. Asking for a bite or something, you kinky-“ “Shut up!” Y/N squeaked, wincing at the mention of her dream, which she could clearly recall. Emma only laughed, “Not judging,” She said, putting her hands up. Y/N pouted slightly, blushing beet red as she looked anywhere but at Emma. “He’s just…” Y/N said, trailing off as she tried to think of a word that could even describe Harry, let alone how she feels about him. “Different?” Emma offered up, meeting Y/N’s gaze with a small smile. Y/N smirked, biting her lip to keep from giggling. Emma only laughed, wrapping an arm around Y/N’s shoulder, pulling her in for a side hug. Y/N snuggled into her side, resting her head on her shoulder as she turned her attention back to the tv. Talking to Emma about him for just that short amount of time made her feel so much better. It was the best feeling being able to let out all of that bottled up fondness she had towards him, even if just for a moment. She needed to talk to her more about him, open up some, maybe even let her in on the whole truth. However, she couldn’t imagine Emma would be as adaptable as Y/N had been. She could see Emma staying in the fear stage for much longer than Y/N’s one week. She pushed the thoughts aside anyways, being reeled back into the documentary at the words “baby iguanas.” Her phone long forgotten and the sound of Emma’s heartbeat filling her ears, Y/N’s eyelids began to drop. The sound of the narrator’s voice almost lulled her to sleep, until a knock sounded on the door. Both Emma and Y/N sat up, since they never received visitors, especially not late at night. They looked to each other, faces mirroring a look of confusion that consisted of furrowed eyebrows and questioning eyes. They both stood, Y/N going for the door as Emma followed closely behind, phone in hand. They didn’t live in a bad area, but they were two college girls living in an apartment and any unexpected visitors after 9 pm is enough to arouse suspicion. Y/N was ready to signal for Emma to call the cops, expecting some weirdo or drunk to be slumped outside of their door, but when she opened it, rather cautiously, she was met with a very different sight. It was Harry. He was wearing his usual attire, some sweatpants along with a sweatshirt. This time, his curly hair was pushed back by a red bandanna, that she’d never seen before. He was looking down at his phone in one hand, his other hand holding a plastic bag with hearts on it that held… “Macaroons?” She asked, voice excited as she reached for the designed bag. Harry jumped, looking up from his phone, only to smile as he gave her the baggie. “Had some made, thought I’d drop ‘em by,” He mumbled, melting a bit under her excited expression. “Like the hearts,” She complimented, examining the pink hearts on the plastic bag. He looked down at his feet, which was in her top ten cutest things she’d ever seen anyone do, “Had ‘em around, thought you’d like them,” She almost awed aloud right there, wanting to hug him tightly, but after she ate some macaroons. She would’ve done all of these things, if it wasn’t for Emma. “Y/N? Who’s out there?” A voice called from inside. Harry looked interested, craning his head to try and get a look inside at what he suspected was her roommate. He’d been told about Emma only a few times, mostly off-handedly, like some of her random relationship troubles and her favorite types of juice. Y/N, on the other hand, had been so surprised by Harry she forgot about her worried roommate. “Oh, uh…”  Y/N stuttered, not being able to prevent Emma from opening the door wide and seeing Harry standing there, a smile on his pink lips. He had his lips closed, which was something Y/N noticed and swooned at. He truly was the most considerate vampire. Emma’s jaw dropped, looking at him and then turning to look at Y/N. “You’re fluffy, brown haired boy!” She practically shouted, causing Harry to widen his eyes in surprise. “Emma-“ Y/N said, putting a hand on her friend’s arm to get her to calm down. It didn’t even work a bit. If she freaked out this bad just for “fluffy, brown haired boy” she couldn’t even imagine her reaction to him being the vampire she’d encountered weeks ago. Well, actually, she could kind of imagine it and every scenario that ran across her head was less than pleasant. “Oh my God! Hi, I’m Emma,” She said quickly, extending her hand immediately to Harry, who took it politely, but clearly looked a bit offset. Y/N only watched helplessly as she waited for him to introduce himself and prayed to any God that would listen that Emma wouldn’t remember the vampire named Harry she’d mentioned weeks ago. “I’m Harry,” He said, shaking her hand and smiling kindly. Y/N watched with bated breath, heart beating so fast Harry even glanced at her suspiciously. She didn’t even care though, focusing on Emma’s face as her eyes widened briefly, pulling her hand back casually from her handshake with Harry. “Y/N…” She said slowly, with a tone of interest. “Emma-“ She said, getting cut off exactly as she had when she’d said her name before. “Is this Harry the vampire? The house you broke into?” Emma asked, looking him up and down curiously. “She didn’t break in, the door was unlocked,” Harry added, stepping closer to Y/N as Emma smirked. “Always getting herself into trouble. Least you’re cute,” She shrugged, patting Y/N on the back as she giggled at her friend’s humiliated expression. “She is, isn’t she?” He grabbed Y/N’s wrist, leading himself and Y/N into the apartment. Y/N’s eyes widened, a smile breaking out on her lips that she tried to hide by biting her lower lip. “Was talking about you,” Emma said, bringing a blush to both Harry and Y/N’s cheeks. “These ones are chocolate and hazelnut,” He explained to her, ignoring Emma and picking out a coffee colored macaroon from the decorated baggie and handing it to her. She just looked at him with a slack jaw, hearing Emma’s footsteps behind her as she stared at Harry’s expectant smile. Reluctantly, she took a bite of the macaroon, just to appease him since she knew he wouldn’t be happy until she tried them. Emma, who was now watching them with a small smile was ignored by Harry and ultimately ignored by Y/N as she gasped at the flavor of the macaroon. “Holy shit! These are so good, Harry!” She exclaimed, mouth still full as she took another bite. Harry smiled proudly, fishing out another macaroon for her to try. “Em, you gotta taste these!“ Y/N exclaimed, already extending a macaroon to a willing Emma. Emma happily nibbles on the delicacy while Y/N gave another smile to Harry. “You’re very good, thank you,” She said, earning a wide and adorable smile back. “I’ll make you cupcakes next,” He promised almost immediately which made her heart melt in her chest. “So,” Emma interrupted, mouth full of macaroon, “Are you two vampire friends with benefits or?” Y/N choked in response, giving Emma a sharp glare, “No! Emma-“ Harry, who had a small smile on his face from Y/N’s reaction, informed Emma, “She isn’t my feeder,” He looked to Y/N, eyes always lingering on her features much longer than normal, before turning to face Emma since she was talking. “What?” She had asked, shaking her head lightly. “I don’t feed from her,” He clarified, being met with blank stares from both women that clearly said they weren’t following. “I don’t drink from Y/N. It’s a consensual thing, she’s not my feeder,” He reiterated, watching both of them blink. “You two are weird,” Emma shook her head, watching as Y/N picked up another macaroon. “But her vampire is my vampire so, we’re watching a nature documentary, if you wanna join,” She announced, mouth full of macaroon as Y/N tried not to groan from embarrassment. Harry smiled, immediately prancing over to the couch. Y/N remained still, only watching as Harry took a seat at the end of the couch. He turned to look at her, waving the bag of macaroons in the air as a gesture for her to come over. She swallowed, taking in the scene of the two of them sitting as far apart from each other as possible, but walked over anyways and panicked over where she was gonna sit. Should she sit in the middle? Equal parts away from both as a way to stay neutral? Or, should she cuddle up with Emma like before? As a way to apologize for not disclosing her relationship with Harry? Should she sit near Harry? Just on the basis that she wanted to be near him? While all of these thoughts pounded against her skull, she hadn’t noticed her legs were carrying her to the couch and setting her body right beside Harry. That was that issue solved, she supposed. However, a new issue was the eyes she felt on her that belonged to Emma. She couldn’t tell the emotion behind the stare, whether it was teasing or fondness. Harry, who was either very oblivious or simply didn’t care, only handed Y/N the bag of macaroons and comfortably draped an arm over her shoulders. Y/N, who tensed up immediately at the contact, took the macaroons in her shaky hands and stared straight ahead at the tv. Emma, who had control of the remote, had yet to start the show again, so the room was once more shrouded in silence. Y/N, the bag of macaroons in her lap, her vampire crush’s arm draped over her and who could practically taste the tension in the room, wondered what exactly she’d done previously to deserve this fate. “The iguanas are trying to escape the snakes, really riveting stuff,” Emma remarked in a dull tone, pressing play on the documentary. Y/N huffed, knowing it wasn’t Emma’s choice to watch the documentary, but she couldn’t help but defend herself, “It is actually very interesting,” She muttered, staring at the tv. She heard Harry chuckle beside her, “I’m sure it is, love,” He agreed, causing her to smirk. Emma, who Y/N knew was probably dying to say something about the exchange, remained silent and the only sound was the relaxing voice of the narrator. Y/N, who was already sleepy in the first place, sunk her head back into the couch, eyelids hooded with sleep. “Can put your head on my shoulder,” Harry whispered, gently giving her shoulder a push to gesture that it was alright. Y/N obliged, not even thinking and feeling too comfy and sleepy to care. With one swift movement, she settled her temple against his shoulder, eyes still focused on the tv. “Have you ever been to the Galapagos?” She asked quietly, feeling his fingers trace over the skin of her arms as she relaxed against him. Her fingers went to the sleeve of his sweater, since his arm was laying across his stomach. She played with the soft material, Harry looking down at her with admiration. He hummed out a negative, “Never saw a reason to,” Y/N felt the most calm she had in awhile, momentarily forgetting about her school deadlines and her, most likely, still upset friend on the other side of the couch since she was too busy breathing in the scent of Harry and feeling the odd temperature of his body. He was cool at first, a refreshing chill, but was now warming, possibly due to her own body heat. “Shouldn’t you have gone everywhere? Since you’re a vampire?” Emma asked, sounding curious from the other side of the couch and bringing Y/N from her small dream land of Harry. “Emma..” Y/N scolded lightly, rolling her eyes subtly as she gave Harry’s wrist a squeeze as a form of apology. He shrugged, taking the chance to twist his wrist in a way that meant she was now holding his hand, “That’s a fair point. Some places are just better than others, I guess,” Emma hummed, Y/N not really paying attention to any of it since she was focused on the feel of Harry’s finger stroking the top of her hand. “How old are you, anyways?” Emma challenged, eliciting a deep sigh from Y/N. “500, give or take,” Harry shrugged casually, causing Y/N to close her eyes for a long moment, waiting for Emma’s response, whatever it may be. She only heard a hum, and opened one eye suspiciously as she waited for more. Nothing more came. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, how could she freak out about the vampire aspect but not the 500 years? “Did you know Elizabeth Bathory? I’ve always been curious about her,” Emma asked, causing Y/N to only scrunch up her nose in confusion. “She was a bitch,” Harry responded, causing Y/N to giggle at his unexpected reaction. This caught the attention of both Harry and Emma. Harry only gave her hand a squeeze, while Emma turned to look at them and smirked. Her eyes ran over their position, Y/N tucked into Harry’s side, hands intertwined and Y/N’s legs folded to her side. Her lips upturned so strongly she could barely contain the teasing smile, before turning to face the tv. It was silent for a few moments, only the narrator’s voice filling the room, before Y/N began to whisper very quietly to Harry. “What did Elizabeth Bathory do to you?” She asked, her voice hushed since she was so close to him. “Also,” She added, “Who is Elizabeth Bathory?” He chuckled, “Ever heard the rumor that vampires bathe in the blood of virgins?” He whispered to her, causing Y/N to blink rapidly. “You don’t, right?” She asked, almost immediately. Harry snorted, “Too sticky,” Y/N smirked, rolling her eyes. “She started that,” He answered. Y/N crinkled her nose in disgust, “That’s a lot of virgin blood,” Harry hummed, “I know, right? It never caught on,” “Should we watch a vampire documentary instead?” Emma interrupted, causing Y/N to flinch since she, quite rudely, forgot she was there. Y/N shook her head with disdain, eyes turning to look at the cute island animals on the screen. “Y/N says no,” Harry remarked, causing the girl in his arms to giggle. Emma stared at them, clearly biting her tongue, “Y/N, pass the macaroons,” She decided to say. Y/N, who had forgotten she had the macaroons, grabbed them from her lap easily and untwined herself from Harry to hand the macaroons to Emma. Emma thanked her, opening the bag as Y/N crawled back to Harry’s side. He wrapped his arm around her again, as he listened to Emma speak. “You know,” She said, mouth full of macaroons, “Y/N can bake,” Y/N groaned, “It’s cookies, not french delicacies,” “I like cookies!” Harry defended. “She’ll have to make some for you,” Emma decided, causing Y/N to roll her eyes. “You’re worse than my mom,” Y/N muttered. Emma giggled and Harry let out a laugh, his fingers running through Y/N’s hair. Y/N sat up, reaching across the couch to Emma, “Give me the macaroons, you don’t deserve them,” Y/N remarked, snatching the bag with hearts on it from her hands. Harry chuckled, watching as Y/N returned to his side of the couch and nibbles on a macaroon. “You’re a child,” He told her fondly. She looked up at him, pouting, which didn’t help her case. “Finally a voice of reason in this house,” Emma muttered. “Now shut up, the polar bears are on,” Somehow, after a full bag of macaroons and several episodes of the documentary, all three ended up asleep on the couch. Y/N was the first to go, cuddled up into Harry’s side, his fingers massaging her scalp, was a sure fire way for her to fall asleep. After teasing Y/N for falling asleep, Emma was gone too, curled up on the couch with her head on the arm of it. Harry, after realizing he was the last one standing, didn’t see the harm in falling asleep as well. He was mighty comfortable, with a cute girl cuddled into his side and keeping him warm, so it wasn’t difficult to nod off, listening the steady beat of Y/N’s heart.

When the three awoke, it wasn’t as peacefully as they had fallen asleep. A loud, and jarring, alarm had caused all three to jolt awake. Y/N groaned in displeasure, stretching her neck as she sleepily sprawled out onto Harry. Emma, who was muttering with annoyance, glared at Harry as he realized the sound was coming from his phone. He cursed, then apologized, as he frantically reached for his phone. He ended the alarm, eyes widening as he saw the label. “Sorry! I have a meeting,” He said, trying to keep his voice hushed since Y/N was still clinging onto him like a small koala. “It’s eight am, dude,” Emma scolded, checking her own phone. “He’s an important vampire,” Y/N mumbled, detaching herself from Harry as he rose from the couch. Harry chuckled, kissing her forehead as he smiled down at her sleepy form. He reached for a blanket that hung over the back of the couch, gently laying it over Y/N. “Nice to meet you, Emma,” Harry whispered, making his way over to the door and sliding on his shoes. “You too,” She mumbled, curling back into the couch. Harry smirked, looking over the two girls who were already back to sleep, as he left through the door.

“Was it a fever dream or did I meet your vampire boyfriend last night?” Y/N, who was still half-asleep, turned to look at Emma, who was on her phone. “Is he gone?” Y/N asked, stretching out on the couch. “Left this morning, you said he was an important vampire,” Emma recalled, making Y/N wince. “Ugh, of course I did,” Emma chuckled, “Want breakfast?” Y/N smiled, “Eggos!” She exclaimed, rising from the couch and prancing into the kitchen. “You really are a child,” Emma remarked, watching her friend, in her too large sweater, stand on the tips of her toes to reach in the freezer. “Huh?” Y/N asked, turning around to look at Emma. Emma just shook her head with a smile, grabbing the empty macaroon bag from the couch before she walked into the kitchen. “Do you think he just had these heart bags or do you think he bought them for you?” Emma asked, examining the valentine’s themed bags. “Probably just had them,” Y/N shrugged, holding the box of eggos in her hands. “I bet he bought some,” Emma mumbled, giving the bag one last look before throwing it away. Y/N ignored her, too focused on unpackaging the eggos and placing them into the toaster. “Hey, you should make him some cookies,” Emma suggested, leaning against the counter as she watched Y/N make the eggos. “Isn’t that overkill?” Y/N asked, staring at the toaster. “He kissed your forehead before he left, I think he’s into you,” Emma remarked. Y/N couldn’t help the smile that rose to her lips, making her look insane as she beamed down at the toaster. “Snickerdoodles?” She asked, reaching for the freshly popped eggos. “Mm, chocolate chip. Simple, yet great,” Emma said tastefully, walking over to Y/N as she grabbed a plate with an eggo in it. Y/N only smiled, “Did he really kiss my forehead?” She asked, biting her lip. Emma rolled her eyes, “Yeah, now eat your waffles, lovebug,”

“What are you doing?” Emma asked, watching Y/N from her perch at the kitchen island. Y/N, with a sharpie in her hand, looked up at Emma with innocent eyes. “Nothing,” She mumbled. “Are you drawing hearts on the baggie?” Emma asked, squinting down at the ziploc bags in front of Y/N. “No,” Y/N said quickly, reaching for the baggie and turning around to hide it in the most obvious way possible. “You’re hopeless,” Emma shook her head, looking back down at her notes. Y/N, who was now working on the opposite counter only smiled softly as she continued to lovingly draw the hearts onto the ziploc bags. “He’s very sweet,” Emma said after a couple of moments of silence. Y/N hummed in agreement, finishing off the hearts on the bags. “He seems to really like you,” Y/N shrugged, grabbing a spatula as she inspected the cooling cookies. “He seems to really, really like you,” She reiterated, making Y/N giggle. “I don’t think he hangs out with humans much,” Y/N said, placing three cookies into each of her four bags. “His teeth are cool,” Emma added. Y/N snorted, “Aren’t they?” She agreed. “Don’t you think it’ll be weird when you kiss?” She asked, writing something down on her paper. “Might be cool,” Y/N shrugged. “Do you think he has a biting kink? Or, like, a blood kink?” Emma gasped, looking up at Y/N with wide eyes. Y/N choked on her spit, holding four bags of cookies in her hands. “Do you?” She asked, eyes wide. “Probably! What if, like, he drinks when he… you know…” Emma said, giving her a knowing tilt of the head. “I don’t wanna think about it,” Y/N shook her head. “But, you are!” Emma protested. “I am,” She conceded. “I bet he’s some sort of sex god,” “Jesus, Emma,” Y/N cursed, running a hand through her hair. “C’mon! You know he’s got princesses under his belt,” Y/N frowned, placing the baggies in her tote, “I don’t want to think about Harry sleeping with princesses,” Emma nodded, “Understandable,” “Are you ever gonna let him drink from you?” Emma asked, climbing down from the island stool as she followed Y/N into her room. Y/N, who threw her tote onto her bed, took off her hoodie easily and shrugged at Emma’s question. “I don’t think he wants to drink from me,” She remarked, grabbing her favorite t-shirt from her closet. Emma, who had sat down on Y/N’s bed, only frowned at her friend, “He stares at you like he wants to eat you up, literally.” Y/N scoffed, exchanging her athletic shorts for some jeans. She reached down, cuffing the bottoms of them as Emma continued to talk, “Just ask him!” Y/N rolled her eyes, “Isn’t drinking from someone intimate?” Emma rose her eyebrows, “Done your research, I see,” Y/N gave her a side eyed glance, rolling her sleeves up. “Listen, wouldn’t you rather it be you than someone else?” She offered. Y/N thought on it, biting her lip, “That isn’t a good reason to do something,” Emma only shrugged, handing Y/N her tote once she had slipped on her shoes. “You have plenty of time to think on it when you walk to his place,” She said simply. Y/N took the tote with a mumbled thanks, throwing the strap over her shoulder. “Go get that vampire dick,” Emma said in all seriousness, causing Y/N to sputter out a cough of surprise. “You’re disgusting,” She countered, walking to the front door as Emma followed. “I’m supportive,” Emma defended, waving her friend goodbye as Y/N left through the front door. Y/N, who was still mildly shocked by Emma’s bluntness was left with a lot to think about as she made the trek to Harry’s house. Emma, while graphic, was right on several points. Such as how Y/N would rather Harry drink from her than from some other girl. It was selfish, sure, but at this point she had a feeling he knew he liked her and if she had to let him drink her blood to be with him than so be it. Maybe she’d even like it. She wondered what her blood would taste like, or if he would like it. He’d said before she smelled sweet, which seemed promising, but did that correlate to tasting sweet? How would she even proposition him biting into her? Would she just have to tilt her neck and look at hm until he got the hint or did they need to have a full discussion? Was there a non-disclosure agreement? Did she need a lawyer? All of these thoughts swirled around her mind as she walked mindlessly to Harry’s place, making her so oblivious that she barely realized she had even arrived. With some rapid blinks, she cleared her mind of previous blood kink thoughts and other vampire related sex subjects, as she reached for the baggies of cookies. She knocked a couple of times on the door, rendering no response. She looked up at the huge house, wondering if he could even hear her knocking if he was on a separate floor. With this in mind, she simply entered the house and made a mental note to tell him to invest in a doorbell. Humming as she walked, she entered the living room and gasped at what she saw. Harry, who was shirtless, had a girl on his lap and his face buried in her neck. Her head was rolled back in bliss, eyes screwed tight. Y/N, who was frozen from fright and also about to throw up, let out a squeak, which would have been a scream if she didn’t feel like she was going to pass out. Harry, who could hear her rapid heartbeat and then her scream, pulled his teeth away from the girl who was atop him and stared with wide eyes at Y/N, who had dropped the cookies she was holding. “I-“ She stuttered, lip quivering as she looked at the scene. “Sorry,” She mumbled, turning on her heel and walking out of the house sluggishly. She felt like she was going to collapse, walking so slow she wondered if she should just get a taxi instead of walk home. A voice stopped her, her feet stopping in her tracks even though she didn’t want them to. “Y/N!” Harry yelled, causing her to turn around and see him in his skinny jeans, tattooed torso revealed and blood on his lips. “You have blood on you,” She said, not wanting to say anything else. “I didn’t think you were coming by,” He remarked, wiping the blood from his lip with his hand. Y/N only stared sadly at him, before turning away. Emma was right. She would much rather it be her than someone else.

Her feet took her all the way to a coffee shop, dragging them against the pavement pathetically as she stared down at her hands for the majority of the walk. She didn’t bother to order anything, only went to a secluded corner and slouched into the booth. With disdain, she realized it was the same booth Harry had made her spill her coffee all over herself. She scrunched up her nose with disgust, letting out a sigh as she pulled out her phone. She saw she had some texts from Emma, but frowned when she saw what they said. Get your blood sucked, girl! She turned her phone off quickly after, throwing it on the table harshly and not even bothering to see if it was cracked. She rested her head against the cold window, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath. “You alright?” A familiar deep voice asked her. She opened one eye to see a now dressed Harry staring down at her. He was in a large sweater, with the same jeans she had seen him in last. “Jesus,” She cursed, sitting up as she scowled at him, “Did you follow me here?” “I can smell you, do you not remember anything I tell you?” He smirked, which she returned with a grimace. He didn’t bother to ask as he slid into the seat across from her, his hand reaching for the table menu. She only watched him, with fiercely knitted eyebrows, as he perused the menu. “Want a mocha?” He asked, running his other hand through his tousled hair. She said nothing, only looking at him with the same ferocity. He looked up at her over the menu, frowning. “I didn’t think I’d scared you that much,” He sighed, setting the menu onto the table as he leaned back against the booth. She furrowed her eyebrows, “Scared me?” She repeated. “Yeah, you know…” He said, flashing her his teeth. She only stared at him, blinking slowly as she frowned. “What? You not going to talk to me? I thought we were over you being afraid of me,” He remarked, sounding the most annoyed she’d heard him yet. She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “What?” He challenged, crossing his arms. “I just think it’s… rude,” She said sharply, crossing her arms as well. “What’s rude?” He asked. She huffed, “How you can cuddle with me and then have some other girl on your lap. What if she really likes you? That’s not fair to her,” Harry rose an eyebrow, a confused expression on his face. “What?” He asked, staring at her obliviously. “Emma said you even kissed my forehead! A-And then, you just…” Y/N let out a frustrated sigh, biting her lip to keep from crying. She cries when she’s angry sometimes, but it’s hard to tell if she was about to cry from anger or hurt. “Oh, don’t cry, darling,” Harry said, reaching across the table to try and touch her hand. She pulled away from him, pouting like a child. He looked taken aback, retreating his hand and staring at her warily. “So… You’re not afraid of me?” He asked, eyebrows slightly narrowed. Y/N groaned, looking around the cafe as if she was going to meet eyes with someone who would give her the “What’s up with this guy!” expression. “Have you been listening to anything I’ve said?” She asked. “So… You are afraid of me?” He tried again. “Jesus Christ, I like you! I was gonna ask you to drink from me!” She nearly exploded, feeling the weight rise from her chest almost instantly. “Woah, what?” Harry asked, leaning back in shock. Y/N let out a small, sadistic laugh, “Silly, right?” She asked, voice breaking slightly. “But I thought…” He trailed off, staring at her with what would best be described as interest. “That I was afraid of you,” She finished easily, staring at him sadly. “Which is really dumb since I literally fell asleep on you last night. Not to mention I wear your stupid hoodie all the time and text you non-stop and look at you like you actually created the universe,” At this point, she was vomiting out confessions of admiration and she was way too distraught to stop herself. If he didn’t like her, so be it. The least she could do is make him feel as guilty as possible. “You like me?” He asked, right as she continued to speak. “I made you fucking cookies! Cookies! I hate baking so much! I only made them because your stupid eyes lit up when Emma mentioned I made cookies. I hand drew hearts onto those bags! Hand drew!” She was near hysterical, not yet crying, but crying would have been better at this point since she looked damn near insane. “I like you too,” Harry said, unbeknownst to Y/N who was still rambling on angrily. “I genuinely can’t believe I have a crush on a vampire. I never even read twilight! You and your dumb beautiful mansion and me and my dumb curiosity- Wait, what?” She stopped herself mid-sentence, running her hand through her wild hair as she stared at him with wide eyes. He was smirking at this point, which only made her blood boil more. “What?” She asked, subconsciously knowing what he said, but logically knowing it couldn’t be true. “Maybe you’re the one who needs to listen,” He teased. “What’d you say?” She asked again, needing confirmation. “Let’s get icecream,” He proposed. “Did you say you liked me?” She inquired, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. He was already climbing out of the booth, extending his hand towards her. “Yeah, now c’mon, there’s an icecream parlor like a block away,” He beckoned. She stared at him for a couple of seconds, before biting her lip to keep from smiling. She didn’t take his hand, but she stood from the booth and walked right past him. “Hey!” He called after her, jogging to her as she left the cafe. He caught up with her, walking at her side, “What’s that about?” He asked, sounding annoyed. “You being an asshole,” She explained easily. “That’s not fair! You called me dumb and stupid,” He defended. She tilted her head as a challenge, giving him a raised eyebrow. “Maybe I’m dumb and stupid, but it was uncalled for.” He decided on, making her chuckle. “Do you really hate baking?” He asked curiously. She nodded her head, keeping her gaze forwards. “That’s sweet of you,” He mumbled. “You don’t deserve them anymore,” She remarked easily. “Hey! I have to drink to survive,” He defended himself. She glanced at him, “Shirtless?” He couldn’t seem to meet her eyes, looking ahead as he frowned. “Ok, maybe-“ She gave him another seering look, which made him shut up rather quickly. Y/N entered the icecream shop, holding the door open for him as they made their way in. “Just ask me… next time,” She said, pausing in the middle of her sentence as she tried to piece together the proper wording. “For what?” He asked, staring at her as she examined the ice cream flavors. “When you’re hungry… or thirsty, whatever it’s called,” She shrugged. “Seriously? I thought you-“ He began, being interrupted as Y/N spoke to the worker. “Can I have two scoops of chocolate?” She asked, ignoring Harry as he just stared at her. The man was quick to get her icecream, handing it to her over the counter as she led Harry to a table. She sat down, spooning some chocolate into her mouth as she stared at him. “I thought you were… against being bit,” He said, watching as she slid the icecream over to his side of the table. He took a spoonful, watching as she shrugged, “I’ve always liked biting,” He choked on his icecream, covering his mouth as he coughed. She erupted into giggles, sliding the icecream over to herself and taking another bite. “Who was she, anyways?” Y/N asked curiously, licking her lips. Harry took the icecream cup from her, frowning. “Just a friend,” He said, nonchalantly. Y/N rose an eyebrow, watching as he ate. “She was pretty,” Y/N remarked, taking the spoon from the bowl of icecream which was now placed in the middle of the table for easy access. Harry narrowed his eyes at her, “Why do you wanna talk about her?” Y/N shrugged, “Just interested,” She was swirling the icecream around now. “No, you’re not,” Harry argued. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. “Your blood smells sweeter than hers, anyways,” Y/N couldn’t help but laugh, looking away from him as she smiled. “What? Thought that was a nice compliment,” He defended, taking a spoonful of ice cream. “You’re just weird,” She shook her head. “Not very nice,” He mumbled, smiling slightly. “Give me some slack. I just saw a girl in your lap like thirty minutes ago,” She said, taking the icecream from him and holding it in her hands. He frowned, “Sorry,” She shrugged, spoon in her mouth, “It’s fine, I’ll just have nightmares for a couple of weeks,” He rolled his eyes, “You’re ridiculous,” She furrowed her eyebrows, “Think you’d like it if I was in some guy’s lap?” He immediately grimaced, “Alright,” He agreed. “Exactly,” She nodded. He was quiet, and she was aswell, still munching on the icecream as she felt his eyes on her. “So, like…” She began, sliding the icecream over to him, “Are you still hungry? Or thirsty, whatever it is,” “You did interrupt me mid-bite,” He muttered, accepting the icecream cup. She narrowed her eyes at him, “So sorry I interrupted your meal time with my freshly baked cookies and heart drawn bags,” “Fair,” He accepted. “You didn’t answer my question,” She said, not looking at him. It was already taking all of her bravery to ask this, she couldn’t dare look him in the eye at the same time. “I’m still sorta hungry, but you don’t have to worry abou- oh!” He exclaimed, widening his eyes. “Oh? I- Really?” He asked, sounding shocked. “I mean… If you want. I took an iron pill this morning, but…” She said sheepishly. “You took an iron pill?” He asked, smiling. She nodded, “Isn’t that supposed to make your blood strong? I don’t know how it affects taste, but maybe it’ll stop me from passing out in your house,” She explained, rambling slightly. He only smiled at her, “That’s adorable,” She blushed, “It’s whatever, I was just… I mean, looking out for my health,” she said, making no sense. He giggled, “Course you were,” “Ready to go, then?” He asked, already standing from the table, empty ice cream cup in hand. She rose from the table, bumping it awkwardly with her hip and wincing at the contact. He coughed, trying to hide his laugh, which caused her to scowl at him. He only smiled, leading the way as he threw the ice cream away and held the door open for her. “Do I need to prepare? And are you gonna take your shirt off again or was that just for her?” She asked, hearing him snort in response. “Would you like my shirt off?” He asked, grabbing her hand suddenly. She didn’t argue, only flinched slightly at the coldness of his hand. “Your tattoos are cool,” She admitted casually. He chuckled, “I’ll take my shirt off if you take yours off,” She scoffed, “Nice try. I thought vampires were supposed to be chivalrous,” “You’re just saying that because I’m old,” He remarked, leading her across the street. She didn’t say anything, only smiled as she looked around the city. “Your hands are warm,” He mumbled, his thumb tracing over her skin. “That’s because you’re undead,” He huffed, “I thought girls were nice to you when they liked you,” “You’ve been with the wrong girls,” He smiled, looking over at her as her hair flew around in the wind, “Definitely,”

“So, is there a special place we have to go?” Y/N asked curiously, standing in the center of Harry’s living room. He had sat down on the couch, looking at her with wide eyes. “Here’s fine,” He shrugged, she eyed him nervously. He didn’t seem too excited. Had she been pushing him? Or was he just acting cool? “Are you ok with this?” He asked, sounding a bit shaky himself. She frowned, wondering if he was looking for a way out. She glanced around the room, trying to find somewhere to focus on that wasn’t his big green eyes. She decided on the bookcase diagonal to her. “I mean… I’m good with it if you are,” She said, twiddling her thumbs as she tried to not come across as too eager. “Course I’m ok with it,” He said in a teasing tone. She giggled nervously, looking around one more time before she sat down next to him on the couch. “What if… My blood is gross?” She asked randomly, hearing him snort. “Doubt it will be, love,” He remarked, his head tilted to the side to look at her as she looked straight ahead at his mantleplace, wringing her hands in her lap. “Should I-?” She asked, looking towards his lap and then to his eyes, silently asking if that’s where she needed to be. “Oh, no. You’re gonna be dizzy,” He said, quickly moving so that he was straddling her lap. She gasped, pushing herself back into the couch and looking anywhere but at him. Her hands lay weakly at her sides, heart racing a million miles a minute as she felt his thighs on either side of her. “Just breathe. I won’t hurt you,” He comforted her, reaching for her hand. She gave it to him, praying that it wasn’t noticeably shaking as bad as she thought it was. His cold hand and cold ring covered fingers contrasted to her sweaty hands perfectly. He leaned down towards her neck, so close that she could feel his warm breath. She swallowed nervously, finally looking down to see the top of his head, brown curls swirled atop it. “Squeeze my hand if it hurts. Shouldn’t be worse than a shot,” He muttered quietly, looking up at her briefly to see her wide eyes and slightly parted lips. “You sure you’re ok?” He asked once more, thumb caressing the soft skin of her hand. She nodded quickly, staring at him unblinkingly. “You’re breathing really fast, we don’t have to if-“ He began to speak rapidly, grabbing onto her other hand and lacing his fingers with hers. “No, I mean- Do you want to?” She asked, heart rattling in her chest as she worried that he didn’t even want to do this in the first place. He’d already told her yes, but maybe he was having second thoughts. “Well, yeah, but-“ He began, being interrupted again. “Then, yeah, I want to,” She said with a firm nod. He continued to look into her eyes, narrowing his own with uncertainty, “I don’t wanna force you to-“ “Just fucking bite me, Harry,” She sighed, eyes widening to the size of golf balls afterwards. Maybe not the best thing to say. He only chuckled, “Alright, alright,” With that, he leaned down, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck, right under her jaw. She tried to even out her breathing and relax, leaning her head against the couch as she closed her eyes instead of staring up at the ceiling with buggish eyes. He continued to gently kiss on her skin, his lips soft and warm from touching her own flesh. She had finally started to relax, actually enjoying the feeling of his lips attached to her neck. So relaxed, that her hands had even stopped shaking and she was breathing evenly. Her relaxation didn’t last long, because before she knew it, she felt a sharp pain right where she had previously felt soft kisses. She gasped, her eyes opening suddenly and her body flinching instinctively. Harry’s hand gave her hand a squeeze in comfort, humming to her slightly. Her body tensed, taking in the odd sensation of his cold teeth and the blood leaving her body. Slowly, she began to feel very floaty, as if she was about to fall asleep. Her head lulled to the side, lips parted as she breathed in and out deeply. Before she had time to notice, her head feeling cloudy, Harry had already pulled away from her neck and placed a warm kiss to her cheek. She opened her eyes slightly, feeling the weight of her eyelids against her eyes. “Wasn’t too bad, right?” He asked, licking some excess blood from his lips. She stared at him dreamily, “S’fine,” She slurred. He smiled down at her, hand reaching up to push some of her hair behind her ear. Y/N continued to look up at him, admiring the stray curl that fell down onto her forehead. “Was my blood good?” She asked droopily. Harry giggled, still playing with strands of her hair. “Very good,” He confirmed, smiling brightly, fangs on full display. The glint of them caught her eye, tilting her head slightly as she stared. “Do they bother you?” She asked curiously, eyeing them with interest. He shook his head, “They’re not sharp,” He explained, “Wanna feel?” She nodded much too quick, already raising her hand and extending it to his open mouth. He giggled, watching as she stared at him with such interest. Her finger gently ran over the sharp tooth, humming with interest. “Cool,” She mumbled lamely, pulling her hand back as he chuckled. Almost as soon as she had retracted her hand, he wrapped his arms around her, putting his head on her shoulder as he hugged her. She made a huffing noise, not displeased, just surprised, as she slowly wrapped her arms around him aswell. It was silent for a couple of moments spare their breathing, until Y/N spoke up. “Uh… Whenever you… Need to… Do that… again… Just call me, or whatever,” She said without a single ounce of confidence. She nearly rolled her eyes at herself when she heard her own voice. Despite her lack of sureness, he hummed anyways, placing a kiss to her neck once more before resting his head down again. She bit her lip to keep from smiling, gingerly moving her hand from his back to run her fingers through his curls. Once she did, fingernails gently running against his scalp as she allowed his soft hair to run through her fingers, he sighed contently. He mumbled something against her neck, causing her to hum in inquiry. He turned his head, allowing himself to speak instead of his words being blocked by her skin. “Do you wanna go out?” He asked, causing her to furrow her eyebrows with confusion. “With me?” He added on to clarify. “Like a date?” She asked, a smile already reaching her lips. He nodded against her. She let out a small laugh, “Yeah, of course,” She could feel his smile against her skin. She continued to play with his hair, a smile on her face as she looked up at the ancient ceiling. She couldn’t wait to tell Emma, she’d done way more than get her blood sucked. She was beyond relaxed, finally not feeling so doozy as she just hugged Harry contently and played with his soft curls. Harry had other ideas, jumping from her lap and straightening his sweater once he rose to his feet. She looked at him curiously, staring up at him as he smiled softly. “What are you doing?” She asked curiously, hand going to her neck to feel the wetness of her own blood. She frowned, looking down at her stained finger. He didn’t seem to notice, too busy smiling and running his ring covered hands through his hair. “We’re going on a date, right?” He asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Y/N bit her lip to keep from smiling like a maniac as she stood slowly, “Right now?” She asked. He nodded vigorously, “There’s a great burger place and I think you’ll like their milkshakes. I was just there a couple of days ago and the neon lights remind of you,” He spoke rather fast, her heart swelling dangerously in her chest as she stared at him with what had to be the most sickeningly sweet gaze. She didn’t bother to ask how neon lights possibly made him think of her, only being able to stare at him fondly and smile wide. She was about to take a hold of his arm and have him lead her to the burger place, but she felt a surge of pain in her neck which made her falter. “Can I get a bandaid first?”

“Are you feeling alright?” Harry asked, for possibly the tenth time since they had started walking. She hummed out a yes, not even bothering to say anything like she had the first five times. They’d been walking for only a short amount of time, Harry leading the way and tightly gripping her hand in his. “It’s just… Heart’s beating pretty fast,” He explained, causing her to let out a huff. “That’s not fair,” She muttered with annoyance. “What’s not fair?” He asked curiously, thumb caressing over the skin of her hand gently. “You always know how fast my heart is beating or if I’m nervous and I can never tell with you,” She shrugged, looking down at her feet as Harry smiled softly at her. He giggled, which turned into a more deep laughter which caused her to stare at him curiously. “What?” She asked, looking at him with a confused glance. He settled down rather quickly, a smile still on his lips, “I don’t have a heartbeat, love,” She gasped shortly, eyes widening at her mistake. He only giggled again at her reaction, giving her hand a squeeze. “I don’t know anything about vampires,” She admitted with an ounce of shame. He chuckled, “S’alright, love. I’ll answer any question you got,” He told her comfortingly. She smiled, catching sight of the old timey diner a block away. Harry must have caught her looking, because he piped up, “Nice, isn’t it? Reminds me of the fifties,” He remarked, looking fondly at the place. She hummed in agreement, “Where were you in the fifties?” She asked curiously. “Paris,” He responded easily, tugging her arm to walk faster across the street. “Is it nice there?” She questioned, practically jogging to keep up with him as they approached the diner. “It’s beautiful. I’ll take you sometime,” He said casually, opening the door to the diner. She almost laughed, but when she looked over at him with a smile, he looked completely serious. “Would like that,” She said, trying to act as serious as he was but finding the proposition difficult. “Harry!” A voice called out, which caused both of their heads to turn towards it’s direction. Harry, who had smiled brightly and seemed to be familiar with the tone was a stark opposite from Y/N, who had widened her eyes in surprise. “Oh, you’ve brought a girl!” An older lady was revealed from behind the counter, sporting a poofy and very on-brand 50s skirt. “This is Y/N,” Harry introduced her, since Y/N was staring curiously at the woman. She gave her a kind smile and a small wave as the woman positively beamed back. “I’m Edith. Harry never brings girls back! He’s such a handsome boy I was starting to get worried,” Edith remarked, which made Y/N giggle. Harry seemed unbothered, only focusing on pulling Y/N to sit next to him on the same side of the booth. Y/N gave him an odd look, never having been a girl to share the same side of a booth with a date. He looked very pleased to have her right next to him, instantly throwing an arm over her shoulders as he stared fondly over at Edith. She wondered if it was just for show, but the way his fingers played with the ends of her hair she had an inkling of a feeling that it may just have been him wanting to be close to her, which made her heart swell. “No need to be worried,” Harry said easily, a strand of Y/N’s hair wrapped around his finger. She giggled, turning to smile at him as she leaned into his side. Edith smiled at the both of them sweetly, “I can see that,” She proceeded to pull out two menus, handing them to Y/N and Harry, smiling kindly as she listed off some specials and then left them to decide on their meals. Y/N reached for her menu, opening it and perusing it curiously. Harry, who had left his menu on the table, was looking at Y/N’s instead, leaning in closer to her. She smiled, trying to ignore his presence and the scent of his cologne as she focused on what item she should get. “Should I get breakfast? Or a burger?” She asked, glancing at Harry to see he was already staring at her. “What?” She asked, her cheeks already turning a light shade of pink. “Just really pretty,” He complimented honestly, not taking his eyes off of her. She blushed deeply, looking back at the menu. “Think I’m gonna get a burger,” She said, ignoring his compliment, but keeping a smug smile on her face. “Gotta try the milkshake,” He added, pointing to the pictures of them on the menu. She nodded, “What are you gonna get?” “Same thing I always get, a burger and some fries,” He answered easily. “Do you come here a lot?” She asked with interest, setting the menu down as she turned to look at him. “S’my spot,” He said fondly, looking around the restaurant. She smiled, honored that he’d take her here. “Why’d you bring me here?” She asked, not being able to help herself as she shamelessly stared at him since he was doing so to her earlier. “Told you, it reminds me of you,” He said, repeating himself from earlier. She had in fact remembered, she was just painfully nosy. She just stared at him, waiting for him to explain. He gave her a smirk, “S’warm and smells nice. Just like you,” She blushed, looking down at her clasped hands on the table. “Tastes good too,” He added, burrowing his face in the crook of her neck, kissing over the bandaid which covered her bite mark. She gasped, playfully shoving him away as he only attached himself more by wrapping his arms around her possessively. She giggled, letting him hug her and place kisses on her cheeks and neck. Edith, who was smiling as bright as the sun, walked up the table, which only made Y/N blush and try and push Harry away. He kept his arms around her anyway, only looking up at Edith with a boyish grin. Y/N couldn’t meet her eyes, instead putting her hand over Harry’s hand which was on her waist. She played with the cold rings on his cold fingers and listened to him order for the both of them. Edith didn’t seem to mind or think she was rude, which Y/N was afraid of, instead only glancing at the girl and smiling just as bright as she had Harry. “You’re a shy little thing,” Harry remarked almost as soon as Edith had turned away. Y/N blushed yet again, twisting a rose decorated ring on his finger, “And you’re touchy,” She remarked, just as he had placed another kiss to her pink cheek. He scoffed, “You’re playing with my fingers,” He observed. She shrugged, glancing at his eyes, “Want me to stop?” He shook his head immediately, looking down at where she continued to twist and caress the rings decorating his thin fingers. “Where’d you get this one from?” She asked curiously, tips of her fingers running over the intricate detailing of the rose ring. “1700s Italy,” He responded easily, making her hum with interest. “Very pretty,” She complimented, giving it one last twist on his finger before moving to the next ring. “You’re very pretty,” He fired back, causing her to bite her lip to keep from smiling too wide. “Stop,” She mumbled, giving his finger a tug as punishment. He only smirked, staring down at her fondly, “So pretty, could kiss you all over,” Y/N gasped, ceasing her petting of his fingers to give him a stern look. He only smiled, thinking how she looked very much like a disgruntled kitten with her nose all scrunched up. “Would you let me kiss you?” He asked, sounding curious as she took a quick look around the diner. It was empty, save for an old couple on the opposite end of the room and Edith was nowhere to be seen. Y/N shrugged, “Suppose,” Harry smiled brightly, moving one of his hands so it could cradle the back of her head. She was already blushing so hard it felt like her cheeks were on fire, but the heat in her face was forgotten once Harry led her lips to his. She had gasped, her grip on his hand tightening as she felt him smirk through the kiss. His lips were soft, a bit cold, but nice overall, and when he pulled away she was tempted to ask for another. “Taste like bubblegum,” He remarked, licking his pink lips as she stared at him, entranced. “That’s my toothpaste,” She said, making him giggle. She licked her own lips, watching as his eyes watched her. “You taste like metal,” She told him. He smirked, “That’s your blood,” She scrunched up her nose, sticking her tongue out briefly in disgust. He laughed loudly, pressing a kiss to her temple as he pulled her more firmly into his side. “Haven’t been on a date in nearly fifty years,” He muttered casually, making her gasp. “Fifty years?” She asked, hushing her voice but still letting the shock float into her tone. “No need t’ make fun of me for it,” He said, sounding somewhat teasing but not enough for her to not feel guilty. “Sorry…” She muttered, “Just not used to you saying stuff like that since you look my age,” He didn’t seem to mind, or at least didn’t say anything as he changed the subject. “I’ve been meaning to ask you…” He trailed off, causing her mind to wander to millions of possibilities, each one making her more nervous than the last. She just looked at him, wide-eyed, waiting for him to continue. “Have you always been into older men?” He snorted at his own joke, while she rolled her eyes, holding in her own smile as he positively snickered at his humor. “You’re an idiot,” She told him firmly, feeling him press a kiss to her cheek. “And your lips are cold,” She added, giving him a playful shove. “Gotta warm ‘em up then, love,” He told her, puckering his lips as she turned to smile at him. She stared at him fondly, taking in his curled hair and pale cheeks along with his pink, puckered lips and closed eyes. He really was a weird vampire. But, he was her vampire and she certainly didn’t mind it.

[warzonic]

RULES: repost, don’t reblog. just pick a muse of yours and fill it out.

— basics

▸ is your muse tall/short/average? he’s a goddamn tree standing at a proud 6′5.

▸ are they okay with their height? he ... never really thinks about it. but when the height advantage does come up, and obviously plays in his favour, he enjoys being invulnerable. 

▸ what’s their hair like? it’s almost always cropped short. it’s not fluffy, not exactly shaggy either, but not shaved. natural hair at a medium length. black with a lock of white at the front, though there are grey hairs at the edge of his temple that grow worse the more quintessence his body uses up.

▸ do they spend a lot of time on their hair/with their grooming?  yes, both as   “   shiro   ”   and charon. while he doesn’t necessarily take pride in his appearance, he can’t stand when things are out of place. for example, if his hair reaches a certain length, he’ll shave   /   cut it off immediately, as long as he has the resources to do so. charon has control difficulties, so being able to more or less control how he looks   (   AND HOW HE DIFFERS FROM SHIRO !   )   is a good starting point.

▸ does your muse care about their appearance? mm. again, yes and no. he’s not very prideful about how he looks because his outward appearance is nearly a mirror image of shiro. but charon also takes pleasure and contentment in controlling how he looks. i.e, cutting his hair, shaping it, combing it. how he dresses, what he wears. it may not be a prideful   /   narcissistic thing, but he does care. to some extent.

▸ does your muse care about what others think about them? unfortunately, yes. charon’s mindset is still very child - like, and adapts to the environment around him slowly while absorbing the new stressors immediately. you can see where the problems come into play, especially as charon wants to actively change the perception of himself. he was a tool used by a monster, a tool created for the singular purpose of infiltration, murder. he wants, yearns, to be more than that. and if others don’t see him that way? it’s bone - crushing, especially to someone who doesn’t really know what else to be, even though he can identify the feeling to be different.

— preferences

▸ indoors or outdoors? outdoors . ▸ rain or sunshine?  rain . ▸ forest or beach? forest. ▸ precious metals or gems?  metals . ▸ flowers or perfumes?  flowers. ▸ personality or appearance?  unquantifiable in charon’s mind. both are of equal value.  ▸ being alone or being in a crowd? alone. ▸ order or anarchy? oof. charon adheres to both at one point in his life. orders as kuron, anarchy as he began to find himself as charon. while he would more than likely choose anarchy at any given time due to his ire at being controlled, and fear thereof, down the road after some maturation, charon believes both are of equal important to a soul. ▸ painful truths or white lies?  painful truth. always. charon has done enough lying in his life.  ▸ science or magic? science. despite charon’s ability to use magic based around his body makeup of quintessence, he associates magic with haggar and her druids. he would rather focus on humans   /   earth science, as the mathematical components also intrigue him. ▸ peace or conflict?  peace . ▸ night or day?  night . ▸ dusk or dawn? dusk . ▸ warmth or cold? warmth . ▸ many acquaintances or a few close friends?  a few close friends . ▸ reading or playing a game? reading. charon loves to learn !

— questionnaire

▸ what are some of your muse’s bad habits? short temper, easy to anger, and hostile to strangers. self - preservation instincts are hard to ignore when you’ve been used and tossed aside, and charon has to have extreme self - awareness to taper it down. more often than not, he fails.

▸ has your muse lost anyone close to them? how has it affected them? he has memories of losing people, but those memories are not his own. while those instances affect him and give him a greater understanding of longing   /   sorrow, and death itself, charon has never lot anyone. yet, due to this trauma from shiro’s past, one of his greatest fears is watching his   “   family   ”   die.

▸ what are some fond memories your muse has? most memories are not his own   /   are too interconnected with lying about being shiro that charon doesn’t consider them his. however, there are rare ones such as the first time keith fell asleep on him, when shiro forgave him, and hunk baking him treats out of simple kindness.

▸ is it easy for your muse to kill? yes. charon can and will be a ruthless killer at any given point. he’s easily the most blood thirsty and vengeful, and holds no qualms about killing the enemies of voltron, especially those that had trained him for project kuron.

▸ what’s it like when your muse breaks down? similar to my own breakdowns, charon experiences visual and auditory hallucinations, often feeling trapped within his own mind - scape. charon also confuses others for his abusers, and hyperfixates on how his skin crawls during these moments. unfortunately, that’s when dissociation sets in. his actions from there forth are unable to be predicted, but can range from extreme emotional distress i.e. sobbing, screaming, thrashing, to full out brawls or plain numbness. it depends on the circumstance and the triggers that may either alleviate the trauma or induce more.

▸ is your muse capable of trusting someone with their life? he already does. to shiro, believe it or not.

▸ what’s your muse like when they’re in love? gentle. kind. while charon is a newcomer to such an emotion, he is affection - starved to the point of docile nature. his significant others don’t go a day without knowing they’re loved and cared for, and while charon himself struggles with coming to terms on what love really, deeply means, he displays it openly and without fear. he’s never loved something   /   someone, not even as charon. it’s an emotion that has yet to be tainted by haggar’s corruption. it’s why it comes easier, and never fades. he’s a strong believer in true love and, in all honesty, a romantic. one of his greatest hopes is to be loved as any other person. as himself.

Tagged by: @galacticscarred

Tagging: @shiroganc, @bladebuilt, @empyrosis, @empyrebled, @pyrobled, @fehlheart, @nostraen.