#also enjoy the tiny little bit about Branch’s representative flower >:)

[sarilolla]

Ooh! How about Clay being the third and last to arrive before Branch dies? And Viva reuniting with Poppy that way and her reaction to Branch's death and his brothers' grief considering she knows what it's like to essentially lose a sibling?

And JD arriving too late? How would he react upon realizing his controlling nature essentially sealed his baby brother's fate?

Ooof ouch, that hurts- Ofc I will write that >:)

Hanahaki Branch au (slight spoilers/alternative ending to not finished fic)

***

Life in Putt Putt Village was calm yet vigilant. Being co-leader meant Clay did many tasks around the golf course, and he for one excelled at the “boring” tasks. Life was calm, until it wasn’t.

The golf course was made by Bergens once upon a time, and there was always a possibility that one day they would show up. The Trolls in the village were quiet as a couple came through the doors, commenting on the eeriness of the place. Viva led the attack, tying them up, which seemed to surprise them, but they didn't directly fight back. The *Trolls* with them argued against their capture though.

After a few very tense moments, they got to talking. The group insisted they were friends with the Bergens, who were the young king and queen, and it was very hard to believe.

Two of the Trolls were speaking together, and Clay and Viva froze upon hearing two names.

"Told you we should have brought Poppy with us. She would know how to convince these Trolls about at least listening to us," the short yellow one said, and the glitter Troll shook his head.

"You know she wouldn't have left Branch behind in his condition."

"Fair enough."

"Wait, wait, wait, what?"

And the explanation came. Something about Poppy and Branch saving the world twice, but that Branch was sick, and had been for a long time. Clay wanted to scream when he heard which illness he had. Hanahaki. He had read a book about it when he was younger, a tragic love story, but to think his baby brother had it? That was worse than every sad book he had ever read combined and tripled. He had to go!

Reluctantly, they let the Bergens go, and tentatively, Viva and Bridget bonded over Poppy. Clay just wanted to get to Branch. People were out looking for the rest of his brothers, and even if he had been angry with them once, he would face them for Branch.

The trip from Putt Putt to Pop Village felt like it took years, even if it was only a few hours. Clay was too focused on where he was supposed to get to his baby brother, he barely noticed Viva reuniting with her dad. It was teary, and he was happy for her.

When he got to the bunker, a pink Troll with fuschia hair left, and she resembled Viva a lot. It had to be Poppy. Her eyes lit up stepping off the elevator, and from what Clay had learned, Branch had built the bunker himself. It was very impressive.

"Clay?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Poppy. Branch is on the lowest floor. Someone will point you the way to his door. Floyd and Bruce are there too."

He nodded, not questioning the name, and headed down as quickly as possible, not missing her little mantra of "There's still hope.".

A purple aquatic-looking Troll with pink hair was sitting down in what looked like a living room, comforted by a shorter Troll with wings and pink hair, who pointed him to a door. Walking up to it while wringing his hands, he took a deep breath before knocking, and a voice he could recognize anywhere told him to come in.

Three of his brothers were inside, and all looked happy to see him. His focus was however immediately on the one in the bed, who was blinking at him sleepily. Branch was an adult, but he looked so small like this. It didn't feel right. Branch was their bright, happy baby brother. Not... not this.

Closing the door, he rushed over to Branch's side as Floyd gave him the space to do so. Both middle and youngest brothers were looking at each other, and Clay wanted to squish that too-tired look out of his face.

"Hey, Bittie B."

Branch wrinkled his nose at that, and Spruce chuckled.

"He insists it's Branch now. Made the mistake myself."

"Oh."

"And, by the way, it's Bruce now. Changed my name a few years back."

"Very fancy, I like it."

It was so nice being back with his brothers. He had thought they were dead a long time, but no, here three of them were.

"Clay..."

Branch said, and Clay's attention snapped back to him. The way his voice was so small and fragile made his heart hurt.

"I'm here, B."

"Love you."

His breath caught in his throat, before he nodded, "I love you too."

With the confession, Branch's breathing cleared a bit, and the collective relief in the room was palpable. It still wasn't clear, it was still stuttering, and the realization that they needed John Dory to come soon hit hard.

"Tell me what you did outside the tree," Branch asked him, and he looked at the other two.

"He asked the same of us," Floyd shrugged, and Bruce nodded, "Tell us what you've been up to Clay."

"Well, first off, I'm now a licensed CPA, and..."

He talked about his travels, finding the Putt Putt Trolls, being co-leader, and everything else he could think about. None of his brothers seemed judgemental that he had stopped being "The Fun One", but more... proud of who he was now.

Poppy returned after a while, holding Viva's hand. Both looked both happy and sad, and Bruce gave up his spot on Branch's side for Poppy. The two youngest looked at each other, Poppy brushing his chin carefully just to check on him, earning a soft hum.

Viva stood slightly to the side, before Clay looked at her, offering a spot beside him. Floyd was once again holding Branch's hand, and Viva took Clay's as Branch's breathing became weird again. His eyes slipped shut, and Clay looked between Branch's face, and the hands that still held onto Floyd and Poppy.

They were getting slack, and his breath was getting unnoticeable except for the weak stuttering to it. Holding onto that slightly raspy sound as the only proper sign Branch was alive, wasn’t fun. This wasn’t something either Fun-Clay or Serious-Clay could handle, not really.

Viva’s paw slipped into his when the sound stopped. The entire room was silent.

Branch wasn’t alive anymore. He wasn’t with them anymore. He was gone. Viva held his hand, but also held onto Poppy as she started sobbing. Floyd moved around the bed to sit between his older brothers, leaning into Bruce’s side as Clay clutched his hand.

They hadn’t saved their baby brother.

—

Far enough away that it was a problem, an increasingly greying Troll sat behind the wheel of his most trustworthy companion.

“We’ll get there in time. We have to get there in time. I can’t…”

John’s voice broke off, his mutterings barely heard by the other two Trolls inside Rhonda. He never thought he would see those two leaders work together, but they had, to find him. So he could help save his baby brother.

His brothers were probably already there, and John Dory had to make it there in time. Tell his baby brother he loves him. Tell all his brothers he loved them. Apologize for being a massive jerk when they were younger. If he hadn’t, maybe they would have stuck together. Branch would know he was loved. He wouldn’t die.

Suddenly, a small *ping* made its way into his ears. Pulling out the small hug time bracelet, he looked at the now open flower.

It had belonged to Branch. He had fastened it himself around his tiny wrist on the youngest first birthday. John had found it when he visited the destroyed remains of their home.

The forget-me-not shone so innocently, and yet… John knew it hadn’t pinged him for hug time.

***

*bonks you* Did you guys know that if any of the brothers got Hanahaki for Branch, our beloved boy would be the Forget-me-not? Little baby boy who loves his brothers above all is the flower meaning “Don’t forget me”? Isn’t that just swell?

Also, headcanon that hug time bracelets are given on the first birthday by a family member. They're not actually made of the different flowers, but they're modeled after them. And as mentioned in the main fic, Branch lost his at one point before or during the escape.

So yeah, Bridget, Gristle and the Snack Pack finding Clay, Viva, and the Putt Putts, while not specified here, it's Delta and Barb who finds John. I mentioned in this ficlet that Country and Rock had interacted with the oldest brother, so they set off to find him. I don't know why I decided to add that Synth and Dante Crescendo sitting there keeping watch of Branch, I haven't watched much of Trollstopia at all, but it just felt right. (Also, Clay never interacted with other genres, and neither have any other Putt Putt, so he doesn't know they're Techno and Classical)

So, yeah, that was another dose of angst. Alternative endings counter: 7. Alternative endings were Branch dies: 6

[nottheleavesarecinders]

ACOFS Prythian Map Appreciation Post

So, the fandom is in a bit of an unrest right now, so I’ve decided to offer you the best distraction I could think of: an appreciation of the Prythian map that came inside ACOSF, since it is absolutely GORGEOUS and I don’t feel like we talk about it enough!

One thing I’ve always loved about the ACOTAR maps it’s the fact that every single book there are new details included in them, either due to an stylistic choice or to portray new locations that become relevant in the book. With time, more and more things have been popping up, leaving us with the work of art that is the ACOSF map.

For those of you that may have not seen it yet, this is the map! Look how pretty it is!

I’m going to leave my fangirling after a read more because this will be very long!

So, first things first: obviously you can see Hybern, Prythian and The Continent, with the Mortal Lands and Fae Realms portrayed where they are. There are a ton of little details added to them, mostly portraying different locations, so let’s look at them more closely!

First there is Hybern. As you can see, there is a little crown and a castle drawn in it! The crown probably symbolizes the fact that Hybern is ruled by a King instead of High Lords, so it’s a way to show the influence of royalty in that land. The castle signals... yeah, the castle we went to in ACOMAF. I don´t really think its location it’s accurate, since as fas as I remember we weren’t really told were it was... but to be honest, it being near the shoreline DOES sound familiar, so probably it is a good approximation of its real location. Also, let’s take in how many mountains there are, it gives Hybern a very wild feeling that I think fits it REALLY well!

Now, let’s switch to Prythian! As you can see, The Wall is clearly signaled with a thick, black line, but my favourites are the borders between the Courts (divided by The Middle, with the Seasonal Courts below it and the Solar Courts above)- shown as thorny branches, which really portray the feeling of nature that suits the Fae so much. There is one interesting detail, though: the only missing border is the one between the Day and Night Courts. Maybe it’s because they are already divided by a mountain range? Hmmm I wonder...

So, I’ll talk first about the Mortal Lands and the Seasonal Courts, then about The Middle and Solar Courts!

The Mortal Lands don’t have a lot of detail in them, but you can see a tiny drawing of Feyre’s village under The Wall! It’s obviously not in scale, but I love the level of detail you can find in it- specially the tiny tower that seems to belong to a church! It really gives the “kinda-medieval-village” vibes Sarah seemed to want to portray in ACOTAR, and that little tower just makes it perfect!

Then you have the Seasonal Courts!

First there is the Spring Court. There is one detail I personally find REALLY interesting about it, and that’s the fact that the Manor doesn’t appear- in fact it hasn’t shown up in any of the maps we have seen so far. You would think that such an important location would be shown, at least with a little skecht like Hybern’s Castle... but no, it’s missing. I wonder why... One of it’s features that has appeared since the beginning is its eastern river, which hasn’t appeared in the books so far. I wonder if it’s going to become relevant at some point or if it’s rather an stylistic choice. It seems there is a river in the UK near the same place, so maybe it’s simply based on it.

Next up it’s the Autumn Court! My favourite! Yay! There is something I absolutely LOVE about how it appears in this map, and thats the fact that it has the most amount of forests by FAR, which I think really fits it. Another detail I find charming is how we can see the Forest House and then a drawing of some kind of big cottage or almost farm house representing it. Knowing what we know about the people in the Autumn Court, I’m pretty sure they would resent seeing their home shows as just a “simple” building. There is something else than I like, and thats the fact that, except from the mountains in the north that separates it from the Winter Court and all the forests, the rest of the terrain is flat, which makes sense knowing that they have lots of fields. I simply love this Court.

Now let’s focus on the Summer Court. This one doesn’t have tiny drawings of castles either, but you can see Adriata and one arrow showing us where it would be. As you can see, its placed next to a river’s delta, which makes a lot of sense taking into account the huge ammount of emphasys the Summer Court has in ships and sailing, it’s natural that its capital is not only in the shoreline (as we saw in ACOMAF), but also near a river they could travel in too. I also love how you can see a spatter of forests in the east and some mountains near Adriata and in the North, but the rest of the terrain is flat. I feel like it has a very summery vibe, clear but also with a little bit of everything else.

Lastly, the Winter Court. This is the Seasonal Court we know the least from, at least when dealing with geograhy. The only thing we have learned is that Viviane held a small city during Amarantha’s Reign, which sadly doesn’t appear in the map, not even with a small drawing. What we can see it’s really close to canon, tho. We know that there is a mountain range between the Winter and Autumn Courts, which it is indeed shown in the map. On its north side there is The Middle, which means mountains as well, and there are also represented here. The rest of the Court seems to be flat, which again makes sense, taking into account the short description we get from Feyre in ACOWAR, when she’s running away with Lucien from Eris and his brothers. The idea of flat, icy fields and lakes surrounded by snow capped mountains REALLY fits winter, so I really like how this map transmits it!

Now, this is probably my favourite detail about the Courts: all of them have symbols drawn in them that symbolize their nature! In the case of the Seasonal Courts, they are flowers! They used to appear in random spots inside their territories, but this map has moved them so they frame the Court’s names! Please, feel free to correct me if I mess up with any of the flowers, but in this map I think they are: lavender for Spring, oak leaves and acorns for Autumn, magnolias for Summer and Holly for Winter! 

Let’s go North now. The Middle and the Solar Courts: Dawn, Day and Night.

In The Middle you can see Under the Mountain and the Weaver’s Cottage (I just noticed I cut the name out Oooops). The Mountain is suitably big- there is no way you can mistake it for a normal mountain. I also love how much sharper it seems compared to the others near it. The Weaver’s Cottage is... a cottage. I would have liked to see the forest surrounding it and the Bog of Oorid, though. Maybe they’ll show up in the next book?

The Dawn Court. We get another tiny drawing: a castle (signaled by its own arrow) which looks suspicioulsly medieval-looking (it even has a tiny flag on top, which is unbelievably cute). I wich it were a little more stilized though, since it doesn’t fit at all the image I had of the Dawn Court Palace in my mind. I mean, Feyre was almost jelaous of the decoration, there is some fancy stuff in there. Appart from that, there are a bit of trees and several mountains. It’s likely that the entire territory is mountanous, but we cannot see that because they need a blank space so we can see the court’s name, same thing with the Day and Night Courts. Mountains everywhere seems to be a theme in the Solar Courts. It looks very similar to the Day Court, which i guess makes sense, taking into account that they are sibling courts. The Night Court does look different but... I mean, we already knew that.

The Day Court! Again, no drawings and no cities and no nothing, which makes sense because that’s the exact ammount we know about this Court, since it’s the only one none of the POV characters have been in. I cannot wait to travel there in a future book, Helion is the best and it’s pretty sad there are no noteworthy features in its map. If in the next book there isn’t at least a tiny pegasus drawn somewhere I’ll riot.

Then the Night Court. Of course, since it is the court version of the Main Character, it is the one with the biggest ammount of stuff in it... except for Ramiel, or a mountain in The Prison. I’m still salty about this, I would have LOVED to see Ramiel portrayed as a huge mountain, with a slender monolith on top and three starts crowning it. This would represent the Night Court perfectly as well, and I’m sure it would have looked GORGEOUS. And I’m noy going to lie, I would have also enjoyed having the three sacred mountains protrayed at the same time, mainly to draw lines between them and feel like a investigator. Anyways, what we DO have is the Court of Nightmares, Velaris and The Prison. I think there are no drawings of castles or houses here because they wouldn’t really fit, but I do appreciate that you can see that Velaris is near the sea- and quite away from the Court of Nigthmares. It would have been lovely to see the Sidra and the location of the Cabin as well, but I guess there are just so many locations in the Night Court that it’s impossible to fit all of them.

This Courts also have their own symbols next to their names! A sun peaking out for Dawn, a full sun for Day and a bunch of stars for Night!

Nooow to finish off the locations, let’s go to the Continent! Compared with all the info we know about Prythian, they show very little. We can see Scythia in the Mortal Lands, the home of Vassa. Then, in the Fae Realms the territories of Montesere and Vallahan are clearly marked (with simple lines, not thorns like the Courts in Prythian. I approve, since there is no denying Montesere and Vallahan cannot compete with our beloved Courts in seer amount of DramaTM, so it’s a fitting choice). Then Rask is also shown offmap with an arrow. To recap (I had to look this up because my knowledge of this territories is shaky at best): Montesere is one of the territories that allied themselves with Hybern with the goal to defeat Phythian. There is nothing else noteworthy about it for now. Vallahan was also part of this alliance, and it’s the place where Ianthe was born and run away from. This is also the country Mor spends a huge ammount of time in during ACOSF. Rask also allied itself with Hybern... and I think we know nothing else about it.

What IS interesting about this map is that it shows what I think it would be fair to agree it’s Koschei’s Castle. There is a huge lake in the middle of that mountainous-and-forestal formation (which I think looks eerily like South America, which I’m sure you cannot unsee now), and on top of that the drawing of a tall, narrow castle. How cool is this??? I think it was featured in the ACOWAR map as well, which I LOVED. This only seems to further confirm the importance of this place in future books, and I honestly cannot wait to see more of Koschei and this continent.

I also need a map with all the Mortal Queens’ territories asap, I would LOVE to see their borders!

Now, to put an end to this Map Appreciation post, I want to point out some details that I think really complete it, are very fitting and also absolutely gorgeous.

The first one it that over Hybern you can see a very simple compass Rose (it shows only the north), but in this map it is The Cauldron! It’s tilted and pouring water, so at first it looks like something melting inside a circle, but when you pay attention to it it’s clear that it represents the Cauldron, maybe in a moment of creation! I LOVED this detail, it’s so perfect!

Also, now that I,ve brought your attention to this image: on the left there is a column, and on it you can see symbols of the Summer and Spring Courts, represented with a wave and a rose and shining oh so bright. In fact, every single Court appears in the map like this! I also love how they are surrounded by roses, it’s SO beautiful!

This is the other side of the map, where you can see the Autumn (acorns) and winter (snowflake) courts. Again, with the roses running up the column and the light rays around it. UGH SO GOOD.

But my favourites are the Solar Courts, which appear in the center of the map and let me tell you, I almost feel like using this as a screensaver because it’s sooo beautiful.

You have the Sun (Day court) shining bright in the middle, with its rays influencing the entire map, another Sun rising from clouds (dawn court) at the bottom, and it looks just so soft and ethereal, and lastly the Moon (night court) at the top, surrounded by stars, which you can see at the top of the entire map. I seriously love how this combination looks, it’s just so beautifu!

So, that’s all I have to say about this map! I hope you discovered details you may have not seen before, and if you have noticed something that I haven’t ttalked about PLEASE let me know, I would absolutely love to hear about it! I hope you enjoyed the Post!

[lochrannn]

AU_gust: I found something in the woods somewhere

Read on AO3

prompt no 28: Werewolf

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

Characters: Diego Hargreeves, Lila Pitts

-

Diego didn’t spend a lot of time out and about during the day. But he’d been staying in this town for almost a week now, had gone out every single night, driving into the woods, hiking through them for hours on end and looking for tracks and clues, but so far he had come up with absolutely fuckng nothing.

So, tired but also very frustrated and bored, he ventured out into the town’s small center.

Restless, he walked into the small coffee shop to get something to keep him awake and to have something to do.

He’d just placed his order when a voice behind him said jovially, but with a bit of an edge, “Any luck yet, wolf man?”

Diego turned around to see standing behind him the young woman who seemed to run the flower shop across the street, who he’d noticed the few times he’d come here to get a coffee, wearing a green apron with sheers in the front pocket and a very calculating expression.

“Wouldn’t still be here if I had.” He tried not to sound too annoyed, but he was getting the feeling that she was trying to antagonize him a little.

“Mmmhh, must be tough,” she answered and then looked past him at the barista, “Hey Hazel, I’ll pay for whatever our poor luckless hunter is getting and the usual for me to go, please!”

“You don’t have to…” Diego began a bit irritably now but was interrupted by the florist patting his shoulder and even though she was clearly fucking with him and he usually wasn’t this easily played, there was something about the sharp grin and just general attractiveness of her face that had him distracted just for a second.

“No no! That’s ok, big guy, you are protecting our community from the big bad wolf after all, the least I can do is show our gratitude!”

Diego did not appreciate the way her words were dripping with sarcasm and he really wasn’t sure why, he was very used to people not liking having him around as he usually showed up when there was fear and anger in a community, people often didn’t respond well to him, it never bothered him much.

But before he could respond with any kind of retort, the florist breezed past him and took the paper cup that was handed to her by the barista, who had apparently decided to serve her first, handed over a couple of bills, and then she passed him to leave with a sarcastic salute.

When Diego left the café with his own drink, holding the steaming cup between his hands to keep them warm, he looked up at the sign over the flower shop. Lila’s.

He was turning to head back towards his car, still irritated at himself for letting this Lila woman’s attitude bother him so much, when he spotted an old fashioned milk truck slowly driving down the main street.

Fuck!

He’d taken too long and now someone had called the Swedish triplets.

Diego didn’t have a bleeding heart. When a town hired him to deal with their werewolf problem, he would efficiently hunt the creature down, capture it and hand it over to the authorities if he could, kill it if he had to protect himself, but he didn’t take any perverse pleasure in it. It was his job and he was good at it and he liked that it gave him the opportunity to protect innocent civilians.

But the werewolves themselves were either wild animals, who deserved to be treated humanely, or the older ones may have been conscious of their actions while transformed, there was no real scientific consensus on that, and then they should face whatever justice could be meted out to them, but not simply be murdered by some hunters.

And the Swedish triplets were the kind of hunters who really enjoyed the kill.

He’d better find the wolf he was hired to deal with before they did.

-

Diego wasn’t that lucky.

Crouched down in the underbrush in the middle of the night he watched, horrified, as the werewolf was confronted by the Swedes and the biggest one shot at it.

He could see a spray of blood erupt from the side of its head and it staggered and then somehow managed to bolt. But he knew it wouldn’t be able to escape the Swedes for long.

It was a relatively small wolf, either a pup or a female. Diego wasn’t old fashioned but still it really didn’t sit right with him that the Swedes were just hunting it down for sport.

Out of concern for his own safety he should have taken his indignance and wounded sense of justice and get himself out of the thick forest, but instead, he started hurriedly circling around the Swedes who were not moving from their spot, talking to each other in their native language, possibly strategizing, and took off in the direction the small werewolf had run off to.

It didn’t take him long to spot the first smatterings of blood on the leaves of saplings and low-hanging branches.

And then he almost stumbled over her.

The florist, Lila, he corrected himself, was lying naked and shivering in the cold dirt, curled in on herself and clearly unconscious.

He could see blood in her hair and while he crouched down next to her and gently brushed the hair out of her face to assess how badly she was hit, a tiny part in the back of his brain thought that at least now he understood why she’d been so hostile towards him.

The wound was luckily shallow and not life-threatening but it still represented a blow to the head and Diego hoped it was shock and not brain trauma that had caused her to lose consciousness.

Although, he was suddenly reminded, the shivering could also be from the cold. No longer covered in fur, there was nothing protecting her from the elements.

Diego shrugged out of his thick coat and bundled her into it, pulling her close against his body.

Ok, that might have been because the second he was out of his coat he was also freezing. And he definitely didn’t feel a tug somewhere in his chest when her head fell against his shoulder and her shallow breathing started to tickle his neck.

He tried to pull his concentration away from her weight and warmth in his arms and instead come up with a plan of what to do next.

When he had spotted her lying in the dirt, something instantly shifted in his conscience and he knew with full certainty that he could neither let the Swedes get to her, nor did it feel right to hand her over to the authorities while she was this vulnerable.

He decided that either way the first step was to get her to his car and he was just about to lift her up, when he heard the rustling sound of a small group of people walking through the forest.

He ducked back and against a large tree trunk, doing his best to cover Lila with his own body, hoping that his dark clothing would keep them hidden if the Swedes got too close.

And then she stirred.

“Nnngghhh, what the…MMMMPPPPF!” she grumbled quietly but Diego couldn’t risk them being heard, so he pressed his palm over her mouth and watched her eyes widen in alarm as he tried to trap her limbs between the tree trunk and himself.

“Sssssshhhh!” he shushed her as quietly as possible and for a moment he thought she understood his nonverbal message, but then he felt a sharp sting in his palm and realized that she was biting him hard.

He pulled his hand away and suppressed a yell and instead hissed at her, “Jesus fuck! I’m trying to protect you!”

Whether it was that or the unmistakable sound of the Swedes creeping along, way too close to them for comfort, Diego wasn’t sur,e but either way, it shut her right up.

They stared at each other trying to communicate silently, but not really getting across any other meaning than that they were in this together, when Lila started shivering violently again and she grabbed the edges of his coat to try and close any gap in the material.

Remembering that it was the only thing protecting her from the cold, Diego wrapped his arms more tightly around her and Lila pressed into him, trying to get any warmth off of him that she could.

When there hadn’t been any other sign of the Swedes for a good five minutes, they readjusted and Diego lifted Lila up onto his back, supporting her with his arms under her thighs, trying hard not to think about the fact that she was literally butt naked against him, his coat only covering so much, and she wrapped her arms securely around his neck before they set off.

Once they got to the car, Diego bundled Lila into the passenger seat, found his emergency change of clothes, an oversized sweatshirt and a baggy pair of sweatpants, and handed them to her as he got into the car.

He was glad to concentrate on maneuvering out of the thicket of trees without his headlights on, so they were not signalling their location too clearly, and was barely distracted by Lila wriggling into his clothes and then wrapping his coat around herself again, clearly frozen to the bone, before fiddling with his heater to try and warm up the inside of his car.

Once she was dressed, he gave her a once over out of the corner of his eye, noted once more that she still had a bleeding head wound and was contemplating what to do about that when she finally spoke.

“Are you going to take me to the police?” she asked, tone neutral.

“No.” Diego answered with certainty. He didn’t really know why, but he knew that he just couldn’t do that.

“Where are we going then?” There was a mixture of unease and irritation in her voice now.

“I don’t know,” he breathed out, trying to convey that he felt about as lost as she seemed to be.

There was quiet in the car for a couple of moments and Lila turned to look ahead at the actual road they’d now reached and Diego had finally turned on the headlights.

“Thanks!” she said softly.

[canyousevmyheavydirtysoul]

Cape Town. (Part 5.2) (Ryan Ross x Reader)

“So,” you addressed Ryan as the two of you leisurely strolled through the bustling streets of the surrounding area just outside the central business district of Cape Town, “Are you enjoying Cape Town so far?”

The both of you had come to an agreement that you would forfeit the bet and pay for lunch, just so that you could sneak out of the museum and get away from your meddlesome friends.

(Y/B/F) and Brendon were unbelievable; their attempts to get in between the two of you carried on through the beginning of the scavenger hunt – with (Y/B/F) asking you stupid questions like what you needed to study for your exam in six months time and Brendon pestering Ryan for his thoughts on what songs should be on their setlist for their concert at the end of the trip – until you got fed up and decided to ditch the museum and go for a walk instead.

“Oh yeah,” he answered with an enthusiastic smile, “I’m having the greatest time! I mean, we all are,” he chuckled nervously and looked down at the sidewalk, “but me especially.”

“Good to hear,” you playfully nudged him with your elbow, shooting him a smile that he oh so eagerly returned.

The two of you were strolling past a building that had a mural painted on its side and Ryan halted as he pointed at the portrait of a black, afro-haired woman raising a closed fist into the air. The fist was surrounded by a strikingly yellow circle, and it was quite obviously the focus of the mural.

“Hey, I’ve seen this symbol a couple times and I’ve been meaning to ask you… what does it mean?”

You couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across your face as you sauntered over to the mural; Ryan trailed closely behind you.

“So you obviously know that the Apartheid era lasted from 1948 to 1994,” you tilted your head to address Ryan, who nodded in confirmation, “One of the most hated Apartheid laws was the Pass Law. It allowed the government to control the influx of black men into the cities by stating that all of them had to carry a pass, and only those carrying said passes were allowed access into urban areas. Oh, and passes were only allocated to those who found employment in the city.”

You took a few steps forward and ran your fingers along the paint on the wall. “Before the 50s, only black men were required to carry passes but then in 1952, the government announced that black women would also have to carry them. Understandably, that did not go down well with the masses,” you chuckled shortly, “The idea began in 1955 at a meeting of the Federation of South African Women, where a suggestion was made: ‘Let us go to Pretoria – the nation’s capital – ourselves and protest to the Government against laws that oppress us.’,” you paused, smiling at the thought.

“So they did?” A wide-eyed, super concentrated Ryan queried, unconsciously stepping closer to you.

You nodded proudly and turned to smile at the musician, raising one brow. “On the 9th of August, over 20 000 women of all races marched in unison to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to hand over a petition to the then prime minister, Hans Strijdom. Leading the march were Lilian Ngoyi and Albertina Sisulu, Helen Joseph, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, who were black, white, and coloured, respectively. So as representatives of each race group in South Africa, they carried the petition for presentation to the Prime Minister. But being the coward that he was,” you growled, grinding your teeth, “when he caught wind that 20 000 boss-ass, strong women were coming for him, he arranged to be somewhere else so he wouldn’t have to accept the petition from a ‘multicultural group of women’, so in his place, it was accepted by his secretary.”

“What a douchebag,” Ryan mumbled under his breath, scrunching up his face in disgust.

You nodded in agreement with Ryan’s statement, before inhaling deeply and continuing. “The women then stood in silence for thirty minutes before singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika – our national anthem – and then,” you sighed dreamily, reaching out and dancing your fingers across the words painted along the bottom of the wall, “then they sang this little beauty, here: Wathinta umfazi, wathint’ imbokodo!”

“What does that mean?”

Slowly, you balled your fist up and raised it up into the air. “You strike a woman, you strike a rock.”

“Wow, that’s…wow,” Ryan breathed, at a loss for words and moved by the strength and unity of the women.

“And even though the march was against the Pass Laws, it led to significant changes towards the emancipation of women. It was an incredible display of the strength and ferocity of all women, and it’s left a phenomenally impactful legacy in our country. Which is why in 1995 – a year after South Africa became a democracy – the 9th of August became a public holiday known as National Women’s Day, in remembrance of the inspirational 20 000 women who took a stand against their male oppressors.” You took a step back from the mural and looked at Ryan, shoving your hands in the back pockets of your jeans. “That symbol is so much more than just a hand gesture.”

“Forgive my language,” Ryan held out his hands in a premature apology, “but those were some fucking badass women.”

The two of you shared a laugh as you resumed strolling down the street.

“They sure were,” you agreed with a bob of your head before smirking cockily, “and I’d like to think that their descendants are substantially badass, too.”

Ryan sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and squinted as he raked his gaze over you in mock deliberation.

“Mm,” he hummed a moment later, shaking his head, “nope. I don’t see it.”

Letting out an offended scoff, you reached out and lightly shoved a sniggering Ryan, who in turn stumbled to the side a little.

“Come on,” you laughed along and cocked your head in the direction of the street heading back to the museum, “we should start heading back.”

The musician nodded in agreement as the both of you started on the journey back.

“So Ryan,” you said soon after.

“So (Y/N),” he smiled back.

You giggled quietly and stretched your left hand to the side, gently brushing it along the leaves of an overhanging tree branch. “I’ve been disclosing historical information to you for the past week; I think it’s your turn now. Tell me some of the history of Ryan Ross.”

Ryan sucked in a deep breath before letting out a low whistle and ruffling the hair at the back of his head. He turned to look at you with a lopsided grin. “You want the short story or the full on exposé?”

You shrugged casually. “Up to you.”

“I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know.”

Blushing somewhat, you transferred your attention over to the next tree you were approaching, this time pulling a flower from its branches. “How about we start with the obvious,” you suggested, twirling the bud in your hand, “How long have you been playing music for?”

“When I was twelve, I asked my parents to get me a guitar for Christmas, which they did. And Spencer’s parents got him a drum kit, so we had mini jam-sessions together and I guess it just grew from there,” Ryan shrugged and smiled slightly as he thought back to his earlier days.

“So you and Spencer have known each other since you were kids?” you queried, a tiny bit shocked by the revelation; you had assumed that they’d met in high school.

He nodded fervently. “Yeah, we met when I was six and he was five,” he paused to let out a laugh as he recalled how exactly they had met, “I was hitting golf balls across the fences into the neighbours’ yards and accidently wacked him in the head.” He turned and gave you a proud grin. “We’ve been best friends ever since.”

“Cute,” you chuckled, returning his grin with a lopsided one of your own.

“So yeah, we started playing music together and started a band.”

“Panic!?”

“Nope,” he shook his head, “our first band was called Pet Salamander – don’t ask me why; it’s a long story – and it was just the two of us. I’d do vocals.”

“I like hearing you sing,” you admitted somewhat shyly, choosing to look down at the flower in your hand as opposed to his face – the face that was now turning ruby-red. “Brendon has an impeccable voice, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to hear you featured on certain Panic! songs.”

“Really?” he gaped, staring at you in disbelief; he found it hard to believe that you were speaking the truth.

“Yeah,” you confirmed, finally looking up and tossing a sweet smile at the musician. One that made his heart flutter and his stomach do cartwheels.

“Th-thanks.”

He cursed himself over the fact that that was all he was able to get out.

“No thanks necessary,” you assured him, “So what kinda music were you guys into?”

Ryan cringed. The fact didn’t go unnoticed by you, leaving you to urge him on. “When I was little,” he sighed, giving in to your prompts, “I used to listen to country a lot. I even, uh,” he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and his voice dropped to a mumble, “used to dress up as a cowboy.”

“You’re lying,” you gawked, amusement evident in the sparkle in your eye.

Ryan sighed in defeat and fished his cellphone out of his pocket, pulling up a picture of a much younger, much tinier him, clad in a full-on cowboy outfit – complete with a lasso and everything.

“Oh my goodness,” you squeaked, unable to supress the feelings of adoration that came as a side effect of looking at the cuteness that was a little Ryan. “You were adorable!”

“Were?” Ryan arched both brows and pouted slightly, surprising himself with his forward reaction.

Looking up from the screen to the musician, you coked your head lightly and gave him a soft smile.

“Still are,” you added, lifting a hand to gently pinch his cheek – an action that left the man stunned into silence. He’d never get used to the rush of feeling your skin against his; even if it was only a minor, mostly-friendly gesture, such as the previous one.

Ryan timidly took his phone back and shoved it into his pocket, trying his best to still the nervous tremor in his hands.

“So, uh, yeah,” he cleared his throat, “I used to listen to a lotta country but then Spencer introduced me to mainstream rock when I got a bit older. We played covers of blink-182, mostly. And then a friend of ours – Brent Wilson – started joining our jam-sessions; eventually the three of us started a new band called Summer League.”

“Oooo,” you pursed your lips and brushed away the stray strands of hair the wind had swept across your face, “How’d it end up being you, Spencer, Jon and Brendon, then?”

“Brendon and Brent met because they were both taking guitar lessons at their high school. We were looking for a lead guitarist at the time – since I was on vocals – and Brent asked Bren to audition. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Wait… if Brendon was the lead guitarist, how did he end up being lead singer?”

Ryan scrunched his face up as if he had just tasted something sour; you cocked one brow in intrigue at the sight. “He filled in for me at a rehearsal when I was sick one day, and everyone was so impressed that he was chosen as the new singer.”

Ryan let out a sudden giggle, and you frowned at him in confusion. He waved a somewhat dismissive hand before explaining himself. “When we asked him why he didn’t tell us he could sing, you know what he said?”

You gave him an expectant smile.

“’I didn’t know I could.’”

The two of you shared a giggle as you approached a pedestrian crossing. You pushed the button on the traffic light and the cars came to a halt, allowing you to cross the street to the other side. Once you were back on the sidewalk, you elbowed Ryan in the side.

“How did you feel about Brendon taking over your position?”

The expression on his face clearly showed how taken aback he was by your question, and he stammered as he tried to string together some words to say. Your query was a tad on the audacious side but you had noticed the slight shift in Ryan’s body language when he had spoken about Brendon’s addition to the band. He had tried to keep his tone and expression as neutral as possible, but the tensing of his shoulders gave him away.

“I…I was totally on board with it,” he answered, shaking his head as if his answer was obvious, “He has a killer voice. It made sense for him to be lead.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m not disputing that,” you held up your hands in defence, “I just thought you must’ve felt kinda bad, is all.”

Ryan was silent for a few seconds before simply stating, “Brendon was the better choice for the band.”

You took his sudden abrasiveness as a sign that he wasn’t too keen to say more on that particular sub-topic, and so you brought it back to the main one.

“What’s Jon’s story?”

The musician seemed thrilled that you had diverted, and he exhaled in relief before replying. “In May – I think it was – of 2006, Brent left the band. We had a tour coming up, so we asked our friend Jon to fill in for Brent at the shows. He eventually ended up becoming a permanent replacement.”

“And that,” Ryan threw his hands sideways dramatically, “is the musical history of Ryan Ross slash Panic! at the Disco.”

You started clapping enthusiastically, making Ryan laugh and do a little bow.

“You’re amazing, Ryan,” you complimented as you placed the flower you were carrying into the breast pocket of his waistcoat. He grinned sheepishly and bowed his head.

The festivities were short lived, though, because you had arrived back at the museum and a pissed-off coupling of Brendon and (Y/B/F) were marching towards you and Ryan.

“Here we go,” Ryan groaned, letting his head fall back.

“Was fun while it lasted,” you placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled sadly.

The two of you shared a hopeless look as (Y/B/F) stopped right in front of you, hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

“What the hell is wrong with the two of you?” she demanded.

“Sure, because we’re the ones with the problem,” you scoffed, grabbing Ryan’s hand and brushing past her. “We went for a walk to get some air because you guys wouldn’t stop suffocating us.”

Brendon stepped up, wanting to intercept, but Ryan cut him off with a raised hand. “Don’t waste your breath. Just get in the car; we’re paying for lunch.”

~

Since Ryan had no knowledge other than what you and (Y/B/F) had told him regarding Cape Town, it was left to you to pick the lunch place. You choose Charly’s Bakery, situated not too far from the museum, in the old District Six area.

“Oooo, this place is so magical,” Brendon buzzed in awe, eyes widening as he scanned the store from top to bottom as the four of you stepped inside.

“One of the best bakeries in Cape Town,” (Y/B/F) spoke, stuffing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans and swaggering over to peer through the glass at the delicacies lining the display cases.

“They make the best chocolate cupcakes in, like, all of South Africa,” you stated, licking your lips as you locked your gaze on one of those beautifully dark and sinful treats.

“You’ve tasted every single type of chocolate cupcake in South Africa?” Ryan teased, cocking one brow and joining you by the display.

“No,” you blushed, “but I am very confident in my statement.”

“Well, I trust your judgement immensely,” he beamed at you and you smiled back while tucking your hair behind your ear.

Fortunately, an employee walked over to seat your group before Brendon could butt in with some snarky comment.

Once seated, you all scanned over the menus, ordered lunch and engaged in conversation that consisted mainly of small talk. You and (Y/B/F) spoke about your studies for a little while, explaining the education system in South Africa and discussing your plans for the future. The boys told you some stories from the road and talked about their writing and recording process.

“Thank you,” Ryan said as the waitress cleared up everyone’s plates; she gave a polite smile and nod in response.

“Dessert time,” you wiggled in your chair in excitement, earning chuckles from your friends. “Bring on the cupcakes!”

“We can get them the personalised ones,” (Y/B/F) suggested, tapping the back of her hand against your arm.

You gasped happily. “Yes!” The boys looked confused so you elaborated. “They’ll put your names on them. And any other design you want.”

“I think Ryan wants your name on his,” Brendon chortled, “We all know he wants to eat-,” the singer got cut off with a death glare and a kick to the shin from his bandmate.

Ignoring Brendon’s comment in order to preserve Ryan’s dignity, you stood up and started for the cupcake counter, gesturing for everyone to follow.

“What flavour are you guys going for?” you asked.

“I’ll go for the chocolate,” Ryan spoke first. You grinned proudly.

“Vanilla,” Brendon and (Y/B/F) said in unison. They shared a look of surprise before smirking and high-fiving.

“Hypocrites,” Ryan fake-coughed, covering his mouth with one hand; you giggled.

“What can I get you?” the employee on the other side of the counter smiled, wiping her hands on the front of her apron.

“Four personalised ones, please. Two Wicked Chocolate and two Vanilla.”

The employee – whose name badge read ‘Rose’ – nodded. “Names for the chocolate?”

“(Y/N) and Ryan.”

“And for the vanilla?”

“Brendon,” Brendon piped up, pointing to himself, “Spelt B-r-e-n-d-o-n.”

“(Y/B/F),” your friend finished the order off.

“Gotcha,” Rose winked, “we’ll get those out to you right away.”

“Great,” you pulled out your purse, “Can we pay in the meantime?”

“Sure, I’ll ring you up,” Rose moved over to the cash register and rang up the order for the cakes, “You paying for the lunch, as well?”

“Yep.”

“Don’t worry,” Ryan told you, taking his wallet out of his pocket, “I got it.”

“No,” you shook your head, “I can’t let you do that. Team effort, remember?”

He was about to fight it, but you had already handed your portion of the cash over; he smiled at you as you looked down to stuff your purse back into your bag.

The two of you had just sat back down when one of the waitresses brought over the cakes. Everyone looked down to admire the artwork on top; the writing on yours and Ryan’s made the both of you redden enormously.

Upon seeing your reactions, Brendon and (Y/B/F) immediately leaned forward to get a look at what was written atop.

“Seriously?” she scoffed incredulously, shaking her head and slumping back into her chair. “First the milkshake thing and now this?”

“How does shit like this keep on happening?” Brendon slumped back as well, turning to look at (Y/B/F). “It’s like the universe is playing Cupid.”

You and Ryan were too in shock to hear anything your friends had said, and they looked on in disgust as the two of you glanced at each other awkwardly, occasionally looking down at the pair of cupcakes that each read ‘(Y/N) and Ryan’, complete with a heart around it. You had no idea where the heart came from; it hadn't been part of the request. Clearly the bakery employees, just like seemingly everyone else in the country, were under the impression that you and the musician were together.  

“Ugh, let’s just eat the stupid things,” (Y/B/F) said after a few moments as her annoyance took over.

Breaking out of your trance, both you and Ryan picked up the cupcake and started munching. The conversation from earlier had resumed, and Brendon was telling the story of the first time Panic! had met Fall Out Boy, and how shit-scared they were.

You sniggered in response to something amusing Brendon had said and Ryan tilted his head to look at you. He noticed that you had a little icing on your cheek, and he slowly reached out to carefully wipe it away with his thumb.

“Oh,” you mumbled, looking up at him, “Th-thanks.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards.

Brendon squinted his eyes in irritation. “What, are you going to lick it off now, too?” he sassed.

Ryan clicked his tongue at the younger male before rolling his eyes and wiping his thumb on a napkin.

“Do you guys have plans for tomorrow?” you questioned, taking another bite from your cupcake.

“You guys aren’t gonna be with us?” Ryan asked dejectedly.

“We have lectures all day. We told you yesterday, remember?”

“Oh,” he recalled with a sad nod, “Right.”

“An intervention,” Brendon muttered in response to your earlier question.

“What?” you leaned in, not quite catching his words.

“What?” he made like he hadn’t said anything.

You brushed it off and resumed talking. “Well you have been out and about non-stop as of late. Maybe you should just stay at your hotel. Have some R&R,” you shrugged.

“That’s a wonderful idea, (Y/N),” Brendon perked up before shooting a wink at Ryan, “I think a band bonding session is exactly what we need right now.”

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x

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A Benchful of Memories (Abandoned)

Chapter 2 - Bracing All the Pain

(Previous)  (Next)

Getting shots didn’t hurt as much anymore.  It was all to help you stay healthy anyway, and dying seemed like a big pain.  Ha, that was a good one.  But honestly, you didn’t really care whether or not you’d die.  The shots were more for the comfort of your nurses and family than anything you cared about.  You rubbed your arm gently, the areas where you got the shots just a bit sore.

“Well that should be it for your weekly shots.”  Your human nurse (her name always escapes you) starts to carry away the syringe and medicine bottle, leaving you with your monster nurse so that she can dispose of the syringe.  The kindly monster wiggles her strange gills (were they gills, considering that they extended off her head?) before smoothing out her uniform and sets her clipboard down.

“Now to examine your soul!”  You nod and face her, allowing her to carefully pull your soul out of your chest.  The pulling sensation always makes you jerk forward a bit, no matter how hard she tries to do it slowly, but she always smiles apologetically and you just nod and stare at the floating heart.  The cyan glow illuminates the room as she works her magic around it, mumbling to herself and jotting things down as the magic swirls around it, gently prodding and poking the soul here and there.  

“What are you doing?”  The words come out before you can even stop yourself, and you quickly cover your mouth.  Shit.  You didn’t mean to blurt that out.  She looks up at you with surprise, before smiling and waving her magic away.

“I’m just checking on your soul.  There’s some things that I need to examine that allows me to see what kind of… I guess mental and emotional state you’re in.”  

“Really?”  Curiosity rings through your words, and your monster nurse smiles and lets your soul return to your chest.  Your hands go over the area it entered, and you look up at her in hopes of an explanation.  She looks over at your door, and then to the clock before nodding to herself and sitting down on your bed.

“Well, since I do have some time, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you more about your soul.  I don’t think humans know much about them anyway.”  She hums to herself, tapping her long fingers (at least, they looked like fingers) against her clothed leg before looking at you.  “You know about when the monsters came from the Underground right?”  You nod as she continues.  “Well, it’s been roughly a year or so since then.  Progress with monster rights has been going slowly but at least we can get jobs now!  Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”  She winks and you nod again, wondering where she was going with this.  “And… one of the biggest reasons why I’m here is to study human souls.  You see, I’m part of a research group that has been assigned with the task of examining human souls and understanding how they work.  I heard that there used to be studies down in the Underground regarding human souls but uh, it didn’t go very far.

“Anyway, once we arrived on the surface, monsters began to accidentally tug out human souls.  There was an uproar after this, as humans haven’t ever seen or even knew that their souls could manifest in such a way.  I guess it comes with having no magic qualities.  Um, no offense.”  You shrug.

“None taken.”

“Right.  So.  Because of this, human scientists were curious about this new human manifestation that they never heard of before and wanted to study it as soon as possible.  Seeing as monsters were the best bet in drawing out human souls without problem, the scientists went about convincing the government to give them funding for the research.  It took awhile, but eventually the grant was approved and a group of scientists, both human and monster, formed a team to study the human soul.  At first, they only studied on themselves as they had yet to find any willing volunteers who were eager to have their souls examined.  The scientists found that human souls were uniquely different from monster souls in that each soul could possess a different quality that was unlike its neighbors.  They discovered that while monster souls were generally of the same kind, human souls had a variety of traits that were reflected through color.”

“Color?”  You couldn’t help but interrupt her here, as it seemed strange that traits were being reflected by colors, or that colors represented traits.  It made no sense honestly, and it didn’t seem very scientific to jump to conclusions like that.

“Yes, color!  So far, a total of seven main colors have been discovered, and only one of them has been given a corresponding trait, due to the previous research done Underground.”  She pauses for emphasis and grins excitedly as her hands waved dramatically in the air.  “Determination.”

“Determination?  Why?”  The amount of questions you were asking was unreal.  Never before have you asked this many single worded questions in your life.  Although honestly, that probably wasn’t saying much.  You don’t even say much.  There isn’t much to be said.  Stop it.

“It’s been correlated to figures who have shown very determined personalities in the studies done on souls.  The human child who freed us, Frisk, has the same colored soul and is a very determined little human.  Other humans with a similarly colored soul also show high levels of determination through their actions and personality, showing some similarities to Frisk themselves.  Now that the studies have progressed thus far, the group of scientists have been getting willing volunteers to allow for more observations and examinations.  They’ve even came up with tentative traits for the rest of the colors!”  Your nurse is absolutely giddy as she continues her talk, tapping her fingers together and bouncing lightly on your bed.  You can’t help but smile fondly at her.  How adorable.

“That sounds pretty great.  But why are you working in a hospital?  Are you part of the group studying human souls?”  She hums softly before responding, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

“Yes, and no.  I’m not exactly part of the in-group, where they get to do all the research in a lab and stuff.  But, I am part of branch that works under them, helping provide data and results by examining the souls here at the hospital.  It did take some paperwork of course, and not everyone was willing to have their souls examined, but-”

“Wait, paperwork?”  You clearly don’t remember signing anything.

Or.

Maybe you did.

You’ve never really had that swell of a memory.

She nods, looking slightly surprised when you questioned her.

“Yes, paperwork.  Each patient was given a form detailing what the research was about, how we were going to examine the souls, and if they were willing to participate.  Since I’m with you now, I’m assuming you signed the papers when they were given to you.  Or…?”  A concerned look is directed at you, and the lingering question hangs in the air.  You shrug.

“Maybe I did sign them.  I don’t really remember things that well.”  She stares some more at you before picking up her clipboard and scribbling something down.  

“Well then,” she gets up with her clipboard in hand and smiles, “I think that’s all I have time for today.  Get some rest, since you’ve been out for a while.”

“Okay.”  She waves goodbye as you settle into bed and, shit, you totally forgot to give her a paper craft like you normally did.  And double shit, you forgot to give your human nurse a craft as well.  Well, there’s always tomorrow.

The spot where you got your shot starts to bother you, so you massage it gently, carefully maneuvering over the bandage so that it doesn’t peel off.  You hum to yourself, wondering what to do now that you were alone in the room.  Laptop?  Nah, there wasn’t much to do on the internet.  Text someone?  Pfft, who was there to text?  Cell phone games?  Nah, you weren’t in the mood for staring at a tiny screen.  Origami?  Nah, you’ve done enough of that today anyways.

Speaking of which.

Your eyes trail down to your backpack, it leaning against the larger table’s leg.  Your folded crafts were still in there, and yet you didn’t really feel bothered to get up and actually take them out.  The sight of your backpack reminds you of the skeleton man (skele-man?) that you met earlier.  

He was funny, nice, and really chill.

Like, chiller than the weather.

(you giggle to yourself and wonder if you can make that pun around someone sometime)

He was pretty friendly too.  Maybe you’d run into him again tomorrow, if the weather permits.  It wasn’t like you had much people to talk with anyways, so it was nice to talk with someone who wasn’t a nurse or doctor or extended family member.  Humming to yourself, you lean back against the pillows and decide that the TV was worth a shot at entertainment.  There was that one segment with that one square robot that was pretty entertaining to watch, so maybe you can do with that.  

You grab the remote besides your bed and turn the TV on, flipping through the channels until you find the robotic calculator dancing around on screen.  Ah, he seems to be wearing a dress this time.  Time to enjoy some classic television.

//-//

“...and so I said, if you’re going to be like that young man, then you should make your dinner yourself!”  You laugh along with your human nurse, who’s helping you string together the next chain of cranes and flowers.  She’s working on one end of the chain while you work on the other, carefully poking a sewing needle through the tips of the wings.  Today, it seems that the cranes are going to be the main project as number slowly decreases as the two of you work together in finishing the chain.

It’s after hours in the hospital, and since you were one of the patients that has to be housed overnight (or over the week), she can dedicate a lot of her free time in spending the night hours with you.  It also helps that she’s assigned to be your nurse as well, so you can at least take comfort in the fact that she’s being paid to help you with these little chains.

“So what did your husband do in the end?”  

“He puffed up his cheeks like a child and stormed off into the kitchen!  Take it from me sweetheart, if you’re gonna fall in love with someone, make sure they respect you as well.  It’s not good to have someone try to make you do things as though it’s your job to cook for them.”  You shrug and continue working on your end of the chain, poking your needle into the wings of a blue crane.

“I don’t think I’ll be finding love anytime soon, ma'am.”  Your nurse clucks her tongue before shaking her finger at you, needle pressed firmly against the length of it.

“Now don’t be giving me any of that nonsense!  I’m sure you’ll find someone who’ll love you.”  A shrug is made as a noncommittal noise escapes you.

“Why are you so preoccupied with me finding a date anyway?  You know my chances of finding someone are pretty low.”  She puts down her needle and pats you gently on the shoulder.  You look up at her and see the motherly gaze she’s fixed on you.  Oh crap, not this again.

“Sweetheart, I’ve known you for as long as you’ve been here.  You’re like my very own child, and I just want you to live a happy life.  Even if you’re not going to date, I’d at least feel better knowing you made friends that care about you just as much as I care for you.”  She’s bringing up that topic again.  Crap, you really hate making her feel bad for you.  It’s one of those things you’re indirectly good at.  You sigh and put down your end of the chain to pat her hand.

“I know.  You just… You just gotta be patient with me alright?  This stuff takes a while, for me at least.  I’ll have a friend soon.  Who’s, you know, not a nurse.”  She smiles and pulls back, putting her efforts back into making the crane chain.  

“Patience is something you have, not me.  You know I kicked my man out once he started being a little shithead towards me.  I want to see you have visitors soon, and not just your cousins!  They don’t count!”  You shrug.

“Maybe one day.”  She sighs and shakes her head.

“Alright.  But I hope that someday is soon.”

“I don’t think it’d be cool to rush relationships.  Just sorta gotta let them happen, you know?”  She chuckles and continues to work on the chain while you reached for a few more cranes.

“Of course you’d rather sit back and let things happen.”

“It’s not sitting back.  It’s letting things happen naturally.”  Although it would be funny to lazily create relationships.  Was that even possible?  Maybe.

“Alright, alright.”  The two of you continued to chatter amiably and eventually, the chain was finished.  Satisfied with your results, you and your nurse place the complete chain on the table, stray paper flowers still scattered about.  You can deal with those later.  Your nurse got up and dusted off her pants.  “It’s getting late now.  I’m going to go around and make my rounds.  Have a nice night.”  She smiles and makes to leave the room.

“You too.”  She nods in response and closes the door behind her.

Silence.

You got onto the bed and turned the TV on.  As you browse the various channels the hospital had to offer, you idly realize that you didn’t mention the skeleton to your nurse while you were on the topic of friendship.  Well, it didn’t matter really.  You probably wouldn’t see him again, or if you did, it wouldn’t be for a long time.  Humans and monsters rarely visited the park, so it wouldn’t be surprising not to see him there.

What was his name again?

Thinking hard on the question, you realize that you forgot it.  Although, that’s not really surprising.  You rarely remember names after all.  You usually got by by reading the nametags on your nurses uniforms, but the names never really stuck with you.  Ah well.  You probably wouldn’t see him again anyway.

Settling down on a channel, you ease yourself into bed and watch the screen flashing whatever show was showing at this hour.  Eventually, you fell asleep.

//-//

When you returned to the park, there you weren’t surprised to see that no one was there.  After spending some time there, the skeleton had yet to show up.  When you had spent a solid hour out on the bench, you packed up your backpack and headed towards the small shopping district that was located by the park.

Half an hour later found you browsing the bookshelves of the used bookstore, the old couple manning the store idly reading whatever books interested them at the moment.  The bookstore was one of your favorites, as it held a collection of books that always interested you, and the elderly couple were kind and happy to have you as a frequent customer.  

“Mmm…”  At the moment, you were pondering whether or not you should buy Frankenstein, the thick read weighing heavily in your hands.  You wondered how much lighter it would make your wallet, and suddenly the book grew even heavier in your hands.  

“Ahh, Frankenstein.  Interesting pick.”  You turn your head to see the elderly woman standing next to you, smiling as she puts back the book she was reading.  “Makes you wonder who the real monster is in that whole mess.  Ohohoho!”  

“What makes you say that?”  You thumb through the pages absentmindedly as she looks through the bookshelves for another book to read.  

“Well, the book is titled after the main character.  But the name belongs to the creator, not the monster.  Don’t you find that interesting?”

“A lot of things are interesting, in my opinion.”  Despite your response, you found yourself eagerly reading the first page of the book.  It started out with a letter.  How strange.

“It might be a difficult read for you, but I have faith in your ability.  Considering the world we live in now, maybe dabbling back into Frankenstein wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”  

“Maybe.”  Without a word, she ambles away to the cash register and takes her place behind it, looking at you expectantly.  

Damn.  Well, you already started reading it, so why not right?  You make your way to the old lady and put the book down, taking out your wallet as she rings up the price.  Luckily, the book doesn’t cost as much you thought it would and you nod your goodbye as you leave.  As you leave the store, an insulted voice rings out from somewhere in the back of the store.

“Why didn’t you tell me that they were back again?!  I didn’t even get to say hello!”

You leave, smiling as his wife laughs in response.

//-//

“COUSIN!”

“AARRGH!”

A blur tackles you in your bed, book flying up in the air as the force of your cousin knocks it out of your hands.  It lands with a heavy thump, probably leaving a few pages bent and folded over.  You huff in annoyance and shove your cousin away.  With a giggle, she sits down on the bed as her brother meanders his way in.

“Sup.”

“Sup.”  

“Sup!”  He bends down and picks up your fallen book, looking over the title with a raised eyebrow.

“Frankenstein huh?  Not my choice for a good read, but whatever floats your boat cuz.”  He sits down on your chair and grins, putting the book down safely on your table.  “But how are ya?  We haven’t visited you in like…”

“Three days!  Three days too long!”  His sister, ever so excited, clings to you as you huff again.

“Three days of peace and quiet, thank you.”

“It’s always a riot with us around.”  His grin gets bigger and he leans back.  “Besides, you can’t just talk to your nurses only.  What kind of loner would that make you?”

“A content one.  I got to go out recently you know.”

“Ooooh, that’s great!  We can start hanging out now!”  

“Nah.”

“Oh.  Ouch.”  Ben holds a hand over his heart and feigns pain.  “That hurts, cuz.”

“Oh whatever!  You’ll join us one of these days.”  Kelsy grins eagerly at you, and you can’t help but smile back.

“One of these days.  When I feel like it.”

“Booooo!”  The three of you laugh and snort, and Kelsy begins to blather on about how her schoolwork has been going on, the happenings in their family, and how Ben was slowly getting better at baking muffins.  While she was keeping you busy with her one-sided conversation, Ben was pulling out a textbook from his bag and setting it on your bed.

“School time.”  Kelsy paused mid-sentence and groaned.

“Right now?  Do they really need to learn math and stuff.”  She looks at you and you shrug, already flipping through the pages to where you left off.  Ben just chuckles and pulls out a notebook and some pens.

“Just cause you don’t like math doesn’t mean I should skimp out on their education.  Besides, you’re better at it than me, why don’t you teach them instead?”  She puffs out her cheeks and looks away.

“Cause I hate math.”

“Suit yourself.”  He moves the chair closer to your bed and starts on your math lessons.  Ever since they realized that you wouldn’t be allowed to go to school due to your weak state, Ben had taken it upon himself to teach you whatever he was being taught in class.  This involved frequent visits to the hospital during their high school years, and lots of cursing on Kelsy’s part since Ben frequently “forgot” his textbooks in your hospital room.  Luckily, he never seemed to need them so you worried less and less as time went on.  Now, your cousins were both in college and the visits were less frequent.  However, it only meant that Ben was even more focused on making sure you were being taught during their visits.  Kelsy would entertain herself on your laptop while the two of you worked, and so no one was really discontent during the visits.

As you powered through math, Ben was preparing another book from inside his bag when there was a knock on the door.

“Knock knock!”  Ah, only your monster nurse did that.  

“Come in!”  The monster shambles into the room, taking in the sight of your guests before smiling pleasantly and placing her clipboard down.

“Oh hello!  I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”  Ben smiles easily and shakes his head.

“Nah, Rajena.  Think cuz here just finished with their math.  Right?”  You look down at the math problems and figured yeah, you were pretty much done with them.  Now, were they all correct?  Absolutely not, but you could just bother Kelsy into helping out later.  

“Yeah I’m pretty done with math.”

“But I’m not done with this laptop.”  Kelsy leans closer to the screen and grumbles, typing furiously away.  

“Well, I need to do their check up real quick, so if you don’t mind?”  

“Oh right.  Kelsy get off the bed.”  Your cousin lets out a groan but lets her brother pull her off, laptop still being held in her hands.

“Alrighty!  Now, as you know…”

“Yeah, we both have to leave.  Gotcha.”  Ben starts to pull Kelsy out of the room as she protests.

“What- why can’t we stay?!”  Ben sighs as they leave.

“Because it’s super private.  We’ve been through this.”

“But if she does anything suspicious-!”  The door closes on her sentence, and you let out a sigh.  You look over at your nurse, finding her still smiling and looking at ease.

“Um, sorry about that.”  She shakes her hand and gestures you to move to the edge of the bed.  As you do so, she holds her hands out to start the procedure.

“No, I understand.  It’s not all the time that family members are made to leave during a check-up.  And besides, she treats me nicely enough when we bump into each other in the hospital.  She’s just concerned for you.”

“Yeah, I know.  I just wish she didn’t have to be so…  Mean about it sometimes.”  Your soul is being pulled out as she hums thoughtfully, the little gill tentacle things on her head wiggling as she works.

“I don’t think she’s being mean.  Maybe a bit on edge, but that’s alright.  That passes once she sees you.”

“Heh, yeah.”  She smiles at you as she goes through with her routine.  Several minutes pass before she nods her head and allows it to sink back into your chest.  

“Okay, that’s it for today.”

“No shots?”  You haven’t seen your human nurse all day, and usually she’d come with your monster and give you the shot before she examines your soul.

“Nope.  Miss Millie will be coming in later to explain why.”

“Why can’t you explain?”  She grins mischievously as she makes her way to the door.

“Because Miss Millie wants to.”

“What?”  Before you can question your nurse anymore, she leaves with a “ta-ta!” and leaves the door open for you cousins.  They enter and resume their respective places, chattering as they continue their conversation from outside.

“-but she really looks like that one character from Animal Crossing!”

“No offense sis, but I have no clue who you could be referring to.”

“You know!  The weird pink looking one!”

“I dunno about you, but she doesn’t look THAT weird.  Plus that’s rude.”

“Not her!  THE CHARACTER!”  

“Chill.”  You intervene before Kelsy starts up a shout-fest, poking Ben in the cheek as he grins in a way that echoes your nurse’s grin.  “So, science next?”

//-//

You wake up, the sun shining down on your face pleasantly as you roll onto your side.  It was a nice day out.  Smiling, you stretch out on you bed before staring up at the ceiling.  Your human nurse had practically waltzed her way into your room last night, bursting with joy when she told you wouldn’t need shots every day from now on - in fact, you’d only get them every other day!  Yay!  The doctors had noted that your immune system had gotten a bit stronger, so they decided to lessen the amount of shots you received to ensure that the medicine wouldn’t cause an accidental overdose.  Which was nice, since it meant that you didn’t have to look forward to being jabbed with a needle everyday, but rather every other day.

Eventually, you’d maybe get it shortened to three shots a week.  Now wouldn’t that be nice?  

But things take time to progress, and the fact that your immune system was actually getting better really did make you happy.  It meant that you wouldn’t have to suffer through colds and coughs as frequently now.  Nice.

Your stomach growls, reminding you that you need to get some food before you starve.  Food is essential to a healthy body, which is something you’re trying to desperately maintain the image of.  After taking your medicine, you shuffle out into the hallway and head towards the cafeteria.  

You get the feeling that today will be a good day for a walk.

[nochu-specs]

the beach for lonely people

A/N: i got this idea from doing the same as the characters in this story do. i recommend it to everyone - it helps you mind to become a clearer place. anyways, enjoy the story and remember how much i appreciate feedback from anyone! - sen

summary: faith or coincidence brought two lonely persons together on that particular night.

genres: idk??? 

word count: 3.9k

warnings: -

The cold waves from the ocean gently hitting the soft sand, as the wind danced its way along the green leaves of the spring, leaving them shivering. The water washing away all that’s written in the sand, and returning it to the ocean, leaving it there to be found someday. The nightfall creeping up upon the sky, painting the sky with marvellous shades of red and orange. The sun was moving away from the way of the moon, and to anyone else, it might’ve been just a normal reaction of the nature.

But not to Jeon Jeongguk.

The sunset had always meant silence and peace to him. He had always the sunset, it meant that he could finally learn to let go from all the problems the day had brought to him. Darkness would come and take over his senses. Even if he couldn’t sleep, he knew he could be alone for some time.

Yet somehow this night for more significant. Jeongguk’s senses were more aware of everything that was happening. The new-bloomed flowers had a stronger scent, the last rays of sunshine were a little more blinding, and the wind was a little colder. He didn’t care to give it any attention more, though. His route was clear, he knew where he wanted to sort out his thoughts to get understand them better. He needed to be able to let go from all the thoughts he had been burdening himself over the few days. Jeongguk had felt the weight of the world thrown into his shoulders, and carrying it was getting harder second by second.

He stepped to the beach from the asphalt street, and started walking on it. His large feet made footprints on the sands, leaving a trail for someone to follow, if they ever wanted to know where he had wandered. Jeongguk’s eyes were glued to the beach, the calm view opening in front of his eyes. Small clouds were framing it. Maybe it would rain in the night. Jeongguk wouldn’t mind - it’s just water falling from the sky. Little drops of rainfall wouldn’t hurt or damage him.

The time passes quickly when you don’t care about it. It just moves forward, and although everyone else seems to understand, what time is it, or what will happen in the given time, if you forget about how it felt to care about the clock ticking, it moves faster. But isn’t that just perspective, too?

The sun wasn’t set when Jeongguk sat down on the sand. Its last bits of light were hovering above Jeongguk, making his tanned skin reflect the light in a glowing way. His legs were crossed on top of each other, and his eyes were glued to the ever so peaceful sea. Finally. He was in peace, sitting on the sand, alone, and letting all the negativity from his mind be solved. Jeongguk sighed, and rested his head down the light beige sand. His arms found their way behind his neck and closed his eyes. His memory was getting to work.

Images of running in the wet and slippery grass field, ball in hand. People screaming, cheering for him or someone else. It strived him to move his legs faster, reach a little further than he had done in the training. He heard familiar voices in the background, cheering him on. He felt his legs burn from all the running, the air from his lungs decreasing, and the ball in his hands was heavier. His mind was clear, though. He knew he had to run to the line, pass everyone who even tried to get in his way. One more metre, one more metre and he would reach it.

The sounds of cheering became louder when the one metre came closer and closer. When Jeongguk’s foot stepped above the line, the screams and yells were so loud, that if you wouldn’t have known what was happening on the football field, you might’ve thought that a bomb would’ve exploded there. Someone whistled the game over, and as Jeongguk lay on the ground, breathing heavy, a wide grin couldn’t be wiped away from his face. Especially not when his teammates lifted him up from the ground, chanting his name with the crowd. It was like a dream come true - the first win of the season.

Being an ace of any given team is tiring and frustrating. You always need to think of the new tricks, how can you develop yourself as a player of the team, as a human. Being the ace piles all the worries from the team to you, even if you knew some things weren’t on your responsibility. The pressure is almost breathtaking. Being the ace of your college’s football team is even more pressuring, since you now not only have to represent yourself, and your team, but also the school.

As the game season went on and on, the expectations on Jeongguk’s shoulder were getting heavier and heavier. His teammates trusted him. His school trusted him. Everyone was counting on him and his talent, and it felt like the whole world was observing his every movement while living on the planet, as the clock ticked, waiting for the day of the final match to arrive.

He loved football, that wasn’t the case. He loved the smell of the freshly cut grass, the feeling of his body burning as he ran across the field, the laughs he shared with his team, and the pure joy and proudness he felt whenever they won a match. He adored every last bit of it, and wouldn’t change it for the world. However, when everyone is expecting much of you, as you’re trying to find your spot in the world, it gets almost unbearable. Pleasing everyone while not trying to overwork yourself is a lethal formula.

Jeongguk’s eyes opened. The sun had set, and it was quieter than what it was when he had arrived. The sky was full of little stars, shining brightly. He looked at them for a long time, silently laying in the sand. Sometimes, staring at the stars can calm you down. Counting them, figuring out constellations. He loved the stars. They were so close, yet so far away. And right now, more than anything, Jeongguk wished he could be as far away as the stars were.

---

She took her sneakers off, her socks off. Sand was soft, but it could cause her some headache with cleaning later on. She picked up the shoes to her hands and started trailing her footprints. Her hair was free, and her face was without makeup. Her clothes were baggy, oversized. She was was unrecognizable from the person you might’ve met. Maybe that was her intention. The beach was always so calm, especially at this particular hour. No one was up, or at least on the beach, expect her. She could think her way through all the problems she had been forced to deal with. Only company would be the little birdies chirping; looking for company and someone to enjoy time with. If only she was a bird herself - she’d fly away with them. Free from all this world has to offer; free, and only controlled by the everlasting wind. The destination unclear, but wind under the wings. That’s the only thing she’d ask from God right now. If there even was one.

She squatted in the sand, watching the tiny, tiny rocks get pulled into the ocean; spinning them around, trying to sink to the heavy bottom. She smiled faintly. She placed her finger on the sand, starting to draw little circles, and other figures; her fingers moved freely, without thought. She smiled again, looking at her little drawings. Then a wave wiped them away. Nothing’s forever. Maybe she didn’t want them to be forever. She stood up again. She turned away from the now lost drawings, continuing her trip strolling on the beach.

Art is hard to describe. Is someone drawing a little dot on white paper art, or someone doing a photorealistic drawing art? And what about music? Or is art everything we do, everything we see? Studying art sure isn’t easy, either. Creativity and talent is so hard to categorize. However, she knew how it would be when she chose to be an art major. She knew she was in peace, when she held a pen and had a paper in front of her; the fresh smell of new paper and the ideas she had finally coming real and visible on the white surface. It brought a familiarity to her, as if she was home, even if she was miles away. And she loved making art, that wasn’t the case. She wanted to do it for a living, and she knew that if she wanted money from it, she’d eventually have to do an exhibition. Her teacher offered her an opportunity, and of course she took it. Why wouldn’t she? The stress that came afterwards was like no other. The amount of people who would be judging her art, trying to figure out what it meant, without really knowing what it meant to the maker, was nerve-wrecking. What if they didn’t understand it? Or what if they didn’t like it? She tried to remind herself that although art is a pleasant thing, not everyone likes everything. Yet the thought of someone disliking her works and considering her an awful artist, a twisted person was creeping up in her mind.

The trails of her footprints were stained on the beach. She looked up to the starry sky. Another distressed smile was on her face. The golden stars in the universe somewhere, shining and brining light to someone or something. She wished she could too.

---

The nightingale was singing, sitting high on a thick, brown branch. It got quiet again, and Jeongguk watched the view opening in front of his eyes. The ocean never changed, it was calm tonight. He sat up, crossing his legs again. Funny, how it was always this beach where he runs to when he wants to be alone.

Someone seemed to think that way, too.

Jeongguk noticed a figure strolling on the beach. He recognized it as a woman’s body. Jeongguk stayed silent, he didn’t want to be seen, although he had no camouflage from the stranger wandering on the beach. What was she doing here, he thought. Was she on a run? A girl shouldn’t be out this late; it’s dangerous for a girl to be out at this hour. Maybe she didn’t care. Whatever the reason for her presence on the beach that night, it made Jeongguk curious. This was usually a beach to just sit and think about stuff, not just to stroll around.

The girl finally sat down, unaware of her surroundings. She pulled her knees closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. She stayed still, and had her eyes locked to the see. Although Jeongguk had not yet seen her face, he found something so beautiful about her. She was calm, and there was just that something about her that made Jeongguk interested. Not necessarily romantically. He just wanted to know, who the girl was and for whatever reason she might come to the same beach as him, on this particular night. Jeongguk stood up, and tried to  look for any kind of an reaction in her face. She remained unbothered, so he took it as a sign to move forward.

She wasn’t too far away, so rather quickly found his seat next to her. He sat down, and only then did she notice that there was someone else on the beach. Jeongguk looked at her face, and blood rushed to his cheeks, making them burn with blush: Wow, she really was pretty. Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t have makeup on, but that didn’t make her ugly. If anything, it made her look more beautiful. Jeongguk realized how silly and embarrasing he must’ve looked, staring and almost drooling over a girl.

“Uh… Hi. My name’s Jeongguk.” God, how hard was it for someone to introduce themselves? The girl must’ve been creeped out, a stranger guy just sits next to her and starts talking about what his name was.

“Y/N”, she answered, uncertainty in her voice not easy to understand. Jeongguk smiled back and pulled his hand through his hair.

“So… I”, Jeongguk started, his voice shaking. How was someone like her just making him feel all these emotions, by just sitting in front of him? No, Jeongguk, he needed to collect himself and say whatever was in his mind. The girl sure was waiting for an explanation as in why had Jeongguk so suddenly sat next to her.

“God. Okay. So. I was just wondering, what are you doing here?” Jeongguk asked, trying his hardest not to stutter. Y/N tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. I come here to think about the world, and school stuff”, she explained, and Jeongguk nodded. She seemed somehow familiar to him although he was certain they had never faced each other’s paths in life. Maybe they had met before, in a life before the current one. Or maybe they were just brought together by faith.

“May I ask you the same question? I mean, you just came there and asked me what was I doing here. I’d like to know your reasoning”, she asked back, breaking the moment of silence that Jeongguk had allowed to happen. That woke him up from his thoughts, and a nervous laugh escaped his lips.

“Right. My reason is pretty much the same. I come to this beach to think about stuff, and life altogether. Like, when life gets a bit too weird or stressing, I come here and sort out my thoughts. It actually helps a lot”, Jeongguk said, keeping the eye contact with the girl ongoing. She answered with a hum, turning her eyes away to the ocean. Maybe she didn’t want to talk to Jeongguk. He wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

“If it’s okay with you, can I ask you, what’s bothering you in life. It’s fine if you don’t want to, but I think we’re both here because we’re troubled by something life has thrown at us, and we might as well just share it. No one’s ever on this beach anyway, except tonight”, he said quietly. His hands found their way to his lap, and to release some of the stress, he started to play with his long, slender fingers. Y/N hummed, and turned around to face Jeongguk’s nervous face.

“Sure. I usually wouldn’t, but since only you and the ocean is going to hear my worries, I might as well”, the girl answered Jeongguk, and a wide smiled was formed on both of their lips.

“So… How should I begin? I’m an art major at the college in this town”, she started. Jeongguk lifted his eyebrows. An art major? She must’ve been very talented to even get in to study art. He nodded, signing her to continue her story.

“And yeah, well. We have this exhibition coming in a few weeks, and basically all the works are done and all. Yet I still feel really stressed out and uncomfortable about the whole thing, you know? I just have this feeling constantly telling me that people will find my art strange and not like it. And I know art is supposed to make you feel something, and it can be negative too, but what if no one really likes my art? We’re getting grades from the exhibition, and what if I get really bad grades? I’m proud of my own works, but what if they’re not enough?” She blurted out, pulling her hoodie over her head, covering her hair in the process. She sighed and looked at Jeongguk’s face.

“I’m sorry, Jeongguk. It’s probably not interesting to you”, she smiled and laughed, as if she had it found it very funny. How could she say that? Jeongguk felt his heart stabbed with a needle. How the girl had put all his unsaid thoughts into words, and how they sounded so similar to his, was absolutely mesmerizing to him. Jeongguk shook his head.

“No.  mean, no, I find it interesting. And I feel like I can… Relate? I guess. Like, I’m sorry that you feel those feelings”, Jeongguk begun, already mentally facepalming himself for not being able to put his words into a smart order to impress the girl.

“No, let me correct myself. I’m sorry for those feelings, and I know what it feels like. Although I’m a football player, and not an art major, I know that people expecting so much of you, with the fear of them not being satisfied with what you come up with is extremely frustrating. I have that same feeling right now, too. People rate me as the ace of the team, and as the competition season is going forward, the matches get harder and harder. And I’m always supposed to nail the game, and sometimes it all just feels too much”, Jeongguk finished and sighed, brushing his hands through his hands.

“I’m sorry. That probably didn’t help you with your own problems, me blabbering, I mean”, Jeongguk hummed, his turn to apologize. However, the girl shook her head, and smiled for a change.

“No, it actually made me feel a bit better. Knowing that although we’re different, we still go through the same issues. Just a little differently”, she sighed and once again, looked Jeongguk deep in the eyes. He felt his breathing hitch in his throat; oxygen was running out whenever she looked into his eyes. Jeongguk couldn’t care less, though.

“Jeongguk? I really appreaciate it that you came to me and started talking. It feels a bit better when I could tell someone about my problems. At least to someone, who understands. And cares”, she smiled and turned to look at the ocean for a change. Jeongguk felt his cheeks turn into a red mess. She’s just a girl, why was Jeongguk getting so messed up over her?

“Don’t mention it, Y/N. I figured that since we’re both here, we might as well keep each other company in the night”, he smiled back and looked at the calm ocean, too.

Silence took over the two of them. It was quiet, only the waves making sounds to the nature. Jeongguk and Y/N sat close to each other, both of them too scared to say anything to each other. The cold spring breeze from the sea was brushed against their skins.

“Do you think there’s a reason why we met today? On this particular beach?” Y/N broke the silence, turning again to see Jeongguk’s face. He looked at the girl and smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe. I don’t really know. I guess we both were lonely, and we came to this beach. Maybe this day was a good day to be lonely, since we found each other. Someone in this world with similar hardships as what we had faced. Or maybe it was purely coincidental. And either one is fine, because although we don’t know each other, we share something in common. A click, if you please”, Jeongguk said, surprised how his words weren’t stuttering for once. Y/N smiled back, nodding her head.

“Yes. Maybe it was faith. Or maybe not. No matter how this happened, I’m glad it did”, she said, scooting a step closer to Jeongguk. He felt his body freeze - a girl this pretty actually being this close to her?

“We should talk more”, she said, resting her head on Jeongguk’s shoulder. Jeongguk hummed positively in response. They definitely should.

“Let’s do that, shall we?”

---

The gentle breeze kept blowing to the beach, small leaves from the ground doing small movements because of it. The nightingale was still singing, and the lights of the city were still bright, although far away. Normally, the beach would be empty, or at least quiet if anything. On that particular night, it wasn’t. Two people had somehow crossed paths with each other and gotten a step closer to each other. It felt like the beach was crowded with people, although there were only two people talking. Both of them knew the dawn was making its  bright entrance second by second, but they couldn’t find it in themselves to stand up and walk away. Time was running out, but neither one cared.

But as the Earth circles around the sun, and life goes on, the night life will move away from the day. Sun was almost showing its first rays, and Jeongguk knew that they had to get up and go on with their life, even if it made its heart feel a little uneasy.

“You know, Y/N, I hate to say this, but morning is coming”, Jeongguk said after another session of them both giggling over something silly Jeongguk’s lips had slipped out. Y/N sighed and looked up at the man, her lips curling into a tiny, miserable smile.

“I know”, was all she could answer. It was time for them both to go back to the stress they had to face every other day. The night had been like a safe place to run to, when the stress got the best of them. And it was ending way too soon. Y/N stood up, and wiped away the excess sand from her trousers. Jeongguk followed her actions.

“Thank you, Jeongguk. For tonight. For letting me release some of the tension that has been piled up”, she said, staring into his eyes. Jeongguk couldn’t answer her verbally, only nod at her. The words in his throat were stuck, he couldn’t say anything. He had so many questions still unanswered, but he couldn’t stutter out the words.

“I wish you luck on the competition season. I know that you’ll do great, you’re the ace after all”, she laughed; something about the laugh felt like home. Jeongguk smiled.

“I wish you luck on the exhibition. I know that it’ll go great, you’re so talented after all”, Jeongguk mocked and they both laughed again. The laugh wandered off to the pits of silence, and neither one said anything. Finally, after what felt like a pleasurable eternity, Y/N tiptoed to kiss Jeongguk’s cheek. He felt his cheeks burn up again, and suddenly every cell of his body was awake. She kissed his cheek? She?

“We’ll meet each other again, Jeongguk. I’m sure. Now, go back to your dorm and get ready for another day, will you?” She laughed again, and caressed Jeongguk’s hand carefully. Jeongguk wanted to hold on to the hand, and keep it close to himself, squeeze it for security. But nothing was left to do - it was time to go and continue.

“I will.” He answered.

“Good”, was all she answered, as she showed Jeongguk one last smile before turning around, and walking away from the beach. Shouting after her would be of no point, so Jeongguk just stared at her back, until he lost the last sight of her. The morning breeze was creeping up on his skin, and Jeongguk turned around as well.

The beach was left silent again, only the waves keeping it company. Their footprints were left on the ground for someone to find. The someone would never know the story behind the footprints, or who had walked them. Only Y/N and Jeongguk and the ocean would ever know what happened that night, and the secrets would forever be locked inside their hearts.