#abandoned time capsules

[staticspaces]

Anna's House

You can find the full video here!

Today let's have a look at what the upstairs looked like along with a few close ups of some of the items left behind!

From what I could find, this house has been abandoned for 20 years with the latest date in the house being from the late 90s. It was and is owned by a woman named Anna but why she has left it this way, we may never know.

There are large holes in the roof, the walls are tilting and the floors heaving. It is filled with furniture and belongings most of which appear to be from the 60s and 70s, there are even family photos left behind. Given it's current state and lack of upkeep, this house will likely continue to rot away and one day completely fall apart.

[zombilenium]

"Stuck In Time"

Abandoned home in Connecticut

[ariadne-mouse]

I mentioned in this post that I thought it would take a life or death choice about Imogen for Liliana to flip, situationally, as opposed to the party being able to convince her to change her ideology (cult juice is strong), and it seems we may have gotten an element of that in Liliana flying to Imogen's aid against Otohan. I'd be very curious what Liliana would have done if she'd gotten there in time to fight, but we'll never know, so we have to digest the moment we got. I also think FCG's death adds another dimension both in-game and above the table. Since we dropped out literally mid-scene after her arrival this post may get stale immediately after the first few minutes of next week's episode, but for now I think it's safe to say that at least for the time Liliana spends with the party right now she will not be an active antagonist. Her daughter called for help and she answered, and her first act was trying to comfort her. Matt also wouldn't hit the players with another big battle fresh off the first (and with that outcome), so if they do have to face Liliana as an enemy it would be later under evolved circumstances.

To be clear I don't think FCG dying means Matt nerfs the threat of Liliana or that this situation means she has flipped permanently, but rather, it neatly interrupts the established dynamic between Liliana and Imogen thus far and creates a chance for new dialogue that doesn't just repeat all the same things as before. Imogen hasn't needed her mother - not really - and maybe still doesn't, but she called for help and is grieving now and the conversation doesn't necessarily have to be the same old "Liliana renounce your cause" but rather "help your daughter here and now" and to connect with her through that emotion. This is probably the best opportunity they'll ever get to flip Liliana in a more than "last ditch in a crisis moment" kind of way or lay the groundwork for that happening later. Now, the party - and Imogen in particular - may rightly be angry with Liliana as an ally of Otohan, and that FCG died because of the cause Liliana supports. Liliana may want to comfort her daughter while also believing that FCG's death was unfortunate but not ultimately a reason to doubt the cause or escape what she sees as inevitable. It's messy! But it's a very interesting situation and FCG's death is such a visible wound on Imogen that it may elicit Liliana to do or consider things she wouldn't, otherwise.

[abandonedography]

A Well-Preserved Abandoned Time Capsule House

Along a scenic road lies this incredible time capsule house with everything left behind. This large home built in 1956 features interior design elements from the 70s including shag carpeting in the bedrooms, a carpeted wall in the primary bedroom, appliances from the same era, and even an Asian-themed tiki bar/room in the basement. There are several personal items left behind as well from clothing, to photos and even letters from the children to their father.

The Home was owned by a German man named Hans. He was born in 1923, and he married a woman named Emma at a relatively young age. Hans was a school teacher by profession, teaching at a nearby school. He was a hard worker and was always furthering his education, as seen in several certificates found throughout the home. I believe he also had a small business selling renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines which he operated out of a separate part of the home. In his spare time, he liked to build and maintain his elaborate model train display in the basement.

He and his wife Emma enjoyed travelling and did so often until finally deciding to settle down. They had two children, Adele and Michael. They led an idyllic life for a few years but as time went on cracks began to emerge in the marriage. Emma decided it was time to leave and she moved with their children a couple of hours away from Hans.

Hans moved on and met a woman named Ida. Michael would occasionally send letters to Hans and from what I read, they did not have the best relationship. Michael being very religious, was always optimistic they would see each other during the holidays but from the sounds of the letters, that likely didn't happen. He was also upset about the fact that his father did not call him regularly. In one of the letters Michael said that after a phone call with his father, he was scared to death of visiting him after speaking his mind. Emma did not get along well with her ex husband and this likely played a role in the ability for the children to visit with their father as well.

Life continued on for both families until Hans passed away in 1980, he was only 57. Ida lived in the home until at least 1983 as seen in a handwritten letter from Michael addressed to her. At some point after that, Ida moved to Pennsylvania since she likely had friends/family there. The house has sat abandoned ever since.

Emma passed away a few years ago but I have not been able to find out any information about Adele. Michael however spent a lot of time in school training to work in a religious-related field. He had inherited a strong work ethic from his father, reminiscing about how Saturdays were work days and how that impacted his life. He has since found a very rewarding and successful career in religion.

source - video of the house

[loverslakes]

it will be a normal day and then i’ll watch this video i posted of me and my best friend where i’m clearly the happiest i’ve ever been and they see right through me they see right through me can you see right through me they see right through they see right through me i see right through me i see ri

[kvetch19]

x

[iliketoseeeverythinginneon]

Instagram: iliketoseeeverythinginneon

[christinatravel]

Nestled on the rugged edges of northern Morocco, where the whispers of history blend with the azure embrace of the Mediterranean, stands a testament to time - an abandoned Spanish military castle. Its silent stones, caressed by the sea breeze, tell tales of bygone eras, of vigils held and battles fought. Above its weathered facade, a solitary prickly pear plant stands sentinel, a living relic of ancient times. This castle, a bridge between worlds, invites the soul to wander amidst the shadows of history, under the watchful gaze of nature. Join me on this journey through time, where every stone has a story, and the horizon stretches into eternity. 🏰🌊🌵

[devilmaydick]

funny how it took the death of twitter and me avoiding an existential crisis to bring me back to tumblr lmao

[staticspaces]

Time Capsule Shack

Don't forget, there is also a video showing the entirety of this great little time capsule house!!

And finally, let's have a look at the rest of the photos from this location, including the kitchen!!

Located in a rural area surround by farmland, you might find this long abandoned farmhouse. A very modest looking home with a few outbuildings, one might pass right by thinking it wasn't very interesting, however inside tells a different story. Still filled with vintage furniture and seemingly most items left behind the way it was when the owners disappeared.

The cupboards still have food inside, the most recent calendar being from 2008 and wonderful furniture pieces from the 50s and 60s.

This time capsule has been sitting tucked away and hidden from the world for over 15 years!

[marjaskst]

I kind of enjoy looking at old blogs that haven't been updated in years. It's kind of like an internet time capsule. Just seeing what was popular a few years ago.

[fixomnia-scribble]

WOW.

Scientists found an amazingly well-preserved village from 3,000 years ago

Text below, in case article access dries up:

LONDON — A half-eaten bowl of porridge complete with wooden spoon, communal rubbish bins, and a decorative necklace made with amber and glass beads are just a handful of the extraordinarily well-preserved remnants of a late Bronze Age hamlet unearthed in eastern England that’s been dubbed “Britain’s Pompeii” and a “time capsule” into village life almost 3,000 years ago.

The findings from the site, excavated in 2015 to 2016, are now the subject of two reports, complete with previously unseen photos, published this week by University of Cambridge archaeologists, who said they cast light onto the “cosy domesticity” of ancient settlement life.

“It might be the best prehistoric settlement that we’ve found in Britain,” Mark Knight, the excavation director and a co-author of the reports, said in an interviewThursday. “We took the roofs off and inside was pretty much the contents,” he said. “It’s so comprehensive and so coherent.”

The reason for the rare preservation: disaster.

The settlement, thought to have originally consisted of several large roundhouses made of wood and constructed on stilts above a slow-moving river, was engulfed by a fire less than a year after being built.

During the blaze, the buildings and much of their contents collapsed into a muddy river below that “cushioned the scorched remains where they fell,” the university said of the findings. This combination of charring from the fire and waterlogging led to “exceptional preservation,” the researchers found.

“Because of the nature of the settlement, that it was burned down and its abandonment unplanned, everything was captured,” Knight added.

“As we excavated it, there was that feeling that we were picking over someone else’s tragedy,” he said of the eerie site in the swampy fenland of East Anglia. “I don’t think we could smell the fire but the amount of ash around us — it felt close.”

Researchers said they eventually unearthed four large wooden roundhouses and an entranceway structure, but the original settlement was probably “twice as big.”

The site at Must Farm dates to about 850 B.C., eight centuries before Romans came to Britain. Archaeologists have been shocked at “just how clear the picture is” of late Bronze Age life based on the level of detail uncovered, Knight said.

The findings also showed that the communities lived “a way of life that was more sophisticated than we could have imagined,” Duncan Wilson, head of Historic England, the public body responsible for preserving England’s historic environment, said in a statement.

The findings unearthed include a stack of spears, possibly for hunting or defense; a decorative necklace “with beads from as far away as Denmark and Iran”; clothes of fine flax linen; and a female adult skull rendered smooth, “perhaps a memento of a lost loved one,” the research found.

The inhabitants’ diet was also rich and varied, including boar, pike and bream, along with wheat and barley.

A pottery bowl with the finger marks of its maker in the clay was also unearthed, researchers said, still containing its final meal — “a wheat-grain porridge mixed with animal fats” — with a wooden spatula resting inside the bowl.

“It appears the occupants saved their meat juices to use as toppings for porridge,” project archaeologist Chris Wakefield said in the university’s news release. “Chemical analyses of the bowls and jars showed traces of honey along with ruminant meats such as deer, suggesting these ingredients were combined to create a form of prehistoric honey-glazed venison,” he added.

Skulls of dogs — probably kept as pets and to help with hunting — were also uncovered, and the dogs’ fossilized feces showed they fed on scraps from their owners’ meals, the research found.

The buildings, some connected by walkways, may have had up to 60 people living there all together, Knight said, along with animals.

Although no intact sets of human remains were found at the site, indicating that the inhabitants probably fled the fire safely, several sheep bones were found burned indoors. “Skeletal remains showed the lambs were three to six months old, suggesting the settlement was destroyed sometime in late summer or early autumn,” according to the university’s news release.

Ceramic and wooden vessels including tiny cups, bowls and large storage jars were also found. Some pots were even designed to nest, stacked inside one another, Knight said — evidence of an interest in aesthetics as well as practicality.

A lot of similar items were found replicated in each home, Knight added, painting the picture of completely independent homesteads for each family unit rather than distinct buildings for shared tasks — much like we live today.

Household inventories often included metal tools, loom weights, sickles for crop harvesting, axes and even handheld razors for cutting hair.

The roundhouses — one of which had almost 50 square meters (nearly 540 square feet) of floor space — had hearths and insulated straw and clay roofs. Some featured activity zones for cooking, sleeping and working akin to modern-day rooms.

The Must Farm settlement has produced the largest collection of everyday Bronze Age artifacts ever discovered in the United Kingdom, according to Historic England, which partly funded the 1.1 million pound ($1.4 million) excavation project.

The public body labeled the site a “time capsule,” including almost 200 wooden artifacts, over 150 fiber and textile items, 128 pottery vessels and more than 90 pieces of metalwork. Some items will go on display at the nearby Peterborough Museum next month.

Archaeologists never found a “smoking gun” cause for the fire, Knight said. Instead, they suspect it was either an attack from “outside forces,” which may explain why the inhabitants never returned to collect their possessions from the debris, or an accidental blaze that spread rapidly across the tightly nestled homes.

“Probably all that was left was the people and what they were wearing; everything else was left behind,” Knight said of the fire.

But the preservation has left a window for people to look back through in the future. “You could almost see and smell their world,” he said.

“The only thing that was missing was the inhabitants,” Knight added. “And yet … I think they were there — you certainly got glimpses.”

[abandonedography]

Astonishing Abandoned TIME CAPSULE House Stuck In The 1970s!!

[acidsoju]

LOST IN NEVERLAND

read part one here genre: fantasy au, royalty au, multidimentional au, romance, angst, fiction, action, smut, slow burn. pairing: prince! soobin x reader warnings: this is a second part!!, not proofread yet, cursing, sex scenes, mentions of weird vomit, love triangle, a little bit of second male lead syndrom from my part. word count: 22.7k summary: after being dropped into the han river, you wake up in another dimension― soobin's dimension, in which he the crown prince of a kingdom you have yet to get to know.

IMAGINE BEOMGYU’S SURPRISE WHEN THE FIRST THING HE FELT GOING THROUGHT THE PORTAL WAS YOU; you, floating unconsciously from the bottom of the lake, being swiftly pulled by a few water nymphs that the mage had convinced to help him with his little not-too-big-of-a-deal task about getting the crown prince of the Kingdom’s ass back home. You who were completely pale, a painful expression on your face even though you were knocked out as you emerged out of the water and reached the edges of the lake just where Beomgyu was waiting, arms crossing over his chest as he eyes you with little interest.

He was about to order you being discarded but instead scoffed and rolled his eyes at the accusatory stares of the nymphs who seemed to have taken a like to your unconscious-self, protecting your figure with their arms.

“Ha! Fine, whatever. Guards, warm her up and watch over her” he ordered; his command being obliged immediately.

Imagine Beomgyu’s surprise when the second thing he felt going through the portal was the most annoying pain in his ass, even overthrowing the prince himself from the throne. He watched with bored eyes as the forbidden mage flew out of the water with a harsh and dramatic splash and behind him, being dragged by a pair of tentacles, was the prince fighting to not lose consciousness too.

Kai snarled as he sensed the magic barrier capsulating over him; it wasn’t enough to stop him but it was about enough to stop the prince from crossing it. The forbidden mage knew immediately he was surrounded and outnumbered by the palace’s allies, so if he wanted to get out of there alive or at all, he had to drop the prince.

And that’s exactly what he did, with a little too much force into it, as the tentacle on his legs effortlessly threw him back to the lake; Soobin’s body crashing into the water with another dramatic splash before the water nymphs were hurrying to his rescue. Cold blue eyes met with a pair of burning brown eyes, staring defiantly back. Not over is what Kai’s lips mumbles to Beomgyu who just arches an eyebrow in his direction, and then the forbidden mage is gone after a flash of violet lightning.

“Assist the crown prince immediately” orders the mage looking at his friend being dragged to the edge of the lake by the nymphs, guards and maids immediately rushing in to help the drenched prince, whose consciousness seemed to slip through his fingers for a second before coming back to his senses. His lips were barely moving inches as he was stripped out of his clothes and changed into a dry attire yet Beomgyu caught on his words perfectly fine.

“Her… where is she?”

Then just in time, a loud gasp was heard. Your eyes flew open and closed immediately a second after, the bright light of the day making your head hurt like living hell; your mouth opened as well as you took in rush breaths in and out, in and out, in and out, scared air was going to abandoned your body once again. Then your rushed breath got stuck in your throat as you felt something disgusting down in your guts and before you could even think, you were rolling over your own body on the floor and throwing up; the loud gasps of horror never reaching your ears as tears picked in your eyes and a sharp whistle rung in your head.

Wasn’t that just a lovely first impression?

An exhausted sigh escapes the mage’s lips as he takes lazy steps in your direction, lips curling down in disgust at the sight; even if he was from a world where magic existed and coexisted perfectly fine with non-magical humans, he was sure black vomit wasn’t an ideal sign.

You blinked a few times, the warm tears rolling down your cheeks, finally adjusting to the bright light around you, swollen lips darting open as you stared down at your vomit― colored black vomit on the ground, merely inches from your face as you pushed against the floor with your hands enough for not be face-falling into it. Then you looked up, meeting eyes with a tall man whose eyes lingered on you without any kind of interest.

Beomgyu knew you were that little rude brat he’d had the pleasure to have a conversation with days ago just by the arrogant look flashing in your eyes as you stared back at him, directly in the eyes, even in your poor state; wet hair sticking to your back and forehead, lips with a faint tint of black after throwing up, eyes puffed and red from the tears, some dirt on you after being dragged out of the lake by the guards; all of that and yet you stared directly into his eyes.

Your eyebrows knitted as the man stood frozen in front of your eyes; judgy eyes staring at you― then your eyes trailed around taking in the figure of every person staring back at you, eyes wide open and shocked expressions on their faces making you feel like some kind of animal trapped in a zoo, and then you saw him― his eyes were already on you, trying to reach you even through a stare.

Completely ignoring the strange attires everyone wore or the pretty, almost transparent girls waving at you from the lake, you tried to get up, legs shaking uncontrollably at your own weight turning the steps you tried to take into clumsy deer-like stumbles; fuck was all you mumbled under your breath, throat sore and dry, before your legs were giving up after just a second; grunting as you fell to the ground on your butt, your eyes flicked up when you heard the clear sound of steps stopping in front of you.

“Such a nuisance” was what Beomgyu spat in your face before a faux smile was draw on his face and his hand hovered before your eyes, your mind going immediately blank as you fell unconscious to the floor. Beomgyu hmphed, satisfied as he nodded his head proud of himself. “Much better.”

Soobin huffed in annoyance as he watched the whole scene― if he could, he would’ve already been by your side, carrying you instead of letting yourself get even dirtier on the floor, but he couldn’t; crown prince and all of that, he was surrounded by the teary servants of the castle, words of relief, even some people falling on their knees in front of the prince. With a polite smile on his face, Soobin’s eyes flicked to the head maid in front of him, the one who had watched over him all of his life, who was trying to wipe away her tears and asked:

“May I ask for a small favor?” Soobin watched as the old lady hurried in wipe her tears with her handkerchief, nodding once to the prince as a sign of listening. “The miss over there… she is a guest of mine, a very important person to me who has proved her loyalty to the crown as she succeeded in protecting me when I was in despair, therefore I expect nothing but the best of the cares for her.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“Ready to go back home, Your Highness?” inquired Beomgyu walking closer to his friend, head following the figure of the maid rushing and walking pass him, in your direction, being followed by a few more maids. Soobin arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you looking at me like that? Aren’t you super grateful at me for rescuing you? What about a hug to celebrate a moving reunion?”

“You could have helped her” accused the prince; Beomgyu rolled his eyes and pushed the frames over the bridge of his nose up to his eyes.

“I am not a nanny.” “We will see about that.”

-

Well, fucking hell did your body hurt, was the first thing you thought as you fell out of your slumber, hands moving against the soft covers underneath you, soft groans of pain coming out of you as to tried to stretch your body. Taking a whole long minute to recall everything on your mind― coming out of water and throwing up basically petrol, that must have been a dream, right? Last thing you remember was a tall man with long hair falling over his shoulders and the open palm of his hand towering over your eyes, and then nothing.

First thing you saw as you opened your eyes was the very tall ceiling, very beautiful Renaissance’s paintings on it; a few seconds went by as you understood that you, in fact, didn’t have any Renaissance-like ceiling in your room, not a bed as big as the one you were laying on and, hell, the living room of your place didn’t even have a ceiling anymore.

Whines in pain came out of your lips as you turned your body on the bed, stomach against mattress and dragged yourself up to sit down on your knees; eyes scanning the unfamiliar room you were in― just where the fuck where you?

You pushed yourself to crawl out of the big-ass king size bed, bare feet touching the cold floor as you walked over to the window almost as tall as the whole ceiling, opening the soft white silk curtain that fell from the very top, your eyes scanning beyond the balcony outside the window to the immense garden displaying on sight.

“I see you are awake at last” flinching at the sudden voice booming in the bedroom, you turned around quickly, your eyes immediately spotting the standing figure of a man wearing a maroon cloak in the middle of the room; bored brown eyes staring into yours from behind his round-shaped glasses, long brown hair pulled away from his face into a ponytail. You recognized him immediately― the one you saw before passing out. “Took you three days, I guess you are a lot weaker than I first thought.”

Frowning, you squeezed your eyes in his direction― oh, how familiar did the tone of his voice sound to you. It didn’t take you too long to realize, once again, that the man in the room was the same man who had magically appeared that one day on the arcade. Beomgyu huffed under your stare and let himself fall over one of the couches displayed around in the bedroom. The mage on the couch seemed to read your mind as his lips stretched into a sly smile as you put the pieces together about his identity.

“Not so smart either, uh?” you rolled your eyes and tried to speak, aiming to take a step to the front but the words never came out of your mouth, instead a pathetic gasp escaped from you as you had to press your back against the window to avoid falling to the floor once your legs started trembling weakly. “You certainly are not compatible with magic, Bambi.”

Huffing as you forced yourself to stand up properly, trying to ignore the wince of pain incrementing on your extensions, you look up from your feet to meet his gaze again. “Don’t call me that” yet to your despair, your legs shook with a little more force as seconds went by.

To Beomgyu it only took him a snap of his fingers to have a chair being dragged in your direction and swiftly pushing you over it as it moved back into his direction, only coming to a stop when the chair was in front of him. The cocky smile on his face only grew wider as he analyzed the bewildered look on your face while you shoved some strands of hair out of your face― the mage decided to have some fun as he snapped his fingers twice, caughting your attention; the tea table from the other side of the room moved immediately by his command and was dragged by his magic stopping in between your chair and the couch. The set of tea over the table started doing its job only that, of course, there was no one actually serving the tea.

Your mouth fell open as you watched the sight in front of you; the levitating cups of tea being filled by the big kettle pouring down the steaming drink. You didn’t even catch the quiet laugh coming from the mage’s mouth at your sincere amused reaction, Beomgyu only leaning back on the couch as the teacup moved his way.

“H-how…” you mumbled, picking up the teacup that patiently waited in the air for you to grab. Your eyes moved back to the mage who sipped his tea before answering:

“Magic.”

“Don’t fuck with me right now” you replied looking around as if you were to find any kind of invisible string pulling the furniture around; Beomgyu’s eyes widened at your choice of words and almost spilled the tea on his mouth, choking on it instead.

“Don’t what now?”

“This is some kind of joke, right?” you asked turning back to look at Beomgyu with a lot of confusion on your face. “Look, I don’t know how did you pull that little trick earlier but-

“Trick?” Beomgyu interrupted you, a single eyebrow raising as his gaze hardened; within a second, the boy opened both of his palms looking upwards, flames coming out of them as your mouth fell open again. “You dare to say my abilities are false?”

“… Okay, okay! Fine!” you exclaimed, raising up your palms in the air for him to cease whatever the hell was going on; snarling, Beomgyu put down the fire of his hands. “Geez, it’s just so weird.”

“Watch your tone, little girl, if I weren’t so merciful right now, you’d already be ashes” he stated before grabbing again the cup of tip to sip from it. “And you should refrain from using poor vocabulary while you are around.”

“Around?” you questioned, eyebrows knitting in your face as you leaned closer to the table. “Where exactly is around?” your question seemed to take Beomgyu a little off guard.

“You must actually be quite dense- this is the Fifth Kingdom of the Choi Dynasty, of course.”

“… Of course, yeah, haha!” you smiled yet Beomgyu saw the panicked flowing in your eyes and the corners of your lips trembling as you tried to maintain the façade. “And… my place, how far is it?”

“Like… five thousand dimensions away?” “Riiight…” Beomgyu watched over his cup of tea at you, studying every expression; from the way you looked around yet seemed lost in your own thoughts, how your eyebrows moved in concern in unison with whatever you were thinking, to the way your lips curled down before sighing and flicking your eyes back at him. “What about Soobin? Is he okay? Where is he?”

“It’s ‘Your Highness’ for you, little girl” Beomgyu replied in a scoff, parting his lips away from his cup of tea almost empty already. “And to answer your question; yes, he is okay. He was recovered almost immediately, as expected of a royal

“Is he… really-“ “Crown prince?” “Yeah.” “Of course, he was born with the title.” “I see.”

Taking a little sip from the teacup to avoid any more words coming out of your mouth, your mind revolted in thoughts about him and the supposed world you were. You were glad he was okay after everything that had happened to the both of you, but words weren’t enoug; you needed to see him actually doing fine, but were you to ask the quite intimidating mage to let you pay a friendly visit to the prince? Of course not; just from taking a little glimpse at him you already knew that he knew what you wanted to ask.

“He is a very busy person.” “Of course.”

You downed the rest of the tea at once, tilting your head backwards for it and licked your lips once the cup was empty; as you placed it down over the table your eyes met again with the mage’s, whose eyes always seemed to be judging you.

“You need to learn some manners while you are here” he stated, nodding to himself and fixing the pair of glasses up on his face.

“How long I’m supposed to stay here?” you asked, looking straight into his eyes; the mage gulped down, making the Adam’s apple on his neck move at the action. “When can I go back? How can I go back?”

“Well, hahah, it’s a little complicated” he laughed nervously which put you a little on edge; leaning even closer to the table as you knitted your eyebrows, he only avoided your intense eyes.

“What exactly is complicated?” you insisted, hands gripping on the seat edges to avoid falling of it. Beomgyu shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

“What isn’t complicated in life, little girl?” “Don’t try to avoid it, explain.”

Beomgyu huffed his air abruptly at your insistence, a little annoyed; his own eyebrows frowning as he decided to meet your eyes before speaking. “It takes a lot of energy to travel through dimensions and we don’t need only mine to open the portal but yours as well if you want to even think about surviving the little trip back home- not only that but I am running a little bit out of my usual energy thanks to someone falling into the portal so suddenly.”

“Not my fault, I was fucking dropped” you muttered, crossing your arms over your chest with a pronounced frown on your face; Beomgyu twitching at your language. “And weren’t you supposed to be the Blessed One or something like that, greatest magician of the Kingdom?”

“I am” he cleared. “But even if I were to regain my normal state of energy after a few days of rest, we have a problem with you.”

“What? Why am I the problem?”

“For starters, you can’t even walk properly.” “Of course I can w-“ With a snap of his fingers, the chair underneath you completely vanished into thin air and even if you were fast enough to stand, your legs still failed you and you fell down on your knees. “Fuck.”

“See, Bambi?” remarked the mage twirling in index finger in the air to have you levitating on the air and sitting you back on the chair that magically appeared back on its previous place behind you. “Do not worry, this little thing with your legs is just a side effect of the impact of magic on a body that hasn’t ever come in touch with it, it shall be gone soon. However, you still need to make your soul more resistant to magic.”

“And how I’m supposed to do that?”

“Training, of course” Beomgyu’s lips spread into a big grin. “Lucky for you, you have been assigned to the best one all over the Kingdom, me” your eyebrows jumped in surprise at his words “We shall discuss this matter into detail later over lunch… for now, how about doing something about this?” his brown eyes trailed up and down at you, again, judging you.

“What is wrong with…” you mumbled looking down at yourself; well, you kinda got what he meant as you looked the extremely old-fashion white tunic falling down to your ankles. You cleared your throat and looked away feeling the mocking stare of the mage in front of you.

“I shall call the maids to help you get ready for lunch” he spoke as he got up; with a quick snap of his fingers the table went back to its original spot. “Once you are done I will come and pick you up to take you to the dining room” you watched how the man walked over to the entrance of the bedroom, stopping before they closed to remind you that you ‘should wait for me here until I come, understood?’.

You didn’t have enough time to panic after the news he so kindly had shared with you when the doors opened just a few seconds after Beomgyu left; a trio of women coming in with cordial smiles on their faces and stopping in front of you, lowering their heads before looking at you again.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, miss y/n” said one of the women, the one looking older and who seemed to lead the other two ones. “We have received orders from the crown prince himself to watch properly over you so if we may help you, I was informed that you are to have lunch with Sir Beomgyu?” you only nodded, feeling a little calmer at the soft tone the maid used to speak. “Wonderful miss, excuse us while we assist you to the bathroom then.”

You mumbled a soft thank you to them as the younger pair approached you and help you support yourself when you got up, walking beside you to the bathroom with the third woman walking before you. The bathroom was equally beautiful as the bedroom and big enough to throw a party inside; in its center was a big bathtub that was soon filled with warm, steaming water by the maid.

“I can do this myself” you said tugging down at the tunic covering your body when the maids tried to help you get undressed; they simply nodded and watched over you if you were to fall. Strangely enough you didn’t feel uncomfortable as they helped you get into the tub, your exposed body soon sinking in the water that relaxed your muscles instantly. For sure, you felt way more relaxed around the three women than the mage; maybe it was the fact that their hands weren’t on fire, you thought.

The pair sat down on a wooden tool on each side of the tub, slowly scrubbing down some soap to help you clean yourself while the third one stood behind you, scrunching down on your scalp, displaying the top tier massaging skills you had ever received in your life. You found yourself leaning your head back, tirelessly, as your eyes closed on their own.

The nice scent of flowers reached your smelling senses once the maids on your sides started rubbing on you some lotion, soothing up your skin. After your hair was washed up, the maid behind you curled up your hair in a towel to absorb the excess of water on it and the maids quickly covered you in a bathtub when you got up.

“That was nice, thank you” you mumbled, suddenly feeling a little kid who was being taken care of. The maids smiled as they walked you out of the bathroom and into the bedroom again, helping you take a seat on the same couch Beomgyu had been before. You watched how they rushed around picking stuff from a big closet on the corner of the bedroom, beautiful silk coming in display in front of your eyes. “These are… my clothes?”

“Personally picked by the crown prince, miss” nodded the maid. You were handed some clean underwear and you couldn’t avoid thinking if Soobin had picked it too, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden. The maids helped you put on the dress; Yeonjun would go insane if he saw this, you thought as you run the palm of your hand against the soft silk hugging your body till your waist, then falling freely to your ankles, almost touching the floor.

“Miss, would you let us do your hair?” asked one of the young maids, a little excitement in her voice as she waited for your approval, her eyes shining when you nodded, she rushed in your direction to help you sit down in front of a vanity, a big mirror setting in front of you. You observed for a little while how the maid started untangling your hair and braiding it up with the most care, soft eyes focused on your strands; then your vision was blocked by the other maid who started applying some make up on your face.

“You are very pretty, miss” she mumbled as she was too focused on her task, putting on some blush on your cheeks. “Barely need anything.”

“Done, miss” they informed as the three of them put down their stuff on the vanity and took a step back to let you take a look at yourself in the mirror; feeling a little awkward at first, you leaned in closer to observe the delicate braids falling on each side of your face, very Romeo and Juliet’s style, as the rest of your long hair falling lose on your back. “Is it to your liking?”

You nodded, soft smile displaying on your face as you turned around on the chair to look at the three of them, they looking proud looking at you. “Thank you very much for your help.”

They walked out of the room after lowering their heads once more, leaving you alone with your reflection and your thoughts.

Well, what were you supposed to do now?

Beomgyu had said something about having lunch but just when was he supposed to be back? Hesitantly, you decided to stand up, hands clenching on the air as you tried your best to stop the uncomfortably tremble in your legs, giving short and paused steps to the doors. You rested the palm of your hands against them, pushing forward to open them and taking a peek around, long halls displaying on each side and no sight of Beomgyu around.

Little by little, step by step you noticed the tremble starting to fade away, even though the pain seemed to increase; your knees shook a little but at least you could move around, painfully slow and with a type of support, which you found in the walls around you. Too excited at the thought of walking again, you started moving further and further down the hall, almost glued to the wall as you leaned the side of your body against it. Not so long after you learnt that this way took a little too much of effort when you started feeling extremely tired; fortunately, you spotted a door in the middle of the hall to what it seemed the outside so you rushed, how much you could, to it and stepped out, clear air filling your lungs immediately.

As you leaned over a balustrade, letting most of your weight fall on it, you looked before you to what it seemed to be a training ground filled with dozens of men and women in battle uniforms and wielding their weapons, each of a kind displaying for you to observe; fucking hell, you thought as you observed two of them fighting their blood, sweat and tears in the middle of the ground, it looks like a movie.

You stood there for a while, in part taking a little rest and in part too caught up in the scene unfolding in front of your eyes, something you have never had the chance to witness in your normal day life; it didn’t take too much for the match to end, one of the two people overpowering the other and winning the match. The defeated part walked away and in the ring in the middle walked in a tall figure, his persona shining brighter than the rest, making your breath hitch as you recognized him as soon as he appeared in your vision.

Soobin stood in front of the previous winner, sharp eyes analyzing his opponent as his hand moved to the belt hanging around his hips and draw a long and threatening sword. Your heart beat loudly when you saw how the other person launched at him to attack first, nerve-wrecking scythe-looking weapon slashing in his direction and it had been him if Soobin hadn’t moved to avoid it; you gawked as you observed him moving around the ring, fast and comfortable, sword crashing against the scythe with force, clanking sounds booming around.

Soobin huffed as he received a punch on his ribs but managed to clasp his opponent arm in his free hand, snaking one of his long legs in between theirs, pushing them down to the ground on a strong motion, kicking their weapon off of their hold and pointing his sharp sword at their neck, the match coming to an end with a new winner.

“Flies will get in your mouth, Bambi.”

You flinched at the sudden voice coming from behind you. Beomgyu took a step to your side and rested himself over the balustrade like you were doing, eyebrows raised accusatory at you. “I thought I told you to wait for me so how did you end up all the way here, mhm?”

A soft, nervous laugh came from you as you squirmed under his intense brown stare, you could almost see the fire coming out of them; you smiled apologetically to the mage, looking away from the prince to the man on your side. “… Sorry, it just happened” you mumbled, earning a scoff from him.

As you looked over at Beomgyu, you didn’t realize Soobin’s dark eyes spotting you immediately after he stepped out of the ring, his training session finished as he wiped his sweat with a handy towel. He didn’t think twice before dropping the towel and jogged in your direction, his heart doing martial jumps in excitement and anxiousness; Beomgyu noticed his friend moving your way, so when the mage pointed out at something and you looked that way your guts twirled. Soobin’s eyes shone brightly as they were fixed on you, big smile spreading on his face as he got closer.

Soobin practically skipped the little steps up to where you where, jumping over them with his legs and stopping in front of you, head tilting down to look properly at you. He didn’t give you a minute to speak before you were tugged by him, his arms closing around your frame and hugging you tightly, a sigh of relief leaving his lips as he rested his chin on top of your head, eyes shutting close as he stood there, just embracing you.

“I am so glad you are safe” he spoke softly, finally letting go of the worry that consumed over him the days you were asleep. You felt your heart beating fast and loud on your chest, your hands shyly caressing his torso and rounding his waist to embrace him back, your eyes closing just as his, enjoying the touch and warmth of someone you knew, completely oblivious to the centenar pair of eyes on the both of you.

The little bubble the prince and you were went pop when Beomgyu started clearing his throat excessively with the intention of catching your attention, reminding you both he was still there as well as the rest of the knights watching curiously at their prince embracing a woman. You huffed and rolled your eyes when the mage started practically coughing dramatically trying to take a step back and away from the prince yet you couldn’t seem to move further as his arms around you only pressed you closer, back into his embrace.

Lifting you head from his chest to look up, you only found the tenderness flowing out of his eyes while looking at you in his arms, soft smile on his pretty naturally pouted lips.

“Your Highness” spoke Beomgyu walking into your bubble and hugging Soobin’s shoulders while looking at him with a forced, big smile on his face. “Do I need to remind you there is a whole castle watching right now?”

Irritation appears on Soobin’s features as the hold on you loosened a little, hands caressing your waist before pulling away reluctantly, face turning to a side to look at his friend. “I do not need to mind the prying eyes, mage, this is my castle” he said, arching a dark eyebrow at his friend who only rolled his eyes and pulled his arm away from the prince.

“It’s your parent’s actually, but of course” Beomgyu’s eyes flicked back to you, judging as your soft smile wiped away under his gaze. “And you, next time be sure to do as I say and wait. What could it have happened if you were just fell somewhere around in the castle?”

“Well, someone would have found me eventually” you mumbled, not really liking the whole scolding thing the mage did, your lips curling down in a grimace that had Beomgyu scowling back at you and Soobin’s smile widening. “See? You did find me right now, yoo-hoo!” the obvious irony in your voice made the men in front of you accentuate their previous reactions; Beomgyu’s eyes widening at your rudeness, trailing down at your legs while Soobin’s dimple makes its appearance in his cheek.

“Well, don’t you look better now, Bambi?” questioned the mage as you were standing perfectly fine now, only that he didn’t see your wobbling legs underneath the long silk of the dress.

“You look really beautiful, y/n” said Soobin, again reaching out his hand to grab yours but being prevented by Beomgyu who caught his hand in the air and pulled it back to its place, earning a scowl from the prince. “You are so annoying.”

“And you are talking informally again” refuted the mage; both of them rolling their eyes at each other made you scoff a soft laugh, which quickly switched to a wince as your legs felt weaker by the second you spent stand up, forcing yourself to lean over the balustrade again. Beomgyu’s eyebrows furrowed at you understanding immediately what was happening, while Soobin face twisted in worry, his hands flying to your waist as he towered closer to you.

“Are you okay? What is wrong?” he asked, whether to you or Beomgyu you don’t know.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine” you said, turning around while leaning your back against the balustrade, smiling reassuringly at the prince whose worried eyes scanned you over and over.

“She’s having a little aftereffect to magic” explained his friend as he peeked his heat to look at you over the prince’s shoulder. “Her body isn’t used to it so it reacts this way, reminds me of that Bambi fairy tale you used to like reading to when we were little.”

Soobin hummed as he listened to the explanation, his eyes never leaving you and his hold on your waist only tighten to try and help you keep on your feet, thumbs drawing circles in a way to try to give you some kind of comfort, only making you get goosebumps all over your body.

“And you are supposed to be training her?” questioned Soobin, arching an eyebrow even though he didn’t turn to look at his face. You, otherwise, caught the way the mage’s lips stretched in to a cocky smile behind the prince.

“Who else would?” he said, clearly proud. “It was a direct order from the Queen.”

“Do you need me to carry you?” asked you Soobin, ignoring Beomgyu’s nonsense, taking a step closer to you, one of his hands circling the back of your waist while the other trailed up to cup your face, thump brushing over your hot and red cheek.

“Don’t you dare” you spoke softly under your breath, the single thought of him carrying you bride style down the halls of his castle while you were dressed playing princess enough to make you want to gag and throw up everywhere out of embarrassment. Soobin laughed softly as if he were able to see what you were imagining.

“Fine, but at least let me walk you to where you have to go” he said, his hands not moving an inch from their places on you. You simply nodded, moving up your hands to rest them on his forearms, the muscles under your touch tensing up.

Fortunately for you, the dining room wasn’t that much far away, still Soobin walked on your side, making you grab onto his arm as he escorted you and help you stable yourself at the same time; Beomgyu walked on the other side of you, not really letting you touch him but still matching your pace as you were forced to take careful steps. The big doors of the dining room opened as soon as the three of you reached them, servants lowering their heads as you walked over the room.

“Here, have a seat” said Soobin walking you to one of the big seats and pulling the chair out for you to take it; you mumbled a soft thank you as you felt the stares of the people in the room on you as you sat down. Soobin took the seat on the head of the table, next to you; Beomgyu taking the one in front of you.

“So, let’s discuss matt-

“You look really beautiful, you know?” said the prince, cutting off mid-sentence at the mage whose facial expression went blank; you smiled, trying to appease the tingling in your stomach and the burning in your face which Soobin didn’t ignore, of course, glad to see the soft shade of pink in your ears. “But do you find the clothes comfortable? If not, we ought to go call the seamstress.”

“Don’t have to go that far” you said, shaking your head at the thought of having someone else that Yeonjun taking your measurements. “Clothes are fine, I just wish I could walk normally already.”

“About that” spoke Beomgyu, catching the attention of the both of you again, a slight irritated look on his face. “Would you care to hear about your own training plan?”

Oh, you didn’t like the plan at all. Not only you’d have to spent every day with Mister fire-out-of-my-hands who seemed to have a little bit of a short temper, but you would also have to endure him casting spells on you, like a little laboratory rat is what you thought. And not only did you need training in magic, but also needed to learn some proper manners and built your physical strength. “Why do I need to learn your manners?”

“If you are going to be roaming around here, we don’t need you causing any kind of trouble” before you could even protest, Beomgyu cut you off. “It’s not like I can present a young lady swearing her heart off in the middle of a grand ball.”

“Grand ball?” you question, eyebrows furrowing as you flick your eyes to Soobin. The prince’s lips stretched again into a smile, this time a little more nervous. “A ball as in dance, a party?”

“Not the kind of party your picturing, y/n” mumbled Soobin, having some flashbacks to the party he had been taken by you and your friend back in your dimension. “The King and the Queen, they have decided to host a ball to celebrate my safe return home and…”

“And?”

“And of course they way the one who I said protected me while I was lost there, having a good time

“I will add dancing lessons to our schedule” spoke Beomgyu nodding to himself as he pictured all the things he needed to get you ready to. Soobin’s eyes trailed back to his friend, shaking his head.

“I will teach those myself” stated the prince, earning an eyebrow arched from the mage; turning to look at you again, Soobin’s eyebrows knitted as he mumbled softly to you. “If that is okay with you, of course.”

“Sure” you answer trying to bite back the feeling in your chest, picking up some more food from your plate, deciding to ignore the stare of the mage in front of you probably to your poor mannerisms during supper. “When is this party then?”

“Two weeks from now on.”

From then on, your living nightmare started; you would be woken up extremely early everyday by the maids who soon understood you were a late bird and started dragging you out of the comfort of the big bed you started to get used to; they would get you ready still half-asleep for the mage to pick you up from your bedroom. Sun still rising, the two of you would share breakfast outdoors; Beomgyu speaking too much for so early hours as you could barely manage to pick up your cup of tea, most of the things he said going in and out of your ears.

After breakfast, physical training hours began; Mr. Mage had you doing everything that you didn’t do during your high school years when you skipped p.e most of the time, but ten times worse while he simply sat down on a chair watching you pant desperately for air as your legs began giving up on you, soon giving up completely and making you fall on the ground, dust rising up from the impact.

“Oh? Out already? Okay, five-minute break, then do three series of abdominal work on the ground.”

By lunch time, you would be covered in sweat and dust; clothes dirty and sticking up to your body, legs aching, arms falling limp to your sides and face flushed from the exhaustion. Lucky for you, the maids who have seemed to be assigned for you took the most precious care of you, rushing in taking you into the bathtub, rubbing every dirty inch in your body, letting you and your sore muscles relax under the warm water, rested enough to have lunch with Soobin and Beomgyu in the dining hall.

The routine didn’t end there, oh no; after having some dessert, Beomgyu would drag you away from the prince, who stole your full attention during meals, and onto his personal studio slash laboratory slash ‘office’ how he’d like to call it where the two of you would start your magic training which, if you had to be totally honest, was even worse than the physical one. Maybe it was the fact that never in your life until these last days you had been in contact with magic of any sort, excluding the typical coin tricks and the rabbits out of the hat that used to thrill you so much when you were a kid; this magic, however, felt like waves electricity flowing from the inside of your body, burning everything on its way to come out.

“Te-Ten minutes… break” you pleaded gasping for air as you on your knees, looking up to look at the mage sitting on his comfortably chair with a book on his lap; his brown eyes looked up from the book to you thought the frames on his face and scanned you.

“Five minutes break.”

It was safe to say most of the hours of the day were taken by the mage; it was only after dinner that you and Beomgyu would part ways, him leaving you with the prince who was in charge of your dancing lessons. Frankly, you were glad; Soobin was the person who you trusted the most in this world and while being around him there was this feeling that nothing could go wrong.

“Did Beomgyu gave you a hard time again?” he asks as the two of you walk into the ballroom, following you to the center of it. You sigh a laugh and turn around to face him, his tall frame stopping just in front of you, pretty lips stretching into a bigger smile as you connected eyes.

“When does he not?” you replied smugly, making the prince giggle softly and pretending your heart didn’t skip a beat at the sound of his cute little laugh. You had to gulp the lump in your throat when he stepped a little closer to you, his big hands moving softly up and brushing your hands until it reached the sides of your waist; long fingers pressing without too much force on your clothe skin, pulling you closer to him, forcing you to tilt your head up to meet his gaze.

“Should we start now?” he mumbled softly, one of his hands going back to cup yours in his before lifting it up until it reached his shoulders’ height; the other hand swiftly caressing your waist as it moved to the spot on your back. It wasn’t your first or second dancing lesson with Soobin and yet you still couldn’t get used to this; not only he looked in his prime, wearing the silk clothes that hugged his body perfectly, mostly white, soft shirts with long sleeves, but his whole demeanor had seemed to change once he was back to his world. He was no longer Soobin the lost crazy man I picked up on the streets but he was the crown prince of a kingdom.

Music filled the ballroom immediately as he said the words, most probably due to the castle working with magic thanks to your own personal teacher, Beomgyu, and as always Soobin started leading your steps, slow and carefully, soft smile on his lips as his eyes were glued to yours. You, on the other hand, were too focused on your own feet as always, frowning as you tried not to step in your partner’s shoes, as always, to notice the tenderness flowing from his eyes, as always.

It wasn’t until you heard Soobin clicking his tongue and the hand holding yours letting go to use it to push your chin up that you finally looked back at him. “Eyes up here, y/n.”

“I don’t wanna hurt you, Your Highness” you answered, the title sounding strange in your mouth even as a mockery; his hand went back to grab yours, squeezing it a little after your words. A soft gasp escaped from you when the prince swiftly twirled you around, hand on your back disappearing for a second as you spun and back when your chest met his; Soobin had bit down on his lip to suppress the laugh threatening to come from him as he watched the bewildered look on your face, cheeks flushed and your clumsy feet stumbling on each other.

“It’s cute that you think you can hurt me, y/n” he answered as he continued to move the both of you around the room following the melody’s rhythm. The loose strands of his hair softly brushed against your forehead as he leaned in closer to your face, breath tickling on your skin as his dark eyes stared intently into yours, the hand on your back tensing a little against your skin. “And do not call me that.”

“That’s what I’m being taught” you replied, frowning as you remembered the amount of times you had been scolded by Beomgyu after calling the crown prince by his name; Soobin’s nose wrinkled at that.

“Just call me by my name” he said, his eyes inevitably flicking down to your lips as they barely parted open, his mind rushing in memories of the party in your world when you had kissed him, the way your pretty lips felt against his taking away his breath completely. Oh, how he wanted to feel that again. Unconsciously, Soobin leaned in a little more until his forehead was resting against yours, his own lips hanging open as he waited for the word to come out of you.

“Now?” you asked, the words leaving in a mere whisper, feeling as if any loud sound would pop the bubble you were caught in right now; Soobin hummed in agreement, him no longer leading you around the room, just the two of you standing still in the middle of it. At the feeling of dryness in your mouth, you twirled around your tongue over your lips and felt your heart bump like crazy when the prince in front of you copied your move, the movement of his tongue over his pretty plump lips caughting your attention. “Soobin.”

He loved it, the way his name fell from your lips without any royal weight and how it was directed to him, Soobin, and not him, the crown prince of the Kingdom.

“Once more” he whispered, plead in his voice, as his hold in your waist tightened, his heavy breath fanning over your lips. “Please, say it once more.”

“Soobi- mh.”

The word got stuck in your mouth as a pair of plump lips softly pressed against yours; your eyes closing immediately, hands moving up to hold the prince’s face in them, one hand thoughtlessly sneaking to the back of his head, brushing his hair and holding him closer to you. Fuck, his lips were soft and warm, and they moved so good against yours.

A deep sigh came out of the prince while his hands pressed you closer to him, his arms sneaking on your back to hug you thigh, his head slightly tilting to a side to allow him deepened the kiss and when the he felt the soft licks of your tongue against his bottom lip, he felt like his own legs could give up any minute.

The sweet kiss quickly turned into a more passionate one with your tongue exploring into the prince’s mouth, soon finding his own tongue and brushing against it, drinking in every deep sigh or noise coming from him, or even some soft whines when you tugged at his hair after he started nibbling at your bottom lip, warm tongue brushing against it while sucking, making you pant against his mouth.

“So pretty” he mumbled, pulling apart a mere inch to take a look at your face, starring eyes looking up at his, lips swollen and parted open as you took deep breaths. Soobin leaned in closer to you again, and when your lips opened a little more when he was about to kiss you again, he avoided them and let his head fall to a side, his lips peppering your skin with kisses from your cheek to your jaw and going down to your neck, humming as your scent filled his senses. “So sweet, y/n.”

An inaudible ‘oh’ came out of you as you tilted your head back when Soobin started giving slow licks against the skin on your neck, quickly adding some brushing of his teeth that sent shivers down your spine, the sound of his mouth-open kisses against your skin reaching your ears and making your mind fuzzy.

It didn’t take you too much to realize or feel the way he pressed his hips against you, his hard member forming a tent in his pants, the breath fanning over your neck becoming heavier as he covered you in kisses. You particularly liked the way he’d be a little rougher, hips jolting and a deep groan coming down from his throat, when you pulled his hair in between your fingers; a lazy smirk trailing up in your lips as you heard the boy whine against your skin.

“Soobin” you mumbled, flicking your eyes open up to the ceiling, your fingers twirling his hair in them and softly pulling to try and get his attention. He hummed against your neck, the kissing never stopping. “Soobin.”

His lips trailed up from your neck to your jaw, his nose brushing softly the invisible path he was following, eyelashes tickling you. “Why?��� he asked you, a soft pout forming in his lips as you stopped in just when he was about to place them over yours. You bit down a smile, he looked so cute with his hair slightly disheveled, his eyes dark and heavy staring into yours and his ears flushed red. “Let me kiss you, y/n.”

You couldn’t say no to him, honestly, so you just smiled when he leaned in and pressed his lips against yours again, the sweet taste of him filling your tasting senses as his tongue moved with more confidence in your mouth. “Can’t get enough” he mumbled in between kisses. “Can’t get enough of you” he reluctantly pulled back, lips pouting automatically. “I wanted to kiss you from the moment you woke up” that made you giggle softly, couldn’t helping get on your tiptoes to plant a tender kiss on the corner of his red lips, his arms around you tightening if it was even possible.

“You should have then, my prince” you replied, arching an eyebrow.

“Perhaps I could have if you didn’t have such a guardian dog to your side” he mumbled, nose wrinkling and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, lucky for you, you have me all to yourself in this dancing lessons” you said, smiling smugly at the prince, whose lips spread into a grin after mumbling lucky me. “We really should go back to the dancing part, though.”

“Right” the prince nodded, yet his eyes glinted. “But my services are not free… I must have something in return, you know?” you snorted as the prince batted his eyelashes and puck out his lips.

So maybe days in the strange world weren’t so awful as you first expected; soon, as your body began gaining strength, the daily exercises Beomgyu put you through became more tolerable and you weren’t a mess anymore at the end of the day. Magic was still tough, but not like in the beginning; even though it still felt like the air was knocked out of your system, you at least could handle some movement under it which, for you, was a lot of improvement. And about the prince… well, you did learn how to dance quite quickly, it was fairly easier that you thought it would have been or maybe you just had a really, really, good teacher at that. Still, even though you caught on the basics fast, you didn’t stop meeting Soobin every night after dinner and what was supposed to be the rest of some dancing lessons ended up being some kissing sessions.

Not that you were complaining thought.

“Hello pretty, I am so, so sorry for being late” said the prince as he stormed into the ballroom, jogging in your direction while you waited for him patiently sat down against the window’s frame, your eyes flicking from the night sky scenery outside to the man approaching you with his eyebrows knitted. “The King and the Queen wanted to have a word with me.”

“Everything okay?” you questioned, the corner of your lips curling a little as he stopped in front of you and his hand went immediately to its usual spot on your waist. Soobin leaned in and planted a soft kiss on top of your head, mumbling another apology against your skin before pulling back a little to look at you properly.

“Of course, just some last-minute arrangements for the ball” he replied while you moved up your hand to reach the lose strand of hair falling over his eyes and softly pushing it away, your thump caressing over one of his perfectly-shaped eyebrows. “Nothing to worry about” a silent smile spread on your face as you observed the prince closing his eyes at your touch, his own pretty lips stretching on a little smile. “Sorry for making you wait, pretty.”

“I don’t think I can forgive you so easily, my prince” you replied jokingly; Soobin’s eyes slowly opened meeting yours immediately, his own hand going up to cup yours in his and place it near his lips so that you would be cupping his cheek. “Should I make it up to you?” Soobin’s head moved slightly to have his lips under your hand, planting a tender kiss in the middle of your palm, his eyes never leaving yours. “Here you shouldn’t  be treated with anything but the best, I assure you.”

“Well, that’s sweet” you replied as you got on your tiptoes to kiss Soobin’s chin, instead your own lips falling against his as he tilted his head just in time to caught you; the hand cupping yours pulling away to hold onto the back of your head instead, leaving you no chance to pull away from him.

“That is sweet” he mumbled against your lips, barely putting some distance between you as a smug smile trailed up in his face. Soobin started walking backwards, pulling you with him; you frowned as you were dragged by the prince out of the ballroom, his hand leaving your waist to grab properly your hand, interwinding his fingers with yours as he made his way through the long halls.

“Soobin? Where are we going?”

“I want to make it up to you for being late” he answered, looking over his shoulder and smiling brightly at you. “I want to show you something I think you would like, come on!”

Now, as to why did Soobin thought you’d like to see the horses stable, that is something you really couldn’t quite answer. Still, you walked behind him as he pushed the wooden doors open and flicked on the lights, smiling amused as he turned to look at your reaction. You, well, you could just stare at the amount of horses inside, some curled up sleeping, others munching some hay, and others, like a tall white beautiful one, neighing with enthusiasms at the sight of the prince.

“Hello my dearest friend” you heard Soobin mumbled as he stopped in front of the white horse, his free hand going up to scratch his long neck. “I’ve brought someone for you to meet” Soobin took a step aside, allowing you to stand face to face with the horse whose eyes seemed to look at you up and down before scoffing. Should you feel attacked? Soobin giggled at your reaction. “Y/n, this is Odi; Odi, this is my guest y/n.”

“Odi?” you mumbled under your breath, the horse’s ears jolting at the sound of his name, stomping his hoof on the floor. “Nice to meet you Odi.”

Cute, thought Soobin as he pulled your hand under his and guided it to rest on Odi’s neck, showing you how to caress him, his eyes glued to you as you smiled at his horse.

“Ever rode a horse before?” asked Soobin as let Odi out, guiding him from the hold on his reins. You shook your head, following Soobin out of the stable; you observed how he adjusted the saddle on Odi’s back, patting him tenderly before turning to you, a hand stretching in your direction. “Wouldn’t it be good to do it now?”

“… Really?” you asked bashfully, placing your hand over his and taking a few steps closer to him.

Soobin nodded. “I will help you up, okay?” his hands quickly found their place on your hips, grabbing tightly enough to lift you up from the floor and over Odi’s back, the horse scoffing some more as you grabbed onto the reins for dear life, earning a sweet chuckle from the prince who soon followed you and jumped over, throwing a leg over the seat, his arms on each side of you as he leaned in to grab your own hands holding the reins. “Are you okay?” he asked amused at your shrinking self.

Maybe riding a horse wearing a dress wasn’t the most ideal plan, you even had to seat with both legs on the same side, the side of your body meeting Soobin’s chest as he pulled you closer to him and held the reins tighter, his breath brushing on top of your head.

“This isn’t so ba- ah, fuck!” you exclaimed when Odi started moving, startling you and making you let go of the reins to hold onto what you thought was more stable: Soobin. “Sorry, sorry, that scared the shit out of me- oh, fuck, Beomgyu would kill me if he heard me.”

Soobin laughed as he fastened Odi’s pace into the so familiar paths he had grown riding; little by little you grew accustomed to it and, feeling a little more confident, you turned your body to the front, eyes looking in amusement at the scenery changing in front of you; the only light outside was the moonlight that illuminated the path in the forest Soobin was following.

“Oh, wow” you muttered, a big smile appearing on your face as you leaned in thoughtlessly, enjoying the breeze hitting against you and making your hair fly back as Odi galloped through the forest. Soobin smiled behind you as he watched closely how you started to enjoy the ride.

“We’re here” announced the prince as he slowed down his horse, pulling from the reins; your mouth slightly hung open as you watched the small lake in front of you, shining under the moonlight, the soothing sound of the current making you relax instantly. Soobin jumped off the horse and turn on his heels, his hands finding your hips to help you get down.

“Hey, what is this?” you asked, flicking your eyes to the reflect of lights in the water to the prince. Soobin’s hands remained on your hips, his thumps drawing circles against the clothe skin while a soft smile draw on his face.

“Something I thought you would like.”

Soobin walked over to the lake, softly dragging you along, and only pulled his hands away from you when he hunched down to take his shoes off; your eyebrows furrowed as you observed him sinking his feet in the water and go into the lake, stopping when it reached its hips to turn and look at you, his eyes obviously telling you to get in too.

So, there you were, bare feet getting into the lake following the prince, trying to push down the silk of your dress that started flowing up while approaching Soobin, whose hand quickly sneaked around your waist when you caught up to him, pressing you against his side, a soft smile on his pretty lips as you put an arm over his shoulders.

“The water’s not…” “Cold? Yeah, it’s magic.” Or maybe it was Soobin’s heat irradiating from his body to yours, either way you didn’t say anything else as the prince walked further into the water until it reached his chest and your shoulders, your feet not touching the ground anymore which only made you grab tighter onto him.

“You okay?” he asked, turning his head, the tip of his nose brushing against your ear and his breath brushing against your skin making you get goosebumps. You nodded, turning your head to look back at him, your nose coming in contact with his. The prince hummed, the corner of his lips curling up as he softly placed them against yours.

Thoughtlessly, your own body turned to face the prince’s, your legs going up and around his waist, holding his frame in between, maybe for some more stability, maybe because you wanted him closer; Soobin gulped down, both of his hands hugging you behind your back as you clasped your hands behind his head, your fingertips pressing against the little hairs on his neck.

The prince hummed against your mouth. “You know that I love kissing you but I’m afraid this is not what I wanted to show you” he mumbled against your lips as he pulled away a little, a bit of fun in his voice. “Look up at the sky, pretty.”

Throwing your head back, you did as you were told, your mouth opening at the beautiful sight of the sky filled with shining stars above you, big full moon radiating the most precious light that reflected against the water they were in, bathing the prince and you as well; Soobin swears he could see the stars shining in your eyes as he was solely focused on you and the way your sweet lips stretched into a pretty smile at the sight, feeling his heart beating like a wild animal against his chest.

“Soobin this is so beautifu- oh, that is nice too” you hummed as you felt the warm lips of the prince pressing down against the skin on your throat, leaving a trail of wet kisses everywhere, a sigh escaping from your lips as a relaxed smile trailing up, the hold around you tightening as the man hummed in delight against you.

“I thought it would be nice for you to spend some time out of the castle walls” he muttered, brushing the tip of his nose softly up and down your neck. “Was I right? Did I do good?”

You hummed, feeling your cheeks burning up as you heard his voice― which was naturally very deep, going even lower while he moved up to your ear, his plush limps brushing against your earlobe before his tongue and lips got it caught in between them, making you whine softly at the weird feeling of it.

“Yeah, so good” you mumbled, eyes shutting close while your hands clasped his hair, feeling his teeth provocatively nibbling at your ear, his heavy breath turning yours into one alike. Soobin let out a deep and long sigh against your skin, the palm of his hands spreading open wide on your back, pulling you closer as if it was even possible.

As soon as you looked back down to the man, his lips attached to yours, moving painfully slow making you ache for more. With your own hands you pressed him closer to you, tilting your head to deepened the kiss, drinking the low groan that crept from the back of his throat at your motion, hands tensing against you.

Soobin’s tongue was warm, moving longingly inside your mouth, the once spec of bashfulness from the first kisses long gone; you couldn’t help your own sounds coming out of you as the man sucked at your wet muscle, his own gasps for air in between, hands grabbing onto you more desperately each time, his hips started moving at a slow pace against you, the feeling of his growing erection pushing against your clothe core making you tense under his touch, pulling at his hair with yearning, only gaining more beautiful sounds from the prince who seemed to accelerate his pace with that.

“Fuck, don’t do that to me” he pleaded against your mouth when you grabbed his bottom lip in between yours, sucking his skin like he was some sweet for you to eat and softly pulling. You flicked your eyes open, his lip still caught in between yours, only to meet his heavy gaze on you, eyelids half-open. A smug smile crept on your own lips as you purposely let go of his lip, only to immediately lap on it. “Y/n-“ your name left his lips in a shaky breath as his hands trailed down from your back to your thighs, squeezing your muscles hard in his big palms. “I- I want to touch you. I need to touch you.”

“Do it.”

Soobin’s hands started trailing up your thighs, pushing the clothe of your dress with them and sneaking underneath it; a sigh escaped from you as you felt him grab onto the bone of your hips, unbashful as he guided them up and down against his hard crotch, making the both of you pant against each other, the rhythm of his hips increasing each time until either of you were satisfied with it and wanted more.

“Fu-fuck, Soobin” you muttered under your breath as the man practically started pounding on you still full clothed, the sounds of the water splashing in between your bodies getting you dizzy in the head, meanwhile the prince took the best of the cares to your neck with his mouth, tongue running over and tasting you, biting softly and moaning against you. “Need you, fuck- please, need to feel you.”

You heard the growl erupt from the prince’s throat at your words, his body underneath you tensing and then how his hands hurriedly move to the waist of his own pair of pants; even though you couldn’t see anything that was happening under the line of the water, you felt his hands move and brush against you as he pulled down his pants, then pulling you closer once more, forcing a whine out of you as you felt his hard, bare dick pressing against your hot, still clothed entrance.

“Felt me enough?” he inquired, a smug smirk curling up in his face as he thrusted against you, watching every little expression you made, adoring the way your eyes rolled back before you shut them and the contrast of your mouth opening as you panted. The lack of answer only made Soobin click his tongue and push you harder against you, using the hold on your hips to push you against him, matching his own movements. “I guess this is enough for you, mh?”

“N-no, wait” you mumbled, forcing your eyes open to stare at him; Soobin had to bite down his own lip to avoid a pathetic groan escaping from him at your pleading look, eyebrows furrowed, cheeks red, lips swollen, eyes glassy.

“What is it? You have to speak up and tell me what you want, pretty” your legs hugged Soobin’s waist tighter, pushing him closer to you, your own hips moving against his making the prince chuckle airily.

“Need to feel you inside, Soobin, please.”

The way you so prettily moan his name had him almost rolling his eyes to the back of his head; instead, he managed to grab the waist of your panties and pulled them down, your legs forced to let go of him for Soobin to pulled them off completely. One of his hands found you quickly as the other grab his length, eyes fixated on yours as he placed the tip against your entrance, a sigh caught in his throat as he felt the heat and warmness from it, even though your body was underwater.

A shaky breath came from him as he pushed himself inside, head falling backwards as he felt the way your walls so deliciously clenched around him and heard the beautiful sounds that came out of you, breath leaving your body as you felt the big cock sliding inside your pussy, spreading you apart, making you dizzy in the head.

“So tight for me, pretty” he groaned once he bottomed out, forcing himself to take a look at you, his lips curling into a smirk as he saw the pleasure washing over your features; Soobin closed the gap in between yours and smashed your lips together, panting against you when he felt you clench around him even more.

“Soobin” you pleaded against his lip, him drinking up every little sound you made because of him, your hips moving up and down against him, trying to fuck yourself with his cock and failing at it while he held your hips tightly in their place. “Need more, fuck- need you to move-

“Yeah?” he chuckled breathlessly, pulling away from inside you until it was just his tip, then thrusting back in, earning a breathy moan from you that had his dick twitching. “Like this?”

“Yeah, like that” you nodded, your hand grabbing a fist of his hair on the back of his head while your hips started moving again at the loss of movement from the man. You whined in annoyance; why was he such a tease? “Soobin, please.”

The sound of his name falling out of your lips had him doing what you wanted again, this time not coming to a stop as his thrusts gained a rhythm that had your mind spinning around; Soobin moaned loudly when you tugged the hair caught in between your fingers, making him going even harder against you, tongue twirling over his lip as he devoured the way your eyes rolled back when he started going deeper.

“Fuck, that’s it” you moaned before pushing his head down to caught his lips in between yours, his raspy gasps for air against your open mouth, tongues devouring each other.

“Is this what you wanted? Uh?” he inquired, his hands squeezing hard against you, fingers practically burying on your skin as he slammed into you. “Fuck, I’ll give you anything you want, pretty.”

Sweet honey-like words were ignored by you as your body started tensing up, one of your hands grasping to his shoulder hardly enough to bury your nails on his skin, earning a hiss from him. You were close and he felt it too, cooing at the way you walls sucked him in. “Going to cum for me, all over me? Please do, fuc-“

“Oh, fuck-“

Your toes curled as you felt the knot in your low stomach snap, your head falling backwards, mind going numb as pleasure washed all over your body; Soobin cursed under his breath feeling the way your juices coated him completely, warm, thrusting a few more times before he was coming undone too, turning into a moaning mess, his lips pressed against your ear making you the direct receiver of his sounds.

As the sounds slowly died down, all you could hear was the heavy pants from the both of you; Soobin groaned, sensitive, his dick still inside you, lips sticking to your neck, peppering kisses all over you. “Are you okay?” he asked, tenderness in his voice.

You nodded, letting your head fall against his shoulder, the tight hold on it gone as you caressed his back. “A little tired” Soobin chuckled and finally pulled out from you, still hugging you closer to him, embracing you in his firm arms.

“We should go back and have some sleep” he decided after smoothly pulling back on his pants just with a hand, while the other held you close, then started walking closer to the edge of the lake. You hummed in agreement, letting yourself be carried by the prince out of the water.

-

“What…” you looked confused at the two men standing in front of you; Beomgyu was a common sight already as you were in the middle of your magic training session; however, Soobin being out of his usual schedule was a rare one as the prince could only meet you during meals or after dinner. “What is going on?”

“We have something for you” spoke the prince, smile drawing on his face before flicking his eyes to his friend, who tirelessly sighed and walked over to a covered mirror in the middle of his office, pulling the curtain away and waving his hand for you to walk closer.

“Soobin forced me to do this” said Beomgyu once you stopped behind him in front of the mirror, yourself standing in between the two tall man was quite a funny sight and you knew they thought it too as you watched their reflecting expressions; Soobin trying his best to conceal it while Beomgyu practically snorted seamlessly. “Hand.”

You looked down at the mage’s palm opening for you to take it; slightly confused, you did, looking up again to meet his brown eyes staring at you through the mirror, a sly smirk spreading on his face. “You don’t have to look so scared, Bambi.”

“Not scared, confused” you replied, with a slight roll of eyes. “Can you tell me what is going on?” you asked the prince, eyes flicking from the reflection of the mage to his.

“It’s a surprise” he said, soft smile on his face turning into a little pout as he held up his own hand for you. “Hold me too.”

“Toddler” muttered Beomgyu on your side as you took the prince’s hand.

“Shut up.”

Then you felt the wave of magic flowing right into your body, a stronger wave than the ones you were used to making your knees shake a little; your eyes flicked back to the mage whose focus was all on the glass in front of you, yet to no one in particular. Then you saw how a purple smoke swirl appeared in the pane of glass, just where your face was and soon all you could see was a pitch-black hole.

Not long after, the hole was filled with color, noise coming from it and then the clear images on the other side making you gasp, your heart clenching on your chest.

“What the actual fuck is th- Y/n?!” Yeonjun terrified scowl quickly disappeared from his face, his eyebrows jumping while his eyes opened wide in shock, blinking a few times and rubbing his eyes before looking back at the mirror in front of him. “What the fuck? Did I lose my shit already? God-“

“I see where this little habit of yours come from” mumbled Beomgyu as your friend on the other side kept on and on, talking more to himself than to you.

“Junie” you said, voice breaking at the sight of your best friend. Yeonjun stopped talking when your voice reached his ears, mouth hanging open; you saw perfectly fine how his eyes filled with tears and how he moved to grab the mirror in his hand desperately.

“Holy fuck? It’s you, really?” he asked, lips trembling. You wanted to lean closer, but the men beside you held you tight by your hand. “Are you okay? Where are you? Do you have any idea-“ his voice broke and he had to stop to take a deep breath before continuing. “We thought you were dead, y/n, you just… completely vanished into air, no one could find you anywhere.”

“Sorry, sorry” you said as if you were in a trance, the realization of what it must have been to your friends, to Granny, to Yeonjun, thinking you were gone, not knowing anything about you for weeks; then you noticed the prominent bag under Yeonjun’s eyes, his plump lips dried and bitten, the despair in his eyes and you felt even sicker. “I’m sorry” you sobbed.

You saw Yeonjun chuckle shakily, moving his head to his sides. “Don’t be, baby, just tell me you’re okay, tell me where are you so I can come and get you, okay?” You saw how his jaw clenched and how he inhaled sharply before speaking again, this time with a little more anger in his voice. Your friend was an emotional mess, and you totally got why. “Did that bastard kidnap you? Knew he was fucking crazy from the start, fuck, shoulda beat him up when he was just under my nose.”

Soobin awkwardly cleared his throat before leaning closer to you, waving his free hand to your friend whose eyes seemed on fire when he caught the sight of the prince standing next to you.

“You!” Yeonjun exclaimed. “Soobin, when I catch you-! When I catch you, Soobin- if that is really your name!”

Beomgyu laughed loudly, catching your friend’s attention too. “And who the fuck is this?” The mage’s laugh came to an abrupt stop, brown eyes staring daggers at your friend who scowled back.

“Do you have any idea who you are talking to, you insignificant being?” “Ah, god, another one with his head screwed?”

After a few long minutes of explaining everything that had happened to Yeonjun and another few long minutes of convincing that everything you were telling him was true and that no, you hadn’t gone crazy too and that no, the men with you weren’t crazy either, Yeonjun reluctantly accepted your side of the story.

“So? When will you be back?” he asked; you turned to look at the mage who side-eyed you quickly before rolling his eyes.

“We still don’t know that-“ Beomgyu inhaled sharply as your friend interrupted him with a load of curses and bitterly smiled before speaking again. “Lovely. As I was saying, we don’t know for sure but maybe… a few weeks? Maybe a month thought, I really am using a lot of energy on this precious right now.”

“Sorry, are you tired?” you asked worried, turning your head to get a better look of the mage’s face; Beomgyu did look quite tired, he seemed to be trying to hide it but the look on his eyes and the way his hold on your hand started to become lose each minute was enough for you to notice it. “Oh” your eyebrows furrowed. “Junie, we need to go now.”

“What?” asked your friend, fear appearing on his face.

“I’m sorry, I can’t let Beomgyu use all of his energy now” you said, looking sorry at your friend. “I love you and I will contact you again, okay? I’ll let you know when I’ll be back and I am so, so sorry for having you so worried all this time.”

Yeonjun pouted but still nodded. “I love you too, y/n, please be safe and if any fucker mess with you be sure to rip out their bal-

“Sure!” you cut him off, giggling softly as you felt Soobin tensing behind you. “Take care of Granny, okay?”

Yeonjun smirked. “Of course, baby.”

And then the image disappeared; Beomgyu beside you let out a long and exhausted sigh, his hand falling limb to his side, yours only grabbing onto his. “Thanks” he muttered under his breath, eyes flicking down to yours, a little ashamed by his weakness. You nodded, squeezing his shaking hand in yours and smiled softly at him.

“Guess today’s lesson’s canceled” the mage chuckled lowly, shaking his head, mumbling something under his breath you didn’t catch onto before he turned on his heals and went over to the couch, letting himself fall over it.

“Wouldn’t you be happy if that was the case?” replied the mage, letting his head lean back on the couch’s chair, eyes closing and a simple frown on his face, even though his lips were curled up in a tiny smirk.

“You think badly of me, oh Blessed One” you answered, rolling your eyes and letting yourself take the seat next to him. “I’m not that weak to magic anymore though…” you mumbled; Beomgyu’s eyes flicked open to look at you, arching his eyebrow.

“Lucky for you that I am a little bit tired, I would have whooped your ass if not.”

“A little kinky, aren’t ya?” you said, smugness in your voice as you tried to suppress your laugh; Beomgyu’s lips trembled in annoyance before he huffed and looked away, only making your laugh escaped from you. “You’re so fun, Beomgyu.”

“And you’re insufferable.”

And Soobin didn’t know the two of you had gotten so close to the other; the prince observing the interaction between you two as he stood still in front of the mirror, unknowingly frowning as he watched you laugh and joke with the mage who, even though was frowning, and sighing, and snorting, was enjoying the little fight you put up with him. Soobin noticed it, he knew his friend after all and the glint in his brown eyes that rolled at your words was enough for him to tell.

Yes, he was aware that the two of you would spend several hours in the company of the other and yes, he did know you didn’t have much trouble getting comfortable to new people; you had demonstrated that once you met him and again when you got into his world, the servants everyday growing fonder of you as he had been informed. The thing was Beomgyu, a person he had grown with and knew perfectly well, a person who was uninterested to everything below him; who was annoyed first at the mere thought of babysitting you but now seemed to enjoy the little bickering you two had.

Oh, he didn’t like at all what he was feeling.

Sadly, for the prince, he soon needed to be excused and return to his daily duties, leaving him with no choice but to say goodbye to the both of you, a bittersweet taste in his mouth as he walked away and out of the room.

“Why are you still here?” questioned Beomgyu after Soobin was gone, the common judgy look on his eyes making you scoff.

“I can’t?” “I certainly would prefer if you go away.”

“C’mon, Beomgyu, don’t lie to me, I know you enjoy spending some quality time with me” you smiled brightly to the man in front of you, whose eyes widened for a second for you to see clearly the thought of she must be insane on his head. “There must be something fun we can do to kill some time today.”

“Just say you don’t know anyone else around, Bambi” he said, voice tinted with amusement, making you roll your eyes.

“Not like you have any other friends, Beomgyu.”

“You are really annoying, you know that?” Beomgyu snarled. “Okay, fine, maybe there is something we can do.”

That is how you and Beomgyu found yourselves leaving the grounds of the castles, teleporting into town; himself under his usual cloak, hood covering almost all his face while you, on the other hand, wear one of the pretty dresses that filled the wardrobe of your bedroom, kindly being tidy up by the maids when you told them you were going out.

“You really should cover yourself” is what Beomgyu said before he’d take your hand and made you appear on the entrance of the carnival displaying all over the town. Ignoring the twist on your guts by magic travelling, you soon got mesmerized as you observed around; it really resembled the pictures you used to watch, everything looking kinda medieval but with the little twist of magic being a crucial part of society.

Beomgyu observed the way you watched every single detail carefully, your eyes almost sparkling at everything that was so common in his life and he couldn’t fight the small smile threatening on his face.

“Let’s go!” you exclaimed, clearly excited as you walked into the town’s heart; new smells and sights stealing your attention by the second, dragging the mage by the hold you had in his hand, making him awkwardly stumble on his own feet as he tried not to crash against your small body leading the way.

“Come, come here, my child, and taste Madam Renée’s delicious caramel apples!” your attention was quickly stolen by the gentle lady who flashed smiles in your direction, displaying some really good-looking caramel apples for you to have your mouth watering and your feet moving on their own as if you were in some kind of spell.

“You shouldn’t use magic to attract clientele, old lady” it was Beomgyu’s stern voice behind you that got you out of your trance, his hand sliding up from under yours to hold your wrist in place before you could grab one of the apples. Your eyes flicked to the lady behind the counter whose smile suddenly dropped and scoffed at the mage.

“Back away, little rascal, I’m just doing business” the lady snarled at him before smiling again at you. “How many would you like, sweetie?”

The little glint in her eye made you gulp a little nervous. “Just one, please.”

“Do you even have any money?” questioned Beomgyu, tilting his head over your shoulder to look at you. You laughed nervously, feeling some warm spreading through your cheeks as you remembered that, in fact, you were broken.

“Forgot about that” you mumbled, showing the mage the best-selling smile you could; Beomgyu scoffed and grab the apple you had reached for initially, leaning over you and putting down some gold coins on the counter.

“Two apples, old hag.”

“Better watch your mouth, you little shi-“ the lady’s words quickly stopped as Beomgyu lifted up his hood a little, revealing his face enough for the lady to recognized him, the color of her face quickly draining. “O-oh! What an honor to have you here, master."

“That’s better. Let’s go, Bambi.”

After grabbing your own apple, you hurried behind Beomgyu’s tall frame, your eyes looking up curiously as you tasted the really sweet apple.

“You really are careless, y/n” he muttered, giving you a stern look as the both of you continue your walk down the carnival. “What would have happened if that old hag had worse intentions and you just obediently followed her?”

“Good for me I have you, then” you answered flashing an innocent smile at the mage whose eyes quickly snapped away from you, nose shrinking in annoyance.

“Ah, yes” he sighed already feeling the headache the whole day with you was going to give him. “I guess you are lucky indeed.”

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, Beomgyu ended up having a good time; it had been a really long time since he had been into town’s carnival, his good only memory of it unfortunately being attached to a really bad one that had had him having nightmares uncountable times just until a few years ago. But this time, with you annoyingly running around amused at everything, reminding Beomgyu of a little cub, and him following you to stop you from getting into trouble, he barely had time to think about anything else.

“Break time” he pleaded, taking a seat on the edge of the fountain that decorated the town’s center, coins filling its ground as people still had that silly belief of asking for wishes. You smiled at the, your arm brushing to his as you carelessly fell took the seat next to his unknowingly too close, your eyes admiring the surroundings, a soft smile resting on your face. The sun had started to set down and that meant the lights had flicked on, bathing everywhere in warm light; laughs were heard everywhere and music reached your ears as a small group played some catchy melodies, making people stop to either hear some more or dance around. “I might have made an extraordinary job with you- how do you even have energy left, Bambi?”

Laughing, you replied. “I guess you could say I am the best one of your students so far, uh?” you joked, making Beomgyu scoff.

“Yeah, the best at annoying my ass” you laughed even louder at his comeback and Beomgyu couldn’t help but to stare a little longer than he should, the warm lights making you glow underneath them, his heart painfully skipping a beat― what? The realization made him pull his eyes away from you, the smile on his face that he had fail to notice falling. “We should go back now.”

“Oh” he hated the sad look on your face when you heard that and the way your smile faltered a little as you tried to keep the eye contact with him, failing at the end and looking away before nodding. “Alright, let’s go.”

You followed Beomgyu or, well, tried to but it became harder as he only fasted his pace; not only that but the amount of people had multiplied and you had to stop in your tracks several times to avoid bumping into someone. You tried calling for Beomgyu but he didn’t seem to hear, only walking back to the entrance of the town and after a few more people got in your way, you soon lose the sight of him.

“… Princess…” you looked around, the mass of people flowing around you and blocking your sight making your chest hurt, the feeling of being trapped and the failed attempts to spot the mage around making you panic, the palm of your hands sweating as you clenched them in fists; the shiver running down your spine made you slightly jump in your caged spot, turning your head around to watch where the sinister whispers were coming from. “Little princess, you’re time is running out, hehehe-“ Your breath got caught up in your throat, a feeling you already knew and never wanted to feel again, but the familiar voice that tormented you during the nights alone paralyzed you.

“Dumbass” a big and warm hand grabbed your shoulder, starling you; Beomgyu arched an eyebrow when you flinched and turned around, eyes bewildered and breath agitated. “What is it? Were you that scared of losing me?” Even the little tease in his voice didn’t help you calm down, your eyes leaving his to look around once more, your sweaty hands moving up to clasp his forearm tightly, scared of being left alone there.

You were grateful he didn’t start interrogating you right in the middle of the sea of people and instead was quick to drag you out of there; his eyes though, they flicked back and forth to you in concern and it was only when the two of you were at a safe distance from everyone else when he decided to speak. “Tell me what got you like this, Bambi.”

You fail to notice the way you had been gripping onto his forearm this whole time and only let go of him when his free hand brushed your fingers’ thigh hold, blinking a few times before taking in a deep breath, trying to calm your scared heart.

“He was here” you mumbled, the slight tremble in your voice not going unnoticed by the mage.

“Who?” he frowned, unconsciously taking a step closer to you, even if he knew he couldn’t help it, you looked like such a lost deer that he felt the urge to save you in his pocket.

“Kai.” “That is impossible.” “I am sure, Beomgyu.”

The mage gulped down at the serious look your shot him, one of your hands clasping the cloth of his cloak and hanging in there, your eyes still bathed in fear but managing to contain a little of yourself to connect with his eyes. Beomgyu’s mind rushed in thoughts― if Kai was there, how come he didn’t sense him? Were you sure? Or was it the trauma of your last encounter with the dark mage playing with your mind right now? Whatever it was he knew he had to investigate it further, but alone so what he did was sigh and grab the hand hanging from his clothe in between his.

“Let’s get you to safety first” he said, not waiting a second before teleporting the two of you back into the castle, and exactly to where he knew you needed to be right now.

Soobin’s eyes flicked up from the papers spreading all over his desk when the warm and familiar light loomed up out of nowhere in the middle of his office, his eyebrows knitting as he was able to spot the figures of both his best friend and you hand in hand.

“Good evening, Your Highness” mumbled Beomgyu, turning his head to look at his friend sitting behind his desk, the dark frames slipping on the bridge of his nose being pushed back into place as he leaned back to observe at the mage. Hearing his words, you also looked to the prince glaring at the two of you, an almost inaudible sigh of relief leaving you at the sight of him.

“Soobin” your lips stretched into a soft smile, your hand scaping from the mage’s hold as you took a step closer to the prince. Soobin’s eyes flicked to you and, even thought he smiled back, you noticed how it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Hello y/n” the stiffness in his voice got you frowning a little and the way he broke the eye contact with you to look down at the papers on his desk got you stopping in your tracks.

“I will be off now, got some work to do” informed the mage on your back, not waiting for an answer from anyone as he walked to the doors and crossed them, shutting them close behind him and leaving you alone with the prince in his office― you and him and the awkward silence around you.

“Is something wrong?” you asked softly as you walked closer to the prince, whose eyes still rejected to look back at you. Soobin hummed, writing something down before answering.

“Of course not, why would it be?”

You stopped next to him, behind his desk, and leaned against the dark wood; your fingers shadowed under the prince’s chin before pushing it up, forcing him to meet your eyes as you whispered a look at me, Soobin.

A long sigh came out of his pouty lips the moment his dark eyes met yours, his eyebrows knitting immediately over his dark frames; your free hand moved up and grabbed the frames before delicately pulling them off, placing them away on his desk before you cupped his cheek, your thump caressing his soft skin earning another shaky sigh from him.

“Tell me what is wrong, mh?” you asked as you pulled off some pretty eyes just for him, tenderly drawing circles on his skin

Fuck, you were good, he thought. “How… How was the carnival?” he asked, envy evident on his voice catching you a little off guard.

“Well, I had fun” you replied with honesty, deciding to leave the last part out, tilting your head slightly as you leaned closer to look into his eyes, trying to decipher what was happening with your little prince. “Were you sulking cause you couldn’t come?”

“… No” he answered, bashfully looking at a random object behind you. “I am most definitely not sulking… I just- I don’t know, it’s embarrassing” his ears tinted red as he flicked his eyes back to yours. “I am a little sad that I wasn’t the one escorting you.”

“I see” you mumbled trying to bite down the amusement in your voice, yet your eyes shone in a way that gave you away, making the prince getting even more embarrassed. “So, you were jealous, uh?”

“God, it sounds awful if you put it like that” he groaned ashamed, making you laugh a little.

“I just spoke the facts, Soobin” you smiled tenderly before leaning closer and giving him a soft kiss on his pouty lips. “There is nothing for you to be jealous about.”

“But there is” he mumbled, his head following yours as you pulled away from the short kiss, his eyes glued to your lips. “Not only Beomgyu’s the one taking you to the carnival but to the dance.”

“What do you mean? I don’t remember him asking me” you replied, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “You haven’t asked me either” Soobin groaned again, this time in annoyance.

“Trust me, there is nothing more that I want but that. I would have already asked you if I wasn’t..., well, me” he replied, tasting the last word bitterly. “The Crown Prince isn’t supposed to take anyone to the ball, he’s supposed to just stand beside his parents like some kind of accessory for them to brag about all night long.”

“Oh, that sounds…” you grimaced; wasn’t this supposed to be a ball to celebrate the prince’s safety return? Biting down the question, you decided to plant another sweet kiss on the prince’s lips, who reciprocated assertively and again chased after your lips once you pulled away. “Cheer up, bunny, it will be only a couple of songs, I’m sure Beomgyu would leave me when he gets tired.”

“I am confident he will not” he replied a little bit sulky but still leaning in to your touch. “Bunny, uh?”

“A little nickname I thought it suited you” Soobin lips stretched into a tiny smile as he turned his face to plant a kiss on the palm of your hand still cupping his cheek. “Do you like it?”

“Love everything that comes from you, pretty.”

Days went on and the ball was just around the corner; the castle was buzzling with the final preparations for the main event of the Kingdom, maids and butlers rushing all over the halls, even Beomgyu started getting severely interrupted for instructions by his disciples during your lessons. You observed carefully how the mage explained something into further detail to the rest of the young mages, them watching him with stars in their eyes and nodding at the words leaving his mouth. As he turned around, one of his brown eyebrows arched in your direction while you stared at him from your sit on the couch.

“I guess you are pretty looked up to” you stated once his disciples rushed out of his office; Beomgyu snorted, his eyes rolling but a faint shadow of a smile appearing on his lips.

“And you realize that now?”

“Looks like I’ll be going to the ball with someone quite big” you said playfully, your eyebrows moving up and down at the mage.

“I don’t recall asking you to be my partner.” “Who else would you take then?” “Mind you, I am a pretty solicited man in this kingdom, Bambi.”

“Okay, I can see that” you replied, nodding slightly as you got up and walked closer to the mage who seemed a little taken aback and almost flinched. “Well then, I will ask you first. Would you like to be my partner for the dance? … God, this feels like prom but older.”

Ignoring your last sentence, Beomgyu frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “Aren’t you going with your oh, so charming prince in shining armor?”

“He told me he isn’t supposed to take anyone…”

“Oh, so he told you” the mage nodded, dark brown eyes staring into yours. “And I am the second option?” the corner of his lips slightly turned down.

“You’re no second option, you’re just the best one I have right now” you answered smiling jokingly at him. “Although I don’t really mind going alone” you added, ending with a simple shrug on your shoulders. “If you want to go with someone else that is completely fine” Beomgyu snarled at your comment, making you a little confused so you ended up adding: “Or if you just don’t want to go with me, geez, that’s fine too.”

“Shut up” he mumbled. “Fine, I’ll go with- no, you’ll come with me. I will pick you up from your bedroom so you better be ready in time.”

You smiled. “Of course, partner.”

“Master Beomgyu! A word, please?”

Ball day arrived as fast as you could blink and it was the most chaotic morning you had ever have in a long time; maids rushing in your bedroom at early hours, spreading open the curtains to let the natural light inside, pulling away your bedcovers from your body making you flinch in your bed and then tugging from you out of the comfort of your sleep to get you inside the bathroom and help you bathe.

They dedicated full hours to polish every single detail of you; from your nails to your eyebrows, doing a full skincare all over your body and even a massaging session to help you relax your muscles. By the time you were all dressed up and your hair was finishing getting done, you heard a few knocks on your door.

“The mage is here!” exclaimed one of the maids after speaking to Beomgyu on the other side, making you frown; he was earlier than he had said. Either way, you just motioned for them to let him in; you heard his footsteps as he walked inside but you couldn’t turn to greet him as a maid was working on finishing your make up, blocking your view and movements completely, only being able to hear the rest of the servants offering him to take a seat on the couch and wait for you.

“We are done, miss!”

There wasn’t a time when seeing yourself all dolled up by the maids didn’t catch you off guard but this time it made you had to close your mouth after a few seconds when you realized you were gawking at yourself; they really should rise their salary you thought as your fingers brushed your face still in amusement, your eyes trailing up from the beautiful and delicate jewelry they had put on you to the dress hugging your body and falling to the floor splendidly.

Fucking Cinderella shit.

Clumsily you got up from the seat and turned around to face the mage who was too focused on his own nails to notice you were ready; his eyes only snapped up to you when he heard your steps getting closer― oh. Beomgyu’s eyes grew bigger at the sight of you, gulping down to kill the feeling of his heart beating loudly on his throat, his own mouth going slack as his eyes moved down to your figure. The mage opened his mouth trying to get some words out, anything but when nothing came out he decided to clear his throat and stand up, ignoring the shameful way his knees trembled as he took steps closer to you.

“You cut your hair!” you exclaimed surprised at the sight of the mage; he wasn’t wearing his usual robes nor he had his long hair falling over his shoulders or tied in a ponytail as usual. Beomgyu’s hair was cut short, still fairly long, but its ends reaching his shoulders, wearing a beautiful suit that matched the colors and designs of your dress.

Beomgyu felt his breath faltering when you leaned closer and carelessly reached out a hand to touch his hair, your face closer to his than he had ever imagined― beauty, he dared to think.

“It suits you so well” you complimented him, letting go of the strand of hair and putting some distance again, oblivious to the way the mage regained his breath as you did that. Beomgyu forced himself to regain some composure, kneeling slightly in front of you, taking you by surprise as it was something he had never done before, and offering his hand for you to take; moving closer both of your hands to his face and placing a delicate kiss on your knuckles as he looked up.

“You look… beautiful” he said as he straightened up, his hand lowering but not letting go of yours, instead giving you a light squeeze. You thanked him, your smile only growing bigger at his compliment and he had to force himself to look away, clearing his throat once more and directing your hand to grab on his arm. “Ready?”

As Beomgyu and you walked down the hall and the muttering of people became louder and louder, so did the panging of your heart anxiously beating on your chest and the mage next to you, as the meticulous observer he was, realized it. “I can hear your brain working, Bambi, relax.”

You laughed nervously as you looked up at the man escorting you. “Sorry, just a little nervous, never had done something like this before.”

“You shouldn’t be nervous, you have me as a partner” he replied smuggly, making you scoff a little.

“You sound so cool” you joked, watching Beomgyu’s lips curling up in a sly smile.

“I am cool.”

Beomgyu and you made your way into the big, completely transformed ball room, shining brighter as ever, and you fighting against your urge to turn around and run away as you felt all ― absolutely all the eyes on the both of you; heads turning in your direction and conversations stopping abruptly to take a better look at whoever was that young girl escorted by the most prestigious mage of the kingdom.

“See?” muttered Beomgyu quietly only for you to hear as he led the two of you to a corner to patiently wait for the main characters of the night to arrive, grabbing two cups filled with sparkling water from a butler walking around with a tray filled with it and offering you one. “Not as bad as you thought, uh?”

You simple nodded and sipped some of the alcohol in your glass, your eyes looking around curiously; rich people party is what you thought as you quietly analyzed their clothes, their jewels, their mannerisms, their judgy stares towards you. What were you doing in that place? You didn’t belong to this world, clearly.

Your thoughts were cut off by the loud trumpets booming all over the ballroom, everyone’s attention shifting to the principal entrance’s door that were opening only to reveal two big figures with strong auras walking inside, crossing the middle of the ballroom under everyone’s eyes until they reached their seats on the throne; behind them walked alone a man of great height and port, polite smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes.

Soobin stood next to his father whose big smile seemed to radiate light, a cup filled with wine being raised in his hand and his free hand on his son’s shoulder, patting him tenderly for everyone to see. What the King was saying didn’t even reach your ears; your mind went immediately numb the second the pair of dark eyes met yours across the room, shining brighter at the sight of you before they shamelessly trailed down to your dress, his eyebrows slightly twitching and his adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped down.

“… For the safety return of this Kingdom’s beloved crown prince, cheers!” “Cheers!”

Soobin didn’t move his eyes away from your for a second, nor when he drank from his own cup or when his father indicated him to seat on his throne or when Beomgyu caught your attention by pulling away your empty cup and gently grabbed your hand, silently asking you to dance; the prince inhaled sharply, straightening his back against his throne backrest, his lips inevitably curling down as he watched Beomgyu place one of his hand on the spot in your waist, pulling you closer to him and smirking smugly at you, muttering something on your ear that had you laughing softly as you reached your own hand to hold his.

And the way― the way you looked tonight, you were incredibly stunning, shining like a jewel yourself and Soobin had to grab tightly onto the armrest of the throne to stop himself from standing up and stealing you away from his friend and from everybody else in the room whose eyes lingered on you longer than he ever wanted.

“Y/n…” muttered Beomgyu under gritted teeth, the hand on your waist tightening, making you gulp nervously. “Did you just stomp on my feet? I thought Soobin did teach you how to dance.”

“Sorry, sorry, heh” you laughed nervously, feeling your cheeks warm; Beomgyu, of course, was a good dancer too and lead you perfectly well through the dance floor but his style was quite different to the one you were used to, which was Soobin’s. “Did I hurt you?”

Scoffing, Beomgyu replied. “Well, obviously not, you are so light you couldn’t even hurt a fly if you step on it.”

“I don’t think that’s- “I am trying to say that you can stomp on my feet if you need to, Bambi” “Thanks.”

Two full songs went on successfully with you and Beomgyu dancing around the ballroom, muttering some sorrys in between as you continued to step on him, and him ever so slightly making fun of you for it, liking the way you huffed in embarrassment and looked away. After a third song you accepted Beomgyu’s offer to take a small break and have something to eat and the two of you walked out of the dancefloor, heading to where the big buffet displayed for everyone to have a blast.

You were too caught on the deliciously looking sweets in front of you, debating on which to try first to even be able to notice the way Beomgyu tensed and froze on his place, head snapping to a side, sight sharpening as he felt something that shouldn’t be around.

“Listen Bambi, there is something I need to take care of, I will be right back, okay?” Beomgyu’s eyes didn’t see the curious look you gave him before walking away, disappearing from your sight.

You paid him no mind as you reassumed your arduous job of filling a little porcelain plate with sweets, the tip of your tongue in between your lips as you carefully picked one by one, your eyebrows frowning when you were about to pick up the last of a kind and it was suddenly grabbed by another hand. Looking up, you were met by an amused stare already on you, lips stretched into a silky smile and the sweet― your sweet being held in front of your eyes.

“Oh, I am so sorry, my lady, did you want this?” the man asked referring to the sweet, you nodded. “Would it be improper of me to suggest trading this sweet for a dance with my lady?”

You looked around trying to spot the figure of Beomgyu anywhere near, sighing in defeat as you saw him nowhere around and looking back at the man in front of you, waiting for a response. “… I don’t even know you.”

“How rude of me” the man kneeled in front of you and held his hand for you to grab it, which you hesitantly did, regretting it immediately as he placed his lips on your knuckles for a little too long. “I am prince Jaehyun from the Third Kingdom; may I know the name a princess such as yourself ports?”

Pulling your hand away and wiping it on the cloth of your dress with no dissimulation, you replied trying to control your facial expression as you stated your name.

“Such a beautiful name! Would my lady make me the honor of sharing a dance with me?”

“Sorry but she has promised me a dance.”

A large and strong back blocked your view completely; taking a few steps back involuntarily, you looked in surprise at the prince standing in front of you, his back towards you as he stood tall in front of the man whose eyes widened and smile fell from his face in a second, kneeling immediately at the sight of the crown prince.

“Your Highness crown prince Soobin” greeted the man, head low for a few long seconds until Soobin told him to stand up. “It’s an honor.”

“I am sure you wouldn’t mind if I take what’s mine now, won’t you?” stated the prince, bitter smile on his lips as he looked down at the man in front of his shaking his head quickly. Without even letting him speak another word, Soobin turned around on his heels, his smile widening once he connected eyes with you and he so charmingly held out his hand for you to take it. “May I have this dance?”

The plate in your hand shook slightly catching both of your attentions; Soobin took it from you and gently put it away, before scooping in his hand under yours and lead you back to the dancefloor. Well, shit if you thought you had received some looks when you and Beomgyu arrived it was nothing compared to the amount of stares now that Soobin was the one at your side and while you felt ever so tiny under so many judgmental eyes, Soobin seemed to shine even brighter, not paying any mind to the others and just carefully stopping in the middle of the ballroom, his hand gently grabbing your waist, his tender touch contrasting the intensity of his eyes on you.

“You look gorgeous” he told you as he began leading you at the rhythm of the music, his breath fanning over your face as he leaned closer. “Too gorgeous” he added, a bittersweetness in his voice that caught you a little off guard.

“Why do you look so mad?” you asked softly, squeezing his hand on yours and knitting your eyebrows in confusion. “Did something bad happen?”

“Everyone here wants you” he muttered under gritted teeth, nose wrinkling a little as he flicked his eyes around just for a second before they were back on you; Soobin pulled away a little and guided to you do a little spin, releasing the hold on your waist just for a second as you spun, catching you immediately back and pulling you closer to his chest, your cheeks burning as his tongue twirled over his lips and leaned closer to your ear. “But they can’t have what is mine, right?”

The low growl from the prince on your ear had your face flushing vivid red; his eyes lingered on your lips as they opened to try and say something, nothing coming out of it making him smirk; how bad did he want to kiss you right now in front of everyone else to make them understand that they shouldn’t even imagine putting a single finger on you or else.

But Soobin can’t do that there in the middle of everybody, in front of the King and Queen of the Kingdom whose eyes are fixated on the both of you, half intrigued half astonished; so instead the prince drags you out of the ballroom once the song finishes and guides you down the endless halls of the castle, pushing open a random door to an empty room and pushing you against the wood of it once it closed on your back.

Before you could react, his lips were over yours, moving in need and hunger, so desperately his tongue lapping on your parted lips before sneaking inside your mouth, groaning at the addicting taste of you; his hands that were first placed besides each side of your head now sliding up and down your body, grabbing and squeezing everything he can in his way, making you whine pathetically against him.

“Can’t stand it” he mumbled pulling away from your lips only to slid them down to your neck, his body pressing hard against yours as he kissed and bit and licked, his hands steadying on your hips and gripping them, making the silk of your dress slid up only a little from his roughness. “I hate that they think they can have you, ha! They should know better than that.”

You gasp when you feel one of his hands sliding down under your thigh to lift it up and wrap it around his waist, pushing up your dress even more; your hands moved up to clasp his hair in between your fingers, your head falling against the wood behind you. “You’re more possessive than I gave you credit for, bunny” the petname had the prince thrusting harsh against you, making you let out a soft whine while tugging at his roots.

“I can’t help it, y/n” he groaned as he slid down from your neck to your collarbone and inhaled sharply the scent of you that had his mind crazy before placing soft kisses down the invisible path to your chest, nibbling at your tits over your cloth. “Never had felt his before, never felt this fear of losing something from me” his eyes flicked up as he nibbled meaningly against one of your nipples, making you gasp yearning from more.

“You can’t lose me” you mumbled, looking mesmerized at the boy lapping yearningly your chest over your dress with his eyes fixated on yours; you felt the smirk forming on his lips at your words.

“Right? Because you are mine?” he questioned as he moved further down, placing a last kiss on your breasts before nibbling at your stomach, the sensation making your breath flinch. You hummed in agreement but that wasn’t enough for the prince. “Words, pretty, use your mouth.”

The leg that once was around his waist was now being moved by him over his shoulder as he got down on a knee, his nose moving down on your stomach till your pelvic bone, his eyebrows furrowing as the scent of you became stronger and got him drunk on you.

“Y-yeah” you muttered shakily as you felt his hot breath fanning over your entrance while his hands slid down under your dress and pulled it up; his eyes not moving an inch away from your reaction. “I’m yours, Soobin, all yours.”

The prince almost moaned at your words; licking his lips eagerly, he pulled the skirt of your dress over his head and slid under it, his fingers grabbing the cloth of your panties and pulling them down to your ankles. A loud moan came out of your lips when Soobin pressed down his mouth against your pussy, himself groaning out loud at the taste of your juices, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he lapped against it like a dog, collecting everything he could on his tongue― so fucking sweet.

“Wa-wait Soobin- fuck, slow d-down” you whined breathlessly as you felt Soobin’s tongue working feverishly on you, trying to pull him away from your abused core by the hold on his hair; the prince huffed in annoyance at your intents and only sank further in you, growling a low no as he continued tongue-fucking you.

Soobin ate you out like he was some kind of starved man, groaning needily whenever your hips jolted against his face, his nose and chin drenched in you; he wasn’t going to fucking slow down, he wanted you to fall apart on his tongue, the mere thought of you cumming just by the muscle of his mouth numbing his mind and going feral underneath you. His devilish pace only worsened as he heard you getting louder announcing your climax; the prince groaned loudly as you pulled meanly from his hair while your hips rubbed against his face, your hot cum falling all over his mouth, dirty slurping sounds from underneath you reaching your ears as Soobin took over the job of licking you clean.

You breathed in and out deeply as you watched the prince appeared from under your skirt, after putting back on their place your panties, straightening the skirt of your dress and standing up, cupping your face in between his hands to connected his lips with yours, tasting yourself on his mouth, making you groan against him. His kisses became calmer and tender, thumbs caressing your cheeks before he pulled away, placing his forehead on yours.

“… Sorry” he mumbled a little ashamed but deep down satisfies with himself. You pecked his lips in response, making a soft smile appear on his pretty swollen lips. “So perfect.”

The both of you stood there a little longer catching your breath with a few kisses in between; you smiled softly as you help the prince tidy up his hair― the one you had been pulling and messing just minutes ago. Soobin let himself be tidy up by your gender touch, his eyes on you as you carefully straighten up his wrinkled clothes, his heart beating as loud as ever against his chest.

The intimacy of the moment, sadly, didn’t last too long. The loud knocks on the other side of the door got the two of you startled and, just in time as you stood back from it, the doors were flying open. Beomgyu panted loudly as he got inside the room, wild eyes fixated on you as he got closer.

“Beomgyu, what happened?” questioned Soobin, hugging your waist with his arm and pressing you closer to his chest. The mage ignored the act and grabbed your shoulders, pulling you away from the prince.

“You need to get out of here” he said hurriedly, ignoring the calls and demands of the prince on his back, his brown and tired eyes staring into yours.

“W-what?” you dumbly stumbled on your feet, grabbing his shirt for support as he continued to guide you to the doors. “Beomgyu, stop! What’s wrong?”

“Should have sent you back sooner but I just- I couldn’t. It’s my fault” he rambled as he guided to down the hall and out of the castle’s walls. Soobin followed closely behind; his words being completely ignored by the frantic mage. “I got too attached, too weak, too blind; he’s been here all along- fuck. I need to send you back, y/n.”

The realization fell upon you like a bucket of cold water. Beomgyu only stopped in his tracks when you reached the castle garden and, without wasting any more time, he fell to his knees and begun enchanting some words in a language you couldn’t decipher, that you hadn’t ever heard, not even during your magic lessons.

Soobin reached you in no time, stopping at your side and hugging you closer to him as he realized what was happening; Beomgyu’s aura became clearer and clearer to the eye and the air felt electrifying, making your skin get goosebumps all over.

“Tic tac, little princess.”

The familiar, disgusting, feeling of something slimy and wet touching your skin got you gasping in no second; the long and thick black tentacles were back and they snaked around your waist tightly, stealing the air out of you as they lifted up in the air. Your eyes met the half bored half amused blue eyes of the dark mage floating in the air, a tiny smile spreading on his lips as he drank up your expression.

“Long time no see, princess” he said, mockery in his voice. “Got the chance to spot you that fun day in town, we had so much fun, remember?”

“So, you were there!” you exclaimed, a shaky finger pointing accusatory to the man in front of you. “Are you some kind of stalker or something, man?” God, you hated it― you and your lousy mouth in the worst times.

Kai’s lips turned down. “I see that not even the castle’s discipline could win over you, uh? Guess you are one like me! Hehehe!” His loud, ear numbing laugh made you wince― not for so long before a loud growl came of his lips, his eyes going feral as he looked down to the floor.

Beomgyu was done with the enchanting― there was a large pitch-black hole on the floor. Now the mage was taking over the job of blasting away the annoying little tentacles of the dark mage with fire coming out of his hands, mumbling incoherences under his breath as his eyes were furrowed in annoyance.

“Such a pain in the ass, this one” you heard Kai saying to himself. “Say, little princess, should I just suck the life out of your body and have this over with?”

“Uh…” you blinked a few times at the question. “Well, I really would appreciate if you didn’t.”

“Boomer” Kai sighed and rolled his eyes before a mad smile spread on his face. “Good thing I get to decide things here. Why don’t I give you a fun ride while I take care of your little boyfriends down there?”

“They aren’t my boyfri-“ your words were cut off when so suddenly you were being lifted up in the air by the tentacle’s hold in your waist, reaching as high as they could in the sky; time froze as they suddenly stopped in mid-air for a second, you being able to spot the lights of the castles very far away from the ground before the tentacles were letting go of you.

There were little moments in your life where you had felt the real fear, horror, terror; for example, when you were very little, still very innocent in life and you were forced to abandoned your so precious childhood to face the real world before you, you parents were gone, you had no other relatives around or that you knew of, you were alone. Or, at first, that was what you thought before Granny and Yeonjun appeared to save you from your pitch-black hole.

There was also that time in high school days when Yeonjun had forced you to go with him to that new amusement park after school, which you thought was an incredible idea at first. You had blast, rode a lot of fun games and won against your best friend in those cute little stands of ‘knock out the pile of bottles and win a plushie!’. It was a great day until Yeonjun convinced you to ride on the first cart of the rollercoaster. Sometimes, if you recalled the memory in detail, you still could feel the pain in your throat from the intense screaming that came out of you and the way your heart fell from your stomach.

Since that day you started developing some kind of fear to heights.

And just like that day, a loud and painful scream came from the very back of your throat as you free-fell from God knows how many meters tall.

“Beomgyu!” screamed Soobin as his eyes were glued to the tiny figure falling from the sky, the loud scream from you erupting in the air making his heart stop.

The mage grunted as he rolled away from the sharp attack of the dark mage’s tentacles. Jumping and avoiding any kind of grip it could have on him, while trying to blast the damn thing with his magic. God, how he hated those things― they were ugly, they were gross and they were a pain in the ass.

From the corner of his eyes, he caught the sight of you falling at incredible speed from the sky. Kai giggled loudly as he tried to use the little distraction of you to caught his enemy, but Beomgyu knew the other man well― too well for his own good, and as the dark mage tried to strike another deadly hit on Beomgyu, he was quick to stop it and blast the tentacle away, teleporting immediately to the back of Kai, striking a hard hit on the back of his head while kicking his legs, making him fall to the ground.

Beomgyu’s eyes flicked to the sky once more and waisted no time before teleporting himself to you, in the middle of the air, wincing at the sharpness of your panicked scream before tangling his arms around your body, trying to shush you and calm you down which was fairly quite difficult. As soon as you were firmly in his arms, Beomgyu teleported you both to the ground, a few feet away from the intimidatingly big and black hole he had opened for you.

Once the arms around you pulled away, you fell on your knees, hands pressing against the ground as you took deep and shaky breaths. Beomgyu went back to the dark mage that was rushing towards the both of you, trying to get him away from you as much as possible, screaming something over the loud noise of blasting magic for you that didn’t reach your ears.

“Get her out of here!”

Soobin rushed towards you, helping you get up and forcing you to take some steps; you following blindly, only snapping out of the shock when half of your feet were hanging from the portal on the ground. You tried to jump away, but Soobin got you on your place tightly. Wincing, you turned your head to him, eyes filled with tears and lips trembling as you tried to plead for him to not let go of you.

The prince reprimed his urge to cry, at least in front of you, as his hands squeezed the sight of your arms; his breath shaking as he inhaled deeply to say the next words: “You need to leave.”

“No.” “Yes, it’s not safe for here anymore.” “Soobin, I can’t-“

The prince whined in agony as he forced you to turn around, the shouting of Beomgyu behind him telling him to hurry, yet his hands moved up to your face and crashed his lips against yours messily, drinking in the soft cries of you as you reciprocated, feeling his face wet either from your tears or his, he didn’t know. Pressing his forehead against yours, he planted a last, soft and tender kiss on your lips before whispering against them I love you.

And then you were pushed into the black hole in your back, your hands trying to grasp the hold of the prince, screaming in panic as the nothingness consumed you.

-

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” Yeonjun knocked softly on your door before pushing it open with his shoulder, tray with food on his hand and a soft yet worried smile on his face. You smiled back and sat down on your bed, looking down at the plate of ramen he brought, probably made by Granny out there in the kitchen, thanking him for it.

It had been barely a week since you came back, yet it felt like years. Since you were able to reach Yeonjun, he and Granny had decided to move in with you in your previous complex, the ceiling already fixed. Neither of them had left your side since then, taking care of you with meals made with love, hugs, shoulders to cry onto and a lot of patience as they listen to you when you needed to let go of everything― the last one being mostly Yeonjun, who knew the truth to it all.

“Did you get some sleep?” he asked softly as you eat the steaming noodles, reaching out his hand to caress your head tenderly.

“Barely” you replied, sighing. “Still got a lot of nightmares.” Yeonjun eyebrows knitted in worry. “But I’ll get over it with time, I guess.” I hope is that you truly wanted to say, but for the sake of your friend’s worry you decided to keep it in.

“Of course,” he agreed, tucking the little strands of hair behind your ear. “What do you say if we go out today? Maybe a walk will be good to clear your mind. You can get a shower and I’ll pick up some real nice clothes for you, mh?”

If you had to be honest, you didn’t want to get out. You didn’t even want to get up from your bed, but you knew Yeonjun was trying to help you the best he could, so you agreed to it and thanked him when he took the tray with the empty bowl from you back to the kitchen, leaving you alone to get into the shower.

Spring arrived and everything around you bloomed, beautiful flowers and the trees porting themselves beautifully as you and Yeonjun walked down the streets, eating the ice creams he had bought for the both of you, him talking about things that didn’t really reach you. Point for him, taking in some fresh air did help you feel a little lighter, but your mind― that was something you couldn’t shut down.

“… And so, me and Taehyun are the only ones who made it into the contest” Yeonjun smiled, finishing his story and looking down at you, only realizing you were somewhere else, your eyes glued to the flowers blooming from the trees over your heads, your eyes lost in thoughts. He sighed and finished his ice cream quickly, hiding the pout on his lips even thought you weren’t going to notice it either way.

Shyly, he pulled from the sleeve on your shirt, catching your attention, and pointed back to the convenience store standing on his back. “I need to get some things for Gran real quick, you wanna come or you prefer to wait here?” You opted for the second one, pointing to an empty bench a few feet away. “Okay baby, be right back.”

You watched silently, from the seat on your bench, to the world around you. Spring brought more color to the city surrounding you, people seemed livelier, laughing and spending their times with their loved ones. And you were supposed to be like them, but your heart ached whenever it was awake― the reminiscence of the prince flooding your mind, his last words, his last kiss.

You forced yourself to snap out of it again, shaking your head and inhaling deeply, trying to lose the knot in your throat. You needed to get over it, over him but, was that what you really wanted? To forget everything? To forget Soobin?

“Hello there” you had been so caught up in your thoughts, so buried in your mind, that you had failed to notice the person taking the seat next to you, so when they suddenly spoke and got you out of your head, you were startled.

More startled you were when your eyes met a pair of unforgivable ones, already staring into yours nervously, his familiar lips stretching into a shy smile. You blinked one, two, three times, as if you were hoping the image to fade away like it was some kind of hallucination, but it didn’t.

Your lips trembled and you sobbed audible, not even having the force to try and suppress it, making the man in front of you flinch in surprise. Soobin leaned in and cupped your face, quickly wiping away the running tears down your face, his eyebrows knitting in worry as he scanned your painful expression.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled, pulling you to his chest and hugging you, warm covering your body as you continued to cry on his shoulder, his hands caressing your back, his own voice faltering as he spoke. “I’m sorry, I missed you, I’m here, I love you.”

I’m sorry, I missed you, I’m here, I love you.

[frannyzooey]

Short Days, Long Nights: 1

Joel Miller x f!Reader

Rating: none — I’ll change it to E when we get there (slow burn, forced proximity, age gap — no age actually mentioned but rather more implied, competence kink)

Summary: Part of a band of travelers, your party is slowly picked off one by one, until there are only two of you left. Finding an abandoned cabin in the woods, you decide to make camp there until you figure out your next move. As the seasons change, the nights get longer and longer…..

A/N: Thank you endlessly to @mourningbirds1 for the incredible feedback, beta, and comments. As always, I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you also to @write-and-buried for her TLOU knowledge and constant support, and @the-ginger-hedge-witch for reading this one over and making me confront how much Joel Miller has rotted my brain 😉 Enjoy!

—

SPRING

The copse of trees surrounding you is dense, and from the overgrown path you’ve been following by groove alone, you almost miss it. A flash of muted, dingy blue in a sea of green. 

“Hey,” you call to him. “What’s that?”

He turns, his features and body already taut with a practiced, ready tension and when he sees your face isn’t one of concern but rather curiosity, he relaxes. Walking over to you, he follows the line of your finger with his eyes. 

At first, he sees nothing. Just a wall of clustered vegetation: sturdy trunks that hide behind branches heavily weighted with rain, the floor beneath them obscured by ferns that brush against your legs and growth that softens your footsteps. His eyes catch on something too angular for the setting and he frowns, focusing on it. 

Barely visible in the distance and seen only through the filtered sunlight that catches the sharp edge: a moss covered roof. A structure, isolated like the two of you. 

He glances over at you for a moment, reflexively reaching back for his rifle. 

“Let’s take a look.”

Weapon out with his steps steady and slow, he approaches the cabin with a careful, defensive slink. As it slowly comes into view, you brace yourself for any type of movement. Second nature to now activate the constant thrum of self preservation inside you, you check for visible traps as you follow him, your eyes flitting between the building and the ground. 

A specific sort of tension fills the air when something is close: you know that feeling now, have become so sensitive that it can wake you from dead sleep the second you feel it. Like a sixth sense forced to emerge due to evolution, you focus on it and feel none of that tension here:  just the trilling sound of birds, the soft crunch of pine needles underfoot and the peaceful silence of total seclusion.

Joel catches your attention with the jerk of his head, motioning to stay close.

You approach the front of the cabin together. His hands white knuckle the gun, the butt tucked tight against the worn strap of his backpack where it curves around his shoulder and as his fingers flex in anticipation, you hold your breath. 

There is a weighted beat as you wrap your hand around the knob and turn. 

In the end, it’s all for nothing - the cabin you find, after roughly working the warped door open, is abandoned. 

–

It’s like a time capsule in the middle of the woods. 

A thick layer of dust covering everything, motes of it swirl lazily in the beam of Joel’s flashlight as you wander from room to room. His boots scrape against the floor with heavy footfalls, the two of you silently surveying the causally cozy and completely still disarray: a moth bitten handmade quilt thrown over the back of the couch, outdated magazines in a stack on the counter, cobwebbed toothbrushes by the bathroom sink. Bookshelves packed with faded spines, grime covered windows, dead plants in pretty pots lining sills. 

Someone loved this cabin once. 

Used to your partner through circumstance by now, you anticipate an order to scavenge for everything you can carry and then move on, so you’re surprised when he sets his pack down on the floor and lets himself fall back onto the couch. A cloud of dust bursts into the stagnant air, his hands coming up to wearily scrub his face. They rake through his damp, messy curls as he closes his eyes before laying his head back and letting out an exhausted sigh. 

“This should do for the night,” he says. “Could stay until the rain lets up, at least. Be nice to sleep on something other than the ground for a change.”

You nod in agreement, rolling out the kink in your shoulder you woke up with. Your eyes drift over the exposed line of his tanned throat, lingering on the hollow just above his collar. You force yourself to look away. “Yea, the beds didn’t look too bad.”

There had been two of them, across the hall from each other and the idea of a mattress - no matter how old - had you yearning to climb into bed already. Nothing saying you can’t, you reason with yourself. Not when time is more of a concept than anything else these days but the gnawing hunger in your stomach immediately disagrees, knowing exactly how long it’s been since you’ve last eaten. 

“I’m gonna go look for some food,” you tell him and he hums in acknowledgement, seemingly indifferent. 

Not really expecting to find anything of substance, you feel a swoop of scarce felt joy when you discover a cache of canned goods in the pantry. A treasure trove. 

“Hey Joel,” you call, wiping your thumb over a peeled, dried out label. “I think I found dinner.”

He doesn’t answer, most likely asleep given his ability to succumb whenever and wherever he can when he gets a moment and you take several, bringing them over to the counter. Brushing away the dust that sticks to the labels, you survey your choices: baked beans and peaches, two of each. Just what you would expect at a lake house. 

Letting him rest and holding the beans in your hand and a spoon you find in another, you take bites straight from the can as you wander down the hallway of the cabin, looking at the pictures on the walls. Using the heel of your hand to wipe away the dust that covers the glass, smiling faces emerge from the fog. You study them one by one, slowly chewing. 

They look like stock photos you used to see in stores: generically bland smiles, posed to perfection. An elderly couple with their children of various ages, a large family gathering photo, parents with children sitting between them. You try hard to picture those people here: sitting in the living room, sleeping in the bedrooms, playing outside. The concept seems too foreign to grasp, too far away to be real and you take another bite of food, pushing away the sudden unbidden reminder of similar photos you once had in your own home, now lost. 

You hear the couch protest as Joel gets up, coming to pass you in the hallway. He stops for a moment behind you, looking to see what you’re staring at and when he sees what it is, he frowns. Letting a deep sigh escape him, he keeps moving down the narrow space and with his pack in his hand, disappears into a bedroom. 

–

Wanting the safety of his nearness and given that it’s the only other bedroom, you set up across the hall when you’re done eating. Placing your own worn pack on the floor, you start to methodically strip the mattress, shaking out the bedding. Minimal creeping mold darkens the seamed edge of a mattress in otherwise good condition and you flip it, hoping for the best. Shaking out the pillow to make sure there is nothing hiding in it, you take the pillowcase with you, wanting to air it out on the deck now that the rain has stopped. 

Wanting to do the same for him, you walk into the bedroom he’s claimed and even though he’s not in there, it already feels like an invasion of privacy to be standing in it. His pack slumped on the end of the bed a visual claim, you grab his pillow off the bed and start to tug off the case. 

What does he look like, sleeping in a real bed? Does he bunch the pillow or tangle himself in the quilt? When he gets up, is there a rumpled form left behind, still warm with the heat of his body pressed into the sheets?

For all the time you’ve spent with him, the majority of Joel is a mystery to you. He gives away more than he knows, but that’s still not a lot. You knew of him back in the QZ: his broad frame a hard one to miss, his reputation even bigger and while your paths rarely crossed within the borders of those high walls, once you set out, it was hard to stay out of his orbit. 

His handsomeness drew your eye initially, but it was his usefulness that made you stay in his shadow. His determination to fight for his own made you feel protected by proximity, even more so when he extended it to you. 

Had to, once your group got picked off one by one. 

You had been thankful, in a sick way, that he was the one that remained. The best one. The most ruthless one. A ruthlessness you admired, then revered, then thought about at night as you tried to drift off to sleep. 

Without needing to sleep clothed to protect himself from the elements, does he still sleep in them, or will he be in less? If so, how much less?

Sharply snapping the pillowcase in the air, the sound brings you back to the present and you shake away the thoughts, leaving the room. 

“Whatcha got there?” He’s sitting on the couch, a can of peaches in his hand and when you face him, you have to look away from the glistening juice on his lips. 

“Oh, I was going to hang these outside, see if I can get some of the dust smell out.” Your nose crinkles and he smirks, taking another bite and shaking his head. 

“Thought you’d be used to that by now.”

You shrug, taking a seat in a chair by the woodstove. Leaning forward to inspect it, your chair wobbles; the front leg rotted. 

He nudges his chin in the direction of the stove when you open its door. “I thought about lighting it, but we better not. Don’t want the smoke showin’ people someone’s here.”

You nod, sitting back in the chair. “I can’t believe what a good find this is. There’s all sorts of stuff. I found some clothes in the closets, some more blankets too, if you need one.” 

You watch him chew, his jaw flexing under the salt and pepper of his beard.

“There is more food where that came from, if you’re hungry. The pantry is pretty full.”

He acknowledges it with a nod, taking another bite and you glance towards the windows that run the length of the room. A miracle none of them are broken, thanks to the secured tarp that lined the outside. 

“I think I’m gonna clean some of these and see if I can get a better view.”

“Cleanin’ the windows, doin’ the laundry. You lookin’ to move in?” His teasing tone is a dry one, and you smile, shrugging.

“Just so we can see what’s out there. In case someone comes.”

He looks at you, his eyes narrowing for a moment before he finishes the can, drinking the juice. 

“Well don’t wear yourself out too much,” he says, standing with a soft grunt of pain. “We ain’t gonna be here that long. Not worth makin’ it all homey.”

He sets the can down on the counter, grabbing his bow and supplies off the surface. You watch him check his stock of arrows before reaching back to feel for the knife strapped to his belt.

“I’m gonna go see if I can find us something for dinner.” He gives you a look, his eyes quickly sliding down over your form and then back up. “Yell if you need me, okay? I’ll stay close.”

You nod, holding his eyes for a minute and when he goes, you use the pads of your fingers to wipe clean a clear circle on the window. 

A creek lines the edge of the property, one that you didn’t even hear from the path with how thick the vegetation is and you watch him walk down along the edge of it for a moment, his head bowed. His hair is lighter in the sun, ruffling slightly in the wind and you keep watching until his form disappears behind the trees. 

–

Searching the cabinets methodically for anything of use while he’s gone, you find them buried deep in a junk drawer, sealed inside a faded, dirty ziplock. 

Seed packets. A lot of them. 

“Holy shit,” you whisper to yourself, opening the plastic pouch. You handle each pack delicately, spreading them neatly and carefully out on the counter and marvel silently at the whole vegetable garden you’ve found in this tiny bag. The haul would be worth more than you can imagine back at the QZ, but the potential for it is even higher here, in this dim kitchen, with that patch of moist, fertile soil outside. 

You pick them up one at a time, sorting them by recommended growth timelines and a thought takes root in your mind; the paper packets eventually gathered and put neatly back into the bag. 

You let it stew the rest of the afternoon, into the evening. As the sky dims, then darkens, as he comes back with a skinned rabbit and cooks it, as you both sit in the living room after dinner, your dirty plates resting on the coffee table between you. 

He’s sprawled on the couch, his arm behind his head with his thighs spread wide and the denim around his thighs is molded tight; his other hand resting limply against the inside of his thigh. When his eyes close, your eyes drop from his face to his hand, and then back up again. 

“So I found something today,” you begin, and he answers with a slow drawl, content and full. 

“Oh yea? Anything good?”

“Really good. Like, something really, really good.”

He opens his eyes then, looking over at you with a tilt of his head. 

“Well? You gonna tell me what it is?”

You draw one of the packets from your pocket, holding it in your hand and he sits up immediately, leaning forward on his elbows to reach for it. 

“Careful,” you warn, scared some will leak out of the thin, dried out paper. 

“You found these here?”

“Yea, in a drawer. In the kitchen.”

You can tell by the way he is looking at them that he knows their value. His hands hold them more tenderly than you thought his hands capable of, and he flips the packet over, reading the front. 

“I would kill for a fresh squash right now,” he mumbles, more to himself than anything, as he studies the front. 

“Well…” you start, suddenly unsure of your idea when he brings his eyes back up to your face. It’s intimidating when he looks directly at you normally, but you feel it tenfold now. He’s always been the one to call the shots, his experience in this world outweighing yours and while you’re nervous to throw yours out there, thinking of the alternatives nudges you forward.  

“I was sort of thinking this afternoon. About this place, and about these seeds.” You pause, looking away for a moment and then back at him. “About us, maybe staying here.”

He immediately frowns, scoffing to discourage the idea. “You can’t be serious. Stay here?”

Though you expected it, his immediate dismissive tone flares annoyance in you. 

“Where else is there to go, Joel?” you ask, your voice gaining confidence. “Be serious. Every settlement has been a nightmare, every place we’ve tried —“

He shakes his head, cutting your argument off. “I said we could stay for a night, not stay forever goddamnit. We’re like sitting ducks out here, just waitin’ to get killed. In the middle of fuckin’ no where —“

“Exactly!” you say louder, before bringing your voice down. “Exactly. We didn’t even see this place from the road. Not even from the path off the road. Who is going to find us here? No one knows about this place, or else it would have been looted ages ago. The tarps hid it, the trees block it, the –”

“And then what, huh? The second we light that wood stove, it’s gonna give us away. Even so, what then when someone wandering down that path sees the same thing we saw, and they decide to come take a look for themselves? They are gonna see everything we have – everything you’re suggesting we start – and they are gonna kill us for it.”

He pauses, the next statement forcing you to look at the ground. “Just like we would have done if we found someone else here. Just like we do.” 

You say nothing, letting the words hang in the air. 

“Just —“ you pause, looking down at your hands. Flashes of the last few months play back in your mind: the hangings, the strict enforcement of rules for all made to benefit the few, the bleak apartment you live in. This mission, all the things you’ve seen along the way, all the fear and terror you’ve felt and how the only person who has ever made you feel safe since the Outbreak began is sitting right here in this room. 

If ever this could work, it would only work with him. 

You bring your eyes back to him, pleading. “Aren’t you tired of it? So restless, always fighting against everything. For everything you have. Aren’t you sick of it, Joel?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m just fine.” His tone is clipped, but you can tell he’s thinking. He glances at his watch, the broken face staring back at him. It’s been broken for as long as you’ve known him, but he’s always treated it as carefully as his weapons, his supplies. You can see him illuminated by the moon profile in your mind, his fingers skating around the face as he kept watch, or brushing it with his thumb to delicately keep the dirt off. Seeing your opening, you take it. 

“I’m not saying forever,” you press. “Hell, I’m not even saying a month. But let’s just stop for a second. Let’s… just stop. Nothing says we have to go back there. We could be dead, for all they know.”

He brings his attention back to you and placing his hands in his pockets, he straightens his spine. “Probably will be, sooner or later, if we stay here.” He looks you directly in the eye, holding your gaze. “It’s not just the supplies they’ll take. They’ll want way more than that.”

You raise your chin, ignoring the tightening of fear in your chest. He hasn’t let that happen yet, and even if it's foolish to believe, you know he won’t let it happen. When he sees you’re not going to answer, he sighs. 

The lantern is bright between you, illuminating the room in a soft glow and his deep brown eyes study you. His expression is stern, like he wants to say no…but he doesn’t. 

“It’s a dumb idea.” His statement is said with resignation, but with the authority of the last word and deciding not to push it any further tonight, you stand. 

“Well, good thing it was just an idea.” Glancing over at the seed packet, you chew your bottom lip while he watches your face with a frown and your voice gets softer, quieter. 

“I’m gonna get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

—

He isn’t there when you wake up, and finding his bow gone, you know he’s out hunting again. 

You wander over to the coffee table to pick up the packet of seeds you left there last night when you see a book facedown next to it. Like he was reading something he found on the shelves after you went to bed, and left it there. 

Picking it up and turning it over in your hands, a smile unfurls at the edge of your mouth and you sit down on the couch, opening it to the first page:

The Basics of Gardening